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Something in the armor's ill-omened air told me to keep my distance...


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The mysterious Armored Soldiers (formally known as "Yoroi" from the Japanese subtitles, meaning "armor") are the main enemies that are encountered by the Boy in The Last Guardian. They relentlessly pursue him and Trico to capture the Boy and hand him over to the Master of the Valley. While they pose little threat to Trico, the Boy must be careful around them, either using tricks or stealth to avoid them. The Boy is not able to directly defeat the soldiers unless they are knocked over and he can pull off their helmet. This is done by either Trico knocking them over or the Boy grabbing onto their backs to make them lose balance.

Armored knight

History[]

The Armored Soldiers are the first enemy encountered by the Boy and Trico. Shortly after the Boy wakes up from being swallowed, he finds several suits of armor in a hallway. Approaching them, they come alive and come after him, but Trico awakens and easily defeats them; what little damage they do to the beast is easily shrugged off.

As time goes on, the Armors are encountered in larger groups and become smarter, stronger and better equipped to take on Trico, although still very weak against it even in large groups.

Although no one knows where the Armored Soldiers came from or what they really are, they are likely created by the Master of the Valley to serve as light soldiers. They may be ghosts, spirits, invisible men, or even some form of ancient technology.

Armor and physiology[]

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The armor used by the soldiers is somewhat birdlike and heavily engraved, having beaks, glowing eyes, and feather-like plating. There are two variations but only in color, with most of the soldiers being teal/green while a few others are stone gray. Despite being almost completely covered in armor, they have no real resistance to Trico's attacks, rarely surviving the first blow. Regardless, they fearlessly attack Trico and the Boy on sight, no matter how outmatched they are.

Within the armor, there is a green mist in the shape of a person. When destroyed, the soldiers disintegrate into blue smoke and the armor shatters into pieces. They do have a human shape, showing that the armor was made to fit humans.

When the Master is killed, it is unknown what happened to the rest of the Soldiers in the Nest. It is possible that, after having defeated the army guarding the citadel and all the Soldiers already encountered, all the existing Soldiers had been destroyed.

Armament[]

The Last Guardian™ 20180210154653

Soldiers chasing the Boy.

The Armored Soldiers carry a variety of weapons for use against Trico and enemies of the Master.

  • Swords: Most Soldiers carry a broad-bladed sword. This weapon can hurt Trico if a swing with the sword connects, but is usually fine and only whimpers in pain.
  • Spears: Others carry throwing spears or will pick up spears that are lying around. However, these spears appear to do little damage as Trico will continue fighting with no apparent handicap. Embedded spears, however, can hamper Trico's movements, forcing the Boy to remove them after a battle so they can progress.
  • Talisman shields: A few Soldiers carry talisman shields that deter Trico, paralyzing it in fear unless they drop their shields or the shields are broken. These are the most effective against Trico, but they carry no other weapon, so they can be pushed and knocked over by the Boy, causing them to drop the shield and allowing Trico to wipe them out.
  • Spells: Some Soldiers are able to cast glowing, homing magical spells that slow down and paralyze the Boy. These are used if the Boy is out of reach, like up a ladder, across a chasm, etc. However, these spells appear to not be used on Trico.

The doors[]

TLG screens review 02 copy

The Boy being chased by an Armored Soldier.

The Soldiers seem to have a strange ability to travel between areas rapidly by use of odd blue doors that are found in nearly every area of the Nest. These doors cannot be opened by the Boy or broken by Trico; only the Soldiers can access these strange portals.

If a Soldier grabs hold of the Boy, they will attempt to carry him to a door. It will open, and some sort of lit void appears beyond the threshold. At this point, the Boy can still break away from the Soldier's grasp, but if he is carried through the door, it will close behind them, resulting in a game over.

These portals seem to lead to an unknown location, as the doors are also situated in different areas of the Citadel, the Soldiers' own headquarters.

Development history[]

IcoEnemyConcepts

The enemies in Ico were originally designed to be similar to the armored soldiers in The Last Guardian. These foes were easily able to overpower Ico (top row), but he could use the environment to gain an advantage over them by striking from a low or high position (middle row). Ico could then subdue and restrain these foes (bottom row), making the way forward safe at last.

The backstory behind the development of the armored soldiers could go all the way back to Ico. During that game's development, the Queen's castle was inhabited not by shadow creatures, but by imposing soldiers with horned helmets. These foes would have proved formidable and challenging, since Ico could not hope to directly match the strength of a fully-grown man. He would have to use the castle's own complex architecture to gain an advantage, by attacking them from high or low ground where he could not be reached as easily.

The design was scrapped for several reasons. In order for this system to work, the castle would have had to be designed in such a way that there would always be a place where Ico could go to gain an advantage in attacking a soldier more safely and also where a soldier could not simply follow him to this place. In addition, the soldiers did not fit with the castle and its shadowy queen; they were more in line with Ico's captors (and thus the familiar, human world beyond) than anything as mysterious than the Queen. Shadow creatures had none of these problems. They could materialize from any surface into any environment, they were challenging to Ico without being overpowered, and they were entirely believable as minions to the enigmatic Queen.

The Last Guardian, however, sees the return of these soldiers, who now share aspects of both the conceptual and finalized enemies of Ico. They do not appear to be as strong as Ico's soldiers, but they feel more authentic in this world. With a few revisions on an old concept, the soldiers are now just enough of an obstacle to pose a challenge without being overpowered.

Trivia[]

  • A green mist can be seen inside the armor. This suggests they could be possessed by spirits (much like the shadow creatures in Ico were spirits).
  • The Armored Soldiers also appear to resemble golems of Hebrew legend. This would not be the first time a Team Ico game has been inspired by Hebrew legend, notable times including Dormin being spelled "Nimrod" backwards, the Shrine of Worship representing the Tower of Babel, and the concept of the colossi being animated earth and stone also being similar to the concept of a golem.
  • If the Boy shines the mirror directly at an Armored Soldier, they will coil into a compact form and become immobile.

Gallery[]

SotCFullTemplate
The Game Shadow of the Colossus ( Demo  · Pal Release  · Shadow of the Colossus HD  · PS4)
Characters Wander  · Agro  · Mono  · Dormin  · Lord Emon  · Guards  · Shadows
The Colossi I  · II  · III  · IV  · V · VI  · VII  · VIII  · IX  · X  · XI  · XII  · XIII  · XIV  · XV  · XVI
Unused Colossi ( Devil  · Evis  · Griffin  · Phoenix  · Roc  · Saru  · Sirius  · Spider  · Worm  · Yamori A  · Buffalo  · Quetzalcoatl)
Magic Sigil  · Hard Mode
Colossus Arenas Temple  · Proto  · Arena  · Kirin's Hill  · Canyon · Canossa  · Lakeside  · Underground  · Geyser  · Gravewind  · Leo's Cave  · Poseidon's Lake  · Desert  · Ruins  · Parthenon  · Sanctuary
Unused Arenas ( Badlands  · Cave  · Crater  · Devil's Plain  · Dune  · Hillock  · I1  · Labyrinth  · Sluice  · Stonehenge  · Valley )
The Forbidden Lands Shadow creaturesSave shrinesFruit treesWhite-tailed lizards

The Shrine of Worship
Umbral GladeStone Arch GorgeDried MarshNorthern SpanDesert FortressMisty FallsRavine EntranceHalf-moon CanyonWestern PlainRound Stone HillLair to the WestStone Bridge CliffCliff PathLair on the MesaWestern CapeArch Bridge PlainBlasted LandsAutumn ForestEastern BluffValley PlainSouthwestern CapeSouthern PlainGreen CapeThe Broken Seal

Soundtrack Roar of the Earth
Walkthrough Time AttackGolden Coins
Other media Nico  · Official artbook/guidebook  · Collectible figurines  · Film adaptation
Giantology campaign
Hoaxes Jebal-Barez skeletonTamil Nadu tsunami giantSulu Sea eel statuePolarneft conspiracySayre family vacation
Characters Eric BelsonCasper ShillingEd GuylerArkady SimkinBoris AtlasovAndrew and Ellie Sayre
Media Giantology podcasts (FirstInterview with Arkady SimkinThirdFourth) • IPICP memo
TLGtemplatelogo Walkthrough
Characters The Boy  · Trico  · Armored Tricos  · Soldiers (Yoroi)  · Master of the Valley
Locations The World  · Sentinel Tower
Items The Mirror  · Talismans  · Barrels  · Unlockable Items
Gameplay Easter Egg
Media The Last Guardian (OST)  · Official Art and Guide Book  · Interview Archive
Releases PS3 development  · PS4 final release  · Credits
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