It lusts for destruction...
but a fool, it is not.
Developer Name: Minotaur B
Fan Name: Barba (Belua Maximus) - The Goliath
Location Name: Canossa
Colossus 6 Hints
- Find a place where thou art hidden...
- Use thy sword to find its vitals...
I've always wondered about this colossus. How it came to be trapped in an underground temple, sealed behind a massive stone door. It's hard to believe it just appeared there due to a spell being cast, it's more likely it was fashioned in some way and placed there. People have speculated that when Dormin was split into 16 parts each part manifested itself in some part of the land and miraculously appeared out of the earth. This, they say, is why the colossi revert to a rocky mound when they are killed. But it seems more likely (to me at least) that the temple was built first and then Barba was fashioned inside. Perhaps the colossi were all created by the high priests of the land to act as vessels for the parts of Dormin's soul.
So each colossus was built using traditional techniques, such as using cranes and scaffolding etc. and the parts assembled resulting in an inert, lifeless colossus. When Dormin's soul was split, some powerful spell was used to infuse each part into a colossus. It was only then that the colossi had life, and the spell acted like a program so that they would only come to life when an intruder appeared in their respective lairs.
Entrance to Barba's underground temple
On first level of temple
On very top of cliffs above temple - this area is walkable
Top of upright column outside temple - has same design as inside floor symbol
Opposite column has toppled over in times past
Plied blocks in front of stairs leading down
Symbol above stairs as you enter - has 16 circles around its edge
More stone blocks to climb over in the hallway
There's a small hidden area just behind the walls of the hallway, it's a solid floor you can walk on and ends at the stairs leading down into the main underground temple. I found this very early on when I was just starting to use the emulator, but it's only accessible via hacking.
Above Barba's chamber at foot of the stairs
Stone ledges appear to lead to the back temple
One of the early ideas about Barba's lair involved reaching the high door seen on the third level of the stone temple at the back of the arena (see further down), that is, the temple at the back in which you hide under. It was postulated that you could jump from the balconies and grab onto a stone ledge that you could shimmy along to reach yet another stone ledge... much as you do in the climb to the secret garden, or in ICO when you find a long pipe or cliff edge. It made sense at the time and led players to believe you could find your way to the upper temple door. But sadly, this was only another dead end. There are no grippable ledges on the side walls, and even though they have multiple levels as seen in the back temple, there is no way to hold onto them... you just fall to the floor below.
Left side balcony
Nice view from the balconies
You can jump down from here at either balcony and land on the floor a lot further away from Barba when it appears from behind the stone door. You lose about half of your health doing this. This gives you a good head start to get away and make it to the safety of the columned temple at the back of the arena. The balconies also provide a nice view of the arena before you descend.
Massive stone door
As soon as you land on the floor below the ground starts to shake and a cut scene starts showing the enormous stone door start to open! I've measured it at 30 metres high which is akin to a 30 story building! The next time you are in a city with high rise buildings, take the time to look around and count the number of floors in a building to see just how huge this door is.
Imposing stone door keeps Barba locked away
The door resembles Barba's face
I found the animation codes for the door, so I can open and close it. So for instance, after Barba has left its chamber I can close the door again. The door moves down under the arena when opened, so I took Wander down there for a look.
Barba before activation - crouched in its chamber
Inside Barba's chamber there is a large symbol on the floor. You can get into this room legitimately with perseverance and practice. At the beginning of the battle, get Barba to smash its fist down then grab on, as it shakes its arm around you can let go at just the right time and be flung into the chamber. Fans often speculated that the room must have a purpose, as why would the developers put this large symbol on the floor if you never get to see it? The room is empty and Barba cannot harm you from outside, so it was just another unsolved mystery. But now we can say that it's just Team Ico's attention to detail that is the reason, but it serves no other purpose.
See video of this effect here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GOGQzEsqBM#t=117
There is a ledge Wander can stand on - but it's too high to reach legitimately
Here Barba stands in front of the 'closed' door
When I move Wander's camera to Barba, I can trigger the colossus without Wander. In this mode, Barba walks straight through the massive stone door which has no collision detection, in this way Barba runs through the same animations as normal, but now the stone door is still closed. See video of this here:
Above the temple
In 2009 when I was first seeing where I could get to with the jump hack, I was visiting every colossus arena and leaping up to see where I could land. Most places I would just fall through, but there were some surprises! A good example was the top of Barba's temple, here I found a small area up above the central column (shown below). Note: the image below was made using the standing hack (for both Wander and Agro) as it has no collision detection... this is one of those places you wanted to be solid but were not.
Top of central arch - I brought Agro with me here ;)
On top of the temple roof is a small rocky area where the light streams down from. You can walk around this area looking down into the arena. This place is solid and allows Wander to walk around up here, you can run around the perimeter of this strange bowl shaped structure and notice a couple of dead trees growing out of its sides. It was one of those places I was amazed to find! A little secret area of my own ; )
A couple of dead trees grow out of the rock wall
Temple at the back of the arena
This enigmatic door caused a lot of discussion among fans. As with the first colossi's temple it was another mysterious door placed way up out of reach. It was suggested that you could get Barba to launch you up there by jumping at just the right moment when it was violently shaking its head up and down, but no one was ever able to accomplish this.
It was also speculated that the door led to a secret area behind the temple, if it were just possible to get up there! I think it was Pikol who first launched himself up there only to find that the ledges had no collision detection. There's also an invisible wall in front of the entire facade that Wander just bounces off, so only by hacking behind this can you reach the door. But as you just fall through the floor it's obvious this is not a secret area.
Symbol on floor at ground level - same as columns outside
2nd level
Top level
Wander next to temple door - it's much larger than it looks
'How did you get up here Agro?'
Top level columns
Top level in front of doorway - notice designs on the floor
Barba Outside its Temple
Here I have moved Barba outside its temple before activation, so it's like moving a statue around. The only part you can interact with is its beard, the rest has no substance and Wander can walk right through it. Strangely, when you hold onto its beard the music starts to play 'Grotesque Figures', but when I let go, the music stops. This tells us, that even before the colossus is triggered, this music is still programmed into the code when Wander is climbing the beard.
Barba outside - frozen in the forbidden lands!
I can move the animated version outside as well, but I have to keep it suspended by locking its gravity code, otherwise it just falls through the floor. As with most of the colossi they can only walk around normally in their own arenas. So even though I can move the 'actual' model outside, that is the version you fight, it's still frozen like a statue. If I turn off the 'freeze code' Barba will just fall through the ground into the void.
I made a video about it here: http://youtu.be/0ZcO96r0z3c
Various old shots of Barba
I posted these shots on the Playstation 2 Quest for the Last Big Secret forums in November 2009, they look very impressive but actually they are an illusion! I used Barba's postion co-ordinates to blast it high into the air, then shifted it so it would fall outside of its arena, i.e. beyond the imposing columns that bar Barba from leaving the temple. So although it looks as if Barba is standing outside the temple, it is actually falling through the ground here, I just took a screen shot as its feet were just in contact with the ground xD.
Symbols
There are various symbols around Barba's lair - here I have traced them all in Adobe Illustrator in order to make them as clear as possible.
Barba Death Screen
Image you see when Wander dies during the fight with Barba.
