Guild Wars 2

Who is he ?
why was he chained up in the mists ?
Why did we need to save him ?
Is there a giants Race in the mists ?

Normally I don’t dig to deep into lore but that was just to awesome
a scene for me to ignore it.

I’ve seen nothing on it, but a fella from Guru2 lore forums associates the humans fought there with Canthans, and the area with Cantha itself. Implying the giant may be a copy of something in Cantha.

But we know nothing outside what’s presented in that area about the giant, and that information only supplies questions – those you asked. But if it is a copy of Cantha, then we know why he was chained up – it would likely be of when Usoku reigned (assuming Cantha has lost its xenophobia) when he purged all non-humans from Cantha. Of course, these Fractals are all recently (?) made locations and, I’d presume, so are the creatures within them – all copies of various timeframes and locations of places.

Maybe has to do with orgin. First theory, the planet where humans came from. (not Tyria) or Two, south of Cantha? Just some thoughts.

Most notable thing about it: it’s alive. A living statue of enormous proportions. As I see it this is not related to any race of giants or something of the sort, seems a magically imbued structured. The 6 Gods most be linked to this as well imo. I doubt humans magic chained that thing to the cliff nor that it is simple human magic that we’re using (eg the hammer) to break it free. Whoever put it there did so with reason.

Nothing really means that it has to be related to something in Tyria – or anything, for that matter. Given that its in the Mists, even if its surroundings are Canthan, the colossus itself could be a unique creation of the Mists.

I wouldn’t say that its tied to the six gods – there’s nothing to really say that it is, and humans alone have been able to do some big feats, so a moving statue (that is, if it is a moving statue and not just something that has an unusual appearance that makes it look like such) wouldn’t be all that unique. However, given the situation, I would say that those humans are indeed the ones chaining it down. Though given that they (appear to be) creations of the Mists, what they can and cannot do is not limited to the same limitations as Tyrian humans (bloodstones don’t apply in the Mists, for instance).

I would add to the OP questions just in general regarding the mists.

We “the adventurers” are real beings in the mist; are the enemies and creatures we encounter like us or are they copies (something like automotons) acting like “real” beings on a stage? If they aren’t “real”, then is it possible the Chained Colossus is an event that has already happened in some other place and time? Are we playing the part of the heroes who really did save him in his world? or was he never saved and still remains chained in his world?

Assuming that reality is pulled from a variety of worlds not just Tyria, are the fractals we encounter that look like Tyria (e.g. the blizzard one) from Tyria or could they represent alternate realities/time lines? Could we be seeing Tyria if Jormag conquers all for example? (are the mists a central point that touch all places and times?)

Who is the Mossman? Why is Dessa so nervous about the UnID’d Fractal with the raving Asura and is that a ruined and sacked Rata Sum that we see (again a glimpse of the future if the dragons aren’t stopped?)

If ANET went throug this much effort to create pieces of the Jade Sea in the mists might we be traveling to Cantha soon?(I know has nothing to do with this discussion, but had to put it out there).

There’s many possibilities.

It could be unique to the Mists. It could be a past event being replayed (akin to the Urban Battleground fractal), it could be a present event, or it could be a future event – and of the latter three, it both could be on the world of Tyria, or some other world.

The Mists are a place that touches all times and places, indeed.

Who knows what The Mossman is… looked like a norn to me.

The Unidentified Fractal was a ruined Rata Sum – the place you enter after the initial jumping area with harpies was the Peacemaker’s prison in Rata Sum. So that may be a future event yet to take place (and as the Pale Tree says, the future is always changing so it may not happen). That’s probably why Dessa was freaked out by it. Though I doubt it’s tied to the Elder Dragons not being stopped (same with the blizzard one).

There was a giant statue in the Crystal Desert, but its most likely not related at all.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Lonely_Vigil

Im pretty sure the colossus isnt Tyrian, and also why did the speratists have him? thats my main question. Since they hated the truce, did they want to use it against anyone? Or prevent it from harming them or whatnot? and also, if the colossus isnt tyrian, then there might not be a truce in for example cantha, cause dragons havent affected them as much. So how did seperatists even get there, especially since communication to those lands are minimal.

The lore in the FotM dungeon is non-existent, except for the Siege on Ascalon as Charr, which is also poorly explained by the fractal for anyone who doesn’t know the backstory. In my opinion it is the worst dungeon lore wise as it adds nothing to the story. Like D3 killing hordes of monsters endlessly comes first, while writing and story take a back seat. It’s fun to do a few times, but I don’t think it adds anything to the GW 2 universe… yet.

Yeah….the mists is pretty much the ‘anything/everything can/has/will happen here’ place, kind of like the whole multiverse thing in comic franchises it excempts any correlation with existing canon giving the creative team free reign to design content.

Not a huge fan of this kind of content but I have to admit some of the scenarios were refreshing, and some like the charr siege had actual bearring on the in game reality.

The colossus encounter? Who knows I certainly don’t see any reasonable explanation, I just chalked it up as magical mists dreamworld stuff. Maybe it’s a pop culture reference I didn’t quite get, maybe just something random.

Turin.1024:

There was a giant statue in the Crystal Desert, but its most likely not related at all.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Lonely_Vigil

At least it seems they have about the same size.

Also, the humans there aren’t seperatists but some sort of dark cult.

When I played through this fractal, I got the impression that the Colossus was a being similar to Razah- both found outside of Tyria and both are freed by the player.

SirMoogie.9263:

The lore in the FotM dungeon is non-existent, except for the Siege on Ascalon as Charr, which is also poorly explained by the fractal for anyone who doesn’t know the backstory. In my opinion it is the worst dungeon lore wise as it adds nothing to the story. Like D3 killing hordes of monsters endlessly comes first, while writing and story take a back seat. It’s fun to do a few times, but I don’t think it adds anything to the GW 2 universe… yet.

100% agree.

I think part of the somewhat non-existent lore within the Fractals of the Mists is the fact that they mean to keep the mists a mystery. I would love to somehow learn more about them, but it doesn’t seem possible.

Having played through this particular fractal several times now – I noted that the colossus sort of vanishes the way our characters do when we traverse to the next fractal. Makes me think that he isn’t a re-creation of a “real world” entity, but is a traveler of the mists as we are and was somehow captured byt the Archdiviner and his minions.

Exarch.5389:

Having played through this particular fractal several times now – I noted that the colossus sort of vanishes the way our characters do when we traverse to the next fractal. Makes me think that he isn’t a re-creation of a “real world” entity, but is a traveler of the mists as we are and was somehow captured by the Archdiviner and his minions.

That sound plausible… It’d be fine that way. Dr manhattan can do anything anyway.

The fractals are parts of the past, present and future of Tyria so there’s no accurate way of telling when or where it came from. For all we know it’s something that hasn’t occured yet in present time and might be something elaborated upon in future expansions – Should the need for such arise and should the engine allow it, etc.

I’ve personally thought of it to be the predecessor of Abbadon. Or possibly the god of the Underworld before Grenth took over. Or any other god from the past or future really.

It would be great if some lore was released to provide some sort of background to it, but isn’t the mystery what makes it great? For all we know it could be the spirit of the jade sea, a future god, or a dream of the mists. What’s important is that it gives us the opportunity for wild speculation and a collaboration of different and unique ideas.

You understand the mists well Hallen

The fractals almost seem to be post apocalyptic scenarios.
The fall of Ascalon, when the gates came crashing down.
The frozen world, where Jormag won
Rata Sum after it’s main reactor breached with only a lone, insane and cat obsessed survivor.
Grawl pretending they’re flame legion, worshiping either titans or primordius.
Others aren’t easily recognizable. The hated swamp or the dolphin cave filled with statues and so on.

Turin.1024:

There was a giant statue in the Crystal Desert, but its most likely not related at all.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Lonely_Vigil

That has nothing to do with the colossus, that was a statue built by either the Margonites, or the Elonian pilgrims that followed Turai Ossa into the crystal desert and ultimately their demise. It was purely human (Elonian) made. It was originally meant to be a small event where you could get a mysterious explosive device from out in the desert (which still exists but has no function) and blow up the weakened leg of the statue to make a bridge to cross, but now as you approach it, the statue has already fallen by what we assume to be a strong wind and you can cross it. As far as I know there’s no current references in existence to a living colossus in either game. It’s possible it’s some concept from the Utopia campaign that was never launched.

Honestly the Colossus dungeon didn’t seem very Canthan to me…what it most reminded me of were the White Mantle + the northern parts of Kryta in GW1. The Diviners and Archdiviners have clothing that seem very similar to the White Mantle Ritualists(http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/White_Mantle_Ritualist). The cliffs remind me a lot of the Northern part of Kryta, especially the Divinity’s Coast mission and Watchtower Coast explorable zone. My bet is that we’re looking at something White Mantle/Mursaat related in the cliffside fractal

As much as i like the fractals ( the colossus being my second favourite one) this one was always very odd to me. I always get the feeling it was all joke by a-net.
Like: “Lets just put Dr Manhattan in our game and see how people try to make sense of THAT.”

The White Mantle still exists. They’re somewhere in tha Maguuma jungle. They show up in a personal story quests for human characters who don’t know their parents. Maybe they are chaining that poor thing to some wall while we’re all busy hitting dragons. Or they did that a 2 centuries ago and that poor thing still hangs in there.

Nay of the Ether.8913:

Turin.1024:

There was a giant statue in the Crystal Desert, but its most likely not related at all.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Lonely_Vigil

That has nothing to do with the colossus, that was a statue built by either the Margonites, or the Elonian pilgrims that followed Turai Ossa into the crystal desert and ultimately their demise. It was purely human (Elonian) made. It was originally meant to be a small event where you could get a mysterious explosive device from out in the desert (which still exists but has no function) and blow up the weakened leg of the statue to make a bridge to cross, but now as you approach it, the statue has already fallen by what we assume to be a strong wind and you can cross it. As far as I know there’s no current references in existence to a living colossus in either game. It’s possible it’s some concept from the Utopia campaign that was never launched.

The Lonely Vigil was most likely built by Ascalonians, as it and the other Crystal Desert statues follow the same design as the statue Duke Barradin possesses in the tutorial – the same CD statues’ heads are replicated in the GW1 Ascalonian Catacombs.

I doubt the colossus was part of Utopia.

Errant Venture.9371:

Honestly the Colossus dungeon didn’t seem very Canthan to me…what it most reminded me of were the White Mantle + the northern parts of Kryta in GW1. The Diviners and Archdiviners have clothing that seem very similar to the White Mantle Ritualists(http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/White_Mantle_Ritualist). The cliffs remind me a lot of the Northern part of Kryta, especially the Divinity’s Coast mission and Watchtower Coast explorable zone. My bet is that we’re looking at something White Mantle/Mursaat related in the cliffside fractal

That doesn’t explain the seals which look very much like Old Canthan.

And IMO, the Archdiviners look more like Am Fah. Which had an object that acted a lot like the hammer – the Chalice of Corruption, and another Afflicted-related effect also acted like the hammer.

The environment itself doesn’t seem familiar to any GW1 environment, however, we should keep in mind that we don’t know how northern Canthan looks like without being covered in shabby shacks built upon ten more shabby shacks. The best we really have would be Shing Jea and Pongmei Valley – the latter being fairly south in Cantha, and the former is too argriculturalized to really argue to be a good example comparison.

Edit: Just got into Cliffside to look at the environment. It doesn’t look like Kryta to me, but more like Pongmei Valley and Shing Jea in terms of foliage.

The stone structures… I’m not so sure.

And getting a better look at the Archdiviner’s face, that is definitely of asian features – though he’s a bit (read: way) too pale.

Well is there any ‘sun’ in the mists? I mean if generations of people have been guarding this colossus (assuming they aren’t just random creations of the Mists and are regular people) then perhaps living within the mists could have the same effects on the skin as, say, living in a cave. I mean I know we have light, but does this light effect the body in the same way that sunlight does, causing pigmentation and giving the body Vitamin D.

Narcemus.1348:

Well is there any ‘sun’ in the mists? I mean if generations of people have been guarding this colossus (assuming they aren’t just random creations of the Mists and are regular people) then perhaps living within the mists could have the same effects on the skin as, say, living in a cave. I mean I know we have light, but does this light effect the body in the same way that sunlight does, causing pigmentation and giving the body Vitamin D.

The Mists is not an area. I guess the easiest way to describe it is a “universe” with it’s own “worlds,” or better, “realities,” that are connected to the player’s “universe,” think in terms of the Catholic Purgatory… an in-between where anything can, will, or has happened. The Fractals seem to grab certain scenerios and replay them, like a video or vision, so that the players can do them. The video has no affect on that particular reality as it is just an artificial copy.

I know what the mists are I was merely pointing out a possibility when it comes to Konig’s statement that the Archdiviner was waaaaaay tooo pale to be canthan.

I wasn’t saying he was “too pale to be Canthan” but rather that he’s surprisingly pale for a Canthan.

And as far as we know, the only description for a light source we have would be: “within the Rift, the light of the sun does not reach. Instead, the hall is graced with an unearthly, primal light that cannot be described with words.”

But that’s only for the Hall of Heroes. And we do know that there are stars within the Mists’ skies (and seeing how the sun is a star…).

Example of pale Canthans: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Kurzick

Going with what I’m going to refer to as the “Somewhere in Cantha” theory, the cultists seem to be a generic group who managed to capture the colossus, possibly to harness its power. Perhaps they think it might be dangerous and wish to find a means to kill it. Going with the distant unknown land theory, perhaps they think it might be dangerous and wish to find a means to kill it.
iirc, there’s a lot of bamboo type foliage in the area which would most likely point to either somewhere deep in the Maguuma Jungle (to the west?) or somewhere in Cantha (pre-Jade Wind north or west mainland or one of the large islands)

Personally I’ve always thought this guy had some ties to Grenth due to all the horned skulls on his chains and what not. Also, with Wintersday coming up it reminded me that the holiday is associated with Grenth and winter in Tyria is called the “season of the colossus”. Thoughts on some kind of connection there?

@WoA: Kurzicks aren’t so much as pale as “wearing face paint” – unless you’re going to call "these"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha pale asians.

@rocky: I wouldn’t associate the chains with him, as those seem to me to be made by the cultists, not the colossus.

But thinking on it, the Season of the Colossus does indicate to us that there are colossi in Tyria. This may be what they look like. If so, I would predict this is southern Cantha should the comment from Jeff Grubb about how humanity “may” come from further south than Cantha may be true – it would be most likely where the season names’ origins are from (scion is mentioned by largos, so it is likely tied to the Unending Ocean; we see phoenixes in Cantha; and Zephyrs are just weak winds by definition; colossus has to come from somewhere).

"
Who is he ?
why was he chained up in the mists ?
Why did we need to save him ?
Is there a giants Race in the mists ?

Normally I don’t dig to deep into lore but that was just to awesome
a scene for me to ignore it.
"

As you know, there were giants in Tyria, Gigantus Lupicus, they disapears somewhere around 10000 before Exode. Elder Dragons appears probably at the same time.
But Gigantus Lupicus were not big as the COLLOSSUS (look at the boss in Arah, an undead Gigantus Lupicus rised big Zaithan).
Humans don’t come from Tyria (they are extra-Tyrian, they came from the mist), and we dont have any informations about the incoming of other races except from dwarves.
The Lonely Vigil is an Elonian craft.
The collosus is a real mistery here. The Six Gods were here at the same time as Humans, and AFTER Elder Dragons (an then after Gigantus Lupicus). It can’t be a GODS creation…

Laryakan.1684:

As you know, there were giants in Tyria, Gigantus Lupicus, they disapears somewhere around 10000 before Exode. Elder Dragons appears probably at the same time.
But Gigantus Lupicus were not big as the COLLOSSUS (look at the boss in Arah, an undead Gigantus Lupicus rised big Zaithan).
Humans don’t come from Tyria (they are extra-Tyrian, they came from the mist), and we dont have any informations about the incoming of other races except from dwarves.
The Lonely Vigil is an Elonian craft.
The collosus is a real mistery here. The Six Gods were here at the same time as Humans, and AFTER Elder Dragons (an then after Gigantus Lupicus). It can’t be a GODS creation…

A few things:

1. Elder Dragons likely predate the Giganticus Lupicus, as the ED caused the G-Lupe’s extinction.
2. The creation of the dwarves is a legend, not entirely truthful, just like the notion of human gods creating the worlds. It’s a creation myth.
3. The Lonely Vigil’s origins is never explained; in fact, it is most likely Ascalonian based on observations.
4. When the gods came onto Tyria is irrelevant, given the Colossus is in the Mists. However, we know one thing about the Colossus fractal from an interview (there was a thread made on this): the fractal is a representation of the beginnings of Tyrian history. What this means in regards to the colossus is unknown, however, this means thakitten ’s likely representing when humanity was new on the world – i.e., depending on which sources are more credible, either in the 2,000-1,000 BE area, or the 10,000-2,000 BE area in the timeline.

Leah Rivera in her article on fractals said “These fractals are slices of the Mists, fragments of time that have been stabilized by the intrepid asura researcher Dessa. Some of these vignettes from history may be familiar to original Guild Wars players, while others will represent previously unseen events. "

Last night while fractal running, one of the people in my group said that these slices of the mist could be from any time; past, present or future. Is there anything out there that suggests that we could be seeing possible future situations? From what Leah said above it seems that these are only situations from the past. If there were any truth to the future scenario, that would skew some theories.

Also, has anyone ever said why they called it the Solid Ocean Fractal? Why didn’t they just call it the Jade Sea Fractal. Most people I know call it the Jade Maw. It is obviously the Jade Sea. So what if the actual characters in the game don’t know it is the Jade Sea? The the title is for the players benefit, not the characters.

Might be tied in to the atlas dude in the legendary hamer juggernaut ( pre cursor is called colossus). At least that is what i like to think

Possible future fractal, only one that I can think of, is possibly the Uncatagorized Fractal. Most of the others are in a state that “could be, or could not be”. The Mossman, Dredge, grawl, all these could really be any point in time.

jheryn.8390:

Last night while fractal running, one of the people in my group said that these slices of the mist could be from any time; past, present or future. Is there anything out there that suggests that we could be seeing possible future situations? From what Leah said above it seems that these are only situations from the past. If there were any truth to the future scenario, that would skew some theories.

Uncategorized Fractal seems to be of a possible future, as it is based in a shattered Rata Sum. But the Mists can reproduce places, things, and events from any time – including future. This knowledge comes from the Prophecies manual on The Rift:

“In the middle of The Mists is a spot where time moves neither forward nor back. It is a tear in the fabric of the cosmos, the point of perfect balance between all forces of the universe. This place is known as the Rift, and there is nothing to which it does not connect, nothing that cannot be reached from inside it. Those who have the know-how to travel across the universe through the Mists must pass through the Rift on their way to all other places. It is the center of all things. "

jheryn.8390:

Also, has anyone ever said why they called it the Solid Ocean Fractal? Why didn’t they just call it the Jade Sea Fractal. Most people I know call it the Jade Maw. It is obviously the Jade Sea. So what if the actual characters in the game don’t know it is the Jade Sea? The the title is for the players benefit, not the characters.

Jade Maw is the name of the kraken in the fractal. It’s probably called Solid Ocean because it’s solidified water – which is explained by Dessa. I mean, they don’t go calling Urban Battlegrounds “Alternate Searing Fractal” (which is what it is – an alternate version of The Searing, the Searing itself being the disturbance that’s coming). It’s just how Anet named things – descriptive rather than definitive.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Jade Maw is the name of the kraken in the fractal. It’s probably called Solid Ocean because it’s solidified water – which is explained by Dessa. I mean, they don’t go calling Urban Battlegrounds “Alternate Searing Fractal” (which is what it is – an alternate version of The Searing, the Searing itself being the disturbance that’s coming). It’s just how Anet named things – descriptive rather than definitive.

I agree with you. It’s pretty obvious they went for descriptions. I know that made sense to do, but do you think it would kill them to throw GW1 players a bone once in a while? We all know it’s a version of the Jade Sea in there. Jade Sea is just as descriptive as Solid Ocean. Anyone that steps on the thing knows it’s solid. I get a little annoyed that Anet seems to constantly want to avoid some GW1 references especially Canthan ones. Most of us loved that game. Come on Anet!

One thing I like to say about giants and GL. IIRC some gw1 players pointed out GL’s are meant to be larger than the one in arah according to some info they got from gw1. So maybe the one in arah exp is either a baby GL (poor thing ), or it is simply shrunk down so players fighting it can actually fit it on our screens.

Also between the colossus in fotm, GL, and the “giants” (risen ones and those couple in other areas in GW2) seems to be different from one another and just (somewhat) similar in size.

jheryn.8390:

I agree with you. It’s pretty obvious they went for descriptions. I know that made sense to do, but do you think it would kill them to throw GW1 players a bone once in a while? We all know it’s a version of the Jade Sea in there. Jade Sea is just as descriptive as Solid Ocean. Anyone that steps on the thing knows it’s solid. I get a little annoyed that Anet seems to constantly want to avoid some GW1 references especially Canthan ones. Most of us loved that game. Come on Anet!

Anyone can know its solid, true, but not that it’s solid water.

I don’t see it as an avoidance of reference to GW1 at all. Hell, the fact they added it in of itself is one hell of a huge reference to GW1. ArenaNet loves to let players figure things out themselves, not avoiding references.

Wukunlin.8461:

One thing I like to say about giants and GL. IIRC some gw1 players pointed out GL’s are meant to be larger than the one in arah according to some info they got from gw1. So maybe the one in arah exp is either a baby GL (poor thing ), or it is simply shrunk down so players fighting it can actually fit it on our screens.

Also between the colossus in fotm, GL, and the “giants” (risen ones and those couple in other areas in GW2) seems to be different from one another and just (somewhat) similar in size.

Not correct at all. In GW1, we never had outright confirmation of what the Giganticus Lupicus looked like or their size. We SUSPECTED that the huge bones across Tyria and Elona were G-Lupe bones. Those bones were, after all, the most likely remains we had. But they’re more of dragon champion size, not G-Lupe.

The thing in Arah is definitely not a baby. Its physical appearance parallels a grown dog, rather than a puppy.

The cyclopian giants in GW2 are no where near the size of the colossus – neither is the Giganticus Lupicus. Maybe Abaddon was, or Zhaitan, or the other Elder Dragons would be, but the G-Lupe probably barely reaches the colossus’ knees. Certainly not the waist. And the giants would reach only roughly the G-Lupe’s shoulders at best (and the G-Lupe crouches).

Konig Des Todes.2086:

We SUSPECTED that the huge bones across Tyria and Elona were G-Lupe bones. Those bones were, after all, the most likely remains we had. But they’re more of dragon champion size, not G-Lupe.

ah, that makes more sense

Yeah, so for all of our information there was some, or multiple (based on skeleton types) beasts roaming Tyria that were even larger than G-Lupe, but smaller than a Colossus, obviously. More wonderful information to get someday