Seventh Colossus - Thunder Ripple

These guys are getting farther and farther away from you; this guy is all the way up in D1. To reach it, follow the arched path that you took into the Shrine in the opening cutscene all the way to the north until it reaches the cliff there, then head west until you reach what appears to be a ruined ampitheatre suspended over a lake. When you reach the walkway, jump out onto the central tower, then dive into the water to meet the Colossus.

Attacks

The Thunder Ripple (his friends tried to name him Porkchop, but he was having none of it) doesn't have many attacks that he can really use on you while you're on the central tower; most of his attacks involve danger to you only when you're in the water. He is, however, the first colossus that can deal significant damage to you while you're attached to him, thanks to the electrical spires on his back. You'll need to be careful while you ride him, then, but we'll save that for the attacking section.

Killing It

You'll have to float to get Thunder Ripple's attention here.

Thunder Ripple is a difficult guy to pin down - his line of sight prohibits him from seeing things that aren't in the water, so he'll ignore you if you stand on the spire. Reaching him will thus involve a bit of swimming.

Indeed, all you really need to do is park yourself down in the water by the edge of the walkway leading up the tower and just wait for the monster to notice you - when it manages to spot you, you'll hear a deep rumbling sound from the lake, and you'll know that it's on its way.

Ol' Thunder has three electrical spires on its back, so you'll know that actually attaching yourself to him will be rather difficult. Indeed, when it surfaces, the first spire will usually be submerged enough to not hurt you, but the next two will do a bunch of damage if you're in the water nearby. Unfortunately, the tail whips up just after the third spire passes by, making it difficult to both avoid the electricity and grab hold of the tail - unless you're not in the water when Thunder passes by.

The best way to first get onto Thunder's back is to wait in the water at the bottom of the tower and swim around until you hear the colossus groaning at your presence. When you get the signal that the colossus is approaching, get up the walkway a bit, and wait for the beast to pass by. When the third spire submerges, quickly jump down into the water and try to get in front of the tail before it pops up and out of the water, all while holding down the R1 button to ensure that you grab on when it moves past.

Video Walk-through

Thunder Ripple will take a while to kill, and can put the hurting on you with its electrical attacks.

Watch It »

If you do manage to grab a hold of the tail, then you're going to have to hang on for dear life for a few seconds, as you'll initially be underwater, and you can't move while you're submerged. You also can't let go of the tail, or you'll fly off and float back to the top of the lake. Just hang on until you finally come up for air, then let go and start running up towards the beast's head. You'll have to hang on during the submerged portions of the level, get back up and run when you're abovewater, and repeat that process a few times before you reach the first spire.

Few enough of the colossi thus far have had actual weak spots (as opposed to vital spots), but Thunder does; he has a weak spot just behind each spire. In order to avoid getting shocked when the spires submerge, you need to run up behind them, latch on, and stab the weak spot before you dip into the water; doing so will disable the spire and prevent it from shocking you. Getting the first two spires in this manner is pretty easy, but the third one, near the beast's head, will be tougher to reach. If you lose your grip after killing the first two, though, it's a lot easier to get back on the beast. Since the last two spires are the ones that shock you when you're floating in the water, and they'll both have been shut down during your traverse of the creature's back, you'll be able to just float in the water, wait for the beast to notice you, and then just sit still until the tail comes up to you again and grab hold.

When the third spire is finally disabled, it's a relatively simple matter to reach the nearby vital point and kill the beast. Just be sure not to let go of the hair while you're underwater, and get your stabs in when you can.