Shadow of the Colossus lizards, fruit trees, health and stamina upgrades explained
How optional collectables lizards and fruit can help you increase your health and stamina in Shadow of the Colossus.
Shadow of the Colossus lizards and fruit trees are two types of collectable you can find while exploring the vast forbidden lands.
These give you stamina and health upgrades respectively. The good news is though the requirements for how many lizard tails and pieces of fruit required for 100% completion on PS4 is far more lenient, you still have to find some on your way to a Platinum Trophy.
Otherwise, consider them an optional extra, as playing normally will see you comfortably manage every Colossus the game has to throw at you.
If you're after more help, our Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough, guide and tips provides strategies for every Colossus.
Shadow of the Colossus health and stamina upgrades explained
In Shadow of the Colossus, you can upgrade your health and stamina in two ways:
- By defeating a Colossus
- By collecting lizard tails (increasing stamina) and eating fruit from trees (increasing health)
If you want to increase your health and stamina, defeating Colossus is a far faster method of increasing your health and stamina than collecting fruit and lizards.
What to do if you want to max out your health and stamina
The best method of maxing out your health and stamina - which unlocks the 'Intrepid Mortal' Trophy, and helps you reach the stamina-heavy Secret Garden - is to replay the game over and over, as health and stamina increases from defeating Colossi carry over from one playthrough to the next.
If you want to see what an insane amount of stamina looks like, and what you need to reach the Secret Garden, here's a video from the original version of the game:
For completionists, a key difference between the PS3 Platinum and PS4 Platinum is you do not need to collect all fruit and lizards on PS4 to get every Trophy.
Instead, there is a Trophy for finding just one of each, so you no longer have to track down all 77 lizards and 128 fruits.
As such, it's probably a better use of your time to simply replay the game over and over, killing Colossi as your source of health and stamina increases, until the gauges are fully maxed out.
Previously this took around 4-5 playthroughs with all the collectables done, so may take a playthrough or two higher, assuming the increases are about the same.
For those particularly keen on finding every fruit and lizard, in our experience their locations are the same as their PS2 counterparts, if you remember where to look.
That said, the easiest way is to complete the game once, which unlocks Time Attack on a Colossus during the next playthrough by praying in front of its idol inside the central shrine, and doing the following to unlock the corresponding equipment:
- Lizard Detection Stone (defeat 8 Colossi in Normal Time Attack)
- Fruit Tree Map (defeat 10 Colossi in Hard Time Attack)
With the above in hand, it'll make your search much easier. Otherwise, following a user-made lizard map or fruit map is recommended, such as this particularly useful one created by jekoln on GameFAQs, which combined both locations in a single image.
That said, even with a map it's difficult to pinpoint exact locations, so here are some things to bear in mind when exploring.
How to get fruit from trees in Shadow of the Colossus
Easily missed are pieces of fruit in certain trees across the map. There is a finite number of them - 128 pieces of fruit to find - and a single tree can have multiple pieces of fruit.
To eat one, swap to your bow and arrow and shoot it down. You can then collect by pressing the right trigger, causing you to kneel over to collect.
The Fruit Tree Map unlocked from defeating 10 Colossi in Hard Time Trial is useful for narrowing down their locations if you want to get them all (again, it's no longer a requirement to unlock the Platinum on PS4).
Fruit icons will disappear from the map when you have eaten every single piece at that location. If the icon remains, then you haven't got them all just yet. Keep looking!
Regardless of whether you want them all or not, it's worth keeping an eye out for fruit if you want a health upgrade.
If you want just one for the 'Fruit of the Land' Trophy, then we'd recommend heading directly south from the central temple starting area. There is a tree on the boundary between map segments F4 and F5, where the fissures in the earth end.
There is also the matter of 'Forbidden Fruit', which is something you'll find in the optional Secret Garden, and the source of a Trophy. Eating it will diminish your health and stamina forever, so be sure to save before eating, then quit out when the Trophy is unlocked so its effects don't remain on your save file.
For more tips, guides and detailed, step-by-step advice, be sure to try out our main Shadow of the Colossus walkthrough and guide can help you hunt down and kill every colossus, including the tricky Colossus 3, Colossus 8, Colossus 9 and Colossus 11. We also have explainers on all Agro tricks, how to find and use lizards and fruit and Enlightenments, and where to find a The Last Guardian Easter egg and all Shrine locations.
How to get lizards in Shadow of the Colossus
As you explore, you'll see blue lizards scurry along the ground, up walls or round trees. Although there is a finite number of them (77) and are found in specific locations on the map, they are mobile, moving about when you get close.
They are fast and mobile, but can be killed in a variety of ways:
- Hitting them with an arrow (the Flash Arrow unlocked from Time Trial is easier if you have already finished the game)
- Bashing them with your sword
- Running them over with Agro
Even with a map, finding lizards isn't easy. The Lizard Detection Stone item unlocked from beating 16 Colossi in Normal Time Trial is particularly useful for narrowing down their locations, but staying still and listening for their scampering will clue you in on their location if you are close by.
Once dead, they bodies will disappear, leaving behind a shining tail, that you can collect by pressing the right trigger. Each one collected gives you a slither of stamina.
As mentioned above, you don't need to find them all to get a Platinum Trophy, but they are worth keeping an eye out for as you explore to top up your grip gauge.
Whether you want to find just one for the 'Five-Lined Skink' Trophy or fancy a steer of where some might be, then the easiest thing to remember is every shrine is also a lizard location, and in some instances, has up to three spawning there.
Note that multiple won't spawn in one location at once, so you'll have to clear the one already there, then save, quit out and reload for the next to appear.