Colosseum of Fools

"Another warrior finds their way to our fair Colosseum. Ours is the final destination for all seeking trials of intense and deadly combat."

- Little Fool

The kingdom once drew the strongest warriors from all corners. Most came not for riches, or answers, or to see the king, but to compete in the Colosseum of Fools, a fighting pit where only the strongest survive.

The Colosseum of Fools is an area in Kingdom's Edge where the Knight may participate in three trials in which they battle waves of enemies in an arena observed by a crowd of bugs and the corpse of Lord Fool. In order to unlock a trial, the Knight must have defeated the previous trial (except for the first Trial) and pay a sum of Geo that increases for each trial.

Once the initial sum of Geo is paid to unlock the trial, the Knight can challenge the trial as many times as they want for free.

Enemies killed in the Trials do not drop Geo.

Beneath the main floor is a resting area, which Little Fool refers to as the "warriors' pit", filled with non-hostile Fool enemies, as well as a Bench.

"...Why does it disturb me?.."
 * To the far right of the resting area, a breakable wall reveals a hidden Hot Spring with a Sturdy Fool relaxing in it. Splashing water at him with the Nail will cause him to block himself in annoyance. Using the Dream Nail on this Sturdy Fool gives the dialogue::


 * To the left of the resting area is a room where the Knight's Shade will spawn if they are killed during a Trial.


 * There is an alternate "entrance" to the arena from the right of the resting area. Sounds of battle and cheering from the crowd can be heard, thrown weapons of Sturdy Fool and squishes of The Infection can be seen on the other side of the gate, though no enemies are visible and the gate cannot be opened or broken.


 * Tiso can be found here, claiming this is the place he was searching for. He is eager to fight the Knight, and warns them that his shield holds a "deadly weapon." However, he is never fought and his corpse later appears in Kingdom's Edge.


 * If the Knight rescued Zote both times, he will be found here, trapped in a cage. He claims that he planned to be trapped, though his Dream Nail dialogue suggests otherwise. He then becomes the final "boss" of the first Trial, though his attacks deal no damage and any attack will send him flying. After being defeated he returns to Dirtmouth.


 * A breakable wall can be found to the very right of the arena which leads to an area outside the back of the Colosseum. The Pale Lurker is found here where she can be killed for the Simple Key.

The Pale Lurker's Retreat
To the very far right of the Colosseum, behind the gates of the arena, there is a breakable wall made of shells which leads to a large chasm with a lake at the bottom. By the lakeshore, among the large cages and chains, the Pale Lurker can be found holding a Simple Key. She will scream and flee to her arena as the Knight approaches.

The arena is a large locked area separated into the upper level and the bottom level, which the Lurker will constantly switch between. After she is defeated, a door in the upper level will open, allowing the Knight to cross through the chasm, a shortcut leading directly back to the Colosseum.

Trivia

 * The audience will laugh in certain situations:
 * When the Knight dies
 * When the two Sturdy Fools from the second wave of the Trial of the Fool are killed by spikes
 * During the fight with Zote the Mighty
 * After revealing the Grub Mimic
 * After completing a Trial for the first time, a pin with the head of the Knight attached will appear stuck on top of each of the trial boards
 * All of the fighters and creatures fought in and around the Colosseum are affected by The Infection, with the exception of Zote and the Pale Lurker.
 * Two audience members show up in the Forgotten Crossroads. They cannot be interacted with beyond their shared dream nail dialogue, which hints at the Colosseum.
 * Due to a glitch, if the map is used in the Colosseum, the Dirtmouth map will show up instead, with no icon even if Wayward Compass is equipped.
 * The Colosseum was a Kickstarter stretch goal that was funded later on through Paypal backers:


 * "Colosseum squeaked in there late in development. We were talking about potentially releasing it as a free DLC (this is before we had the idea of content packs) but after discussion we decided that having a place to really test your combat skills was important to have. Also, removing it would have left a weird empty gap at the top of Kingdom's Edge!" - William Pellen


 * "The Colosseum does hide a secret, and there's a chance we'll explore it in the future. I'm trying to remember how many extra bosses we did put in the colosseum. Zote was one. Those Fat bees were another... Two of the Colosseum warriors were originally bosses, but we liked them so much we transformed them into regular foes. It's all a bit of a blur!" -Ari Gibson


 * The Colosseum of Fools was originally meant to be in Fungal Wastes.

References

Колизей глупцов Le Colisée des Fous Coliseu dos Tolos Koloseum Głupców Colosseo dei Folli