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Ludomythologies
  • ISSN: 1757-1898
  • E-ISSN: 1757-1901
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Abstract

This article proposes to incorporate René Girard’s mimetic theory into the study of ludomythology using the game (Team ICO 2005) as a case study, comparing the existing analyses of the game with the results of this new approach. Textual analyses argue that the game portrays a tragic world and that the actions of the player character are morally negative. Our approach suggests that this perspective corresponds to the foundational myth created by the persecutors of scapegoats, an accusatory narrative that legitimizes the sacrifice of victims. Girardian hermeneutics, supported by methods of video game narratology, reveals this rhetorical mechanism while also suggesting that, within the game’s world, the victims are innocent and its protagonist is a hero seeking to abolish the legitimizing foundations of violence which are inherent in the sacrificial society to which he belongs.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid (Award UFV2025-29)
  • ‘Mundos posibles y formatos de ficción en series de animación’ (Award UFV2024-10)
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Intellect Ltd.
This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The CC BY licence permits commercial and noncommercial reuse. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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2025-11-13
2026-04-14

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/content/journals/10.1386/cjcs_00123_1
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Myth in Shadow of the Colossus according to the mimetic theory of René Girard
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies 17, 213 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/cjcs_00123_1
/content/journals/10.1386/cjcs_00123_1
/content/journals/10.1386/cjcs_00123_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): ludomythologies; mimesis; narratology; sacrifice; scapegoat; textual analyses; video game; world

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