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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.
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- "If I live it will be in victory. If I die it will be in battle."
- ―Kotallo
Kotallo is a Tenakth Marshal and a major ally featured in Horizon Forbidden West.
Appearance[]
Kotallo is a tall man with a strong build. He wears a woven sleeveless gray crop top and a similar, knee-length gray skirt lined with yellow feathers, both decorated with blue and yellow beads, and a shoulder guard on his right shoulder. He also wears vambraces on both of his forearms and wooden beads around his neck. After losing his left arm to a charging Bristleback, he covers the stump with a blue piece of cloth. In contrast to many Tenakth who walk barefoot, Kotallo wears a pair of sandals, in addition to a pair of greaves that reach up to his knees. His black hair is tied in several braids and shaved along the sides and back. As a Marshal, his tattoos and face paint are predominantly white and blue with triangular designs. Kotallo appears to have cauliflower ears, likely the result of a past physical confrontation.
History[]
Early life[]
Born in the Tenakth's Sky Clan, Kotallo was raised by his squad in the Bulwark after losing his parents in a clan skirmish. As he grew older, Kotallo became an accomplished fighter, catching the eye of Tekotteh, the Sky Clan's commander. During the Red Raids, Kotallo fought beside Tekotteh against the Carja and led his squad on a dangerous climb into the Daunt. He opened the gates of Barren Light from the enemy side, allowing the Tenakth to raze the fortress.
Though this deed made him a hero amongst the Sky Clan, Tekotteh secretly feared Kotallo would become a rival to his command, failing to realize that Kotallo had no interest in rising above his station. To that end, Tekotteh sent Kotallo to the Kulrut, knowing that if he survived, he'd be forced to forsake the clan to serve as Chief Hekarro's Marshal. Kotallo recognized the "honor" as an exile he couldn't refuse, a betrayal from the man he had considered a father. When Kotallo prevailed in the Kulrut, he fully accepted his destiny as a Marshal and never looked back.
The rebellion and joining Aloy[]
Kotallo was present at the Embassy at Barren Light, having largely gone behind Tekotteh's back to get the Sky Clan to arrive. He was the only known Marshal to survive the ambush by Regalla and her Rebels, and did not escape unscathed. While blocking a charging Rebel Bristleback with his own body, his left arm was torn off. The injury left his standing among the Tenakth shattered: in a tribe that respects strength above all else, such a wound was seen as a horrible shame.
When Chief Hekarro called for another Kulrut, Tekotteh refused to send contestants, intending to wait out the rebellion from the safety of the Bulwark. As one of the only Marshals left (if not the last), Kotallo was tasked with guiding Aloy, who had agreed to help Hekarro in exchange for access to AETHER, to the Bulwark in order to gain Tekotteh's compliance. All too familiar with his former Commander's pettiness, Kotallo had no confidence Tekotteh would submit to a maimed Marshal and an outlander, a belief he made abundantly clear. Nevertheless, he followed his orders: after meeting Aloy at Stone Crest, he led her to Tekotteh.
As he predicted, Tekotteh refused to comply, stating that he would not send contestants as long as the Sky Clan was safe behind the Bulwark's walls. With permission to do whatever was necessary, Kotallo suggested killing Tekotteh. To his bemused frustration, Aloy ignored him, proceeding to "scurry around the walls like a rat". When he pressed her for answers, Aloy shared her plan: if she could exploit a weak spot she found in the wall, they could bring down the Bulwark and remove any reason for Tekotteh to resist. Kotallo found the idea ludicrous, but reluctantly joined her to steal a machine cannon from a nearby rebel camp (if only because Aloy reminded him that was part of his orders).
After a large fight, Kotallo and Aloy defeated the Rebels and their overridden Tremortusk, with Kotallo carrying one of the machine's cannons back to the Bulwark's walls. After mounting the cannon on a pile of rocks, Kotallo gave the cannon to Aloy, who proceeded to shoot at the weakness the found: a piece of Old World machinery lodged in the cliff. While Tekotteh jeered at them, Aloy finally ignited the power cell inside the trapped machine, causing a portion of the wall to crumble. Humiliated and forced to accept his vulnerability, Tekotteh finally sent his warriors to the Kulrut.
During the Rebel ambush at the Kulrut, Kotallo put his life at risk to save Hekarro from a falling rusted fighter jet. After Regalla and the Tenakth Rebels retreat, instead of joining Hekarro as a Marshal again, Kotallo tells Aloy that he wishes to fight at her side. Aloy is concerned that he isn't healed enough, but Kotallo tells her that if he is to die, it's to be with her. He is then sent to find Zo to prepare for the inevitable battle with another of GAIA's subordinate functions: HEPHAESTUS.
Preparing for battle[]
Kotallo was brought to Aloy's Base, where he was given a Focus and began learning about the Old World and Far Zenith. While Kotallo kept somewhat to himself, he also got to know Aloy's allies: he learned from Varl the similarities between their two tribes, and in turn taught Varl about Tenakth history; he learned from Aloy that Zo led a squad of Utaru at Barren Light; and Erend, while initially wary due to stereotypes regarding the Tenakth, regularly shared drinks and played Machine Strike with Kotallo, with the latter proving more skilled.
Kotallo focused much of his studies on military history from the Old World, mostly declining GAIA's offers of aid. His discovery that the Ten were among the last humans directly involved in war, as well as the rise of automated warfare, was a sobering one. Like the rest of Aloy's companions, he was disgusted at Ted Faro's role in ending the Old World and the pointless death he caused.
Rebuilding an arm[]
Before Aloy set off for San Francisco to locate Thebes, she asked Kotallo if the Tenakth had encountered the foreign Quen. Kotallo recalled that there were rumors of trespassers in the area, but the Tenakth dismissed them as banditry. Hekarro sent out a patrol or two but they never reported back.
Kotallo then swapped topics, having spoken with GAIA that it would be possible for him to construct a prosthetic arm for himself if he were to gather the necessary data and materials. He and Aloy later met at the Ninmah Research Lab to acquire those objectives, though he was cautioned that the Zeniths would likely be maintaining surveillance in the area. Once they acquired the data, they were attacked by a pair of Specters, which they managed to destroy. They then checked the second level for the components, with Kotallo keeping a lookout while Aloy searched.
When they later met back at the Base, Kotallo asked Aloy to meet him at the spot where they felled Regalla's Tremortusk. Upon rendezvousing, he proceeded to show her a Scorcher that had killed more than a few of the Sky Clan, intending to put his new arm to the test. Upon killing the machine and extracting its heart, Kotallo proceeded to remove his new arm, having grown to accept his handicap and would only use it when necessary. He also took the Scorcher heart back to the Base as a trophy.
When he returned to the Base, Alva expressed desire to dissect his new arm to figure out how it functioned. Kotallo shared his data on how to build it with her, hoping it would satisfy her curiosity, while also teaching her some fighting techniques. He also used his prosthetic in an arm wrestling match with Erend that left the Oseram Vanguard sore.
Final battles[]
Kotallo, along with Erend, Zo and Alva, served the role of decoys during the mission at Cauldron GEMINI, sending off pulse generators to mask the energy surges caused by capturing HEPHAESTUS. Unfortunately, the illusion failed, ending in Varl dead, Beta and GAIA captured, and Aloy missing. To make matters worse, Kotallo learned that Regalla was preparing for a final assault on the Grove. When Aloy finally returned, Kotallo left for the Grove with Aloy's permission, in order to stand with the tribe against Regalla. While the battle almost seemed lost, Kotallo watched in amazement as Aloy flew into battle on a Sunwing, turning the tide of the fight and defeating Regalla in single-combat.
If Aloy chose to spare Regalla, Kotallo would be visibly displeased but ultimately accept her decision. If Aloy chose for Regalla to die, Kotallo would run the rebel leader through with his spear. In any case, Kotallo would return to the Base to prepare for the attack on the Zenith base.
Like the others, Kotallo was unnerved by Tilda, whom he felt was "unnatural". When it came time to discuss the plan for the assault, Kotallo and Alva were pulled aside by Aloy for a special task: once the group was inside, the two would split off from the others and destroy the Zenith regulator, which would help neutralize the Specters. Once they were complete, Kotallo would defend Alva as she hacked into the Zenith's database and searched for anything Tilda may have been hiding, discovering that the Zeniths were in fact planning to leave Earth to flee something called Nemesis. Kotallo would later rejoin his allies at the launch tower once the Zeniths were defeated and Beta and GAIA were recovered.
Kotallo would later attend Regalla's funeral before later informing Hekarro of the threat of Nemesis and planned to speak with the clan commanders next.
Burning Shores[]
When Aloy returned to the Memorial Grove following her adventure at the Burning Shores, she found that Kotallo was gone and had left behind a Datapoint saying he was traveling the Clan Lands in hopes of uniting his people against the coming threat. He further mentioned that the Tenakth were planning another embassy, this time in Meridian. Kotallo held no illusions of the bad blood between Tenakth and Carja and vowed to be on guard for anyone attempting to disrupt the proceedings.
Personality[]
Kotallo is stern and somewhat standoffish, dedicating most of his time and energy towards his duties and honing his prowess as a warrior. In battle, his stony attitude gives way to roaring ferocity. However, this gruff demeanor belies an unflinching dedication to peace, dry humor, and often poetic insight.
Like most in his tribe, Kotallo places great value on honor and strength, and takes pride in being Tenakth. He often finds amusement at the similarities between people despite tribal and cultural differences and through this lens is often able to see the best in his allies.
In a tribe that values strength above all else, Kotallo's maiming at Barren Light was a heavy blow. Many in the tribe no longer respected him, and he felt himself no longer as worthy. However, he eventually comes to accept his condition as part of himself: even after building a prosthetic, he decides to use it only when necessary.
Abilities[]
Kotallo is a powerful warrior against both man and machine. He played a pivotal role during the Rout, being the one to open the gates of Barren Light from the east and allow the invading Tenakth inside. His fighting style is ferocious and direct, generally employing short-range combat rather than archery. Kotallo has adapted to losing his arm, being able to scale a mountainside alone single-handedly and training himself against a flock of Sunwings.
Outside of combat, Kotallo is a skilled Machine Strike player, consistently winning against Erend in the Base. Thanks to his usage of the Focus, he is the first Tenakth to learn how to read. He is also well-versed enough in Tenakth history to teach it to an outlander.
In gameplay, Kotallo will only use melee weapons (after the Embassy) before gaining his prosthetic, after which he will additionally use a bow. His prosthetic is capable of using short range Shock blasts against enemies in front of him.
Trivia[]
- In the cinematic where Kotallo loses his arm, the model originally showed Kotallo with the covering around the stub. Later versions replace this with a bloodied wound that is visible as he is pulled from beneath the Bristleback.
- In the mission What was Lost, Kotallo mentions that he is claustrophobic.
Gallery[]
References[]