History Characters / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor

* ScarilyCompetantTracker: Trackers will detect Talion from a distance and rapidly zero in on his location, even if he's high above ground, in an unreachable spot or hidden in a bush. They also have a high chance of ambushing Talion, and can even follow him between zones to do this (often while complaining about how far they had to travel just to have a showdown).

* FlunkyBoss: Commanders specialize in this. They are surrounded by mooks, and those mooks can plant a flag that boosts everyone's attack speed and power when it's nearby.

* MultimeleeMaster: Slayers are better at melee than other orcs. For example, they can perform small combos and adapt to Talion's moves faster than others.
* OneHitKill: A variation. Assassins dont let Talion get up once he is downed, and finish him off immediately, no matter how many "Last chances" you have left.
* TeleportSpam: Well, ''dodge'' spam. Trickster and assassin orcs are can easily dodge your melee attacks, and they are good at it.

! The Black Riders.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:After Shaming Brûz, at some point later in the game, two of his brothers will ambush you, Baz and Gaz, and call you out on ruining him.]]

!!Galadriel
->Voiced by: Creator/JenniferHale

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even though he is a member of the resident ChaoticEvil race, he seems horrified to see what happened to Brûz [[spoiler:after Talion/Celebrimbor completely breaks him -- though he also may just be observing and doesn't mind as much as the more expressive Ratbag]].

* UltimateBlacksmith: In addition to his connection to the Forge Towers (activated through striking a spectral anvil with a spectral hammer), he inscribes mystical runes into Talion's weapons and can reforge them after completing enough weapon challenges. On a story level, he forged the Rings of Power on Sauron's behalf and inscribed the heat-activated text on the One Ring.

** [[spoiler:Given she spends most of the game wary of Talion and Celebrimbor because of how similar they are to Sauron, it can be pretty jarring that when Talion ultimately turns on Celebrimbor for wanting to become the next Sauron Eltariel sides with Celebrimbor.]]
** In her DLC she [[spoiler:urges Talion not to betray who he was and become a Nazgúl. He angrily and correctly retorts that she's the one who betrayed him in the first place, which is why he took up Isildur's ring. She acknowledges the truth of this and after defeating him stays in Mordor to do right by him by continuing his fight.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Eltariel tends to be dismissive ''at best'' of her orc allies, and should the player choose to, could even betray some of them, she also tends to be a DeadpanSnarker, however when interacting with Talion there can be seen glimmers of regret and she does try to treat him civily.

* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: When the Black Hand severs Talion's connection to Celebrimbor, Talion's lethal wounds reopen. Instead of collapsing and bleeding out, like he did the first time, Talion holds on long enough to kill the Black Hand and get Celebrimbor back. This happens again in ''Shadow of War'' when Shelob takes the New Ring from him, and when Celebrimbor takes the New Ring and abandons him to possess Eltariel.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler: He forged the Rings of Power]].

* GodzillaThreshold: Celebrimbor is shocked that Galadriel would be employing assassins. Eltariel invokes the trope by retorting that things have gotten ''that bad''. Galadriel's tone in the DlC's openong cutscene implies that she is pretty desperate, as she doesn't allow Eltariel to go back to her home until the Nazgúl are dead.

* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:Either accept Celebrimbor's offer to act as his host to fight Sauron or abandon all her allies to die at Sauron's gates. It's no wonder she went with the former.]]

* IronButtMonkey: Yes, he's a tool. Yes, he's pitiful. Yes, he has zero friends. [[spoiler: And yet he can take a swing from ''Sauron's oown mace'', yet receive nothing worse than a short-term blackout and a headache.]]

-->'''Talion''': [[spoiler: I will not trade one Dark Lord for another! This is not the end I have fought for!]]

* FrontlineGeneral: In ''Shadow of War'', Talion personally leads his Uruk armies in assaulting and taking enemy strongholds. This is very poignant since its a [[{{Foil}} trait that sets him apart]] from Sauron, who [[OrcusOnHisThrone stays in the background]].
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: [[spoiler:Every move he shows off in his boss fights in ''Blade of Galadriel'' can actually perfomed in gameplay. His jumping teleport seems to be a combination of an upgrade to the dodge move and Talon Strike, and the explosions he causes [[FreezeFrameBonus are from the hammers he tosses around.]] He can even perform executions!]]

-->'''Rogue Nazgûl''': The Dark Lord and the Ringmaker burn atop Barad-dûr. The Witch King is diminished. ''We are ascendant''!...You face the army we have assembled to dominate all of Mordor and you will have the honour of being its first triumph. And when your bodies lie broken on the battlefield, we will hack the Rings from your fingers and begin our conquest of Middle-Earth!

* DiedHappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler: After decades of torment and fighting against the dark forces of Mordor he finally dies when Mt Doom explodes and his fell beast is taken out by a lava bomb, granting him peace at last and finally the chance he was literally dying to have: [[EarnYourHappyEnding to be with his family again for all eternity.]]]]
* DramaticIrony: One Gondorian artifact he can find strikes up a conversation with Celebrimbor about the giant Eagles, with the former doubting they can hold a candle to the Fell-beasts and drakes his encountered. [[spoiler: Fast forward to ''Return of the King'', where being one of the Nazgul present at the Battle of the Black Gate - all riding Fell-beasts - he very quickly ate his own words.]]

* AxeCrazy: The Slaughter Tribe is basically the SerialKiller tribe, with a blood-and-entrails motif to their Forts.

'''Slaughter Tribe:''' Tenderize the '''''meat'''''![[note]]Slice. Dice. Feast.[[/note]]
-->'''Outlaw Tribe:''' Mordor belongs to the '''Outlaw'''!

-->'''Celebrimbor''': ''(furious)'' [[spoiler: He was not yours to release!]]
-->'''Talion''': ''(disgusted)'' [[spoiler: And he was not YOURS to enslave!]]

* AFateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Like Castamir, several are turned into wights, and are forced to follow Nazgul-Isildur's will. For better or worse, they later end up serving Dark Talion.]]
* BigDamnHero: During Act I, unnamed captains may save you from orcs about to strike the killing blow.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:He is raised as a wight by the Witch-King and he is still barely sentient during the whole time]].
-->'''Celebrimbor:''' He serves the Dark Lord still.

* FateWorseThanDeath: He receives one from [[spoiler:Talion in order to make an example of what happens to those who oppose the Bright Lord.]] Fittingly, [[spoiler:Completing his questline unlocks the "Worse Than Death" upgrade for Shaming, which lets you create Deranged Orcs]].

* DropTheHammer: Tends to use one in his off-hand in ''Shadow Of War''.

-->'''Sauron''': In the body of Elf or Man, you are unchanged, Celebrimbor!
-->'''Shelob''': You saw Celebrimbor for what he ''really'' was.

* GivenNameReveal: [[spoiler: Early on in The Desolation of Mordor it is revealed his true Haradrim name was Warad]]

* KillItWithFire: Quite a lot of his arsenal revolves around this , such as flame arrows , bombs and a flaming shield.

* TheDeterminator: As he tells Baranor after a hard fought battle , he is called the Unkillable not because he has never lost , but because he has always come back from the brink.

* [[RaisedByOrcs Raised by Mercenaries:]] He and Baranor's parents were killed by the very same mercenaries he now rules over.

* FinalBoss: Of the ''Bright Lord'' DLC, without any ambiguity. It's you and your Warchiefs versus him and a big mob of Uruks.

* GoodEyesEvilEyes: When he tries more attractive appearance like the Annatar form or [[spoiler: the Hand]] his eyes have a red evil glare to them. Flashback shows he could hide it with occasional GlamorFailure in his Annatar form.

-->'''[[spoiler: Castamir]]''': [[spoiler: You will hold to our bargain. My daughter's freedom...]]
-->'''Witch King''': [[spoiler: She is free to die with her people!]]

* DemonicPossession: Can do this to [[MeatPuppet fallen Orcs]] in order to speak to Talion.
-->'''Witch King:''' I come for ''you'', Talion of Gondor.

* EvilSoundsDeep: As befitting the Dark Lord of Mordor, he speaks in a notably deep voice.

* AdaptationalBadass: ''Vastly'' more powerful than in the original books, and notably because he lacks a canon handicap. In the events of the books, Eru deliberately takes away his ability to assume an attractive form after the Downfall of Ar-Pharazon. In the games, he still has it, and is apparently able to project telepathic messages to unwilling recipients from hundreds of miles away, and possibly also teleport. Nowhere in the books is it suggested that Maiar still have those abilities in the Third Age - the entire story of the Ring could have been easily resolved in minutes if Gandalf, Saruman, or Sauron had had such powers!

Formerly one of the greatest heroes of Gondor, Isildur vanquished Sauron during the Battle of Dagorlad, but was corrupted by the One Ring. He was killed after the ring betrayed him during an orc ambush, but his body was recovered and brought to still recovering Sauron, who then put one of the nine rings of power in Isildur's dead hand. This brought him back to life, [[FateWorseThanDeath but as Sauron's servant]].

* TheFaceless: The faces of the Nazgûl are hidden behind the cloaks they wear.

The namesake of Helms Deep and the ninth king of Rohan. After he refused to let a nobleman marry his daughter, Helm was assaulted by said nobleman and some of his men. Back home, lying on his bed mortally wounded and his daughter kidnapped, he was visited by Sauron and Celebrimbor who offered him a ring as a way to rescue his daughter and exact revenge on the man who took her. [[DealWithTheDevil He accepted]]. After his recovery, he stormed the nobleman's castle with some of his own men, but in his rage he missed the killing blow and accidentally struck his own daughter dead. Furious about what had happened, Helm slaughtered everyone in the room, ''including his own men''.

* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: [[spoiler:The influence of the Ring of Power that saved his life after an attempted assassination exacerbated his [[BloodKnight rage and bloodlust]] during his [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge attempt to rescue his daughter]] to the point that he accidentally murdered her, then in grief he killed her Dunlending husband and even his own captains when they tried to stop him]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: He was a fully heroic character in the books, if unwittingly used as part of Sauron's scheme. Here, thanks to exposure to the One Ring before his death, he's ''severely'' more AmbiguouslyEvil.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: He already had scars in ''Shadow of Mordor'', but by ''Shadow of War'' his face has become nothing ''but'' scars. Even during the Bright Lord DLC his wraith form is already scarred, although this is less because of his corruption and more because of [[PropRecycling his character model being re-used]], and in the "Shadows of the Past" missions in ''War'', his wraith form is practically identical to his normal appearance, with the exception of it's blue glow and white eyes.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: You can only recruit them once in your save file. If they die, they are gone unless they cheat death, and the only way to get them back is to restart the DLC. They are even more so if you add them to the main game, since they are only given to the player once.