Characters / Tear of Grace

Shadow Of Mordor and Shadow of War

Tear has had innumerable enemies and allies throughout the two games, both Uruk and (in the second game) Olog.

General Tropes

• Back from the Dead: Most of this cast has survived near death experiences. Special mention goes to Ishgha, who cheated death a staggering six times.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: All of Tear's allies, except Feldush, started out at enemies, before being branded.
• Mark of Shame: Both branded orcs and those shamed by Tear have handprints burned on their faces.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Tear's general gameplay style of fighting is to kill Captain after Captain. As such, many of these Orcs will appear and die in one episode.

Tear's Allies

Feldush Giggles

"My forces will crush you to death!"

Tear's first famous follower, Giggles joined his army in the first episode, he almost never needed Tear's help to win a fight.

• The Big Guy: Has this personality, often bragging about how his boys will have a good laugh over his enemy's death.
• Carry a Big Stick: Carries a large, spiked club as his main weapon.
• Embarrassing Nickname: He's called Giggles.
• Killed Offscreen: Initially averted in the original Shadow of Mordor series. In the second episode, Tear regrettably informs the viewers that Giggles died when he was not playing the game. However, four episodes later it was revealed that he was just in another zone.
  • Although he was not brought over into Shadow of War, which carries this implication.
• Mister Big: Played With. He's not tiny mind you, but he's still a head shorter than your average uruk.
• Rank Up: Goes from Captain to Warchief in the sixth episode of Shadow of Mordor.

Kruk Blood-Axe

Kruk's first appearance

Click ^here  to see his appearance in Shadow of War.

Tear's first famous nemesis, and later one of his allies. He was carried over into Shadow Of War, becoming a member of the Slaughter Tribe and gaining the Berserker class.

• The Ace: Quickly proved himself to be this in Shadow of War. Most notably during the Shadow Wars, Krûk’s rage and lightning fast hits makes him nigh unstoppable in combat.
• Berserk Button: His now infamous 'Hate of Pain' turns Kruk into an unstoppable monster upon receiving damage. Any damage.
• The Berserker: His main advantage is how angry he gets upon getting hit, so he often seems to let Tear or his branded orcs rough him up so he can start dishing out one-shots. It's even his advanced class in Shadow of War, and he still lives up to it there: Once he starts swinging, he does not stop until everything is dead.
• Catchphrase: Whenever he encountered Tear, he always started the fight with a smug "Lucky us!" Another common cataphrase of his only occurs after he kills Tear a few times "Back in your grave, Scum!"
• Curb-Stomp Battle: His return in Shadow Of War features him versus Bruz's army alongside Hûra the Obsessed, Pash Beast-Slayer (The previous Overlord of the region before Bruz took it), and Tear himself. Kruk shows how he's Taken A Level In Badass between games by taking out 3 of Bruz's captains and coming out of the fight with almost full health.
  • His later return several episodes later is appropriately titled "KRUK KILLS EVERYTHING". The guy starts rampaging and just doesn't stop, killing captain after captain whenever turned loose and easily trashing an orc 10 levels higher than him to the point he couldn't even get a single hit in.
• Empathic Weapon: Apparently the Blood-Axe likes the taste of blood. Specifically, Tear's (and once branded, Tear's enemies).
• Face–Heel Turn: After so many episodes by Tear's side, Kruk betrays him in "Kruk's Krime" and kills him. Then becomes the Overlord.
• Facial Horror: His first few deaths earned him several scars over his face. But then it apparently got so bad that he had to start wearing a sack over his head.
• Madness Mantra: After battling Tear and subsequently being shamed to reduce his level, Kruk becomes deranged and can only say "The Blood Bleeds" or something similar.
• Redemption Demotion: Was essentially castrated after being branded by Tear, almost never winning fights. This changed when he was carried over to Shadow of War, and introduced himself by killing three Captains in a row. He later goes off on a rampage.
• Rank Up: After being branded, he is made a Warchief by Tear. Many episodes later, he eventually becomes an Overlord. After betraying Tear.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Vulnerable to Stealth. Tear exploits this weakness to brand him. Also gained a Fear of Executions after betraying Tear, which is exploited to defeat and re-recruit him.

Hûra the Obsessed

"You're mine now love, forever and ever..."

An Orc who's view on love is skewed, to say the least. After being branded during the Siege of Nurnen, he proved to be better than first thought.

• Abhorrent Admirer: To say orcs aren't the nicest looking of creatures is an understatement, which makes his affection for Tear somewhat terrifying.
• Ascended Fanboy: Hûra wasn't too inconvenienced by being forced to serve Tear, glad to finally be with his obsession. He then quickly proved himself and was promoted to a warchief of Nurnen.
• Automatic Crossbows: Being part of the Marauder tribe, he carries a pair of them which he often used to finish off his foes.
• Big Damn Heroes: Delivered the killing blow on Ukrom the Machine during the Story Mode's final level.
• Character Death: Was killed in the first Shadow Wars episode. On top of that, he was beheaded, ensuring that he would not come back.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: His preferred method of execution, most notably used on Ukrom the Machine.
• Shield-Bearing Mook: What he was as an enemy.
• Taking You with Me: Due to being a destroyer, all of his grenades go off around him upon his death. This manages to actually kill one of the enemy captains, albeit not the one that killed him.

Gubu the Unashamed

One of Tear's first rivals during Shadow of War. He was branded shortly after the Siege of Nurnen. An archer who found new purpose in life after being shamed by Tear.

"Your stench is becoming familiar, maggot."

• Automatic Crossbows: Gubu wields a large spiked crossbow that can unload multiple lethal rounds into foes.
• Character Death: He's pummeled to death by an orc named Kruk the Poet, almost immediately after proving himself to Tear again by killing a troublesome captain.
• The Cynic: He used to be called "the Jaded" and dealt with all his kills in a dreary and boring demeanor.
  Upon seeing Tear after killing him, "A glob who doesn't know how to die. How mundane."
• Mark of Shame: Inverted Trope. After his initial shaming from Tear, he took the mark and wore it as a badge of honor. He reinvented himself as “the Unashamed” and earned his spot on Tear’s nemesis list. Even after he was branded, he still boasts about his markings and how no one can bring him shame.
• Redemption Equals Death: He saved Tear from near death after killing and humiliating him constantly, but he was quickly killed after this act of heroism. It was done via friendly fire as well

Kuga The Tower

A Terror Trickster from Shadow Of War who Tear comes across and eventually recruits in Gorgoroth, Kuga styles himself off of the Tower of Sauron from Shadow of Mordor, and it's implied that he is indeed the Tower, reincarnated as an Uruk. His loyalties are... complicated.

"You claim to have toppled the Tower, Ranger... but behold."

• Body Horror: The Tower's armor speaks for itself.
• Chain Pain: As a member of the Terror Tribe, this is a given.
• Dual Wielding: Uses two cursed axes in combat.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: He starts off as a hostile captain, gets shamed and recruited, stays as one of Tear's captains for a while, betrays him after Tear unknowingly kills his blood brother, and is recruited again after he's defeated during the final battle of the story. Only time will tell if he'll stay on Tear's side during the Shadow Wars.

Tear's Nemeses

Prak Jaws

The most famous Uruk Captain from Tear's Shadow of Mordor let's play, Prak beat him dozens of times, and was not permanently killed until the end of the main series.

Maybe we'll actually find some Uruks of worth around here.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: See the caption quote, said just before Brett's first meeting with his main Nemesis.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: One of his most noticeable traits outside of his facepaint and namesake steel jaw mouthplate is his bloodshot red eyes with unnervingly vibrant blue irises.
• Combat Pragmatist: Usually begins a fight with an attack, before he even introduces himself.
• The Computer Shall Taunt You: Brings Tear to his knees countless times, but never takes any of these chances to kill him. Merely shaking his head at him and giggling, and then walking off-screen and disappearing, leaving Tear to stew in his humiliation.
• The Dreaded: Evokes this reaction from Tear very quickly after showing up.
• Disney Villain Death: His third death involves him being tossed off of a building by Tear. It didn't work.
• Killed Off for Real: It seemed that he had been killed off in episode twenty-five, fittingly titled The Back of Bane is Broken, but later showed up in the penultimate episode of the main series as the head of an army. He was eventually beaten, and did not come back for Shadow of War.
• Laughing Mad: Constantly laughs throughout his fights.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Does this quite a lot, as a means of reaching Tear, and then does it when he leaves. Tear would sometimes be in a completely different region, and Prak will ''STILL'' find him. His debut episode had a downright egregious example of this where he leaves southward after defeating Tear, only to immediately come back for round two. Coming towards him from the North.
• The Speechless: He vocalizes a lot, but it's never in the form of speech. He roars, giggles, growls, sniffs, but never speaks. At least until the final episode, wherein he says only a few words.
  "Burn... Maim... Kill them all!"
• Screaming Warrior: Screams at Tear throughout his fights.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Often shows up from behind Tear, announcing himself with either his signature shriek, or a pair of axes.

Ar-Kaius the Deranged

An Olog introduced in Shadow of War, Ar-Kaius begins his onscreen career by immediately retreating amidst an attack. He was shamed as punishment and became deranged almost immediately.

I just wanted to know what to note down next to the goddamn adjective 'pathetic'.

• Ax-Crazy: Pretty quickly turned into this, as he's driven insane.
• Berserker Tears: Cries and laughs in equal measure after being drive insane.
• Broken Tears: See above.
• The Brute: Comes with the territory of being an Olog, but his old title of "the Strong" might signify he is an exceptionally powerful one.
• Carry a Big Stick: Wields a massive club, as he's an Olog.
• Cry Laughing: The sounds he makes often come across as this.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Tear took notice of how quickly Ar-Kaius fled instead of protecting his Overlord and shamed him. The next time he was seen, his mind was broken into a sobbing/cackling mess. A few lucky hits combined with Tear underestimating him led to Ar-Kaius quickly becoming Tear's newest nemesis.
• Laughing Mad: Left this after being deranged.
• Mirthless Laughter: Ar-Kaius may laugh a lot, but it seems that he himself doesn't have the brain capacity to understand why he's laughing.

Ukrom Blood-Storm/The Machine

"How many times have you faced me? More than I can count! Terrible thing, unfinished business. Time to settle it all permanently. Right. Now."

Ukrom's first appearance

Click ^here  to see him as the Machine.

The last nemesis in Tear's Shadow of Mordor playthrough. Originally called Ukrom Blood-Storm, he was an unstoppable force of nature that could never be bested. He was the chosen Nemesis to return in Shadow of War. Ukrom was defeated in the arena, but came back with both a mechanical body and a vengeance. He has returned in Tear's replay of Shadow of War on the PC... and God knows Tear is in for trouble.

• Artificial Limbs: As “the Machine”, most of his arms and legs is replaced by crudely made iron implants.
• The Bus Came Back: He had all but vanished from Shadow of Mordor as Tear had given up trying to kill him... until he showed up in War as the Nemesis Champion.
  Tear: NNNNNNNNNNN-NOPE, I'M NOT OKAY WITH THAT ONE. BYE!
  • He did so again in Tear's second playthrough of Shadow of War.
• Came Back Strong: After he was cleaved in two, he was brought back as 'the Machine', making an already powerful warrior even stronger.
  Ukrom: You cleaved me in two. Any other Orc would have died, but I survived. My brothers put me back together, stronger than ever. But they didn't make me into what I am. You did. You created the Machine!
• Elemental Weapon: In Tear's replay of Shadow of War, his poisoned spear is replaced with a flaming one at one point. But he's still as deadly.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: He was cut in half sideways during the arena fight, but this didn't stop him from coming back as the Machine.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He was put down again - this time for good - by Hûra the Obsessed, who ran him through on his lance.
• Not Worth Killing: Ukrom prefers to humiliate his opponents before forcing them to the ground and mocking them. He'll give the player a few chances to fight back, and when he downs you one last time, he leaves and rubs your defeat in his face with a final taunt.
  Ukrom: Enjoy living in the knowledge that you are beaten!
  • He retained this when becoming the Machine...
    Ukrom: The Machine has a purpose! I'll let you think about yours.
• Poisoned Weapons: His signature motif. Ukrom brings his venom coated spear, poison bombs, and toxic mines into battle.
  Tear: Why did you call yourself the goddamn Blood-Storm if all you do is throw shite-ing poison everywhere?!
  • In the replay, he ditches these for a flaming spear, and he is now a Berserker of the Slaughter Tribe... much like Krûk. This is only for one appearance, however. Tear temporarily abandons the quest, then comes back to find Ukrom with the poisonous spear once again. And as a Slaughter Tank.
• Poor Man's Substitute: What some people view him as to Prak Jaws. Many were especially annoyed when Ukrom returned for Shadow of War and not Prak.

Ishgha the Mad

The first of the many mad Orcs Tear encountered in Shadow of Mordor. He, somehow, survived no less than six attempts to kill him by Tear.

"Sticky Glue!"

• The Caligula: While not officially a ruler, Tear gave him the moniker of "Mad King".
• Catchphrase: "Sticky glue!" and "Buttons!"
• Cloud Cuckoolander: It's clear that there's something wrong with this Orc, though he's a lesser example compared to other mad Uruks... such as Golm the Mad, who tended to talk about "the worms in his head that wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle." In fact, Ishgha embodies the more "angry" side of "mad," in fact he makes grim threats to Talion whenever he fights him.
  Ishgha: What're you doin' 'ere?! I'll strip the flesh from yer bones fer this!
• Not Quite Dead: Even by Shadow of Mordor standards, returning from dying six times is very uncommon.
• Poisoned Weapons: A poisoned club, for that matter, which he uses to bash his opponent's skulls in.

Gluk the Bard

A minstrel orc who sings and dances as he butchers his foes. Tear took an immediate liking to the bard and attempted to recruit him, only for Gluk to kill him multiple times and become an Overlord.

"Let's siiiiing~"

• Alas, Poor Villain: He was killed by one of Tear's followers, and Tear shows genuine remorse/anger upon seeing his death. Later on, he'd come back as a zombie in Zog's last level, which only made Tear feel worse.
• Automatic Crossbows: As a Marauder assassin, he wields two crossbow to shoot a flurry of arrows. As shown by Tear, they can be quite effective combined with his no chance ability.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Sure, the idea of an uruk bard may sound stupid, and seeing him "prance and dance and sing with glee" doesn't make him look that intimidating, but Gluk was able to rise through the ranks till he was Overlord of Gorgoroth.
• Came Back Wrong: He was resurrected as an uruk revenant with no free will to play his lute and no voice to sing his songs.
• Improvised Weapon: Uses a lute with an axe blade mounted to the side.