History Characters / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordorAntagonists

The namesake of Helm's Deep and the ninth king of Rohan. After he refused to let Prince Siric of Dunland marry his daughter, Helm was fatally injured in an assassination attempt by Siric and his men, who also kidnapped his daughter. On his death bed at Edoras, Helm 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 Siric'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''.

* BeastMaster: Summons caragors, ghûls and drakes during Talion's battle with him.

* TheBerserker: Becomes this [[spoiler: under the influence of the ring Sauron gave him]].
* CompositeCharacter: The original lore ''does'' state that after his death, there quickly rose legends of him becoming an undead wraith who continued to protect Rohan against its foes. The game fuses this with him being one of the Nazgûl.

* 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 [[BadBoss his own captains when they tried to stop him]].]]

-->'''Celebrimbor''': Hammerhand was known for his strength in life. If anything he has grown more powerful in death.

* TragicVillain: Said to be one by Celebrimbor, the flashback Talion sees during an encounter with him elaborates. [[spoiler:His daughter was kidnapped by a Dunlending rival who wanted to marry her and become king, and Helm himself was ambushed and fatally wounded. On his deathbed, Sauron and Celebrimbor visited him and gifted him a ring of power, which restored him and enabled him to launch a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Unfortunately, Hammerhand eventually became so corrupted that he ended up killing his own daughter when she tried to stop him from getting at his rival.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: He's only a villain in light that he's a Nazgûl, but back when he went after the man who took his daughter, he had a compelling argument for pursuing war with the Dunlanders: If they wanted peace, they really shouldn't have attempted to ''murder'' him in the first place.

Formerly one of the greatest heroes of Gondor, Isildur vanquished Sauron during the War of the Last Alliance, but was corrupted by the One Ring which he had taken as a trophy of victory. He was killed after the Ring betrayed him during an orc ambush, but his body was recovered and brought to a still-recovering Sauron, who then put one of the nine rings of power on Isildur's dead finger. This brought him back to life, [[FateWorseThanDeath but as Sauron's servant]].

* ClimaxBoss: Fighting him marks the PointOfNoReturn and occurs just prior to the final duels against [[spoiler:the Witch-king]] and [[spoiler: Sauron himself]].

* {{Necromancer}}: He can summon and control the spirits of the dead to serve him in battle, similar to how Helm Hammerhand can control Mordor's wildlife.

* TragicVillain: He was once the great king and hero of Gondor, but his corruption by the One Ring made him squander the opportunity to destroy Sauron for good and resulted in his becoming Sauron's slave as one of the Nine.

* TheUsurper: When their father and king demanded the Rings of Power they'd claimed as trophies, they instead chose to kill him and take his throne, ruling and slowly becoming more corrupted by the Rings until Sauron eventually came to claim them for the Nine.

** The Terror Tribe sings about- what else?- torturing people.

*** Captains who are panicked by Betrayal will flee the second Talion dominates ''anyone'' -- including worms and beasts (which becomes especially easy if Talion has the trait to instantly mount a beast even if it's not wounded.)

* LandMineGoesClick: Destroyers litter the area around them with mines, and they can replace mines that detonate. If they possess an elemental weapon, their mines also contain that element. Notably, if you run into a Destroyer in the wild (or if you summon a Destroyer bodyguard), you'll suddenly become aware that the area is mined.

* KlingonPromotion: [[spoiler: His permanent defeat leads to Talion being able to claim his Ring of Power.]]

* UndeathAlwaysEnds: In a unique fashion, [[spoiler: Talion and the Wraith actually manage to Dominate him; but then Talion releases his spirit to death, cutting his ties to Sauron. This leaves an opening in the Nine...]]

A pair of female Ringwraiths who originated from the Kingdom of Shen in Middle-earth's equivalent of Far East. They killed two Nazgûl and stole their Rings of Power for themselves before assassinating their father to take the throne from him. They ruled the region for some time, amassing a fortune in the progress, before Sauron visited to add them to his ranks.

* ArcVillain: They are the actual villains in the ''Blade of Galadriel'' DLC. Although Talion is the FinalBoss fought right after they are defeated, he is an grudging ally for most of the expansion.

* DualBoss: They fight as one against Elthariel.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: The Sisters are encountered by Talion during the events of the main game[[note]]There are only nine Nazgûl; Talion battles five anonymous Nazgûl simultaneously during the Fall of Minas Ithil, and the Witch-king, [[spoiler:Sûladan, Helm Hammerhand, and Isildur]] round out the ranks[[/note]], but he deals with them with little difficulty. During the Shadow Wars, they conquer the fortress at Gorgoroth and give Eltariel -- herself a veteran Nazgûl hunter -- a hard time during their clash.

[[folder:Zog]]

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Zhója is a CutsceneBoss who is [[TheUnfought never fought directly]] (since he ''only'' appears in said cutscenes), has maybe thirty seconds screen time tops, and is only relevant to a single quest (although he gets a throwaway mention in the next quest) -- but he still gets his own article in the Appendices...''in the Main Characters section''.

!The Nemesis System

[[folder:Nemesis Orcs]]
!!Nemesis Orcs
->Voiced by: Creator/JBBlanc, Creator/BrianBloom, Creator/SteveBlum, Creator/DarinDePaul, Creator/MichaelGough, Creator/NeilKaplan, Eric Lopez, Creator/MatthewMercer, Creator/NolanNorth, Creator/DwightSchultz, Creator/FredTatasciore and Creator/TravisWillingham

The officers of Orc society, from Captains all the way to the Overlord. Aside from names and fancy titles, these orcs have a number of strengths that make them much, much more dangerous than your rank-and-file grunts. However, they also have weaknesses you can exploit to great effect.

* CameBackWrong: In Shadow of War, Uruk brought back by Necromancers have the 'Undead' tag instead of a Tribe tag, are pallid, black-haired and green-eyed, and have their dialog replaced by gibbering moans or mutism.
** [[spoiler: Talion can get the ability to do this himself in Act IV. In addition to the aforementioned cosmetic changes, undead orcs can no longer level up, and [[FireKeepsItDead gain a]] [[WeakToFire weakness to fire]]. On the plus side, they can't be poisoned and can never betray you.]]
** This can also happen in some of the ways that Uruks cheat death, frequently in different flavors of BodyHorror. For instance, an Uruk that was severely mutilated by Talion, such as losing most of their limbs, can return with the "Machine" tag, becoming the closest thing the setting has to a HollywoodCyborg, while another is the "Poisoned" or "Blighted" tag. An Uruk you kill with poison has a chance to come back covered in leaking sores and boils, [[FacialHorror with half of their face melted]].

-->'''Uruk''' : [[DidntSeeThatComing Didn't see this coming.]] No matter. Just finish it. \\

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:The final Zog mission will have him resurrecting all of the Captains Talion killed into zombie-like soldiers. They will have their old traits, but aren't able to speak, gargling incoherently. They also cannot be recruited or shamed.]]

* SmokeOut: Trickster class orcs in the sequel can use smoke bombs to teleport around the battlefield.

** Assassins and Tricksters have the Agile trait, which (among other things) enables them to dodge virtually all of Talion's sword strikes, assuming that they aren't stunned or otherwise incapacitated. It's entirely possible to [[InvertedTrope no-sell this particular no-sell]] by setting them on fire or freezing them.

* TinTyrant: He sports his armoured look from [[Film/LordOfTheRings the films]].

* UndyingLoyalty: Though all Orcs are first and foremost followers of Sauron, the members of the Dark Tribe are described as some of his most fanatical followers, constructing statues to the Dark Lord in their fortresses.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Some Orcs lack lips and/or cheeks, giving them unnaturally-wide fang-studded mouths.

* ThatManIsDead: A Captain who has been Shamed (and possibly killed) by Talion may return as "the Nameless One", giving a WhatTheHellPlayer, saying he's fighting for all of the other Captains Talion has Shamed. [[ImmediateSelfContradiction The Captain will still keep his proper name, though.]]

* TheNoseKnows: A skill for Nemesis uruks is Sniffer, which works almost like Tracker in that uruks use it to track Talion down. The difference is that captains with Sniffer can only notice Talion when he's somewhat near them, no matter if he's standing on a building or hiding in a bush.

* ButtMonkey: An Uruk who gets killed by Talion repeatedly will usually come back with horrific wounds, referring to how much pain they have to constantly suffer through. An Uruk who has been killed multiple times ''and'' has an easily-exploitable fear on top of that? They suddenly become an utter joke.

** Also in ''Shadow of War'', Orcs can have BloodBrothers who will come after you if you take one of them down.

* SpeakOfTheDevil: In ''War'', sometimes Talion's actions will attract a related Captain. For example, slice off the limbs of a Captain when killing him, an Uruk named "The Mutilator" will pop up to critique Talion's work before attacking. Explode a campfire to cause spiders to erupt from it, and a Captain named "The Spider" will be upset at you for defiling Shelob before attacking.

** [[spoiler: Talion can get the ability to do this himself in Act IV. In addition to the aforementioned cosmetic changes, undead orcs can no longer level up, and gain a weakness to fire. On the plus side, they can't be poisoned and can never betray you.]]

* BackFromTheDead: Using his necromancy, he can resurrect orcs as revenants, including slain captains. [[spoiler:In the final chapter of Carnán's questline, his acolytes succeed in bringing ''him'' back from the dead as well, and it seems to be a perfect resurrection - he can revive repeatedly even from decapitation, and he's in full possession of his mental faculties (wereas most revenants are groaning, wretched monsters).]]

* EvilIsNotAToy: A Mystic Tribe Warchief by the name of Zog the Eternal is the one who provides the final push to unseal Tar-Goroth, planning to present him to Sauron in expectation of great acclaim for himself. Sadly for him, the Balrog has no interest in his schemes, and wipes out several members of his cult before engaging Talion and Carnán and then taking off to work some havoc of his own.

* ColdSniper: As of the Blade of Galadriel update in February 2018, all Marksmen have the Sniper Shot trait, which allows them to pull off extremely accurate shots from extreme distances -- they can even [[BeyondTheImpossible damage Talion mid-somersault]]. And those attacks ''hurt''!

!The Nemesis System

[[folder:Nemesis Orcs]]
!!Nemesis Orcs
->Voiced by: Creator/JBBlanc, Creator/BrianBloom, Creator/SteveBlum, Creator/DarinDePaul, Creator/MichaelGough, Creator/NeilKaplan, Eric Lopez, Creator/MatthewMercer, Creator/NolanNorth, Creator/DwightSchultz, Creator/FredTatasciore and Creator/TravisWillingham

The officers of Orc society, from Captains all the way to the Overlord. Aside from names and fancy titles, these orcs have a number of strengths that make them much, much more dangerous than your rank-and-file grunts. However, they also have weaknesses you can exploit to great effect.

* GetBackHereBoss: Tricksters, who dodge Talion's attacks like Assassins, have a chance of escaping a QuickTimeEvent execution, and drop bombs while fleeing. Sometimes, if you follow a retreating Trickster long enough, he might taunt Talion before disappearing with the help of a smoke bomb; alternatively, he might reveal that he [[LuredIntoATrap lured Talion into an ambush]].

** Beastmasters are almost always immune to attacks from beasts, and typically deal double damage to them in return.

** Trackers and Tricksters have Vault Breaker, which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin prevents Talion from vaulting over them]]. Notably, this trait does not appear in the captain's trait lists.

* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Has a talent for this, he did this to the Nazgul, [[spoiler:then to Isildur, and then to Celebrimbor, and finally Talion. Everyone who opposed him has finally been conquered, bent, and corrupted by him]].

** If he had a Ring of Power, he could be one of the nine Nazgul pre-transformation, as his attire is very similar to [[spoiler:that worn by Ringwraith-Talion[[note]]Although with normal skin tone, but this could be explained by the fact that Talion was already long dead when he was turned[[/note]]]] in the sequel. The spiky armor and glowing eyes also suggests this. However, this would still not explain Sauron's sudden appearance and as mentioned, he doesn't seem to have a ring.

* ItsPersonal: The Witch-king holds a special hatred for all of Gondor. According to the Appendices, he especially wants to enslave Talion as a Nazgul because of that animosity he's held against Gondor for over 4,000 years.

* LegacyCharacter: In this version of Middle-earth, several have actually been killed. However, their rings seem to always end on someone elses hand, either by coincidence, intentionally, or even because their killer felt it looked nice.

* NoSell: As they exist in both normal and wraith worlds, they can see Talion if he is invisible and are not slowed down if he uses ranged weapons. They also cannot be knocked down, and are immune to status effects.

* SuperEmpowering: {{Implied|Trope}}. After taking Minas Ithil, some of the Nazgûl perform rituals all over Mordor to turn selected Orc captains into "Chosen." It's unclear exactly what separates the Chosen from normal captains, since Talion and Eltariel violently disrupt any ritual that they come across.

* AdaptationalVillainy: While only two Nazgul were ever named, there was no indication in the books or films that Helm Hammerhand was ever a Nazgûl, nor aligned with Sauron at all. ''Shadow of War'' includes him in their ranks, with his TragicVillain status showing a descent from his deeds in life, to becoming one of the Nine.
* BeastMaster: Summons caragors, ghuls and drakes during Talion's battle with him.

* CompositeCharacter: The original lore ''does'' state that after his death, there quickly rose legends of him becoming an undead wraith who continued to protect Rohan against its foes. The game fuses this with him being one of the Nazgul.

* TragicVillain: Said to be one by Celebrimbor, the flashback Tallion sees during an encounter with him elaborates. [[spoiler:His daughter was kidnapped by a Dunlending rival who wanted to marry her and become king, and Helm himself was ambushed and fatally wounded. On his deathbed, Sauron and Celebrimbor visited him and gifted him a ring of power, which restored him and enabled him to launch a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Unfortunately, Hammerhand eventually became so corrupted that he ended up killing his own daughter when she tried to stop him from getting at his rival.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: He's only a villain in light that he's a Nazgul, but back when he went after the man who took his daughter, he had a compelling argument for pursuing war with the Dunlanders: If they wanted peace, they really shouldn't have attempted to ''murder'' him in the first place.

Formerly one of the greatest heroes of Gondor, Isildur vanquished Sauron during the Battle of Dagorlad, but was corrupted by the One Ring which he had taken as a trophy of victory. He was killed after the Ring betrayed him during an orc ambush, but his body was recovered and brought to a 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]].

* AdaptationDeviation: Like Helm Hammerhand, in the novels Isildur lived ''long'' after all of the Nazgûl came into existence. In this AlternateTimeline, Sauron turned him into one of the nine after he was killed in an Orc ambush and they brought his dead body before Sauron.
* ClimaxBoss: Fighting him marks the PointOfNoReturn and occurs just prior to the final duels against [[spoiler: the Witch-king]] and [[spoiler: Sauron himself]].

* FallenHero: He won the Battle of Dagorlad by cutting off Sauron's finger and separating him from the One Ring.

* IronicHell: The man who became hero after he defeated Sauron, is now forced to serve him.
* KlingonPromotion: [[spoiler: His permanent defeat leads to Talion being able to claim his minor Ring of Power.]]

* NoSell: While fleeing the orcs while wearing the One Ring, the arrows bounce off him. The moment it leaves him, however, they find their mark.
* OhCrap: The look on his face when the One Ring slips from his finger, leaving him visible and vulnerable to Orc archers screams this trope.

* UndeathAlwaysEnds: In a unique fashion, [[spoiler: Talion and the Wraith actually manage to Dominate him; but then Talion releases his spirit to death; cutting his ties to Sauron. This leaves an opening in the Nine.....]]

A pair of female Ringwraiths originated from the Middle-earth's equivalent of Far East, who killed two Nazgûl and stole their Rings of Power for themselves before assassinating their father to take the throne from him. They ruled the region for some time, amassing a fortune in the progress, before Sauron visited to add them to his ranks.

* AllThereInTheManual: Their names are Yan Wei and Yan Qi, [[https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Lzmor according to their artist]].

** This continues even after they became Ringwraiths; the Sisters note that with Sauron distracted by his battle for supremacy with Celebrimbor and the Witch-king weakened by his defeat at Talion's hands, [[TheStarscream their plan is to raise an army of Orcs and conquer Middle-Earth for themselves]].
--->'''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!
* ArcVillain: They are the actual villains in the ''Blade of Galadriel'' DLC, even though Talion is the FinalBoss fought right after they are defeated, he is an grudging ally for most of the expansion.
* BigBadDuumvirate: They aim to rule Middle-Earth together.

* ContraltoOfDanger: They definitely sound just like the other Nazgul in the game, but are distinctive enough to tell they are female.

* EvilCounterpart: To Eltariel and Talion. Like the former, they are [[ActionGirl formidable female fighters]] that managed to defeat [[HeroKiller Ringwraiths]] in direct combat, however, they turned against their masters due to ambition and thirst for power. Like the latter, they are rogue Ringwraith themselves, but while Talion dedicates himself to safeguard Middle-Earth from the forces of darkness, the Sisters want to command this darkness to [[TheStarscream overthrow Sauron and rule Middle-Earth themselves]].
* EvilPowerVacuum: With the Witch-king diminished by his defeat, Sauron locked in a eternal duel with Celebrimbor's spirit on top of Barad-dûr, and Talion waging all-out civil war throughout Mordor, the Nazgûl sisters swoop right in to fill the gap...and hopefully go up from there.

* {{Patricide}}: Culturally, the biggest crime they could commit.

* BigBadWannabe: Zog is overly ambitious for an orc to presume he could enslave a Balrog [[spoiler:and overthrow the Dark Lord, an indestructible ''Maiar'']]. To his credit Celebrimbor does mention he can pull off the first objective, and he does prove to be a very persistent opponent.
* TheCatCameBack: After his story missions, he'll cheat death and join the Nemesis roster, [[spoiler:and he'll continue to come back over and over, even when decapitated or dismembered.]] He'll brag he's a {{Necromancer}} and that Talion is too stupid to understand that cheating death is fairly simple for someone like him.

* CloudCuckooLander: A good chunk of the mystic Tribe are just raving lunatic.

* NiceJobFixingitVillain: [[spoiler: The Tower bellows that [[RelativeButton Talion will never see his family again]] in their final confrontation...and in doing so, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge goads Talion to throw off the Tower's sorcery, knock him down and start shanking him]].]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Become a slave for the Dark Lord, and lose your identity in the progress? Yep.
* FlatCharacter: The unnamed Nazgûl. They aren't really important to the story, have only a handful of lines, and have the same basic mask design. (Seen in their picture on the right)
* TheGhost: The three remaining Nazgûl, including the only one that was named in the books, Khamûl the Easterling, do not appear.

* SpikesOfVillainy: While not as spiky as Sauron's, their armor still have them.

A ranger from Gondor, who took his ring from the recently killed Isildur to protect Middle-earth from both Sauron and/or his former ally Celebrimbor, after the latter betrayed him and left him to die. He and his army of orcs defended Middle-earth from Sauron's forces and resisted the ring's influence for decades, before it finally won and he joined the nine. His sacrifice would not be in vain, as his actions delayed Sauron's conquest of Middle-earth, [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings allowing its residents to form a fellowship and destroy the one Ring and Sauron]].

One of the Nazgûl, Suladân was once a Haradian king who successfully waged war on Mordor to the point of marching his army right to the gates of Barad-dûr. Sauron surrendered to him and presented him with one of the 9 rings as a gift. Suladân took Sauron as his captive and advisor, causing him to quickly fall under Sauron's influence.

* AdaptationalBadass: He actually managed to conquer Mordor, but [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu fell under Sauron's influence]] when he made the mistake of accepting Sauron's gift of a ring of power as a token of surrender.
* AdaptationalHeroism: In the strategy board game, he was a Haradian vassal of Sauron. Here, his kingdom was opposed to Sauron and he only came into Sauron's service after being deceived with one of the 9 rings.
* BlingOfWar: In the board game he's known for his BlingOfWar, which carries over into his appearance in ''Shadow of War''. Even as a Nazgûl his appearance is somewhat more ornate than the other Nazgûl, besides the Witch-king himself.
* CompositeCharacter: Suladân was a minor character in the Middle Earth strategy board game; here, he's also given a backstory similar to King Ar-Pharazôn from the Silmarillion as a king who defeated Sauron militarily onto to fall under his influence while the Dark Lord served as his captive and advisor.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: After falling under Sauron's influence, he eventually suffers the same rapid aging that King Theodan and Queen Marwen did while under Saruman's control.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Of all the Nazgûl, his fall was most tragic"]]

* {{Foil}}: WordOfGod states that he is intended to be a parallel to Talion's story.

The FinalBoss of the Legendary Gear quest in the Blade of Galadriel [=DLC=], aligned to no tribe.

* BigBadWannabe: He brags that he is the "ultimate orc" because no tribe could ever contain his greatness. He aspires to rule Mordor, but is actually easier to defeat that many of the Captains whom Eltariel had to finish off to get to him.

* IWorkAlone: In that he's the first Orc in the game to belong to no tribe at all. He is still Cursed class, however.

* CoolHelmet: Many Uruks sport an array of headwear, ranging from ornate metal helmets to [[NemeanSkinning caragoar heads]] to [[CoolMask ninja-like masks]] to small head-mounted braziers.
* CursedWithAwesome: In ''Shadow of War'', some Uruks may break out of Domination, at which point Sauron gives them a Dark Curse that is anything but; it's not only complete immunization to further MindControl, it allows them to temporarily disable Talion's wraith powers on contact.

* DecapitationRequired: The only reliable way to avert an UnexplainedRecovery is to lop the Uruk's head off. Subverted in ''Shadow of War'', they can come back as Frankensteins ''with their heads stitched back on'', or as undead.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Certain Uruks will express an ICanStillFight mentality when they reach the prone "brand or kill" stage. The "Death Defying" trait in ''Shadow of War'' goes even further by allowing an uruk to immediately snap out of that cusp-of-death state and keep fighting with some extra health.
* DegradedBoss: Warchiefs in the second game (both in plot and gameplay). With the introduction of fortresses and their overlords, Uruk Warchiefs were demoted to mini-bosses.

* EvilKnockoff: ''Shadow of War'' has Orcs who fashion themselves "The Tower" and wear armor just like The Tower from the first game.

* FacialHorror: Orcs Talion has killed might come back wearing a sack or metal plating to cover this... but others don't. Captains who return from poisoning in ''Shadow of War'' can have molten faces.

* FriendlyEnemy: The occasional Uruk Captain will say how happy they are to see you, give you compliments or invite you to join in on the hunt/party you found them in. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Doesn't stop them from attacking you though.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Can potentially happen if a rank and file orc gets a lucky kill on Talion to become a captain, and survives long enough to get promoted to be a Warchief or even the Overlord of his native region.

* HairTriggerTemper: Some Uruks have the trait "Hates Everything", which means they'll go into a frenzy at the slightest provocation.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A cleaved orc can still comeback with his lower half being stapled.

** Also, the Ranger-Killer, as some Uruk will style themselves as. To back it up, they have a Ranger sword as their weapon.

* MadnessMantra: Deranged Uruks will suffer a CoolAndUnusualPunishment in which they forsake their former desires. Famously with [[spoiler:Bruz]], who will constantly moan, "I don't want the fort! It's his/your fort! It was always his/your fort!"

** Some Slaughter Tribe captains have masks made from their victims flesh.
* NationalWeapon: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Each Tribe has an associated sidearm that every Nemesis Officer (except Ologs) carries on their belts that they can use as a special attack/execution option in some circumstances.

** In ''Shadow of Mordor'', Uruks can come in two flavors of grotesque. Either they're just naturally covered in tumors, growths, mutations or scars... or they collect new ones as Talion kills/defeats them and it doesn't quite take. Do enough damage to one enough times and he'll be almost unrecognizable from the first time you met.
** In ''Shadow of War'', we can add "born with two malformed faces" and "host to a morgai fly hive" to the list.
* BossInMookClothing: Inverted with certain Uruks. Some early-game Captains are so vulnerable and/or easily shaken that there's not much separating them from the grunts other than a few special abilities.
** And then others play it straight by going in the opposite direction. The right combination of traits can easily create a Captain that is much harder than the others on the roster.

* DegradedBoss: Warchiefs in the second game (both in plot and gameplay). With the introduction of the overlords, Uruk Warchiefs were demoted to mini-bosses.

* EliteMook: Begin as these, may eventually be promoted into a BossInMookClothing or a true BossBattle as a Warchief or Overlord.

-->'''Uruk''' : "Didn't see this coming. No matter. Just finish it." \\
'''Uruk''' : "Good brawl in front of a cheering crowd? Can't think of a better way to go."\\
'''Uruk:''' A noble death, fighting for the Dark Lord. Thank you, Ranger.
* FacialHorror: Orcs Talion has killed might come back wearing a sack or metal plating to cover this... but others dont. Captains who return from poisoning in ''War'' can have molten faces.
* AFatherToHisMen: Some Uruks can somewhat be seen as this, especially those who become enraged if their bodyguards are attacked when they take the field. Though it could be down to their BlueAndOrangeMorality

* HeelFaceBrainwashing: Later on in the game, The Wraith gains the ability to brand orcs, turning them and all those who follow them to his side.

* HulkSpeak: Some orcs talk like this, and it's much more common among Olog-Hai.
* ILoveTheDead: some orcs mentions in their duel that they'll keep the enemies corpse for play time.
* InstrumentOfMurder: In ''Shadow of War'', Uruks bards and minstrals will wield lutes with axe-blades attached as weapons.
* KingMook: Each class of Uruk promoted to the nemesis lineup keeps their associated equipment. Combine this with the '[[FlunkyBoss Gang Leader]]' trait, and you can end up with a Berserker Captain surrounded by a squad of regular Berserkers.
* TheKlutz: Uruks with the "clumsy" trait can be grabbed without needing to be weakened first.

* MilesGloriosus: Gorath from the "Spirit of Mordor" mission. When you find him, he's constantly bragging about how badass he is when hunting caraugars... He's actually terrified by them, and the mission requires to release the caged caraugars in the surrounding area before attacking him while he's fleeing.

* NotWorthKilling: The Humiliator won't kill Talion, and just walk away. One would think it would be a relief for players, but oddly, it usually ''pisses them off''. So, job well done, Humiliator.

** If an Uruk comes back after being killed by Talion, he might try to avenge his own death by killing the ranger.
** In ''Shadow of War'', Orcs can have BloodBrothers who will come after you if you take one of them down.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Some Uruks will attempt to retreat when they find themselves outmatched. If you exploit a 'Fear' weakness, they'll start running for the hills in a blind panic.

* SmarterThanYouLook: Ologs might look more monstrous than their Uruk allies, but they're no less intelligent. For example, you might run into an Olog Captain titled "the Bore" who drones on about his and Talion's motives for fighting and compares them to those of other soldiers throughout history.

-->'''Nemesis:''' " Burn... Maim! Kill them all!"

* ThrowTheMookAtThem: Ologs can pull this off, snatching up a hapless uruk to chuck at Talion as a crude ranged attack.

* TheUnfought: Because Uruk society is so volatile, in addition to Mordor's violent wildlife, it's not uncommon for a captain you've never met or never had a chance to fight to be killed by a third party.

* VillainousBreakdown: Uruk Nemeses who are Shamed in ''Shadow of War'' have a chance of becoming Deranged as a side-effect. This ranges from being driven mad to ending up outright lobotomized. Deranged Uruks and Ologs immediately counter the loss in Power Level from Shaming by [[PowerBornOfMadness instantly gaining a whole new swath of combat bonuses]] [[PowerOfHate and rage triggers.]] It's also possible to have them go Maniac instead, which boost their level instead. Averted in the case of a few Uruks who become Unashamed, wielding and boosting about their shaming as a mark of pride and taunt Tailon about it.

* BloodIsTheNewBlack: The Slaughter Tribe warriors have blood smeared all over their bodies.

* UndyingLoyalty: Though all Orcs are first and foremost followers of Sauron, the members of the Dark Tribe are described as some of his most fanatical followers, constructing statues to the Dark Lord in their fortresses, and most Orcs in the tribe have the trait Iron Will, which allows them to resist being branded.

* AnimalMotif: Almost all Beastmaster orcs have a title based on the animals they summon or care for, like "The Dragon" or "Of The Spiders".
* 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. They also tend to summon replacement mooks using a horn, an ability shared with Trackers
* GetBackHereBoss: Tricksters, who dodge Talion's attacks like assassins, have a chance of escaping a QuickTimeEvent execution, and drop bombs while fleeing. Sometimes, if you follow a retreating trickster long enough, they might taunt Talion before disappearing with the help of a smoke bomb.
* HairTriggerTemper: Berserker orcs tend to have a long list of hate triggers. Especially if they are scrawny.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Tanks usually carry a large shield that blocks frontal assaults.
* MadeOfIron: Tanks take a lot of punishment, and can get up and keep fighting after their health is depleted once.

* NoSell: Beastmasters are almost always immune to attacks from animals, and typically deal double damage to them in return.
* OneHitKill: A variation. Assassins frequently possess the No Chance skill, which means they can immediately kill Talion the moment he's been downed, with no opportunity for a recovery unless something interrupts the Assassin (getting locked in another animation, or an allied captain swooping in for a BigDamnHeroes moment).

* StuffBlowingUp: Destroyers pack tons of explosive charges to throw around, and frequently have the Final Blast trait that causes them to scatter a ton of bombs upon death. Marksmen, meanwhile, can gain the Explosive Shot trait that allows them to fire exploding arrows.

The second Dark Lord to terrorize Middle-earth, defeated long ago by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, he has returned to Mordor after a two-and-a-half thousand year absence.

* 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.

* TheBadGuyWins: Sauron wins and triumphs over every opponent he meets face to face...[[PyrrhicVictory unfortunately for him, he's often loathe to call them triumphs]]. [[spoiler:Talion was corrupted by Isildur's ring and becomes one of the Nazgul, but manages to keep his senses long enough to keep Sauron's armies off-balance until Frodo gains the ring, thanks in no small part to his nifty new Ringwraith powers. He defeats Celebrimbor and fuses the wraith to himself, and ends up stripped of most of his powers and trapped in the form of the Lidless Eye. And way, way in the future, the One Ring finally overtakes Frodo's mind right on the slopes of Mount Doom, almost guaranteeing he'd get it back with no trouble...then Gollum accidentally destroys it]].
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The original ''Shadow of Mordor'' made it pretty clear Sauron brought Celebrimbor back from the dead in order to absorb his power. At the end of ''Shadow of War'', [[spoiler:Sauron succeeds in absorbing Celebrimbor into himself, but as a result ends up (seemingly involuntarily) turning into an immobile giant flaming eye for his trouble, losing many of his more useful powers.]]

* BishonenLine: Almost literally when [[spoiler:he duels against Celebrimbor and Eltariel in his elvish form during the first and third phase of the final boss]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Presented himself as a friendly elf that wanted to help Celebimbor perfect ring-craftings. Turns out he was one of Middle Earth's most foul overlords.

* CastingAShadow: He's often wreathed in a dark aura.
* ClippedWingAngel: It's strongly suggested that [[spoiler: fusing with Celebrimbor]] is what causes him to lose all the powers he demonstrated in ''The Hobbit'' film trilogy and the two ''Shadow of Mordor'' games, essentially [[ShapeshifterModeLock Mode Locking]] him into the form of the giant flaming eye.
* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Sauron's fight with Celebrimbor in the flashbacks doesn't last long after the Ring returns to its master.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Sauron is very fond of doing this to people who press his BerserkButton: [[spoiler: Celebrimbor, who tried to steal the One Ring and use it against Sauron, was beaten to death with his own smithing hammer after being forced to watch the murders of his wife and daughter, and Isildur, who took the One Ring as a trophy of victory over Sauron, was killed in an Orc ambush after the One Ring betrayed him, after which his corpse was taken to Barad-dûr, where Sauron turned him into one of the Nazgûl]].
* DarkIsEvil: He is normally clad in spiny black armor that makes his nature as an evil warlord blatantly obvious.

* FauxAffablyEvil: His Annatar form is an idealized regal Elf but signals no chance in his behavior. If anything - in keeping with his history in the Silmarillion - he'll do worse things.

** [[spoiler:Done a little strangely in ''Shadow of War''. He is the final major storyline opponent you fight, but you still have to survive five fortress defenses after the fight with him.]]
* FlunkyBoss: In his boss fight at the end of ''Bright Lord'', Uruk mooks are constantly pouring in to attack you. As the fight progresses, he turns your [[BossInMookClothing Warchiefs]] against you too to spice things up further.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler:He absorbs Celebrimbor's soul unto himself and the two are turned into the flaming red eye at the top of Barad-dur]].
* 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.

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: He does this a lot:
** In the ''Bright Lord'' DLC, after being defeated by Celebrimbor, he simply summons the One Ring back to his hand and completely curbstomps the elf lord.
** [[spoiler:In ''Shadow of War'', this is his final boss in a nutshell. Celebrimbor actually manages to subdue and brand him, but Sauron resists long enough to cut off the fingers of his host Eltariel and then absorbs Celebrimbor into himself]].
* HoistbyHisOwnPetard: Three-fold: 1. Via ForegoneConclusion, [[spoiler: the One Ring, investing so much of his very being into it that it’s destruction renders him into a harmless entity.]] 2. [[spoiler: His fusing with/Dominating Celebrimbor costs him much of his powers, rendering him into the lidless Eye and unable to do anything other than use his “Sight”.]] 3. In a more roundabout way, [[spoiler: the murder of Celebrimbor, Talion, and their families not only sets the former two on a RoaringRampageofRevenge, but through their bond they could easily take control of the Orcs. Even though Sauron still ends up victorious at the end of ''Shadow of War'', Talion and Celebrimbor’s efforts kept Sauron from attacking and overrunning the rest of Middle-earth, and Gondor in particular, long enough for the One Ring to be destroyed.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: Sauron is a [[FallenAngel corrupted Maia]] who -- when able to manifest a physical body -- takes the form of a towering humanoid figure clad in spiny black armor. He can change shape at will and in the past often assumed the form of a Vanyar elf named Annatar, [[spoiler:and ''Shadow of Mordor''[='=]s final boss fight indicates he either possessed or ''was'' the Black Hand]].
* ISurrenderSuckers: Referencing what happened to Numenor, Sauron capitulates to Suladân's invading army rather than bothering to fight. He offers a Ring as a token of his surrender...
* IWasQuiteALooker: In flashbacks, he looks like a handsome young elf with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]]. [[spoiler:At the end of the second game, he is a horrifying, gigantic flaming eye]].