History Characters / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordorOther

** In ''Shadow of War'', orcs can gain new titles based on their deeds. For instance, an Olog who kills his pit fight opponent can gain the title Pit Fighter, while an orc who flees from a Nemesis Mission may become known as the Gutless.

** Also in ''Shadow of War'', Orcs can have BloodBrothers who will come after you if you take one of them down. Worse yet, if the Orc in question had been recruited, he’ll turn on you.

** Dirhael, obviously. Talion was even training him as a Ranger of Gondor prior to the events of the games.
** It's also suggested that Ioreth's father Hallas was a military man, or at least had military connections.

** Acharn, Talion's "dagger," is the broken hilt of Dirhael's sword, recovered immediately after Talion initially revives and used to devastating effect throughout both games. [[spoiler:Even more tragically, [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget after succumbing to Isildur's ring and becoming a full-blown Nazgûl, Talion even comes to forget ]]''[[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget why ]]''[[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget he's holding onto it at all]].]]
** ''Shadow of War'' reveals that Talion's cloak is also one, given to him by his wife Ioreth on their first wedding anniversary and named "Ioreth's Embrace" in her honor -- and later in her memory. [[spoiler:Talion also [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget comes to forget the cloak's significance as he succumbs to the influence of Isildur's ring]].]]

* FantasticRacism: According to Talion, Hallas never let him forget that he and Ioreth had Númenórean ancestry while Talion did not. For her part, Ioreth never cared.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Instead of having Talion executed, he assigned him to a post on the Black Gate, which is naturally why Talion was present during the night of Sauron's return.

* BoringReturnJourney: So boring, in fact, that the game doesn't even bother to show it. After Talion defeats the Tower, he just somehow shows up at Núrnen's docks, and his warchiefs likewise return to their normal posts. We technically don't even know if this guy is the one who brought them back.

* TheSpymaster: Heavily implied to be this in the artifacts that reveal [[spoiler:insider information about Sauron's activities within Mordor]]. ''Shadow of War'' features captains with the title "of the Hand" who reference Saruman's stronghold of Orthanc and imply that they are TheMole in Sauron's army.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Their combat level measures both their personal skill and the amount of sway they have over other Uruks.

* WolfpackBoss: Getting noticed in a stronghold tends to result in multiple nemeses ganging up on Talion. Some even have special dialogue when this happens, snarking that their arrival is unfortunate for the ranger.

->Voiced by: Creator/LauraBailey (Ioreth) and Jack Quaid (Dirhael)

->Voiced by: Roger L. Jackson

->Orcs voiced by: Creator/RobinAtkinDownes (''Shadow of War''), Creator/JBBlanc, Creator/BrianBloom (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/SteveBlum, Chris Butler (''Shadow of War''), Creator/DarinDePaul (''Shadow of War''), Jeff Doba (''Shadow of War''), Creator/MichaelGough, Adam Harrington (''Shadow of War''), Creator/NeilKaplan, Jon Lipow (''Shadow of War''), Eric Lopez (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/MatthewMercer, Creator/DaveBMitchell, Creator/KumailNanjiani (''Shadow of War''), Clayton Nemrow (''Shadow of War''), Creator/NolanNorth, Jim Pirri (''Shadow of War''), Creator/JamiesonPrice (''Shadow of War''), Creator/SamRiegel, Creator/RobbieRist (''Shadow of War''), Creator/DwightSchultz, Creator/JasonSpisak, Creator/FredTatasciore (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/KirkThornton and Creator/TravisWillingham

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: {{Enforced|Trope}}. The only way for an orc to rise through the ranks is to kill or otherwise defeat his enemies. Naturally, as Talion is the orcs' Public Enemy Number One, killing ''him'' increases an orc's social standing quite significantly; see AscendedExtra above for when a grunt manages to pull this off.

* NamesTheSame: In ''War'', an orc can have the moniker of [[NamesTheSame Gravewalker]], with his motivation for killing Talion amounting to ClearMyName.

* UglyCute: When not being BodyHorror, NightmareFuel or UncannyValley types, some orcs can be this. Even more prominent with Ologs, whose smiles are more of CheshireCatGrin than SlasherSmile.

** KnifeNut: Mystic Captains have large, intricately patterned sacrificial dirks, which have an enchantment that lets them [[FlashStep blink up to opponents]].

* TheLostLenore: More Ioreth, but it's made abundantly clear that Talion loved his family dearly.

* EliteMook: Low-level captains can feel like these, as they're not much more difficult to defeat than your average grunt. However, they can gain strengths and/or lose weaknesses as they level up, potentially turning them into true [[BossBattle Boss Battles]]. Taken UpToEleven if they manage to become a Warchief, and taken UpToEleven ''again'' in ''Shadow of War'' if they manage to become the region's Overlord.

* EvilKnockoff: ''Shadow of War'' has Orcs who fashion themselves "The Tower" and wear armor just like The Tower from the first game. Taken UpToEleven with Outlaw Defenders named the Pretender, who also wear armor similar to that of the Tower but do not speak with his voice.

** Taken UpToEleven with the Bore, an Olog captain who's ''really'' well-versed on his history, particularly that of Númenor and Gondor. [[FridgeHorror Best not to think about how he learned that information.]]

* InformedFlaw: In ''Shadow of War'', the Beast Fodder weakness tends to become this in high-level captains, as beasts -- even graugs -- simply don't deal that much damage to them. Taken UpToEleven if the captain in question also possesses the Beast Slayer trait, which allows him to OneHitKill any beast he gets his hands on.

** [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Shadow of War'' with the introduction of Olog-hai. Olog captains with a gang of Ologs play this the straightest, being noticeably larger than their flunkies, and it's taken UpToEleven when an Olog captain has any other gang. Meanwhile, it's also possible for Uruk captains to have Olog gangs, {{invert|edTrope}}ing the trope.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: ''{{Enforced|Trope}}.'' The instant a captain is aware of you, he'll launch into an unskippable monologue that can be anywhere in length from a PreAsskickingOneLiner to [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness a full-blown speech]], and ''[[UpToEleven the entire battlefield]]'' will pause to hear his spiel. Eru help you if you get noticed by multiple captains simultaneously; ''[[UpToEleven every last one of 'em]]'' will have words for you.

** In ''Shadow of War'', Orcs with "the Obssessed" take it UpToEleven, as their first line if they kill you is how lovely your corpse is.

*** However, ''Shadow of War'' also takes this UpToEleven with Mortal Beast Fodder, which kills the captain as soon as he takes damage from a beast. Any beast. Including the lowly ghûl. It's pretty mystifying to watch a gigantic (and perfectly healthy) Olog suddenly fall over dead because a single little ghûl managed to scratch his toe once.

* ConfusionFu: A staple of orcs with the Agile trait, namely Assassins and Tricksters. Aside from being able to dodge any and all of Talion's sword strikes, they tend to slide all over the place and even vault over him. Tricksters take it UpToEleven, with their [[SmokeOut smoke bombs]] facilitating short-range TeleportSpam and possibly even stunning the enemy as well.

** Beastmasters are similarly capable of summoning caragors, and most come with caragor (or [[UpToEleven dire caragor]]) packs. Some Beastmasters can summon other types of beasts, from [[SpidersAreScary spiders]] to [[OurDragonsAreDifferent drakes]].

** Taken UpToEleven due to certain advanced class traits not playing well with certain weaknesses. The right combinations can go into SelfDisposingVillain territory:

*** Captains who are Terrified of Betrayal will flee the second Talion dominates ''anyone'' -- including worms and beasts. This is bad enough since Talion can stealth-dominate worms at any time, but Beastmasters really take it UpToEleven, since they can summon caragors at will and most of them lead packs of caragors. Combined with the Caragor Breaker skill upgrade (which enables Talion to Shadow Mount unbroken caragors)...

** Slayers with the Slayer Counter champion epic trait take this UpToEleven, as the trait is basically an ''Anti-''Sell; not only do they block Execution attempts from the front, the counter maneuver also injures Talion. At the higher difficulty levels, this injury can be ''critical''.

Introduced in ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'', Uruk and Olog society is divided into a number of tribes unified under the rule of Sauron the Dark Lord. Each tribe possesses its own customs, regalia and behavior, and the native tribe of an uruk officer can drastically affect his strengths, weaknesses and abilities. Additionally, overlords customize their fortresses and outposts based on their tribe's aesthetics and specialties, and even the region's sky is affected by its overlord's tribal affiliation. There are nine tribes, the latter two of which are available as DLC: the [[DarkIsEvil Dark Tribe]], the [[TheBeastmaster Feral Tribe]], the [[IndustrializedEvil Machine Tribe]], the [[BlingOfWar Marauder Tribe]], the [[MagicKnight Mystic Tribe]], the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Terror Tribe]], the [[ProudWarriorRace Warmonger Tribe]], the Slaughter Tribe, and the Outlaw Tribe.

** ''Shadow of War'', aside from introducing other immunities (such as immunities to the game's StandardStatusEffects), also introduces the Iron Will trait (the captain cannot be recruited, although he can still be dominated and possibly shamed, which carries the possibility of removing Iron Will) and the Unbreakable trait (the captain never breaks, even when Terrified, and thus can never be dominated at all).

* UnfortunateNames: There are Uruks named "Dûsh" and "Kâka." To a lesser extent, "Barfa"[[note]]as it's pronounced "bar-fa" rather than "barf-a"[[/note]], "Bagga" and names that have "dûsh" as a syllable (like "Feldûsh", "Azdûsh", and "Dûshrat"). One of the many [[TheMagnificent titles]] that an Uruk can get is "Bag-Head", which can result in a Captain being named [[EmbarrassingNickname Dûsh Bag-Head]]. ''Shadow of War'' also adds "Shag" and "Fûbar" to the list of names.

Introduced in ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'', Uruk and Olog society is divided into a number of tribes unified under the rule of Sauron the Dark Lord. Each tribe possesses its own customs, regalia and behavior, and the native tribe of an uruk officer can drastically affect his strengths, weaknesses and abilities. Additionally, overlords customize their fortresses and outposts based on their tribe's aesthetics and specialties, and even the region's sky is affected by its overlord's tribal affiliation. There are nine tribes, the latter two of which are available as [=DLC=]: the [[DarkIsEvil Dark Tribe]], the [[TheBeastmaster Feral Tribe]], the [[IndustrializedEvil Machine Tribe]], the [[BlingOfWar Marauder Tribe]], the [[MagicKnight Mystic Tribe]], the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Terror Tribe]], the [[ProudWarriorRace Warmonger Tribe]], the Slaughter Tribe, and the Outlaw Tribe.

* OneHitKill: A variation. As with Assassins (see Orc Advanced Classes below), certain Dark and Terror tribe members[[note]]Dark tribe orcs with the Black-Heart title, or Terror tribe orcs with the Cruel or Merciless titles[[/note]] 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 killer (getting locked in another animation, or an allied captain swooping in for a BigDamnHeroes moment).

* OneHitKill: A variation. All Assassins possess the No Chance trait, 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).

* AnimalMotif: About half of the Feral tribe are either named after some kind of beast, or wear armor styled after or made of a beast. Examples include Orcs and Ologs with titles like "The Dragon", "Of The Beasts", "Caragor-Fang", or "The Rat Lord".

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Orcs of all kinds love the slaughter, but Talion using a Brutalize seems excessive from their point of view, since orcs tend to run away terrified after witnessing a Brutalize.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The two DownloadableContent tribes, the Slaughter and Outlaw tribes, are implied to be this. Upon instillation, several missions will appear that show orcs in the region rallying together to fight off a group of Slaughter/Outlaw captains. Considering the Slaughter Tribe's status as [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]], and the Outlaws' FantasticRacism, it's not too hard to believe.

* 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.

** Similarly, Slaughter Captains are armed with Meat cleavers that they will quickly hurl at their enemies to deal bleeding damage.

!!!'''Race''': Men (Gondorian)

!!!'''Race''': Men (Gondorian)

!!!'''Race''': Men (Outcast)

!!!'''Race''': Men (unknown nationality, possibly Corsair)

!!!'''Race''': Men (Rohirrim)

!!!'''Race''': Men (unknown nationality, possibly Dunlending)

!!!'''Race''': Elves

Talion's family, his wife and his son, respectively. Living a peaceful life in the Black Gates, Ioreth had joined her lover in his exile, his son had been training to become a Ranger and continue his father's legacy. The former had expressed many, many times an interest in leaving the Black Gates, a wish that unwittingly, tragically becomes true on the night of Sauron's return.

* BadassFamily: Dirhael, despite his youth, slays many Uruks before his capture by the Black Captains, and Ioreth bravely faces death and assures Talion this is not the end.

* NoodleIncident: Audio during the loading screens indicate that in their youth [[spoiler: Talion killed a Gondorian nobleman who assaulted Ioreth. The penalty for that was death, but when Ioreth told her father Hallas she was pregnant with Dirhael and [[TakingTheHeat threatened to claim she killed the nobleman in self-defense]], her father pulled strings to get Talion transferred to the Black Gate instead]].

* TogetherInDeath: Ioreth tearfully assures Talion that they'll be together forever after the Black Hand kills them. Sadly, it was not to be...at least, [[spoiler:not for much, ''much'' longer than anyone expected]].

** Acharn, Talion's "dagger," is the broken hilt of Dirhael's sword, recovered immediately after Talion initially revives and used to devastating effect throughout both games. [[spoiler:Even more tragically, [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget after succumbing to Isildur's ring and becoming a full-blown Nazgûl, Talion even comes to forget ]]''[[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget why ]]''[[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget he's keeping it at all]].]]

* ObnoxiousInLaws: It's not dwelt on within the game, but Talion evidently did ''not'' get along with his father-in-law.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Doesn't protest when Hirgon -- acting on advice from Talion -- decides to evacuate Mordor.

* TookALevelInBadass: From a book-learning standpoint. Over the course of his adventure, Talion can recover various artifacts whose memories reveal Eryn's backstory; one such artifact is a letter that Eryn wrote while hiding from the Uruks (implied to be not long before they captured and enslaved her), and aside from the copious amounts of NightmareFuel surrounding the letter, it's actually quite impressive to see the extent of her vocabulary as opposed to the woman who repeatedly mispronounced "wife" earlier.

Leader of the Istari Order, Saruman has a presence that echoes even into Mordor.

* TheSpymaster: Heavily implied to be this in the artifacts that reveal [[spoiler:insider information about Sauron's activities within Mordor]]. In the sequel you can find captains named "of the Hand" who comment that there is another tower rising and implying that they are TheMole in Sauron's army.
* TheVoice: Aside from dialogue, he doesn't make a physical appearance in the story.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Significantly {{downplayed|Trope}}, but since Saruman's treachery is not revealed to the Free Peoples until the beginning of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', Saruman enjoys this status throughout the games. In ''Shadow of War'', [[AllThereInTheManual the Appendices entry for Rohan]] mentions that the kingdom is "aided" by Saruman's counsel.

-->'''Saruman''': ''([[spoiler:speaking through Marwen]])'' [[spoiler:Do not resist me, Celebrimbor! Together we can be invincible! The Dark Lord Sauron is still weak. Our army can destroy him!]]

[[folder:The Blue Istari]]
!!The Blue Istari

Two of the five Istari, the Blue Wizards travelled east long ago and have not been seen since.

* AllInTheManual: According to Tolkien, their names were Alatar and Pallando.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: If the two are indeed dead, it seems they foresaw their doom and took it in stride, counting the days and leaving behind items that they would no longer have use for.
* TheGhost: Mentioned in the memories of various artifacts (and conversations therein), but never actually seen in-game, save for an azurite figurine representation.
* NoNameGiven: At the rate at which people forget their names, it's implied that they deliberately wipe it from people's minds.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Everybody would forget their names and either refer to them as "the Istari" or "the big one and the little one."
* UncertainDoom: Many artifacts suggest that the Istari were ultimately killed, but it isn't conclusively revealed.
-->"See, there were two of them, and they both came in from the road with a hard look in their eyes, as if they'd traveled too far and seen too much. They were Wizards, true, both of 'em caked in dust, [[FinishingEachOthersSentences and when one's talk he'd stop to think and there'd be the other to finish right up, like they had one brain and two mouths]]. It was creepy for sure, but neither seemed to notice. I heard them say they were hunting the darkness. Darned if I know if they found it. But I guess those fellows can find trouble when they're looking for it."

[[folder:Morgoth]]
!!Morgoth

The first Dark Lord and Sauron's master, defeated many thousands of years ago.

* GodOfEvil: An idol depicting him is a collectible artifact. He's more of a SatanicArchetype, but he's depicted as a god. Though, being one of the Valar -- the equivalent of gods, though weaker than Eru Ilúvatar, in Tolkien lore -- this fits quite well.
* GreaterScopeVillain: The very first Dark Lord and Sauron's master back in the First Age. It's not mentioned in the game, but ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' reveals that he made Orcs in mockery of Elves and/or Men and Trolls in mockery of Ents; additionally, he also somehow created dragons, and Balrogs like Tar Goroth were his most powerful servants. Sauron merely "improved upon" Morgoth's designs to make tougher Uruk-hai, smaller but smarter Olog-hai, and smaller but more numerous Drakes.
* PresentAbsence: Arguably even more in ''Shadow of War'' than in ''Shadow of Mordor''. One of the Carnán sidequests in ''War'' features the Archers of Morgoth, whom [[{{Necromancer}} Zog the Eternal]] is resurrecting for his own ends. In the ''Blade of Galadriel'' DLC, Ogg Bow of Morgoth is [[TheFundamentalist a Morgoth loyalist who sees Sauron as a usurper]].
* PredecessorVillain: Long gone by the time of the games.
* ReligionOfEvil: The subject of one, at any rate. Sauron influenced Ar-Pharazôn's mind to institute the worship of Morgoth as Númenor's state religion, a fact very much resented by a woman who narrates the idol's memory found by the player.

!Introduced in ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar''

[[folder:Bernwyn]]
!!Bernwyn
->Voiced by: Nicole Tompkins

The daughter of Helm Hammerhand, who is unfortunately caught up in a web of violent political intrigue.

* AccidentalMurder: Is subjected to it ''by her own father''.
* AllThereInTheManual: Her name is only found in Helm Hammerhand's Appendix entry. Even in the credits, she's listed as "Helm's daughter."
* CynicismCatalyst: Her abduction is arguably Helm's StartOfDarkness, as evidenced by the below quote (although the fact that Helm had been mortally wounded during said abduction didn't help matters any), and her death marks the point that Helm [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope descends into outright villainy]].
-->'''Sauron''' ''(slipping a Ring of Power onto a dying Helm's hand)'': For your daughter's safe return...
* PosthumousCharacter: Long dead by the time of ''Shadow of War'', and only seen in a flashback.
* SacrificialLamb: The poor girl does nothing but get manhandled by various parties until her own father [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kills her]].
* TraumaCongaLine: Her father gets ambushed and murdered in front of her, and when he turns out to be NotQuiteDead and returns to exact {{revenge}} on his would-be murderer, she tries to [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talk him down]] only to become his ({{accidental|Murder}}) first victim.

[[folder:Siric]]
!!Siric
->Voiced by: Creator/LiamOBrien

A warlord who seeks the hand of Helm Hammerhand's daughter Bernwyn in marriage...and is not afraid to spill blood to obtain it.

* AllThereInTheManual: His name is only found in Helm Hammerhand's Appendix entry. Even in the credits, he's listed as "Daughter's Suitor."
* AssholeVictim: Given that he and his men ''ambushed Helm and his daughter, shot Helm full of arrows, and abducted his daughter as he lay dying'', it's quite clear that his death at the hands of the NotQuiteDead Helm is entirely his own fault.
* CompositeCharacter: He combines elements of both major enemies of the canonical Helm Hammerhand, Freca (a belligerent nobleman whom Helm ultimately kills) and his son Wulf (Helm's would-be son-in-law who leads men in an attempt to kill Helm).
* {{Hypocrite}}: When Helm storms his base with murder on his mind, he warns him, "If you kill me, you'll start a war." Of course, he should have thought of this before ''ambushing and attempting to murder the King''. Helm's ShutUpHannibal (quoted below) almost comes across as a LampshadeHanging of such blatant hypocrisy.
-->'''Helm Hammerhand''': War has come!
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler: How he dies; Helm, in a grief-fuelled rage at accidentally killing his own daughter, [[TalkToTheFist backhands Siric to the floor]], then promptly bludgeons the Dunlending to death with his hammer]].

* PreMortemOneLiner: Well, he clearly ''meant'' it to be, [[NotQuiteDead but...]]
-->'''Siric''': You should have given me your daughter's hand when I asked.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: The apparent implication of his warning, quoted below. Unfortunately for him, an enraged Helm simply responds with a ''very'' violent ShutUpHannibal
-->'''Siric''': If you kill me, you'll start a war.

[[folder:Emperor Sagong]]
!!Emperor Sagong
->Voiced by: Ping Wu

The former emperor of the Kingdom of Shen.

* AllThereInTheManual: His name and that of his homeland (the Kingdom of Shen) are only found in the Appendices. His involvement in the story is so minimal that he doesn't even get his own entry.
* BetrayalByOffspring: Murdered by his own daughters, although we don't see their relationship before the fateful parade.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: He's stabbed multiple times, and then [[OffWithHisHead his head is violently ripped off]]. ''[[BetrayalByOffspring By his own daughters.]]''
* GoneHorriblyRight: He's almost certainly the one who waged the campaign against Mordor that ended with his daughters killing two Nazgûl and confiscating their Rings of Power.

* SacrificialLamb: Barely appears in the game at all, and only really exists to show that the Rings of Power are already corrupting his daughters into power-hungry monsters.
* WrongGenreSavvy: He's absolutely correct that his daughters' hoarding of their captured Rings of Power is a sign of defiance, and he ''would'' be right to expect that his daughters would hand him the Rings on demand, both as their father and as their emperor...but he ''completely'' miscalculates the Rings' true nature, and he pays for this oversight with his life.

!The Nemesis System

[[folder:Nemesis Orcs]]
!!Nemesis Orcs & Trolls
->Orcs voiced by: Creator/RobinAtkinDownes (''Shadow of War''), Creator/JBBlanc, Creator/BrianBloom (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/SteveBlum, Chris Butler (''Shadow of War''), Creator/DarinDePaul (''Shadow of War''), Jeff Doba (''Shadow of War''), Creator/MichaelGough, Adam Harrington (''Shadow of War''), Creator/NeilKaplan, Jon Lipow (''Shadow of War''), Eric Lopez (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/MatthewMercer, Creator/DaveBMitchell, Creator/KumailNanjiani (''Shadow of War''), Clayton Nemrow (''Shadow of War''), Creator/NolanNorth, Jim Pirri (''Shadow of War''), Creator/JamiesonPrice (''Shadow of War''), Creator/SamRiegel, Creator/RobbieRist (''Shadow of War''), Creator/DwightSchultz, Creator/JasonSpisak, Creator/FredTatasciore (''Shadow of Mordor''), Creator/KirkThornton and Creator/TravisWillingham
->Ologs voiced by: Creator/JBBlanc and Creator/FredTatasciore

The officers of Orc and Troll 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. Over the course of Talion's journey, he gains the ability to brand them, which forcibly converts them into his followers. As such, the Nemesis System is a potential source of not only rivalries and arch-enemies, but also allies and possibly even friends.

* AssholeVictim: Talion can decapitate and dismember orcs, burn them alive, poison their supplies, MindRape and humiliate them, pit them against each other, etc. The game's narrative, however, makes sure the player isn't sorry for any of that, given that orcs themselves gladly do all of above (and worse) to their enemies and each other.

** Played Straight (and quite literally) by certain captains who look virtually identical to run-of-the-mill grunts, which can be a nasty shock if you're not constantly checking the Wraith World. Pro tip: if a grunt has a [[FlamingSword flaming weapon]], [[PoisonedWeapons poisoned weapon]], or weapon that's dripping blood, ''he's not a grunt''. (This is much more prevalent in ''Shadow of Mordor''; in ''Shadow of War'', all captains are denoted with rings under their feet, even if you haven't identified them in the Wraith World yet.)

** Similarly, an Uruk who's repeatedly ''shamed'' by Talion will get more and more pathetic, and whine all of the other orcs mock him. It can get subverted if the Uruk becomes "Unashamed", which grants him Iron Will and a more heroic attitude, or becomes a Maniac, meaning they're now a gibbering lunatic... who's at least 20 levels ''higher'' than Talion.

* CaptainObvious: Quite literally -- one Orc Captain is labeled "[[https://youtu.be/thQzR7bgvg0 The Obvious]]".
* CastOfSnowflakes: All Uruks are randomly generated with different looks, personalities and traits. Also, one of captain titles is "The Snowflake".

* DecapitationRequired: The only reliable way to avert an UnexplainedRecovery is to lop the Uruk's head off. {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Shadow of War'', they can come back as Frankensteins ''with their heads stitched back on'', or as undead.

* GeniusBruiser: Even the most brutish Uruks and Olog-hai have the chance of being quite eloquent when speaking to Talion.

* HulkSpeak: Some orcs talk like this, and it's much more common among Olog-hai.

* KlingonPromotion: That's how orcs advance in their social system.

* NamesTheSame: In ''War'', an orc can have the moniker of [[NamesTheSame Gravewalker]], his motivation for killing Talion amount to ClearMyName.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: ''Shadow of War'' introduces revenants, or undead orcs. While they retain most of their old traits, they lose their personalities, tribal affiliations, and even the ability to speak (they gargle incoherently instead). They also lose the ability to gain additional levels[[note]]Prior to the July 2018 update, they also lost five levels upon resurrection[[/note]] and gain the Flammable weakness; on the plus side, they gain increased resistance to poison and become Unbreakable, rendering them immune to domination. [[spoiler:The final Carnán quest involves Zog the Eternal raising up several captains whom Talion killed previously as revenants. In Act IV, Talion himself gains the ability to resurrect fallen followers as revenants, and they never betray him.]]
* PardonMyKlingon: Some Uruks liberally use the term "shrakh", which appears to be their word for "shit". One particular pre-duel quote functions as a ClusterFBomb for this reason:

* PoisonedWeapons: Some Uruks carry poisoned weapons that disable the button prompt for Talion to counter incoming hits[[note]]however, only the prompt is disabled; it's still possible to counter enemy attacks when Poisoned[[/note]], deplete his Focus and render him incapable of using the bow, slow him down, and drain his health.

** Depending on how literal the term is, the Blood Brother mechanic is this for the Uruks themselves. Kill one, and the other ''will'' come for your hide.

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

** ''The Bright Lord'' DLC contests this, as it depicts Celebrimbor utilizing branding to build an army of orcs in the Second Age, at least a thousand years before Saruman arrived on Middle-earth per the source material. Saruman's role might thus have been jogging Celebrimbor's memory of this ability.

The officers of Orc and Troll 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. Over the course of Talion's journey, he gains the ability to brand them, which forcibly converts them into his followers, making the nemesis system a source of allies as well as enemies.

** Arguably {{averted|Trope}} and even {{inverted|Trope}} with regards to Warchiefs in ''Shadow of War''; while they're no longer the regional top dogs due to the introduction of fortresses and their Overlords, they actually serve a story purpose now, as each Warchief is assigned to guard a specific sector of the fort in the event of a siege. (This also serves as an InUniverse {{justifi|edTrope}}cation for Warchiefs' absence from the open world.) You're still required to play a mini-mission to draw them out, or you can encounter them all during a siege. Also, infiltrating a follower as a Warchief weakens the fort's defenses.

** And just as easily {{subverted|Trope}} if they happen to possess an easily-exploitable weakness that stays with them through the promotion(s), turning them from a nobody to a...somebody who still really isn't a nightmare.

* GetBackHereBoss: Terrified or outmatched Uruks will flee from the battle, mechanically becoming one of these. Uruks with "Fear of the Gravewalker" are especially strong examples, as they'll leg it the moment they see Talion.

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A cleaved orc can still come back with his lower half being stapled.

** This is also {{inverted|Trope}}, as other orcs sport [[EmbarrassingNickname Embarrassing Nicknames]] like [[DirtyCoward the Coward]], Who Flees, the Weak, and so forth. These can become {{Ironic Nickname}}s if Talion manages to die to them a lot, as they'll gain a level up every time they beat him (or at least survive an encounter).
** In ''Shadow of War'', orcs can gain new titles based on their deeds. An Olog who kills his pit fight opponent can gain the title Pit Fighter. An orc who flees from a Nemesis Mission may become known as the Gutless.
* MilesGloriosus: Gorath from the "Spirit of Mordor" mission. When you find him, he's constantly bragging about how badass he is when hunting caragors. He's actually terrified by them, and the mission requires to release the caged caragors in the surrounding area before attacking him while he's fleeing.

** ''Shadow of War'', aside from introducing other immunities (such as immunities to the game's StandardStatusEffects), also introduces the Iron Will trait (the captain cannot be recruited, although he can still be dominated and possibly shamed) and the Unbreakable trait (the captain never breaks, even when Terrified, and thus can never be dominated at all).

* OneGenderRace: No female orcs are ever seen or mentioned. Orcs reproduce asexually (created in the Vats, similar to Saruman's uruk-hai in the films) and the closest thing they have to parents are Vat Keepers.

* PoisonedWeapons: Some Uruks carry poisoned weapons that disable the button prompt for Talion to counter incoming hits and drain his health.
* RapePillageAndBurn: - Or more like Abuse, Pillage and Burn. Orcs love bullying, enslaving and torturing anyone who's weaker than them, stealing what they can carry and burning what they can't.

** Played completely straight in ''War'', though; an Uruk or Olog whose level is close to Talion's own can break free of his control and immediately turn on him, often declaring their intent to replace him to give his army "proper" leadership. There are other ways to trigger a betrayal, but this one plays the trope the most straight.

* ThrowTheMookAtThem: Ologs can pull this off, snatching up a hapless uruk to chuck at Talion as a crude ranged attack. They're not particularly picky about whose side their improvised projectile is on, either.

** There's also Uruks with the "Unintelligible" title, who speak with a thick Scottish accent and at a breakneck pace. [[EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped Certain parts of their dialogue show up in the subtitles as just "(???)".]]