History VideoGame / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The whole game has this value. The methods the wraith uses, through Talion, would, under most circumstances, be considered excessively cruel and morally repugnant (e.g. brainwashing, torture, brutality, deceit) -- Talion starts out reluctant to wield these powers, but, overtime, this aspect disappears and starts flying in the face of Tolkien's core values. Watching Talion's humanity deteriorate as he embraces his enemies' character can help illustrate Tolkien's main points... but also, the one ''truly' embracing the powers and nudging Talion to use them is [[spoiler:the wraith, as he formerly tried to use the One Ring against Sauron and failed, resulting in his death]].

* UltimateBlacksmith: [[spoiler:Celebrimbor is the one who forged the Rings of Power on Sauron's behalf, and inscribed the heat-activated text on the One Ring. [[UpToEleven That's pretty ultimate]].]] On a slightly less world-changing note, he also upgrades your weapons, reforging them into better, more intricate forms, or, in Acharn's case, turning it into a proper dagger. Legends and their meaning are also inscribed on them.

** Talion's efforts don't do anything to halt Sauron's overall plans; just slow them down. Being an AlternateTimeline doesn't change the fact that The One Ring is still in the hands of Bilbo Baggins, and Sauron's alliance with Saruman continues unhindered. It remains to be seen how [[Videogame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar the next game]] will affect said AlternateTimeline, but, otherwise, many elements are likely to stay set in stone.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the ''Bright Lord'' DLC, [[spoiler:Celebrimbor attempts to use the One Ring to fight Sauron, and ends up averted in a crowning example of why nobody else ever tries it: the One Ring is ''partly sentient'' and wants nothing more than to return to Sauron. When it looks like Celebrimbor has Sauron on the ropes, the One Ring ''slips itself off of his finger and'' '''right onto Sauron's'''. [[CurbStompBattle This ends about as well as you'd expect.]]]]

The game takes place in an AlternateTimeline between Literature/TheHobbit and Literature/TheLordOfTheRings and stars Talion (voiced and motion-acted by Creator/TroyBaker), a ranger of Gondor responsible for guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, who is killed alongside his family by Sauron's forces to celebrate the Dark Lord's homecoming. Fortunately ([[FateWorseThanDeath or unfortunately]]) for Talion, he is revived by the Elven wraith that the Black Hand was attempting to summon with the [[HumanSacrifice ritual killing]] of Talion and his family. Together, they head into Mordor to exact revenge.

* CaptainObviousReveal: If you're at all familiar with Tolkien's written material, [[spoiler:the Wraith's identity as Celebrimbor.]] He even outright says so indirectly when [[spoiler:calling the forging towers "like a silver hand". Guess how you say "silver hand" in Elvish?]]

* AndIMustScream: Some of the nemesis uruks have received worm and maggot related epithets and nicknames because their bodies are infested with live maggots. They believe they had returned from the dead while maggots were devouring their corpse and they wish to punish Talion for what he did. In reality, these uruks are suffering a condition called flystrike [[note]]a painful and fatal condition where a living host is infested with maggots that are eating their flesh[[/note]]. These uruks were driven insane by the maggots and are convinced they must have died in battle for the maggots to infest their bodies [[note]]when one of the causes of flystrike is an open wound that has been contaminated by a fly laying eggs in it. Like, I don't know, a sword strike that cut their flesh and made them pass out from blood loss.[[/note]]. These uruks are in so much pain that when they are about to be executed, they beg Talion to do the job properly and put them down for good so they can be free of their condition.

* {{Irony}}: Sometimes orcs can be overheard complaining that "nothing good ever came from a hole in the ground." They are right, considering [[MonoGenderMonsters how orcs are born]]... but they're ''deeply'' wrong when you remember where [[Literature/TheHobbit hobbits come from.]]

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. Some artifacts have memories told from the POV of an orc that made a HeelFaceTurn, acting as a spy for the wizard Saruman.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: The "Trials of War" challenges require the player to kill a certain number of Uruk Captains and Warchiefs. However, all the Uruks are pre-set instead of randomly generated, and while the Captains can still be promoted to Warchiefs like in the main game, their place won't be taken by a low-rank Uruk after they were promoted. So if the player didn't kill enough Captains before they took the place of a deceased Warchief, then there won't be any more Captains to kill, prevent him to reach the goal.

* UnfortunateNames: Some uruks have unflattering (and potentially [[MeaningfulName meaningful]]) names like "Barfa" and "Dûsh." Sometimes their sobriquet exacerbates things, like "Dûsh Baghead."

* UnwinnableByMistake: The "Trials of War" challenges require the player to kill a certain number of Uruk Captains and Warchiefs. However, all the Uruks are pre-set instead of randomly generated, and while the Captains can still be promoted to Warchiefs like in the main game, their place won't be taken by a low-rank Uruk after they were promoted. So if the player didn't kill enough Captains before they took the place of a deceased Warchief, then there won't be any more Captains to kill, prevent him to reach the goal.

** In addition, the Wraith's idea of using the enemy's weapons against him is also doomed to failure, since Tolkien made it explicit that [[spoiler:any attempts to wield Sauron's power would just result in another Sauron, literally.]] This forms one of the main themes of the sequel, showing that [[spoiler:the wraith is NotSoDifferent from Sauron himself.]]

* NotSoDifferent: {{Invoked}} in one of the Warchief death quotes.

* AllForNothing: ''[[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar Shadow of War]]'' retroactively makes the ''LordOfTheHunt'' DLC into this. Torvin has Talion kill all the Beastmaster Warchiefs to stop the Uruks from taming Caragaths, because their stealthiness and mobility (increased speed and climbing ability compared to Caragors) would make them powerful tools for Sauron's armies. But in the sequel, not only are Beastmaster Captains common, but the Caragors in that game have the stealth abilities of the Caragaths in this one, implying that the Orcs were able to integrate the Caragaths into their forces, rendering everything Talion did to prevent it moot.

* AllForNothing: [[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar Shadow of War]] retroactively makes the ''LordOfTheHunt'' DLC into this. Torvin has Talion kill all the Beastmaster Warchiefs to stop the Uruks from taming Caragaths, because their stealthiness and mobility (increased speed and climbing ability compared to Caragors) would make them powerful tools for Sauron's armies. But in the sequel, not only are Beastmaster Captains common, but the Caragors in that game have the stealth abilities of the Caragaths in this one, implying that the Orcs were able to integrate the Caragaths into their forces, rendering everything Talion did to prevent it moot.