History VideoGame / MiddleEarthShadowOfWar

* FromNobodyToNightmare: An Orc can go from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLnBUI3ysDk shoveling caragor shit to high-ranking Captain]] in the game. Even slaves can become [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority asskicking authority figures]] if they're lucky enough to land the killing blow on Talion, though they'll still be mocked for their former status by the other Orcs.

* BittersweetEnding: Unless you see it as a straight up DownerEnding; [[spoiler:Talion and Celebrimbor ''utterly fail'' to remove Sauron from power, but consuming Celebrimbor forces Sauron in a form he cannot use his best powers in, and Talion keeps the already weakened Sauron busy by waging war and attacking his armies all around Middle-Earth in order to give time for Middle-Earth to prepare for the destruction of the One Ring. And as the DistantFinale shows, [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings the One Ring and Sauron will eventually be destroyed]] and Talion will finally move on to the afterlife.]]

* SpeedRun: {{Invoked|Trope}}. Once you beat the main story once, you won't need to play the story missions again. From now on, you just need to capture 5 increasingly difficult outposts and capture the fort, and you're scored based on your speed and the run's difficulty level.

* SequenceBreaking:
** Talion will usually perform special powers long before they are introduced into the game, such as Shaming.
** Only main story quests (denoted by exclamation mark icons) are required to reach Act III[[note]]You need to recruit at least three captains in Núrnen and complete Brû's follower tutorial to unlock the siege of Sharkhburz[[/note]]. May also qualify as SpeedRunning.
** Due to the above SpeedRunning, [[spoiler:it's possible to play any remaining side quests during Act IV, and Talion looks normal, is still bonded to Celebrimbor and Eltariel has her full hand. If you pick any of these quests as his current objective, Talion utters a line [[{{Flashback}} reminiscing about when the quest ''actually'' happened]]]].

* BoisterousBruiser: Brûz is a jovial, good-natured, utterly ''massive' Olog-Hai, introduced having a pleasant chat with an orc he is about to brutally kill. After Talion dominates him, he becomes one of Talion's most devoted servants, responding to every order with a cheerful comment and generally just expressing glee with his lot in life (he gets to pop heads off bodies all the time, after all). [[spoiler:And then he betrays you and becomes much less pleasant.]]

* BoisterousBruiser: Bruz is a jovial, good-natured, utterly ''massive' orc, introduced having a pleasant chat with another orc he is about to brutally kill. After Talion dominates him, he becomes one of Talion's most devoted servants, responding to every order with a cheerful comment and generally just expressing glee with his lot in life (he gets to pop heads off bodies all the time, after all). [[spoiler: And then he betrays you and becomes much less pleasant.]]

The "Nemesis System" from the previous game returns, where [[CastOfSnowflakes procedurally generated]] enemy commanders have running character histories and abilities that develop as you continue to interact with them, their superiors, and/or their underlings. The game [[UpToEleven expands on this system]] in numerous ways: for example, followers' loyalty is no longer absolute, but rather is determined by various factors such as your actions (or inactions) and their own ambition; also, you can shun followers out of your army or MindRape enemies into [[DrivenToMadness insanity]].[[note]]In 2021, Warner Bros. Interactive successfully [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope patented the Nemesis System]] after a string of rejected attempts dating back to 2015.[[/note]] Another key addition to the game is fortress assaults, where you lead your troops in an attempt to conquer the local fort, defeat its overlord, and seize control of the region.

** Taken UpToEleven during overlord fights if the overlord has a [[FlamingSword flaming weapon]], as he'll also have equipped the throne room floor with grates that shoot flames every so often.

** Fortress assaults take this UpToEleven, as both attackers and defenders can field archers equipped with ArrowsOnFire, siege beasts equipped with flaming boulders, and even the aforementioned drakes. Also, see BattleAmongstTheFlames above.

** Gravewalker difficulty, a difficulty setting that was added for free alongside the Outlaw Tribe DLC, takes this UpToEleven. Enemies hit almost three times as hard as on Nemesis difficulty, including regular grunts, and take less damage overall, there are no last chances by default, captains gain between ten to twenty levels every time they kill Talion meaning that they can hit max level very quickly while the player is still very low level in the starting area, bleedout and daze timers are reduced, worms spawn less frequently and will throw flash bombs when they are being chased, and plenty of other changes.

*** The upgrades of the previous game can be turned UpToEleven; Terrorize is a more scary and violent version of Brutalize, and scares away even more enemies. Bursting Toxin turns poison into a chain reaction, causing dying enemies to explode and create a poison cloud that spreads the poison. Proximity Trap allows you to prime walls/bait/cages and so forth from a distance, causing chaos whenever an uruk comes near (which they should, as it's an upgrade to Attract), allowing you to conserve arrows. Even the outline of your last known location can be weaponized, as you can leave the wraith to wait for and kill the inspecting enemy.

* PyrrhicVillainy: [[spoiler:Even though Sauron gets everything he wants including victory over the heroes, he is deprived of his physical form when he absorbs Celebrimbor into him and is locked in a eternal duel with his spirit as the Flaming Eye of Barad-dûr. While Talion ultimately falls and becomes his servant at the end, he had previously spent decades waging a civil war within Mordor and hampering the growth of Sauron's army, ensuring his eventual defeat]].

*** It's notable that the books differ from the movies (and the games by extension) in that Sauron is never said to have worn the One Ring on his right index finger. On the other hand, the movies' and games' portrayal of ring-wearing is a rather oblique reference to an elven custom mentioned in Tolkien's essay on the ''Laws and Customs of the Eldar''. See, in Elven culture one wears the '''wedding band''' on the index finger of the right hand. [[FoeYay Make of that entirely what you will]].

* PolarOppositeTwins: Although they are not twins, Baranor was raised by the royalty of Minas Ithil, and acts calm, collected, and does whatever is best for his people out of the goodness of his heart. His brother however, grew up among mercenaries and his primary motivation is money. Funnily enough, while Baranor has a head full of hair and small goatee, his brother has a thick beard and a [[BaldOfAwesome shaved head]].

** Talion wears his Ring of Power on his index finger, just like Sauron did in the opening of the ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' films.

''Middle-earth: Shadow of War'' is a WideOpenSandbox ActionRPG and sequel to 2014's ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor''. Like the previous game, ''Shadow of War'' is developed by Creator/MonolithProductions and set in Creator/JRRTolkien's world of [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Middle-earth]]. It is an officially licensed game of the ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' film franchise.

*** "Of the Black Gate" claims to have witnessed Talion's and his family's executions atop the Black Gate at the beginning of the the previous game, and he's all too happy to explain in detail how he saw it happen.

* ScarsAreForever: Both averted and PlayedStraight. It seems that after an orc is branded, they eventually lose the handprint Talion leaves on their face... ''unless'' said orc was shamed at any point in time. If they have beem shamed, the mark remains on their face until they die as a MarkOfShame.

* BlackSpeech: Some Orcs will speak it, appropriate since the source material is the TropeNamer.
** Notably, Ranger the Olog speaks exclusively in Black Speech, although he understands the Common Tongue and [[spoiler:can speak it as well]].

-->'''Ranger''' (in Common Tongue): ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards You are a cruel one, Gravewalker]]''.

* SuicideMission: On "Gravewalker", your decreased health, huge amount of enemies and the faster bleeding rate of your allies usually means most of your allies will die extemely easily. Thks can be migitated ([[NintendoHard to an extent]]) by using lots of spies, but this of course requires more allies.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Besides Talion/Nazgûl and Celebrimbor/Sauron comments all throughout the story some orcs brings the parallel between them and Talion as orcs can come back from the dead now too.
-->'''Orc:''' What is so different about you? See? You can't answer that! You're just killing and dying like everyone else.

* ElementalWeapon: Different swords can inflict different effects, which are listed on StandardStatusEffect below. As of the Blade of Galadriel update, swords also display their effect even out of combat if you have at least one full might bar. If it doesn't have an effect, it'll [[PowerGlows glow instead]].

* StandardStatusEffects: There are a few different status effects that both Talion and Orcs can suffer from, and specific legendary gear sets allow you to turn them to your advantage:

* TheStarscream: Orcs in your army may choose to betray you to gain prestige for themselves [[spoiler:as Bruz demonstrates]].
* StatGrinding: The July update introduces skills that increase passive abilities, such as might gain, on each skill point invested. There's no limit on how many times the upgrade can be bought and upgraded, and while Talion caps at level 80, he'll still gain skill points from "leveling" after that point.

** Beasts (with the possible exception of drakes) become this at the endgame, as they barely deal any damage to high-leveled captains, even captains with the Beast Fodder weakness. It can be jarring to watch a house-sized graug repeatedly pummel an Uruk that barely reaches its knees, inflicting ScratchDamage with every blow.

** You were limited to two regions in the first game, while now you can visit five: Minas Ithil/Morgul, Cirith Ungol, Gorgoroth, Núrnen, and Seregost.