From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
- "The age of Men is over. The time of the Orc has come!"
- —Gothmog
Gothmog was the Witch-king's Morgul lieutenant at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. After the Witch-king's death, he assumed full command of Sauron's army. Other than this, nothing is known about Gothmog.
- "Fear, the city is rank with it! Let us ease their pain, release the prisoners!"
- —Gothmog
[edit] Gothmog in Peter Jackson's film
- "What are you doing, you useless scum?!"
- —Gothmog to his troops before the gates of Minas Tirith
In Peter Jackson's film adaptation of
The Return of the King, Gothmog is portrayed as a large deformed
Morannon Orc-general (According to Peter Jackson, he is 6 feet and 4 inches tall). Although his name is never explicitly stated in the film, officially-licensed merchandise confirms that this character is meant to represent the same Gothmog who is mentioned in the novel. Although not explicitly stated, his unusual size and the unlikelihood that Sauron would place an ordinary Orc in such high-ranking position indicates that he may have been a Boldog, a fallen Maia in Orc form. He is first seen commanding the
Mordor Orcs who are crossing the
Anduin river. He orders the first shot fired in the
Battle of Osgiliath. In the battle, he sends his main force across the Anduin river by boat, while using a second force to attack from a repaired bridge, for he had prepared for the assault for months, and built many boats and repaired a bridge to gain a stronghold. Later, as the
Gondorians retreat, he kills
Madril, the badly-wounded second-in-command of the
Osgiliath defenders. The Witch-King commanded him to assault Minas Tirith. However, a small band of 200 men on horses, led by Faramir, attempted to retake the city. Even with only one volley, the attack force was wiped out, which did nothing more to Gothmog then distract him for a minute. Once his forces arrived in the Pelennor, he ordered the heads of the dead soldiers in Osgiliath to be launched off the catapults. Afterwards, he directed the main ground operations, from catapults to siege-towers. He also ordered Grond to be brought forth from Osgiliath through the repaired bridge.
Gothmog at The Seige of Gondor
In the normal movie version, his fate is not revealed, as he is last seen backing away from the charging
Rohirrim crashing down upon his forces. In the Extended Version, he is revealed to have survived the onslaught and duels
Éowyn with his special orc sword. Éowyn gets the upper hand and wounds Gothmog's leg. Éowyn then kills the
Witch-king and crawls to
Merry. Gothmog, furious and bloodthirsty for revenge against Éowyn, limps on an axe over to her. He puts aside the axe, picks up a mace from a fallen orc, and prepares for the final blow.
Aragorn rushes in and chops off Gothmog's arm.
Gimli rushes in behind Aragorn and strikes Gothmog once in the torso. Aragorn then delivers the killing blow into Gothmog's back, finishing the orc off.
The last moments of Gothmog's life
In Middle-Earth Role Playing game, Gothmog is described as a half-troll. Nothing in Tolkien's writing confirms this hypothesis, nor denies it. However, it is highly improbable, since trolls (even half-troll), are represented by Tolkien as fairly stupid creatures, though very fearsome.
Gothmog is also a playable evil hero in Battle for Middle Earth II Special Extended Edition and Battle for Middle Earth II - Rise of the Witch-king. According to reports, Gothmog was the most requested character on the Battle For middle Earth forums, eventually leading to him being added as a hero unit in The Rise Of The Witch-King expansion pack.
[edit] Gothmog in LOTR Conquest
Gothmog is a downloadable character on the Heroes and Maps Pack.
[edit] See also
