- "The Age of Men is over. The Time of the Orc has come."
- —Gothmog to his army in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Gothmog was the lieutenant of the Witch-king in the Third Age, from Minas Morgul, notably at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Biography
Gothmog was mentioned only once in The Lord of the Rings, at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, following the loss of his master: in response to the arrival of the Rohirrim, he called his army's reserve out of Osgiliath and into the main battle, and brought Easterlings, Southrons, Variags, and Troll-men "into the fray". Gothmog's race is unknown in the books, but he is assumed in all media to be an Orc, a Black Numenorean or related person. That aside, the details of Gothmog's nature and role are a matter of speculation.[1]
Portrayal in adaptations
Peter Jackson's The Return of the King
- "The age of Men is over. The time of the Orc has come!"
- —Gothmog
Gothmog at overtaken Osgiliath
In the Peter Jackson film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gothmog is portrayed as a deformed Morannon orc-general with a crippled left arm, and his role is brought out more than his single mention in the 3rd book.
Although his name was never spoken aloud in the film, officially-licensed merchandise confirms that this character is meant to represent the same Gothmog mentioned in the novel. He is first seen commanding the Orcs crossing the Anduin river to the western half of Osgiliath, which was still held by Men. Gothmog orders the first shot fired in the Battle of Osgiliath. In the battle, he sends that boat-legion of Orcs across the Anduin river by boat, while after Faramir's retreat a second legion enters the city from Minas Morgul via the repaired bridge over the Anduin in Osgiliath which the Orcs dominating the eastern half of the city had rebuilt.
The troops of Gondor retreated, leaving behind their wounded, one of whom is Madril, the badly-wounded captain of the Ithilien rangers, whom Gothmog kills with another Orc underling's spear. The Witch-King, arrived from Minas Morgul, then instructs him to assault Minas Tirith using all four legions there at his disposal. Gothmog asks about Gandalf but the Witch-King replies that he will break him.
Gothmog and Guritz
When Faramir rides out with a small band of Gondor Knights on horseback, attempting to retake the city, Gothmog orders his archers to fire a volley from the ruins of Osgiliath which kill the knights save Faramir. Once his forces arrive on the Pelennor Fields, he orders the heads of the dead soldiers in Osgiliath to be launched off the catapults, to instill fear into the hearts of Gondor's soldiers and to lower their morale.
Gothmog at The Siege of Gondor
Gothmog then begins directing the main ground operations, from catapults to siege-towers. He becomes enraged when the doors into the city won't budge, ordering Grond to be brought forth to smash it down. When the defenders of Gondor start launching debris at the attackers with trebuchets, Gothmog orders his troops to hold still. When a huge rock is launched directly at him, Gothmog waits until the last second before sidestepping to avoid it by about a foot, prompting him to mock his opponents by spitting on it. His lieutenants are Guritz, with the skull on his helmet, who seemed to be the siege commander, and Murgash, a Black Uruk.
While leading the assault on the Gates
In the theatrical release, Gothmog is presumed dead after the Rohirrim's charge as he is last seen trying to back away as the Rohirrim kill his men.
In the extended edition, he is shown to have survived the onslaught and duels Éowyn, who gains the upper hand and wounds his leg. Gothmog collapses in pain moments before the Witch-king arrives on the scene of the battle. Éowyn succeeds in destroying the Witch-king, but is injured in the process and crawls to Merry.
The last moments of Gothmog's life
At this point, Gothmog rises, furious for revenge, and uses an axe for support as he limps towards her. As he approaches, he discards the axe and picks up a mace, preparing to kill Éowyn once and for all. Aragorn rushes in and chops off Gothmog's arm. Gimli rushes in from behind and strikes Gothmog in the torso with his axe, before Aragorn delivers the final blow to his back, finishing him off. (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)), (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, Extended Edition))
Voice Dubbing actors
| Foreign Language | Voice dubbing artist |
|---|---|
| Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD) | Mauro Castro |
| Italian (Italy) | Claudio Fattoretto |
| German | Thomas Rauscher |
| Spanish (Spain) | Mark Ullod |
| Slovak | Štefan Bučko |
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 葛斯摩 |
Gothmog in MERP
In the Middle-Earth Role Playing game, Gothmog is described as a half-troll, which is never confirmed or disproved in Tolkien's works.
Gothmog in BFME2
Gothmog is also a playable evil hero in The Lord of the Rings: The 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.
Gothmog in The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Gothmog (Robert Smith) is a downloadable character on the Heroes and Maps Pack.
Gothmog in LOTR Tactics
LEGO Gothmog
Gothmog is a hero unit for the Host of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings: Tactics, usually appearing in the Gondor missions. He specializes in debilitating status attacks and increasing the movement range of himself or allies. His unique skills include:
- Orcish Fury (attacks twice; later levels have a chance to inflict Bleeding damage)
- Smite of Barad-dûr (basic melee attack with a chance to stun; damage and chance of stun increase with level)
- Fumes of Gorgoroth (basic melee attack with a chance to poison; damage, poison strength, and duration increase with level)
- Whip of Command (increases movement range for a time; area of effect, movement increase, and duration increase with levels)
The Lord of the Rings: Game Boy Advance Third Age
Gothmog is a mini-hero in Game Boy Advance Third Age game.
LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game
- Gothmog is a playable player in LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, he also appeared in the cutscenes.
The Lord of the Rings Online
In LOTRO, Gothmog is a reincarnation of the wraith Mordirith, who was the Steward of Angmar in the Witch Kings absence.
Prior to being Mordirith, he was Eärnur, last king of Gondor and the greatest foe of the Witch King. In this story, Eärnur, after being challenged to battle at Minas Morgul by the Witch King, become a Cargûl, presumably as a result of a Morgul Blade. In a twisted turn of events, he became the Witch Kings most loyal servant and was made a powerful wraith of darkness similar to the Nazgul. From here, he was given the responsibility of being Angmars Steward, known as 'The False King' in the Witch-king's Absence.
Mordirith was charged with creating an army to devastate Eriador, before marching onward towards Gondor to join his master at the battle of Minas Tirith, but was eventually killed by Narmaleth, who had served as Angmars champion under the name Amarthiel. However, because of a magical tie to a nemesis Dunedain ranger called Golodir, Mordirith was able to be retrieved from 'the void' by the Witch-king. Mordirith was renamed to 'Gothmog, the dread terror of Minas Morgul', and because of his tie to Golodir, was unable to be killed while the ranger remained alive.
As of the release of Update 18, Gothmog is last seen fleeing the Pelennor fields after it is revealed to him that Golodir had just died slaying a powerful Olog-hai troll.
References
pt:Gothmog (Comandante Orc)