Watcher in the Water
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
The Watcher in the Water was a horrifying and mysterious beast living in Middle-earth.
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The Watcher in the Water lived in a lake that that was described by J.R.R. Tolkien as "... a dark, still lake" which was created of the damming of the Sirannon river, which was located on the west side of the mine of Moria.
The Watcher in the Water was one of the many dangerous obstacles standing in the way of the Fellowship.
[edit] Overview
According to the most ancient tales, Melkor, that most powerful (and the most feared) of all the Dark Powers and the Valar, in his kingdom Angband in Middle-earth bred many terrible creatures for which there were no names in the Time of Darkness before the Valar rekindled the Stars. In the following Ages, these creatures were a bane on land and in the dark waters to those who lived peacefully in the World.
Some of these beings of Melkor survived below the thunders of the deep far beneath the Abysmal Sea in an ancient, dreamless, undisturbed sleep even until the Third Age of the Sun. It is told that when the fiery Balrog was loosed on Moria, another being came out of the dark waters beneath the mountains. This was one of the great Kraken, a creature with many tentacles and huge with a slimy sheen. It was luminous and green and had an inky stench from its foul bulk. Like legions of serpents, it lay in the black water beneath the mountains.
Eventually it came to the clear water of the River Sirannon, which flowed before the West-gate of Moria. There it built a great wall in the river bed and made itself a black pool, hideous and still. This being was the guardian of the West Gate that none could pass without challenge. For this reason it was called the Watcher in the Water.
[edit] History
During the attempted recolonization of Moria by the dwarves, the Watcher killed Óin when the Dwarves attempted to escape through the West Gate. The Watcher in the Water was also one of the many dangerous obstacles standing in the way of the Fellowship. The Watcher tried to kill the Fellowship but this attempt was thwarted by their combined efforts, and they were able to injure the beast by hurting its tentacles. This, however, put the Watcher into a rage and caused it to tear down and barricade the doorway of Moria, thus trapping the Fellowship inside with only one way to go: forward.
It is likely that the Watcher detected or was drawn by some evil power flowing from the Ring and grabbed Frodo due to that call, as the Watcher would have normally grabbed a sturdier target like Aragorn or Gimli for food alone.
[edit] As Seen in the Fellowship of the Ring
The Watcher in the Water can be seen in Peter Jackson's rendition of The Fellowship of the Ring as a very detailed computer-generated creature. In this scene, practically everything that was stated in the chapter A Journey in the Dark (The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 4) is followed meticulously to recreate the famous part of the book. In the movie, the Watcher is disturbed by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, who throw rocks in the water to pass the time while Gandalf tries to figure out the password to gain entrance to Moria. By the time Frodo Baggins figures out the riddle of the Door ("Speak 'friend' and enter."), the Watcher is already provoked. It catches Frodo and lifts him in the air, despite Sam Gamgee's attempts to defend him. He is saved, however, by the rest of the Fellowship, who attempt to cut and/or injure the many serpentine tentacles of the Watcher. The Watcher drops Frodo when it's cut; he's caught by Boromir and Legolas shoots the Watcher in the eye as the Fellowship of the Ring retreats into the Mines of Moria. Just as they make it inside, the Watcher tears down the doorway. Now the only way the Fellowship can go is forward into the darkness of Moria. Although Tolkien described it to have 20 tentacles, Peter Jackson gave it 12. In the game adaptation of the novel, the Watcher is depicted as a Nessie-like creature with many arms.
[edit] The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2/X-Box) Game
In The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, the Watcher in the Water is the first real boss that Berethor's party has to face. Its attacks consist mainly of tentacle attacks and "Reeking Spout", a gust of foul breath and slime that deals significant damage to the whole party. After a brief but fierce battle, Berethor's company is able to anger the Watcher enough to clear the way for them to enter Moria. Shortly after, they end up fighting the Watcher again, this time in a huge lake that has flooded part of Moria. When they fight it this time, they kill it for good.
