Gothmog (Lieutenant of Morgul)

"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 ripe with it! Let us ease their pain, release the prisoners!"

- Gothmog

Gothmog in Peter Jackson's film
In Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Return of the King, Gothmog is portrayed as a large deformed 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. 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 horse, led by Faramir, attempted to retake the city. In only one volley, the attack force was wiped out, which did nothing more to Gothmog then to 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 operatiions, from catapults, to siege-towers. He also ordered Grond to be brought from Osgiliath through the repaired bridge. 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.

Gothmog in MERP
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 in BFME2
Gothmog is also a playable evil hero in Battle for Middle Earth II - Rise of the Witch-king.