Highlights
- Orcs play crucial roles throughout The Lord of the Rings series, with some like Guritz and Sharku having significant impact.
- Different orcs like Ugluk, Shagrat, and Gothmog lead important missions or assaults, showcasing their strength and cunning.
- Even lowly orcs like Grishnakh can unintentionally influence major events, further illustrating the depth of characters in Middle Earth.
The dark lord Sauron has many servants to do his bidding in The Lord of the Rings. However, the ones that the protagonists seem to encounter most are the orcs. Tolkien never fleshed out these creatures much in his original works, but thankfully, Peter Jackson chose to give some members of this race more of an important role in his trilogy of movies.
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The orcs of Middle Earth can be called many names. They are crooked-limbed, ugly, and numerous, making up a large bulk of Sauron's armies. However, only a few can be considered to be important during the series.
7 Guritz
Gothmog's Second In Command
Guritz first appears in The Return of the King as one of the orcs who barks orders from outside the walls of Minas Tirith. This orc was affectionately named, Skully, by many fans due to the skull he wears atop his helmet. However, the credits revealed the character's name to, in fact, be Guritz.
This orc is not named in the books, and his brief scenes in the movie show that he has some place of command over the ranks of orcs in Mordor's army. However, he does take orders from Gothmog during the battle, which indicates he is less important than his deformed leader. This minion meets his end when Aragorn arrives on the ships of Umbar with the army of the dead.
6 Sharku
Leader Of The Warg Riders
Sharku's role in the second movie in the trilogy, The Two Towers, is brief but effective. The sequence where the wargs assail the people of Rohan who are fleeing to Helm's Deep is not found in the books, so everything that Sharku does in th film is a creation of Peter Jackson.
Sharku is seen once, talking with Saruman in the pits of Isengard, and is then shown as the orc leading the attack on the Rohirrim. The battle goes the way of the heroes, but Sharku does achieve one small victory in the fight. By sticking to Aragorn's horse, Sharku manages to drive the man off a cliff before dying. This dashes the hopes of the remaining heroes, but Aragorn's survival does mean that he is able to warn the king of the upcoming siege.
5 Ugluk
Commander Of The Uruk Hai Scouts
There isn't much for Ugluk to accomplish after he aids Lurtz in attacking the Fellowship of the Ring at Amon Hen. However, after Lurtz falls and the Uruk Hai scouts successfully capture Merry and Pippin, it is Ugluk who steps up to lead these troops back to their master in Isengard.
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It is Ugluk's cruelty that leads Pippin to start leaving clues, so that the three hunters can track them into Fangorn, and also why the uneasy alliance between his troops and the orcs sent from Mordor breaks down. Still, this horrid orc has a large part to play in Isengard's downfall, even if unintentionally.
4 Shagrat
Leader Of Cirith Ungol
Saruman wasn't the first one in Middle Earth to create a stronger breed of orc in Isengard. Sauron has also created his own breed of Uruk Hai, and these creatures live in the Tower of Cirith Ungol under the command of Shagrat. This brutal Uruk Hai is not as smart as he is strong, and this trait is his undoing when the ringbearer is brought to his tower.
The greedy orc finds himself more interested in the loot his men find on Frodo than anything else. Sadly, the fight that breaks out between his men over these items is enough to allow Sam to break into the tower and rescue his master with the ring intact. However, Shagrat's actions do have some importance, as the mithril coat and blade he steals from the hobbit and gives to The Mouth of Sauron is enough to wipe the hope from Gandalf and co at the Battle of the Black Gate.
3 Gothmog
Leading The Assault On Gondor
In Tolkien's original books, the author names the leader of the orcs who attack Minas Tirith in Return of the King, Gothmog. This is the name of a Balrog from the first age of Middle Earth, and the race of the character in this book is never specified. However, Peter Jackson decided to make Gothmog another orc in the movies.
Gothmog is shown to be cruel and cunning, only taking orders from The Witch King himself. This orc is more than willing to sacrifice the lives of his allies to win Sauron's war, and he nearly succeeds in overthrowing Minas Tirith and winning the battle of Pelennor Fields. Fortunately, the arrival of Aragorn and his dead allies secures victory in both of these scenarios.
2 Grishnakh
A Lowly Orc Who Ends Up Destroying Isengard
The Uruk Hai who serve Saruman run into Grishnakh on their journey back to Isengard. This orc is found leading a group from Mordor, and the two evil bodies decide to unite to bring Merry and Pippin back to the wizard, as these two hobbits are believed to know who possesses the one ring.
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Unfortunately, a simple debate about food unravels this alliance. Grishnakh cannot control his hunger, and it is his desire to eat the hobbits that drives him to chase Merry and Pippin into the forest of Fangorn. Here, they meet Treebeard, and start a war with the ents who eventually overthrow Isengard. It wasn't intentional, but Grishnakh's greed leads to a big win for the side of good in Middle Earth.
1 Lurtz
Breaks The Fellowship
As the first Uruk Hai - a breed of orc - soldier created by Saruman in the pits of Isengard, Lurtz has a lot of potential to live up to. A character completely invented for the movie, Lurtz leads the scouts from Isengard with the intention of killing its members and capturing the hoobit who carries the ring.
Lurtz and his followers do eventually meet the fellowship at Amon Hen, after the fall of Gandalf. During this skirmish, Lurtz manages to kill Boromir of Gondor, have Merry and Pippin captured, and has a close fight with Aragorn before meeting his end. This encounter splits the fellowship, which is an important win for the evil side at the time, and it is Lurtz's actions that secure this victory.
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