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- NOTE: This article is about the film version of Azog from the Peter Jackson continuity. You may be looking for information on his mainstream counterpart.
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| “ | Do you smell it? The scent of fear? I remember your father reeked of it. Thorin, son of Thráin. | „ |
| ~ Azog to Thorin Oakenshield. |
| “ | Dwarves. Elves. Men. The mountain will be their tomb! To war! | „ |
| ~ Azog commanding his army. |
| “ | This one dies first. Then the brother. Then you, Oakenshield. You will die last. Here ends your filthy bloodline! | „ |
| ~ Azog when killing Fíli in front of Thorin, Dwalin, Kíli, and Bilbo. |
Azog the Defiler is a major antagonist in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series. He is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Smaug) of The Hobbit trilogy.
He is the archenemy of Thorin Oakenshield and the father of Bolg. After being presumed to be slain in battle, he returned as a commander of the Orc Legions of Dol Guldur, answering to the Necromancer, as well as hunting the Company of Thorin on their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug.
He is portrayed by Manu Bennett, who also played Deathstroke in Arrow.
Biography[]
Past[]
Azog being defeated by Thorin during the Battle of Moria.
At some point, Azog and his Orcs amassed control over the mines of Moria. When Thrór led his people to try and take over Moria, in the ensuing Battle of Azanulbizar, the Pale Orc engaged them and slaughtered many of them. Azog himself engaged Thrór, having become determined to wipe out Durin's descendants. He succeeded in killing Thrór, driving his son, Thráin, mad with grief and causing the Dwarves to retreat. Azog then engaged Thorin Oakenshield, who struggled against the Pale Orc and was soon forced to replace his shield with an oak branch to defend himself against the orc's attacks. However, Thorin refused to fall and eventually managed to slice off Azog's left arm.
Badly wounded and enraged, Azog was dragged back into Moria by his Orcs, while the Dwarves rallied and defeated what was left of his forces, though they were almost utterly wiped out. Thorin believed Azog dead, but he lived on and swore revenge on the dwarf, though he was unable to track him down for 60 years. When Azog and his forces came down from the North, they began fighting with the skin-changers. Eventually, Azog turned this into a sport, capturing skin-changers to torture for his amusement, and managed to drive them into near extinction, leaving only Beorn.
An Unexpected Journey[]
Azog making his return after being presumed dead.
Eventually, Azog's forces learn of Thorin’s expedition to reclaim Erebor, and a group of them manage to corner the company, only to be driven off by the elves. The survivors, Yazneg and Fimbul, return to Azog, who is angered by their failure and throws Yazneg to some of his Wargs to be devoured. He then orders his forces to find the Dwarves, offering a bounty to anyone who brought Thorin to him. Azog manages to track Thorin's Company to the Misty Mountains after being informed that the Great Goblin captured them.
He discovers them after they escape from the mountains and manages to corner the group on a cliff, forcing them to climb into some trees. Azog orders his Wargs to kill them all except Thorin, and they eventually force the company into one tree, hanging precariously over the cliff. Thorin comes to fight Azog, but he is unable to match the Pale Orc, who strikes him repeatedly, sending him to the ground. He orders one of his minions to take Thorin’s head for him, but Bilbo and the other dwarves suddenly leap to his defense. Before Azog's forces can overwhelm them, the Great Eagles suddenly come to the company’s aid, carrying them to safety and killing the orcs and Wargs, but Azog survives, though he is enraged that his prey had escaped them.
The Desolation of Smaug[]
Azog's master, the Necromancer, ordering him to lead his army to war.
Azog continues to pursue the Dwarves with his pack of orcs coming close to catching them. However, the Dwarves manage to take shelter in the home of Beorn and Azog finds himself unable to attack, due to Beorn taking the form of a giant bear guarding the house. Azog plans to attack them on the road again, but Bolg arrives, informing him he has been summoned to Dol Guldur at the behest of the Necromancer. Azog goes to the fortress, where an army of Orcs is being assembled, and speaks to his master. The Necromancer tells him their time will soon come and Azog will lead his armies forth. The Pale Orc asks about Thorin, reminding his master that he'd been promised the dwarf's head. The Necromancer simply replies that soon all will be slain, before withdrawing.
Unwilling to give up the hunt, Azog sends Bolg to hunt Thorin and his company instead. Much later, when Gandalf arrives at Dol Guldur to investigate, removing the concealment spells the Necromancer had placed, Azog waits with his troops, before ambushing Gandalf and managing to disarm him. However, Gandalf uses his magic to escape Azog, fleeing into the fortress, and the Orc sends his forces after him. However, the Necromancer manages to subdue Gandalf personally so Azog leads his master's army out of Dol Guldur, heading towards the Lonely Mountain.
The Battle of the Five Armies[]
Azog approaches Erebor with his vast orc army while learning from Bolg that an Elf army under Thranduil is also approaching. Azog tells Bolg to head to Gundabad and ready their other army. When the battle occurs, Azog commands the army from the north, using flags from atop Raven Hill. He sends part of his army to attack Dáin's dwarves and the other half of his force to take Dale, splitting the allied armies and resulting in the death of many women and children.
Azog kidnapping and executing Fíli in front of Thorin, Dwalin, and Bilbo.
Thorin, who was at first suffering with dragon-sickness inside Erebor, charges out into the battle and joins up with Dáin; deciding to kill Azog and send the army into chaos without a leader. He takes Fíli, Kíli, and Dwalin, and they rides up to Ravenhill on mountain goats. Kíli and Fíli scout the ruins of the fortress there, but Fíli is captured by Azog, who impales him through the chest before being attacked by Thorin, Kíli, Dwalin, and Bilbo, the latter having just arrived to warn of the army led by Bolg. Kíli attempts to avenge his brother but is killed by Bolg who is slain by Legolas Greenleaf. Thorin engages in an duel with Azog to avenge Fíli's death; managing to throw Azog down the hill but Azog strikes a fearsome blow with his mace, knocking Thorin onto the frozen lake.
Azog engaging Thorin in their final fight.
Azog holds back, sending several Orcs to kill Thorin, who is assisted by Legolas firing arrows from a stone tower. Thorin is almost slain on the edge of a frozen waterfall, but Legolas aids him by throwing Orcrist to him. Azog then engages Thorin in a climactic fight to the death, this time using a massive flail instead of his mace. His blows crack and shatter the ice, allowing Thorin to dodge around him. He then picks up the heavy stone on the flail and tosses it back at Azog, causing him to sink into the water beneath the ice. As Thorin follows his apparently lifeless body floating beneath the ice, the orc's eyes close, and he appears to have died.
Azog finally meeting his demise.
However, Azog uses this as a deception; stabbing Thorin in the foot through the ice with the blade on his left arm and bursting through the ice and attempts to impale the dwarf but Thorin uses Orcrist to hold back Azog's weapon. Eventually, his strength gives out and Thorin is mortally wounded by the orc. Azog smiles evilly and victoriously, but in doing so, drops his guard. Thorin then stabs Azog through his armor and right through his heart. As Azog collapses onto the ice, Thorin drives the sword through his body and right through the ice, leaving Azog pinned to the frozen surface of the river. Azog meets Thorin's gaze a final time before finally dying, his lifeless eyes in shock.
Legacy[]
However, being stabbed by Azog lead to Thorin's demise shortly after. Despite his death, Thorin had avenged both the deaths of his grandfather Thrór and Fíli. Azog's body was most likely cremated along with piles of other Orc bodies.
Personality[]
Azog is remembered as being the vilest and most fearsome of the entire Orc race. He was a truly wrathful, psychopathic, bloodthirsty, cynical, sadistic, bitter, malicious, arrogant, and merciless orc chieftain, ruling his kind with an iron fist. After his battle of Moria and his defeat at the hands of Thorin Oakenshield, Azog developed an obsessive grudge with the dwarf prince, vowing to kill him and fulfill his mission to wipe out the line of Durin.
Azog took sadistic pleasure in taunting his enemies, such as mocking Thorin's father, Thráin, right in front of them, and grinning and laughing when the battle was in his favor. He was completely merciless, ordering his armies to slaughter every single warrior in the armies of Dwarves, Elves, and Men with no exceptions. He also desired power and took pride in commanding his armies during the Battle of the Fives Armies. He also didn't accept or forgive any failures, as shown when he cruelly fed one of his minions to Wargs for failing to kill Thorin's company, not wanting to hear any excuses such as being outnumbered by Elves.
Although he was loyal to his master, the Dark Lord Sauron, he was not above questioning his master's commands, who wanted him to lead his army instead of focusing on his hunt for Thorin and his company. His willingness to question Sauron's commands also showed he was utterly fearless and perhaps even insolent; even the Nazgûl did not dare to confront Sauron over any disagreements they had with his plans, and all other orcs quailed in fear of the Dark Lord when in his presence.
While Azog unsurprisingly possessed no empathy for killing numerous Dwarves, Men, and Elves, the Pale Orc also had no regard for his own kind, killing his own minions should they fail him. Despite this, he did show a preference for the traditions of Orcs, even speaking solely Black Speech rather than the Common Tongue. While he displayed some form of pride towards his son Bolg, he sees him more as a means to an end. He holds his son up to high expectations and would become extremely angered when he does not meet them.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Superhuman Strength: Azog was much stronger and more aggressive than a human, allowing him to easily pick up and kill his enemies with one hand.
- Master Strategist: Azog proved himself to be a very capable and cunning commander as he orchestrated the Dwarves' near defeat at the Battle of Moria and Sauron's near victory in the Battle of the Five Armies.
- Orc Language: Azog and his minions spoke only in the Orcs' natural language, as opposed to the Orcs in the other movies who spoke English. This indicates that Azog was older and prouder of his heritage and has had less exposure to man's world.
- English Understanding: Azog did at least understand spoken English given his fight and dialogue with Gandalf in the second film.
Arsenal[]
- Blade Arm: Azog's main weapon in battle was a large white blade in place of his right arm. It was the same weapon he used to kill Filli.
- Warg Matriarch: Azog rode an enormous white Warg called the White Matriarch in battle, signaling him as the highest ranking Orc.
- Rock Whip: During his final battle against Thorin, he wielded a heavy chain with a large rock on the end to knock around and try to crush Thorin's skull.
Notable Victims[]
- Thrór - Beheaded during the Battle of Azanulbizar.
- Yazneg - Fed to his Wargs.
- Fíli - Stabbed in the back.
- Thorin II Oakenshield (posthumously) - Stabbed in the chest but killed by Thorin in return.
Quotes[]
The Desolation of Smaug[]
| “ | Bolg! I have a task for you. Do you still thirst for Dwarf blood? | „ |
| ~ Azog to Bolg. |
Trivia[]
- Azog's role was vastly expanded for The Hobbit film trilogy. In the book, he was merely a mentioned character who died in the Battle of Moria whereas the movie Azog survived at the cost of losing his arm. Instead, it was his son Bolg who led the Orcs in the book's Battle of the Five Armies.
- Azog went through several changes during the production of the movie. Originally he was designed to be played by a stuntman in a costume like the rest of the orcs and the scene of the battle of Moria was shot using his first design but it was later changed due to being not intimidating enough (the design was later used for Yazneg, Azog's second-in-command who is later ironically killed in the movie by Azog himself). Conan Stevens was then hired to play a much taller, bulkier, and more intimidating design still made through a makeup suit but a new problem emerged: the heavy make-up and the prosthetic mouth did not allow the character to express many emotions. Finally, Peter Jackson decided to have the character be the first orc generated through motion-capture so that they could choose his actor not for his size but for his acting skills.
- Azog is the only Orc ranked by the fact that his Warg is white, whilst the others ride brown-furred Wargs.
- Azog also appeared in the 2014 video game LEGO The Hobbit and has officially been released as a mini-figure in the Lego Hobbit sets.
External Links[]
- Azog on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Azog on the Lord of the Rings Wiki
- Azog on the Tolkien Gateway
