| NOTE: This page is only about his Peter Jackson incarnation as the original book incarnation of Azog was not voted Pure Evil, and thus only the Peter Jackson version of Azog's info and crimes should be put here. |
| “ | This one dies first, then the brother, then you, Oakenshield. You will die last! Here ends your filthy bloodline! | „ |
| ~ Azog threatening to kill Fíli, Kíli, and Thorin. |
Azog the Defiler is a major antagonist in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series.
He is one of two main antagonists (alongside Smaug) in the film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit, serving as the main antagonist of both An Unexpected Journey and The Battle of the Five Armies, and a major antagonist in The Desolation of Smaug.
He is an Orc chieftain who seeks to destroy Thorin's bloodline and rule his kingdom, Erebor, and is also secretly in league with the Dark Lord Sauron. Due to this, he serves as the arch-enemy of Thorin Oakenshield.
He was portrayed by Manu Bennett.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He is cruel and brutal even for an Orc, as shown when he battles and kills his enemies in highly sadistic ways.
- During the Battle of Moria, he led legions of Orcs that wiped out all of the Dwarves present at the battle, with the exception of Thorin and Company, allowing him to take control over the kingdom of Moria.
- He swore that he would exterminate the line of Durin, beginning with beheading Thrór, the King Under the Mountain at the time. This also drove the latter's son, Thráin, to attack Azog to protect his own son Thorin, so Azog severed his finger wearing the Seventh Dwarf Ring, laughing as he did so.
- Despite having entered Sauron's service, he decided to annihilate the innocent Skinchangers living in the mountains for fun, having them caged and tortured for his own amusement. He also killed most of Beorn's family and had the others enslaved for sport.
- By the time Azog completed his genocide, Beorn was the last of his kind.
- He has no genuine care toward his own brethren, which is shown when he has his captain Yazneg devoured by his Wargs just because the latter was unable to kill Thorin and Company. The same even goes for his own son, Bolg, as he is furious when Bolg reveals he failed to kill Legolas and Tauriel and calls him a fool.
- Upon finding Thorin and Company once again, he orders his Orcs and Wargs to kill everyone in it, with the exception of Thorin Oakenshield, whom he plans to kill personally.
- He severely injures Thorin by having his Warg maul him before ordering another Orc to kill Thorin for him when the latter is left unable to fight.
- When Gandalf ventures into Dol Guldur to discover the true identity of the Necromancer, Azog kidnaps and imprisons him, and attempts to stop him and Thráin from escaping.
- He leads his Orcs into a battle against the races of Men, Elves, and Dwarves, seeking genocide on all three species at once and having his Orcs kill several women and children upon first invading Dale.
- He captures Fíli and tells Thorin and Company that after he kills him, he will do the same to Kíli, then Thorin last. He then literally stabs Fíli in the back with his blade, right in front of their eyes, before letting his corpse drop from the balcony.
- He tricks Thorin into thinking that he drowned and mortally wounds him by stabbing him in the chest, leading to the latter's eventual death.
- Although he follows Lord Sauron, this could not be any more pragmatic and is just a way to obtain as much personal power as he possibly can. In fact, he infamously mouths off at him when he is formally instructed to lead his armies.
Trivia[]
- While Azog is Pure Evil in the film trilogy, he is not Pure Evil in the books due to the far higher heinous standards and due to not committing as many crimes as he did in the films—only killing Thrór—and the fact that he was dead before the events of the books.
- Azog is among few Orcs who displayed clear moral agency in overall Middle-earth franchise (other examples being Gothmog), which was interesting given to the grisly nature and origin of their race. To elaborate, Orcs came to existence as the result of Melkor and Sauron tortured and twisted their elven ancestors into a race of subservient foot soldiers — the very unpleasant procedure which rendered them seemingly incapable of knowing or doing anything but evil.
- He is one of five Middle-earth villains from Peter Jackson's films to be Pure Evil, predated by Smaug and followed by Sauron from across the entire series, as well as Saruman and Gothmog from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- He is one of the two Middle-earth Pure Evils to be Orcs, alongside Gothmog.
- He has directly killed more major characters than any other Pure Evil in the film series, killing Thrór, Fíli, and Thorin personally.
External Links[]
- Azog on the Villains Wiki
- Azog on the Lord of the Rings Wiki
- Azog at the Tolkien Gateway
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 Pure Evils
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