In the universe of Middle-earth created by John Ronald Roel Tolkien, there are a huge number of all sorts of characters. One of them is the Goblin King. There is not so much information about him as about the main characters of The Lord of the Rings books, but you can get some grains from the plot. This is what this article is all about.
Appearance
The Goblin King is a secondary antagonist, on which the author does not focus much attention. Nevertheless, its appearance immediately attracts viewers when it appeared on the screens. He does not naturally have a large body with a huge head and stomach. At the top of his head he wears a horned crown, which is evidence of his high position. The neck is missing, and instead a large chin hangs down to the chest.
The character’s gaze is quite formidable, unfriendly, and anger sparkles in his eyes. The chest also hangs from the body in a similar way, arms and legs are unnaturally large, and that is why it can be difficult to move. It is worth noting that the image turned out to be disgusting, as the author intended.
Two people had to play this character. Comedian Barry Humphries was responsible for facial expressions, and the movements of the orc leader were portrayed by Terry Notery. The game of these actors was combined using special technology.
Location and position
The Goblin King was not in vain given such a name, because he really was the leader of the orcs of the Misty Mountains tribe. They obeyed him because of his enormous physical strength and terrifying appearance. The clan was located almost directly near the High Pass. This is the most famous path through the Misty Mountains, and it is located close to Rivendell. Most likely, this is the western road, but many travelers regularly passed through it. The Goblin King with his tribe hunted by attacking these people, robbing and capturing.
It was near the High Pass that the Goblin City was founded. This is a whole system of caves and tunnels along which the orcs of the Misty Mountains traveled. These creatures were far from stupid, which also testifies to some mental abilities of the king. Due to its proximity to Rivendell, there was a siding route in the movement system, it was located close to the Eagles nest. When the travelers became afraid of the High Pass due to attacks, the orcs made another exit for themselves to the top of the road. They called the new cave the Main Porch.
Captivity of the protagonist
In The Hobbit, or There and Back, the main character familiar to all fans is Bilbo Baggins, who had trouble getting to know the Goblin King. In The Lord of the Rings, users did not have the opportunity to meet this antagonist, because his story ends before the events of the new war with Sauron.
The meeting of Bilbo with the leader of the orcs of the Misty Mountains did not occur under the most ideal circumstances. He, along with a detachment of Gnomes of Thorin, headed for the Lonely Mountain on the plot of the book. After visiting Rivendell, the team headed for the High Pass, but did not calculate the possibility of meeting with the orcs, or rather the presence of a move to the Main Porch. As a result, they were suddenly found in this cave and taken prisoner. Subordinates led the main characters to their King. He decided to listen to the gnomes, because he was interested in the true purpose of finding the gnomes in this place. At first he behaved calmly, but quickly his mood changed for the worse.
Development of events
In the film "The Hobbit", the Goblin King also appeared in the scene with the capture of Bilbo, Torin and his gnomes from the squad. When the orcs of the Misty Mountains led travelers to their leader, he sat on a huge flat stone. Around him there were many armed guards, which showed their concern for their leader.
At first, the conversation in the throne room was on ordinary tones, but then the gaze of the leader fell on Torin's sword. The weapon was forged by elves and was called Orcrist. Translated, this means "Death of the Orcs", and the creatures of this race themselves called him "Kusach" and sincerely hated it. The presence of Torin's sword was a turning point in the negotiations. King Goblin did not even think for a long time, but immediately in a rage attacked the leader of the gnomes. He wanted to kill him with one blow, but suddenly all the lights went out in the throne room, and after a moment a bright blue flame flashed. It was the sword of the wizard Gandalf Glamdring. This distracting maneuver allowed to escape, but the head of the orcs blocked the way. Then the gray magician with one well-aimed blow killed him to free his friends.
Some interesting facts
In the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, the Goblin (leader), as in the rest of the trilogy, did not appear, even though this antagonist was a vivid character. His murder led to the fact that in the Battle of the Five Armies, the orcs of the Misty Mountains also took part. They wanted to avenge the death of their king. The leadership of the army was taken by Bolg, whose father was Azog himself. Together with the wargs, the orcs represented a powerful force that was not easy to overcome.
It is worth noting that the Goblin King was also associated with Gollum. His subordinates fished in the lake of this character, and he occasionally killed them for this. It is also difficult not to notice that when the orcs captured the gnomes and Bilbo, they were not executed on the spot, but taken to the leader. He also originally intended to find out the reasons for finding the team on the territory of the Dark Mountains. Therefore, we can conclude that at that time the orcs were not so categorical in relation to other races. Everything changed during the War of the Ring when Sauron gained power over them and appointed the most cruel leaders.
Themed toy
When it comes to the dragon of the Goblin King, then everyone thinks that this is about the character of the universe of the same name John Tolkien and his mount. In fact, the leader of the orcs of the Misty Mountains did not have a personal fire-breathing "lizard". His story in the book and the film is shown briefly, and the rest remains only in the author’s imagination.
By this dragon is meant the toy of the same name from the famous LEGO Elves series. A large figure with green wings and a spike tail is popular with children. She has a good-natured look, and at the top there is a place for two characters from the kit. Also with the dragon buy a cave with treasures. No matter how much fans of the truly legendary work of John Tolkien would like, nothing more is known about King Goblin. Perhaps in a future series or stories based on the author’s work, some details will become clear, but for now it remains only to wait.