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“ | Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me? Or indeed with wit to understand me? | „ |
~ The Mouth of Sauron to the hosts of the West after emerging from the Black Gate, The Return of the King. |
“ | The halfling was dear to thee, I see. Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host. Who would have thought one so small could endure so much pain? And he did, Gandalf, he did. | „ |
~ The Mouth of Sauron lying to Gandalf and the Fellowship of Frodo's "death". |
The Mouth of Sauron, also known as the Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr, is a minor antagonist in the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings and the extended edition of Peter Jackson's film adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The messenger of Sauron, he is one of the Black Númenóreans and one of the highest members of Sauron's forces during the Third War.
In Rankin/Bass' Return of the King, he was voiced by the late Don Messick, who also portrayed Muttley in Wacky Races and its spinoff Dastardly & Muttley in their Flying Machines and the Black Knight Ghost in the Scooby-Doo franchise. In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, he was played by Bruce Spence, who also played Trainman in The Matrix: Revolutions. In the 2003 video game, he was voiced by Roger L. Jackson, who also played Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls, Ghostface in the Scream franchise, and the White Pumpkin in Minecraft: Story Mode.
Biography[]
Return of the King[]
The Mouth of Sauron appears with several of his men towards Gandalf, Aragorn, and the Fellowship, being described as being fouler than any of the Orcs. He offers them tokens from Frodo and Sam but whilst mocking them that Frodo will be tortured by the Enemy for years and gives them terms that he will be taking control of Isengard following Saruman's betrayal and the free peoples will be forced to help him rebuild Isengard. He would then take over the West of the Anduin, while Sauron takes control of the East. However, while Gandalf takes the tokens, he rejects the Lieutenant's terms, causing him and his men to march back into Mordor, shortly before the Battle of the Black Gate commences. It is unknown what happened to the Mouth of Sauron after that.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King[]
When the armies of Gondor and Rohan reach the Black Gate, the Fellowship ride towards the gate and it opens a little for the Black Lieutenant to come out. He welcomes them but is rebuffed by Gandalf who orders him to have the armies of Mordor disband. The Mouth of Sauron then takes out Frodo's Mithril vest that he acquired from the orcs making the Fellowship believe that Frodo was dead. Neither the fellowship nor the Lieutenant knew of Frodo's escape from Cirith Ungol and he taunted the heroes, saying that Frodo suffered greatly before dying and that he'd failed his quest to destroy the One Ring. Aragorn then rode up to him and the Lieutenant taunted him saying it must take more than Isildur's sword to become a king of Gondor. The Lieutenant is then beheaded and killed by Aragorn. Afterward, the entire orc army marches out of Mordor.
Personality[]
The mouth of Sauron was one of the Dark Lord's most disgusting and unscrupulous servants. He was a very sadistic, cruel, immoral, evil and twisted personality who was also the symbol of Sauron's words. He was loyal to the dark lord and was happy to have other villains and his creatures join his master, but at the same time he crossed any line against his opponents. In the Peter Jackson adaptation, unlike all other characters, he spoke in old English and had a thick Russian accent.
Other Media[]
The Return of the King (video game)[]
The Black Lieutenant also appears as a boss in the Return of the King games for Gameboy Advance and consoles respectively. In the Gameboy game, you fight him if the player chooses Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli for the missions. His sword poisons the player if stabbed and several orcs come out of the gates and must be fought off as well. Once the Lieutenant is killed, the quest is over and the game is completed. In the video game, he is the first boss in the Black Gate mission. You can play as Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, or Gandalf and you fight him. Once he is defeated, the gate opens and several orcs march towards your area and you must fight them off.
LEGO The Lord of the Rings[]
The Mouth of Sauron also appears in the 2012 video game, LEGO The Lord of the Rings where the same events happen. There will be a bonus level where the player gets to play as Sauron and the Mouth of Sauron. After getting 1,000 studs (which is the only way to finish the bonus level), the level will be completed, and the player's reward will be the unlocking of the playable characters: Mouth of Sauron and Sauron. The Mouth of Sauron also came out as a new lego mini figure in the new LEGO Lord of the Rings Set 79007 Battle at the Black Gate.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Movies[]
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II[]
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest[]
Guardians of Middle-earth[]
Lego The Lord of the Rings[]
Videos[]
Quotes[]
“ | Oh ho. Old Greybeard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee. | „ |
~ The Mouth of Sauron after noticing Gandalf. |
“ | The Halfling was dear to thee, I see. Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host! Who would have thought one so small, could endure so much pain, and he did, Gandalf. He did. | „ |
~ The Mouth of Sauron lying about Frodo's death. |
“ | And who is this? Isildur's heir. It takes more to make a king than a broken Elvish blade. | „ |
~ The Mouth of Sauron's last words. |
Trivia[]
- In Rankin/Bass's 1980 adaptation of Return of the King, the Mouth of Sauron seems a mere flunky and flees back behind the Black Gate when his terms are rejected.
- Sources are unclear as to his voice actor, placing either Don "Scooby-Doo" Messick or John "Mr. Slate" Stephenson in the role. In fact, both regularly did so many roles for Rankin/Bass and Hanna-Barbera productions, records kept at that time are hard to verify, and minor roles often went wholly uncredited.
- The Mouth of Sauron's scene was removed from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but included in the extended edition of the film.
- The Mouth of Sauron's cracked, blackened lips and rotting teeth were added as a hint that Sauron's very words are so evil that simply repeating them causes the speaker's mouth to decay and bleed. This change was made digitally long after the footage had been shot. After Jackson rejected the idea of turning the mouth sideways to appear vertical on the face, the designers came up with the idea of rendering it twice as large as the original.
- According to designer Warren Mahy, the original design for the costume had the helmet hooked directly into the mouth, pulling it permanently open. This had to be discarded as it made it impossible for Bruce to speak. However, Peter Jackson liked the idea of the robe flowing up into the helmet and this was retained for the final version.
External Links[]
- Mouth of Sauron on the Pure Evil Wiki.
- Mouth of Sauron on the One Wiki to Rule Them All.