Guard of the Citadel

The Guards of the Citadel, sometimes referred to as the Tower Guard, were the soldiers responsible for guarding the High Court, the upmost level of Minas Tirith, especially the courtyard that held the fountain and the White Tree of Gondor.
They served as personal bodyguards to the Kings of Gondor, and later to the Stewards of Gondor until King Aragorn II's coronation.
They were mainly a stationary guard unit, rather than a mobile force. They were headed by a Captain of the Citadel, who was chosen by the Steward from nobility or high military ranks.
== History ==
The Tower Guards saw little combat during the War of the Ring. Though the city burned around them and the air swarmed with Black Wings at the Siege of Gondor, they remained at their posts, guarding their Steward and the White Tree all throughout the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
When Peregrin Took arrived with Gandalf the White in Minas Tirith, he offered his services as payment for Boromir's sacrifice to save his life. He was outfitted in the garb of the Tower, and was instructed by Beregond of the Third Company, though did not join the normal ranks, and acted as personal esquire to the Steward Denethor. Peregrin was the only Guard to leave the Citadel during the Battle of Pelennor Fields, running to the city gates to fetch Gandalf to save Faramir from Denethor's madness. Beregond as well left his post and killed a comrade, breaking his oath and losing his position as a member of the Guard, in order to keep the fires from Faramir until Gandalf's arrival.
There were at least 3 Companies of the Guard as mentioned by Beregond while speaking with Peregrin.
=== Known members ===
*Beregond
*Boromir (Captain during the War of the Ring until his death at Amon Hen)
*Peregrin Took (Under service of the steward Denethor II)
== Equipment ==
The Citadel Guards wore similar armor to that of ordinary knights of Gondor, though finer crafted.
In the book they are described as wearing a uniform of black robes and black surcoats, embroidered in white with a tree in blossom under a silver crown and many-pointed stars. Their helms were high-crowned and pointed, with long cheek-guards fitting to the face, and above these were set the white wings of sea-birds to honor their seafaring Númenórean heritage; the helms were made of mithril and were heirlooms from ancient times. They carried swords for close combat.
As an esquire, Peregrin Took wore mail forged of black steel, a helm with raven-wings and a silver star in the center above the forehead, and a black surcoat with the device of the White Tree sewn in silver. He bore a short sword from the Barrow-downs.
== In adaptations ==
=== In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy ===
In Peter Jackson's , there are two different Guard variations. The Citadel Guards first appear in the of in the flashback scene in Osgiliath.
In , the other type, the Guards of the Fountain, guard the White Tree, and there are only four of them shown at any given time. The Citadel Guards appear occasionally in the background and when Denethor attempts to burn Faramir.
==== Appearance ====
In the film adaptation, the Fountain Guards stationed in the Fountain Court itself wore black capes that concealed most of their armor, and black cloths over the lower halves of their faces. The Citadel guards wore normal Gondor armor, but with small wings attached flush to the helmet. 
=== In Video games ===
*They appear in the game as Gondor's spear-carrying class.
*They return in as the Men of the West faction's pikemen class, and in expansion-pack, the elite pikemen for Men of the West. They can only be created from a rank 2 Gondor Barracks and cost more to recruit than normal soldiers. Their formation is interchangeable between their default line formation and a dense "shield wall" formation, where they gain 80% armor but lose 75% speed. See Citadel Guards.
*Berethor is a member of the Citadel Guards in both and Battle for Middle-earth series.
*The Order of the Tower Guard is a lore-based kinship in on the Landroval server; the Guard of the Citadel form the kernel of lore for the guild, who function as a mobile entity of the Guard.  Lore focuses on the mysteries of the White Trees of Gondor and the transition of the Third Age to the Fourth Age, and has its roots in the Elven stewardship of Celeborn at Tol Eressëa.
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Lyfwag van die Sitadel
Albanian 	Garda e Kala
Arabic 	حارس القلعة
Armenian 	Ցիտադեի պահակ
Assamese 	চিটাডেলত গাৰ্ড
Azerbaijani 	Qala qorunması
Basque 	Zitadela Guardia
Belarusian Cyrillic	Вартаўнік Цытадэлі
Bengali 	দুর্গের প্রহরী
Bosnian 	Čuvar citadela
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Охрана на Цитадела
Burmese 	နန်းတော်၏စောင့်တပ်ဖွဲ့
Catalan 	Guàrdia de la Ciutadella
Cebuano 	Pagbantay sa Kuta
Chinese 	城堡警卫
Croatian 	Čuvar Citadela
Czech 	Stráž citadely
Danish 	Vagt på citadellet
Dogri 	किले दा पहरा
Dutch 	Bewaker van de Citadel
Esperanto 	Gvardio de la Citadelo
Estonian 	Tsitadelli valvur
Filipino 	Ang mga bantay ng mga kuta
Finnish 	Sitadelli vartija
French 	Garde de la Citadelle
Frisian 	Wacht fan de Sitadel
Galician 	Garda da Cidadela
German 	Wächter der Zitadelle
Greek 	Φρουρά της Ακρόπολη
Gujarati 	સિટાડેલનો રક્ષક
Haitian Creole 	Gad nan baz la
Hebrew 	שומר שומר של המצודה
Hindi 	गढ़ के गार्ड
Hungarian 	A Fellegvár Őr
Icelandic 	Vörður af Kastali
Irish Gaelic 	Garda an Caisleán
Italian 	Guardia della Cittadella
Japanese 	城塞の衛兵
Kannada 	ಸಿಟಾಡೆಲ್ ಗಾರ್ಡ್
Kazakh 	Цитадель күзетшісі (Cyrillic) Цитадель күзетшісі (Latin)
Konkani 	किल्ल्याचो राखणदार
Korean 	요새의 감시
Kurdish 	Nobedarên keleha (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Чептин кароолчусу
Latvian 	Citadeles aizsargs
Lithuanian 	Apsaugos tarnybos citadelė
Luxembourgish 	Garde vun der Zitadell
Macedonian Cyrillic	Гарда на Цитаделата
Malagasy 	Mpiambina ny ny toeram-Pamaharana
Malaysian 	Pengawal Kubu Kota
Maltese 	Gwardja taċ-Ċittadella
Marathi 	किल्ल्याचा रक्षक
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Цайзын хамгаалагч
Nepalese 	किल्ला को रक्षक
Norwegian 	Vakt av Citadell
Pashto 	د کلا ساتونکی
Persian 	گارد قلعه
Polish 	Strażnicy Cytadeli
Portuguese 	Guarda da Cidadela
Punjabi 	ਗੜ੍ਹ ਦਾ ਪਹਿਰੇਦਾਰ
Romanian 	Garda citadelă
Romansh 	Chastè ?
Russian 	Стражи Цитадели
Scottish Gaelic 	Geàrd de na Caisteal
Serbian 	Гуард од Цитаделе (Cyrillic) Гарда od Citadele (Latin)
Sinhalese 	බලකොටුවේ ආරක්ෂකයා
Slovak 	Stráže z Citadela
Slovenian 	Stražar Citadela
Spanish 	Guardia de la Ciudadela
Swedish 	Vakten av Citadell
Tamil 	கோட்டையின் காவலர்
Telugu 	కోట యొక్క గార్డు
Thai 	ยามเนินปราสาท
Turkish 	Muhafız Kale
Turkmen 	Içki galada garawul
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Гвардія Цитадель
Urdu 	قلعہ کا محافظ
Welsh 	Gwarchodlu'r Caer
Yiddish 	היטן פון די סיטאַדעל
Category:Men of Gondor
Category:Military units
Category:Minas Tirith
de:Turmwache
es:Guardia de la Ciudadela
it:Guardia della Cittadella
pl:Strażnicy Cytadeli
ru:Стражи Цитадели