Talion

Talion, also known as the Grave Walker, is the main protagonist of both the 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its 2017 sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and the deuteragonist of the latter's DLC Light of Galadriel. He and Celebrimbor inhabit a single body in-game until the last act of Shadow of War, where he becomes a Nazgul that is holding off Sauron's forces at Minas Morgul.
A descendant of the Northmen in Rhovanion, and raised in Minas Tirith, he is a loyal Ranger of Gondor, and has spent his entire adult life as a Ranger in the garrison stationed at the Black Gate. Everything changed, however, when the Black Gate is attacked by Sauron's captains. At the moment of his death, Talion is possessed by an immensely powerful Wraith, saving his life, but also putting upon him a great burden.
Talion gets his revenge against the ones who killed his family, and decides to continue to fight against Sauron by forging a new ring. Despite being betrayed by Celebrimbor, Talion managed to survive by collecting a Nazgul ring, and decided to fight Sauron's forces as long as he could before he succumbed to the ring. Talion succumbed to the ring, but was freed from his curse when the One Ring was destroyed, and he was able to pass on to the afterlife.
He is voiced by Troy Baker, who voices Erron Black in the Mortal Kombat series, and also voiced Joel Miller in The Last of Us series, Booker DeWitt in Bioshock: Infinite, Jack Mitchell in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Delsin Rowe in Infamous: Second Son, Orkos in God of War: Ascension, Robin in Batman: Arkham City, Red Hood in Batman: Arkham Knight, Joseph Allen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Snow Villiers in the Final Fantasy series, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and many others.
==Background==
===Early Life===
Talion was a Ranger of Gondor stationed at the Black Gate, the gateway into the lands of Mordor. Talion lived at the outpost with his wife and son, as they had to move to the Black Gate after Talion killed a Gondorian that was assaulting Loreth. Talion's father-in-law, Hallas, wanted to kill him, but Loreth convinced him that he was saving her, and they moved to the Black Gate, but they wanted to return home.
===Shadow of Mordor===
At the start of the game, the outpost is attacked by servants of Sauron. Talion's family is slain by one such servant, known as the Black Hand with the aid of The Tower and The Hammer. Talion expects to soon meet his family in the afterlife, and recalls the events before his and his family's death. Instead, however, Talion is resurrected and joined with a Wraith known as Celebrimbor (however he is unaware of his identity), presenting him with a unique for revenge on those who have wronged him. Celebrimbor is an individual with personal motives, but Talion chooses still to cooperate with him on his journey.
During their journey, Talion helps Celebrimbor regain his lost memories, and learns that he was the greatest Elven smith that created the rings of power. The two also work with the Outcast to destroy a statue of Sauron, help the Tribesmen of Núrn cure Lady Marwen (as it's revealed Saruman was possessing her), and aid a dwarf named Torvin kill a legendary Graug that killed his brother. Additionally, Talion and Celebrimbor began to grow an army of Orcs, using the Elf's wraith abilities to dominate the Orcs of Mordor to stand against Sauron and The Black Captains.
Talion and Celebrimbor succeeded in killing The Black Captains, but he learns from the Tower of Sauron that he is the Elf's vessel. Despite Celebrimbor telling him they can enter the afterlife, Talion decides to help the Wraith defeat Sauron.
===Shadow of War===
Talion and Celebrimbor decide to forge a New Ring to defeat Sauron, but after completing its creation, the wraith is captured by Shelob. Talion manages to not bleed out by wearing the New Ring, and travels afar to Shelob's lair to have her return Celebrimbor to him. She agrees if Talion gives her the ring, and he does so despite Celebrimbor telling him not to. Shelob gives Talion visions of the future, showing Minas Ithil being attacked by an Uruk army, and that the Palantir is there.
Talion and Celebrimbor go to Minas Ithil, and help the Men of Gondor sent the Uruks back by using their own beats against them. Talion argues with the wraith on protecting Minas Ithil from falling, but Celebrimbor wants the Palantir only. Despite helping the Men of Gondor, Minas Ithil eventually falls to the Nazgul when they are betrayed by Idril's father, Castamir. Talion and Celebrimbor continue on with the aid of Eltariel, an assassin sent by Lady Galadriel to hold a stalemate against Sauron's forces and the Nazgul. In addition, Talion grows his army by taking over regions, and placing dominated overlords in charge of his fortresses.
Talion's partnership with Celebrimbor becomes strained when he learns that the Elf Lord aided Sauron in corrupting men who are now the Nazgul, as Celebrimbor forged rings for Sauron to give them. 
==== A Terrible Choice ====
After helping Celebrimbor to defeat Isildur, Talion is once again able to see into the wraiths past. He learns how Sauron's forces recovered Isildur's body following the ambush, before reanimating and enslaving the former King of Gondor's corpse via a ring of power. Remembering Shelob's warning, Talion, desperate to prevent the dark future she showed him, rebelled against Celebrimbor. Ignoring, the wraith elf's plea, Talion drew his sword and plunged it into Isildur's body, setting him free, liberating him from Sauron's service. In the process, nobody noticed Isildur's ring slip from the Ringwraiths finger. 
Celebrimbor was not pleased by this. He chastised Talion for freeing a valuable puppet for their war against Sauron. When Talion countered that their mission was to destroy Sauron, the wraith countered that Sauron (being a maia) could not be destroyed, only dominated. Hearing this, the ranger realized that Shelob was right. Celebrimbor wanted to dominate Sauron and take control of his armies. Though he claimed to be fighting for the good of Middle-Earth, "The Bright Lord" would become the new ruler of darkness and the cycle would start all over again. 
Unfortunately for Talion, Eltariel, captivated by Celebrimbor's ability to break Sauron's hold over the undead, sided with the elven spectre. Tired of the constant fighting, she foolishly believed that Celebrimbor's solution would bring eternal peace to Middle-Earth. Thus, when Talion dclared that he would "not trade one Dark Lord for another", Celebrimbor decided that the rangers use to him had run its course. Celebrimbor betrays Talion, deciding to make Eltariel his vessel and gives her the New Ring, as he manipulates her into helping him dominate Sauron.
Talion slowly dies alone, but speaks with Shelob, who reveals that when they were forging the New Ring, she saw a future where he and Celebrimbor dominated Sauron, and started to take over Middle-earth. Shattered, Talion questions how he can continue his fight against the darkness, and Shelob tells him to take over Minas Morgul, as he can hold off Sauron's forces there. Shelob tells Talion to open his eyes, and he realizes that Isildur's ring is still there, as it fell off his finger when being dominated. Talion decides to wear the ring, and becomes a wraith. 
===Ringwraith===
Returning to Minas Morgul and defeats the Witch King. Talion looks through the Palantir to see Celebrimbor and Eltariel, and sees them defeat the Dark Lord, but Sauron cuts off Eltariel's finger, and merges with Celebrimbor into the Flaming Eye. As a result, Sauron and Celebrimbor battle for dominance for the Eye, but Sauron no longer has his greatest powers, trapping him.
Talion continued to fight against Sauron and his forces, and proceeded to protect the forts he gained during the Shadow Wars. Talion slowly began to succumb to Isildur's ring, and reunites with Eltariel, who was ordered by Lady Galadriel to return to Minas Morgul and to kill him. Talion tells Eltariel that he hasn't fallen yet, and asks for her help in being the counterbalance against Sauron's forces.
Eventually, Talion succumbs to the ring, but is defeated by Eltariel, who learns of his past that led him to become a vessel for the ring maker. Despite his defeat at the hands of Eltariel, Talion did not truly die. As a Ringwraith, he could not be destroyed for as long as the One Ring existed. Shortly after his defeat at the hands of his former friend, Talion was restored to his body and returned to Minas Morgul. 
As he overlooked the city one last time, a voice called out to him. Turning around, Talion saw the Witch-King of Angmar moving towards him. This time, he offered no resistance. Placing his hand upon the former rangers shoulder, The Lord of the Nazgul proclaimed that the time had finally for the Nine to turn their attention towards Middle-Earth. With that, Talion finally gave himself over to both his ring and the will of the Dark Lord and became a Nazgul.
His fellow Nazgul materialised a moment later, no longer exiled from the citadel. As the wraith that had once been Talion led his brethern into the citadel, the rest of the Ringwriaths silently welcomed him into their ranks. With this, Minas Morgul once again fell under Sauron's control and became both the Witch-King and the Nazguls headquarters once more. Talion would spend the rest of his time on the living plain as a servant of the Dark Lord.
===Death and Release===
Despite his fall, Talion's sacrifice was not in vain. As Shelob had foretold, by foresaking Celebrimbor, he prevented the dark future that would have seen Celebrimbor take over Middle-Earth as its "Bright Lord". His actions also unwittingly kept Sauron contained within Mordor and stopped the Dark Lord from personally accompanying his forces into the Realms of Men. Most importantly, by taking control of Minas Morgul and several Orc battalions, Talion was able to deprive the Forces of Darkness of much needed man power, whilst also delaying Sauron's advance by decades. 
Following his corruption, Talion would serve as a loyal agent of Sauron. When the captured Gollum revealed that the One Ring had been taken to the Shire by a person named Baggins, Talion accompanied his fellow Nazgul to the Shire trying to find and locate his masters prize. He later chased the ring-bearer, Frodo Baggins across the fords to Rivendel but was swept away by the power of the elves. He also later participated in the attack on Minas Tirith. During the Battle of the Black Gate, Talion would perform his last known act. When Frodo finally succumbed to the Rings influence at the Crack of Doom, within Mount Doom, the terrified Sauron hastily ordered his loyal lieutenants to retrieve the ancient relic.
Atop mighty fellbeasts, Talion and his kin raced towards the volcano, but were simply not quick enough. Before they could get there, Gollum, who desired the Ring for himself, managed to claim his "Precious" only to fall into the lava below, takng the source of Sauron's power with him. With the Ring's destruction, Sauron was defeated and his influence over Mordor was undone at last. As Mount Doom erupted for the first time in centuries, Talion and his steed were hit by a volcanic bomb and slain.
With the death of his mortal shell, Talion was finally freed from the influence of Isildur's Ring, Sauron and Celebrimbor. Thus, after years of denial, he was finally able to enter the afterlife, freed from his curse and mission at long last. As a symbol of his new found peace and freedom, Talion removed his cloak, bracers and swords, casting them gently to the ground. Once they were removed, he walked purposefully towards a waiting city, to presumably reunite with his family at long last.
Back in Middle-Earth, Eltariel, who had survived the war witnessed both Talion's death and Celebrimbor's escape. With Sauron defeated, the elven assassin turned her attention towards hunting down Celebrimbor, both to avenge his manipulation and pay him back for what he did to Talion.
==Skills and Abilities==
Having been a Ranger for most of his life, Talion is a skillful swordsman, being very proficient at using both swords and daggers. Due to being a Ranger, he is also capable of using a bow, although for the most part it is Celebrimbor who does.
His experience as a Ranger has also provided Talion with a reasonable degree of stealth efficiency, as he is capable of moving swiftly to eliminate his enemies without being detected.
Talion is also proved to be a skilled climber, capable of scaling large walls and walking along ropes.
Aside from his physical armaments, Celebrimbor grants Talion a host of additional powers he can use to his advantage. While in the wraith world, Talion is capable of using shadow strike, an attack which allows him to teleport to his enemies' location and quickly kill them, as well as easily navigate over the terrain. Talion is also capable of binding his enemies' feet to the earth via flame and slowing down time in combat.
The most important of Talion's abilities is his power to strike fear into and dominate Uruk, allowing him to access a whole host of opportunities. These enemies will then perform tasks such as gathering intel, spreading dissent, or attempting to assassinate their peers, underlings and commanders.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*Talion's name is from Latin roots from the term law of talion, meaning "an eye for an eye".
*Talion appears to have developed feelings for Lithariel and become infatuated with Idril, as Celebrimbor notes that he should ignore those feelings, as they cloud his mind.
==Navigation==
pl:Talion
Category:Male
Category:Honorable
Category:Damsels
Category:Undead
Category:Fighters
Category:Fantasy Heroes
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Warriors
Category:Spouses
Category:Brutes
Category:Guardians
Category:Monster Slayers
Category:Assassins
Category:Vengeful
Category:Revived
Category:Freedom Fighters
Category:Egalitarian
Category:Parents
Category:Successful
Category:Middle-earth Heroes
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Immortals
Category:Heroes from the Past
Category:Cursed
Category:Possessors
Category:War Heroes
Category:Martyr
Category:In Love
Category:Protectors
Category:Leaders
Category:Strong-Willed
Category:Strategists
Category:Tragic
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Deceased
Category:Lawful Good
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Pawn of the Villain
Category:Possessed/Brainwashed
Category:Wise
Category:Virtually Resourceful
Category:Fallen
Category:Dreaded
Category:Honest
Category:Determinators
Category:Lethal
Category:One-Man Army
Category:The Chosen One
Category:Knights
Category:Merciful
Category:Rescuers
Category:Good Vs. Good
Category:Saved Souls
Category:Selfless
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Betrayed
Category:Hegemony
Category:Bond Creators
Category:Bond Protectors
Category:Victims
Category:Tragic
Category:Charismatic
Category:Leaders