Balrogs

I haven't quite read through all the pages here, but regarding what we're going to do with the balrogs visually, I was wondering if you guys had seen this fanart.

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In my opinion, PJ's version of a balrog was sheer perfection. Something that just can't be topped when it comes to giant fire demons. I think this fanart does a good job giving the balrogs the same visual aesthetic as Durin's Bane (pictured 3rd from left, by the way), but also their own clear, distinctive faces and features.

Then there's Gothmog, in the center, who just looks awesome. Even above anything Ted Naismith or John Howe might have done, this is my favorite rendition of Gothmog. His design evokes Durin's Bane, but he's larger, he's got the ax, and of course, he stands out among the rest with that deeper, darker more menacing orange color.

So yeah, I don't know whether you guys have answered it yet, but a big question is the look of Gothmog and the balrogs. And for that, my vote goes to something like this.
 
Personally... I'd rather like to challenge pjs balrogs...

I think they should look more human, with recognizeable human features, but we can make them look like burned corpses, i think they should look disfigured and they probably damage their own fanar everytime they set themselves aflame
 
"whips of flame and claws of steel"

"shooting darts of fire and flaming arrows like small snakes"

"brazen-handed with flails of flame and forged iron"

"its sword shivered"

"Gothmog hewed him with his black axe"

So we have Whips, claws, possibly Bows and other thrown missiles (darts - or javelins could be intended), Flails, Swords and Axes.

If we have only seven Balrogath as late Tolkien suggested we could give each Balrog an individualised Weapon, so we can tell them apart by their weapon of choice (like in the Ninja Turtles)

fire-whips actually DO exist and look amazing:
1384701350-zenferno-fire-whips-performer-shiva-vista-stage-burning-man.jpg


As for Swords and Axes I#m not sure. I guess a balrog sword could either be an Arming sword or a curved sword, or we can give one Balrog a straight-bladed weapon and another one a curved blade. I suppose we give one a number of Javelins or throwing Darts...

Throwing darts could also oook like ninja-throwing-pikes:
black-dart-throwing-spikes.jpg

if we think of thrown javelins we could think of weapons similar to the roman Pila

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or heavier pilum:

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flails could look like german war-Flails:
800px-Arte_De_Athletica_2b.jpg


or maybe a "Kettenmorgenstern"

450px-Klassischer-Flegel.jpg



what i DO find more interesting are the claws of Steel...

such Claws of steel could virtually refer to anything from a finger-claw, a clawed-gauntlet, a kind of knuckles or a bear-claw like weapon...

some examples:
clawSplash.jpg

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steel_claws_by_astalo.jpg


all choices look pretty bad-ass i think!

looking up HoME for Balrog weapons i found some more interesting quotes:

"fiery manes"

so they have long hair but seemingly their manes DO not get burned, even when they are aflame!



that IS interesting...
flaming_hair_by_brova.png
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"mouthed with fangs of steel"

I find these interesting too... I mean, it really does remember me of some Sideshow performers or Gangsta-Rappers:

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"Balrog proud"

Balrogs are proud. So while i used to think of Balrogs as burned, wild demons in the past... i now tend more towards thinking of them not as nude, horned muscle-monsters, but as more fancy. If their manes don#t get destroyed while aflame they could also wear magical clothing that does not get burned. I mean they could actually wear neat robes and even armour...

"cavalry of the Balrogs"

of course this quote could be interpreted as the Balrogs commanding cavalry too... but we also could decide to give them magical horses (probably of demon origin too... i suggest the horses might also be ablew to set themselves aflame, or they wear magical metal-armour that protects them!)

funny how looking at the text again changed my mind.

I used to think of Balrogs as this:

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but now I#m seeng Balrogs more like this:
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or this:

300px-Sam_in_the_Cage.jpg
 
Well maybe not exactly like Diablo... but I think they could have SOME similarity with him in their bearing and how they act.
 
some more ideas for the Balrog claws:

of course those could be handblades:
dragon-claw-hand-blades.jpg


or tiger-claws:

76651514606588cba348e5f738e33e6c--tiger-claw-in-india.jpg


but we also could interpret them ac clawed Maces, maybe similar to this:
s-l225.jpg


I mean the Balrog-Lords ARE the nobility of Angband after all...
 
I thought we'd have the valar as tall as the tallest humans, but not as tall as giants. I guess the balrogs should be as tall as the valar or at last only slightly smaller. We'd have to cheat anyway..
 
it was mainly the picture of a skeletal elemental that struck me...

I loved PJ's version myself, there's nothing specific about it that I would change. they had a perfect blend of physical, elemental and demonic attributes

but in the interest of original adaption, I would be tempted to play up their ability to shapeshift, as Maiar/fallen Ainur... I also agree with Haerangil about their weapons. I would expect the creation of exceptionally crafted, even divine armor/weaponry to be near effortless for such powerful beings - a whip or a sword made entirely of fire suits them perfectly, although I'd expect them to be able to make fire conform to any shape, and possibly shadow also. any physical weapons would probably have a very organic/chaotic look, and be made from a single piece of stone, or metal: probably they wouldn't be very complicated mechanically, but they might have the ability to shapeshift, in addition to having other magical properties

as lieutenants of Morgoth himself, I see Balrogs as being an entirely different class of creature from something like trolls, so I doubt they'd deign to use any old thing as a weapon, not if they have the ability to form weapons out of their own thought or essence. for Balrogs, I simply interpret "demon", and just like with demons, you couldn't go wrong with taurine or caprine attributes, like the horns on PJ's monster... as I was saying about shapeshifting, they might could take any form, from a dark cloud, to one of pure flame, and any physical body they choose to manifest might vary also, or be a reflection of their individual nature - so you might have some that habitually take the forms of certain beasts, like the mounts that were mentioned.

it's kindof late to bring up, but was there discussion about the Lamps being consecrated?
 
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