Taters to Taters

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

And now Round 2 judging. Nogrod here are your choices for "Deadly." You know the drill.

Eowyn
Gaffer Gamgee
Glaurung
Gandalf the White
Forweg
Gothmog (balrog)
Mount Doom
Ancalagon

Hmm... this is, well, interesting to make a conservative estimate of the choices.

I need to mull these over later today and then sleep on this. Meanwhile the stage is yours to tell me why I should pick this or that.

*Note some have exceeded their inbox and I couldn't get any reminders to. Nothing I could do, but I suppose I could extend for an extra hour or so. PM me with your choice for Round 2, and I'll add it to the list, for Nogrod's consideration. (It will be up to him though if he wants to accept the late choices).

Surely: late choices will be considered - especially in this horrible situation...

Although I will have to make my decicion tomorrow about two hours before the DL as I have choir-rehersals beginning at one hour before.

[Meneltarmacil]

Talk about a tough choice.

Although Gaffer Gamgee can be eliminated right away, and Forweg wasn't nearly as dangerous as the others on the list.

I'd say Mount Doom, Gothmog, and the dragons are probably the deadliest, then Gandalf, then Eowyn.

[Gwathagor]

But since Gandalf the White came back from death, he should probably be considered the opposite of dead...ly.

[Kitanna]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

But since Gandalf the White came back from death, he should probably be considered the opposite of dead...ly.

But Gandalf was a war monger. What's more deadly than that? Countless lives were lost because of him.

And then there's Eowyn. You all know the damage she caused with her behavior. The Witch-King was only out for a stroll. Though Gandalf's history books tell a different story.

[Gwathagor]

Sting and Carcharoth probably both have pretty decent kill counts themselves. Someone should tally those up.

[Galadriel55]

Sting. A truly deadly sword.

[Gwathagor]

Sting wounded the cave troll, whose hide notched Boromir's blade. Plus all those countless victims during the Gondolin wars. And Shelob, the last child of Ungoliant the Great herself!

And if we're judging the entries by their enemies and victims, Carcharoth certainly gets some points. Huan...Beren...and then there's the Silmaril which he freaking ate. Not a lot of people can say that.

[Nogrod]

I was first thinking of Gaffer Gamgee and his killing humours, or Forweg who managed to be deadly on himself... but yes, maybe there just isn't that last tint of humour there that would have made them excellent choices over the more deadly ones.

Also, Mount Doom seems to score quite low with me right now. It is decisive, it is great, it is remarkable, great, powerful etc. and the forcing of the ring there brought on a lot of death and the destroying of it as well, but I'd still say it was the ring and it's maker, not the forge itself as such, that was deadly. And like Lhûna said, you should be courageous enough to pick someone of your size in the first place...

I'm also not so keen on counting the numbers of the deaths but rather the "quality or the execution of them" - if it can be phrased that way.

At the moment I tend to favour Sting, Gandalf the White, Gothmog, Carcaroth - followed by the dragons.

Eowyn was deadly to the Witch King but to none other. Here I think the quality over quantity argument doesn't fit...

Had there been "the oath of Fëanor" or "Húrin's bane" on offer, I would have picked them immediately.

Talking of which, one could say that the company of Gandalf the White is deadly as if you follow him you follow death springing forwards wherever he goes...

Well, I have to sleep on this.

[the phantom]

Eowyn- She killed the Witch King... after a Hobbit rendered him killable and paralyzed with a magical anti-Nazgul sword.

Gaffer Gamgee- The obvious humor choice here- his ridiculous sayings would certainly cause one to die a little inside whenever uttered.

Glaurung- Legit deadly. Killed tons of Elves/Men/Dwarves before Angband's gates and at Nargothrond.

Gandalf the White- Certainly deadly, but didn't deal death nearly so much as those that enjoyed it. But I suppose the two issues are separate. He's legit (though I'd rank Glaurung ahead).

Forweg- The leader of a band of outlaws ought to be worthy of consideration, but not next to Glaurung I should think.

Mount Doom- Ooo, interesting... It was used to cover the armies of Mordor in their deadly invasions, and used to forge the deadly Ring, and look at what all the Ring did! Not a conventional choice perhaps, but certainly a fitting one.

Ancalagon- Another dragon! Glaurung was the father of the race, but Ancalagon might've been the deadliest. Of course we cannot know for certain as he was relatively short-lived and his first mission was his last. Picking him would have to be based upon potential and reputation rather than deeds.

Sting- It was put to excellent use in Mirkwood and again at Cirith Ungol, but I don't think killing spiders catapults Sting into the realm of Ancalagon and the like. By that logic we could nominate a fly-swatter.

Carcharoth- He did kill Beren. Except that Beren didn't die permanently. He did kill Huan though, but that point is balanced by Huan killing him in return. Like Ancalagon, it seems he wasn't allowed free realm to use his skills, so it'd be a pick based upon potential rather than deeds once again.

Gothmog (balrog)- Perhaps the deadliest on the list, The Lord of Balrogs- busy killing things from the moment it was possible to do so. Though he had all kinds of help, he still gets the notoriety of striking the death blow on the King of the Noldor twice (Feanor & Fingon), plus the countless Elves and Men (and whatever) he cut down during battles/wars.

So for my money, Gothmog and Glaurung are the top choices, with Mount Doom as a nice outside-the-box choice, and Gaffer as the RL choice I'd make just because it makes me laugh.

[Lhunardawen]

One thing we could do is make a tally of each one's kills, but I think in the end it's going to be more about the prominence and widespread impact of the kill(s) than the number. Ancalagon was the mightiest of the dragons, but Glaurung's indirect "kills" are kind of more relevant to us since we're given a more detailed account of what he did. He might not have killed Túrin or Nienna directly, but his actions significantly contributed to their deaths. Gothmog killed 2 High Kings of the Noldor, Fëanor and Fingon. Mount Doom "killed" Gollum and the Ring, which ushered the end of an age. Eowyn killed the Witch King, an act that most people then probably thought impossible, not to mention it crippled Sauron's forces and psychological edge somewhat. Gandalf...is a lot of things, but I'm personally not as ready to associate deadly with him as with the others on the list. I will unabashedly admit that I cannot remember who Forweg was.

Based on this, it's Glaurung, Gothmog, and Mount Doom for me (in no particular order - at least for now). More thoughts when I wake up.

[Gwathagor]

Maybe even more important than the prominence or impact of the kills would be the strength/relative deadliness of the person killed? Which probably puts Gothmog or Eowyn at the top of the list.

[Lhunardawen]

Good point, Gwath. That does make Eowyn one deadly chick. In Gothmog's case, one could argue that First-Age, Light-of-the-Two-Trees Noldorin Elves cannot be that much stronger than a Balrog, but he was slain by Ecthelion. Also, Mount Doom is now a wimp that cannot pick on somebody its own size. (Edit: Only in Gollum's case. For the One Ring, maybe not.)

[Boromir88]

After sifting through the PMs...just to make note here.

Sting and Carcharoth have been added, and that should be it for this round.