Why Orcs should never be sympathetic in Tolkien’s works

In J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, Orcs are not creatures designed to evoke sympathy or compassion. They are, quite literally, manifestations of evil, conceived by dark forces to spread terror and chaos across Middle-earth. Unlike other fictional creatures, who may have redeeming qualities or sympathetic traits, Orcs are a faceless horde of malevolence—merciless, brutal, and irredeemable by their very nature. Yet, recent adaptations, such as The Rings of Power, have taken liberties in trying to humanise these creatures, attempting to grant them shades of grey. But to do so is to fundamentally misunderstand Tolkien’s intent.

Orcs as manifestations of evil

In Tolkien’s works, evil is not just an opposing force to good; it is a corruption, a perversion of what is natural and beautiful. Orcs are not a naturally occurring race like Elves, Dwarves, or Men. Rather, they are the result of dark sorcery, twisted and malformed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, and later bred and used by Sauron to serve his nefarious purposes. The origins of Orcs are murky and tragic, but Tolkien consistently portrayed them as soulless beings, stripped of free will, bound to the darkness, and devoid of moral complexity.

Orcs are the embodiment of everything Tolkien abhorred. They are bred to destroy, their purpose singular and destructive. There is no glory in their violence; they are not warriors but mere tools of malevolent force, a faceless horde that exists only to serve the whims of their dark masters. This design reinforces the notion that evil in Tolkien’s world is more than just a bad choice or an unfortunate circumstance; it is a fundamental, unyielding corruption that seeks to consume all.

the faceless horde: teeth, claws, and carnage

Tolkien meticulously crafted the Orcs to be a physical manifestation of horror. Their descriptions in The Lord of the Rings evoke revulsion: slouched, grotesque, with eyes that shine like guttering coals and fangs that gnash with bloodlust. They lack individual identity and are almost always described as a collective—a mob, a pack, a swarm. In the heat of battle, they lose what little semblance of individuality they possess, becoming a seething mass of terror that engulfs everything in its path.

This is not an accident; Tolkien intended for them to be a faceless, undifferentiated force. This anonymity dehumanises them, making them more akin to a natural disaster or a plague than a race of beings with unique traits or stories. Even the names of the Orcs are typically guttural sounds, often harsh and violent, devoid of any semblance of warmth or heritage. They are deliberately designed to be the nightmare in the woods, the darkness that swallows hope.

the danger of humanising Orcs: lessons from The Rings of Power

One of the more baffling creative decisions in Amazon’s The Rings of Power was the attempt to humanise the Orcs, painting them as misunderstood, even pitiable, creatures. The showrunners appear to have missed the memo that Orcs are not supposed to be misunderstood. They are not tragic victims of circumstance; they are inherently, irredeemably evil.

The attempt to portray Orcs as having any semblance of a moral compass, or to make them victims of their environment, dilutes the potency of Tolkien’s mythos. Orcs are tools of darkness, vessels of an ancient malice that seeks only to defile and destroy. By giving them motives or backstories that encourage empathy, we are led down a path that Tolkien never intended. Evil in his works is not meant to be relatable or understandable; it is to be confronted, resisted, and ultimately overcome.

The idea of giving Orcs a sympathetic background trivialises the very essence of what they represent. It attempts to sanitise something that is meant to be horrific, offering a form of narrative absolution that undermines Tolkien’s clear message about the nature of corruption and the importance of resisting it. In trying to give Orcs a shade of humanity, The Rings of Power forgets that these creatures were never human in the first place. They are not flawed beings struggling with inner demons; they are the demons.

respecting Tolkien’s vision

In Tolkien’s world, evil is absolute, and Orcs are the foot soldiers of that malevolence. They are a stark reminder of the horrors that await should darkness prevail, and their monstrous nature is essential to the moral framework that Tolkien built. The Orcs are a critical element in the tapestry of Middle-earth, a relentless, unthinking swarm that embodies all that is wrong and unnatural.

To humanise Orcs is to lose sight of the purpose they serve in Tolkien’s narrative structure. They are not creatures in need of our understanding or our pity. They are the monsters under the bed, the nightmare that lurks just beyond the light, and they should remain that way. Attempts to recast them as sympathetic figures undermine the very essence of Tolkien’s work and dilute the power of his message. Let the Orcs be Orcs—mindless, savage, and utterly irredeemable. For in their darkness, we find the light of those who stand against them, and that is where the true beauty of Middle-earth lies.