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Ratbag, also known as Ratbag the Coward, is an Uruk in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War. He is a member of Sauron's Army in Udûn, and an ally to Talion. He makes up the mythic two-headed troll called The Etten with the Olog Az-Harto, whom he calls "Ranger" in honor of Talion.

In-Game Description

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Ratbag the Uruk craves power without knowing what he would do with it. He cannot heft a heavy weapon over his head, but he will, stupidly perhaps, attempt to claw his way to the top of Sauron's Army by aligning with his people's great enemy, the Gravewalker.

He has deluded himself into believing the Ranger will help him become a Warchief and, once he has power, he will be able to keep all he has achieved. His many scars bear witness to his ineptitude and history of failure. He is a craven little thing whose only chance of success is in spite of himself.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Survivor, Coward, Both?

"Don't get me wrong. I almost respect Ratbag. Who else has gone so far with so little?" -- Brûz the Chopper

Ratbag is either Mordor's greatest survivor or merely its luckiest Orc. Scrawny by Uruk standards, Ratbag has managed to survive -- and indeed thrive -- despite mediocre combat skills, his startling stupidity, a tendency toward self-delusion, grandiosity, and a general demeanor that makes most Orcs want to kill him.

Bound and left for dead by other Uruks, Ratbag convinced Talion to free him in exchange for information on how to lure high-ranking Warchiefs into the open. Over time, they developed an uneasy partnership, with Ratbag ascending the Orcs' ranks as Talion's catspaw.

Ratbag eventually became a Warchief with Talion's help, but his rulership was cut short when the Hammer, a servant of Sauron, apparently killed him with a single blow. Ratbag survived but was later captured by a gang of Orcs along with an Olog. True to form, he managed to escape, rescuing the Olog, whom he named "Ranger" in honor of Talion. Since the events of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Ratbag and "Ranger" climbed the ranks of the Orc army, eventually rising to rule a fortress as a mythic two-headed Overlord known as The Etten.

Shadow of Mordor

Talion first meets Ratbag when he finds him tied to a pole by his superior, Goroth Caragor Tamer. Ratbag makes a deal with Talion that if he helps him rise to the top of the Uruk Hierarchy, he will draw out Black Hand of Sauron. When Talion helps him to eventually become Warchief, Ratbag swears that nobody under his watch will stop Talion though he cannot do anything about the other Warchiefs, whom Talion will have to kill.

Ratbag faces an execution from his superior, Brogg the Twin who is a warchief's bodyguard. Before this could be done, Talion intervened and killed Brogg, saving Ratbag and causing him to become the warchief's new bodyguard. However, he showed the Warchief Mogg the Other Twin, who is revealed to be Brogg's twin, he has Ratbag, hung up and prepared for execution. An annoyed Talion saved him again and killed Mogg, finally making Ratbag a warchief.

After the rest of the Warchiefs are killed by Talion and the monument for Sauron is destroyed by Talion, the Hammer of Sauron arrives to question where the Warchiefs were at while this was happening. A group of Uruks shove Ratbag to the front, who explains that the rest of the Warchiefs have perished in battle. Unimpressed, the Hammer promptly executes Ratbag for not answering his duties to kill the ranger by swinging his mace and seemingly killing him instantly.

Shadow of War

Later in Shadow of War, Ratbag is revealed to be alive and working with the Olog Az-Harto, who he somehow saved and later named him "Ranger". Working together, the pair moved up the Orc hierarchy in Nurnen to the position of Overlord back killing the Overlord of the Fortress and forging the legend of the two-headed troll called the Etten to keep their soldiers in line. After Bruz the Chopper betrays the Bright Lord and captures ''Ranger'', Ratbag helps Talion in several missions to stop Bruz. After Bruz is defeated and shamed worse than death, Ratbag and ''Ranger'' leave horrified by how much mental torture their enemy endured at the hands of the Bright Lord. This is the last time Ratbag is seen and his current fate is unknown.

Trivia

  • Ratbag was first shown in a gameplay video where Talion had to dominate him in order to kill a Warchief. His full title, then, was "Ratbag the Meat Hoarder".
  • Ratbag might be one of the very few Uruks who willingly helps the protagonist.
  • If there is no Nemesis all the way up to The Lord Of Mordor quest, Ratbag will be the one standing where your Nemesis would be. He will be voiced by Dwight Schultz instead of Phil LaMarr. 
  • When reuniting with Talion in Shadow of War, Ratbag attributes his surviving being hit by the Hammer to needing to cut the head clean off to make sure an Uruk stays dead. This is a self-aware joke, as the only way to ensure a Nemesis does not cheat death in Shadow of Mordor is to decapitate them.
  • In Shadow of Mordor, if Talion levels up and unlocks Death Threats, a threat can be sent to Ratbag to increase his level. However this serves no purpose and Ratbag's abilities will not change.
  • It is possible that his name derived from the orcs Shagrat and Gorbag who appeared in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Combining the two names together at the end of the syllable will form Ratbag
  • In Shadow of War, Ratbag's nemesis status indicates him as a member of the Warmonger tribe. This can seen by inspecting Ratbag while in the wraith world.

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