As a nameless leader of the Gundabad Warg Riders, he was a valid hero without contradicting the lore outright.' We decided to use the design and abilities of the Gundabad Orc leader from the movies, but only use his title, 'The Defiler'. We found a simple compromise solution when we realized that our other two Orc heroes, the Great Goblin and the Moria Chieftain, both had no names and went only by their titles. Others, however, raised valid concerns: Azog was a clear violation of the lore and had actually been long dead at the time of the Hobbit. And we knew that many players were looking forward to playing him in Edain. Azog was an obvious pick for a new Misty Mountain hero, especially since that faction could really use more heroes with movie flair and charisma. We always strive to bridge the book and movie versions of story and unite the best of both worlds. 'An Unexpected Journey presented a challenge to us by introducing Azog as an antagonist. Lord of Mordor explained our thought process on the matter many years ago:
It is important to note that this is not Azog, who plays a major role in the Hobbit trilogy, but was actually long dead at that time. The warriors of Gundabad are led by a cruel, pale orc called The Defiler. The Defiler, made in cooperation with Nazgul from the Special Extended Edition-mod
