You shall not pass!

The infamous Balrogs of Tolkien’s Middle Earth are making their way into Lord of the Rings Online!  In Book 11 we shall see the foes unlike any other first hand.  This raises many questions for the purists among us.  Should players be able to defeat a Balrog?  It is said that Balrogs can only be defeated by beings of equal or greater power – and certainly a Hobbit or army of Hobbits no matter their size are no match for a Balrog.  I think it’s important to include a bit of history on the Balrog:

According to The Silmarillion the Balrogs were originally Maiar, of the same order as Sauron, Saruman and Gandalf, but they became seduced by Morgoth, who corrupted them to his service in the days of his splendour before the making of Arda. During the First Age, they were among the most feared of Morgoth’s forces. When the fortress of Utumno was destroyed by the Valar, many of them fled and hid in the pits of Angband and deep in the earth.

As Maiar, Balrogs originally had the ability to change their shape at will, and to move “unclad in the raiment of the world” meaning invisible and without form. However, it seems that Melkor, Sauron, and their assorted Ainur servants could lose this ability to change shape. Melkor became locked into the “tyrant of Utumno” shape, gigantic and terrible, but was unable to heal his burnt hands and forehead from the Silmarils and his injured face and feet from his single combat with Fingolfin. However, Sauron only lost his ability to assume a fair-seeming form after his physical body was destroyed in the downfall of Númenor.

While not specifically stated by Tolkien, it seems that Balrogs were partially fixed in their fiery demonic forms in the same way. Tolkien describes them as “spirits” of fire and “great shadows.” As a result, it is uncertain whether the Balrogs were somewhat ethereal.

So right from the words of Tolkien himself, Balrogs were originally in the same order as Gandalf and perhaps even once looked as he did (before Gandalf took Man form).  Personally I think it’s a bastardization of ‘the Lore’ and truly unfortunate if players will be capable of defeating a Balrog.  It’s uncertain right now if this will indeed be a raid or if it’s merely going to be visible in the form of a story quest.  I hope it’s done right.  Several screenshots are now available.