Comparative Essay Example: What are the similarities of “World of Warcraft” and “The Lord of the Rings”?

This essay will be dedicated to the comparison of the two movies, based on the universes of “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) and “World of Warcraft” (WOW). An essay, which provides the analysis of different and similar features of two or more selected subjects, considering specific aspects or areas, which are present in both, is called a comparative essay.

This essay will be dedicated to the comparison of the two movies, based on the universes of “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) and “World of Warcraft” (WOW). An essay, which provides the analysis of different and similar features of two or more selected subjects, considering specific aspects or areas, which are present in both, is called a comparative essay. This text will demonstrate the comparison between two fantasy universes, and will especially pay attention to oppositions such as: warcraft orcs vs mordor orcs, Minas Tirith vs Shtormgrad and, of course, more generally LOTR vs WOW. Thus, the following text will serve as an example of a comparative essay. As a beginning, I will mention the two different places, in which the stories occur: Azeroth and Middle Earth from WOW and LOTR respectively. These two locations have their geographical and structural similarities. The geographical factor will be described in more details, but the political and demographical aspects will also be analyzed according to their similarities. To start with, the territories, which belong to orcs, and those, which belong to humans, are drastically separated in terms of geography both in Azeroth and Middle Earth. Mordor is encircled by a chain of mountains, and an ocean separates Dreanor from Azeroth. These two areas have both similarities and differences: both orcs territories are further characterized as vast, gold and malign lands, which form a great opposition to the human lands of free people or the Alliance. The so-called political situation in both universes also has some similarities: as a rule, the two confronting sides consist of the orcs, on the one side, and joined armies of humans, dwarfs and elves on the other. Along with that, in both worlds the humans have the most political and military power including the dominating amount of army as well as control over major parts of the territories. In LOTR these are the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, while the kingdom of Shtormgrad plays the major part in the world of Warcraft. All these factors make human race a leader of the opposition against the forces of orcs for the both universes. However, comparing warcraft orcs vs mordor orcs, we can see that they have less in common according to several criteria such as their appearance and organization. These differences can be seen in the following ways: to begin with, the Mordor orcs from Lord of the rings are short and crooked, with dark skin and flat noses. On the other hand, warcraft orcs are tall and muscular, their skin-tone is green, and they have large tusks on the lower jaw. Their ears are also big and pointed, and their clothes originate from the tribal culture. Mordor orcs are more often seen with their military armor on. It is made of metal and looks less ceremonial and massive as that of orcs from Warcraft. The major factor of their military power is their quantity rather than the art of war, and internal diversity is more evident. Along with these dissimilarities, the level of technological abilities is more or less the same among them, as well as the tribal organization of society, which they also seem to share. Comparing two kinds of orcs from both universes, it is necessary to mention, that while there is only one type of warcraft orcs, LOTR has a range of different kinds of orcs such as goblins from Misty Mountain and Moria, which are smaller and have a fear of daylight, or hybrid Uruk Hai – strong, large and able to act irrespective of time of the day. The comparison Minas Tirith vs Shtormgrad in Middle Earth and in Warcraft shows that similarities can also be found in these two main cities of men. They both are situated in the mountains of white and bright colors and are considered to be the cities of harmony and happiness, but are also able to protect themselves from the external hazard by being a center of war planning and counseling. The architectural structure of these cities is both different and alike: Minas Tirith and Shtormgrad have high white towers as centers of royal and administrative power and are the hearts of the kingdom. The differences between their layouts are the following: firstly, Minas Tirith has a leveling structure of seven encircling walls, while Shtormgrad doesn’t have such symmetry in its architecture, though it also demonstrates some kind of unequal elevation. The original purpose of the cities, however, is historically different – Minas Tirith was built without any intention to become a capital city of Gondor. This status was given to it because of the long war between Gondor and Minas Morgul, which led to the total destruction of Oscillath, which was the initial capital. Shtormgrad, nonetheless, was built specifically for being the main city of the kingdom with the same name and has never served any other purposes. Mentioning the last topic – LOTR vs WOW, we can observe that, on the whole, these two fantasy universes have much in common – both of them exist in fictive worlds. Azeroth and Middle Earth are both populated by mythological creatures such as dwarfs, elves, orcs and others as well as humans. Naturally, just like the hobbits don’t exist in Azeroth, other creatures of Warcraft don’t show in Middle Earth, but the predominant idea of the battle between good and evil is evident in both, though they have a slightly different narration. The contrast between the free people and Sauron in Lord of the Rings is obvious while, in the movie of Warcraft, the orcs are not depicted as an absolute evil – they actually have an internal separation and suffer from the evil that commands them. That is the main difference between the orcs of Warcraft and orcs of Mordor. The other common feature of these two movies is the value of a certain magical object, which has an ability to endow its owner with power and victory. In LOTR, it is the ring itself, and in WOW it is represented by the huge portal, without which the orcs cannot conquer Azeroth, and without the ring Sauron cannot rule all the lands of Middle Earth. To sum up, the comparison of LOTR vs WOW has shown that both universes have a lot in common and are mostly based on the same ground, which nevertheless led to different storylines. The reason is that although they have the same elements such as mythical creatures, common geographical features and the battle between good and evil as a heart of the plot as well as some kind of item, which is key to power, their minor differences make both universes unique and original.