I must admit, when I initially heard of the nemesis system I was very skeptical, making every bog-standard mook unique and able to organically grow into something terrifying? Hah, like that will ever be possible..
(TL;DR at the end)
...And that is when I met Noruk the Skinner. Quite a silly looking orc really, lacking in a nose and quite honestly, any intimidating features, he was part of this one captain's entourage who I was planning to eliminate. Surprisingly, things only went south after I beheaded the captain since I underestimated the sheer size of the mob accompanying him and had barely a sliver of health left when I got down to the last three orcs, one of which was him. I mistimed a counter and got brought down by one orc, only to have him deliver the killing blow, which sadly, I also failed to counter.
A quick visit to the Sauron's Army screen showed him now joining the ranks as a new captain, "meh" I thought, "he won't last long", and went on doing other missions, one of which was a duel between two random captains. I proceeded to waste both of them and who do I run into? Noruk who was busy chilling with another captain just outside the area, it was here when his personality traits finally showed: he was a coward, and let the army of orcs surrounding him do the dirty work. The addition of another captain made him quite confident though, and rightly so, because what ensued was a tag team match where I got absolutely destroyed by the two before the surrounding army could even touch me.
Now its personal, forget the main quest, forget everything, this orc is going down and going down hard. After respawning I got notified he is recruiting more orcs at a nearby stronghold and bolted off towards him to finally end things. I get there and I rush headfirst past the mob surrounding him, gunning straight for his throat, swords clash into a struggle and he insults me for dying so much, now ITS REALLY PERSONAL. In a blind rage I throw him back and start wailing into the orcs surrounding me instead, I want this to be a one-on-one between us and nothing will stop me from achieving that.
What ensued was the most epic fight I've ever had in a game, one orc sounded the alarm and the number quickly grew from 20 odd orcs to over 50 of them just flooding from every hole in the ruin, surrounding me. Rain started falling, getting heavier and the sky darker as lightning drowns out the sound of steel against steel and orcs screaming. Like the spirit of vengeance I am, I danced through the orcs with ferocious poise, beheading and dodging and stabbing, one by one they fell as Noruk just stood behind witnessing the slaughter. 20 minutes passed before that fight ended.
Fatigued, I stood over the corpses of many, but far from done, I started slowly walking to Noruk. Scared shitless I bet, he blew into a horn, a call for help, but a futile attempt sadly, for nary an orc was left in this place but him. Before he could draw his sword I was already cutting away at him, hit after hit, jab after jab, he finally collapsed to the floor and had no choice but to accept his fate. Unfortunately his health was still too much and he countered my killing blow, taking a dagger in the side instead of the face, pushing me away. At this rate his cowardice showed and he started booting it, "not happening!" I said to myself as I chased him, only to see I was indeed wrong as two elite captains showed up (both with mobs) to save the day and started wailing away at me. Sadly I was overwhelmed and had no choice but to run away myself. Bruised, battered, I stood on top of a tower, looking out into the horizon in utter defeat, swearing that next time, Noruk, you will perish by my hand.
As of current time, he's been doing tons of executions (never a duel, always the easy way, like the coward he is) which has helped him grow in considerable power, he's become well established and quite feared within the ranks, as other orcs literally talk about him when I pass them. I've been growing in power myself though and now see he's hosting a feast to celebrate, hopefully this will be his last one ever...
Gosh this game is freaking awesome, how a random mook I couldn't care less about randomly became something so memorable, something that I so freaking hate (yet love) is just crazy. Hats off to you Monolith, you guys really nailed it just like you said.
You guys also loving this game as much as I am right now?
TL;DR: Random mook killed me, became a captain and minor character, killed me again, he got stronger, I got pissed, I set out for revenge and failed, now planning second try. He proceeded to become the most memorable boss and character ever for me. All of this completely random and not-scripted and extremely well executed. Anyone else also loving this as much as I am?