Maiar fire spirits corrupted by Morgoth in the earliest days of the world, among the most terrible of his servants. They take the form of shadowy giants wreathed in flame, wielding whips of fire and flaming swords. Balrogs served as Morgoth's most powerful lieutenants during the wars of the First Age, and their captain Gothmog was the Lord of Balrogs. Most were destroyed in the War of Wrath, but at least one survived, hiding deep beneath the Misty Mountains until it was awakened by the Dwarves of Moria thousands of years later.