From
TES issue 12 (November 2001)
Series 7/8.
Level 1/2/3.
TROLLS
They weren't much like Guy Standeven's Troll from series 2, but
Lord Fear's
giant stone warriors were always described as such. Trolls stomped throughout the entire Dungeon in series 7 and 8, intent on squashing or clubbing
dungeoneers. Often only their footsteps could be heard, leading to a frantic rush to leave the chamber, but meeting a troll in person was always very dangerous. They were large grey warriors, often only seen from the waist down, as they were so tall. They wielded giant axes or clubs. Trolls were notoriously unintelligent, and presumably did not have the will or the drive to object to Lord Fear's mastery over them. They were used either to lurk nearby as a threat to get moving, or as a lethal obstacle that needed to be passed. The classic example of this is the level one challenge in series 7 that involves dodging a giant club that is swinging across the path, which is straddled by huge troll legs. Trolls were twice partly responsible for a death: that of Ben III on the
Trial by Spikes. Read about it fully in last issue's Remember This?, but I'm sure you remember that Ben was killed here because of an earlier fatal error. Troll steps were also heard approaching just before the death of Nicola II in series 7. She was trapped in a dark tunnel and had nothing to light it up, so she couldnt go any further. A relative of the troll, the
miretrog, was introduced at the very end of series 8. (
Treguard: "It's like a sort of troll, except bigger and squashier and definitely nastier.") Its introduction at this late stage seemed rather unnecessary to me, but never mind. Lord Fear was very keen to use the trolls to assert his authority. This is proved in the extreme by his attempt to send the king of the trolls to destroy
Knightmare Castle at the end of series 7. His name was Bulstrode, and he was apparently the king because he was more intelligent than the other trolls were. (Lord Fear: "He's got six words, some of them pronouns, and he can count up to five.") But Bulstrode's reign of terror was short-lived as
Barry returned with the troll-hammer, which sent him plummeting back down to Goth.
Fear Factor: 9 Very large and frightening.
Killer Instinct: 3 An asset to Nicola and Ben's deaths.
Humanity: 7 Looked very human, but bigger.
Gore Factor: 2 Only as repulsive as the next humanoid.
