Mûmakil

Overview

The Mumakil are creatures that resonate in the Harad region of Middle-Earth. They are creatures of legend to many races including the shire-folk. They of which call the creature an Oliphaunt.  
  

Physical Features

The Oliphaunt obviously resembles the elephant. Except for the feature of having four tusks instead of two. They also are much larger then that creature, as some Mumakil can reach heights of 50 and 100 feet tall. 
 

Outfitting the Mumakil for War

During the War of the Ring, the Haradrim used these, knowingly peachfull creatures, as machines of war. Straping canvases to there back to house Haradrim troops marching off to Minas Tirith in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. No one knows exactly how the Haradrim were able to tame this beast ( or if they tamed them ) to allow them to strap the harnesses to the Mumakil. Some say they had to talk the creature into laying down, so they could then fixiate the harnesses on them. Whichever way, it is unknown.  
 

Mumakil in the War of the Ring

It is widely believed, yet not proven, that the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is the only time the Mamukil have been seen in battle. As the Haradrim had come from there home region to aid in the call of Sauron. They were met in war by the Rohirrim riders, who travles to aid  Minas Tirith in battle. They were soon also met in battle by the Army of the Dead who dwelt in the dimholt, and led by Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. The mumakil were taken down, by the free peoples of Middle-Earth, as well as the haradrim. As the Rohirrim used tactics like cutting of the mumakil's feet and legs to bring them down. As well as firing arrows to the head.
 

Lore and Legends and Culture

The Haradrim who used the beast in the War of the Ring found the creature to be a trophy. Inspiring conpetition among the tribes to see who can capture one or bring the tusks back to the villages. Some say they found a dead mumakil to be almost as valuable, as they gained many reasorces from it. From the tusks to the meat, which could be preserved for food. 
 

Oliphaunt

The name Oliphaunt was given to the creature by a few folk of Middle-Earth, firstly coming from the Shire. Were the hobbit's used the creature in stories of myth and legend. Oliphaunt is a variant on the word " Elephant", a creature that has been documented as existing in later ages of Middle-Earth and the Oliphaunt is by some to be a ancestal creature of the elephant. As many didn't know the creature still existed in some parts of Middle-Earth. Well known uses of the word Oliphaunt are in The Song of Roland, which is an account of the battle of Roncevaux. In the story of the Lord of the Rings, Boromir used the creature in song on his horn. He of who is from the land of Gondor, the people who gave the creature the name Mumakil. 
 
A poem was written about about the creature and quoted by Samwise Gamgee. 
 

Apearance in Video Games

Uses in Video Games The mumakil is in many Lord of the Rings themed video games. There are two of them in the Pelennor Fields level of Return of the King. They of which must be killed to complete the level. The only means of taking them down is with arrows and spears. In the Battle for Middle earth games, they can be controlled if you play as the Gondor. There special attack are "Trample". They also have the special feature of being able to carry unites inside them on the harnesses. They can take damage from any means, with arrows and fire being the two that will cause the most damage. In Lord of the Rings: Conquest three Mumakil must be taken down to get to a defense zone. They can be taken down with ease with catapults in the War of the Ring campaign. In the Lord of the Ring: Third Age, if you play Good Mode they are foes to be recond fith in the Pelennor Fields level. As well as can be controlled in that level if you play Evil Mode.