In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Azog is the Orc leader of Moria and is called The Deseccrat or the Pale Orc. It is also said to be a Gundabad Orc. When Balin tells the story of the Battle of Azanulbizar, Azog is shown in the “flashback” fighting King Thrór and beheading him; this makes King Thráin’s son mad with grief and enrages the king’s grandson, Thorin Oakland. Azog engages with Thorin in a monstrous fight where Thorin is dominated, until the dwarf prince catches a fallen oak branch and uses it as a shield against the orca’s mass. As Azog lowers his gun with his left arm, Thorin grabs a fallen dwarf’s sword and cuts off his arm. Seriously wounded and enraged, Azog is brought back to Moria by his companion Orcs, while the Dwarves rally and repel the rest of his forces, at the cost of a great loss of troops. Thorin thinks Azog died of his wounds, but he has survived and is plotting again against the Dwarves, this time seeking revenge on Thorin for cutting off his hand.

Later in the film, an Orc captain, Yazneg, reports his failure to kill the Dwarves at Azog, and is thrown to the Wargs as they camped at Venteux Mountain.

Azog then tracks down Thorin’s Company, having taken an oath to break Durin’s line. He leads a band of hunter Orcs and rides a huge white Warg. He is also shown carrying a prosthetic hand and forearm instead of his missing left arm. In a climax of the film, Azog and his band of Wargs Cavaliers finally catch up with Thorin and his Company, who are forced to climb trees to escape the Wargs. However, the latter cut down the trees one after the other, leaving the Company on a single tree hanging over a cliff. Thorin can’t hold back his anger and charges Azog, who easily shoots him down with his mass. Azog then orders one of his Orc followers to bring Thorin’s head, but the wounded Dwarf Lord is saved by Bilbo Baggins as Gandalf throws flaming pine cones. Azog attacks Bilbo while the Company is saved by great Eagles called by the magician. Most Orcs and Wargs are killed by the Eagles. Azog, accompanied by his white Warg and some Orc horsemen, manage to survive.