There is a sequence in The Empire Strikes Back when the Empire uses gigantic four-legged robot walking machines to attack the Rebel Alliance. In Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the Dark Lord Sauron uses gigantic, four-legged elephants in the Battle of Pelennor Fields.
The Lord of the Rings was written long before Star Wars, but Star Wars came to the big screen long before Lord of the Rings, so we can sit here and argue over who ripped off who, but that’s no fun. Instead, we’ll take this route: Who would win in a fight: the AT-AT, or the mûmakill? First, the cases for each.
THE MÛMAKIL
The Tolkien Wiki defines the mûmukil this way:
From within the jungle of Far Harad, the mûmak emerged. To most cultures, the mûmakil, or oliphaunts, were creatures of legend, as fabulous and fearsome as dragons, and to them were ascribed all kinds of strange powers. Oliphaunt was another name for them given to them by the Hobbits. Mûmak resemble elephants, except they have four tusks, instead of two.
Here is the video of the attack in Return of the King, which is not embeddable.
Legolas is the hero who takes down a mûmakil (to the theme music from a different movie he’s in).
Analysis of the Mûmakil
Mûmakil Pros: It is mobile and fast, and has four tusks to ram things.
Mûmakil Cons: It is living flesh and therefore can’t take a shot from the AT-AT’s blasters. It gets tired and hungry. It needs to piss and crap a lot. Maybe it can piss on the AT-AT and cause it to malfunction.
THE AT-AT
Wookieepedia defines the Imperial Walker like this:
The All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) walker was a major part of the Galactic Empire’s army. It was one of the most heavily armored land vehicles in the Imperial Army, but was also known for its relatively slow speed.
Here is the sequence in The Empire Strikes Back with the AT-AT, including the scene in which the hero, Luke, takes one down.
Analysis of the AT-AT
AT-AT Pros: It has guns. It’s metal. It doesn’t tire.
AT-AT Cons: It’s electronic and can malfunction. It is relatively slow and can’t make sharp turns.
MÛMAKIL VS. AT-AT FIGHT ANALYSIS
The first thing the AT-AT is going to try to do is shoot the mûmakil, and the battle would be virtually over. However, the mûmakil is quick, and may be able to dodge the blast because the AT-AT telegraphs its intended target with the slow turn of its head. Once the mûmakil jumps to the side of the blast, it’ll charge to the AT-AT’s side and try to knock it over with his tusks. The AT-AT will be walking in circles but the mûmakil will stay to its side and keep ramming it. But IF the AT-AT doesn’t go down, the mûmakil will eventually tire, then the AT-AT can finish it off. But only IF the AT-AT doesn’t go down. So, we ask the question:
Who would win? Mûmakil vs. Imperial Walker
The voting is complete and the AT-AT won by an insane margin. Thank you, Star Wars fanboys, for stuffing the ballot.