"Your favorite Tolkein Character?" Topic

"Arrow!" said the bowman. "Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I had you from my father and he from of old. If ever you came from the forges of the true king under the Mountain, go now and speed well!"

-Bard

Sigh. Should be "Tolkien" of course, unless I've unknowingly slipped into a parallel universe. Again.

Eomer. Just always liked him.

Gollum. Probably one of the most sympathetic villains and psychologically complex fantasy characters ever written. A true victim of circumstance.

Theoden gets some great lines in the movie version.

Legolas. Cuz it's SO kewl when he shreds down the stairs in that battle!!!!

Not.

I like that guy who kills the orc.

Glorfindel!

He's in both the Silmarillion, and LOTR, but his role was given to Arwen in the movie!!

Although it is said that he was a member of the party of elves at Aragorn's coronation….

Boromir was always my favourite character. I just felt it was really interesting in the way his character developed.

But anyone who reads my nickname would know that :P
…ask me what my favourite Muppet was… can you guess? :P

Cheers,
Ben.

Gonzo???

I'm with Ben; best muppet is Kermit and best Tolkien character is Boromir.

Perhaps I should change my user name to KermitandBoromir to reflect this and pay tribute?

Phil

Bilbo for me one tough resourceful little guy, much better than Frodo who's a bit of a wet blanket IMO.
Mind you if were talking about the moive Arwen just becuase she's played by the lovely Liv Tyler.

Jon

Ioreth

"The hands of the king are the hands of a healer" or whatever

With the dearth of female characters I was miffed that she wasn't in the movie

Aragon. Dark, mysterious, skilled in all weapons and horsemanship and ultimately king of all he surveyed.

I always liked Tom Bombadil…

Balin

Another vote for Tom.

Yet another vote for Tom

x42

Fingolfin

andy

LOL – Nice one Phil! :)

Bilbo

Faramir. The Younger Brother always trying to do right by Big Brother and Dad.

His Rangers are just COOL

Boromir. He gave in to temptation, and in the end redeemed himself.
I can't help but think that with his being such a staunch Catholic, that maybe Tolkien took care to write him up well, for just that reason. We already know who HIS favorite characters were, though, and it wasn't Boromir.

Anyway, to me Boromir is the most human of the humans.

Gandalf

The part at the gates against the witch king when Rider's of Rohans horn sound the charge.

Bill D

I agree with John, I always liked Boromir.

He is a man whose soul has been worn a bit thin by his life of war and suffering. He is looking for an end to the war and that leads to his temptation. When tested he fails and succumbs to the power of the ring and yet at the end he completely redeems himself.

An interesting and tragic character and I thought Sean Bean did a great job with the part.

Donald~

Dernhelm/Eowyn. Fulfilling duty even when it is hopeless. After her, Gimli.

Aragorn for my money.

Michael

Bert, Tom, and Bill.

And the tradition continues…

Eomer

Sam Gamgee

Decent, straightforward, getting the job done, head screwed on straight

Beorn! By a landslide, although the eagle king is also pretty cool

To add some gasoline to the fire, The Hobbit is much the better tale versus LOTR, which gets a little too heavy handed in its moralizing and good versus evil BS (Tolkien's religious views getting the better of his taletelling judgement).

Merry. Starts off as an immature little screw up and stabs the Witchking between the shoulder blades!

Of course I also like Samwise and his Gaffer, plus Beren One-hand, Elrond, Faramir, Gandalf… Gollum… heck even the orc characters are well done.

But then I'm an unrepentant Tolkien fan-boy.

"The Hobbit is much the better tale versus LOTR, which gets a little too heavy handed in its moralizing and good versus evil BS (Tolkien's religious views getting the better of his taletelling judgement)."

I really thought the good/evil conflict made the story.

Bill the pony.

Fatty Lumpkin is a close second. It's just a great name.

I have to agree with Grape Ape. Without the Good vs Evil struggle, what's the point of the story? It's as gripping as an Eisenhower/Stevenson presidential election.

Tolkien's universe cannot exist outside of his religious beliefs.

Farmer Maggot.

Smeagol, no Gollum, on second thought Smeagol, no wait Gollum….
Ahh, what the heck! The Ring!

But that is what makes the Hobbit so good, all of the characters are a little bit of both (except the goblins) the dwarves are greedy, the elves imperial and territorial, the men are all over the spectrum and the Hobbit, well, Bilbo is Bilbo

Beorn is possibly a friend in need, but he's dangerous if crossed, and the eagles will reciprocate a favor, but my, wouldn't a Hobbit taste mighty good, kinda like rabbit….

"But that is what makes the Hobbit so good, all of the characters are a little bit of both (except the goblins) the dwarves are greedy, the elves imperial and territorial, the men are all over the spectrum and the Hobbit, well, Bilbo is Bilbo"

There's still quite a bit of this in LotR: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Denethor, Sam's thinking about the Haradrim, Boromir; even Gandalf admits he would fail if entrusted with the Ring. I believe in one of his letters Tolkien noted how the hated it when his tale was referred to as "good vs. evil", preferring it to be called a "tale of good and evil".

As for characters, I like Tom Bombadil, Aragorn, Smaug, Bilbo, Glorfindel, Gandalf, Gimli, Merry & Pippin, Sam Gamgee, Faramir, Eowyn…

"I pass the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel."

Hmmm..only one mention of Gimli? He was good in the book but largely comic relief in the movie, though still an awesome fighter. It's always fun to watch John Rhys Davies chew up some scenery. Gimili also had a unique knowledge of Orc physiology, understanding what a "nervous system" was. The Dwarves must have some mighty fine doctors.

David S.

Tom Bombadil and Beorn, for me.

Gandalf is my favorite. Wise, fatherly type

tb

Not to beat this to death, but ultimately evil in the LOTR may be traced to Sauron, whose spirit is the source of the power of the "one ring", which corrupts all. In the Hobbit, there is greed, the potential for evil, etc, in the hearts of man, dwarf, etc, without recourse to a theological position, ie a dark lord. I am not well versed in all things Tolkien, but I believe it is true that the Hobbit is an early work, around which an elaborate back story was later constructed, ultimately giving us the LOTR, the Sillmarilion, etc.

I assume we are discussing the books since the movies were an entirely different story. My favorite is Galadriel – in a the beginning, in at the end.

I liked Glorfindel too – but he has the worst agent since he couldn't make either version of the movie – of course, my third favorite, Beorn, someone that could chage into a bear, couldn't make a cartoon version of the Hobbit when that was the only way to get special effects…

…which, of course, is all the explaination ones needs of why movies suck.

Yes, Boromir here too, for the same reasons OFM nicely explained….

Faramir (book version) – he (like Gandalf) passes up the opportunity to have the ring, even though the lust for power destroys both his father and his brother, he is able to resist, being content with his own lot in life.
I think this is an immensely important part of the book, as it shows that men are capable of self restraint and wisdom…