The Lord of the Rings Characters

Gandalf

Wizard · Gandalf the Grey, later the White

Gandalf is one of the Istari, spirits sent to Middle-earth in the shape of old men to help its peoples resist Sauron. He sets the quest in motion, leads the Fellowship through Moria and falls fighting a Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dûm. He returns as Gandalf the White with greater power and spends the war rallying Rohan and Gondor. He's warm, short-tempered and fond of hobbits.

Film

Ian McKellen

Legolas

Elf of Mirkwood · Archer

Legolas is the son of Thranduil, king of the Elves of northern Mirkwood. He brings sharp eyes, a bow and an Elf's long view of time. His growing friendship with Gimli, after centuries of bad blood between their peoples, is one of the book's quieter pleasures. After the war, he sails west with Gimli.

Film

Orlando Bloom

Gimli

Dwarf warrior · Son of Glóin

Gimli represents the Dwarves, whose kin are lost in Moria. He's proud, blunt and handy with an axe. His reverence for the Lady Galadriel, and his friendly kill-count contest with Legolas at Helm's Deep, show a softer side. The films lean on him for comic relief more than the books do.

Film

John Rhys-Davies

Boromir

Captain of Gondor

Boromir is the elder son of the Steward of Gondor. He came to Rivendell seeking help for a city under siege, and he sees the Ring as a weapon his people desperately need. When he tries to take it from Frodo, the Fellowship breaks. He dies defending Merry and Pippin from orcs moments later, having confessed and been forgiven by Aragorn.

Film

Sean Bean

Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck

Hobbit · Squire of Rohan

Merry is Frodo's clever, organised cousin, the one who plans their escape from the Shire. Separated from Frodo, he swears service to King Théoden of Rohan, rides to war hidden with Éowyn and helps her strike down the Witch-king. He comes home a seasoned soldier.

Film

Dominic Monaghan

Peregrin "Pippin" Took

Hobbit · Guard of the Citadel

Pippin is the youngest of the four hobbits and the most likely to make trouble, from dropping a stone down a well in Moria to looking into the palantír. He swears service to Denethor of Gondor, grows up fast in a city at war, and saves Faramir from his father's funeral pyre.

Film

Billy Boyd

Faramir

Captain of Gondor · Boromir's brother

Faramir is the younger, gentler son of Denethor, a scholar and a soldier who has always lived in his brother's shadow. In the book, he captures Frodo and Sam and lets them go without a moment's temptation. The films change this, so he takes them toward Osgiliath before releasing them. He survives the war and marries Éowyn.

Film

David Wenham

Denethor

Steward of Gondor

Denethor rules Gondor in the absence of a king and is unwilling to make way for one. He has been using a palantír, a seeing-stone, and Sauron has fed him despair through it. He favours Boromir over Faramir, and grief and pride drive him to madness during the siege of Minas Tirith.

Film

John Noble

Théoden

King of Rohan

Théoden has been weakened by the whispers of his adviser Gríma Wormtongue, who works for Saruman. Gandalf breaks the spell, and the old king leads his people to Helm's Deep and then rides to the relief of Gondor. He dies on the Pelennor Fields after one of the story's great charges.

Film

Bernard Hill

Éowyn

Shieldmaiden of Rohan

Éowyn is Théoden's niece, told to stay home and look after the people while the men ride to war. She disguises herself and rides anyway. On the Pelennor Fields she faces the Witch-king, whom no living man can kill, and destroys him with Merry's help. Her recovery afterwards, and her meeting with Faramir, is handled with real tenderness.

Film

Miranda Otto

Éomer

Marshal of Rohan · Théoden's nephew

Éomer is a hot-headed, honourable cavalry commander who is banished under Wormtongue's influence and returns to fight at Helm's Deep. He becomes king when Théoden dies and stands with Aragorn at the Black Gate.

Film

Karl Urban

Barliman Butterbur

Innkeeper of the Prancing Pony

Barliman runs the inn at Bree where the hobbits meet Strider. He's forgetful, which nearly costs them: he never sent Gandalf's letter. He's a small, likable reminder that most people in Middle-earth have no idea a war is coming.

Arwen

Daughter of Elrond · Aragorn's beloved

Arwen chooses a mortal life to marry Aragorn, giving up the immortality of her people. In the books she barely appears; her story is told mostly in the appendices. Jackson's films give her far more to do, including the ride to the Ford of Bruinen that Tolkien gave to the Elf-lord Glorfindel.

Film

Liv Tyler

Elrond

Lord of Rivendell

Elrond is half-elven, thousands of years old, and was present when Isildur failed to destroy the Ring. He hosts the council that forms the Fellowship and raised Aragorn in his house. He's wary of Aragorn's love for his daughter, and with good reason.

Film

Hugo Weaving

Galadriel

Lady of Lothlórien

Galadriel is one of the oldest and most powerful beings left in Middle-earth. When Frodo offers her the Ring she is tempted, imagines what she would become, and refuses. That refusal is her test. She gives each member of the Fellowship a gift, including the phial of light that saves Frodo and Sam in Shelob's lair.

Film

Cate Blanchett

Celeborn

Lord of Lothlórien

Celeborn is Galadriel's husband, cautious and less certain of the strangers than she is. He advises the Fellowship on their route down the river Anduin.

Film

Marton Csokas

Haldir

Guardian of Lothlórien

Haldir guides the Fellowship into the woods of Lórien. The films send him to fight and die at Helm's Deep, leading an Elvish force that doesn't appear in the book.

Film

Craig Parker

Glorfindel

Elf-lord of Rivendell (books)

Glorfindel is a mighty Elf who finds the wounded Frodo on the road and puts him on his own horse, which outruns the Ringwraiths to the Ford. He doesn't appear in the films, and his role passes to Arwen.

Saruman

Head of the White Council · Wizard of Isengard

Saruman was the chief of the wizards, and studied the Enemy's craft until he wanted it for himself. He builds an army of Uruk-hai at Isengard and bends Rohan through Wormtongue. After the Ents break his fortress, the book follows him to the Shire, where he takes petty revenge before Wormtongue kills him. The films move his death to Isengard.

Film

Christopher Lee

Radagast the Brown

Wizard of the wild

Radagast cares more for birds and beasts than for politics. Saruman uses him, unknowingly, to lure Gandalf to Isengard. He's a passing mention in the Rings books and a bigger, more eccentric presence in the Hobbit films.

Film

Sylvester McCoy (Hobbit)

Gollum (Sméagol)

Former Ring-bearer · Guide to Mordor

Gollum had the Ring for nearly five hundred years, hidden under the Misty Mountains, until Bilbo found it. It stretched his life and ate away his mind, leaving two voices fighting in one body. He guides Frodo and Sam toward Mordor, and there's a moment where he nearly turns back toward goodness. Sam's harsh words push him away, and he betrays them, but his final grab for the Ring at Mount Doom completes the quest.

Film

Andy Serkis

The Witch-king of Angmar

Lord of the Nazgûl

The Witch-king leads the nine Ringwraiths, ancient kings enslaved by the rings Sauron gave them. He stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade on Weathertop and commands the assault on Minas Tirith. An old prophecy says no man will kill him; Éowyn and Merry, a woman and a hobbit, do.

Gríma Wormtongue

Adviser to Théoden · Saruman's agent

Wormtongue is a man of Rohan who sold his king to Saruman in return for promises, including Éowyn. Exposed by Gandalf, he flees to Isengard. He's pathetic and resentful rather than grand, and his final turn on his master is entirely in character.

Film

Brad Dourif

Shelob

Giant spider of Cirith Ungol

Shelob is an ancient spider who guards a pass into Mordor, and serves no one but her own hunger. Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into her lair hoping to collect the Ring afterwards. Sam drives her off with Galadriel's phial and an Elvish blade.

The Balrog

Demon of the ancient world

The Balrog is a fire-spirit that has hidden in the deeps of Moria since the First Age, woken when the Dwarves dug too deep. Gandalf holds it on the bridge so the Fellowship can escape, and falls with it.

The Mouth of Sauron

Herald of Barad-dûr

The Mouth is a man who has served Sauron so long he has forgotten his own name. He meets the Captains of the West at the Black Gate with taunts and false proof of Frodo's capture. His scene appears only in the extended cut of the third film.

Uglúk and the Uruk-hai

Saruman's fighting orcs

The Uruk-hai are larger, sun-tolerant orcs bred at Isengard. Uglúk leads the band that kidnaps Merry and Pippin, quarrelling all the way with orcs from Mordor. The first film adds its own Uruk captain, Lurtz, who kills Boromir.