10 most evil characters from The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings offers its fair share of evildoers, and Peter Jackson Hobbit and Lord of the Rings the films only scratch the surface. In three parts, the novel describes the rise to power of its titular tyrant, Sauron, the Lord of the Rings, in the Third Age. Literature’s greatest villain and by far the best known in The Lord of the RingsSauron was actually following in the footsteps of an evil that may have been greater than himself. The wider Legendarium contains even more complex characters, raising the question of who the most evil characters in LOTR in fact they are.

Morgoth was Lord of the Rings’ original villain, and he gave way to a series of evil beings. Created by the God of Middle Earth, Eru Ilúvatar, along with the others of his kind (the Ainur), Morgoth sought the divine ability to create life and quickly fell into full-blown rebellion. He took many of the Ainur with him. Some corrupted Ainur became Balrogs, while Morgoth saw to the creation of other violent races, including dragons and Orcs. But not all evil in Middle-earth arose from Morgoth, as The Silmarillion revealed, with prejudice and jealousy possible in any heart.

10

The Witch-King of Angmar

Ringwraith

The Witch-King of Angmar was the leader of Sauron’s nine Ringwraiths and was one of the greatest threats to Middle-earth in the Third Age. His flying beast gave him a lethal advantage and the touch of his Morgul knife could erase beings from the world Visa. The Ringwraiths were the result of the Rings of Powermade by Sauron in Eregion with Celebrimbor and his blacksmiths. After using their rings for so long, the Ringwraiths fell completely under Sauron’s control, as he possessed the ruling Ring.

Although he was killed by Éowyn and Merry in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King film and its source material, the Witch King caused a lot of trouble in his time. Not only did he lead Sauron’s forces during the War of the Ring, but he was also instrumental in breaking Isildur’s bloodline. The Gondorian royalty was a great threat to Sauron, so the Witch-King strategically lured Isildur’s heir, Eärnur, into a duel from which he would never return. Eärnur had no heir, leaving the Stewards of Gondor to take control, weakening the kingdom.

9

Maeglin

Elf

Son of The Silmarillion cruel Dark Elf Eöl, Maeglin was a troubled soul born of a loveless marriage. That never bodes well The Lord of the Rings. Maeglin was intrigued by the stories of Gondolin told by his mother and left his father, along with her, to seek shelter, setting him on a villainous path and leading him to a betrayal so legendary that it became the subject of ” Thorn”, a song on Blind Guardian Silmarillion concept album.

One of Lord of the Rings’ toughest fortresses, Gondolin was an elven city on a hill surrounded by mountains and guarded by the Seven Gates. It was top secret and Maeglin and her mother only granted entry because she had originally come from there. But Maeglin followed in his father’s footsteps in his unrequited love. Falling in love with Idril, Maeglin succumbed to Morgoth’s corrupting temptation. Morgoth promised Maeglin Gondolin and Idril in exchange for the city’s location, so Maeglin betrayed the city, and it fell to Morgoth’s attack.

8

Eöl

Elf

The apple never falls far from the tree, as Maeglin demonstrated when raised by Eöl – a rare example of one of the The Lord of the Rings’ Elves who could be one of the most evil characters in Middle Earth. Eöl saw Aredhel wandering in the forest near him, cast a spell to make her lost forever, and coerced her into marriage. She wasn’t”totally reluctant,” although Tolkien’s earlier drafts were more brutal. Eöl was a tyrannical and controlling husband and father, foreshadowing worse acts.

Eöl’s abuse reached its peak after Aredhel escaped with Maeglin and Eöl followed them. Allowed to enter Gondolin, Eöl asked for his wife and son and was given the choice to die or stay and be with them, due to the secrecy of the city. Eöl was a fanatic and hated the Noldor, so he chose death, opting to take his son along with him. But Eöl’s poisoned spear struck Aredhel, killing her. Facing execution, Eöl used his final words to place a powerful and effective curse on his son.

7

Shelob

Primordial Spider

The primordial spider monster Shelob was one of the best characters in The Lord of the Ringsalthough she never said a word. Shelob was Frodo and Sam’s downfall on the way to Mount Doom and was excellently portrayed in The Return of the King film. This gigantic beast guarded the passage from Cirith Ungol to Mordor in the Third Age, capturing and digesting anyone who came too close.

Inspiring fantasy creators like JK Rowling to write characters like the terrifying Aragog LOTR spider Shelob is an influential evildoer. Far worse than a thoughtless giant arachnid, Shelob was smart and proactively made deals with Gollum and Sauron to keep victims coming to her. She played with her food, torturing Orcs sent to her by Sauron, who enjoyed hearing about her exploits from the Orcs who managed to return.

6

Ungoliant

Primordial Spider

Shelob’s spider mother, Ungoliant, was the perpetrator of worse crimes than Shelob, which is saying something. Ungoliant mated with other spider monsters to create Shelob, so it was unknown exactly what Shelob’s species or powers were, but The Silmarillion implied that Ungoliant could shapeshift, so she was probably an evil Maia. This would also explain how she could almost have overpowered the despicable Morgothwho was originally one of the 15 Valar, Lord of the Rings’ most powerful Ainur.

While Middle Earth: Shadow of War paired Shelob with Sauron, Ungoliant’s vile partnership with Morgoth didn’t go so well. Morgoth hired Ungoliant to help him destroy the beautiful and sacred Two Trees, and they were devastatingly effective. Ungoliant sucked the magic from the treesstealing the light from the world. The two escaped to Middle-earth, where even Morgoth feared Ungoliant’s power and cruelty. Eagerly dissatisfied with Morgoth’s offers of payment for his help, Ungoliant attacked him for his Silmarils and only failed because Balrogs came to his rescue.

5

Smaug

Dragon

Smaug’s evil is legend in The Hobbit and, even within the context of the entire legend, this children’s book villain is still one of the worst of all. The Lord of the Rings. One of the four dragons named in The Lord of the Rings, Smaug drove Thrór I from Erebor, killing and plundering to claim the Dwarven treasure. He aggressively protected it from Bilbo, Thorin, and Thorin’s Company, destroying Laketown in response to their intrusion. Benedict Cumberbatch’s move captures Smaug in The Hobbit it was suitably petrifying, embodying his cruel malevolence.

Smaug’s evil intelligence, selfishness, greed, and arrogance were evident in his every word.masterfully crafted by JRR Tolkien to represent avarice in its purest form. Living for gold for no reason other than to possess it, Smaug was the embodiment of the Dwarves’ worst impulses. Delving too deeply into their greed caused the Dwarves to unearth a Balrog in Moria, but the Dwarves, at their best, were Sauron’s bitterest enemies, resisting him to the end. Smaug, on the other hand, was no one’s ally, too greedy and hateful to share a single coin.

4

Saruman

Wizard

Second only to the Lord of the Rings himself in villainy The Lord of the Rings, Saruman was increasingly revealed as the worst of the worst. Saruman was sent to Middle-earth by the Valar to oppose Sauron, but instead joined him. Saruman discovered one of the Lord of the Rings’ powerful palantíri in Orthanc, but unfortunately for him, Sauron held another and used it to manipulate him. Despite falling under Sauron’s corrupting influence, Saruman’s worst traits were actually all his own, and nothing to do with Sauron.

In his despotic way, Sauron wanted to heal Middle-earth. On the other hand, Saruman had no noble goals – he was just a bitter, jealous, cynical old man seeking vengeful, petty control. He destroyed the nature of Isengard with extensive industrycreated an entire race of killing machines (the Uruk-hai), betrayed Sauron’s White Council, betrayed Sauron, instigated the Purge of the Shire, and couldn’t even smile when forgiven. He even hated Frodo for forgiving him.

3

Glaurung

Dragon

Glaurung was the bane of Nargothrond and the bane of Turin, an utterly evil entity that destroyed two of the bravest, greatest, and noblest families in Middle-earth. Galadriel’s brother Finrod was the ruler of Nargothrond, an elven fortress of the First Age almost as secret and powerful as Gondolin. The invasion of Glaurung left the citadel demolishedsterile and will never be used by the Elves again.

Fulfilling Morgoth’s curse upon Húrin and his children, Glaurung bewitched Húrin’s daughterNienor, so that she would forget her name and identity. She met the brother she never met as an adult, Túrin, and the two tragically fell in love and became pregnant. Naturally, Glaurung decided it was time to reveal Nienor’s identity to her, resulting in her and her brother’s double suicide. Cold, calculating and merciless, Glaurung loved to cause suffering.

2

Sauron

Maya

Corrupted by Morgoth in early Arda, Sauron became his greatest and most trusted servant throughout the Old Days, the Years of the Trees, and the First Age. He participated in all of Morgoth’s worst crimes, including the Battle of the Powers, the Battles of Beleriand and the creation of Orcs. Sauron was “only less wicked than his master, for long he served another and not himself,“ but Morgoth was defeated at the end of the First Age, leaving Sauron to take the reins (The Silmarillion).

Sauron truly rose to prominence after the defeat of Morgoth in the First Age. Sauron rose to power during the Second Age, represented by Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The creation of the Rings of Power in their strategy to rule the world resulted in the Ringwraiths, the One Ring, Sauron’s War against the Elves, the War of the Last Alliance, and the War of the Ring. Not only did Sauron cause more trouble without Morgoth than with him, but he also declared himself “Morgoth has returned“ignoring the last remnants of serving anyone other than himself.

1

Morgoth

Ditch

Morgoth was defeated several times in Lord of the Ringsbut that didn’t stop him from wreaking more havoc in Middle-earth than any other being. From Morgoth’s first rebellious thought, he promised to bring trouble to Middle-earth. Seeking the Secret Fire in the Void, which belonged only to Eru, Morgoth suggested his proud desire to reach Eru’s level of power. Morgoth introduced his own discordant ideas into the music that visualized the world and his future, disturbing him from the start. He then corrupted the world itself during its creation, pouring his essence into it as he went, creating an Arda Marred.

This cataclysmic act ensured that huge swaths of the population the entire world would contain the corrupting or corrupting influence of Morgoth until its end. Substances such as gold were particularly affected, while water remained purer. In a way, the gold that Sauron used for the One Ring contained Morgoth himself. After ruining Arda, Morgoth turned the Noldor against each other and against the Valar, and stole the Silmarils from Fëanor, thus starting the War of the Jewels. This culminated in the War of Wrath, which sank the entire kingdom of Beleriand, sealing Morgoth’s status as The Lord of the Rings‘be more evil.