The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/index.php)
-   Novices and Newcomers (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10)
-   -   Who is your favorite bad guy in the Lord of the Rings? (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=3366)

TolkienGurl 10-20-2002 06:17 PM

The Lord of Morgul. Definitely. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

Faramir Took 10-22-2002 08:53 PM

As completely un-original as it sounds, I would have to say Gollum. He's my favorite character anyways. I wanted to play him when I was in a stage production of the Hobbit (which was my favorite of the books), but I was the only one tall enough to play Gandalf, so the director gave me that part.

avarrogion 10-25-2002 07:25 AM

this is a tough one...errmm its gotta be either The Witch King of AngMar or Gollum...hmm let me think in awhile.
Ahhh right i will pick Gollum!!!
[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Ringannunwen 10-25-2002 08:06 AM

gollum.

fish, nice fish. my precious. no, no precious, bad hobbits, gone and left us, yes, taken precious. fish, good fish, make us strong, let us throtle them if we gets the chances to! bad hobbits, they will give precoius to men! bad men . . . gollum

Demloth of Dol Amroth 10-25-2002 11:16 AM

sauron. coolest servants, the nazgul (second favorite bad guys-would've been one if it weren't for the whole ring-dependency/ultimate failure thing). i laugh at morgoth. balrogs-firey funny-looking ninnies who can't tell that an istari slamming down a staff isn't doing so just to make a loud noise. oh yeah, I REALLY REALLY LIKE sauron's mace from the movie-it would've done better, though, in the hands of the last alliance, sending orcs to the hall of mandos, or wherever dead orcs go.

TolkienGurl 10-25-2002 01:39 PM

Well, a lot of people certainly like Gollum around here! I don't! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Sapphire_Flame 10-25-2002 02:25 PM

Oh, too many choices!!!!!!! I love the Bad Guys (not to sound messed up or anything [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] ) but they seem much more complex and (in all honesty) are cooler characters. But, over all I'd have to say my fave bad guy is Sauron; I mean come on, that Eye is too cool not to love!! My next favorite would prob'ly be Shelob, then The One Ring (yes, it is a character), and then...Gollum, just for the whole split personality dealie (yesss, my preciouss...) [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]
I FORGOT THE NAZGUL!!!!!!!!!!!!! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Dude, they sooooooo kick butt, especially in Return of the King. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] I wanna be a Nazgul!!! [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] ::starts crying hysterically::

[ October 25, 2002: Message edited by: Sapphire_Flame ]

Saurreg 10-26-2002 08:09 AM

Gothmog. He partaked in the whacking of Feanor, cleaved Fingon and perished with Ecthelion of the waterhole.

Give that dude a tiger! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Meela 10-26-2002 01:48 PM

sauron


[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

i rock at being evil

Alassë Estel 07-02-2023 04:12 PM

Not one mention of the wickedest heart in The Old Forest...
 
Old-Man Willow!

'Tis nothing but sheer horror I feel when reading that chapter:eek:...

Though I still love and admire willow-trees, I can never see them in the same light.

Galadriel55 07-02-2023 05:07 PM

Of late, one of my favourites has been Grima. Resourceful schemer in Rohan, pitiful underling in the Shire. I find his character in the Shire particularly interesting.

Snowdog 07-02-2023 11:46 PM

Favorite bad guy
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Alassë Estel (Post 737284)
Old-Man Willow!

'Tis nothing but sheer horror I feel when reading that chapter:eek:...

Though I still love and admire willow-trees, I can never see them in the same light.

I always saw Old Man Willow more as a grumpy old treeish ent than a 'bad guy'.

My fav baddie is the Witch King of Angmar.

Formendacil 07-03-2023 02:30 PM

In terms of satisfyingly creepy evil, I'm going to have to go with the Barrow-wight (no, no, not the High Admin!).

Morthoron 07-03-2023 03:21 PM

I'll have to go with my favorite Moriquendi menace, Eöl. Who else gets the nom de guerre "Dark Elf" (capitalized and singular)? More malovelent and unlike any other Elf in the legendarium, Eöl was both an abductor and murderer, yet accomplished in both the dark arts (weaving webs of deceit to ensnare Aredhel Ar-Feiniel in the woods of Nan Elmoth), and an accomplished smith (forging the enchanted swords Anglachel and Anguirel, and fashioning armor from the meltal Galvorn) -- a wholly despicable yet fascinating character, more so than his son Maeglin, who was cowardly and a traitor.

Lord Denethor 08-02-2024 09:21 PM

"Time?"
 
Hi fellow Tolkien lovers,
Saruman is my favorite "bad guy" and, ultimately, he is one of my top favorite characters of all time in The Lord of the Rings. I collect statues and figures of Mr. Many Colors. The only other character I collect so feverishly is Frodo. I'd collect my Barrow-Downs namesake, the misunderstood-by-the-general-populace Denethor (not a bad guy), but not Sideshow, nor Weta, nor Prime1, have paid any heed to the Lord of Gondor. :confused:

Mithadan 08-03-2024 07:42 AM

Welcome to the Barrow-Downs, Lord Denethor!

I am surprised that your namesake has been ignored by the major designers of figurines. Do you attribute this to the manner that Denethor was presented in the movies as contrasted to how he was presented in the books?

Lord Denethor 08-04-2024 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mithadan (Post 739128)
Welcome to the Barrow-Downs, Lord Denethor!

I am surprised that your namesake has been ignored by the major designers of figurines. Do you attribute this to the manner that Denethor was presented in the movies as contrasted to how he was presented in the books?

Thank you! I used to be active here around 2006 or so. I rediscovered this site and figured a new start would be nice.

I do think Denethor’s been ignored because of PJ’s depiction of him in the films, yes. I don’t blame John Noble at all, I think he was great as the Lord of Gondor. But PJ and co. disregarded almost all of the good descriptors of Denethor that Tolkien wrote, both in the book and letters, such as the noble personality, and the fact that Denethor was stronger in mind than Boromir and more akin to Faramir. The movies rendered Denethor into a meme with the tomato-eating, degraded his character by betraying his noble, strong personality in favor of a weak-willed suicidal maniac. His suicide fell flat on screen, it’s supposed to be a very sad fate for such a man. But the general audience never picked up on that because of how he was portrayed on film. Alas.

Mithadan 08-04-2024 02:24 PM

Agreed. As portrayed in the books, Denethor was wise, dedicated and focused upon his obligations to Gondor, if perhaps not to the crown, which at that point was theoretical at best. Some say he fell, influenced by Sauron. In my view, he was broken by the weight of the times and his duties, which, based upon what he saw in the palantir, were hopeless.

The movies, unfortunately, portray him as petty, cowardly and self-centered, bordering upon evil. I suppose that the movie Denethor was not a good candidate for a WETA figurine.

Snowdog 08-06-2024 07:18 PM

Is it wrong to say 'Peter Jackson' is the ultimate bad guy?

Lord Denethor, along with Faramir and Aragorn, were some of the many atrocities PJ did to characters in Lord of the Rings. I respected Lord Denethor in the books. He was a strong Dunedain man who was worn down primarily by wrestling with Sauron through the palantir, but also the death of his wife. The weight that finally broke him was the death of Boromir, and that allowed his mind to be overrun by Sauron after that.

I can't stand watching those movies anymore. The only love I have for them is because of their making, I met my wife and soulmate.

Ok... bad guys ... along with the witch-king I mentioned earlier, another favorite 'bad guy' for me in the books was Grima Wormtongue. Now the whole Saruman/Theoden bewitching scene I pictured in my head from reading the books, and what I hold to is much different that how PJ portrayed it. Saruman didn't directly 'possess' Theoden from Isengard, but used Grima as his extended vassal embedded in Meduseld as Theoden's trusted advisor. Saruman gave Grima the power to enchant Theoden with his smooth-talking slick tongue that slyly let his believable, but deceiving words into Theoden's head, wearing him down over the years. It was more subtle than the outright Saruman possession of Theoden that PJ gave us. Grima was wonderfully portrayed by Brad Dourif in the movie, but it was sad that his excellent portrayal and performance was wasted by the crappy screenplay.

William Cloud Hicklin 08-30-2024 08:42 AM

Tolkien's dragons are some of his best villains. Smaug, Glaurung and Chrysophylax are all deliciously wicked in their own ways.

Bęthberry 08-30-2024 01:38 PM

Eowyn, where's yer trowsers
 
If we move out of book territory into other media, I nominate Frank Frazetta for his gross depictions of Eowyn not dressed in disguise as a man that moved the fantasy way outside Tolkien territory. ;)


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:38 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.