[Jessica Jade]

good question! I was going to start a thread on this one myself.

If Sauron creates his bodies, HOW does he do it? Is it because he's a Maia and can take any form he wants?

After the downfall of Numenor, it says in Appendix A that he was a black and hideous (or something like that, i'll have to find the quote). So i think he had become permanantly evil-looking by then. As for the third age, was he JUST an eye? And was he an eye because he wanted to take that form? This goes back to my question on how he makes his bodies-- When his former body was destroyed when Isildur cut the ring from his hand, and his spirit fled, was he just like, Okay i want to be an Eye now, and so became one? I was pretty confused about physical Sauron throughout LOTR.

There are some ambiguous descriptions of Sauron's form in LOTR (like when Sam and Frodo approach Mt. Doom and see Barad Dur in the distance, Pippin and the Palantir and more, i think), but i'll have to go find them some other time.