[Mithadan]

Tolkien was certainly thorough and detail-oriented. This comes from taking more that 13 years to write, re-write and re-write again a complex tale with inter-woven story lines. As is commented in other recent threads, Tolkien prepared charts showing where the members of the Fellowship were after they separated, specifically to ensure consistency.

I will not review each character here, but it is worth mentioning that in one of his letters, Tolkien characterizes Sam as the "real hero" of the story. It seems that you appreciate his role as well.