"Bad Guy" Trivia

[William Cloud Hicklin]

1) Gollum
2) Maedhros (the Third Kinslaying resulted in Earendil getting Elwing with the Silmaril aboard, which made his embassy possible)
3) bonus answer: Thingol, whose attempt to indirectly murder Beren resulted in a Silmaril being recovered

[Urwen]

Only Gollum, and to extent Feanor, could be seen as 'bad guys' from that bunch.

[Huinesoron]

I assume the two characters are connected, because otherwise this is really two questions. So... Eol and Maeglin? They're both unambiguously cast as villains by Tolkien, but their actions led to the Fall of Gondolin, which led to Earendil's voyage.

hS

[Urwen]

I was thinking of Gollum and Maeglin (and they are connected by the manner of their deaths), but your answer is better, so you can go.

And I request that you make an interesting question which requires some thinkin'.

[Huinesoron]

Thinkin'? Well, all right...

If prizes were being given out for killing the most (known) kings between the beginning of Arda and the end of the Third Age...

... who would take home the bronze?

And for how many kings?

Be prepared to defend your answer.

(And for bonus points: how many kings did first and second place kill each?)

hS

[Urwen]

Well, Melkor is responsible for death of three Kings (Finwe, Feanor, and Fingolfin). Four, if you count Fingon.

Then there is Sauron, who is responsible for deaths of Finrod, Pharazon, Miriel, Elendil and Gil-Galad

And finally, we have the trio of Hurin/Turin/Maeglin, who lead to deaths of Thingol, Orodreth and Turgon, respectively.

(Alternatively, there is Castamir)

(Is this satisfactory?)

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Well, Melkor is responsible for death of three Kings (Finwe, Feanor, and Fingolfin). Four, if you count Fingon.

Then there is Sauron, who is responsible for deaths of Finrod, Pharazon, Miriel, Elendil and Gil-Galad

And finally, we have the trio of Hurin/Turin/Maeglin, who lead to deaths of Thingol, Orodreth and Turgon, respectively.

(Alternatively, there is Castamir)

(Is this satisfactory?)

You've come up way short on Sauron, and I'd say pretty short on Morgoth, too - Turgon, for instance, was killed by his army, so counts exactly as much as Fingon. And there's several more by that measure...

You also haven't given an answer to the actual question: who takes third place? You've named three people whose actions led to the deaths of kings, and one who... I don't think Castamir killed a king? He killed the crown prince.

I can name at least two characters who killed two named kings.

hS