Rating the Lord of the Rings Characters
“Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” – Bilbo Baggins
Lord of the Rings is a huge fandom, and for a reason. There are so many elements of these stories that make them amazing. The plot, the visuals, the dialogue, but really, above all, the characters. I have some *ahem* favorite characters, and a WHOLE lot of opinions, so, why not share them with you? This being said, I was surprised at how many people who were part of this fandom had conflicting views on…everything. Whatever the case of your support for each character, I hope it’s entertaining to hear my explanations.
I’m going to rate each character out of 5 stars with a rubric and then explain why exactly I like (or dislike) each one. Just keep in mind that this article may have some spoilers! If you haven’t seen all of the movies, or read the books, just keep in mind that I will be discussing the plot. Additionally, this article may be a bit confusing for people who aren’t super familiar with the characters and scenes.
How I’ll rate the characters
Each character will have an overall rating out of five stars, then, a score out of ten in each of the following categories:
Visual (Not how aesthetically pleasing they are, just in terms of character design)
Character development (Through the movies or through their time on screen)
Likeability (How much did they make me want to see them on screen?)
Overall personality (How annoying are they? Are they funny?)
Skill (Fighting mostly)
Impact or memorability (How they did/didn’t move the plot; Would I remember their name out of the many?)
KEEP IN MIND: I am NOT ranking the characters, the order that they are in means nothing.
Without further ado folk, let's be judgy. To quote Bilbo Baggins, “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
#1: Frodo Baggins
Visual: 8/10
Character Development: 9/10
Likeability: 7/10
Overall Personality: 6/10
Skill: 6/10 (gets better though)
Impact or Memorability: 10/10
Starting off strong with our main character, Frodo Baggins sporting a ⅗ stars. I have very mixed opinions about Frodo. I think, first off, that he is a perfect main character for these stories. He's the underdog, not the strongest or most skilled, but he does his best and his character development is very important. He had a huge burden to carry, so I respect him for that as well. Frodo makes some… questionable decisions over the span of his adventure, and his treatment of Sam is infuriating. You can very easily argue that this was not his fault, but as seen with Bilbo, he didn’t turn to those measures. His personality (unaffected by the ring) is sweet, but demands respect. I don’t know how to explain it, but he has this way about him that is passive-aggressive towards people when they don’t treat him with the UTMOST respect. This weird demandingness is more present in the books than in the movies, but noticeable in both. Frodo’s appearance in the movies doesn’t really match their descriptions in the book, as in the books he is described with softer and more approachable features, which I can say I like better than how they did it in the movies.
Overall, I LIKE Frodo well enough, but examining his actions leaves me to wonder if a lot of conflicts could have been avoided if he had been a little bit more observant.
#2: Galadriel
