Thread: favorite villain?

Who is your favorite villain of Lord of the Rings?

1. Witch King: He is the leader of the nazgul,I like how scary and threatening he is. He almost killed Frodo and Eowen,plus he is giant sized. He is totally bad A.

2. Gollum: I do like this sneaky little creep,I see potential.

3. Saruman: He has enough powerful magic to take over all of Middle Earth by himself,he is the 2nd most powerful villain here.

Gollum.

He is the reason I play this game, read the book and watch the movie XXX times.

Melkor...the OG

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

Shelob... even Sauron had no control over her. Sam may have defeated her, but he couldn't kill her.

Gríma Wormtongue, not just bad, but the closest Tolkien got to sexual creepiness, too. Not that I'm a fan of creepiness, in general...

/fidget

The Balrog - total badass!

Morgoth. The first time I read The Silmarillion, I cried when I read the passages about him being taken captive and bound with shackles made from his own crown. Tolkien built him up as a supreme villain and the War of Wrath was a satisfying pay-off.

1. The Ring. Despite Nazgul and Orc armies, most of the real tension in LOTR comes from the power of the Ring its self and the temptation that all of the characters face because of it. It's so masterfully and subtly pulled off that most people don't even remember the effects of the Ring when contemplating how evil is represented in the book. Which is perfect, because that's often how temptation works in life as well.

2. Ar-Pharazon. There's always something compelling about the mortal who strives to become like unto God and brings down his own destruction instead.

3. Maeglin. Author of perhaps the greatest tragedy in the history of Arda and all from love twisted into hatred and fear.

Originally Posted by ferdinanda

...the closest Tolkien got to sexual creepiness...

I take it you haven't read The Children of Húrin or "The Lay of Leithian"... :P

Originally Posted by lafeeverte

I take it you haven't read The Children of Húrin or "The Lay of Leithian"... :P

Yes, I've read those, but the OP mentioned "The Lord of the Rings". If we expand the field to the other works, then yes, Morgoth and Maeglin were also creepy.

Ar-Pharazon was a fine villain, although pride was his deadly sin, not desire.

So many interesting villains to choose from!

Edit: Wait, you cite The Children of Húrin? Do you consider Túrin a villain? Or perhaps there's a character I'm forgetting.

For LotR (book form), I pick the Nazgul as a whole, the Witch King if you need a specific. They are the ones actually doing things, Sauron is the puppet master, not so exciting to me.

For the movie version I liked Saruman.

My favorite Tolkien villian of all the works though is Glaurung, the dragon. Even in death, he gets his revenge. And a whopper it is.

Originally Posted by ferdinanda

Yes, I've read those, but the OP mentioned "The Lord of the Rings". If we expand the field to the other works, then yes, Morgoth and Maeglin were also creepy.

Ar-Pharazon was a fine villain, although pride was his deadly sin, not desire.

So many interesting villains to choose from!

Edit: Wait, you cite The Children of Húrin? Do you consider Túrin a villain? Or perhaps there's a character I'm forgetting.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be a wiseacre! I was referring to your comment that Gríma was the closest to sexual creepiness that Tolkien came. I thought you might be overlooking Túrin impregnating his sister. Ew. And yes, Maeglin having the hots for his first cousin and the bizarre description (in the Lay) of Morgoth getting funny ideas while Lúthien was dancing before his throne and his weird suggestion of what the Valar do to elves back in Valinor also came to mind.

I see that you were just responding to the Lord of the Rings itself. I wasn't trying to imply you are unread.

Originally Posted by lafeeverte

I wasn't trying to imply you are unread.

Heh, no worries, I didn't infer that!

I found the Túrin story so strange and difficult to read. Still, at least he didn't *know* that Níniel was his sister when he was involved with her.

Well, perhaps this is a topic for another thread.

I would have to say Saruman myself. Mainly because he is supposed to be one of the "good guys".

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

SO TRUE.

Anyway, i don't think you can count Smeagól as a 100% villain at any point.
So, i'd say Saruman.
There will be no dawn...for men.