Characters / The Lord of the Rings - The Forces of Sauron

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The Forces of Sauron

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,"
"One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them"
"In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

In time immemorial, the Maia Sauron was seduced by promises of power by Morgoth, the fallen Vala, and architect of all that is corrupt in the world of Arda (such as Orcs and other cruel races). Sauron served his master faithfully as his second-in-command for many eons, but after Morgoth's defeat in the War of Wrath, Sauron became the new Dark Lord, and at the head of his countless legions of Orcs, he sought to bring order upon Middle-earth by ruling it with an iron fist, bringing it all under the banner of the lidless eye (his personal logo). Many are Sauron's tools to cause mischief, but central among them is the One Ring of power, by which Sauron hopes to bring an endless night upon Middle-earth.

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Sauron and his highest lieutenants

Sauron

See Sauron's character page.

The One Ring

Yes, the One Ring is a character: the one around whom everyone in the series bases their actions on. Sauron made it, lost it, and wants it back. Gollum is addicted to its presence. The Council of Elrond decides to destroy the Ring, Frodo volunteers, and the Fellowship of the Ring protects him on his quest. The thing is animated from afar by Sauron's will and malice, and seeks constantly to tempt its bearer to do evil and/or get itself back to Barad-dûr.

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• Achilles' Heel: Hobbits. Besides being far beneath Sauron's notice, Gandalf makes several observations of the Hobbit Ring-bearers and notes they are often extremely resistant to Sauron's corrupting influence. Additionally, the Ring just cannot seem to find a motivation or ambition to play on that's useful to its goals thanks to the Hobbits' cultural preference for a peaceful countryside lifestyle, save for when Sméagol murdered Déagol for possession of the Ring. Even then, by the time Sauron had reappeared as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, Sméagol—having become the twisted and mentally broken Gollum—loathed his situation and did not want to leave his cavern home. The Ring ultimately chose to leave Gollum and was found by Bilbo, and his pity for Gollum gave the Ring nothing solid to control Bilbo's mind save for the desire to keep the Ring.
• All Your Powers Combined: To the other Rings, though it doles out power based on its wielder's native abilities and strength of will.
  • If one was to make a calculation based on all the information available, at least half of Sauron is inside the ring.
• Affectionate Nickname: It likes being called "precious", as evidenced by both Gollum and Bilbo calling it that. Even Isildur, who had only held the Ring for a short time compared to Bilbo and especially Gollum, and may have never worn it besides his attempt to escape the massacre at Gladden Fields, chose to use that particular word to describe it.
  Isildur: But for my part, I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.
• Amplifier Artifact: It will increase the native power of whoever wields it, in proportion to what they had before. Hobbits like Gollum or Frodo obtain invisibility, a certain sharpness of hearing, and some minor illusions, but not much else, but somebody like Galadriel or Gandalf would be terrifyingly dangerous wielding it, allowing them to challenge Sauron. Even Aragorn would potentially have been up to it with the ring on his finger (in one of his letters, Tolkien mentioned that Sauron was legitimately afraid that Aragorn was the new ringlord when he confronted him at the gates of Mordor, though this was also because he couldn't fathom that someone would willingly aim at destroying the ring instead of using its power).
• Artifact of Attraction: Looking at it or even thinking about it can bring weaker-willed people under its power.
• Artifact of Doom: The Ring is treated as a WMD, as it returning to Sauron or winding up in the hands of someone willing to claim it would bring untold calamity to Middle Earth.
• Battle Aura: Bestows one to Sam and later Frodo, terrifying an orc Mook and Gollum.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With its master, Sauron. The One Ring must be destroyed to rid the world of Sauron's threat forever and from the One Ring itself. If the One Ring goes back to Sauron, the world would once again be plunged into darkness.
• Black Speech: The hidden inscription on it (ironically written in the Tengwar elven script) is a poem (and curse) written in the language of Mordor.
• Brown Note: Possessing the ring for extended periods of time will corrupt the bearer.
• Chekhov's Gun: Introduced as a random magical ring that Bilbo finds, it turns out to be the Soul Jar for the resident Evil Overlord.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: It will betray anyone who wields it and take another bearer at the worst possible moment, always seeking to get back to its true master, Sauron.
• Compelling Voice: It's indicated a few times that it can talk to people (it does in the films), and its voice is always used to corrupt and tempt whoever has it. The one time it's shown actively compelling someone to try to claim it was when Samwise Gamgee was carrying it after Frodo was captured in Mordor when it tried to tempt him with visions of him ruling over a massive garden.
• The Corrupter: It can and will corrupt anyone and everyone that takes it. Only Samwise Gamgee was immune to its corruption because he wanted nothing that it could offer him. It is, however, suggested that this was only true because he'd been exposed to the Ring for a few hours at most; if it had more time to work on him and wear him down he would have fallen eventually. Ironically, the very corruption the ring holds over others is what assures its ultimate destruction as Gollum's struggle with Frodo results in him falling into the fires of Mount Doom and assuring Sauron's final defeat.
• Clingy MacGuffin: It wants its bearers to keep it and claim it almost as much as it wants to return to Sauron, so trying to part with it or get rid of it is a doomed effort. Note, however, that this only lasts until it decides it no longer needs its bearer or that they're getting in the way of its goals, at which point it will abandon its bearer. Usually very suddenly and at exactly the worst time possible.
• Happy Fun Ball: It looks like a golden ring, but is the Soul Jar of what is essentially a Fallen Angel.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum: At a couple of rather lengthy periods of its existence:
  • When the ring abandoned Isildur, it remained lost at the Anduin for ~2500 years without affecting any being until the Stoor Hobbit Deagol found it, losing his life to his cousin Smeagol, who was gradually turned into the creature Gollum.
  • Gollum kept the ring for about four and a half centuries, during which it corrupted Gollum beyond return. These centuries basically were spent idly, with the ring getting nowhere close to its master, so it sought to abandon Gollum at the first opportunity when Bilbo encountered the creature. Bilbo kept it for about six decades without being majorly affected by it, surrendering it to Frodo at the beginning of the story.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The One Ring's addictive nature is often counterproductive to its goal of returning to Sauron. First, while the ringbearer will keep the One Ring from harm, they also will keep it from Sauron and his forces out of selfishness. Second, while the ring can't be intentionally destroyed, it does tend to create struggles over its ownership, such as the one between Gollum and Frodo over the fires of Mt. Doom.
• Invisibility Cloak: Wearing the Ring makes you invisible in the normal world, but you become visible in the Wraith-World, where you can be seen by Sauron and his Ringwraiths. Like the Nine Rings, this also has the effect of corroding non-immortal wielders until they fade from the world and become wraiths themselves - a process that Hobbits (and Dwarves, according to the Appendices) are somewhat resistant to.
• It Can Think: The Ring is fully aware and capable of corrupting people consciously as well as exercising loyalty to Sauron and him alone. As Gandalf puts it, it is actively seeking to return to it's master and wants to be found.
• Logical Weakness: It can be destroyed in the fire it was made with (and only there). If a fire is hot enough to forge something, it is hot enough to destroy it, too. And while possessing a degree of sentience, it's still bound by it's form and can't move independently, being stuck for over two thousand years at the bottom of a river after being lost by Isilidur and then for five-hundred years with Gollum.
• Loyal Phlebotinum: The Ring is loyal to Sauron, and Sauron only; and having been separated from him it does everything in its power to return to him — although it's not above trying to manipulate its bearers into claiming it.^note During one of his psychotic self-arguments, Gollum imagines himself truly claiming the Ring and becoming the ruler of all of Middle-earth; and even unambitious Samwise Gamgee has a Ring-induced Imagine Spot where he claims it and turns Middle-earth into a massive garden. However, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel note that the Ring could potentially be used to overthrow Sauron; but that whoever did so would become corrupted by it and set themselves up as a new Dark Lord or Dark Queen in Sauron's place. Because of this, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel repeatedly warn Frodo that the Ring cannot wind up in the possession of those who would try to use it, including themselves. However, this is largely a ploy to return to Sauron, as the moment someone were to claim it, he would become aware of their location and send his minions to retrieve it — as seen when Frodo himself ultimately succumbed and claimed it.
• Made of Evil: The Ring is imbued with the will and spirit of Sauron, who was already pretty evil when he made it. Nothing good can be done or come from the Ring, and it will corrupt anyone who wields it. Its only good quality is its loyalty to its creator, Sauron, which is not saying much given that both of them are evil, and, for all intents and purposes, the ring is Sauron (or well, a part of him).
• Nigh-Invulnerability: It can only be destroyed in the same furnace where it was made — the volcanic depths of Orodruin, or (hypothetically, and inconsequential, given it is beyond possible) by a higher power than Sauron.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The Ring was forged for the domination of other wills and the magnification of the inherent powers of the bearer, but apart from that the full capabilities of the Ring are never fully explained or understood, to the characters or the reader. This is because it, like its creator Sauron, is not truly of Middle-earth: its nature is beyond mortal comprehension. This becomes scarier as the One Ring's power and sentience grow as it nears its source, and its malignant influence begins to find footholds in Frodo's mind.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Ring's MO is to subtly corrupt people over time. The only time the Ring drops all subtlety and tries to overtly corrupt someone is with Samwise Gamgee. Cue Villainous Breakdown.
• Phlebotinum Breakdown: In order to gain complete physical mastery of the world, Sauron - an angelic being - had to intertwine his very spirit, malice, and will to dominate, with Arda. He poured it all into The One Ring, thus ensuring his hold and power remain, his spirit endures; and that even if he is defeated he will return. This evil plan, though, would have profound implications and consequences: if the One Ring is destroyed, he loses the lion's share of his god-given strength and will end up reduced to a mere shadow that gnaws itself in darkness, unable to create or reform again.
• Phrase Catcher: Beings who fall under its sway feel compelled to call it “precious.”
• Power Incontinence: A subtle sort of example: the Ring can ensnare minds into an obsessive craving to possess it, but it can't actually un-ensnare them. This normally isn't an issue, but proves to be a major failing when it's at the edge of Mount Doom and just needs Frodo to walk away from the lava pit, not to get into a fight with Sméagol over both of them wanting it.
• Ring of Power: The Ring of Power. Sauron secretly forged it to seize control of the other Rings of Power he'd helped forge as Annatar and succeeded with all of them except the Elves' three.
• Sizeshifter: It can grow and shrink in size when it wants to and possibly its mass as well, often to fit perfectly for its current bearer. Or if it decided to abandon them, grow enough to fall off their finger or change size to become lost to them.
• Soul Jar: The better part of Sauron's power is sealed in it, making him immortal as long as it exists. However, if it's destroyed, he will be rendered completely powerless.
• This Is Your Brain on Evil: The One Ring corrupts those exposed to it, with weak-willed, ambitious, and malicious people falling under its sway more easily. Even very good people like Frodo Baggins will gradually succumb to restless paranoia. Only Samwise Gamgee proved to be incorruptible, as he wanted nothing that the Ring could offer him. Also, he only held the Ring for a couple of hours and had a very pressing concern for someone else on his mind during that time, so that probably helped.
• Unholy Holy Sword: In The Hobbit, it's a seemingly innocuous magic ring Bilbo finds that makes him invisible and proves to be useful on his journey. Imagine the surprise when it's revealed later that it's the Dark Lord's Soul Jar.
• Villainous Breakdown: Subtly implied: with all its other Bearers, the One Ring tends to prefer a subtle corruption over time or simply making them desire it, rather than overt visions and manipulation. However, when Samwise Gamgee takes over the task of trying to destroy it briefly, and very close to Mount Doom, it skips subtlety and begins talking and showing him tempting visions from the getgo. This change in MO implies the Ring was panicking that someone so resistant to it was so close to where it could be destroyed.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: The One Ring is the most powerful and dangerous object in Middle-earth.

Saruman

The leader of the Wizards and the White Council, Saruman the White possessed great knowledge and skill at crafting, but he was also proud and haughty. He dwelt in the tower of Orthanc at Isengard. Saruman was originally a steadfast enemy of Sauron but in time came to envy Sauron and began searching for the One Ring. At first, he steered the White Council away from opposing Sauron, hoping that the Dark Lord's rise would bring the Ring back into the open, but Sauron ensnared him through his use of the Seeing-stone of Orthanc and Saruman became his servant. Saruman raised an army of Orcs and subverted the land of Rohan through his minion Wormtongue, but still searched for the One Ring in hopes of betraying Sauron and claiming his power.

Saruman was the foremost of the Wizards, but his greatest power was not magic, but his sheer charisma and compelling voice. With these, he subverted the White Council and brought Rohan to its knees.

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• Above Good and Evil: Tries to invoke this by boasting he's not just white, but many colours. His terrible actions upon Middle-earth by assisting Sauron, demonstrate to cast and audience alike otherwise.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite not showing regret nor remorse, he ends up ultimately being pretty pitiful and pathetic. Frodo somehow invokes this in-universe, hoping he will find healing, and Gandalf pitied what he became and also hoped that he would turn around. He passed from being the highest of the Istari to being a spiteful lord who despoiled The Shire out of petty spite and ends up being killed in an undignified way while consumed by bitterness, spite, pride, and cruelty.
  Gandalf: You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. But you choose to stay and gnaw the ends of your own plots.
• All Your Colours Combined: He tries to claim the name 'Saruman of Many Colours.' Subverted when Gandalf points out that this is in fact inferior to being 'Saruman the White,' since multiple colours are what come of white light being broken.
  Saruman: For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!
  Gandalf: I liked white better.
  Saruman: White! It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken.
  Gandalf: In which case it is no longer white. And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.
• The Archmage: Chief of the Istari and head of the Council of the Wise.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Leader of the wizards, and the most powerful.
• Barred from the Afterlife: Heavily implied to be his final fate in the book, then confirmed in other works. After his mortal body dies, what is described as something akin to his spirit rises from it like mist, looking towards Valinor only for a gentle wind to push it aside and fade away. As a Maiar like Sauron, he cannot truly die - Saruman can only continue to exist as a spirit, unable to do anything beyond exist in a semi-invisible state. No doubt as punishment for his traitorous actions, he will suffer the fate of being unable to truly find rest.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He wants to replace Sauron as the Dark Lord of Middle-Earth. This ultimately goes very poorly for him, as Gandalf points out Saruman has absolutely no chance of defeating Sauron (who is way beyond the power of any of the Istari) without the One Ring, and Saruman never even comes close to getting a hold of it. This just makes Saruman a pawn with delusions of grandeur, and the text hints that Sauron holds Saruman in utter contempt (worst of all, Sauron knows Saruman will try to betray him - and doesn't really care). To put it in comparison, Saruman was terrified of facing the Witch-King of Angmar. (Notably, Tolkien noted in one letter that he believes that the other tower in the title of The Two Towers is not Barad-Dur, but rather Minas Morgul, the Witch-King's home base.)
• Big Good: He was the most powerful and respected of the Istari and was considered their leader until he had a Face–Heel Turn sometime before the story starts and Gandalf had to take over this role.
• Break the Haughty: The ruin of Isengard by the Ents, people he had completely written off. And then getting a big Shut Up, Hannibal! from Théoden King, and then having Gandalf command him and break his staff. And, finally, to be killed by Wormtongue. He brings all of it on himself.
• Compelling Voice: Even when you bring an army to his ruined doorstep after his thorough defeat, he can make you doubt your self-worth and believe that your best or even only course of action is to side with him, even if that means being his subordinate.
• Consummate Liar: Coupled with his literally magical charisma, he's also a highly effective liar. It does not help him in the end anyway, given his enemies are not deceived by his lies, and his master is also a way better liar.
• Dirty Coward: After his army's defeated, he is driven mad with fear of repercussions. He shuts himself inside the Orthanc and refuses to leave, even with Gandalf's pardon; not out of fear of Rohan or the Fellowship, but of Sauron.
• Dragon with an Agenda: He intended to betray Sauron and claim the One Ring for himself. Which was doomed from the start.
• Enemy Civil War: Lugburz and Orthanc orcs not getting along aside, Saruman is planning to revolt against Sauron at the first chance once he gets the ring. When Pippin uses the Palantir and makes Sauron believe Saruman has the ring, Sauron is quick to send for it, anticipating the clash.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • During negotiations with him, Gandalf offers Saruman a chance of clemency, as long as he leaves Orthanc behind and surrenders the keys to the tower and his staff, which will be returned to him if he can prove he's repented. Gandalf gives him these terms (which are, all things considered, incredibly favorable) because even after everything, he still remembers when Saruman was his good friend and strident ally. Saruman, however, interprets it as a naked grab for power where Gandalf is trying to rob him of his most valuable possessions, and openly mocks him for it. The idea that Gandalf doesn't particularly want or need the keys or the staff doesn't occur to him. (Ironically, Saruman ultimately does trade the key of Orthanc for being able to leave the tower.)
  • After Frodo spares him following his overthrow at the Shire, Saruman assumes that Frodo did it to force him to live knowing that he's only alive because of his enemy's mercy. This is despite Frodo stating, while standing right next to Saruman, that he (Frodo) would rather not have a Maia killed, even a fallen one. He stills retains enough of his old self to actually feel respect and awe for Frodo's decision.
• Evil Counterpart: To Gandalf. He even says that he is what Saruman should have been.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • At a chance meeting on their way home, the Hobbits come across Saruman on the road. When he sarcastically begs for a bit of pipeweed, Merry very generously offers him as much of his supply as he wants. Saruman proceeds to eagerly take it all, call Merry a thief, and pronounce a curse on Shire's crops (which doesn't work). Then he steals Merry's pouch.
  • When he takes over The Shire, he orders trees cut down and rivers despoiled solely to spite Frodo and company.
• Evil Old Folks: Like the other Istari, he has the appearance of an elderly man.
• Evil Sorcerer: Being a corrupted wizard.
• Face–Heel Turn: He was once on the side of good, before his pride, envy of Gandalf, and lust for power got the better of him.
• Fallen Hero: Was once a Maia, an angel, who came to Middle-Earth to help the people fight against Sauron. Then he was corrupted by Sauron and he wound up helping him.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride and Envy.
• Faux Affably Evil: Polite, charming, composed — when he wants to be, anyway. When the mask slips due to pride or rage, on the other hand, he proves himself to truly be arrogant and contemptuous.
• Freudian Trio: With Gandalf and Radagast; is the Superego in the group.
• Gadgeteer Genius:
  • In his speech to the Council of Elrond, Gandalf reveals that Saruman provided the weapons and/or strategy that evicted Sauron from Dol Guldur (an incident that is briefly alluded to in The Hobbit). In fact, Gandalf initially went to Isengard hoping that Saruman had discovered an anti-Nazgûl contingency.
  • He intends to bring a one-man industrial revolution to Middle-earth, and fills the caverns under his tower with gears, pulleys, cogs, and flamethrowers. Treebeard notes that "he has a mind of metal and wheels," and the narration strongly disapproves of these "improvements".
  • Saruman was (like Sauron) a maia in the service of Aulë, the patron vala of of earth and stone and the ultimate craftsman, so his servants being fond of using tools, machinery, fortifications etc. fits that bill.
• General Failure: For all his cleverness as a wizard, he is an abysmal strategist, something even Gandalf notes of him. It's easy to forget, but Saruman's Uruk-Hai were the weakest major army of the War of the Ring, being handily defeated by a Rohirrim force they outnumbered more than three to one—and with that in mind, Saruman provokes both Rohan (by killing Théodred) and Mordor (by making a grab for the Ring). He also keeps holding to his plan despite the fact that his agents no longer have the Ring (and never did), and completely ignores the Ents despite knowing they're right on his doorstep.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He's envious of Gandalf, and has been secretly having agents follow him, and imitating him — smoking pipe-weed, for instance. Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth reveals that he's been envious of Gandalf at least since they set sail from Valinor for Middle-earth, probably even before that.
  • A particularly ridiculous example, given that Gandalf always considered Saruman the best of the two (aside from considering him a true friend), and always trusted and valued his advice.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Saruman became too obsessed with using the powers of the Ring against Sauron, got envious of the enemy, and chose to replace him.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: He goes from the leader of the White Council, a high-ranking angel, and one of the most respected beings in Middle-earth (with designs on global conquest) to a petty gangster in charge of a few dozen thugs bullying a town of harmless midgets. Then he gets shanked by his own pathetic manservant.
• Ignored Epiphany:
  • When Gandalf offers him a Last-Second Chance, it's clear that he truly wants to leave Orthanc, but his pride, envy, and hatred overcome him.
  • In Unfinished Tales, after having a close encounter with the Witch-king, he realizes he's in over his head with Sauron and considers asking Gandalf to let him rejoin the good guys. Unfortunately, this comes right after Gandalf escapes Isengard, and Saruman's fury at being beaten like that drives the thought of apologizing from his mind.
• Insufferable Genius: His biggest flaw even before he joined the forces of darkness, and in fact, the red flag that he would join them, was his conviction that he was the most intelligent one among the Free People and that most of the simple folk -like Hobbits- were simply not worthy of his time. Now while he was an ingenious entity, with even his name meaning man of skill, he was so blinded by his own "perceived" superiority (which was, at least partially, a cover for his insecurities and envy of Gandalf, because of the admiration and respect Gandalf usually received, and because deep down, he knew Gandalf was the best of them) that he refused to consider the possibility that all these inferior creatures may be wise in ways he is not and capable of the greater good that he could imagine.
• I Want Them Alive!: Instructs this to his army for the halflings, captured, with no spoiling, to make sure that they still have the item of great value that he wants.
• Jerkass: Even before going bad, he had shades of this as seen in his contempt for Radagast.
• Karmic Death: He was killed by Gríma, who he had constantly berated and abused, after one too many humiliations.
• Last-Second Chance: He's offered one and turns it down.
• Light Is Not Good: His "white" robes and title of "the White" are belied by his evil nature. Zigzagged because he's always been "The White" and while secretly rapacious he wasn't actively malevolent back then. His move to the "Dark" Side involves him claiming to be "Saruman of the Many Colours", which Gandalf points out, is the result of light being broken.
• Mage Tower: Orthanc, a black tower in the middle of Isengard.
• Manipulative Bastard: He screws over the White Council and tries to be The Starscream to Sauron, all the while slowly subverting Rohan and invading the Shire behind everyone's backs.
• Master of Illusion: In The Two Towers it is said several times that Saruman can create and project throughout the lands "phantoms" to spy, trick or scare people. When meeting the strange old man in the woods leaving no footprints, Gimli is certain it is one of Saruman's phantoms, and later the Rohirim fear that the Three Hunters and Gandalf might be themselves phantoms crafted by Saruman.
• Non-Elemental: Saruman's specialty.
• Not So Above It All: In Unfinished Tales, Saruman dismisses Gandalf's interest in the Shire, but he snoops around there to find out what Gandalf sees in the hobbits—secretly, except that many of the hobbits spot him in the woods and later ask Gandalf why "he" was there. Later, he derides Gandalf's newfound hobby of smoking pipe-weed, then gets his hands on it through his agents in the Shire. He ends up loving the stuff, but he's so mortified at the thought of actually admitting that to Gandalf that he keeps his smoking as secret as his scheming for the Ring.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Upon Gandalf’s return as Gandalf the White, he informs Gimli and co. that he is Saruman — or, rather, Saruman as he should have been. Likewise, Frodo notes that Saruman's setup after taking over the Shire is a pale imitation of what Sauron had done in Mordor. Unfinished Tales reveals that, even while publicly denouncing Gandalf’s idiosyncrasies (most notably pipe-weed smoking), Saruman secretly picked up several of them in imitation of him — thus, in this case, he wasn’t so different from Gandalf.
  • From Sauron too. Saruman is in many ways a reflection of Sauron's fall and corruption. It just takes him much less time to fall. He also has a bit of Morgoth in him (he ends up powerless, despoiling Shire out of spite).
• Oh, Crap!: He panics when he realizes Sauron knows he planned to betray him.
• One-Man Industrial Revolution: He transforms Isengard from a beautiful forested area into a barren land and a pit tha produce only weapons and monsters.
• Our Angels Are Different: The Wizards are really angels disguised as Men.
• Post-Climax Confrontation: After the Ring is destroyed, Sauron is finally defeated, and everyone finally gets to go home, the final confrontation of the book ends up being the hobbits confronting Saruman, who has taken over the Shire as revenge for their meddling.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Saruman originally had black hair, which got whiter as he got older (and more evil).
• The Resenter: He hates Gandalf, due in no small part to how much everyone else (notably Varda and Galadriel) isn't shy about saying Gandalf is the better of the two. The fact that Círdan chose to give Gandalf his Elven Ring of Power Narya instead of him, is something he really resented.
• The Rival: To Gandalf, due to the aforementioned resentment of him. Gandalf never tries to be a rival to him, though.
• Shadow Archetype: After his Face–Heel Turn, he's this to Gandalf.
• The Starscream: He intended to claim the ring for himself, then use it to overthrow Sauron and become the new Dark Lord.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Saruman's actions have a major effect on the plot and his corruption is one of the major themes of the book. However, he only actually appears in four chapters (out of a total of 62): "The Council of Elrond" in The Fellowship of the Ring (in a flashback recounted by Gandalf), "The Voice of Saruman" in The Two Towers, and "Many Partings" and "The Scouring of the Shire" in Return of the King.
• Smug Snake: He thinks he is a Magnificent Bastard but really can't manage it, and he is in way over his head.
• Smug Straight Edge: In Unfinished Tales, it's noted that Saruman disparaged Gandalf's use of pipe-weed. However, in imitation of Gandalf, Saruman starts smoking it himself in secret, hence why Merry and Pippin find some barrels of Longbottom Leaf in Isengard (which also serves as a foreshadowing of the Scouring of the Shire).
• Stupid Evil: Aside from his good qualities, he also lost a lot of brains while falling into evil.
• Too Clever by Half: This is Saruman's Fatal Flaw: he's undeniably a very clever wizard, with great magical knowledge and skill on his own merits. However, he's so obsessed with his own cleverness that he refuses to consider the idea that he might be wrong—or even the possibility that he might fail. Indeed, his plan to take over Middle-Earth was predicated on five distinct factors: that Wormtongue would be able to keep Théoden impotent, that his army would be able to conquer Rohan, that the Ents would maintain their neutrality, that his soldiers would be able to return the Ring to him, and that he would be able to use it to defeat Sauron. Any one of these things going wrong would almost certainly have meant the end of his regime—and all of them did.
• Treacherous Advisor: To Théoden, usually via Wormtongue but also directly. His goal is to weaken Rohan so he can conquer it.
• Undignified Death: When Saruman, leader of the White Council and divine agent began his war, he probably never imagine he would die by being shanked by his own manservant in a small town which even he dismissed as utterly unimportant.
• The Unfettered: Once he decided that he was the only one worthy to take over and industrialize Middle-earth, he came to the conclusion that he simply couldn't bother himself with the lesser pawns' well-being. Everything in both nature and society existed so that he could take advantage of it to make it reach its full potential, suffering, and death be damned. Not unlike Sauron himself.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Treebeard bitterly notes that he let Saruman walk in Fangorn and told him many things that he couldn't have found out otherwise. But Saruman never told him anything, and massacred the Ents later.
• Unwitting Pawn: Sauron knew all along that Saruman wanted the One Ring for himself and would betray him.
• Villain Decay: While he's still a threat to the characters by the Scouring, this is mainly because they are a lot weaker than his former enemies. Overall, he goes from a wizarding lord of an ancient fortress with an army strong enough to almost conquer one of Middle-earth's kingdoms, to a tin-pot tyrant bullying some hobbits — and, even then, his hold on the Shire falls apart rather quickly.
• Villain Has a Point: One way in which Saruman's voice gets people under his spell is to make them think this, regardless of the actual merit of his claim.
• Villainous Breakdown: Théoden and Gandalf goad him into one, thereby revealing his true nature and breaking the power of his hypnotic voice.
• Visionary Villain: He intended to bring about a one-man industrial revolution to Middle-earth.
• You Can't Make an Omelette...: This is what he claims as his motivation. Gandalf warns against it before even knowing exactly what it is.
  Gandalf: He who breaks a thing to discover what it is has left the path of wisdom.

The Mouth of Sauron

The Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, an evil Man of the same high race as Aragorn who serves as Sauron's herald. The Mouth meets the forces of Rohan and Gondor before the final battle of the War of the Ring and tries to convince the remaining Fellowship that Frodo is a captive and at Sauron's mercy.

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• Ambition Is Evil: During his meeting with Aragorn and Gandalf, when he lays out Sauron's insultingly lopsided terms, it's clear to basically everybody that he's hoping to be put in charge of the West by Sauron.
• "Ass" in Ambassador: He spends the entire "negotiation" insulting Aragorn and Gandalf, trying to scare them by implying the torture of Frodo, and demanding that all of the West immediately surrender to Sauron.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: From his dialogue, one gets the impression that he's the one in charge of actually doing this to people who have offended Sauron in some manner.
• Diplomatic Impunity: Appeals to this while taunting the good guys, and forgets it the rest of the time:
  "Where such laws hold it is the custom for heralds to use less insolence."
• Dirty Coward: Freaks out when threatened and ultimately turns and runs when given a Death Glare.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": 'His name is remembered in no tale for he himself had forgotten it, and he said "I am the Mouth of Sauron."'
• Evil Sorcerer: He's learned Black Arts from Sauron, himself.
• Giggling Villain: Not "giggling" per se, but he laughs incessantly at Aragorn and Gandalf's terms.
• Hate Sink: While Sauron is pure evil, he doesn't really have that hateable of a personality and is more of the embodiment of evil. This guy meanwhile, is a sadistic right-hand man who loves to taunt and verbally abuse those he comes across. He's also a Dirty Coward who freaks out when threatened.
• Hellish Horse: Rides one, in contrast to the Black Riders who ride ordinary black horses stolen from Rohan.
• I Shall Taunt You: His whole negotiation with Gandalf is laughing at the wizard and his companions.
• Mouth of Sauron: Trope Namer and very telling that he forgot his own name and only identifies himself as an extension of his master's being.
• Name Amnesia: Narration discloses that Sauron's spokesman had long forgotten his own name; he introduces himself to the emissaries of the West by his function, the Mouth of Sauron.
• Oh, Crap!: When Gandalf rejects his terms, he starts raving, but when the other representatives of the Free Folk give him a Death Glare, he turns tail and rides breakneck back to the Morannon.
• Sadist: He is called crueler than any Orc, a very bold claim for a human being.
• Smug Snake: He's quite arrogant. If there is one thing that he knows as much as he thinks he does, is the horrors that he can inflict on his captives if his terms aren't met.
• Torture Technician: It is clear that he is well-versed in a lot of his lord's craft with an emphasis on the craft of twisting and mutilating mortal bodies in any possible way, which he had plenty of chance to practice since Sauron exemplified in these sorts of techniques.
• Vague Age: His exact age is debated - the line from the book is that he "entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again", an ambiguous phrase that could refer to 3320 of the Second Age or 2951 of the Third Age. The first would make him over 3,000 years old, the second would mean he entered Sauron's service only 68 years previously and might still have been within his natural lifespan.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: His fate following the Battle of the Morannon is never explained.
• Wizards Live Longer: He's (probably) really old, old enough to have completely forgotten his original name. Whether his own Black Arts or Sauron's are responsible (and being one of the Black Númenóreans, who have increased lifespan, also helps), he's way past his time.

The Nazgûl

As a Group

The nine Nazgûl were great kings, sorcerers, and warriors among Men to whom Sauron gave nine Rings of Power in the Second Age. Seduced by power, they fell into evil and eventually passed into a state of undeath. The Nazgûl, also called Ringwraiths, the Nine Riders, or the Nine, are extensions of Sauron's will and his most terrible servants, who exist only to do his bidding.

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• 0% Approval Rating: If Gorbag's account is to be trusted, they are none too popular among the forces of evil. The orcs don't find Nazgûl any less creepy than the Free Peoples, and they also resent being far lower on the chain of command, not to mention dealing with the Bad Boss attitude common to commanders of the Enemy.
• Ambiguous Gender: The only real descriptors of who the Nazgûl were in life is that they were "kings, sorcerers and warriors." While the Witch-King of Angmar and Khamûl were male, along with the 3 other riders who accompanied them in their pursuit of Frodo, whether or not there were any females among their number is a hotly debated topic.
• Black Cloak: They wear all-covering black cloaks while passing themselves off as "riders in black". Apparently, this is their idea of looking more normal: Gandalf claims that they use the garments to "give shape to their shapelessness".
• The Dreaded:
  • The Nazgûl all have the ability to inspire terror in others, particularly with their voices, and the Witch-king was particularly good at it. Even Saruman was terrified of him, as revealed in one of Tolkien's drafts.
  • Aragorn alludes to an encounter with them, and it's one of the few times we see him shaken by anything.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: Their breath and touch feel deathly cold.
• Giant Flyer: After their horses die on the Ford of Bruinen, they are are given new mounts in the form of the Fell Beasts, immense, leather-winged flying creatures. They are not described much, but are implied not to be that big or strong, or at least no larger and stronger than necessary to carry a human-sized rider aloft ^note which admittedly would still likely render it larger and more powerful than any flying animal in the real world, as Éowyn slays the Witch-King's with a single stroke from her regular shortsword.
• Implacable Man: They can't be truly killed while the One Ring exists.
• More than Mind Control: While the Nazgûl are frequently described in terms like "puppet" and "slaves to Sauron's will," Sauron can't directly control them and is not mentally linked to them. Instead, Sauron's corruptive influence has eroded whatever personal ambitions or motivations the Nine may have once had, making them fanatical servants to Sauron's cause, but with their personal talents and intellect intact.
• Reforged into a Minion: The Nazgûl were once great kings, sorcerers or warriors among Men. They are now mere puppets to Sauron's will. Only when Sauron is defeated are their souls finally free from the shackles the Dark Lord placed to keep them tethered to the world. Their wraith bodies then implode.
• Terror-dactyl: Their mounts are described in very pterosaur-like terms: big, hairless^note well, prior to the discovery of pycnofibers, anyway, beaked mouths, long necks, batlike wings, and explicitly suggested to be the last remains of a species "from an older world." Tolkien was outright asked about it in a letter, and declared that while it wasn't his intent that they were pterosaurs, it's a pretty valid reading.
• The Undead: Wraiths are the remains of Men who have been forced to remain in Middle-earth long, long past their time, past Age Without Youth, to the point that their bodies don't really exist anymore. They're kept "alive" (and, indeed, impossible to permanently destroy) by the One Ring, via their Nine Rings. Their existences are also apparently perpetual agony.
• Undeathly Pallor: The Ringwraiths' forms that are visible to someone wearing a Ring of Power have deathly white faces. After seeing them at Weathertop, Frodo calls the Witch-king "the pale king".
• Undying Loyalty: They are absolutely loyal to Sauron, with or without the One Ring. Per Tolkien's own words, even if someone else manages to claim the Ring and bend the Nazgûl to their will, they would still hold secret allegiance to Sauron and covertly aid their true master.
• Villainous BSoD: Why did the Nazgûl retreat from Weathertop when the Ring was within grasping distance, and then seemingly delayed the hunt for it on the following day? Because, according to "The Hunt for the Ring" in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, a lot of factors suddenly came to light in that confrontation that instilled fear in them for the first time in centuries. They were attacked by a ranger who did not back down from them in fright like most Men did, the Hobbit who bore the Ring was wielding a blade specifically forged to kill them, and Frodo uttered the name of Elbereth, Queen of the Valar, a figure the Nazgûl rightfully dreaded and which seemingly affiliated Frodo with the Elves in their mind. All of these were enough to cause the Ringwraiths to panic and cower for the better part of a day before they were able to recover and resume the chase.
• Was Once a Man: They used to be Men before their Rings of Power twisted them into undead wraiths and wiped out their free will.
• Weakened by the Light: Sunlight reduces their "vision" and the scope of their powers; fire can also frighten and injure (but not destroy) them. At one point, Gandalf drives a group of Nazgûl away with a ray of white light from his hand.

The Lord of the Nazgûl

The greatest among the Nazgûl and their leader, he was known variously as the Black Captain, the Lord of the Nazgûl, and—most famously—the Witch-king of Angmar, among many other monickers. Roughly two thousand years before the War of the Ring, when Sauron was in hiding, the Lord of the Nazgûl was sent into the north to found the kingdom of Angmar under the identity of the Witch-king. There, he undermined and ultimately destroyed the North-kingdom of Arnor in a series of wars. At that time, it was foretold that no man could slay him. When Sauron declared himself openly, the Witch-king returned to Mordor, conquered Minas Ithil, slew the last king of Gondor, and became the ruler of the now corrupted citadel, which was renamed Minas Morgul. When the War of the Ring began, he led the hunt for Frodo and the Ring, going so far as to corner him on Weathertop and stab him near-fatally with a Morgul-blade.

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• Badass Boast: He delivers one to Gandalf during their standoff at the ruined gate of Minas Tirith, and backs it up with a Flaming Sword as well. However, the Rohirrim arrives before he can follow through on it.
  "Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!"
• Carry a Big Stick: Wields a mace against Éowyn in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
• Cool Crown: While Frodo wears the One Ring, he sees that the lead Nazgûl (the Witch-king) is wearing a crown under his robes.
• Dark Is Evil: He shrouds himself in a black cloak.
• Determinator: Unfinished Tales mentions that the Nazgûl are weakened and distracted by sunlight and dislike crossing running water, to the point that Sauron launched an attack on Osgiliath to get them across the Anduin. The Witch-king, however, is largely unfazed by both of these and can even keep his fellows from succumbing to them.
• Didn't See That Coming: His reaction to learning the person he's fighting is 'no man' implies he genuinely hadn't considered the possibility his prophetic protection might have a loophole.
• Dragon Ascendant: After Sauron fell at the end of the Second Age, the Witch-king basically became the interim Dark Lord and launched a brutal (and centuries-long) campaign against the northern kingdom of Arnor, which had played such a large part in Sauron's downfall. Afterward, he gathered the other Nazgûl, captured the city of Minas Ithil (along with its Palantír), ended the line of Gondor's kings, and participated in the rebuilding of Mordor in preparation for Sauron’s return.
• The Dreaded: Eärnur's entire elite cavalry troop were terrified of him. When the Witch-king rode out to rend Eärnur with his bare hands, his trusty steed was so scared it fled before him, along with many other cavalrymen. Eärnur himself wasn't particularly afraid of the Witch-king, (being arguably something of a Fearless Fool) but was still slain by him.
• The Emperor: As the Witch-king of Angmar, he was the ruler of a large nation that expanded by conquest and fought a vicious war of attrition with its main rival, the kingdom of Arnor. The war eventually ruined both nations (Arnor destroyed by Angmar, Angmar then destroyed by Gondor and the elves), so much so that nearly all of Eriador was still either ruined or depopulated centuries later.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": We just know him by his title. He doesn't have a name proper.
• Evil Is Bigger: His great stature is repeatedly emphasized, particularly during his confrontation with Éowyn.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: During his stint as ruler of Angmar, per the Appendices. According to the Snowmen of Forochel, his power increases during wintertime (and decreases in the summer).
• Evil Sorcerer: He's not called the Witch-king for nothing.
• The Faceless: Due to being a wraith, and wearing a black cloak. When Frodo put the Ring on in his presence, he saw the Witch-King's true face, and didn't like what he saw. When he takes off his hood, there is nothing there except for a pair of red points of light where his eyes should be.
• Flaming Sword: While it's typically a normal sword, he makes flames run down it when he faces off against Gandalf in Minas Tirith.
• Four-Star Badass: Not only is he Sauron's most powerful servant in battle, but he's also an excellent commander, having crushed the lands of Arnor thousands of years ago and led his army with aplomb during the siege of Minas Tirith.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: The only part of him that can be seen without his cloak are his glowing eyes.
• Hero Killer: A formidable, dreadful foe. He kills Théoden, and killed Eärnur, the last king of Gondor before Aragorn. On that note, he also destroyed the kingdom of Arnor and conquered Minas Ithil, both of which made the War of the Ring much more difficult.
• I Have Many Names: He has had numerous titles, such as the Witch-king of Angmar, the Black Captain, the Lord of the Nazgûl, and the Lord of Minas Morgul.
• Ironic Last Words: He confidently boasts, "No living man may hinder me" — after which Merry (a hobbit) stabs him in the knee and Éowyn (a woman) fatally runs him through with her sword.
• Mysterious Past: His past was never fully revealed. We only get hints of who he used to be. Which is a lot more than we get of his lieutenant, Khamûl the Black Easterling, and the rest of the Nazgûl.
• Name Amnesia: He's not given an actual name, though he presumably once had one before it was forgotten over the ages. Instead, he's called the Witch-king of Angmar (his alias, used only in the Appendix but remembered by everyone because of how cool it sounds), Lord of the Nazgûl, High Nazgûl, Black Captain, Captain of Despair, Morgul-lord, etc.
• The Necrocracy: His realms Angmar and Minas Morgul, both of which fall under the ruled by the undead variant of this trope.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: His anticipated showdown with Gandalf at the gates of Minas Tirith is cut very short by the arrival of Rohan.
• No Man of Woman Born: In fact, it's rumored that his death was a Take That! against William Shakespeare's Macbeth, whose Prophecy Twist Tolkien thought was a cop-out.
• Oh, Crap!: When Éowyn reveals she's a woman, he's actually struck silent in sudden doubt for a few moments.
• Poisoned Weapons: He stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade, which would have turned him into a lesser wraith if it killed him.
• Pragmatic Villainy: When he encounters Grima Wormtongue while hunting for the Shire (who spills the beans on its location and that Saruman was lying when he said he knew nothing about it), the Witch-king chooses to spare the wretch instead of killing him not out of pity or mercy, but because he foresaw that Grima would one day bring great harm to Saruman.
• Prophecy Armor: He believed that he had it after Glorfindel proclaimed that no man would kill him. He suddenly realizes the key error in his assumptions when confronted by Eowyn during the Battle of Pelennor Fields.
• Prophecy Twist: When you're prophesied to be killed by "no man," it's generally a good idea to notice that the world is full of people who aren't men. However, it's worth noting that at the Battle of Fornost, the Witch-king skedaddled when the Elf-lord Glorfindel rode up.
• Undying Loyalty: Rarely is the trope as literal, or as horrible, as this. When Sauron was "destroyed" at the Battle of Dagor-lad, the Witch-king spent thousands of years preparing for his master's return, acting as the "chief villain" for most of that time without even dreaming of supplanting him as Sauron supplanted Morgoth. (Sauron started his slide into evil in an effort to bring order to the world and then slid into gaining control over the children of Eru, and it looks like he succeeded in nine cases.)

Khamûl

The only other Nazgûl individually known apart from the Witch-king of Angmar and the only one whose name is known. In life, Khamûl was one of the nine mighty Men seduced by the power of the One Ring. In his case, he was a King of the Easterlings, but now a loyal servant to Sauron and second only to the Witch-king in authority among the Nazgûl. Just as the Witch-king ruled over Minas Morgul, Khamûl ruled over Dol Guldur, in the North.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: When he asked Farmer Maggot about Baggins, the farmer essentially told him to buzz off. According to Maggot, Khamûl then made what sounded somewhat like a laugh before riding off. Presumably, he was amused at the sheer gall of the Hobbit to think he could threaten a Nazgûl.
• All There in the Manual: His name and role are only present in the Appendices and in the Unfinished Tales.
• Cryptic Background Reference: A shadowy rider, strongly implied to be a Nazgûl, with a similar description to Khamûl, rides up to Erebor and offers Dáin Ironfoot an alliance with Sauron if he'd deliver them Baggins (Dáin refuses), but it's unclear if this is Khamûl himself, another Nazgûl, or even another dark emissary of Sauron like the Mouth of Sauron.
• Dark Is Evil: Between him and the Witch-king, he's far more associated with the night and darkness (thus one of his names being "the Shadow of the East").
• Dragon Ascendant: He's the Dragon to the Witch-king (who is, in turn, Sauron's Dragon). After the Witch-king falls in Pelennor Fields, he becomes the leader of the remaining 8 Nazgûl, leading them against Aragorn's forces in the Black Gate.
• The Dreaded: The Hobbits soon become absolutely terrified of him.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Maggot's dogs (who are normally very ferocious) are cowering in terror when Khamûl rides up.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: It is mentioned the temperature seems to drop severely whenever Khamûl arrives.
• The Faceless: Khamûl doesn't even have red eyes like the Witch-king.
• Hellish Horse: His black steed that Frodo and company gaze upon.
• Knight of Cerebus: The story is fairly light-hearted in the preceding chapters in the Shire. Khamûl is the first servant of Sauron to make an appearance in the story, and with him, he brings a foreboding dread that will accompany the entire narrative.
  • In a Meta–sense, as well: Khamûl's appearance is when Tolkien realized that he was no longer writing just a sequel to The Hobbit.
• The Nose Knows: Khamûl is often described as sniffing the air, not unlike a hound to pick up the One Ring's scent.
• Opt Out: When he's confronted by legendary badass Glorfindel, he wisely retreats. The same thing happens when he senses a host of Elves nearby.
• Red Baron: Known as "the Black Rider", "the Black Easterling" and "the Shadow of the East".
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Khamûl is the Ringwraith who tracks down the One Ring to the Shire during Fellowship of the Ring and who hunts Frodo during the early chapters. Frodo makes note he keeps finding them no matter how many detours they take.
• Sensing You Are Outmatched: In Fellowship he opts not to attack when Frodo meets Gildor and his company of elves, either due to realizing he couldn't defeat them or it wouldn't be worth the effort when he could simply wait for the Hobbits and the Elves to part ways. He also shies away from confronting Glorfindel, who is definitely out of his league.
• They Have the Scent!: His primary role in Fellowship is sniffing the One Ring and he's the one who actually discovers Frodo has it.
• Underestimating Badassery: None of the inhabitants of the Shire seem to quite realize they are talking with one of the most powerful servants of darkness.
• Villain of Another Story: As the Lord of Dol Guldur, Khamûl was tasked with commanding Sauron's northern forces, which attacked King Thranduil's woodland realms, Mirkwood, Lórien (which resulted in the Battle Under the Trees, which resulted in a great deal of the forest going down in flames) and may even have a hand in the Battle of the Dale, in which the Sauron-allied Easterlings stormed Dale and the gates of Erebor. But since the focus of Lord of the Rings is in the West, we only get rare offhand mentions of this.
• Weakened by the Light: More so than the other Ringwraiths, he had a severe weakness to sunlight which diminishes his powers during the day.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Gaffer Gamgee says he spoke with "some kind of foreign tone" and Maggot says he sounded "queer", which either refers to the odd, unnatural manner Nazgûl speak or possibly to Khamûl's Easterling origin (i.e he may still speak with an ancient Rhún accent).

Orcs

Uglúk

The captain of a company of Uruk-hai whom Saruman sent to search the area of Amon Hen. He and his orcs kill Boromir and abduct Merry and Pippin. Against the wishes of a group of orcs from Mordor, who want to turn Merry and Pippin over to the authorities of Mordor, Uglúk takes the hobbits towards Isengard. Along the way the orcs are spotted by a cavalry unit from Rohan, forcing them into a desperate race to try to escape the Riders.

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• Bad Boss: Uglúk openly threatens the lesser orcs under his command with execution (and tends to cut a few up whenever things go wrong.)
• Badass Boast: His Uruk-hai clearly think of themselves as a superior cadre.
  Uglúk: We are the fighting Uruk-hai! We serve the White Hand - the Hand that gives us man's flesh to eat!
• Enemy Civil War: He's got a mixed group of Uruk-hai, orcs from Mordor, and Moria-goblins in his command. The factions come to blows a couple of times.
• Hidden Depths: Saruman obviously didn't choose Uglúk on an idle whim. Like all Uruk-hai, he regards himself as an elite Blood Knight: but he's also a capable tactician, skilled in the orcish art of healing, and a determined fighter who battles to the bitter end when confronted.
• Implacable Man: He sets a pace of travel that's right at the limit of orcish endurance, and says what you want about orcs, but they can endure quite a lot.
• Large and in Charge: The Uruk-hai are considerably larger than other orcs, and Uglúk is described as one of the largest.
• Might Makes Right: The reason he can overrule the Mordor orcs and the goblins from Moria about where to take the hobbits and what to do with them is that the Uruk-hai are perfectly capable of defeating and killing either of the other groups.
• The Neidermeyer: It's common for orc commanders to be little-liked by their underlings, and he's no exception. While he's not incompetent by any means and the Uruk-hai under his command are drilled well enough, he's only able to keep a grip on the Northerners and the orcs of Mordor by drawing his sword on them, and displays a near-constant level of mutual contempt and disgust for them. While it does keep the troop together in the short term, it causes a near-total breakdown when they're in active combat against the Rohirrim, and ends up instrumental in Grishnákh being manipulated by Merry and Pippin.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The narration indicates that when Éomer's riders attacked, Uglúk managed to rally at least some of his Uruk-hai and tried to fight his way free while most of the other orcs panicked and were quickly routed. Uglúk and his group nearly managed to fight their way past the riders and into Fangorn Forest, until Éomer and his men stopped them and Éomer confronted Uglúk in a duel to the death.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He mends the head wound that Merry received at Amon Hen not out of kindness, but so that Merry can be forced to run rather than being carried.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He and Grishnákh, an orc of similar rank from Mordor, are rivals who loathe each other and are foils in a way that matches this trope. Uglúk is straightforward, aggressive, and relies on his size and physical threats, while Grishnákh is sly, sneaky, and relies on knowing more than others.
• Villainous Valor: While some other orcs in his company attempt to flee, he fights to the last.

Grishnákh

An orc captain from Mordor, he is in charge of the Mordor orcs who take Merry and Pippin captive alongside Uglúk's Uruk-hai. Grishnakh wanted to take the hobbits to a waiting Ringwraith who would fly the two to Mordor, but Uglúk's refusal to go along with this plan and willingness to fight over the captives necessitated a change in plans.

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• Deadpan Snarker: Uses sarcasm cuttingly on several occasions.
• Enigmatic Minion: Until Pippin's "Eureka!" Moment when he realizes that Grishnákh knows about the Ring, it's hard to understand what Grishnákh's game is, and why, for example, he risked his life by joining the orcs running towards Isengard instead of retreating to safety out of Rohan. And even then there is some question about whether he is truly loyal to Sauron and looking for the Ring so he can turn it over to his master, or if he truly does want it for himself as Pippin supposes.
• Impaled Palm: When he tries to kill Merry and Pippin, he gets shot right in the middle of his hand by an arrow. The Rider who did so quickly adds impaled body to the impaled palm.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A Rider of Rohan impales him on a spear when his attempt to sneak Merry and Pippin by the Riders fails.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Grishnákh would have faced this if he had managed to sneak Merry and Pippin past the Riders of Rohan. If he had succeeded in smuggling Merry and Pippin past the patrols, he would have been taking them directly into Fangorn Forest, where a lone orc can probably count on having a very limited life span. And even if that wasn't an issue, he would have still needed to get them back to Mordor or, if he was in fact trying to claim the Ring for himself, he would have found out that neither Merry nor Pippin had it. Basically as soon as Uglúk forced the other Orcs to take Merry and Pippin to Isengard, things were never going to turn out well for Grishnákh.
• Mook Lieutenant: An orc who commands a detachment of other orcs as part of Sauron's army.
• The Political Officer: His threats to report comments by Uglúk and other orcs on several occasions is reminiscent of this trope.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Uglúk's Red. Where Uglúk is direct, brutal, and physically violent, Grishnakh is sly, sneaky, and relies on greater knowledge.
• Smarter Than You Look: Grishnákh's physical description doesn't exactly sound like a stereotypical smart guy, but he is far better informed about what is going on than any other foot soldier or even captain who isn't part of the Fellowship, and furthermore he makes several shrewd guesses based on what he knows and sees, such as that Saruman is attempting to betray Sauron and seize the Ring.
• The Sneaky Guy: Has a habit of somehow mysteriously disappearing into the shadows whenever the different orc factions come to blows, only to later reappear perfectly fine while other orcs have died fighting. When Éomer's forces cut the orcs off from reaching Fangorn, Grishnakh attempts to sneak the hobbits past the guard instead of trying to fight off the Rohirrim, as Uglúk and company do.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: The first time Pippin hears Grishnákh's voice, he thinks the voice sounds "softer but eviler" than the voices of the other orcs Grishnákh is arguing with.
• Surrounded by Idiots: He feels this way, as he has a low opinion of Uglúk and his Uruk-hai's intelligence/competence, and the goblins from Moria are even worse in his opinion.
• Taking You with Me: He quickly realizes he probably won't survive when he stumbles into a Rider while trying to sneak Merry and Pippin past the Rider patrols, so he draws his sword in an apparent attempt to kill Merry and Pippin as he is killed. He is just barely thwarted.
• Torture Technician: Implied. He speaks as though he's familiar with carrying out torture on others, and his familiarity with the Ring and Gollum hints that he may have been one of the torturers who worked over Gollum when Gollum was caught by the forces of Mordor. It would account for Grishnakh's surprising knowledge about the Ring.
  Grishnákh: My dear tender little fools, everything you have and everything you know will be got out of you in due time: everything! You'll wish there was more that you could tell to satisfy the Questioner, indeed you will, quite soon. ... Untie your legs? I'll untie every string in your bodies. Do you think I can't search you to the bones? Search you! I'll cut you both to quivering shreds!

Gorbag

An orc captain stationed in Minas Morgul, he takes out a patrol to search for intruders along the path to Cirith Ungol, where he encountered a patrol from Cirith Ungol led by Shagrat and they find Frodo, unconscious from Shelob's sting. Things were going well enough until the orcs discovered Frodo's mithril armor, and came to blows over it...

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• Ax-Crazy: Shagrat is an old friend of his, or at least as friendly as orcs go, but Shagrat has to protest multiple times against Gorbag's desire to torture Frodo, even after stating that orders straight from Sauron himself say that they would all be killed if a prisoner isn't held intact. Shagrat also says that Gorbag can't be trusted when Gorbag is "mad for fun", and given what the orcish definition of fun is like...
• Backstab Backfire: Done almost as literally as possible. Gorbag is seriously wounded and survives the battle by pretending to be dead, which fools everyone. At the end of the fight, he has a chance to make his getaway, but instead, he tries to sneak up behind Shagrat and backstab him. However, at the last second Gorbag makes a noise that gives himself away, Shagrat dodges the attempted backstabbing, and then Shagrat finishes Gorbag off. Messily and very thoroughly.
• Character Death: Killed by Shagrat after the orcs of Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol fight it out over Frodo's mithril armor.
• Enemy Civil War: He starts a clash between his large patrol and the orcs from Cirith Ungol by trying to steal Frodo's mithril shirt, despite explicit orders to turn everything found over to Barad-dûr. This results in both groups being wiped out except for just a few survivors, which in turn allows Sam to successfully save Frodo.
• Entertainingly Wrong: He makes note of the fact that Frodo was cut free of Shelob's web and wasn't carried away to be food as evidence that Frodo wasn't alone, which is absolutely correct. He then guesses that for someone to have been able to get through Shelob's web and wound/fight off Shelob herself, the person with Frodo must be an Elf warrior/spy wielding a legendary sword, and maybe an ax too to cut through the web. Frodo's only companion at this point is Samwise Gamgee who is understandably amused by this description of himself.
• Greed: He starts the fight between the different orc groups in an attempt to steal Frodo's mithril armor. Understandable, since Gandalf had previously guessed that the mail was worth more than a small country, and Gorbag had voiced discontent with the Nazgûl and Sauron, and a desire to escape them.
• Horrifying the Horror: Being an orc captain basically means he's a big, brutal Orc who terrorizes lower-ranked Orcs into following his orders and makes sure they're too scared of him to dare disobey. The Nazgûl, however, freak him right out, to the point where he openly voices a desire to run away from Mordor and strike out on his own.
• Last Breath Bullet: Despite having been seriously wounded and near death, he makes one last attempt to kill Shagrat, only to fail at the last second.
• Mook Lieutenant: An orc who commands a detachment of other orcs as part of Sauron's army.
• Moral Myopia: He denounces Sam leaving Frodo after Frodo was stung by Shelob as a "regular Elvish trick" in a tone that expresses disgust. A few minutes later, he gets a good laugh out of Shagrat telling a story about refusing to save an orc that had been stung by Shelob because it wouldn't be worth the effort to try to save him. He fails to see the disconnect there at all.
• Sadist: He is far too enthusiastic about the thought of tormenting/torturing people.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His attempt to steal Frodo's mithril mail starts an Enemy Civil War between the orcs from Minas Morgul and those from Cirith Ungol, resulting in both groups practically wiping each other out. Had that fight not happened, Sam's attempt to rescue Frodo would have been doomed to failure, which would have resulted in Sam being killed or captured, the two of them sent to Barad-dûr, and Sauron recovering the Ring.
• Smarter Than You Look: He's not just a big orc that can beat smaller orcs into submission, he makes several astute observations and guesses about what happened when Frodo is found.
• Sour Supporter: For the forces of Mordor. He voices a lot of cynicism about the cause and his superiors.
• Those Two Guys: He seems to be this with Shagrat, as they too speak like they're old friends and have a long history together. However, the orc concept of friendship is pretty tenuous, and they don't hesitate to fight or kill each other with little cause.
• Too Dumb to Live: Trying to steal the coat of Mithril and betraying Sauron was NEVER going to turn out well.
• Trapped in Villainy: To a certain extent he and Shagrat see themselves as this since they loathe their superiors but believe that Humans or Elves would kill them on sight, so they see themselves as having no choice but to stick with Sauron until he wins the war. (Granted, Gorbag's idea of what he'd do if he was free from Sauron would be to become a bandit, looting the countryside and killing or torturing locals, so the idea that he'd be any less villainous if he were free from Sauron is a pretty big stretch, to say the least.)

Shagrat

An Orc captain stationed in the tower of Cirith Ungol, he takes out a patrol to search for intruders near the tower after receiving a message about possible intruders. On the path, he encountered a patrol from Minas Morgul led by Gorbag and they found Frodo, unconscious from Shelob's sting. Things were going well enough until the orcs discovered Frodo's mithril armor, and came to blows over it...

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• Bad Boss: When a low ranking orc that was under his command tries to defy his orders after the battle, Shagrat, despite being badly injured, is so furious he attempts to kill the other orc on the spot, and despite his injuries, he chases his subordinate halfway around the tower before giving up the attempt.
• Enemy Civil War: One starts between his and Gorbag's forces once Gorbag finds Frodo's priceless mithril armor and attempts to steal it, despite the warning of the dire consequences that would befall them for looting prisoners instead of passing anything found over to Sauron.
• Mook Lieutenant: An orc who commands a detachment of other orcs in Sauron's armies.
• Not Quite Dead: The first character to know that this is the case for Frodo after Shelob's sting.
• Only Sane Man: He tries to keep things going according to orders so that Sauron's wrath doesn't fall on them all. It doesn't go well.
• Properly Paranoid: He repeatedly warns Gorbag about Gorbag's Loose Lips and talking openly about trying to leave Sauron's service. Judging from what we see of life in Mordor, being paranoid about people watching and recording your words and movements every day is exactly the right way to act. He also has a much more realistic idea than Gorbag of how vengeful Sauron and company would be if he betrayed them or deserted from the armies of Mordor.
• Pummelling The Corpse: After the dying Gorbag makes one last attempt to backstab Shagrat (who is already worked up and in an absolute fury), Shagrat goes berserk and viciously attacks his former friend, then keeps going long after Gorbag is dead, pounding the body into a pulp.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Gorbag wants to steal Frodo's priceless mithril armor and run away from Mordor. Shagrat passes on the thought of taking the armor worth more than a country and wants to turn it over to Sauron as per his orders. Although this may be less about principles and more about a desire to avoid Sauron's wrath.
• Sole Survivor: The only Orc known for certain to have survived the battle at Cirith Ungol and escaped the tower afterward.
• Those Two Guys: He and Gorbag seemed to have this dynamic, as the two are obviously familiar and have known each other for quite some time. However, the bonds of Orcish friendship don't run very deep.
• Uncertain Doom: It's not known what became of him after escaping Cirith Ungol. Since Frodo's armor shows up at the parley between the Mouth of Sauron and the forces of the West, Shagrat must have either made it to Barad-Dûr or at least to forces that would bring the items he took from Frodo to Barad-dûr, but whether he died of his injuries afterward, was rewarded for his loyalty, punished for his failure, died when the Ring was destroyed or survived the chaos that engulfed Sauron's armies afterward is all unknown. ^note The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, which contains many expansions on the books, as well as unpublished material and changes made by Christopher Tolkien, says that Shagrat reached Barad-dûr, but Sauron had him executed due to the fiasco at Cirith Ungol. However, this does not appear in the actual text.

Independent Monsters

Shelob

A monstrous demonic thing in spider shape, the mother of the Spiders of Mirkwood featured in The Hobbit, and the last surviving offspring of Ungoliant from The Silmarillion, who spins her deadly webs in a dark cave in the mountains of Mordor. Shelob is Sauron's "cat" (one of the few times he ever had a sense of humor) — he doesn't control her but lets her prey on would-be intruders (and many unlucky Orcs). Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into her lair.

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• Achilles' Heel: Subverted. Her underside is just as tough as the rest of her body. The book emphasizes that, unlike dragons, Shelob has no weak spots save for her eyes. Sam is only able to pierce her skin and tissue because she unwittingly slams on his blade with her own, massive strength.
• Angry Guard Dog: The main reason Sauron let her set up shop right on Mordor's back doorstep. She captures and kills everything that wanders into her nest, making her a more effective watch than a full gate regiment. Even the orcs don't mess with her.
• Animalistic Abomination: Like Ungoliant, she is an ancient demonic entity that vaguely resembles a spider.
• Casting a Shadow: Like her mother, she weaves webs of darkness that, while not as powerful as her mother's Unlight, are perceptible to the Hobbits, as well as the other creatures that intrude upon her lair.
• Dark Action Girl: A female spirit in the form of a spider who gives Sam a challenge in combat.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Sauron treats her as his pet. Shelob doesn't care. He actually compares her to a pet cat, as she was a pet that rejected his authority. Much like the relationship between a man and a cat, Sauron understands that he can't control her directly (or plainly not give her orders), but likes having Shelob around to keep away "vermin" who wander too close.
• Eye Scream: Sam stabs her in one eye with Sting during their fight, and then blinded her other eyes with the Phial of Galadriel.
• Giant Spider: Really just a spider-like monster, described to have pincers in her feet and great insect-like eyes, among other taxonomical oddities.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Of the "pure evil" variety. She was stated to be immune to the Ring's temptations because power holds no interest for something that just wants to eat everything. Also, similarly to what happened between Sauron's boss and Shelob's mom, the spider's spirit is so purely evil that Sauron has no control over her whatsoever. Doesn't stop him from amusingly considering Shelob as some sort of pet, though.
• Inertial Impalement: The books explicitly note that her hide is far too tough for Sam to cut through with his own strength. However she made the grave error of trying to crush Sam and drove herself down onto him with all her weight and strength... and right onto the sword that Sam was holding up above him at that moment. Whether it killed her is unknown, but at the very least it did seriously wound her, and the only thing she could do afterward was crawl away to safety.
• Meaningful Name: "Lob" is an archaic English word for "spider." She's female. "She-Lob".
• Monster Progenitor: Is revealed in the narration of the story to be the mother of the Spiders of Mirkwood.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Nothing could pierce her hide, not even the swords of Númenor, until she accidentally put her own weight into the blow.
• Offing the Offspring: She's a vile, dark, demonic monster who is constantly hungry for meat, devouring her own offspring as she would any other prey after she mated with them.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Like her mother Ungoliant, her greatest desire seems to be to eat the whole planet. Mercifully, she's nowhere near capable of that.
• Physical God: Thanks to being the daughter of both an "ordinary" Giant Spider and Ungoliant, who was more or less an Eldritch Abomination.
• Primal Fear: Before she reveals herself, Frodo and Sam can feel her presence as a lurking, stalking menace in pitch-dark tunnels.
• Spiders Are Scary: Especially when they're enormous demonic ones.
• Time Abyss: Although not to the same extent as her mother, Ungoliant, Shelob is still very ancient. She was born (spawned?) in the First Age, and came to Mordor before even Sauron did. Thus, she would be nearly seven thousand years old at the time of the War of the Ring.
• Uncertain Doom: The story doesn't say whether the wounds Sam inflicts on her were fatal or not, and all we're told is she drags herself back into the darkness, blinded and in great pain. The text does say it is possible she survived, healed, and eventually resurfaced to feed on whatever unlucky people she found, but notes that this is not confirmed.
• Villainous Glutton: Her only goal is to eat. She doesn't care about wielding power or reshaping the world in her image; all she wants to do is eat everyone and everything there is. The deal that Gollum manages to strike with her can be summed up as him promising to deliver her more food.
• The Voiceless: The fact that she was able to work out a deal with Gollum implies she can speak, but she never does during her appearance in the text. Or it might be just that she understands speech, and relented her attack when Gollum begged for his life and promised to bring her tasty things to eat. However, her mother Ungoliant in The Silmarillion could talk, as could her descendants in The Hobbit. All told, Shelob herself being able to talk seems pretty likely — she probably just didn't have anything to say to 'food'.
• Weakened by the Light: The light from the Phial of Galadriel drove her back.

Durin's Bane/The Balrog

An ancient and terrible demon who fled deep underground after the Wars of Beleriand in the First Age, the unnamed Balrog was awakened from its torpor in the Third Age when the dwarves of Moria Dug Too Deep for mithril. The monster killed the dwarves' king and drove them out of their halls into exile. Centuries later, the Balrog, now known as Durin's Bane, was encountered by the Fellowship as they travelled through Moria. Gandalf held off the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.

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• Casting a Shadow: Though it is a fire demon at its core, it's surrounded by a vast and terrifying shadow that it can stretch out around it "like wings." When its flames are temporarily extinguished, it becomes a creature of pure darkness.
• Dark Is Evil: As part of the darkness motif of most demons.
• The Dreaded: Overawes the fellowship with its mere appearance. Even Legolas, who casually regards an army of ghosts as harmless, runs away yelling in terror. Gandalf can't bring himself to say the word Balrog after their encounter. In the backstory, Dáin II Ironfoot is the sole Dwarf who looks into Moria following the Battle of Azanulbizar and either sees or simply feels the Balrog from a distance. Either way, he is so shaken that he goes back and tells the battle-hardened army of Dwarves behind him that reclaiming Moria is impossible as long as that thing is in there.
• Dual Wielding: Sword and whip.
• Elemental Weapon: He uses a flaming whip in conjunction with a Flaming Sword.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": This particular Balrog is known by his title, Durin's Bane. Presumably, he has an actual name, but he's not on a first-name basis with anybody in the story. He's known merely by his (sub)species or by the nickname the Dwarves gave him.
• Fallen Angel: The Silmarillion and assorted other backstory reveal that the Balrog is just one of a race of formerly angelic creatures that made the Ringwraiths look like pansies. The Balrogs are Maiar, of the same lesser angelic order as Sauron, the five Wizards, and Dragons.
• For the Evulz: Sauron wants to rule the world, Shelob and the Watcher are hungry and Saruman is both power-hungry and fearful for his own survival. As far as anyone can tell Durin's Bane just destroys anyone (bar orcs and trolls) that comes into Moria for no other reason than pure spite. It's likely with Morgoth gone and lacking Sauron's imagination it can't think of anything else to do.
• Hero Killer: He's not called Durin's ^note Durin was a name handed down among the dwarf-kings, and Durin VI was the ruler of Moria when the Balrog woke up. Bane for nothing. Since Gandalf the Grey dies killing him, he's also responsible for his death as well.
• Knight of Cerebus: The story was already serious, but he upped the ante and paved the way for the Fellowship's breaking by bringing down Gandalf. (Of course, Gandalf got better.) It also introduced the epic one-on-one fights that would occur later in the story.
• Large and in Charge: Possibly. The descriptions are vague and can be interpreted differently. On one hand, its wings are described as spreading "wall to wall" in a great chamber. On the other hand, he's also described as "like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater." He is certainly much more imposing than the orcs and trolls in Moria, and they seem to be almost as afraid of him as the Fellowship is.^note In the original Silmarillion, Balrogs were approximately two times man height, but Tolkien reimaged them later, so he might have changed their size as well by the time he wrote The Lord of the Rings
• Last of His Kind: Possibly. He's the only known Balrog to have survived the First Age, but it is possible that more of them did.
• Magic Knight: It casts a "counter-spell" against Gandalf's "shutting-spell" on one of the doors in Moria to cover the Fellowship's retreat. The resulting contest, which knocks Gandalf away from the door, results in the door and chamber the Balrog was in blowing up, though that didn't delay it for long.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Durin's Bane." Also, "Balrog" is the Sindarin form of the Quenya term Valarauko, "Demon of Might."
• Out Of Context Villain: It has no obvious ties to Sauron, though it did seemingly allow his orcs to inhabit its' domain, and no direct connection to the overarching plot. It served under Morgoth, destroyed the Dwarven kingdom of Moria, and ended the line of Durin kings. As a Maiar, the Balrog could have easily been a Big Bad in its own right, but the Fellowship runs into it purely out of bad luck.
• Playing with Fire: The flames are hidden, but he (it?) is still a fire demon who wields a flaming weapon.
• Rasputinian Death: Falls down a deep pit along with Gandalf, as they try to stab one another as they plummet down to the bottom. Once they land, they are immediately submerged, carried down the stream presumably, race through natural caverns, and climb the Endless Stair to the peak of Celebdil, where they fought until Gandalf manages to pierce its heart, causing it to fall down to its death.
• Red Baron: Durin's Bane.
• The Remnant: He, like the other Balrogs, was a servant of Melkor, the first Dark Lord until the latter was captured by the Valar at the end of the First Age. This Balrog was one of the few that survived the War of Wrath, and he becomes the de facto ruler and deity of Moria's population of Orcs and Trolls, which are also (at least partially) derived from Melkor's defunct armies.
• Silent Antagonist: He never speaks onscreen, or even roars. Offscreen, it casts a spell against Gandalf through a door, but the lack of any mention of his voice (and Gandalf should have heard it) implies it was non-verbal magic.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He barely appears for some pages, but the consequences of his appearance shape the story of the next books. Gandalf's death and resurrection, the fellowship breaking apart and the paths taken, none of them would have happened had the Balrog not appeared.
• Unskilled, but Strong: His knowledge of magic seems less complete than Gandalf's, as the latter used some more complex spells to hold his own at the door, but the sheer force of his initial counter-spell was what put the Wizard against the rope in the first place, and the outcome of the duel, whatever it was exactly, sent Gandalf literally flying.
• Wacky Wayside Tribe: Though he is unquestionably a terrible threat, the Balrog has nothing to do with Sauron (aside from the two of them serving the same master thousands of years previously). The Fellowship could have avoided him entirely if not for being forced to enter Moria... with Peregrin Took.
• Winged Humanoid: He can cast a shadow around him appearing "like wings". Whether they are actual, functional wings or just an illusion is left ambiguous.

The Watcher in the Water

A tentacled monster that guards the western gates of Moria at least since 30 years ago. It is encountered by the Fellowship upon their arrival to the walls of the dwarven realm, and it briefly battles them before closing the doors behind them, leaving the Fellowship trapped in Moria.

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• Ambiguously Evil: It is hostile to both the Fellowship and Balin's Dwarves, but we don't get to see whether it would have also attacked Moria's Orcs.
• Ambiguous Situation: The Watcher's entire role in the story is unclear, as is its basic nature. Was it a servant of Sauron? Of Durin's Bane? A random monster? Was it only one, or were there several beings? And why did it attack the Ring-bearer? Did it want the Ring for itself? Did it attack him because he felt the evil power in the Ring? Why did it trap the Fellowship in Moria? None of those questions are ever answered, only speculated, and it seems every Tolkien academic has his own interpretation.
• Attack of the Monster Appendage: Only its appendages are ever seen.
• Combat Tentacles: Pale green, foul-smelling "tentacles" with fingered tips are all that the Fellowship sees. The text states they are twenty-one or so, but this could just be a literary license for "tentacles everywhere!"
• Eldritch Abomination: A vague but terrifying tentacled creature lurking underwater near ancient ruins where foul things happened? Intentionally or not, this thing has a decidedly Lovecraftian aspect.
• Enigmatic Minion: It is not revealed whether the monster serves Sauron or has its own agenda. The Book of Mazarbul implies the Dwarves knew at least a bit more about the creature, but as they are not around anymore to tell the point-of-view characters, it remains an enigma.
• Guardian Entity: The fact that it has a name in capital letters for the Dwarves, as well as what it is, implies it "guards" the western gates of Moria from its pool and has done so for a long time before the events of the story.
• Hero Killer: When it attacks the Fellowship, it goes straight to the Ring-bearer, and some of the better combatants of Middle-earth can do little more than fend its tentacles off for a while before running for their lives. It's mentioned in the book Gandalf finds as having grabbed Óin (one of the company from The Hobbit) and drowned him.
• It Can Think: It shows shades of intelligence when it closes the gates of Moria behind the Fellowship and destroys them to block the pass. Why it did this is another story, but it shows both intent and an understanding of the concept of doors and hinges.
• Kraken and Leviathan: The creature is inspired by the Nordic kraken, leading some scholars to interpret it might have been a kraken created by Melkor in Utumno. Nothing is said about it in the text, although Gandalf indirectly agrees it might be a thing old enough to have been around in Utumno's times.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The characters realize the Watcher attacked Frodo straight away, implying it can somehow sense the Ring.
• No Name Given: The book of Mazarbul speaks of a "Watcher in the Water" before the gates, so the reader can assume it is speaking of the monster, but it is not directly referred to as such.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The Watcher's main body (or bodies — it may as well be a colony for all anyone knows) is never seen, and this has led people writing about the series to speculate about kraken, water-dragons or any number of unwholesome possibilities.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: It does not appear to have any ties to Sauron, or Saruman, or even the Balrog. It may just be one of those nasty things that lurk in the darker corners of Middle-earth — another Sméagol or Shelob.
• Single Specimen Species: Possibly, as there's no other monster like this either shown or mentioned in the story, and all knowledge about it refers to it by an individual title. However, the text itself leaves unclear whether it was a single monster or several.
• Tentacled Terror: He seems to be an ominous giant squid-like... thing - tentacles usually come attached to cephalopods after all, but we just don't know for sure. In fact, Sam initially mistakes them for snakes, and later Gandalf can't even say if they were all part of a single creature.
• Time Abyss: Implied by Gandalf when he suggests this and other dark creatures under the Middle-earth are older than the Orcs. Given that those were created by Morgoth before the First Age, this means that either the Watcher or its race were around at least as early as the Years of the Lamps.

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