The Hobbit (novel)/Characters
A character sheet in progress for the novel The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and its upcoming movie adaptation. Film-only tropes should be marked as such.
Many of the characters also appear in The Lord of the Rings, so be sure to check that character sheet out too. And while we're at it, The Silmarillion is set in the same universe as well, the character sheet being here.
The Hobbit
The Company
- Badass Beard: All of the dwarves, plus Gandalf, possess one of these.
- Badass Crew: In their own way they're all Badass when it's needed.
- Dirty Coward: In the book, they let Bilbo down when they all refuse to follow him into the dragon's lair. Only Balin sticks his neck out for him, and he only goes halfway down the tunnel.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: On its way to glory!
- Sibling Team: Fili and Kili; Balin and Dwalin; Oin and Gloin; Nori, Dori and Ori; and Bofur and Bombur.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Though it's justified, concerning how miserable the conditions often are for them.
- Theme Naming: As noted under Sibling Team, all of the fraternal pairs have rhyming (or at least similar) names.
- True Companions: They're ready to go to extensive lengths for each other's sake...
- Vitriolic Best Buds: ...but you couldn't always tell it from just watching them.
Bilbo Baggins
“I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.”
See The Lord of the Rings character sheet for tropes that apply to him in that work.
- Anti-Hero > The Hero
- Audience Surrogate
- Badass Normal: The bravest little hobbit of them all.
- Character Development
- The Chosen Zero
- Cute but Cacophonic
- Fire-Forged Friends: His relationship to the rest of the Company.
- Gentleman Adventurer
- Guile Hero
- The Hero
- Hobbits
- I Just Want to Be Normal and I Just Want to Be Badass: Bilbo is torn between the conflicting sides of his personality: his Baggins side just wants to have a normal, comfortable life, and his Tookish side wants to have adventures.
- I Should Write a Book About This: He's not only the trope picture, he's also the original author of the book. Too bad he's also an Unreliable Narrator.
- In the Blood
- Nobody Calls Me Chicken
- Took a Level in Badass
- Unfazed Everyman
Thorin II Oakenshield
"I am Thorin son of Thráin son of Thrór King under the Mountain! I return!"
- Anti-Hero
- Badass Grandpa: In the book. For the movies he has been downgraded to middle-aged.
- Character Development: It takes long for it to kick in, but he manages it before the end.
- Disappeared Dad
- Doomed Hometown
- The Exile: Of the Noble Fugitive variety.
- Jerkass
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Along with Gimli in The Lord of the Rings, he is the Trope Codifier.
- Parental Substitute: To his nephews Fili and Kili.
- Pride
- Riches to Rags > Rags to Riches
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge
- Rightful King Returns
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
- Warrior Prince
- What the Hell, Hero?
Fili
- Boisterous Bruiser: It's good to be a merry young Dwarf heading for his first grand adventure...
- Fanon: For some reason many fans believe he and Kili are twins.
- Hair of Gold
- Jumped At the Call: In the movie he and his brother are very happy to get to be part of the Company.
- The Other Marty: Rob Kazinsky was replaced by Dean O'Gorman only after some material was already filmed.
- Young Gun: In the movie he and Kili are still youngsters who haven't travelled far from home before.
- Warrior Prince
Kili
- Adaptation Dye Job: Blond in the book, dark in the movie.
- The Archer: Shown wielding a bow in the movie.
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Fanon: For the record, they're really not twins.
- Jumped At the Call
- Mr. Fanservice: In the movie. Being played by Aidan Turner helps. The others refer to him as "the sexy dwarf" or "the hot one".
- Tall, Dark and Handsome: In the movie.
- Young Gun: The youngest of the group. By which we mean he's in his seventies.
- Warrior Prince
Balin
“What have we done, O king? … Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders? Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets, if killing them makes you angry?”
- Badass Grandpa
- Big Brother Mentor: To Bilbo.
- Cool Old Guy
- Doomed by Canon: He attempts to retake Khazad-dûm in between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but is slain by orcs.
- Doomed Hometown: The Lonely Mountain.
- The Lancer: To Thorin.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Dwalin's red.
- The Reliable One: He's the first dwarf to take Bilbo seriously and later is the only one to stand up for him when he falls out with the other dwarves.
Dwalin
“What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has got an invisible ring, and out to be a specially excellent performer now, I am beginning to think he might go through the Front Gate and spy things out a bit!”
- An Axe to Grind: Notably carries two large axes on his back in the movie.
- The Big Guy
- Boisterous Bruiser: At least in the film, though has some Hot-Blooded tendencies in the book too.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Balin's blue.
Óin
- Doomed by Canon: Eaten by the Watcher in the Water, during Balin's attempt to retake Khazad-dûm.
- Only in It For the Money: His motivation in the movie.
Glóin
- The Cameo: His appearance in The Lord of the Rings.
- Fiery Redhead: In the movie.
- My Girl Back Home: He's one of the few married dwarves, though his wife is never named, only implied.
- Only in It For the Money: His motivation in the movie.
- Strong Family Resemblance: In the film, to his son Gimli.
Dori
“I can’t always be carrying burglars on my back, down tunnels and up trees! What do you think I am? A porter?”
- Big Brother Instinct: Towards Ori in the movie, and towards Bilbo in the book.
- The Big Guy: Strongest of the Dwarves.
- Big Eater
- Good Is Not Nice / Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Is grumpy and whines about the burden Bilbo is to him, but still always looks after him.
- The Reliable One: Dori is often the last person to escape a though situation, and also often the one to risk himself to help out Bilbo.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: In the movie
Nori
“You’ve left the burglar behind again!”
- Sibling Yin-Yang: In the movie.
- Trickster: In the movie
"Nobody quite knows what Nori gets up to most of the time, except that it’s guaranteed to be dodgy and quite probably, illegal."
Ori
“They are coming.”
- Adorkable: In the movie.
- Apocalyptic Log: The Fellowship finds it years later.
- Cunning Linguist: He has beautiful handwriting too!
- Doomed by Canon
- Geek Physique: Seems to have this in the movie.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: In the movie.
- The Smart Guy
Bifur
- Amusing Injuries: In the movie, he has a chunk of axe sticking out of his head.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: In the movie, he's the thin one.
- Working Class Hero: In the movie.
Bofur
“Get up lazybones, or there will be no breakfast left for you.”
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: In the movie, he's the short one.
- Expy: His character design in the movie seems to be based on Asterix.
- Working Class Hero: In the movie.
Bombur
“I’m always last and I don’t like it … It’s somebody else’s turn today.”
- Acceptable Targets: Bombur exists for fat jokes. However, he's still a sympathetic character.
- Big Eater
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: In the movie, he's the big one.
- Butt Monkey
- Captain Ersatz: His character design in the movie seems to be based on Obelix.
- Death by Adaptation: He dies in the Rankin-Bass cartoon but not in the book.
- Soup Ladle of Doom: His Weapon of Choice in the movie.
- The Load: He's heavy, slow, and complains a lot.
- Meaningful Name: His name means "fat" in Old Norse.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Working Class Hero: In the movie.
Friends...
Gandalf the Grey
See his character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
Elrond Half-elven
See his character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Eagles
”I hear wolves’ voices! Are the goblins at mischief in the woods?”
- Back for the Finale
- Big Badass Bird of Prey: A giant eagle.
- Big Damn Heroes
- Fanon: Contrary to popular belief, it is never stated in the text of The Lord of the Rings that he is Gwaihir; that is only fan speculation, backed up by the Rankin-Bass version of Return of the King. In the books, Gwaihir is simply stated to be the swiftest Eagle, not necessarily their lord, although his name is Sindarin for "Windlord", and he's descended from the greatest of the eagles.
- Giant Flyer
- No Name Given
- Talking Animal
- Warrior Prince
Beorn
“A very good tale! The best I have heard for a long while. If all beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder.”
- Anti-Hero
- Back for the Finale
- The Berserker
- Big Damn Heroes
- Big Eater
- The Big Guy
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Everything Is Worse With Bears: Transforms into a big black bear.
- Good Is Not Nice
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Forces information out of a Goblin and a Warg, then kills them.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Our Werebears Are Different
- Speaks Fluent Animal
- Voluntary Shapeshifting
Thranduil the Elvenking
“Take him away and keep him safe, until he feels inclined to tell the truth, even if he waits a hundred years.”
- Anti-Hero
- Dark and Troubled Past: As revealed in Unfinished Talesof Numenor and Middleearth.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Always referred to as "the Elvenking". He only gets a name in The Lord of the Rings.
- The Fair Folk: The king of it.
- Fantastic Racism
- Good Is Not Nice
- Hidden Depths
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ultimately.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
- Warrior Prince
Bard the Bowman
“The dragon is coming or I am a fool!”
- Anti-Hero
- The Archer
- Badass Normal
- Doomed Hometown
- The Exile: A Noble Fugitive whose home city is destroyed.
- Good Is Not Nice
- Not So Different: As Thorin.
- Rightful King Returns
- Royal Blood
- Speaks Fluent Animal
- Warrior Prince
Roäc the Raven
“We would see peace once more among Dwarves and Men and Elves after the long desolation."
- Cool Old Guy: A bird version.
- Dark Is Not Evil
- The Obi-Wan
- Ravens and Crows
- Talking Animal
Dáin II Ironfoot
“You are the father of our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again."
- Authority Equals Asskicking
- Badass Grandpa
- Doomed by Canon: In the book of The Lord of the Rings, it is mentioned that he died in the northern battle of War of the Ring.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Rightful King Returns
- Warrior Prince
Thráin II
- Authority Equals Asskicking
- Being Tortured Makes You Crazy
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Thanks to Sauron, who else.
- Disappeared Dad: To Thorin.
- Doomed Hometown: The Lonely Mountain
- The Exile
- Eye Scream: Lost his other eye in the Battle of Nanduhirion.
- Handicapped Badass
- Noble Fugitive
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Posthumous Character
- Pyrrhic Victory: Him winning the War of Dwarves and Orcs.
"If this is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it.”
- Riches to Rags
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia
- You Killed My Father: Avenged the murder of Thrór, his father, by Azog.
- Warrior Prince
Thrór
- Doomed Hometown: The Lonely Mountain
- The Exile
- Fearless Fool: Walks alone into the Orc-infested Moria against advice, gets killed.
- Noble Fugitive
- Off with His Head: Azog cuts off his head and brands Azog on his forehead--or the other way around, we don't know...
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Posthumous Character
- Riches to Rags
- Theme Naming: He had two brothers named Grór and Frór.
- Warrior Prince
...And Foes
Smaug the Golden
"Revenge! Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and where are his sons' sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish and none dare resist."
- Achilles' Heel: The single weak point in his armour.
- Affably Evil
“You have nice manners for a thief and a liar.”
- Badass
- Badass Baritone: Will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the live-action film, and was voiced by Richard Boone in the Rankin-Bass cartoon.
- Badass Boast
“My armor is like tenfold shields. My teeth are like swords. My claws, spears. The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt. My wings, a hurricane. And my breath, death.”
- Compelling Voice: Comes with the Badass Baritone territory
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: "The Quest of Erebor" in Unfinished Talesof Numenor and Middleearth, Gandalf states that part of the reason he pushed Bilbo into joining Thorin and Co. on their expedition was because Smaug knows the scent of Dwarves too well for them to effect a stealth mission, but the dragon would likely not be familiar with the smell of a Hobbit. Smaug, in his ultimate moment of Genre Savvy, bypasses this discrepancy of knowledge by tracing the origin of Bilbo and the Dwarves to Lake-town and attacking there instead.
- Disproportionate Retribution
- Evil Sounds Deep: In the cartoon, in which he is voiced by the very intimidating Richard Boone, and now in the Jackson film, by Benedict Cumberbatch.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: From the description it comes close to Eye Beams. Literally Eye Beams in the animated 1970s movie.
- Greed
- Light Is Not Good
- MacGuffin Guardian
- Meaningful Name: His means "to squeeze through a hole" in Old Germanic.
- Our Dragons Are Different: They talk for one.
- Pride
- Serkis Folk: In the movie, to match his and Benedict's facial expressions. From interviews that Benedict's done, it sounds like the motion capture will involve more than just facial expressions, possibly even up to full body suit.
- Smug Super
- Sobriquet: Aside from "the Golden" above, Bilbo reels off a whole list of titles for Smaug at one point. The most common is "the Magnificent".
- Stronger with Age
"I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!"
Bert, Tom and William
Bert: “Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don’t look like mutton again tomorrer.”
William: “Poor little blighter! Let him go!”
- Aerith and Bob: They're the only characters in the novel with normal names.
- Affably Evil: It's not enough to save them though.
- All Trolls Are Different
- Badbutt
- The Cameo: Their petrified forms are stumbled upon by Frodo and company in The Lord of the Rings.
- Dumb Muscle
- Punch Clock Villain
- Taken for Granite
The Great Goblin
Goblins
Gollum
See his character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
Wargs
The Spiders of Mirkwood
“You were quite right … the meat’s alive and kicking!”
The Master of Lake-town
People of Lake-town: “He may have a good head for business—especially his own business … but he is no good when anything serious happens!”
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: Even when he is helping the heroes he is ultimately after his own selfish interests.
- Greed: His Fatal Flaw
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His attempt to run away with the gold of his people leads to his Karmic Death.
Bolg
The Necromancer
Also see Sauron's character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
- Bigger Bad
- Cryptic Background Reference: All that the reader learns of him during the book, and yet he is the link that connects The Hobbit to the earlier The Silmarillion and the yet-to-come The Lord of the Rings.
- Darker and Edgier: Mentions of him hint of even greater dangers and older evils than what is seen on-page.
- The Ghost: In the book. Changed for the movie it would seem.
- Necromancer: Duh...
- The Necrocracy: Dol Guldur, his domain.
Movie only characters
Some of these characters are from Tolkien's other books, such as Unfinished Talesof Numenor and Middleearth or the Appendixes of The Lord of the Rings and have been added into the movie adaptation, while some are made up by the movie script writers.
Galadriel
Also see her character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
Saruman the White
Also see his character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
Radagast the Brown
- Absent-Minded Professor: In the movie.
- Canon Immigrant: From The Lord of the Rings; in the book of The Hobbit he is only mentioned in passing. However, he was cut out of The Movie of The Lord of the Rings, so perhaps it's only fair.
- Cryptic Background Reference: In the book, Gandalf only briefly mentions him as an old friend and "cousin" (not literally, as it turns out), with whom Beorn is also acquainted.
- Freudian Trio: The Id to Saruman's Superego and Gandalf's Ego.
- Friend to All Living Things
- The Ghost: In the book, he only receives an off-hand mention.
- Our Angels Are Different
- Speaks Fluent Animal
- Time Abyss
- Unwitting Pawn: In The Lord of the Rings.
- The Wonka: Promises to be one.
Tauriel
- Action Girl
- Canon Foreigner: Or possibly a Gender Bender of the Chief of the Guard, a canon minor male elf.
- Fair Folk
Legolas
Also see his character sheet in The Lord of the Rings.
Lindir
- Ascended Meme: Probably wouldn't have got a role at all if it wasn't for the fandom's fondness for Figwit.
- Canon Immigrant: From The Lord of the Rings.
Alfrid
Azog
- Canon Immigrant: From the Appendixes of The Lord of the Rings.
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