History Awesome / TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug

* Beorn being so terrifying that a whole band of orcs that were perfectly willing to attack an elven stronghold are afraid to attack him.

* Bilbo saving the dwarves from the spiders, then the elves, and ''then'' figuring out the riddle / ProphecyTwist to find the entrance to the mountain. They would have been screwed several times over, if not for him.

** In general, the order of who scares who seems to be thus; [[BullyingADragon Random Thugs]] < [[MagicKnight Gandalf]] < [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits Thorin and Company]] < [[AdaptationalBadass Azog]] < [[BearsAreBadNews Beorn]] < [[BiggerBad Sauron]] < [[TheDreaded Smaug]]. The fact that Gandalf is the second lowest on the list really says something about the cast.
** erm... Gandalf is in no way scared by thorin and company, more the other way around, also Sauron isnt scared by Smaug.

** Thorin ''finally'' being able to face Smaug, ''a hundred and seventy years'' after he took Erebor.

* We get a flashback where Girion, the last King of Dale, repeatedly tried to bring Smaug down by firing ballasts even as the dragon destroyed his city, refusing to give up and fighting until the moment he died. Thorin and the Master of Laketown consider this an abject failure considering he didn't manage to ''kill'' Smaug, but he probably came closer than anyone ever has to actually doing it. [[spoiler: And furthermore, he made it that much easier for his descendant, Bard, to finally succeed.]]
** More than that, if you watch that scene closely, you realize that Girion actually managed to ''hit'' Smaug successfully with every arrow, it's just that Smaug's scales were so damn tough that it only managed to remove them. But later, when Bilbo sees the chip in his scales and remarks that the legend of the black arrows are true, Smaug ''flips his lid.'' Girion may have failed, but when you manage to not only hurt a dragon the size of a city block, whose power and evilness is second only to Sauron, and to actually make him freak out when the word "black arrow" is spoken, you qualify as a badass.
*** Even more badass when you realize that apparenlty Girion hit him in the ''[[ImprobableAimingSkills exact same spot]]'' each time. It took multiple hits to even knock that one scale off.

* Beorn being so terrified that a whole band of orcs that were perfectly willing to attack an elven stronghold are afraid to attack him.

* Beorn being so terrifying that a whole band of orcs that were perfectly willing to attack an elven stronghold are afraid to attack him.

--->'''Thorin:''' I am taking back what you stole!

** In its pacing, frenetic energy and over-the-top nature it's the fantasy equivalent of the freeway battle scene from ''TheMatrixReloaded''.

** In its pacing, frenetic energy and over-the-top nature it's the fantasy equivalent of the freeway battle scene from ''TheMatrixRevolutions''.

*** The entire Legolas vs. Bolg fight is a cinematic CMOA. In a film series where almost every action scene is sweeping and set to epic music, this was near-silent, intense one-on-one mortal combat.

* The first trailer [[http://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/hobbit-trailer-smaug-featured.jpg reveals Smaug in all his draconic glory.]]
* When the Lonely Mountain rumbles...

* The very end of the second trailer when [[BadassBaritone Smaug]] [[EvilSoundsDeep speaks]]:
--> '''''"Well...thief. Where are you? Come now. Don't be shy. Step into the light."'''''

** From the newest trailer released at the end of the live event:
--> '''"''[[BadassBoast I]]''''' '''[[BadassBoast am King Under The Mountain!]]"'''
** The movie takes absolutely no shortcuts in showing Smaug in all his glory, and it is amazing.
*** Practically every other word out of his mouth qualifies as awesome... or terrifying... or both.
** Bilbo's initial [[OhCrap moment of realization]] when he sees Smaug's eye in the pile of gold.
** And his second [[OhCrap moment of realization]] when he sees Smaug's other end waaaaaaaaaay over there.
** Smaug waking up and rising out of the gold.
*** Indeed earning the title, "Smaug the Golden".
** Smaug knowing exactly where Bilbo is despite the Ring thanks to his SuperSenses. And Smaug knowing exactly what's happening with Sauron half a country away, and even knowing what the One Ring is and even capable of identifying who sent Bilbo and what he's after!
** His complete NoSell reaction to [[spoiler: having a ton of molten gold dumped onto him]]!
** The ending:
-->'''Smaug''': ''I...am...FIRE. I...am...'''''DEATH.'''''''

** The winner? Bilbo, who stole the Arkenstone and slipped away invisibly.

* Gandalf single-handily infiltrates Dol Guldur, and boldly commands the evil within to reveal itself. What happens when it finally does? [[spoiler: We get to see Gandalf taking on Sauron himself in a magic duel. And while [[CurbStompBattle he's defeated]], [[CurbStompCushion Gandalf does manage to hold off Sauron for a surprising length of time]]]].
** Likewise, [[spoiler: everything regarding Sauron. He initially appears as a mass of evil, tendril-like smoke, and then appears in his armor-form, ''while also on fire'' '''that forms his Lidless Eye''']]. Much like his first appearance, he completely stole the show.
* The dwarves infiltrating Erebor, and then taking on Smaug by [[spoiler: burying him under a tidal wave of liquid gold. Sure, it didn't work, but at least they tried.]]

*** Before this, Balin points out that the plan won't work because they don't have any fire hot enough to set the furnaces ablaze. Thorin proceeds to ''taunt Smaug,'' calling him an old, fat slug ... and then tells the others to take cover. Smaug proceeds to [[NiceJobFixingItVillain light the furnaces for them.]]

* Bard displays great accurancy with his bow, appearing like Legolas' long lost human brother.
* Bard practically runs Laketown. He has the Master's eye on him, with spies everywhere. Yet he still manages to sneak thirteen dwarves and a hobbit into town, all while jauntily waving at the spies trailing him.
** The Master of Laketown is concerned that Bard could lead an uprising. Given the way he gets away with bringing a boatload of illegal fish into town, as well as the fairly impressive weapons cache he hides in the same spot the spies looking for him fish, he's not wrong.
** Bard turning around a threat from Alfrid, pointing out that sure, the Master knows where he lives, but it's a small town, and he knows where the Master lives as well.
** Bard figuring out who Thorin is, and trying to stop him from going to the mountain. And then when that fails, helping Kili despite the trouble he's about to cause.
*** Bard in general.

** After failing to kill the elf, he neatly breaks away from the fight and simply strolls away.
*** When Legolas tried to stab him in the gut, which has shown to pretty much insta-kill every orc so far, Bolg simply [[BarehandedBladeBlock catches the blade]], knocks him back and lets the other orcs handle him as his main goal (Thorin) wasn't there. He also made Legolas ''bleed''! You can see Legolas stare in shock at his own blood. There's a ''reason'' why Azog chose Bolg to handle Thorin.
*** The entire Legolas vs. Bolg fight is a cinematic CMOA. In a film series where almost every action scene is sweeping and set to epic music, this was an almost-silent, intense one-on-one fight.
* Kíli soldiering on all the way to Laketown and then some after being shot in the thigh with a Morgul arrow - the same type of fell blade that instantly drops Frodo like a bag of rocks when he's stabbed with one in ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.
* Beorn being so terrifying that a whole band of orcs that were perfectly willing to attack an elven stronghold are afraid to attack him.
** And Gandalf stopping a pair of assassins from killing Thorin just by being in the same room.
** In general, the order of who scares who seems to be thus; [[BullyingADragon Random Thugs]] < [[MagicKnight Gandalf]] < [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits Thorin and Company]] < [[AdaptationalBadass Azog]] < [[BearsAreBadNews Beorn]] < [[BiggerBad Sauron]] < [[TheDreaded Smaug]]. The fact that Gandalf is the second lowest on the list really says something about the cast.
* Bilbo saving the dwarves from the spiders, then the elves, and ''then'' figuring out the riddle / ProphecyTwist to find the entrance to the mountain. They would have been screwed several times over, if not for him.
* Bombur kicking ass during the barrel chase sequence.
** That entire sequence in general, really.
* Considering the early concerns whether a CanonForeigner would be able to "keep pace" with the classic book characters, ''all'' of Tauriel's action scenes are awesomely performed by EvangelineLilly. She fires arrows while running, parkouring and ''sliding'' at lightening pace and is terrifying in close quarters with her knives.
* We get a flashback where Girion, the last King of Dale, repeatedly tried to bring Smaug down by firing ballasts even as the dragon destroyed his city, refusing to give up and fighting until the moment he died. Thorin and the Master of Laketown consider this an abject failure considering he didn't manage to ''kill'' Smaug, but he probably came closer than anyone ever has to actually doing it. [[spoiler: And furthermore, he made it that much easier for his descendant, Bard, to finally succeed.]]
** More than that, since if you watch that scene closely, you realize that Girion actually managed to ''hit'' Smaug successfully with every arrow, it's just that Smaug's scales were so damned tough that it only managed to remove them. But later, when Bilbo sees the chip in his scales and remarks that the legend of the black arrows are true, Smaug ''flips his lid.'' Girion may have failed, but when you manage to not only hurt a dragon the size of a city block, whose power and evilness is second only to Sauron, and to actually make him freak out when the word "black arrow" is spoken, you qualify as a badass.

* Another meta moment- the sheer scale and ''realness'' of Smaug's design. No suspension of disbelief was needed- the script, the voice acting, the size and scale of him- even the way he moved, all combine in a manner that was simultaneously breathtaking and terrifying. This is a Motion Capture dragon that still manages practically radiate smug malice and amused contempt until you're fully aware that the Company are nothing to him. He can crush them in an instant- but first he wants some ''fun.''
* The DangerouslyGenreSavvy Azog sneak-attacks Gandalf and forces him to retreat. Despite being just an orc and not having any kind of magical/supernatural powers, Azog is one of the strongest antagonists in the entire Middle-Earth film saga. When Peter Jackson said that he [[DarthVaderClone modeled Azog after Darth Vader]] from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', you can tell that he wasn't kidding; Azog is equal to the Witch-King of Angmar when it comes to sheer badassery among Sauron's lieutenants.
* Special mention must be given to Legolas during the barrel sequence. Not only does he manage to effortlessly and completely accurately headshot orcs, but he manages to do it while ''balancing on top of dwarves' heads while he's hurtling down a river.'' Even when a rock is jutting out of the water, he manages to do a graceful twirl while simultaneously fending off and sending out attacks. It reminds us once again that there's a reason why [[{{Badass}} Legolas]] was chosen to be part of the Fellowship in the LOTR trilogy.
* Tauriel managing to [[ShootTheBullet shoot an arrow aimed at Legolas out of the air]] with her own arrow. She certainly earned her chops as an ActionGirl.

* We get a flashback where Girion, the last King of Dale, repeatedly tried to bring Smaug down by firing ballasts even as the dragon destroyed his city, refusing to give up and fighting until the moment he died. Thorin and the Master of Laketown consider this an abject failure considering he failed to ''kill'' Smaug, but he probably came closer than anyone ever has to actually doing it. [[spoiler: And furthermore, he made it that much easier for his descendant, Bard, to finally succeed.]]

* The DangerouslyGenreSavvy Azog sneak-attacks Gandalf and forces him to retreat. Despite being just an orc and not having any kind of magical/supernatural powers, Azog is one of the strongest antagonists in the entire Middle-Earth film saga. When Peter Jackson said that he [[DarthVaderClone modeled Azog after Darth Vader]] from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' you can tell that he wasn't kidding; Azog is equal to the Witch-King of Angmar when it comes to sheer badassery among Sauron's lieutenants.
* Special mention must be given to Legolas during the barrel sequence. Not only does he manage to effortlessly and completely accurately headshot orcs, but he manages to do it while ''balancing on top of dwarves' heads while he's hurtling down a river.'' Even when a rock is jutting out of the water, he manages to do a graceful twirl while simultaneously fending off and sending out attacks. It reminds us once again that there's a reason why [[BadAss Legolas]] was chosen to be part of the Fellowship in the LOTR trilogy.
* Tauriel managing to [[ShootTheBullet shoot an arrow aimed at Legolas out of the air]] with her own arrow. She certainly earned her chops as an [[ActionGirl Action Girl.]]

*** Before this, someone points out that the plan won't work because they don't have any fire hot enough to set the furnaces ablaze. Thorin proceeds to ''taunt Smaug,'' calling him an old, fat slug ... and then tells the others to take cover.

* Gandalf single-handily infiltrates Dol Guldur, and boldly commands the evil within to reveal itself. What happens when it finally does? [[spoiler: We get to see Gandalf taking on Sauron himself in a magic duel. And while [[CurbStompBattle he's defeated]], Gandalf does manages to hold off Sauron for a surprising length of time]].

** Smaug knowing exactly where Bilbo is despite the Ring thanks to his SuperSenses. And Smaug knowing exactly what's happening with Sauron half a country away, and even knowing what the One Ring is and even capable of identifying who sent Bilbo and what he is after! Yes there is a reason why Gandalf wants him to be killed! If Sauron gets Smaug on his side, the world is doomed.

* Gandalf single-handily infiltrates Dol Guldur, and boldly commands the evil within to reveal itself. What happens when it finally does? [[spoiler: We get to see Gandalf taking on Sauron himself in a magic duel. And while [[CurbStompBattle he is defeated]], Gandalf does manages to hold off Sauron for a surprising length of time]].

** Thorin FINALLY being able to face Smaug, ''a hundred and seventy years'' after he took Erebor.

** He's Bard the motherfucking Bowman! More like Legolas is HIS long lost elvish brother.
** He does have an uncanny resemblance to OrlandoBloom...

** Bard turning around a threat from the Master's lacky, pointing out that sure, the Master knows where he lives, but it's a small town, and he knows where the Master lives as well.
** Bard figuring out who Thorin is, and trying to stop him from going to the mountain. And then when that fails, helping Thorin's sick nephew despite the trouble he's about to cause.

** After failing to kill the elf, he neatly breaks away from the fight and simply strolls away like a boss.
*** More than that but when Legolas stab him in the gut, which has shown to pretty much insta-kill every orc so far, Bolg just literally knocks him back and lets the other orcs handle him as his main goal(Thorin) wasn't there. He also made Legolas BLEED! You can see Legolas stare in shock at his own blood. There is a ''reason'' why Azog chose him to handle Thorin.
*** The entire fight scene is a cinematic CMOA. In a film series where almost every action scene is sweeping and set to epic music, this was an almost-silent, intense one-on-one fight.

** And Gandalf stopping a pair of assassin bounty hunters from killing Thorin just by being in the same room.

* Considering the early concerns whether a canon foreigner would be able to "keep pace" with the classic book characters, ''all'' of Tauriel's action scenes are awesomely performed by Evangeline Lilly. She fires arrows while running, parkouring and ''sliding'' at lightening pace and is terrifying in close quarters with her knives.

** More than that, since if you watch that scene closely, you realize that Girion actually managed to HIT Smaug successfully with every arrow, it's just that Smaug's scales were so damned tough that it only managed to remove them. But later, when Bilbo sees the chip in his scales and remarks that the legend of the black arrows are true, Smaug ''flips his lid.'' Girion may have failed, but when you manage to not only hurt a dragon the size of a city block, whose power and evilness is second only to Sauron, and to actually make him freak out when the word "black arrow" is spoken, you are BADASS!

* Another meta moment- the sheer scale and ''realness'' of Smaug's design. No suspension of disbelief was needed- the script, the voice acting, the size and scale of him- even the way he moved, all combine in a manner that was simultaneously breathtaking and terrifying. This is a Motion Capture dragon that still manages practically radiate smug malice and amused contempt until you're fully aware that the Company are nothing to him.He can crush them in an instant- but first he wants some ''fun.''
* The DangerouslyGenreSavvy Azog sneak-attacks Gandalf and forces him to retreat. Despite being just an orc and not having any kind of magical/supernatural powers, Azog is one of the most badass antagonists in the entire Middle-Earth film saga. When Peter Jackson said that he modeled Azog after Darth Vader from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' you can tell that he wasn't kidding; Azog is equal to the Witch-King of Angmar when it comes to sheer badassery among Sauron's lieutenants.