History Characters / MiddleEarthFilmSauronsEvilForces

* TheStarscream: Saruman has this trope in mind with his servitude towards Sauron. He doesn't tell Sauron that A) The One Ring is being transported by the Fellowship over the Misty Mountains and Lorien in the hands of a hobbit, or B) He sent a pack of Uruk-Hai to kill the Fellowship (including the heir to Gondor) to recover the Ring for himself. This doesn't work out, but interestingly Sauron doesn't display any suspicions to Saruman's treachery.

* HatePlague: It engenders power-lust, malice, hatred, paranoia, and murderous envy in the people around it, with disastrous results if more than one person affected are in the same place. Smeagol and Deagol only had to be near it for a minute before Smeagol's throttling the life out of his cousin, and Bilbo visciously dismembers and stabs a Mirkwood monster for ''accidentally grazing it''.

* KarmicDeath: The ring is alive, and spreading its HatePlague and corruption incessently. With that in mind, it's destroyed after the two people it corrupted most fought over it and knocked it into Mount Doom by accident.

The eponymous Lord of the Rings and primary villain of the series. During the First Age, Sauron was a servant of the dark lord Morgoth until his master was defeated and cast into the Void. In the Second Age, he took up the mantle of Middle-earth's resident Dark Lord, creating the Rings of Power, with his own ring being superior to all others. His reign came to an end when he lost the One Ring in battle against the united armies of men and elves.
By the Third Age, he takes up residence in Dol Guldur, resurrects his fallen servants the Nazgûl, and attempts to regain power under the guise of the "Necromancer." After he is driven out by the White Council, he returns to Mordor where he begins building a massive army and searching for his lost Ring, with which he will finally be able to hold dominion over Middle-earth.

* DeathByAdaptation: In the book, Sauron was not killed by the Ring being destroyed, instead he was thoroughly depowered. In the films, he unambiguously dies when the Ring is destroyed, because it was his SoulJar.

Indubitably the greatest of Sauron's servants, the Witch-king of Angmar holds the greatest of the Nine Rings of Power given to Men and is the Lord of the Nazgûl. The Witch-king was previously king of the evil realm of Angmar in Northern Eriador, which destroyed the fortress-city of Fornost (and with it, the northern Dúnedain kingdom of Arnor). Soon afterward, Angmar was itself destroyed by a combined force of Elves and Men of Gondor and (the remnants of) Arnor, after which the Witch-king was imprisoned in a tomb until Sauron (as the Necromancer) resurrected him.

* TheCorruptible: They weren't exactly good people, to begin with. Galadriel describes them as having been power-hungry, and Aragon states they were so blinded by greed they took Sauron's rings without thinking. They certainly paid for that one.

* HumanoidAbomination: While their cloaks and armour can allow them pass off as human at a glance, it is a superficial veneer at most. For starters, they can emit a shrill wail that instills crippling despair and agony in all that hears it barring a few exceptions, seem to exist out of flux with reality as seen when Frodo passes into an unseen realm upon using the One Ring and everything about the way they move and speak is ''wrong'', on a couple of occasions being seen crawling around on all fours in a manner too fluid for a human form. When one is slain their body seems to violently implode and while capable of being defeated, only the destruction of the One Ring will ensure Middle Earth is permanently rid of them.

* TinTyrant: They all appear in their full armored regalia in ''The Battle of the Five Armies''.

* TheStarscream: Saruman has this trope in mind with his servitude towards Sauron, hoping to take the ring himself, but it never pans out.
* StartOfDarkness: We get glimpses of it during the ''Hobbit'' trilogy. When the White Council is confronted with Sauron at Dol Guldur, Elrond and Galadriel seem horrified, but Saruman looks at the lidless eye with a [[AdmiringTheAbomination fascination]] in his eyes, awed by the power of Sauron, a look that he maintains when he announces to the Council, "leave Sauron to me." The implication is that this ordeal has convinced him that, against the power of Sauron, there can be no victory, as he tells Gandalf in ''Fellowship''.

* TreacherousAdvisor: To most of Middle-earth before he reveals his true colors.
* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler:Well, being stabbed InTheBack by [[DirtyCoward Gríma Wormtongue]] definitely counts as undignified.]]

* WeCanRuleTogether: Saruman offers Gandalf the chance to rule with him.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In Tolkien's stories and notes, Azog's enmity towards the Dwarves stemmed from Thrór trying retake Moria, which has since become his territory. He was content to leave the Dwarves alone if they do not make further attempts into his turf (which they did). In the film, Azog's hatred of Thrór extends to his entire family to the point he made it his life's mission to wipe out the line of Durin. He's also responsible for wiping out Beorn's people, something that wasn't present in the books. And due to still being alive by the time of ''The Hobbit'', he willingly allies with Sauron and plans to conquer the Lonely Mountain in his name.

* PowerIncontinence: The Ring appears unable to ''stop'' affecting those around it, even in the Crack of Doom when it'd be pertinent to do so for its own survival. Instead, Frodo and Sam fight over it, and in the chaos they tumble over the edge.

* HatePlague: It engenders power-lust, malice, hatred, paranoia, and murderous envy in the people around it. Smeagol and Deagol only had to be near it for a minute before Smeagol's throttling the life out of his cousin.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Its ability to tempt the bearer enough to prevent them from casting the Ring into Mount Doom always works. Unfortunately for Sauron, the Ring has no fail-safe when Frodo and Gollum, both corrupted by its influence, engage in a tug of war over it right next to the Crack of Doom.

* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Several people have compared its effects to those of drug addiction.

* CompellingVoice: It ''is'' Creator/ChristopherLee.

* AdaptationalWimp: Zigzagged. In the novel, he was the undisputed leader of the armies of Orcs and Wargs. In the film, he has been DemotedToDragon because his father, Azog, is still alive. Bolg, however, showcases his badass skills that can even make Legolas bleed, and he does lead the second army of Orcs.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In Tolkien's stories and notes, Azog's enmity towards the Dwarves stemmed from Thrór trying retake Moria, which has since become his territory. He was content to leave the Dwarves alone if they do not make further attempts into his turf (which they did). In the film, Azog's hatred of Thrór extends to his entire family to the point he made it his life's mission to wipe out the line of Durin. And due to still being alive by the time of ''The Hobbit'', he willingly allies with Sauron and plans to conquer the Lonely Mountain in his name.

* DiesDifferentlyInTheAdaptation: In the appendix, Azog gets [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]] by Dáin Ironfoot during the Battle of Azanulbizar, which happened years before the events of ''The Hobbit''. In the third film [[spoiler:Azog meets his end when Thorin stabs him in the chest with Orcrist in a MutalKill]].

* BadassFamily: With his father, Azog the Defiler. Even acknowledged in the third movie, when Legolas recognizes him by name and refers to him as "the spawn of Azog the Defiler". Considering that Azog actually entrusts him with a decades-old grudge against Thorin, he's probably the only one he respects. Where Azog fights Thorin with significant help, Bolg fights first Tauriel, then Tauriel and Kíli together [[spoiler: before he kills Kíli and beating the snot out of Tauriel.]] Then he has a lengthy fight again with Legolas after that and would have killed him without Thorin's intervention, likely making him a better fighter than his father. His father sends waves of mooks after Thorin before [[MutualKill they kill each other]], but Bolg fights them without help.

* TheBrute: He's big, tough, and fights well enough to [[spoiler: put Legolas on the defensive]].

* MadeOfIron: He takes a ''lot'' of punishment before finally going down in the third film, it's also could count as being literal since if you look closely his armor is actually pieces of metal driven into his flesh, which is one of the reasons he is so tough, [[spoiler: only dying when Legolas stabs him in the head. The fact that he then falls a massive distance and has a boulder land on him seems to be the filmmakers letting the audience know that he really is dead this time.]]

* ImAHumanitarian: They're not very... selective in their diet.

** His reaction when [[spoiler: Thorin buries Orcrist in his chest]].

* DirtyCoward: He first kicks Gorbag down a flight of stairs and orders his men to kill him rather than continue fighting him. Later, while attempting to leave the tower with three other Uruks, he flees from Sam while the other three stand and fight.

* SoleSurvivor: Is most likely the only orc or Uruk to survive the skirmish at Cirith Ungol.

!![[center:'''Navigation:''' [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilm Main]] | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmTheFellowship The Fellowship]] | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmMen Men]] | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmElves Elves]] | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmTheCompany The Company]] | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmDwarves Dwarves]] | '''Sauron's Evil Forces''' | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmIndependentVillains Independent Villains]] ([[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmSmaug Smaug]]) | [[Characters/MiddleEarthFilmOtherCharacters Other Characters]] ]]

* TheDreaded: Sauron is the most feared entity in Middle-earth as everyone were afraid to use his name or either speak of it. In ''The Hobbit'' trilogy, [[spoiler:Azog breaks off his pursuit of Thorin because his fear of the Necromancer outweighs his hate of Thorin]]. Even in his weakened state, all have been terrified of what Sauron is going to do next.

* TheDreaded: Sauron is the most feared entity in Middle-earth as anyone were afraid to use his name or either speak his name. In ''The Hobbit'' trilogy, [[spoiler:Azog breaks off his pursuit of Thorin because his fear of the Necromancer outweighs his hate of Thorin]]. Even in his weakened state, everyone is terrified of what Sauron is going to do next.

* EvilIsPetty: Twice in ''The Return of the King''. First, he [[MindRape Mind Rapes]] Pippin because the hobbit refused to identify himself on demand, then he threatens Arwen's life after Aragorn shows him the sword Narsil which was used to defeat him back in the Second Age.

* GreaterScopeVillain: In ''The Hobbit''. Azog and Smaug are the major antagonists, but Azog works for him, and Gandalf's reason for helping Thorin is to prevent Smaug from allying with Sauron.