History Characters / TheSilmarillion

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Between him and Ar-Pharazôn.

* ReligionOfEvil, complete with HumanSacrifice: Is a convert (or more precisely, a revert, since Melkor-worship was the original religion of Men).

* TokenGoodTeammate: Of the later men of Númenor and as far as whole groups of people can qualify, the Faithful were this to the rest of Numenor of whom he was the leader as the Lord of Andunie, the House that remained most un-corrupted by power.

* TimeAbyss: He is possibly one of the original generation of elves and the oldest of the Free Peoples known to exist. At the time of ''The Lord of the Rings'', he may be over 15,000 years old -- the equivalent of someone today born in the late Stone Age.
* WizardBeard: He's not literally a wizard, but his beard does signify his exceptional age and wisdom. Tolkien was elsewhere explicit that elves never have beards, or at least not until they're old.

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}.

* HiddenElfVillage: Hidden Elf ''Kingdom'', really. He ruled one. (Not really hidden in the sense that most people didn't know where it was, but the Girdle of Melian made it impossible for anyone to actually enter Doriath without leave (unless [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Destiny Says So]], like for Beren). Also, Morgoth's gaze could not penetrate the barrier, so Doriath was 'hidden' from him.)

* ParentalAbandonment: She tosser herself in the sea rather than giving up the Silmaril, resulting in her twin sons being raised by Maglor and Maedhros.

* BackFromTheDead: It's briefly mentioned that he was allowed to return to life, and live with his father Finarfin and lover Amárië, both of whom stayed behind in Valinor.

* ElvesVersusDwarves: Thoroughly averted. Finrod was a strong ally of the Dwarves (''except'' the Petty-Dwarves) and they shared much knowledge with each other. The Dwarves bestowed the name "Felagund" upon him.

* KickTheDog: The caves of Nargothrond were originally inhabited by the Petty-Dwarves until the Elves forced them out, leading to their extinction -- though to be fair the details are too vague to know how direct Finrod's role in their eviction was. He likely had no clue they were there -- the other Dwarves "despised" Petty-Dwarves and had "no compunctions" about taking (and selling) their land.
* LukeNounverber: Finrod Felagund (Cave-Hewer)

* NiceGuy: Finrod was just exceptionally friendly, kind, and forgiving. He was such a nice guy that even when Thingol mistakenly accused him and his brothers of joining in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë (something none of the House of Finarfin did) and of slaughtering their mother's relatives, he said nothing in his own defense; he knew that he couldn't defend himself without bad-mouthing the Sons of Fëanor, and was too nice to do so. He also willingly went along with Beren's suicidal Quest for the Silmaril, knowing quite well he would die.

* WhipItGood: The Fall of Gondolin claims the House of the Hammer ''caught the Balrog's whips and used them against them!''

* KnightTemplarBigBrother: He was always very protective of Aredhel and only reluctantly allowed her to leave Gondolin with an escort. He later chucks his brother-in-law off a cliff after he inadvertently poisoned his sister, even though her dying wish was that he show Eöl mercy. To be fair, Eöl was pretty abusive to Aredhel and had been attempting to murder his own son when he killed Aredhel.
* NamedWeapon: Glamdring, his sword.
* ProperlyParanoid: The valley of Gondolin has seven, hidden, heavily fortified gates and The cities primary policy is that no one who enters can ever leave alive. No one, even other elves, even knew the place existed before The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Smart, considering that their greatest threat is directly to the North and all Morgoth needs to know is a rough estimate of it's location to storm the city.

%%* AccidentalMurder: The victim.

* AmbiguouslyGay: The text uses the word “love” to describe his fondness for Túrin about a half dozen times. When he meets Túrin along with the outlaws, he tells Túrin, “If I stayed beside you, love would lead me, not wisdom”. In the abandoned poem “The Lay of the Children of Húrin”, when he is reunited with Túrin for the first time, he gives Túrin a thank-you-for-rescuing-me kiss.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: For all that he was called "the Wise," he never figured out that something was up with Maeglin...

* CassandraTruth: Downplayed. Few people believe her warning about the coming danger to Gondolin…save for her husband, who she persuaded to build a secret tunnel. This ends up saving many lives during the fall of Gondolin, though if only everyone else had listened...

* DisneyVillainDeath: Is knocked over the edge of a cliff during the fall of Gondolin by Tuor...[[KarmicDeath after he tried to push Tuor's son off it]].

* GenerationXerox: Like his father before him, Maeglin was known to be a great smith. Unfortunately, also like his father, he developed an unhealthy obsession with the woman he loved and tried to take her by force, tried to kill a family member and ended up being thrown to his death over a cliff...the ''same'' cliff to be exact. Eöl was known as 'the Dark Elf', whilst Maeglin himself is forever known as one of -- if not the -- only elves to have willingly helped [[BigBad Morgoth]]. Like father, like son, indeed.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Outlives his sons Finrod, Angrod and Aegnor, his grandson Orodreth, great-granddaughter Finduilas and (depending on the writing) his great-grandson Gil-galad. And that’s just his descendants...

* CanonImmigrant: ''The Silmarillion'' is the ''original'' Middle-earth mythos. Later upon writing ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien decided to move hobbits into the same universe as the Silm. In ''The Lord of the Rings'', he came up with the character of Galadriel and took a liking to her. Long story short, he decided to add Galadriel into the original ''Silmarillion'' tales, too. [[ContinuitySnarl This ended up causing a lot of story issues...]]

* GoodIsNotNice: He had strong morals and adored his family more than anything, but boy... fortunately, [[CharacterDevelopment this changed over time]].

* KnightTemplarParent: Imprisoned his daughter in a treehouse for her own good. Yes, any parent would be afraid if their daughter wanted to rush off into a very dangerous country to join a completely suicidal quest... but his treatment of Beren, his assuming the guy was in league with Morgoth, and his complete unwillingness to trust that his daughter was actually in love, really bolloxed things up.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In Thangorodrim before Morgoth's throne, her music first put the Orcs to sleep, then the Balrogs, until only Morgoth was left, and then...

* NonHumanHumanoidHybrid: Half elven, half PhysicalGod.

The only son of Beren and Lúthien, husband of the Sindarin princess, Nimloth, and father of Elwing, Eluréd, and Elurín. Dior became the king of Doriath after Thingol's death, leading the realm into a new rise after all the tumultous events. However, he was slain only four years after his coronation when the Sons of Fëanor assaulted Doriath in the Second Kinslaying, killing much of its inhabitants. The kingdom never recovered.

* MageTower: While she wasn't a mage, Elwing was a person with distinctive magical powers (like...flying) and she ended up living in a lonely tower by the sea.

* AccidentalMurder: His fate, though it was a direct result of...

* BackFromTheDead: He was specifically pointed out as the only mortal who knew where their souls went after death, but he never spoke with another Man after coming back...

--> and thus escaped the fate he wooed...

* BrotherSisterIncest: But he didn't ''know'' she was his sister...

* IHaveManyNames: Even for a Tolkien character, Túrin had a lot... he wished to conceal his true name since his family was cursed and yet everywhere he went someone eventually spilled the beans, leading him to take up another one once he went somewhere new. Most of those he gave himself were rather... gloomy.

* EasyAmnesia: Due to a spell Glaurung placed on her, she completely forgets who she is. Unfortunately, this means she also forgets she and Túrin are siblings...
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Túrin finds her alone and traumatized and takes her in and cares for her. They eventually fall in love and marry. Now, if only they weren't siblings...

* MeaningfulName: Miriel means Jewel-Daughter. If you want to read into it, a jewel is beautiful to show of, but has little practical use in a medieval society like Númenor, similarily to how Ar-Pharazôn made her a trophy wife to take the throne. Ar-Zimraphel persumably also has meaning, but Tolkien never detailed it.

* GodzillaThreshold: He actually breaks the Ban of the Valar before Ar-Pharazôn does, though his goal is not to gain immortality for himself but instead to plead with the Valar to save the Faithful of Númenor and Middle-earth. Unfortunately, Númenor's corruption is so great that this is not enough, and he is lost at sea without getting anywhere near Aman.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: See FateWorseThanDeath below. Hey, he wanted to learn how to become immortal...

* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: After cutting the ring from a wounded Sauron's finger, he was hailed as the greatest hero of the forces of Men... [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning until he decided to keep Sauron's Ring.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If he had only destroyed the One Ring...

* {{Jerkass}}: Dubcon, domestic abuse, murdering his closest family with poison... he was probably a giant jerk even before that, considering how the other Sindar avoided him.

* BotchedSuicide: When she jumped into the sea to escape the Fëanorians, Ulmo saved her by turning her into a bird so she could fly to safety and take the Silmaril to her husband's ship.

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Her mother Morwhen was pregnant with her when Húrin marched to war, and she would never get to meet her father.

* OutnumberedSibling: Similarly to her cousin Aredhel, Galadriel was the only daughter of Finarfin, and the youngest of the four.

* {{Foil}}: To Túrin. Both men lost their fathers in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, were raised partially by elves, spent time as a prisoner or outlaw, earned the love of an elven princess, and became a commander of one of the greatest Noldorin kingdoms. Tuor would overcome his obstacles, marry his elven lover, be blessed with elven immortality, and become the father of a great half-elven hero. Túrin was, to say the least, not so lucky.

* ElvesVersusDwarves: Effectively the TropeMaker chronologically speaking. This entire incident of Nogrod versus Doriath is what causes the mutual mistrust between Elves and Dwarves for millenia to come.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Aredhel was inadvertantly and unknowingly one of the lynchpins of Gondolin's doom. Her son Maeglin, whom she had brought to Gondolin, ended up betraying them all to Morgoth. Her messed-up marriage to Maeglin's father and her death also probably didn't do wonders for Maeglin's psyche and view of love, especially given his later obsessive infatuation with Idril.

%%* HappilyMarried: With Thingol.

* {{Determinator}}: Alone in Taur-Nu-Fuin and hunted by Morgoth's army? He harried and harrassed them for years. Valley of Dreadful Death? Girdle of Melian? They couldn't stop him. OverprotectiveDad? He wasn't intimidated. ImpossibleTask? He was on it. Ruthless elven princes, giant werewolves, and the armies of Angband? They couldn't stop him, either. The laws of metaphysics are against his marriage? He tried, anyway. Death? He came back. Beren Will Not Give Up.

* DefectorFromDecadence

** He was also on the receiving end, as many Gondolithrim looked down on him for his half-dark elf heritage -- though the fact that his father had proved to be a murderous monster who killed his wife, their beloved princess, and cursed his own son with his dying words, probably didn't help.

** He was also on the receiving end, as many Gondolithrim looked down on him for his half dark elf heritage - though the fact that his father had proved to be a murderous monster who killed his wife, their beloved princess, and cursed his own son with his dying words, probably didn't help.

* GenerationXerox: Like his father before him, Maeglin was known to be a great smith. Unfortunately, also like his father, he developed an unhealthy obsession with the woman he loved and tried to take her by force, tried to kill a family member and ended up being thrown to his death over a cliff...the ''same'' cliff to be exact. Eöl was known as 'the Dark Elf', whilst Maeglin himself is forever known as one of - if not the - only elves to have willingly helped [[BigBad Morgoth]]. Like father, like son, indeed.

* BackFromTheDead: Elves returning to life after death isn't that unusual, but Glorfindel seems to be the only one who also returned to Middle-Earth.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Like Glorfindel, he dies fighting a Balrog - ''multiple'' Balrogs, in early versions of the story.

Another of the Twelve Lords, specifically he led the House of the Hammers of Wrath, a house consisting mainly of blacksmiths and other craftspeople.

The third son of Finarfin and Eärwen of the Teleri, brother to Finrod, Angrod, and Galadriel, and cousin to the Sons of Fëanor. He and his older brother Angrod ruled the highlands of Dorthonion until defeated and killed by invading armies of Morgoth. Aegnor was in love with the mortal woman Andreth, but didn't marry her for multiple reasons. Ironically, he died much before her.

The youngest child and only daughter of Finarfin and Eärwen of the Teleri, sister to Finrod, Angrod, and Aegnor, and cousin to the Sons of Fëanor. Galadriel was the wisest and most powerful of all Elven-women. Though she hated Fëanor, she took part in his rebellion out of a desire to rule her own kingdom in Middle-earth. In the 1977 ''Silmarillion'' she travelled into Middle-earth over the ice of Helcaraxë with the rest of the Noldor, and lived in Doriath where she met and married Celeborn. Later in ''The History of Middle-earth'' this was revised: she and Celeborn married already in Valinor and sailed into Middle-earth on their own. During the Second Age, Galadriel took up in Eregion under Celebrimbor, and after its fall, she became the White Lady of Lothlórien. See ''Characters/TheLordOfTheRings'' character sheet for tropes that apply to her in that work.

** Tolkien even wrote in one of his letters that Galadriel had something of an 'Amazon' disposition in her youth, and often "bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats".

Thingol was a wise but overly proud king, and when he learned of the Kinslaying, he forbid any Noldor from entering his kingdom save only the children of his niece Eärwen by Finarfin, who took no part in the massacre. Thingol had no love for Men, and when Beren fell in love with his daughter, he sent Beren on a suicide mission to take a Silmaril from Morgoth--at which he succeeded, which changed Thingol's opinion of Men. He later became the foster-father of Túrin. Thingol was murdered by the dwarves of Nogrod because of their mutual greed over the Silmaril.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Apparently, Tolkien never came up with a way for Thingol to die that satisfied him. The story of his death in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' was pretty anticlimatic for such an important character. It was actually improvised by Christopher Tolkien and Creator/GuyGavrielKay, since the elder Tolkien only wrote about it during the earliest stage of his universe-building - which was now [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness totally inconsistent]] both in lore and prose style when the two assembled the complete work.

%%* LoveAtFirstSight: With Thingol.

* MagicMusic: Her music was magical. And by 'magical', we mean that she magically overpowered Middle Earth's resident GodOfEvil. [[note]]Of course, in the Silmarillion the entire ''world'' was created by the singing of the Ainur, which means that ''all'' magic is music (Tom Bombadill can control Old Man Willow because "[Tom's] songs are stronger songs.")[[/note]]

* TheGoodKing: Turns out that he was a more worthy successor to the throne than the royal family as he had the protection of the Free People as his priority and respected and included in that the other inhabitants of Middle Earth.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Naugladûr is barely a character in Silmarillion (most of his info coming from the ''Book of Lost Tales''), but the Nogrod-Doriath war is one of the most important events of the entire history of Middle Earth, leading to the Second and Third Kinslaying and the eternal Dwarven-Elven distrust.

** Tolkien even wrote in one of his letters that Galadriel had something of an [[AmazonianBeauty 'Amazon' disposition]] in her youth, and often "bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats".

''and prone lay Morgoth in his hall.]]

-->''She wavered, and she stayed her song.''
''"The road," she said, "was wild and long,''
''but Thingol sent me not, nor knows''
''what way his rebellious daughter goes."

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:He will get to kill Morgoth in the Dagor Dagorath.]]

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: He got to kill Morgoth in the Dagor Dagorath.]]

* TheMourningAfter: Aegnor, in spite of his physical death, technically continues to exist in the Halls of Mandos. It is said he will never voluntarily return from these Halls (though Elves are typically able to do so after some time) for the entire duration of the “world’s existence” as he mourns Andreth, whose mortal spirit will have left the world after death. Bear in mind the fate of never leaving Mandos is reserved only for some of the most extreme of cases (read: Fëanor) otherwise, and you begin to see the depth of his grief.

* TheMourningAfter: Aegnor, in spite of his physical death, technically continues to exist in the Halls of Mandos. It is said he will never voluntarily return from these Halls (though Elves are typically able to do so after some time) for the entire duration of the *world’s existence* as he mourns Andreth, whose mortal spirit will have left the world after death. Bear in mind the fate of never leaving Mandos is reserved only for some of the most extreme of cases (read: Fëanor) otherwise, and you begin to see the depth of his grief.

* InterspeciesRomance: She was a Maiar, an incarnate angelic spirit, who was was married to an Elf.

%%* PlaceOfProtection: Her Girdle turned Doriath into this.

%%* UnfriendlyFire: The Girdle of Melian was not pleasant for allies, either.

* LikeBrotherAndSister: Brandir had romantic feelings for her, but she only liked him platonically.%%Towards her ''actual'' brother, on the other hand...

%%* PreMortemOneLiner: Lúthien humiliated Sauron.%%Quotes are not context.
%%-->Lúthien came to him, and said that he should be stripped (of his body)... and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: "There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower."
%%** It was yielded.

%%* RebelliousPrincess%%Quotes are not context.
%%-->''She wavered, and she stayed her song.''
%%''"The road," she said, "was wild and long,''
%%''but Thingol sent me not, nor knows''
%%''what way his rebellious daughter goes."

* FantasticRacism: Against the Noldor for the events of the First Kinslaying. Also against mortal Men at first when he refuses to let Beren marry his daughter. He gets over his prejudice against humans when Beren successfully retrieves the Silmaril and gives his life to protect him from Carcharoth. He later adopts human Túrin and loves his half-human grandson Dior.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Her area of expertise as a Maia seemed to include darkness, shadows, and night.

* HappilyMarried: With Thingol.
* TheHighQueen: Perhaps the greatest example for the story.
* InterspeciesRomance: With an Elf.
* LoveAtFirstSight: With Thingol, again.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Maiar are basically Christian angels.

* PlaceOfProtection: Her Girdle turned Doriath into this.

* UnfriendlyFire: The Girdle of Melian was not pleasant for allies, either.

--> The dark and mighty head was bowed;
--> like mountain-top beneath a cloud
--> the shoulders foundered, the [[EvilIsBigger vast]] form
--> crashed, as in overwhelming storm
--> huge cliffs in ruin slide and fall;
--> and prone lay Morgoth in his hall.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Lúthien humiliated Sauron.
-->Lúthien came to him, and said that he should be stripped (of his body)... and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: "There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower."
** It was yielded.

* RebelliousPrincess
--> She wavered, and she stayed her song.
--> 'The road,' she said, 'was wild and long,
--> but Thingol sent me not, nor knows
--> what way his rebellious daughter goes.'

* TrueBlueFemininity: When Beren first meets her.
-->Blue was her raiment as the unclouded heaven, but her eyes were grey as the starlit evening; her mantle was sewn with golden flowers, but her hair was dark as the shadows of twilight.
** Most fanart also depicts her wearing a blue dress of some sort.

* BirdsOfAFeather: One of few half-elves (well, actually 5/8 elf) in existence, she fell in love with and married another half-elf, Eärendil.

** Botched Suicide: Luckily, Ulmo saved her by turning her into a bird so she could fly to safety and take the Silmaril to her husband's ship.

* IWillFindYou: He didn't.

* AccidentalMurder: The victim.

* LightningReveal: Revealed his face seconds after he died.

* ExactWords: As noted, Huan was due to fight 'the greatest wolf to ever live', or if you're looking at the Lay of Leithian details 'before the mightiest he should fall/before the mightiest wolf alone/that ever was whelped in cave of stone. ' Sauron shape-shifted to be 'the greatest wolf [currently] on earth was still a shape-shift, not born in cave'.... There's a bit of a difference there, if you think about it.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: The Haladin were the shortest of the three groups of the Edain, though their stature did not hinder their stature.

* FamousLastWords:
-->"I go now to my long rest in the timeless halls beyond the seas and the Mountains of Aman. It will be long ere I am seen among the Noldor again; and it may be that we shall not meet a second time in death or life, for the fates of our kindreds are apart. Yet perchance even that sorrow shall in the end be healed. Farewell!" [[note]]The third sentence, referencing the Second Music, can be found in ''The History of Middle-earth V: The Lost Road and Other Writings'', but was not included in the 1977 ''Silmarillion''.[[/note]]