History Characters / TheSilmarillion

* PetTheDog: After hearing the story of Beren's quest, he softens and grants his consent to Lúthien's marriage.

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Described as having golden blonde hair.

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

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Called ''Celebrindal'', "Silver-foot," for her habit of not using shoes.

Elvenking of Doriath and one of the most important monarchs of the First Age. While leading his people, the Teleri, through Middle-earth on the way to Valinor, Elu Thingol (then known as Elwë Singollo, his Quenya name) met Melian in the woods of Nan Elmoth and fell in love with her. They stayed there enchanted by each other for centuries, and the greater part of the Teleri stayed in Middle-earth to search for him; they became the Sindar, or Grey-elves. When they finally reunited with Thingol's people, they founded the kingdom of Doriath. Together, they had a daughter, Lúthien Tinúviel.

* CharacterDevelopment: Started out with a strong dislike of the race of Men. Beren changed his mind (eventually).

* RoyalDecree: When he heard about the Kinslaying, he was so horrified and furious that he immediately banished all the Noldor (aside from his kin of the House of Finarfin, children of his niece Eärwen) from his realm and forbid Quenya to be spoken within Doriath.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Rarely (if ever) left his kingdom, but still managed to have a lot of influence where he wished. Doriath was the most peaceful and prosperous realm in Beleriand until his death, because he had the sense ''not'' to join a hopeless war. He was the one who made the decisions, but it was Melian who protected the realm.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Gwindor, in-universe. Nargothrond started to see him like this when compared to Túrin, even if he did some undeniably badass things in the past. The main reason he seemed non-badass was due to his [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]], his weakened and maimed appearance after years of torture and slavery, and the fact that he had a much more pragmatic outlook on Nargothrond's chances against Morgoth. Gwindor favored staying in hiding and striking from the shadows. Túrin wanted open battle, and if defeat was inevitable if they fought openly, he would prefer to go down in a blaze of glory. His words and martial prowess swayed the hearts of the people of Nargothrond, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and thus sealed their doom]].

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Glorfindel is 'most dearly beloved', to the point that when he dies defending fleeing refugees, they all ''stop running'' from the army that just destroyed their city long enough to give him a proper burial.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: The exact quote is "[Glorfindel] led the Golden Flower and was the best beloved of the Gondolindrim, save it be Ecthelion, but who shall choose."

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: How beloved was she? Her people changed their name from the Haladin to the People of Haleth.

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

* {{Determinator}}: Alone in Taur-Nu-Fuin and hunted by Morgoth's army? He harried and harassed them for years. Valley of Dreadful Death? Girdle of Melian? They couldn't stop him. 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.

* OverprotectiveDad: See KnightTemplarParent.

* {{Determinator}}: Alone in Taur-Nu-Fuin and hunted by Morgoth's army? He harried and harassed 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.

* FatalFlaw: His stubbornness, a trait inherited from his famously intractable father but played far more tragically. Turin doesn't quit even when it's hopeless, he doesn't give up his pride in his people or himself, and he doesn't submit when someone starts ordering him to do something outside his nature. This was virtuous in the case of his father, because his iron will was in the name of saving his family and his friends and was applied appropriately. Turin, meanwhile, is stubborn for no greater reason than his own ego, which leads to him refusing to give up even when it would be better for everyone, himself included, to do just that.

* {{Foil}}: To Tuor. 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. Unlike his much luckier cousin, Túrin would lose his elven admirer, accidentally end up in an incestuous relationship, and die by suicide at a rather young age.

* FreudianExcuse: Mîm's a deeply bitter and vindictive Dwarf because his entire race was hunted to extinction (and had their lands claimed by) Elves, leaving him as the last (alongside his children) of the Petty Dwarves, living as starving travelers living in dim caves.

* FreudianExcuse: Mím's a deeply bitter and vindictive Dwarf because his entire race was hunted to extinction (and had their lands claimed by) Elves, leaving him as the last (alongside his children) of the Petty Dwarves, living as starving travelers living in dim caves.

* TragicVillain: Mím's bitterness that drives him to evil is ultimately brought by (justified to an extent) anger over the destruction of his race and the death of his children at the hands of the Elves and Túrin's companions, respectively.
* TurnCoat: Against Túrin's band of outlaws, though Tolkien's writings are inconsistent (big surprise) about whether he willingly went to Morgoth or was captured. He ''did'' want Túrin to be spared, but that didn't work out well.

* RoyalDecree: When he heard about the Kinslaying, he was so horrified and furious that he immediately banished all the Noldor from his realm and forbid Quenya to be spoken within Doriath.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's Lord of Nogrod and he manages to match Beren (probably one of the greatest warriors of Beleriand) blow-for-blow in battle, almost killing him.

* RevengeBeforeReason: His decision to avenge the death of his kinsmen leads him astray.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Pretty much only shows up in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, but his sacrifice saves several crucial characters and it's hinted his wounding of Glaurung may have contributed to the latter's death. His helm, which he gave as a gift to Meadhros, also ends up being crucial during Children of Húrin.

* TheRedBaron: He is called, redundantly, "Mablung of the Heavy Hand" (Mablung ''means'' "heavy hand"). It's not entirely clear whether this was his father-name, his ''Amilessë'' (mother-name, which is [[PropheticName sometimes prophetic]]) or his ''Epessë'' (epithet). In earlier versions, Mablung's name was implicitly his mother-name, because it "came true" when he cut the Silmaril (and [[AnArmAndALeg Beren's hand!]]) from Carcharoth's belly, and the great weight of the Silmaril caused his hand to drop violently to the ground and fall open. This explanation never survived into the published Silmarillion, leaving it unclear what name it was, whether it referred to his fighting skill instead or even if it was an epithet he only gained ''after'' the Hunt for Carcharoth.

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

[[folder:Inziladûn/Tar-Palantir]]
Tar-Palantir was the twenty-fourth and penultimate King of Númenor, and elder son of Ar-Gimilzôr and Inzilbêth. He repented of the rebellious ways of the previous Kings and tried to be friendly to the Valar and the Elves. Unfortunately, most of his people, including his own brother, did not share his feelings. Tar-Palantir had a daughter, Míriel, who should have become Ruling Queen. Instead, her cousin Pharazôn forced her to marry him, thereby usurping the throne.

* {{Irony}}: For all his dislike of the Noldor, his blacksmithing skills and close friendship with the Dwarves are very much akin to the Noldor specifically those of Eregion.

* JerkassHasAPoint: His dislike of the Noldor also stems from the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, which saw his fellow Teleri (at least in one version) slain for their swan-ships. Not hard to see where he's coming from on that even if it doesnt come close to justifying his actions.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Túrin was very quiet, had trouble controlling his emotions, often failed to read social cues, and had a complicated relationship with empathy, leading some fans to question that he may have been on the autism spectrum.

* KickTheDog: The caves of Nargothrond were originally inhabited by the Petty-Dwarves until they were expelled -- though to be fair to the Elves the details are too vague to know how direct Finrod's role in their eviction was. In the early tellings, he likely had no idea they were even there -- the other Dwarves "despised" Petty-Dwarves and had "no compunctions" about taking (and selling) their land. In another telling[[note]]Found in ''The Nature of Middle-earth[[/note]], they lived side-by-side in the caves until Mîm attempted to kill Finrod in his sleep, causing the Petty-Dwarves to be exiled from Nargothrond.

* SympatheticSentientWeapon: Curiously, Gurthang his black sword. Slayed many enemies with it, including the dragon Glaurung. The blade spoke to his master and agreed to put Túrin out of his misery for his failures. Though, whether this really happened or was just a figment of Túrin’s emotionally unstable imagination is unknown. The blade broke when he cast himself upon it (implying it was indestructible and could not fail unless its master died). When Túrin returns at the last battle, Gurthang returns with him, to rid the universe of Melkor.