History TheLordOfTheRings / TropesPToR

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The password to open the doors of Khazad-dum was ''written on the doors themselves''. {{Justified}} in that it wasn't intended to be a password in that sense, since the Elves of Hollin and the Dwarves of Khazad-dum were close allies.

* RavenHairIvorySkin: Luthien in the backstory and Arwen in the main story. Saruman also originally had black hair before old age turned most of it white.

** Gimli at one point ends up complaining about potentially having to go through the Emyn Muil (a wasteland maze of rocky cliffs) and the Dead Marshes in order to get the Ring secretively to Mordor. While Gimli himself ends up avoiding that route, guess what route Frodo and Sam end up taking?

** Saruman, respected leader of the wizards and the White Council, winds up attempting to capture the Ring for himself and replace Sauron as Dark Lord.

::'''Tropes from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (the book)'''

::TheLordOfTheRings/TropesAToC -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesDToF -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesGToI -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesJToL -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesMToO -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesSToU -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesVToZ

It also harkens back to ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' when Thingol tasked Beren with retrieving a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown before allowing him to marry Lúthien (a task that Sam Gamgee openly recognizes as 'a darker danger' than their quest). Since Aragorn and Arwen are both descendants of Beren and Lúthien it seems appropriate; at least to Elrond.

** Gandalf, servant of the Secret Fire and wielder of the Flame of Anor (which may or may not have to do with [[spoiler:bearing Narya, the Elven Ring "red as fire"]]). However, he needs wood to sustain a fire, as he cannot burn snow.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: When Elrond finds out that Aragorn and Arwen are in love, he sets down what seems to be a impossible set of restrictions on their marriage (Sauron must be vanquished, Aragorn must unite the ancient kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor and become High King once again). Needless to say, Aragorn helps fulfill every single one of these conditions, and Love Conquers All.\\

It also harkens back to ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' when Thingol tasked Beren with retrieving a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown before marrying Lúthien (a task that Sam Gamgee openly recognizes as 'a darker danger' than their quest). Since Aragorn and Arwen are both descendants of Beren and Lúthien it seems appropriate; at least to Elrond.

* ParentalFavoritism: Boromir (the elder son) is heavily preferred to Faramir by their father, Denethor. It's especially emphasized in The Movies, where Denethor is shown as blatantly unfair; in the book, Gandalf at least believes that it is partly that Denethor is still grief-stricken over the death of their mother.

%%* PlayingPossum: A scene with Uruk-hai during Helm's Deep in the novel.

** Morgoth in [[Literature/TheSilmarillin the backstory]] was the greatest of the Ainur (angels) and ultimately becomes Satan.

* ThePuppetCutsHisStrings: Played straight with old king Théoden of Rohan. He is made a puppet by his advisor Gríma (who answers to Saruman, who is himself in league with Sauron), through a mix of sorcery and applied psychology. Then Gandalf arrives and shows him the evil of Gríma and how to be once again a great, proud, and noble king.

* PapaWolf: Everyone is this to the hobbits. Even the hobbits get to be this on occasion because of ThePowerOfFriendship.

* PopculturalOsmosis: ''[=LotR's=]'' influence is widespread and isn't limited to the fantasy genre.
** HighFantasy: It popularized the genre and is generally credited with creating it, although high fantasy in the novel format is actually older than Tolkien. The demand for novels similar to Lord of the Rings was so great that many imitators joined in to feed the demand. The term "Tolkienesque" has been used to describe the literature of his many imitators. A few writers actually tried to go in a different direction than Tolkien, such as Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin with her ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' novels. Even today, Tolkien's shadow is so big that it's difficult for a writer to escape it.
** [[TheSixties Hippies]]: The slang term [[GRatedDrug "weed"]] sprang from a certain common misconception / bit of {{Fanon}} concerning Hobbit horticultural habits ({{Jossed}} by Tolkien himself).
** [[RolePlayingGame Role Playing Games]]: The Fellowship can be seen as the prototypical [=RPG=] party. It established many archetypes and tropes that are seen [=RPGs=] like "rangers", warrior dwarves, the Balrog and {{Mithril}}. The Fellowship's trek through the dwarven city of Khazad-dûm might have been the basis for RuinsForRuinsSake. It inspired D&D and many of the [=RPGs=] that came after it.
** [[TurnBasedStrategy War Gaming]]: Before ''[=LotR=]'', war games were limited to historical wars like WWII, the Napoleonic Wars, and the American Civil War. ''[=LotR=]'' popularized the idea that war gaming can take place in a fictional land with fictional races and nations. It influenced such games as ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'', and ''VideoGame/StarCraft''. Which came full circle when Games Workshop made a tabletop wargame based on LOTR, inspired partly by ''Warhammer''.
** HeavyMetal: Many of the earliest metal bands were influenced by Tolkien. [[HeavyMithril They use many of his themes and events]] as a basis for numerous songs. Music/LedZeppelin is a band that shows a lot of Tolkien influence ''(see page quote)''. There's even a subgenre called ''[[HeavyMithril Tolkien Metal]]'': See, for instance, Music/BlindGuardian.