Characters / Middle-earth Film: Elves

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The Elven characters in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies.

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In General

Galadriel: "The time of the Elves is over. Do we leave Middle-earth to its fate? Do we let them stand alone?"

Immortal beings of unearthly beauty. Elves were "the Firstborn" — an older race than Men, more powerful, more learned, more beautiful, and (from a mortal point of view) more "magical." They are not The Fair Folk, for they are no more ethereal or amoral then Men (although some can drift that way). Elves are nearly immortal — they live forever without aging, and while their bodies can be injured and killed, their spirits can never leave the world until the end of time.

By the end of the Third Age of Middle-earth (when the films are set), the Age of the Elves is nearly coming to an end (to be replaced with the Age of Men), and thus the Elves are a people in decline, their realms shrinking and their numbers dwindling as more and more forsake Middle-earth to sail west to the Undying Lands.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: They're much more serious and aloof here in the films. While in the books (especially The Hobbit) they still have a certain dignity and pride, they are shown to be chatty, merry, and neighborly to the other races (save, of course, the dwarves.)
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Almost played straight with some (e.g. Galadriel, although she is also seen as a somewhat morally grey character by many), but averted with many as they are shown to be just as capable of pride, greed, foolishness and Fantastic Racism as any of the other races of Middle-earth, if not more so. See Thranduil as a notable example.
• Can't Argue with Elves: You can try, but it won't get you very far.
  Bilbo: And it is also said, "Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes."
  • And yet, Elrond is dead certain the races of Men cannot fight the forces of Sauron, viewing them as weak-willed. By the time of the third film, he's proven very wrong.
• Conlang: The Elves have many languages, but the only two spoken (and sung) in the films are Quenya (the native language of the High/Ñoldorin Elves such as Galadriel and Elrond) and Sindarin (the native language of the Grey/Sindarin Elves such as Thranduil, Legolas and Celeborn), two nearly complete languages that were created from scratch by J. R. R. Tolkien. Quenya/"High Elvish" is sort of a mish-mash of Latin and Finnish, while Sindarin/"Elvish" sounds like a Celtic language.
• Dying Race: Most Elves are heading west to Valinor (The Undying Lands) or are about to. The rest are fading in power and importance. In his writings, Tolkien implied that Elves are still around in modern times, but have irreversibly faded into invisible, intangible creatures.
• Elfeminate: Being a race with Long Haired Pretty Boys, naturally a lot of male Elves are feminine-looking, the main examples being Legolas and Thranduil, and it also applies to most of the Elven background characters. Daniel Falconer, a Weta Workshop concept artist who had also portrayed an Elf extra, mentioned that "They got me made up and into costume, and I looked like a drag version of my sister." Graham McTavish then added, "Really, would you trust anything that looked quite so androgynous? It's like being looked after by a bunch of Ziggy Stardusts."
• Elves Versus Dwarves: The Elves and the Dwarves have a millennia old grudge against each other, with the events of The Silmarillion being the root cause of it. Invoked in the films many times (especially in The Hobbit trilogy), but eventually averted with Legolas (an Elf) and Gimli (a Dwarf) who become great friends and Heterosexual Life-Partners, which may help to heal the rift between both races.
• Ethereal Choir: Most of the Elvish musical themes include a choir in order to enhance the otherwordly nature of the Elves.
• Fantastic Racism: Elves' animosity with the Dwarves is a sub-trope unto itself. Their views on Men are mixed: generally positive, although some tend to look down on them or just ignore them, due to their transitory nature with finite life-spans.
• Fantastic Caste System: The movies don't go into this in as much detail as the books, but the short, over-simplified version is that there are basically three kinds of Elves encountered in the narrative: High Elves, Grey Elves, and Wood Elves. They're not "castes," but different sub-types. High Elves ("Ñoldor") are the most magically powerful, but least numerous, after the dark powers devastated their kingdoms in the First and Second Ages wars. Wood Elves ("Silvan Elves"), are the most numerous, but least magically powerful. The Grey Elves ("Sindar") are in between the other two, in terms of power and numbers (think of it like the name: "grey" in that they're in a middle spot). So many kingdoms of the High Elves and Grey Elves got destroyed in ages past that nowadays they tend to be found as a ruling minority set up over larger kingdoms of Wood Elves: Galadriel is a High Elf, but rules over the Wood Elves of Lothlórien, while Thranduil and his son Legolas are Grey Elves who rule over the Wood Elves of northern Mirkwood. Rivendell is populated by High Elves under Elrond, but it isn't so much a kingdom as an enclave and refuge. This isn't overtly spelled out in dialogue that much, although in the Hobbit trilogy, Tauriel does briefly discuss with Thranduil that she is a "lowly Silvan Elf" and thus beneath Legolas in station. ^note As for who the "most powerful" individual Elves still in Middle-earth are, that basically comes down to the holders of the Three Rings: Galadriel, Elrond, and Círdan the Shipwright. As for who the most powerful is among the three, the Ñoldor stopped having one High King over the rest after all their remaining kingdoms were devastated at the end of the Second Age in the war against Sauron. On the one hand, Elrond is a direct descendant of the old High Kings (his grandfather was Turgon of Gondolin), but on the other hand, Galadriel is thousands of years older than him and was born in Valinor while he was born in Middle-Earth. It's sort of a moot point because they're united through marriage: Galadriel is Elrond's mother-in-law and Arwen's grandmother.
• Inhumanly Beautiful Race: In body and face, they look like the mortal race of Men (Humans), but with a few exceptions, Elves are all exceptionally good-looking, tall, lithe, graceful, and strong with long, lustrous hair and Pointy Ears. Male Elves do not grow facial hair unlike their mortal counterparts (in the books, it's confirmed that they do eventually, but they have to be ridiculously old — the only named bearded Elf, Círdan, was one of the very first generations of Elves), and in general, the race is just prettier than (most) Men who appear more rugged and weather-beaten, and are cursed with the disadvantage of aging. Liz Mullane, the casting director, had said that for the Elvish extras, "what we essentially need are supermodels." Daniel Falconer, a Weta Workshop concept artist who had also played a background Wood Elf, noted that the cut-off age was around 25 (although he was an exception).
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: All Elves have long hair, and most of the males are beautiful in a feminine way with delicate facial features, plus they never grow facial hair. Their elegant bearing also highlights their prettiness.
• Proud Scholar Race: Many of the oldest Elves in Middle-earth (especially Elrond) are great and wise scholars, and their skill in craftmanship is nearly unmatched (except by maybe the greatest of the Dwarvish smiths), cases in point being the Rings of Power and the Silmarils.
• Proud Warrior Race: They are fearless and highly disciplined warriors. The Elvish race has been fighting against the dark forces of Morgoth and Sauron for millennia.
• The Stoic: The Elves are a very stoic people in the films, they rarely lose their composure (even when in the midst of battle) and they speak in a much slower and more measured way than everyone else. Some fans have theorized that they talk slower because they're immortal and they have time.
• Superior Species: Elves are immortal and they don't age after they reach adulthood. They're also more beautiful, more magical, and more agile with heightened senses compared to the other mortal races.
• Time Abyss: As immortal beings, they don't even reach adulthood until age 50 at a minimum, and continue to be gloriously beautiful and youthful for their whole lives. Only their eyes show their full age. The oldest Elf living in Middle-earth is Círdan the Shipwright (seen in the films at the Grey Havens at the end of Return of the King) who is over 15,000 years old, and Galadriel (and possibly Celeborn) isn't that far behind him, being born before the sun, the moon and the waking of man. Despite this, Galadriel is almost young compared to some of the Elves that still live in the Undying Lands, although Círdan is one of the oldest Elves in all of Arda. ^note It is stated that, as of the events of The Lord of the Rings, Treebeard is the oldest creature in Middle-earth. Given that the Elves probably awoke before the Ents — Eru made a huge fuss when Aulë made the Dwarves because the Elves had not yet awoken and His plan was for the Elves to be the first sapient life in Arda — Círdan could not have been one of the Elves who awoke at Cuiviénen, and instead would have later been born to either the Elves who did awaken there or to the immediate children of those Elves.
• Veganopia: Although the movie-verse doesn't specify if all Elves are vegetarians, the Hobbit trilogy nonetheless implies that because Elves are a Superior Species (or at least that's what they believe) who are in tune with nature, they demonstrate their enlightened sensibilities by not consuming meat. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, they only serve fruits and vegetables in Rivendell, and when Thranduil brings food and water to the survivors of Lake-town in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, his caravans don't contain any meat or meat products, which strongly suggests that the Mirkwood Elves are vegetarians as well.

Rivendell

Elrond

Lord Elrond Half-Elven

"Gandalf, for four hundred years, we have lived in peace — a hard-won, watchful peace."

Species: Half-Elf

Portrayed by: Hugo Weaving

Voiced by: Humberto Solórzano (Latin American Spanish dub), Carlos Segundo (Latin American Spanish re-dub, LOTR trilogy), Féodor Atkine (French dub), Takayuki Sugo (Japanese dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Battle of the Five Armies | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"Nine companions, so be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

The Half-Elven, Master of Rivendell, father of Arwen, and bearer of one of the three Elven Rings, Vilya the Ring of Air, given to him by Gil-galad before the latter's death at the Last Alliance. He is a venerable warrior, cunning strategist, great loremaster, and de facto High King of the Noldor, but also opposes Aragorn from a much less lofty post: that of a father.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Bilbo's jibe at him in the extended cut of An Unexpected Journey has him very clearly holding back a smile.
• Adaptational Jerkass: He's much more bitter and cynical than his book counterpart, thinking that men are useless — or at least, that their flaws will get the better of them. Being played by the guy who played Agent Smith may have something to do with that. His The Reason Humans Suck Speech in Fellowship follows the same Not So Stoic path where his stoicism covers a deeply-rooted bitterness in both characters. The key differences in Elrond, however, are that he will do the right thing regardless of his personal opinions, and that he is willing, and happy, to be proven wrong — he expresses admiration for Frodo's resilience to the effects of Morgul poisoning, for instance.
• Big Damn Heroes: Is this along with Saruman and Galadriel for Gandalf by rescuing him from Dol Guldur and fighting the Nazgûl.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Fellowship defeated Sauron, restored the kingdom of Gondor, and saved Middle-earth. But Elrond had to part with his daughter Arwen forever, even beyond the end of the world. His twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, may have become mortal as well, which would leave him with no surviving children.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Downplayed, but it's pretty obvious he does not 100% approve of Arwen and Aragorn's romance, even giving her a lecture about how it will end up for her. That said, once she makes it clear she's staying, he gives in.
• Cultured Badass: A renowned loremaster, he also led Gil-galad's army against Sauron in the Second Age.
• The Cynic: Not only has his attitude towards Men gone sour (with good reason), but he also believes the Dwarves to be too greedy to even complete their Quest. And he's not entirely wrong on both counts.
• Deadpan Snarker: He can pull this off when he tries:
  Sam: Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!
  Elrond: No, indeed! It hardly seems possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret Council and you are not.
• Good Parents: It's very clear that Elrond deeply loves his daughter and doesn't wish for her to suffer through a mortal life.
• Healing Hands: He heals Frodo of the poison in the Morgul blade.
• Heinz Hybrid: Although he's called "half-elven", he's a descendent of Beren and Lúthien, meaning that there's Maiar in there too, and both of his parents were called "half-elves".
• Heroic Lineage: He's the son of Eärendil, who's currently flying a ship with a Silmaril in the prow as the morning star, having played a starring role in the War of Wrath by slaying Ancalagon the Black, a literally mountain-sized dragon. He's also the paternal grandson of the chosen herald of Ulmo and the Princess of Gondolin, the maternal great-grandson of Beren and Lúthien themselves, descendant of the Kings of Gondolin and Doriath... really, it would be quicker to list which First Age heroes he's not descended from.
• Knight in Sour Armour: He will rarely crack a smile, often have a world-weary sigh, and regularly wax lyrical — with considerable supporting evidence — on the failings of the mortal races and how they will often, even inevitably, fall into darkness, playing the cynic to Gandalf's optimist... but he will, invariably and unwaveringly, do the right thing.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Battle of the Five Armies has him leave Rivendell to assist in freeing Gandalf from Sauron, complete with a pretty good Pre-Asskicking One-Liner to the Nazgul.
  Elrond: You should've stayed dead.
• Papa Wolf: Elrond is highly protective of his daughter Arwen and will do anything to keep her safe.
• Parental Substitute: For Aragorn, his very distantly removed nephew, whom "he came to love as a son."
• Perpetual Frowner: He has a semi-permanent scowl on his face and looks like he's constantly annoyed at being Surrounded by Idiots. The only time it really lets up is at the end of Return of the King. Justified as we usually only see him in times when he has reasons to be unhappy. He does have moments of levity and cracks quite the smile while wryly commenting on the impossibility of separating Frodo from Sam — who had been spying on their secret council.
• Really 700 Years Old: He's over 6000 years old and is one of the oldest Elves still left in Middle-earth, alongside Galadriel, Celeborn, and Círdan the Shipwright. This is also one of the main reasons why Elrond's so cautious and world-weary; he's lived through many of the world's greatest tragedies and wars, and the prospect of losing any more family members to death is just too much for him.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Elrond is definitely tall and dark, and in The Hobbit he also does seem rather cheeky/snarky at times.
• Tears of Joy: He cracks a tearful smile when he has Arwen brought before Aragorn during his coronation.
• When He Smiles: It definitely means that things are going very well.

Arwen

Arwen Undómiel

"I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone."

Species: Half-Elf

Portrayed by: Liv Tyler

Voiced by: Carola Vázquez (Latin American Spanish dub, Fellowship of the Ring), Rebeca Patiño (Latin American Spanish dub, The Two Towers and Return of the King), Konomi Tsuboi (Japanese dub), Marie-Laure Dougnac (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"This was my choice, ada. Whether by your will or not, there is no ship now that can bear me hence."

Daughter of Elrond, granddaughter of Galadriel and Celeborn. Arwen Undómiel, the Evenstar, is a half-elven^note Very technically three-quarter-elven, but that's not really how it works. woman of great beauty whom Aragorn hopes to marry, though her father demands that his daughter marry no less a man than King of both Gondor and Arnor. She must choose between immortality or a mortal life if she wishes to remain in Middle-earth with the King of Gondor.

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• Action Girl: Downplayed. While she doesn't actually use her sword, she can outpace all nine of the Ringwraiths and can summon water spirits from the ford just by chanting in Elvish to drown them all. Somewhere up there, Lúthien would be proud. In the books, it's unlikely Elrond would allow it after what happened to her mom.
• Adapted Out: In his writings, Tolkien indicated that it was Arwen's idea for Frodo to go west, as a sort of exchange for her giving up immortality. The films give no indication of any such thing, and the other ring-bearers just give Frodo the offer as reward for defeating Sauron.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the books — specifically, the chapter "Many Meetings" in Book II of The Fellowship of the Ring — she is stated to have grey eyes. In the films, she has blue eyes.
• Adaptational Badass: The film, likely due to some compositing with her predecessor, Lúthien and because she takes over for Glorfindel as stated below. In fact, the original plan was for her to fight at Helm's Deep, though this ended up on the cutting room floor.
• All There in the Manual: Her relationship to Galadriel, which is never actually hinted at in the film by anyone.
• Ascended Extra: She replaces Glorfindel in the first movie and gets a lot of screentime.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: In fact, all she got when carrying Frodo away from the Nazgul was a scratch on her cheek.
• Bittersweet Ending: She gives up her immortality to stay with Aragorn, but it's indicated that he eventually dies, and she follows him not long afterward.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Elrond tells her only half of the vision he had about her unhappy future; she sees her own vision of having children, which she does in fact consider worth staying for.
• *Click* Hello: Or the knife-equivalent; she first introduces herself by pretending to hold a knife to Aragorn's throat.
  Arwen: What's this? A ranger, caught off his guard?
• Composite Character: Takes over Glorfindel's role as the Elf who takes Frodo to Rivendell, and some aspects of Lúthien.
• Heroic Lineage: She's a descendant of Lúthien and Beren, and her dad is a hero in his own right, not to mention she's also the maternal granddaughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, two of the oldest Elves in Middle-earth who both helped to defeat Sauron and destroy the evil fortress of Dol Guldur.
• Hero's Muse: She functions in this role for Aragorn: the driving force behind his striving to regain his crown is his love for Arwen and the fact that he can only marry her once he is king.
• The High Queen: Arwen becomes this to Gondor and Arnor when she marries Aragorn and chooses to live a mortal life.
• I Choose to Stay: Torn between staying in Middle-earth and inevitably dying of old age and heartbreak, or going west with the rest of elf-kind. She nearly chooses going, but when she sees a vision of her son, goes back and reads her father the riot act for not mentioning that, and tells him there is no longer anything he can do that will make her leave.
• The Lady's Favour: Her 'Evenstar' pendant, which she gives to Aragorn as a sign of her willingness to give up her immortality for him.
• Mayfly–December Romance: She's got over a millennium on Aragorn.
• Missing Mom: Her mother Celebrían, unable to endure the woes of Middle-earth any longer, had sailed West centuries ago.
• My Girl Back Home: She is Aragorn's; he frequently thinks of her or flashes back to earlier conversations throughout the films.
• No Ontological Inertia: Film only, as a consequence of her choice of mortality.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's one of the most beautiful women ever born (after her ancestor Lúthien, whom she greatly resembles), and like Lúthien, her hair is very black and her skin very white.
• Really 700 Years Old: Just like all of the other Elves, Arwen's a lot older than she looks, close to 3000 years old (she was born in 241 of the Third Age, and the War of the Ring takes place towards the end of the Third Age, ending on 3019 with Sauron's defeat).
• Sage Love Interest: She's depicted as this to Aragorn. Arwen is an Elf, who are inherently close to the natural world and immortal (so she has over a thousand years' worth of wisdom); she encourages Aragorn that there's still hope of defeating Sauron and that he will make a good king, as Aragorn fears he will make the same mistakes as Isildur. There are moments where she appears to come to him in dreams to guide or comfort him, even reviving him after he nearly drowns; she also persuades her father to assist Aragorn in his Darkest Hour by reforging his Ancestral Weapon. Arwen ultimately gives up her immortality to be with Aragorn and becomes his queen.
• Silk Hiding Steel: A beautiful Elf lady and the daughter of one of the three remaining Elf lords; an excellent rider who is a swordswoman as well. Also, she is bound and determined to stay with Aragorn in spite of her father's wishes.
• Statuesque Stunner: A given, considering she is played by the 5'10'', fair-faced Liv Tyler.

Lindir

Lindir

"My lord Elrond, the dwarves — they've gone."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Bret McKenzie

Voiced by: Eduardo Garza (Latin American Spanish dub), Makoto Yasumura (Japanese), Olivier Chauvel (French dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Return of the King

An Elf of Rivendell ("Imladris" in Elvish), and one of Elrond's counselors. Later becomes Bilbo's closest elven friend when Bilbo returns to Rivendell after his eleventy-first birthday.

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• Ascended Extra: Literally.
• Ascended Meme: Probably wouldn't have got a role at all if it wasn't for the fandom's fondness for "Figwit".
• Canon Character All Along: From The Lord of the Rings. Originally McKenzie's character was not identified as the character Lindir from the book, but was just an extra.
• Composite Character: Of two minor characters from The Fellowship of the Ring: Lindir (a young Elf who heckles Bilbo) and Erestor (Elrond's chief counselor).
• Pretty Boy: Okay so nearly all male Elves are, but seriously, look at him!◊
• Surrounded by Idiots: This is Lindir's general response to the uncouth and rowdy behaviour of the Dwarves in the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey. His facial reactions◊ say it all.

Lothlórien

Galadriel

Lady Galadriel

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Cate Blanchett

Voiced by: Gabriela Gómez (Latin American Spanish dub, LOTR trilogy, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug), Irina Índigo (Latin American Spanish re-dub, LOTR trilogy), Verónica López Treviño (Latin American Spanish dub, The Battle of the Five Armies), Tomoko Shiota (Japanese dub), Déborrah Perret (French dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"Farewell, Frodo Baggins. I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

The Lady of Light, Galadriel is a Ñoldorin Elf who co-rules the forest kingdom of Lothlórien with her Sindarin husband, Lord Celeborn. One of the oldest, mightiest, and wisest Elves in Middle-earth, she is descended from the Kings of all three Elven sub-races, the Ñoldor, Vanyar, and Teleri. She is also a powerful sorceress and she wields Nenya, the Elven Ring of Water, which aids her people in the fight against Sauron's evil forces. She and Celeborn aid and shelter the Fellowship on their quest. Following the War of the Ring, she finally sails west to the Undying Lands (her place of birth) along with the other Ringbearers, leaving Middle-earth forever.

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• Action Girl: In the Hobbit trilogy, she faces Sauron in a fight and single-handedly manages to drive him away with her sheer magical power.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • In the book, Galadriel explicitly uses the power of Nenya to turn into her Superpowered Evil Side during her moment of temptation with Frodo and the ring. The iconic film version of the scene, however, makes it look like it is her own power coming to the surface, as Nenya is neither used nor seen at the moment, being only shown as a curiosity minutes later.
  • In the Hobbit films, Galadriel faces down Sauron one-on-one in Dol Guldur and manages to expel him away. The Galadriel from the books is powerful enough to remotely fend off Sauron's influence, but it's never suggested that she could come to the extent of winning a singles duel against him, in his own place even.
• Adaptation Personality Change: in the films, she comes across as invoking Dissonant Serenity with a very ethereal air to her, speaking in an even, almost monotone voice for most of her screentime, whereas in the book she was much more emotive, coming across as downright excitable compared to the movies.
• Adaptational Wimp: That said, she does not single-handedly level Dol Guldur as she does in the books. The ruined fortress remains standing.
• Ascended Extra: Galadriel doesn't actually appear on page in the book version of The Hobbit but is featured in the Hobbit movies as a supporting character and even gets the crucial role of banishing Sauron and his Nazgûl to Mordor. It is justified that she would be around however as the White Council's role of ridding Dol Guldur of the Necromancer is mentioned in the book, and she is a founding member and the original convenor of the Council.
• Badass Boast: She gets a pretty good one in The Battle of the Five Armies. You do not want to mess with this lady.
  "I come for Mithrandir, and I will leave with him. If you try and stop me, I will destroy you."
• Beware the Nice Ones: Although she's an unambiguously good, pure character, The Battle of the Five Armies reveals just how powerful and dangerous she actually could be if she had not resisted the temptation to wield the One Ring.
• Big Damn Heroes: She comes to Gandalf's rescue in The Battle of the Five Armies. Good job too, because he was just about to lose one of his fingers (not to mention his Ring of Power) at the hands of an Orc in Dol Guldur. Elrond and Saruman both then come to her aid and distract the Nazgûl while she uses her powers to revive an unconscious Gandalf.
• Big Good: With Saruman defecting from the White Council and Gandalf killed by the Balrog, she takes over as the most powerful force of good among the Free Peoples. She also lords over Lothlórien, which is quite the opposite of Mordor, and her title "The Lady of Light" also puts her in direct opposition thematically to the Big Bad Sauron who is known as "The Dark Lord".
• Chewing the Scenery:
  • "You offer it to me freely? I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired this... In place of a dark lord, you would have a QUEEN! NOT DARK, BUT BEAUTIFUL, AND TERRIBLE AS THE DAWN! TREACHEROUS AS THE SEA! STRONGER THAN THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH! ALL SHALL LOVE ME, AND DESPAIR!"
  • And then in The Battle of the Five Armies when she banishes Sauron: "YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE, SERVANT OF MORGOTH! YOU ARE NAMELESS! FACELESS! FORMLESS! GO BACK TO THE VOID FROM WHENCE YOU CAME!"
• Cool Crown: In The Lord of the Rings, she wears a beautiful circlet of woven gold and silver leaves, a fitting motif for the Lady of the Golden Wood. In The Hobbit, which is set 60 years earlier, her crown is of a similar design but appears to be made of just silver, or possibly mithril.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In The Battle of the Five Armies, Galadriel sends Sauron and the Nazgûl flying over the horizon.
• Dream Weaver: One of her many powers. She's shown to be able to communicate with people through their dreams, as she does with Frodo at several points on his way to Mordor.
  • Also, she owns the 'Mirror of Galadriel', a magic pool that shows the person who looks into it visions of the past, present and possible futures.
  • Not to mention that she was single-handedly responsible for the transformation of a fairly ordinary woodland realm into the Golden Wood of Lothlórien (a name that even means 'Dream Blossom' or 'Land of Dreaming Blossoms') a living memory of old Eldamar in which the effects and even perception of time are nearly nonexistent.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Gimli goes from describing her as a wicked sorceress to pledging himself as her Knight in Shining Armor within days of meeting her.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In The Hobbit trilogy, where she is seen as part of the White Council.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: She is strong enough to do this; what with giving Gandalf a Bridal Carry in The Battle of the Five Armies.
• Elemental Powers: She wields Nenya, the Ring of Water (one of the three Elven Rings of Power), and uses its power to protect and preserve her kingdom and keep it more or less frozen in time. Her wraith-like form in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Battle of the Five Armies also seems to align with this elemental power as she appears as a sea-green-tinged and drowned version of herself.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first glimpse of the Lady Galadriel (other than the flash of her eyes that Frodo sees when he hears her voice in his mind) is her descending the stairs in Caras Galadhon with Celeborn in a blinding, majestic aura of white light. 'The Lady of Light', indeed!
• Ethereal White Dress: As in the books, Galadriel is always clothed from head to toe in floaty white gowns and cloaks, even when wandering around scary fortresses and facing down orcs, evil wraiths, and dark lords! It adds to her wise and otherworldly nature.
• Fantastic Light Source:
  • The phial that she gives to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring contains water from her mirror that has been infused with the light of the star of Eärendil which itself is a Silmaril being pulled around the night sky in a chariot by Elrond's father. Seriously. The phial ends up being invaluable to Frodo and Sam later on as they use it to escape Shelob's lair.
  • Galadriel also uses her phial when she banishes Sauron in The Battle of the Five Armies, she wields it in front of her and it emits a blinding white light.
• The Final Temptation: When Frodo offers her the One Ring, Galadriel is seriously tempted to take it but ultimately doesn't.
• Fisher Queen: Over Lothlórien, thanks to the Ring of Water, which is the only reason Lothlórien has survived for so long. When she departs over the Sea, the forest withers.
• God Save Us from the Queen!:
  • Galadriel's temptation reveals that she'd be really really scary, possibly even worse than Sauron, if she had the One Ring and, perhaps more importantly, that she knows this fact, hence why she resists the ring when Frodo offers it to her; it's not the Ring she's frightened of - it's herself with the power of the Ring that frightens her.
  • In The Battle of the Five Armies, we get to see just how powerful she is when she takes on (and banishes) Sauron himself.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Her look in the films (which is accurate to the books) is clearly meant to evoke this trope. Her famous hair is of the deepest gold woven with strands of silver and she primarily wears flowing pure white gowns. Even her crown in The Lord of the Rings is made from a mixture of gold and silver. It is to symbolize her almost divine-like High Queen status among the Elves of Middle-earth.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Like all the House of Finarfin. They were the wisest and kindest of the Ñoldorin royalty (though Galadriel is still badly tempted by the One Ring), the most friendly to mortals, and the ones least guilty of wrongdoing in the Noldorin rebellion.
• Hidden Depths: She long coveted the power of the One Ring herself but finally overcame that temptation in The Fellowship of the Ring.
• The High Queen: She is the ruler of the Elven kingdom of Lothlórien, one of the remnants of the great forest that once spanned Middle-Earth and the place called the "Heart of Elvendom on Earth". As the daughter of Finarfin and the highest-ranking Ñoldorin Elf left in Middle-Earth, she could have rightfully been crowned as the actual High Queen but for the pesky little fact that Ñoldorin tradition doesn't allow for female heirs to ascend to the throne, so the title of High King automatically went to her great-nephew Gil-Galad instead.
• Holy Hand Grenade: The Battle of the Five Armies reveals that like Gandalf, her magical powers manifest as huge flashes of blinding energy. When she makes her way into Dol Guldur, with a flick of her wrist, an orc standing in her way is utterly obliterated by a blast of white energy.
• I Have Many Names: As was the Ñoldorin tradition, her 'father-name' was Artanis ('Noblewoman' in Quenya due to her being a princess of the Ñolder), and her 'mother-name' was Nerwen ('Man Maiden' in Quenya due to her unusual height and strength). She was given the name Alatáriel (meaning 'maiden crowned with a radiant garland' in Telerin Quenya) by her husband Celeborn, the Sindarin equivalent being 'Galadriel', her eventual chosen name. None of these names (barring Galadriel of course) are mentioned in the films, but she is referred to under many titles including The Lady of Light, The Lady of Lorien, The Lady of the Galadhrim, The Sorceress of the Golden Wood, and The Mistress of Magic.
• Interspecies Friendship: She seems to be friendly and welcoming with most of the races of Middle-earth in a subversion of the Fantastic Racism that a lot of the Elves seem to display. Notable examples are her friendships with the wizard/maiar Gandalf, the dwarf Gimli, the man Aragorn and the hobbit Frodo.
• It May Help You on Your Quest: The gifts she bestows on the Fellowship. Each of them ends up being invaluable to The Quest, in particular the phial of liquid starlight that she gives to Frodo.
• It's Personal: Galadriel had even more reason than most to want Sauron destroyed as he was directly responsible for the death of her older brother Finrod and much of the rest of her family (including her other brothers Angrod and Aegnor) were slain in the many battles against his former master, Morgoth.
• Just the First Citizen: Galadriel and Celeborn made the decision not to take royal titles (which is why they are the Lord and Lady of their realm rather than the King and Queen) as they saw themselves as the guardians of Lothlórien rather than its rulers.
• The Lady's Favour: Three golden hairs from her head. Which is more than Fëanor got, incidentally...
• Magical Barefooter: Her magical abilities are insanely powerful and easily dwarf Gandalf's, and she's perpetually barefoot no matter the terrain.
• Meaningful Name: Galadriel means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland". It's not her birth name (which was Artanis), but was instead bestowed upon her by her husband Celeborn, who wished to gift his wife with a Sindarin name.
• Not So Stoic: Typical Elvish behavior in public, but when Sam asks politely if she couldn't give him a dagger like she did Merry and Pippin, she cracks a smile.
• Odd Friendship: In An Unexpected Journey, she seems to really enjoy Gandalf's company. When she realises that Gandalf knew that the Dwarves were going to sneak out of Rivendell during the White Council meeting meant to decide if their quest should be allowed to proceed, the regal, elegant, and queenly Galadriel begins grinning like a schoolgirl. She also assures Gandalf that she will come to his aid if he calls for her, and she later stands by her word by saving his life in The Battle of the Five Armies.
• Only Sane Woman: In An Unexpected Journey, she reassures Gandalf that he has her support after Saruman dismisses Gandalf's concerns and proof about the Necromancer, and in The Desolation of Smaug, she is the one Gandalf sends Radagast to bring as backup when he confronts the Necromancer.
• One-Winged Angel: When she enters her 'wraith' form in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Battle of the Five Armies.
• Opening Monologue: Galadriel delivers the opening monologue of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, describing the forging of the Rings Of Power, the Battle of the Last Alliance, Sauron's downfall and the One Ring being lost and forgotten, basically laying the groundwork for the beginning of the main story. She speaks some Sindarin at the beginning of the monologue.
  "(I amar prestar aen.) The world is changed. (Han matho ne nen.) I feel it in the water. (Han mathon ned cae.) I feel it in the earth. (A han noston ned gwilith.) I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it."
• Pietà Plagiarism: The image of Galadriel cradling a badly injured Gandalf in her lap while Elrond and Saruman battle the Nazgûl around them in Battle of the Five Armies was actually inspired by the Pietà according to this behind the scenes featurette.
• Power Glows: When Galadriel enters her wraith-like form, she emits a powerful white glow.
• Really 700 Years Old: Galadriel was born in the Year of the Trees 1362, before the Sun, the Moon, and the waking of Man. A moderate estimate of Galadriel's age is 8000- to 10,000 years old.
• Royal Blood: Galadriel is of quite a complex and mixed royal Elven heritage. She is the only daughter of Finarfin, who was at the time of her birth a prince of the Ñoldor, and who eventually ascended to be the High King of the Ñoldorin Elves that live in the Undying Lands. Finarfin himself is of both Ñoldorin blood (from his father King Finwë's side) and Vanyarin blood (from his mother Indis's side). Galadriel's mother and Finarfin's wife is Eärwen who (being the daughter of King Olwë) is a princess of the Teleri, another race of Elves. Therefore, despite being identified as a Ñoldorin Elf, Galadriel is actually descended from the royalty of three separate Elven races and is really part Ñoldor, part Vanyar, and part Teleri. This is likely how she got her infamously beautiful silver-golden hair when the Ñoldor are usually identified as being dark-haired. The gold hails from her Vanyarin heritage and the silver from her Telerin heritage.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Possibly more than any other royal in Middle-Earth. To start, she's one of the bearers of the Three Elven Rings, Nenya of Water, and has kept Lothlórien free of stain for centuries with it. She regularly assists in repelling orc attacks against her realm and as shown in The Hobbit, she also oversees the formation of the White Council, allows Thorin and his Company to slip away from under Saruman's and Elrond's noses, rescues Gandalf from an orc-infested Dol Guldur, liquefying an orc in the process and then physically banishes Sauron and his Nazgûl to Mordor. And that's just a small handful of the things she does before the Lord of the Rings even begins.
• Ruling Couple: Galadriel and Celeborn have been Happily Married for thousands of years and co-rule Lothlórien together.
• Sacred Hospitality: Galadriel and Celeborn aid and shelter the Fellowship in Lothlórien.
• Shrouded in Myth: She seems to have developed something of legend status amongst Dwarves and Men alike. Even some of the Elves who live in other realms of Middle-earth don't appear to know if she actually exists or is just a myth. In the books Éomer comments that the people of Rohan call Lothlórien 'Dwimoden, the Haunted Vale' because every once in a while a member of the Rohirrim will go wandering in the Golden Wood and, if they return at all, they were 'changed somehow'.
  Gimli: They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods. An Elf witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell... and are never seen again.
• Spirit Advisor: Occasionally her voice speaks to Frodo, and she even appears to him in a vision to help him up after he's exhausted from escaping Shelob's lair.
• Statuesque Stunner: In the books, she's described as being nearly seven feet tall and not only one of the tallest Elves ever born but also one of the most beautiful. In the films, she's played by the 5'9 Cate Blanchett, who was purposely filmed at angles that would make Galadriel seem much taller than those around her.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Galadriel pulls the Stealth Bye on Gandalf in An Unexpected Journey after she tells him that if he should ever need her, she will come. Gandalf bows his head for pretty much two seconds, looks up and she has disappeared without a trace. As there is no other reference to Galadriel being able to teleport in the books or movies, three explanations exist. Either she wasn't actually physically there and was projecting an image of herself like she appears to Frodo in The Return of the King, Gandalf imagined the whole conversation, or he was recalling an earlier conversation that had already taken place.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: When she goes One-Winged Angel, she looks like this. Far more noticeable in Battle of the Five Armies, as she is also holding her Phial (the same one Sam would later use to fend off Shelob), and the light from it is so bright that her otherwise blonde hair looks jet-black in comparison.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: Try supernaturally young grandparent.
• Superpowered Evil Side: She is momentarily tempted by the grandiose possibility of taking Frodo's ring and then Sauron's place, which makes her literally mighty.
• Telepathy: She is shown communicating telepathically with Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King, Elrond in The Two Towers, and Gandalf in An Unexpected Journey.
• Time Abyss: She's one of the oldest elves in Middle-earth.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Close-ups of her eyes (especially in The Fellowship of the Ring) reveal that they're incredibly beautiful◊ with dozens of points of eye shine in comparison to the single points of everyone else. This was done deliberately (using christmas lights rigged up infront of the camera) to help portray Galadriel's unique 'otherworldliness' in that she's the only Elf left in Middle-earth who has been to the Undying Lands (she was born there) and seen the light of the Two Trees.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Galadriel's granddaughter Arwen was often said to be the most beautiful Elf in Middle-earth at the time of the War of the Ring, but Galadriel's great beauty was every bit as much the stuff of legend. Tolkien described her as being "the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth." The subject of Galadriel and Arwen's beauty and whose was greatest actually nearly brought Gimli and Éomer to arms. Éomer, having seen them both, preferred Arwen, to which Gimli (also having seen them both) replies, "You have chosen the Evening; but my love is given to the Morning."

Celeborn

Lord Celeborn

"Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Marton Csokas

Voiced by: Mario Castañeda (Latin American Spanish dub), Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese dub), Michel Papineschi (French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Return of the King

"The enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone."

The great-nephew of Elu Thingol, Celeborn was a Sindarin Prince of Doriath who is now Galadriel's husband, grandfather of Arwen, and Lord of Lothlórien. He and his wife aid and shelter the Fellowship on their quest. After the destruction of the One Ring, he and Galadriel lead an attack on Sauron's citadel of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood, destroying the last of the Dark Lord's strongholds.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: In The Lord of the Rings, Celeborn is described as having long silver hair. His name even means 'Silver Tree' in Sindarin and silver hair is in fact of great significance to the Sindar as it is a clear indicator of royal blood. Elu Thingol, the High King of all the Sindar, famously had silver hair, as did many of his descendants including Celeborn himself. The film has Celeborn with blonde hair however, seemingly along with a majority of the Elves that live in Lothlorien, despite golden hair being fairly rare among Elves in Middle-earth, usually being a mark of the Vanyar and their descendants, including Galadriel and her paternal family.
• Battle Couple: With Galadriel. While Frodo and Sam are on their way to Mordor, Celeborn marshals the forces of Lórien to cross the Anduin and lay siege to Dol Guldur. After a long battle, Celeborn captures the fortress and Galadriel throws down its walls and purifies it.
• Big Good: With Saruman defecting from the White Council and Gandalf killed by the Balrog, Celeborn and his wife take over as the strongest forces of good in the series.
• The Good King: To both the Elves of Lothlórien and those who live outside of his kingdom's borders. One of the main reasons why Celeborn and his wife remain in Middle-earth is to prevent Sauron from returning, and they assist both the Fellowship and surrounding kingdoms of Men at numerous points throughout the series.
• Heroic Lineage: He's a Sindarin prince of Doriath and the great-nephew of Elu Thingol, who was the Elven Lord of Beleriand and instigated the Quest for the Silmaril.
• Just the First Citizen: Galadriel and Celeborn made the decision not to take royal titles (which is why they are the Lord and Lady of their realm rather than the King and Queen) as they saw themselves as the guardians of Lothlórien rather than its rulers.
• Meaningful Name: Celeborn in Sindarin means 'Silver Tree' (Celeb = Silver, Orn = Tree) referring to his silver hair and great height. He may have also been named for the White Tree in Tol Eressëa (home of the Teleri in Valinor) which is also called Celeborn.
• Old Soldier: He's Elrond's father-in-law and grandfather to Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen. He is also an accomplished warrior who has fought in many famous battles throughout the ages and survived them all, unlike many of his Elven kin. He eventually leads his people in driving Sauron's forces out of Dol Guldur where he captured the fortress and Galadriel cleansed it of evil.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: He's certainly no slouch as a battle hero and a powerful Elf Lord in his own right, but in both the books and the films (as well as in the Fandom), he has a tendency to be overshadowed by his much more powerful wife.
• The Philosopher King: Known as one of the oldest and wisest Elves in Middle-earth, Galadriel calls him 'Celeborn the Wise'.
• Really 700 Years Old: Although Celeborn's exact age is uncertain, he was born sometime before the First Age, which puts him at around the same age or slightly younger than his wife. And since most estimates place Galadriel's age at about 10,000 years, it's likely that Celeborn is also one of the oldest Elves still left in Middle-earth.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Celeborn's a former prince of Doriath and the Lord of Lothlórien, and he's more than willing to team up with his wife to assist the Fellowship and kingdoms of Men in destroying the One Ring. He also defends the Golden Wood against numerous orc invasions and leads the final attack on Dol Guldur, beating the enemy into submission while Galadriel razes Sauron's stronghold to the ground.
• Ruling Couple: Celeborn and Galadriel have been Happily Married for thousands of years and co-rule Lothlórien together. The wood elves that they rule over seem to revere and love them both equally, most likely because they have made the Golden Wood a peaceful, safe and prosperous place to live.
• Sacred Hospitality: Galadriel and Celeborn aid and shelter the Fellowship in Lothlórien.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: Try supernaturally young grandparent.
• Time Abyss: As shown above, he's one of the oldest Elves left in Middle-earth.

Haldir

Haldir

"We are proud to fight alongside Men once more."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Craig Parker

Voiced by: Rubén Trujillo (Latin American Spanish dub, Fellowship of the Ring), Alejandro Vargas Lugo (Latin American Spanish dub, The Two Towers), Kunihiko Yasui (Japanese dub), Boris Rehlinger (European French dub)

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers

"The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark."

An Elven Captain of Lothlórien and commander of the small Elven force sent to aid the Riders of Rohan at Helm's Deep.

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• Deadpan Snarker: He definitely has shades of this, see the quote above regarding Gimli which is delivered in a very dry, dismissive manner.
• Death by Adaptation: The Elven force at Helm's Deep was not present in the books. Haldir ends up giving his life in the battle.
• Elves vs. Dwarves: Like the rest of his kin, Haldir is shown to be less than fond of Dwarves. He even makes a point of telling Gimli that their races haven't willingly fought together since the dark days of the Last Alliance.
• Heroic BSoD: Has one after he's been mortally wounded by an Uruk-hai, seeing so many of his dead kin who could have lived forever.
• Heroic Sacrifice: He knows he and his army from Lorien are giving up their immortality as soon as they arrived at Helm's Deep, even providing his image quote.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He comes across as just another haughty and callous Elf in Fellowship, but then Haldir and hundreds of Lórien archers appear at the gates of Helm's Deep during Rohan's darkest hour, fully prepared to fight and die alongside Aragorn and the Men of Rohan. Even if he's under Galadriel's and Elrond's orders, it's clear that Haldir believes in their cause and doesn't feel slighted by having to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with non-Elven soldiers.
• Mauve Shirt: Appears briefly in the first film, only to be killed halfway through the Battle of Helm's Deep.
• Not So Stoic: When witnessing the mass slaughter and death of his kinsmen. It ultimately costs Haldir his life.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Haldir's an Elven captain — handpicked by Galadriel herself, which says quite a bit — and a highly accomplished warrior who leads a small battalion of Lothlórien Elves into the (virtually unwinnable) Battle of Helm's Deep against an army of 10,000 Uruk-hai. It isn't until the fort is being completely overrun and hundreds of his fellow Elves have been slain that an Uruk-hai finally manages to take him down.
• The Stoic: Like most Elves, he remains calm and composed at almost all times, be it when finding invaders in the Lórien Wood or preparing to face down an army of Uruk-hai.

Mirkwood

Thranduil

Thranduil the Elvenking

"The fortunes of the world will rise and fall, but here in this kingdom, we will endure."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Lee Pace

Voiced by: Ricardo Tejedo (Latin American Spanish dub), Junpei Morita (Japanese dub), Anatole de Bodinat (French dub)

Appears in: An Unexpected Journey | The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies

"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland, and slay a dragon! I, myself, suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary, or something of that ilk."

King of the Woodland Realm in northern Mirkwood, and father of Legolas. Very skeptical of Thorin, his quest, and Dwarves generally.

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• Absurdly Sharp Blade: His elven sword is so ludicrously sharp that he can easily decapitate several orcs who get stuck in the antlers of his giant stag with just a single stroke.
• Adaptational Jerkass: He's notably frostier than his novel counterpart. In the book, the Elvenking was the least willing to go to war over the treasure, noting that "Long will I tarry, ere I begin this war over gold." Also, the Elvenking imprisoned the Dwarves because they were trespassers who would not tell him who they were or what they were doing in his forest and because they disturbed his people's feasting three times, stirring up the spiders, unlike the movie, where he knows who they are and imprisons Thorin out of spite.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • There's no indication in Tolkien's text that he and Legolas are estranged, considering Legolas serves as his representative at the Council of Elrond. Given that he does broadly the same in the films, it's possible that they've reconciled in the intervening years.
  • His friendship with Bilbo is entirely omitted.
• Agent Peacock: He's gorgeous, fabulous, deadly, and domineering. While being a Long-Haired Pretty Boy is par for the course for male Elves, Thranduil is Elfeminate to an even greater extent than his son Legolas because although they share a Strong Family Resemblance, the former is slightly more androgynous with long, thick eyelashes and a long neck. (Dáin remarks in the Extended Edition of Five Armies that he's a Dude Looks Like a Lady by addressing the Elvenking as a "pointy-eared princess.") Thranduil is also Camp Straight with very flashy, extravagant outfits and accessories. In terms of his prowess as a warrior, he's an accomplished Master Swordsman who excels at Dual Wielding; during the Battle of the Five Armies, he ferociously and efficiently kills a multitude of orcs with his two elven swords. As a king, Thranduil is Large and in Charge (his actor Lee Pace is 6'5"); his great height naturally makes him an imposing figure since he can look down — both literally and figuratively — on virtually every other character, plus he speaks with a commanding baritone. With his supreme arrogance, you simply can't win an argument with him, much to Gandalf's frustration.
• Animal Motifs: The Marvelous Deer. He rides a giant stag, his throne is adorned with a massive pair of antlers, and the design of his circlet in Five Armies includes highly stylized antlers. The extended version of Desolation of Smaug also shows Thorin shooting an arrow at a white stag, which Bilbo notes is a bad omen, shortly before running afoul of Thranduil.
• Anti-Hero: This is the most charitable interpretation of his character. He has nothing but neverending contempt for Dwarves — although his contempt is somewhat justified when you consider that the Dwarves have a precious memento of his late wife and have refused to return it to him (and Thrór actively taunted him with it in a deleted scene), and that, in the books, he was a survivor of Doriath, which was sacked by Dwarves over a very similar dispute over the ownership of Nauglamir. His attitude to Humans is more ambiguous, and although he helps the people of Laketown, it is simply to serve his own purposes — but he is at least honest about that and arranges his forces to protect them on the battlefield. He nonetheless is a fierce opponent of the forces of darkness.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: In the short battle against Dáin's forces, when the first wave of arrows is intercepted by the Dwarves' twirly-whirly machines, and dozens of Elves get killed by the gigantic bolts... he immediately orders the archers to fire again, which, of course, yields the exact same results.
• Authority Sounds Deep: A rare example among the Elves seen in the films — thanks to Lee Pace, he boasts a deep, imposing voice that fits his air of authority and regal grace.
• Badass Boast: He delivers a pretty cold, haughty one to Thorin after the latter rejects his offer of letting his Company leave in exchange for giving him the white gems of Lasgalen.
  "Stay here if you will, and rot! A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an Elf! I'm patient! I can wait!"
• Berserk Button: He only loses his temper twice in the movies; most of the time, he's rather smug, annoyed, or irritated.
  • When Thorin calls him a coward who abandoned the Dwarves out of pettiness and tells him to "burn in fire," Thranduil is so enraged that he sentences his trespassing prisoner to a hundred years in the dungeons.
  • After Tauriel accuses him of being heartless, he is pissed, dismissing her romantic feelings for Kíli as a crush compared to what he shared with his late wife, and he threatens to kill her while pointing his sword at her heart.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: They're natural to Lee Pace, incidentally.
• Blood-Splattered Warrior: After he slaughters a large number of orcs inside Dale with his two elven swords, black droplets of orc blood are smeared across his face and neck.
• Broken Ace: He's a powerful Elven King. He has the classic Elven looks you would expect, he's clever, it's very clear where Legolas got his fighting abilities from, and ultimately, he is a good king. However, he's also cold and shut-off after what is hinted to have been a fairly epic Trauma Conga Line involving dragons (it's implied that his looks were marred by dragon fire, the scars hidden under a glamour) and the death of his wife. The last seems to have caused him to close up and cut himself off, to the point where Tauriel says that there's no love in him.
• Camp Straight: He's incredibly beautiful, has a wardrobe of opulent, flowing robes, wears an elaborate headdress with barbed twigs, leaves, and berries, and sports several large, jeweled rings. While some degree of luxury is expected for a Sindarin ^note which is the second-highest class of Elf kindred in Middle-Earth king, his fashion sense is rather flamboyant even for Elf sensibilities, and the other Elves in the franchise look somewhat modest compared to him. One of the biggest events that informs his personality is the death of his wife at the hands of Orcs; she's Thranduil's Lost Lenore, and the pain of losing her is the reason why he's so aloof, reclusive, and obsessed with retrieving the White Gems of Lasgalen, which belonged to her.
• Can't Take Criticism: He doesn't believe Thorin's grudge against him is truly justified and brushes off Tauriel's and Gandalf's warnings about the coming Darkness in Middle-Earth — although in the latter case, it's indicated that he's entirely aware of it, and it's the root of his isolationist attitude.
• Cassandra Truth: Thranduil claims to have warned Thorin's grandfather that his huge pile of gold would summon a dragon to Erebor. Thrór ignored him at great cost to himself and his kingdom.
• Composite Character: With Elu Thingol, as an Elf-king the Dwarves tried to cheat out of some precious gems — according to Bilbo, in more or less the exact same fashion as the Dwarves tried to cheat Thingol out of Nauglamir. He also has a lot of Thingol's haughtiness. Since Tolkien's writings have him as having lived in Doriath some time before its final fall under Dior Eluchil (son of Beren and Lúthien, grandson of Thingol), this is quite possibly intentional.
• Cool Crown: In Desolation of Smaug, his ornate crown◊ features protruding, spiky twigs, autumn leaves made of reddish gold, and berries. He dons a circlet of presumably Mithril in Five Armies.
• Crazy Survivalist: He'd rather seal up his kingdom and try to wait out the war he knows is coming. The fact that he and his people live underground in a cave carved and designed so as to look like the vast forest outside speaks volumes, too. Compare this existence to the leafy, outdoorsy environs of Rivendell or the tree-top palace of Lothlórien, and Thranduil exhibits the mentality of a modern-day recluse. Granted, his kingdom is called Mirkwood, and for good reason.
• Crown of Horns: In Five Armies, his circlet has highly stylized antlers.◊
• Defrosting Ice King: Occurs near the end of the third movie, when he stares in horror at the bodies of his Elven soldiers killed during the Battle of the Five Armies, and again when he produces some very restrained Manly Tears after coming across Tauriel weeping over Kíli's body and consoles her. Finally, when Legolas informs him that he's leaving and not coming back, Thranduil seems to realize he's been a shitty person and a shitty father and tells his son, in what sounds like an apology, that Legolas's mother loved him. This is after Legolas revealed to Tauriel that his father never, ever mentioned her. It's also worth noting that Thranduil's tone of voice tends to be authoritative or aggressive, but he's soft-spoken in his final scenes with Legolas and Tauriel.
• Dual Wielding: During the fight inside Dale, he wields two Elven blades against the horde of orcs.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: In the Extended Edition of Five Armies, Dáin considers Thranduil to be so Elfeminate that he resembles a woman, and he calls the Elvenking a "pointy-eared princess."
• Elfeminate: He's arguably the most androgynous-looking male Elf in the franchise, even more so than his son Legolas. While they both share long, platinum blond hair, bright blue eyes, dainty facial features, and a slender build, Thranduil has long, thick eyelashes◊ (which almost looks like he's wearing mascara) and a long neck, plus his ostentatious manner of dress (in contrast to his son's plainer style) give the Elvenking a more feminine appearance.◊
• Everyone Has Standards: He's genuinely shocked when Thorin snaps and tries to kill Bilbo for pinching the Arkenstone and giving it to Bard as leverage to make Thorin give what was promised. His look of shock when Thorin calls him out for abandoning the Dwarves also implies that on some level he does regret it even if he likes to pretend otherwise.
• Exact Words: Occurs when he kills the orc his son had captured.
  Legolas: [visibly disturbed] Why did you do that? You promised to set him free.
  Thranduil: And I did. I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders.
• Expy: Of both Oberon and the Fisher King, according to Pace. His coldness, aloofness, and uncanny behaviour seem also inspired by Goethe's "Erlkönig" poem.
• The Fair Folk: He probably fits this trope the most out of all the Elf characters, being arrogant and caring very little about others aside from his people (at best). He initially comes off as greedy, too, and while he's certainly obsessive regarding the White Gems of Lasgalen, it's heavily implied that that's because they're the sole remaining memento of his wife. Topping it all off, he is truthful in a particularly fairy-like way and detests the idea of breaking his promises. Additionally, his general body language and demeanour are somewhat sinuous and inhumanly graceful, making him the most obviously inhuman Elf we meet.
• False Friend: Thorin views him as this when he refused to help the Dwarves when Smaug invades Erebor. Still, when Thorin accused him of abandoning the Dwarves out of spite, he seems genuinely stung by the accusation.
• Fantastic Racism: Against dwarves (which is something he seems to encourage amongst his own people), and even against his own subjects, somewhat, who are mostly Silvan Elves while he himself is of a 'higher' kindred, the Sindar or Grey Elves.
• Freudian Excuse: Judging by the way he talks, his asshole-ish ways are rooted in his heavily scarring battles of the past. His severely isolationist policies came about after the death of his wife, who was killed by orcs, as well as the dwarves withholding the White Gems of Lasgalen from him, which were the last remaining memento of his late wife. Indeed, a deleted scene in the first film has Thrór tempt him close with the gems in a box, then snap it shut right in front of him -- apparently, for no reason other than that he could. You can kind of see why he might be carrying a grudge.
  • In Tolkien's writings, he was one of the survivors of Doriath, which was sacked by the Dwarves of Nogrod in the First Age.
• Freudian Trio: With Legolas and Tauriel; he's the Superego of the group.
• Facial Horror: Ouch.◊
• Glamour: It seems he's using some sort of magic to keep himself looking normal and whole.
• Glamour Failure: When he loses his cool and starts ranting at Thorin about dragon fire, the glamour slips for just a moment, and we see that underneath the illusion, he's suffered severe burn damage to the left side of his face, leaving a huge scar. If Tolkien's other writings are anything to go by, at that moment he might be physically manifesting soul pains. When Elves are angry or distressed, the scars on their souls can sometimes show up on their bodies.
• Good Is Not Nice: To the point that he hardly comes off as good. In the second film, he's a type four Anti-Villain at best. In the third film, he redeems himself somewhat, being at least marginally nicer to those around him. Still a bit of a jerk, though.
• Greed: Possibly. For all his posturing to Thorin of how the Dwarves brought Smaug and their subsequent exile from Erebor upon themselves because of their greed, he himself refuses to grant aid to them (much less allow them to leave his kingdom) unless he received the White Gems of Lasgalen in the hoard. Although to be fair, it's heavily implied that said gems are in fact the only remaining memento of his late wife, and that is the only part of the entire hoard he displays any interest in.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Arathorn, as he himself mentions near the end of the third film. It makes sense that their sons will become this as well by the time the original trilogy rolls around.
• Horse of a Different Color: He rides a huge stag.
• Hypocrite: He scorns Thorin's and his grandfather's Greed and the consequences it brings when he himself is hell-bent on obtaining the White Gems of Lasgalen to the point of going to war. Actually subverted, as it's revealed he wants the gems specifically because they belonged to his late wife and are implied to be the only material item he has left of her.
• Icy Blue Eyes: In the second film's close-up of his striking blue eyes, his piercing gaze is rather frosty, much like his temperament.
• Ignored Expert: Having faced "the great serpents of the North", Thranduil was in a position to know what risks Thrór was running by amassing such a huge pile of gold. The Dwarf-King ignored his warnings.
• Interspecies Friendship: With Aragorn's father Arathorn, surprisingly. He is also directly responsible for putting their sons on the same path.
• I Shall Taunt You: At the receiving end of this in the extended edition of the first movie, when Thrór denies him a chest full of gems by closing said chest just when Thranduil was about to reach for it. Becomes a Kick the Dog moment given that the White Gems of Lasgalen were apparently a memento of his late wife.
• It's All About Me: He only seems to care for himself, his son, and, at most, his people. Although he has little enough respect for most of them, being a Sindarin elf himself, and most of his subjects being Silvan Elves, who are the closest thing the Elves have to a discriminated-against minority (although they're actually the majority, both in the Woodland Realm and in Lórien, which is itself ruled by the Ñoldorin Galadriel and the Sindarin Celeborn).
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has a... sort-of good heart underneath it all. Deep down. Very deep down.
  • He's genuinely sorry for Tauriel after Kíli dies, saying that it hurts so much because her love for him was real.
  • And, though he might have had some ulterior motives, he gives the survivors of Laketown plenty of supplies to last through the winter — and admits that he didn't come for their sake, effectively throwing away a lot of future leverage with his main trade partner in the process.
  • Furthermore, he first turned his back on the Dwarves after they lost their kingdom to Smaug, and later threatened to go to war with them, because he wanted the White Gems of Lasgalen back after the dwarves withheld them from him. That's right: he told an entire devastated people they could rot in their new-found Riches to Rags for all he cared, and later was going to start a war, all pretty much over a slight to his late wife. If that's not a sign of his deep love...
  • He's also respectful of Bard, keeping him in the loop, listening to his ideas (even if he thinks some of them are pointless), and in one telling moment, casually grabs him a goblet and pours him some wine. While he feels trying to reason with Thorin is a lost cause, Bard doesn't, so Thranduil humors him and rolls with it. Bard is descended from the Lord of Dale, but he's spent his entire life as a bargeman and has no idea how to lead or rule anyone, and surprisingly, Thranduil neither calls him on it nor dismisses him and his ideas.
  • Blink and you'll miss it, but an aerial shot of the battle shows that the human fighters are smack in the middle of the Elven army, where they're least likely to die (unless everyone else does first). The Elves don't need their help at all, but rather than boot them out of the way, they're actively protecting them.
  • While at first he only really seems to care about Legolas, he's visibly horrified by the sight of all the soldiers he's lost in the battle, to the point he declares his intent to turn back and abandon the battle to prevent more of his people's blood being spilled.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He, however, comes off as this for most of the film; he doesn't really care about anyone but himself, his son, his late wife, and to a lesser extent, his people. He's definitely more arrogant and condescending than the other elf lords like Galadriel and Elrond, who are polite and courteous to others (including dwarves), while he's pretty much dismissive of everyone else. He even looks down on Gandalf (who keep in mind is actually an angelic spirit on Sauron's power level who is clothed in human flesh), and is dismissive of his advice.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • After Thorin insults him, he angrily says that he warned Thorin's grandfather Thrór of what his greed would cause, and states that Thorin is just like him. Considering the way the gold sickness affects Thorin later, he's not wrong.
  • He derides Bard's attempts of reasoning with Thorin to be a waste of time, although he lets Bard at least try. He proves to be right (and Thorin seems more out of his mind than he anticipated, given his shock at Thorin almost throwing Bilbo to his death). It takes an army of Orcs and the near death of Thorin's cousin Dáin for him to think about anything besides the gems he craves.
  • He is perfectly correct that Gandalf's decision to encourage Thorin into taking back Erebor and trying to kill Smaug ended up with who knows how many people getting killed or injured. He calls the Wizard out on such and plans to fix it by finishing what he started.
• Kick the Dog: Not only does he refuse to help fight Smaug (although it's unlikely he and his kin would have been able to kill the dragon once ensconced in the mountain, and the fact that he rocked up with an army does imply that he was willing to help if the fight seemed possible), but he also refuses to help the refugee Dwarves. Years later, as the Company of Dwarves reaches his kingdom, he imprisons them for an unlimited time after Thorin's refusal of his deal. He also rubs Thorin's loss of the Arkenstone in his face by suggesting Bard sell it as a trinket to Gondor. Implied to actually be revenge for him being on the receiving end from King Thrór previously:
  • Thrór holds out a box containing the White Gems of Lasgalen, a precious keepsake once belonging to Thranduil's beloved late wife. Just before Thranduil can touch the gems, the box snaps shut, and he is denied them. That, combined with his unwillingness to fight an entrenched dragon for his allies, was what started the rift between him and the dwarves. It also might explain why he imprisoned Thorin's company later: Thorin, who had been present when Thrór denied Thranduil the White Gems, still refused to even offer to return them to him when Thranduil asked for them again, and later gloated about how he could hold them over Thranduil's head as his grandfather had.
• Knight Templar: He sees himself as always righteous, and won't change his mind no matter how seemingly heinous his actions become.
• Large and in Charge: Played by the 6'5" Lee Pace, and towers over pretty much everyone else, including his subordinates.
• Laser-Guided Karma: His cold and unfeeling behavior eventually alienates even Legolas to the point where his son actually refuses to return home after the battle, meaning Thranduil essentially loses the only remaining person he really loves. And he has no one to blame but himself, although he does seem to be aware of that much.
• Light Is Not Good: Or at least, Light Is Not Nice. He is an Elf, but in true Silmarillion style, he is an arrogant, self-centered jerkass, with ash blond hair, and decked out in fabulous silver robes and jewelry.◊
• The Lost Lenore: His wife was killed by Orcs long ago, and it turns out to be his justification for only caring about keeping his people safe and not fighting for or protecting non-Elves. It's also the cause of his animosity toward the dwarves: the dwarves withheld a keepsake of his late wife from him, possibly the only remaining memento he has of her, and Thranduil would willingly start a war to get that keepsake back.
• Luxurious Liquor: He loves fine wine and keeps a well-stocked wine cellar. One of his servants observes, "Say what you like about our ill-tempered king, he has excellent taste in wine."
• The Magnificent: He's referred to as "The Great Elvenking."
• Master Swordsman: He's extremely proficient with a sword (or two). When he's surrounded by a few dozen orcs inside Dale, he slays them all while Dual Wielding.
• Memento Macguffin: The reason he was feuding with the Dwarves in the first place is that they were withholding the jewels that belonged to his late wife from him. The jewels were never mentioned again by the end of the third film. The deleted scene he has with Gandalf could be the reason:
  Gandalf: Those jewels were not all your wife has left you, my friend. She also left you a son. Tell me, which would she have you value more?
• Nice to the Waiter: He's perfectly friendly to Bard in a distant kind of way, treating him with genuine respect, even as an equal, despite his low standing. Although the fact that Bard just killed a dragon described as "the chiefest and greatest calamity of the age" all but single-handedly might have something to do with that.
  • Plus, Bard is probably going to be the new King of Dale (while it's not definite, Thranduil is very intelligent and can probably see where the political winds are blowing) and Thranduil would probably like to keep good relations with him.
• Noodle Incident: How the necklace of white gems that used to belong to his late wife ended up in Erebor is a mystery. In the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey, Old Bilbo mentions that the Elves claim the Dwarves stole their treasure, while the Dwarves claim that he didn't give them their proper pay.
• Not So Stoic: Despite typical Elven affectations, he's awfully quick to lose his cool.
  • Occurs when talking about the dragon fire with Thorin. He also looks genuinely horrified when Thorin accuses him of callousness in abandoning the Dwarves.
  • He loses his cool again when Thorin tries to kill Bilbo. While he was indifferent to the Hobbit and he derided Thorin as a lunatic, he's genuinely shocked at the sight of Thorin trying to kill the person who, after all, rescued him from his dungeon.
  • He certainly didn't seem to be keeping his composure when, in the middle of the Battle of the Five Armies, he encounters a group of his own warriors laying slain in the snow. This discovery is the direct cause of his decision to draw his troops out of the battle.
    Thranduil: (To Feren, without looking away from the bodies) Recall your company.
  • He is quickly enraged when Tauriel unwittingly insults his love for his late wife by saying he has no heart.
  • At the very end, he is visibly shaken when Legolas tells him he would not be coming home with him. At this point, it finally sinks in just how much of an ass he's been.
• The Oathbreaker: How the Dwarves see him. From their point of view, Thranduil was Thrór's vassal (he did, after all, pay tribute), regardless of how chilly their relationship seems to have been. Due to that relationship, Thranduil was obligated to defend Thrór from all his enemies, including Smaug, regardless of whether victory was likely or even possible. This is why Thorin repeatedly insists that Thranduil betrayed both his father and grandfather.
• Papa Wolf: He's highly protective towards his son Legolas, particularly after the death of his wife.
• Parting-Words Regret: He can't exactly keep his cool when his own son is somewhere on the battlefield, fighting against almost impossible odds, and may be dead or dying already, when the last words they've exchanged were hostile. Even Gandalf takes note of this, and personally asks Thranduil which of the things his late wife left behind she'd want him to value more: a necklace of white gems or his own son.
• Pet the Dog: Two films of complete jackassery and holier-than-thou attitude from this guy culminates in two minutes of him being a decent person and suddenly harder to hate.
• Pretty Boy: His physical beauty is rooted in his androgyny. Dáin brings up Thranduil's prettiness when he threatens the latter.
• Pride: Almost blinded by it. Almost.
• The Proud Elite: He embodies this trope to a T. He's an Elf-king whose personality oozes with haughtiness.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The king is a better warrior than most of his soldiers, and it's quite easy to tell where Legolas got his combat skills from.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While not obviously this at first, he actually gives Legolas a remarkable amount of latitude. He also seems to genuinely respect Bard, letting him try and talk Thorin round despite being certain that it would fail, and casually pouring him a glass of wine. Since Bard, although of noble lineage, is basically a fisherman, and Thranduil is an immortal king with an ego the size of The Lonely Mountain, this speaks volumes.
• The Resenter: Implied in the prologue when he shows deference to Thrór, there's a subtle expression of displeasure on his face which is explained in the extended edition: Thrór was in possession of the White Gems of Lasgalen, a keepsake of Thranduil's late wife, and Thrór taunted him with them instead of returning them. Likewise, when he turns away from aiding the dwarves after Smaug invades, his face shows a hint of satisfaction.
• Reverse Grip: He holds both his Elven blades this way while Dual Wielding.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: When he eventually takes part in the Battle of the Five Armies.
• Sacred Hospitality: Averted, in stark contrast to the likes of Galadriel and Elrond. He has the Dwarves locked up for extremely petty reasons instead of offering them food and shelter.
• Sadistic Choice: His actions in the first film can be seen as this, as he chooses to not lead his people into a hopeless battle against an enemy that they have no chance against rather than help the Dwarves try and retake Erebor from Smaug.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: It turns out he had fought dragons from the north long before the fall of Erebor and has never really gotten over it, explaining his original reluctance to fight Smaug. We also know from canon that he fought in the War of the Last Alliance, where his father Oropher was killed, and in the movies, it's said that he fought the Orcs of Gundabad, who killed his wife. After all of it, his isolationism starts to look pretty reasonable.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: He beheads an orc after the latter mocks him about the coming war and the return of Sauron.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: At one point Tauriel, having had enough of his nonsense, draws her bow on him and tries to give him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. He calmly slices her bow in half mid-speech in the blink of an eye before she can react, much to her shock.
• Slouch of Villainy: Downplayed in that he's an antagonist, not a villain, but he does slouch when sitting on his chair in his tent in the third movie. In a deleted scene from the Extended Edition of the second film, he's sitting on his throne in this way when the Dwarves are first brought before him.
• Smug Super: As an Elvenking, he's the closest thing in Middle-Earth to a superhuman, and he knows it. He's smirking throughout the parley with Thorin and Dáin, and only really loses his smugness when the Orcs arrive and the battle begins in earnest.
• Somebody Else's Problem: Aside from a (rejected) offer to help Thorin, Thranduil knows that dark forces are gathering, but he doesn't do anything about it. When Tauriel questions him on not pursuing the source of the giant spiders outside their kingdom's boundaries, suggesting the spiders will attack other lands as well, he explicitly states that he doesn't care for anything but his own kingdom. He was even willing to abandon the Dwarves and Men and let them be killed by the Orcs until Tauriel and Legolas convinced him otherwise.
• The Stoic: His expression and air are always very aloof and if he shows any emotion, it's extremely subtle.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Aside from the various wigs and prosthetics, both Orlando Bloom and Lee Pace have strikingly similar facial features.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: To Legolas, since he's an Elf. Lee Pace is actually two years younger than Orlando Bloom, but Pace's greater height and Big Ol' Eyebrows make it look more plausible that he could be Legolas' father.
• Super-Senses: He managed to hear an invisible Bilbo walking while he himself was talking to Tauriel.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He goes from dismissing Tauriel's feelings for Kíli, to showing genuine sympathy for her when she mourns his death.
• Tragic Keepsake: Played With. The necklace Thranduil wants back from Thorin was his late wife's, and the only keepsake he has left of her. It's unknown if he ever reclaims it at the end after receiving a speech from Gandalf.
• Tranquil Fury: His reaction to his stag being killed from under him is to scowl, draw his swords and lay into the Orcs responsible.
• Two-Faced: Underneath some kind of glamour spell, half of his face is horribly burned, implicitly by a fire drake of the north.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In his eyes at least, all his Jerkass behavior is to ensure the safety and protection of his own kingdom.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: In Desolation of Smaug, there's a close-up of his gorgeous, vivid blue eyes while he's sitting on his throne. Later, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where his irises sparkle when he says "white gems of pure starlight" while talking to Thorin.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets called out by Tauriel during the Battle of the Five Armies for thinking about abandoning the dwarves and men of Laketown. Legolas also calls him out for killing the captured Orc despite having promised to let him go.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Consistently tells the truth, even when lying would be more to his advantage, which is possibly the reason he bridles at Thorin referring to him as The Oathbreaker. However, it should be noted that this truth is often very... exact.

Legolas

Legolas Greenleaf

"Something draws near. I can feel it."

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Orlando Bloom

Voiced by: José Antonio Macías (Latin American Spanish dub), Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese dub), Denis Laustriat (French dub)

Appears in: The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | The Return of the King

"The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice. The eye of the enemy is moving."

Thranduil's son who aids Thorin's party and will join the quest to destroy the One Ring some sixty some odd years hence. See his character sheet in The Fellowship.

Tauriel

Tauriel

"Are we are not part of this world?"

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Evangeline Lilly

Voiced by: Jessica Ortiz (Latin American Spanish dub), Yuko Kaida (Japanese dub), Laëtitia Lefebvre (French dub), Maryana Spivak (Russian dub)

Appears in: The Desolation of Smaug | The Battle of the Five Armies

"You like killing things, Orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you!"

A Silvan Elf of the Woodland Realm, and one of Thranduil's captains.

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• Action Girl: Kicks just as much ass as Legolas, if not more so.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Her counterpart in the book is unlikely to have had red hair, going by Tolkien's lore.
• Affirmative Action Girl: She's the captain of the Guard of the only official Elf kingdom who makes her debut rescuing the party from spiders alongside Legolas. Likely an especially effective fighter, being an army captain at such a tender age and being female (who usually aren't front-line troops due to their healing abilities). According to Word of God, she was added so that the trilogy included some "feminine energy" (i.e. so it isn't a total sausage-fest).
• Ascended Extra: She fills the role of captain of the Elven guard, though their roles have nothing in common. In the film, the Keeper of the Keys is more representative of the book captain; both are unnamed characters whose only role was to get drunk and let the Dwarves escape from captivity.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Wields her bow and dual combat knives together, just like Legolas.
• Braids of Action: They're woven into her hair rather than the typical single braid in the back, but they still count.
• Broken Bird: What little is seen of her at the end of the film suggests that Kíli's death has caused her to become this.
• Brutal Honesty: Bluntly tells Legolas that his father's policy of isolation can't end well, and calls Thranduil out hard when he considers leaving the Dwarves and Men of Laketown to die.
• Canon Foreigner: She doesn't exist in any of Tolkien's writings, although there is a (male) captain of the elven guard in the book.
• The Determinator: The lengths she goes to help the dwarves are rather remarkable.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Legolas.
• The Exile: The third film reveals that Thranduil has exiled her from Mirkwood for abandoning her post. Though the ending could imply he won't hold her to that, given all they've both gone through during and after the battle.
• Fiery Redhead: She's fearless, decisive, and most at home on the battlefield.
• Freudian Trio: With Legolas and Thranduil; is the Id of the group.
• Gender Flip: Her counterpart in the book is almost certainly male.
• Honest Advisor: She recognizes that the king's isolationist policies blind them to larger problems affecting the world at large, and doesn't hesitate to bring it up to Thranduil.
• Improbable Age: While her age isn't stated in the movies (Legolas mentions that she's lived with him and his father for six hundred years, but how old she was when she came to be there isn't said) Word of God places her somewhere around 1,000, which is still rather young for an Elf to have attained captain of the king's guards. (One quick line states that she has been "favored" by Thranduil, which could help explain it — and going back to the First Age, Elves rose to astonishingly high ranks far faster, meaning that it's far from unprecedented.)
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Par the course for an Elf, but she displays to an even greater extent when she blocks an arrow by firing another one at it.
• Lady of War: Remains graceful even as she wages war.
• Love Hurts: Yes. In fact, this is what finally convinces Thranduil that her love for Kíli was real when he sees her sobbing over his body.
  Tauriel: If this is love, I do not want it. Take it from me, please! Why does it hurt so much?
  Thranduil: Because it was real.
• Meaningful Name: "Tauriel", applicably for a Wood Elf, means "woodland daughter".
• Nice Girl: She's the least prejudiced amongst the Elves shown, and basically the only one willing to treat the Dwarves like equals.
• Not So Stoic: Kíli's death causes her to break down in tears.
• One-Woman Army: Her performance in fights points her this way, if not quite to the absurd extent of Legolas.
• Only Sane Woman: She comes across as the only Elf who actually seems to realize the importance of Thorin's quest.
• Pietà Plagiarism: Her last scene has her cradling Kíli's dead body in her arms, refusing to let go as she cries her eyes out.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Legolas. Thranduil suggests that Legolas's feelings might go deeper than that, though.
• Pragmatic Hero: When Bain leaves the boat during the attack on Laketown, she elects to let him leave, since she has his 2 sisters and 4 dwarves to look after.
• Redhead In Green: She's an Elf with red hair who mainly wears green clothes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Legolas's and Thranduil's Blue, being the most impulsive as well as emotional. She's also the first to venture into the outside world to fight the coming darkness.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Pretty much her response when Legolas question why she's disobeying the King.
• Star-Crossed Lovers/Interspecies Romance: Regardless of how their relationship plays out, Kíli and Tauriel are already this, being a Dwarf and an Elf whose nations have hated each other for over a century and whose races have been on bad terms since the First Age of Middle-Earth thousands of years ago. Also because Kíli is going to die in the Battle of the Five Armies. Indeed it doesn't end well. He dies and she's left banished from Mirkwood and broken-hearted (though her last interaction with Thranduil might suggest the banishment, at least, didn't stick.)
• The Stoic: Tauriel almost always keeps a cool head. Even during Smaug's attack on Laketown, she doesn't panic and her voice never rises except to yell orders.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Sam. She's a commoner very closely linked with a character of higher status than herself, and her main traits are loyalty, bravery, and humility. She comes across as less intellectual (by Elf standards), but also as a voice of common sense. She's a Determinator who goes into intense danger to save one specific person. And then there's her hair color...
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Being an Elf, she's naturally taller than Kíli, a Dwarf. Though as she notes to Legolas, "He's quite tall for a Dwarf." Doesn't prevent either of them from feeling attraction.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Kíli.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We get little closure on her, and given that she's a Canon Foreigner, there's nothing in the original to go on. It's possible, though, that since she's never seen or mentioned again in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy after her banishment from the Mirkwood Realm for disobeying Thandruil's orders, Kíli's death in the Battle of the Five Armies, and Legolas deserting her for his quest for Dúnedain ranger in the north who goes by the name Strider (Aragorn), she lost her will to live and has most likely died of heartbreak.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Seems unfamiliar with or unwilling to acknowledge romantic love. While cradling Kíli's body, she even tearfully asks Thranduil if this is love, and, if so, she doesn't want it. This actually leads to one of Thranduil's very few truly non-Jerkass interactions in the whole trilogy.
• Working Class Heroine: Unlike most of the other characters, she's a commoner, at least by Elf standards. Thranduil doesn't hesitate to remind her of her status.

The Queen of Mirkwood

The Elvenqueen

Species: Elf

Appears in: The Desolation of Smaug (statue) | The Battle of the Five Armies (mentioned only)

"Your mother loved you, Legolas. More than anything, more than life."

Queen of the Woodland Realm in northern Mirkwood, wife of Thranduil, and mother of Legolas. She died long before the events of the movies, but her death plays a role in the events unfolding.

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• Heroic Sacrifice: According to Thranduil, she gave her life to save Legolas.
• The Lost Lenore: For Thranduil, after she died, he became more reclusive and cold.
• Mama Bear: She sacrificed herself so that her son Legolas can live.
• Missing Mom: She died when Legolas was very young; all he seems to know about her is that she died in Gundabad.
• Posthumous Character: She died centuries before the quest to Erebor, but her jewelry is what caused Thranduil to have a falling out with the dwarves.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She died in the War with Angmar, possibly on a rescue mission for her son.
• Tragic Keepsake: The White Gems of Lasgalen belonged to her. After she died, Thranduil commissioned the Dwarves to fashion them into a necklace. And then they refused to return them.
• Unperson: Thranduil never speaks of her, possibly because if he grieves too much, he could fade.

Others

Gil-Galad

Ereinion Gil-Galad

Species: Elf

Portrayed by: Mark Ferguson

Appears in: The Fellowship of the Ring

The last de jure High King of the Ñoldorin Elves who fought (and died) alongside the Dúnedain High King Elendil during the War of the Last Alliance.

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• Adaptational Wimp: In the book, it's him and Elendil who destroy Sauron in his mortal form at the cost of their lives, with Isildur cutting the ring afterwards. In the film, he is only seen looking at Sauron in fear before Elendil charges alone. According to his actor, his book death scene was planned, and Elendil's horrified look was at seeing this happen.
• Badass Cape: Wears a flowing blue one during the battle.
• Blow You Away: He's the first Keeper of Vilya, the Ring of Air, before passing it down to Elrond before his death.
• Celibate Hero: He is not known to be married or bear any children, so the kingship of Ñoldor came to an abrupt end.
• Demoted to Extra: While production stills and behind-the-scenes footage shows that he was originally going to be a bit more prominent in the prologue, in the movie itself he's seen in exactly two shots. One where he appears out of focus in the background when he, Círdan, and Galadriel receive their rings of power, and the other where he kills an Orc with his spear in the battle against Sauron.
• Frontline General: And boy, does he have some skill in battle to back it up!
• Kill It with Fire: How he dies. Though the method of dying by 'the heat of Sauron's hand' remains unclear.
• Kill It with Ice: Aeglos means 'pointy ice' because when orcs see this spear, they would recognize it by its reputation to bring a cold death to them.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Unfortunately, it doesn't do him much good against Sauron.
• Playing with Fire: He was also the first to possess Narya before passing it down to Círdan, who in turn passed it down to Gandalf.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He personally leads his Elven battalion against the Armies of Mordor.

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