Characters / Rings of Power: Other Beings

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Main Character Page
Elves | Men | Enemies (Sauron) | Other Races

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Harfoots

Harfoots in General

• Character Exaggeration: The cinematic trilogies put more focus on the Hobbit's pastoral, hedonistic lifestyle but also mentions that they can be sneaky when they chose to be. While their jolly, food-loving tendencies are present here, the series also emphasizes their stealth as a defining trait.
• The Dead Have Names: The Harfoots hold a ceremony the night before the Migration during which Sadoc reads out the names of those who "fell behind" in prior Migrations. Among the names is Poppy's entire family who were lost to a landslide.
• Earthy Barefoot Character: The Harfoots are more in In Harmony with Nature than their descendants. They are a Wandering Culture, moving from place to place, and don't need to wear shoes on their strong, hairy feet.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Harfoots seem to be this universe's version of the Irish travelers. They speak with a pseudo Irish accent, have a Wandering Culture and live mostly in carts.
• Fictional Holiday: The Harfoots have a summer holiday called the Harvest Festival which seems to be inspired by the Irish holiday called the Wren Day. During the festival they wear costumes that look an awful lot like the traditional Wren Day ones.
• Hobbits: The Harfoots are a nomadic Hobbit race not yet settled, unlike the Third Age Hobbits of the cinematic trilogies, who typically inhabit a technological setting analogous to Regency England. 
• I Will Only Slow You Down: Their plucky optimism masks what is in some ways a False Utopia, in that the Harfoots' existence is bucolic and pastoral, but their impermanent camps and constant migrating means that they continually face the very real danger of much larger creatures and natural disasters, as well as the anxiety that hovers over any member of their community in terms of being left behind, which is nothing less than a death-sentence, yet an accepted fact of life for any Harfoot unable to keep up.
• In Harmony with Nature: Their hair is typically adorned with leaves, nuts and berries and they live out in the open, pulling their cart homes to new locations when it comes time to migrate. During a pre-migration festival, the tribe all sport costumes made out of leaves, bulrushes and twigs — perhaps representing some kind of atavistic nature worship. 
• Little People: The Harfoots invoke this more so than the Third Age Hobbits in that their talent for hiding makes them mysterious creatures of legend to the race of Men, akin to beings from folklore such as fairies or leprechauns.
• The Needs of the Many: On the surface, they are a cutesy people who live a charmed, bucolic life, though this belies the fact that their culture is surprisingly harsh on those who would slow down their regular migrations, and any Harfoot that can’t keep up is abandoned (likely to die) in the name of ensuring the survival of the group.
• Stealth Expert: Harfoots are experts at camouflaging themselves and hiding in plain sight.
  • Exemplified during their introductory scenes when a pair of human hunters literally walk right through their encampment and don’t spot a thing. Moments after the hunters pass by, the entire camp — homes, shops and Harfoots — literally erupt from under cover and carry on their daily business.
  • When The Stranger starts crashing through the camp during the pre-migration bonfire, the Harfoots almost instantly become invisible, using their cloaks, adorned with various plants and twigs, to instantly blend in with their surroundings.
• Survival Mantra: As a nomadic people, theirs is “Nobody goes off the trail and nobody walks alone”.
• Wandering Culture: Unlike the beautifully bucolic village of Hobbiton, which comes complete with a watermill, a pub and a variety of cute little Hobbit homes — all with beautifully tended cottage-gardens — the Harfoots of the Second Age survive via stealth, moving from place to place, setting up temporary camps and moving on when resources run out, or danger approaches. 
• Worldbuilding: The Harfoot’s nomadic culture is incredibly richly realised, from costuming to customs, and represents something new, built from the ground up, with only minimal influences taken from previous Tolkien adaptations.

Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot

"The world is not that wide. It's just that we're so bleeding small."

Portrayed by: Markella Kavenagh

"Haven't you ever wondered what else is out there? How far the river flows or where the sparrows learn the new songs they sing in spring? I can't help but feel there's wonders in this world beyond our wandering."

A young Harfoot who dreams of experiencing the world outside her tribe, and is the first to encounter The Stranger.

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• Batman in My Basement: Having discovered The Stranger in a meteorite crater, she takes it upon herself to befriend and take care of him, carting him (with Poppy's help) to a nearby dwelling and hiding him for the night. The next day, she brings him a plate of snails to munch on and makes Poppy swear to tell no one.
  Nori: He could have landed anywhere, and he landed here. I know it sounds strange but somehow I know he's important. It's like there's a reason this happened. Like I was supposed to find him. Me. And I can't walk away from that.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Her wish for greater things seems to be granted when The Stranger appears. His presence puts her and her people in great danger, on account of the trio of mystics who are pursuing him and when he is eventually cast out by the Harfoot elders, Nori sadly says that she should never have forgotten she was just a small little Harfoot.
• Cheery Pink: She is a cheerful and adventurous little Harfoot who wears mostly pink in different shades.
• Curious as a Monkey: Her defining trait. She’s intrigued about the outside world beyond the cosy confines of the Harfoot camp, and when a mysterious stranger crash-lands near her home via what appears to be some sort of meteorite, she shows very little fear when approaching and attempting to befriend him.
• The Cutie: She's an adorably earnest Plucky Girl, and her diminutive stature, sweet face and Quirky Curls all go to emphasise her appeal.
• Defiant Stone Throw: Just as The Dweller prepares to finish off The Stranger, Nori beans her in the head with a pebble.
• Friend to All Living Things: Only Nori could befriend an amnesiac man that came from the sky and has dangerous powers.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: Her mother addresses her thusly after Nori says she wants to learn and explore more, insisting that the Harfoots are wild folk and need only concern themselves with their own lives.
• Gut Feeling: When she is questioned by Poppy why she is helping a potentially dangerous stranger that just fell from the sky, Nori justifies her actions by responding she just knows he is important and that they were fated to meet.
• Herald: The Stranger's fall from the sky near Rhovanion is this for Nori, and she firmly believes their meeting was fated. She takes his arrival as a call to the adventure she always wanted to happen, and by the end of Season 1, she and the Stranger head for the Lands of Rhun to learn about the mystery behind his coming to Middle-earth.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Nori befriends The Stranger, one of the Istari. The difference in height between them is quite noticeable, but this does not stops them from being good friends.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: As a Harfoot, Nori is not privy to the goings on outside of her tribe and she has wide, bright blue eyes.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Her relationship with The Stranger (in the finale revealed to be Gandalf himself) doubles up as an Odd Friendship, what with her being an adorable, mortal, teenage Harfoot, and him being an incredibly long-lived, unimaginably powerful Istar — a Maiar spirit dispatched to Middle-earth by Manwë to combat the threat of Sauron.
• Living Is More than Surviving: She snaps at her mother over the Harfoots’ cowering, fearful, secretive culture, though she’s quickly reminded that stealth is the only reason they’ve survived in Middle-earth the last thousand years.
• Nerves of Steel: She exhibits astonishing bravery (or foolhardiness) in the face of the supernatural nature of The Stranger and his otherworldly arrival in Middle-earth, even making it her mission to befriend him.
• Pals with Jesus: Nori befriends the Stranger, a man who fell from the sky in a meteor. The final of Season 1 reveals he is an Istari, implied to be everybody's favorite bearded wizard.
• Plucky Girl: In the face of the terrifying power of The Dweller and her cohorts, Nori remains steadfast, doing what she can to distract them away from The Stranger and, after his true identity as a powerful Istari is revealed, agreeing to break with her family and go off trail, accompanying him to the unknown lands of Rhûn.
• Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: She moans to Poppy about their cosy, pastoral existence and longs for adventure — just before The Stranger is literally delivered out of the blue and into her life.

Poppy Proudfellow

Portrayed by: Megan Richards

Nori's best friend.

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• Alone Among Families: Her entire family was killed in a landslide, making her stand out as a lonely figure in the deeply communal culture of the Harfoots. While most of the Harfoots carry their carts as a family, she's pointedly seen carrying hers completely alone. This also explains why she's a lot more cautious and worried about possible danger than Nori is.
• Big Eater: She chows down quite a lot of berries when given the chance.
• Deadpan Snarker: Poppy always has the right comeback.
  Nori: There's head-sense, Poppy, and there's heart-sense.
  Poppy: There's common sense and nonsense.
• The Drag-Along: Poppy acts as a reluctant voice of reason in her friendship with the impetuous Nori, and is constantly fretting about her lack of caution — especially when she's cajoled into Nori's plan to take care of and befriend The Stranger.
• Fat Best Friend: The most significantly plump of the Harfoots, shown having trouble slipping through a crack in a fence that the others slip through easily, and fulfills the best friend role for Nori.
• Little Miss Snarker: Poppy is a teenage girl whose only ways to communicate with others are sarcasm and roast.
• Stout Strength: She’s a well-built young girl and during the Harfoot migration, as she has no living family, she pulls her cart (her home and worldly belongings) alone and with no help.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: While she and Nori squabble about anything and everything, she's quick to jump to her defense and tell Malva to "mind her own fire" when Malva pesters a clearly upset Nori about her father's condition.

Sadoc Burrows

Portrayed by: Lenny Henry

Dubbed by: Thierry Desroses (European French)

One of the Harfoot elders and the keeper of their records.

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• The Chains of Commanding: His position as leader is not always pleasant. When a fellow Harfoot points out that Nori's rule-breaking should earn her an incredibly harsh penalty, Sadoc visibly winces and seems reluctant even when he doles out a lesser punishment. It's also all but stated that he has personally had to leave another Burrows (apparently his wife or daughter) behind to ensure the survival of the group, and she ended up "taken by wolves" - he knows how harsh but necessary their rules are. The painful task also falls to him to personally read out the names of all they've left behind so their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
• Einstein Hair: Sadoc has a bit of a dome similar to Albert Einstein and grizzly curly hair reminiscent of the Mad Scientist Afro. He is almost completely white-haired despite not looking that old, and is the closer thing to a scientist the clan of hobbits has, as he is a very erudite Astrologer.
• Ethnic Magician: Harfoots are noted in Tolkien's writings to be of darker skin tones than other hobbit races. He's also the nearest equivalent to a scientist or Astrologer in the Harfoot community in his capacity as a reader of signs and portents.
• Face Death with Dignity: He's mortally wounded while trying to free The Stranger from The Dweller and her cohorts. He remains calm, knowing that he's about to be reunited with his late wife and asks Nori, Poppy and Marigold to watch the sunrise with him.
• Grumpy Old Man: He's a stern sort, with little time for drama.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sadoc is fatally wounded by The Nomad, but survives long enough to help the others defeat her and her cohorts, and gets to Go Out with a Smile as the Sun rises.
• The Leader: The Harfoots of the Second Age live in fairly ramshackle, impermanent dwellings — a far cry from the salubriousness of Bag End — and he acts as one of the de facto leaders of their small community in his capacity as Trailsman.
• The Lost Lenore: While reading the names of the dead he pauses briefly before reading "Lavender Burrows" and in "Alloyed" he mentions his late wife indicating that she was lost during an earlier Migration.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Sadoc is trying to keep Harfoot tradition and lead them to better places, even if those two things are hard to reconcile. When they find out Nori broke their rules by helping the Stranger the punishment should be exile, but citing her youth he gives her the more lenient sentence of taking the back position in the caravan (which is still a dangerous rearguard, but he did this over the objections of other elders who were insisting on exile).
• Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: He's the keeper of the Harfoot records and is seen to be troubled by portents noted in the ancient book he carries with him — namely the significance of two antler-bearing hunters entering the Harfoot domain, which seems to suggest far more dangerous visitors will follow.

Largo and Marigold Brandyfoot

Portrayed by: Dylan Smith and Sara Zwangobani

"Look, we don't slay dragons. Not much for digging jewels. But there's one thing we can do I warrant, better than any creature in all Middle-Earth. We stay true to each other. No matter how the path winds, or how steep it gets, we face it with our hearts even bigger than our feet. And we just keep walking."

Nori and Dilly's father and stepmother.

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• Agony of the Feet: Via some as-yet-unknown magical equivalency, The Stranger snapping a stick in half causes Largo's ankle to buckle at exactly the same moment, and he's laid up, unable to work or migrate. 
• Anger Born of Worry: Marigold relates to Nori's adventurous spirit, as she admits to being the same in her own youth. However, she's furious when Nori breaks the Harfoot rules by bringing The Stranger into their camp, and the family subsequently finds themselves relegated to the back of the caravan migration — a punishment made far worse by the fact that Largo's twisted ankle means they are very likely to be left behind, which is essentially a death-sentence in Harfoot culture.
• Good Parents: Both of them are sweet, kindly and supportive and Largo especially is indulgent of Nori's wanderlust.
• Good Stepmother: Marigold is kind and protective of Nori and Dilly, despite them not being her biological children.
• Happily Married: Largo and Marigold are very much in love.
• The Load: After harming his leg trying to set up a tent, he cannot help any longer with carrying the cart or traveling, and spends the rest of the season as a liability.
• Papa Wolf: In "The Eye", Largo puts himself between Nori and the three intimidating white-robed women, warning them to stay away from his daughter.
  Largo: You harm a hair on her foot and I'll brain the lot of you!
• Parents as People: Marigold tries to discourage Nori from haring off-trail and helping The Stranger. When she sees just how despondent Nori is after the accident with the tree, saying that Marigold was right to remind her that she's just a small Harfoot who can't do anything, Marigold is guiltstricken for putting those words into her stepdaughter's head and changes her tune.
• Second Love: Marigold is Largo's second wife, after the death of his first, and therefore stepmother to his children, which explains why they don't share her darker skin tone. 
• Synchronisation: After Nori makes contact with The Stranger, at one point he begins to behave erratically, and snaps a large stick clean in half — at exactly the same time, Largo is helping to put up a tent-pole and his ankle buckles, rendering him unable to walk properly. 

Dilly Brandyfoot

Portrayed by: Beau Cassidy

Nori's little sister.

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• Cheerful Child: She's an adorable little fluff-ball, with huge, bright eyes and a cheerful demeanor.

Dwarves

Dwarves in General

• Large Ham: The dwarves all have bombastic personalities, hollering during a match between Elrond and Prince Durin.
• Manly Man: The Dwarves of Khazad-dum are the "Camp Macho" in this world. They are a loud, foul-mouthed, and bombastic Proud Warrior Race with thick Scottish accent, ready to hold a rock-smashing contest with Elves just to prove who is tougher.
• Rage Helm: The personal guards wear hideous masked helmets as their Nogrod and Belegost ancestors once did in combat.
• Whatevermancy: The dwarves have a mystical bond with minerals. Given they're the creation of a smithing god and live in underground caverns, they would need to have a sixth sense for digging for their own safety.

Prince Durin

"A dog may bark at the moon, but he cannot bring it down."

Portrayed by: Owain Arthur

Dubbed by: Éric Herson-Macarel (European French)

"This could be the beginning of a new era for our people."

Prince of Khazad-dûm and an estranged friend of Elrond.

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• Ancestral Name: He shares his father's name.
• Adaptational Mundanity: In the Legendarium, it's stated all "King Durins" may be the same Durin (Durin the first, a.k.a Durin the Deathless) reincarnated continuously. Durin III instead states that upon being crowned, all King Durins receive "all the memories of his predecessors" in a more ambiguous note.
• Braids of Barbarism: Durin IV has the most impressionable beard among his people, being kept into an incredible long and thick braid.
• Brave Scot: Prince Durin is made of the same mold as movie Gimli, boisterous, competitive, Fiery Redheaded and is even played by a Welsh actor doing Scottish accent. In the same time, he is somewhat closer to how Gimli is portrayed in the books, dignified, scholarly, insightful, and while not without funny moments, he is neither a Butt-Monkey or Plucky Comic Relief.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: A powerful Dwarven lord with a rough manly demeanour, but he loves his wife and children and his issue with Elrond is entirely due to feeling snubbed by a man he considered his friend.
• Calling Out for Not Calling: Durin makes it clear that Elrond is no longer welcome in Moria when he pays an unexpected visit, as he hadn't written or visited once in the past twenty years, and is only turning up now because he needs a favor.
  Elrond: Their prince, Durin, is an old and dear friend — almost like a brother to me. [...] Oh, if I know Durin, he'll do far more than that^note grant Celebrimbor access to his workshop. He'll welcome us with open arms, rams' horns blaring, tables filled with salted pork and enough malt beer to fill the Anduin.
  Dwarf Guard: [opens the peep hole in the gate] What d'you want?
  Elrond: [smiling magnanimously] It is Elrond of Lindon, accompanied by Celebrimbor, Lord of Eregion. We seek an audience with Prince Durin.
  Dwarf Guard: [beat] No.
• Child Supplants Parent: By the end of Season 1, Disa manages to convince Durin that his father is a Scatterbrained Senior who cannot make anymore logical decisions to run the kingdom, and should be deposed of his power for this reason.
• Curse Cut Short: While meeting with Gil-galad, Durin mocks the elves for their longevity and bureaucratic ways by saying it takes them several weeks "to decide to take a sh-", which Elrond strategically interrupts.
• Determinator: He's got incredible stamina, being able to cause Elrond to break into a sweat during a test of endurance while showing no signs of fatigue himself.
• Fiery Redhead: Sports the thick, bushy red hair common to many Dwarves in the cinematic trilogies, and is amusingly quick to take offence and flare up.
• A Friend in Need: After the king refuses to help the Elves, Durin decides to go behind his back and mine in secret for Mithril with Elrond. King Durin catches them, resulting in Elrond's exile, and a heated argument between father and son that results in Prince Durin getting disinherited after calling Elrond his brother.
• The Gadfly: He tricks Gil-galad into handing over his dining table by claiming that it's made of a rare mineral that has great cultural significance to Dwarves. Elrond works out what happened when he spots Durin chuckling after one of the Elves carrying the table struggles with its weight.
• Get Out!: He initially refuses to allow Elrond access to Khazad-dûm, furious over Elrond neglecting their friendship for decades. Following a contest of strength that Elrond loses, Durin demands that Elrond leave and never return, but Elrond and Disa are able to cajole him into relenting.
• Henpecked Husband: Durin loves his wife, but is bewildered by her ability to take charge through sheer bossiness. When Durin begrudgingly agrees to let Elrond meet his wife and kids — pointedly saying the visit will be brief — Disa insists the Half-elf stay for dinner and gives Durin a Death Glare when he tries to object.
• Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: After hearing his own son saying without any shame that he considers Elrond, an Elf, to be his brother and puts him above his own kin, King Durin rips off the royal collar Durin IV is wearing and strips him of his title. The throne of Khazad-dhum is now passed down to his unnamed younger brother.
• Interspecies Friendship: With Elrond the half-elven.
• Large Ham: He's loud, exuberant and full of bluster, bantering with mad-eyed snark when Elrond pays a visit.
• Missing Mom: Implied to be dead in the heated argument between Durin and his father.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: He's designed around the archetypical Dwarf presented by the cinematic trilogies: a stout, truculent, bombastic redhead sporting a large nose and an impressive, braided beard. However, despite some turbulence, he doesn't harbor any real hatred towards the Elves.
• Prospector: He leads a secret mission into the depths of the mountain in search for the newly discovered mithril.
• Red Hot Masculinity: Prince Durin always dresses in red with golden applications. He is a bombastic Fiery Redhead of a dwarf, with a thick braided beard, and will never back up from the opportunity of holding a rock-smashing contest with Elves just to prove who is tougher. This being said, he is a reasonable man who is best friends with an Elf.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Furious at his father refusing to give mithril to the elves, Prince Durin reluctantly gives Elrond the bad news. Upon seeing that mithril does have a rejuvenating effect on the elves, Prince Durin defies orders to keep digging and uncovers the mother lode: a chasm with massive veins of mithril descending into the depths. However, King Durin angrily exiles Elrond, berates and nearly disowns his son, and orders the chasm sealed up.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man:
  • Durin is a Fiery Redhead and part of a Proud Warrior Race as a Dwarf, while Elrond is a patient Elvish scholar. This doesn't stop them from getting along.
  • Inverted when it comes to his father, who doesn't bat an eyelid at the thought of elves going extinct, while Durin tearfully begs him to have a heart.
• Soap Opera Disease: According to his father, Durin suffered from a nameless life-threatening desease when he was born, and barely made it alive.

Princess Dísa

Portrayed by: Sophia Nomvete

"A mountain is like a person. It's a long and ever-changing story made of countless small parts."

Durin's wife, Princess of Khazad-dûm and mother to his two children.

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• Big Fun: She sports the rotund form and exuberance typical to her people and is amusingly overbearing when bickering with Durin.
• Black Boss Lady: She’s very assertive and since she's married to the Prince of Khazad-dûm, she's a very high-ranking Dwarf.
• The Blacksmith: We don't know how skilled she is, but Disa is the first female character to be shown blacksmithing in anything Tolkien related. In episode 6, she was forging an axe.
• Girls with Moustaches: A subtle variation; the Dwarven women presented in the series sport fluffy "mutton-chop" sideburns and Dísa is no exception.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Like all Dwarfs, she covets gold and as the Princess of Khazad-dûm, it's unsurprising that she's fully decked out in gold accessories, including a large gold collar, bracelets and multiple gold rings. Her hands are dusted with gold powder and even her eyes are a deep, golden-amber colour.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Disa can sing with amazingly powerful Melismatic Vocals.
  • She exhibits a hidden ambitious side, and is hell-bent on becoming Queen Consort. While her intentions are seemingly genuine, Disa still pushes Durin to take over from his father, making her a far greyer character.
• Lady Macbeth: She gives Durin an earful on how to commit treason, telling him they should be ruling Moria and mine the Mithril in place and contravention of his unfitting father, the King.
• Magic Music: She is capable of communicating with the mountain itself through her powerful Melismatic Vocals and aids in saving four dwarves that were trapped in a collapsed tunnel.
• Mythology Gag: Her name derives from the one single female dwarf name Tolkien ever gave: Dís (in canon, the name of Thorin's unseen sister).
• Oh, My Gods!: Disa occasionally shouts "Aulë's beard!!!" when she gets frustrated.
• One-Woman Wail: In-Universe, she is the source of one, which is a plea to the mountain to let the miners get out alive, following a cave-in.
• Sacred Hospitality: Unlike her husband, Dísa is not upset at Elrond for missing out her wedding or the birth of her children, and welcomes him back with open arms, insisting he stay for a lavish dinner.
• Sexy Slit Dress: Her silvery dress is slit on the right side.
• Tempting Fate: Dísa tells Elrond that the Dwarves mine and craft by communing with the earth itself. Little does she know that below the delvings of the Dwarves there are all sorts of horrors, one of which will be the bane of their kingdom.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Dísa has unusual golden colored eyes that no other character has in the show. They reflect her role as the Lady Macbeth to her husband, trying to convince him to usurp his own father.

King Durin III

"The iron that muyst bear the most heavy of burdens must also endure the most riogorous tempering."

Portrayed by: Peter Mullan

"There can be no trust between hammer and rock. Eventually one or the other must surely break."

King of Durin's Folk and ruler of Khazad-dûm

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• Adaptational Mundanity: In the Legendarium, it's stated all "King Durins" may be the same Durin (Durin the first, a.k.a Durin the Deathless) reincarnated continuously. Durin III instead states that upon being crowned, all King Durins receive "all the memories of his predecessors" in a more ambiguous note.
• Brain Uploading: He alludes to the notion that, upon being crowned, each dwarven king receives all the combined experiences of his predecessors in his mind. As the current King, he would know.
• Cool Crown: Durin's crown is a seemingly made of iron and very solid-looking, complete with a ring of vicious looking spikes. It provides a rugged contrast to the elegantly fancy crown Gil-galad sports, but is no less cool.
• Famous Ancestor: He's one of the oldest Dwarf-lords in Tolkien’s works and is the ancient ancestor of Thorin Oakenshield.
• Ignored Expert: Durin completely ignores his own father when he is told that mining after mithril to help the Elves might come at the cost of their on kingdom. The mining awakens a Balrog in the depths of Moria.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • His refusal to mine the Mithril, not even to save the Elves, ultimately turns out to be based on valid and reasonable concerns, as the vein is sitting right on top of a sleeping Balrog.
  • His statement that the elves' time has come and that this was decreed by far wiser minds than his is harsh but entirely accurate, and the elves themselves eventually come to see this as well.
• King Bob the Nth: King Durin the Third, and his son is prince Durin the Fourth, next in line to rule Moria.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Like his son, he's an archetypal Dwarf, albeit more aged, sporting a massive grey beard, a huge nose, and is gruff and no-nonsense in personality.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The King puts the wellbeing of his Dwarves above all else.
• Scatterbrained Senior: Played with in regard to King Durin the III. He is mentally sound and a very wise man who brought very valid points in his disagreements with his son about the mithril, he just happens to be old-fashioned in the way he does the things, getting stuck in the past and never accepting new ideas. From Disa's point of view, her father in law is a "lice-bearded, uncaring, old fool" who has grown "too old, too suspicious, his mind too feeble", at hearing he refused to help Elrond and mine the mithril. She swears to her husband that they will depose him of his power one day and inherit his kingdom.

Beasts

Snow-troll

A troll inhabiting the Northern Waste that menaces Galadriel's companions.

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• All Trolls Are Different: Whilst being fairly similar to the mountain, cave and hill-troll species established in The Lord of the Rings films, the snow-troll has huge, boar-like tusks curving out from the side of its mouth and several patches of fur.
• Boom, Headshot!: After slicing at the troll's legs to topple it, Galadriel finishes the job by piercing its skull with her brother's dagger.
• Giant Mook: It represents the first enemy faced by any heroic group in the series, and after brutalising Galadriel's companions, she skilfully dispatches it single-handedly, establishing her combat credentials.
• Monstrous Humanoid: It’s vaguely human in proportion, but stands over 12 feet tall and sports a grotesque bestial face with huge, curved tusks.

The Wyrm

A gigantic sea creature that inhabits the Sundering Seas.

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• Insistent Terminology: It's seemingly some sort of gigantic, spined sea-serpent or fish, but Halbrand and the others only ever refer to it as "the Wyrm". Tolkien used the word interchangeably with "dragon" in his writings, as it's the Old English for "serpent".
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Its full form is kept menacingly vague, though from what's glimpsed, it seemingly combines whale-like proportions with the spiked fins of a scorpion fish and the upturned snout of a sturgeon.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Unlike the terrestrial dragons of the First Age or the winged fire-drakes like Smaug, the Wyrm is a sea-dragon that prowls the ocean to the west of Middle-earth, and is depicted on the maps of Númenor as a warning for sailors to stay out of its territory.
• Sea Serpent: The Wyrm is a gargantuan creature, hundreds of feet long and easily dwarfing the small piece of wreckage carrying Halbrand's companions and Galadriel. True to form, it had destroyed Halbrand's boat and is intent on finishing him and his crew off.

Istari

The Stranger

"Alone, it’s just a journey. Now adventures, they must be shared."

Portrayed by: Daniel Weyman

"Betimes, our paths are laid before us by powers greater than our own. In those moments, it’s our task to make our feet go where our hearts wish not to tread. No matter the perils awaiting us on the way."

A mysterious figure who descended to Middle-earth from the stars.

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• 11th-Hour Superpower: The Stranger struggles for most of season 1 to use his mysterious powers, accidentally hurting the Harfoots with them several times and scaring them. In the final of the Season 1, he refuses to use his magical powers out fear of hurting someone again, but after receiving a pep talk from Nori, he makes a complete use of them to defend the Harfoots and obliterates the Dweller and her two followers.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In Tolkien's writing, the Istari arrived to Middle-earth during the Third Age (except maybe the blue ones who might've arrived earlier). Here Olórin is shown arriving during the Second Age.
• Adaptational Personality Change: While only hinted, he may be the future Gandalf, who in the books, is a rather grouchy and impatient Grumpy Old Man and a manipulative Deadpan Snarker with a fiery temper to boot. Here, he is almost the complete opposite of who he is in the books. He is always gentle, polite and mild-tempered. Because of his amnesia, the Stranger lacks most his manipulative traits, being still very naive about the world around him. In the books, he is noted to refuse to indulges the hobbit children, while here he befriends two teenage Harfoot girls.
• Ambiguously Human: He's certainly human-looking, but as the Harfoots note, no human could survive falling from the sky, never mind his unusual abilities. He's also, by human standards, hugely tall, with the harfoots initially identifying him as a giant. He's later revealed to be one of the istari.
• Amnesiac God: The Stranger is one of the Istari and was sent to Middle-earth without any memory. He slowly learns how to navigate the world with the help of Nori Brandyhood and discover his true purpose.
• Amnesiacs are Innocent: The Stranger is sent to Middle-earth without any memory. All he has in mind is a mysterious constellation where he has to go. Despite his amnesia, he is a Gentle Giant who only wants to help and protect his Harfoot friends.
• Angel Unaware: He is unaware of his own nature and learns at the end of Season One he is an Istar.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While the Stranger is a Gentle Giant who will refuse to use his powers around the people he cares about, he will use his tremendous powers to defend himself and his dear ones if the situation is really dire.
• Big Damn Heroes: He saves Nori, Poppy and Malva just in the nick of time from being killed by wolves, literally body-slamming the pack leader just as it's about to grab Malva and then scaring them all away by hitting the ground with his palm and forearm, creating a Shockwave Stomp.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Big and bushy just like in the books and movies.
• Came from the Sky: An ominous meteorite-like object blasts through the sky and crashes near to the Harfoot encampment. Curious Nori Brandyfoot approaches the impact site and discovers the Stranger curled up in the bowl of the crater.
• Canon Character All Along: The first season finale establishes that he is one of the Istari, which all but confirms that he is Olórin — the wizard who would later become better known by the name Gandalf.
• Cast from Hit Points: When he creates a shockwave to frighten off the wolves threatening the Harfoots, instead of his magic harming something else around him as a side effect, it creates a nasty bruise on his own arm. Perhaps notably it's the only time to date he's used his magic as a weapon.
• Extreme Omnivore: He eats snails — shells and all — due to not knowing better.
• Falling into the Plot: The Stranger is one of the main characters and he falls out of the sky at the end of episode 1. Various characters witness his coming under the form of a comet and have different interpretations of what they see. Later is revealed he is one of the Istari sent on Middle-earth by Eru Iluvatar.
• Fire, Water, Wind: The Stranger was shown having affinity for water when he instinctively froze it to heal himself, for fire when he was shown to low-key control it and for wind when he almost blew away the Dweller.
• Gentle Giant: The Stranger is this to the little Harfoots. They even call him "the giant". He has tremendous powers that he cannot control yet and is always worried he may accidentally hurt them, and when that finally happens, he choses to leave them for their own safety.
• Good All Along: Throughout season 1, he's heavily implied to be an incarnation of Sauron suffering from amnesia, with even Sauron's worshippers believing that to be the case. But in the season finale he turns out to one of the Istari/Wizards (while it's also hinted his true identity is Olórin/Gandalf), making him a force of good.
• Good Witch Versus Bad Witch: The Stranger fights the three evil Priestesses of Sauron from Rhun in the final of Season 1. The Dweller in particular is able to wield powerful potent magic. He defeats them by making them to return to their wraith-like forms.
• Harbinger of Impending Doom: His arrival to Middle-earth coincides with the increasing evil forces and the return of Sauron to power.
• Human Aliens: He appears to be human, but came from the sky, takes awhile to learn a language that isn't Elvish and demonstrates supernatural powers. The way Nori takes him under her wing also evokes stories of a protagonist adopting an extraterrestrial. He's eventually revealed to be an Istari — a "wizard" sent to Middle-earth by Manwë to protect its peoples from Sauron.
• An Ice Person: He uses some form of ice magic to freeze his arm and soothe the pain after injuring it when driving away the wolves threatening the Harfoots. In his meditation, he doesn't notice Nori touching his arm, and unknowingly freezes her hand, almost harming her. She becomes afraid of him after this.
• Inept Mage: Played for Drama, his inability to do magic without unpredictable and dangerous side effects injures several people and frightens the Harfoots, to his evident distress.
• Interspecies Friendship: He strikes a beautiful friendship with the Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot.
• Language of Magic: The Stranger, revealed to be one of the Istari, is chanting spells several times by using words like "Á keuta" (Restore, renew, refresh), "Á envinyata" (Heal), "Lótë" (Flower), "Á kuita" (Live) from he Elven language of Quenya.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He doesn't seem to know who he is or why he's there, only that he needs to be in a place where a specific constellation is visible. The Sauron worshipping Dweller and her cohorts wipe away the block on his memory, revealing that he's actually been sent to oppose Sauron. It also has the effect of making him able to speak fluently in the Harfoots' language and understand why he needs to get to that spot.
• Light 'em Up: The Stranger reveals The Dweller and her comrades to be Wraiths when she attacks them with The Dweller's own staff, before incinerating them with a blast of holy light.
• Light Is Good: His true nature as an Istar is revealed only when he uses his light-related abilities to banish the priestesses.
• Looks Like Jesus: He has shaggy long hair, bushy eyebrows and an unkept beard, and all around disheveled appearance.
• Macabre Moth Motif: The Stranger turns three worshippers of Sauron in wraiths, then their spirits scatter into thousands of moths flying away.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: Played With. The Stranger is a supernatural being and is hunted down by the Mystics for the entirety of Season one, believing that he is Sauron.
• Messianic Archetype: If the Istar from the meteorite is an amnesiac Gandalf, than he is implicitly a Messianic figure. While he is barely at the beginning of his journey, he already checks several conditions, he is a Friend to All Living Things, Looks Like Jesus, has Healing Hands and found True Companions in the Harfoots despite starting on the wrong foot with them. He even got his own version of the biblical Three Magi in the Mystics, a trio of evil women from the lands of Rhun, who were searching for him.
• Mistaken Identity: Because of his supernatural nature and him falling out of the sky, The Dweller and her duo of Sauron worshippers tracking him mistakenly believe he's Lord Sauron. He's actually an Istari, and has been sent to Middle-earth to act as Sauron's Good Counterpart.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Once he realizes what his magic is capable of, after unknowingly killing some fireflies, he expresses fear that he is a threat to the Harfoots.
• Mysterious Stranger: He is a man of mysterious origins with magical powers who fell from the sky, and about whom Nori feels very protective, thinking they were destined to meet. Because he is The Unintelligible and doesn't remember who he is, he has No Social Skills and comes across as naïve and almost childlike. His presence does take the Harfoots out of their insignificant normality, and sets them up on a path of adventure, but also into the path of possible danger, as unknowingly to everyone, he is chased by The Dweller, a terrifying worshipper of Sauron.
• Naked on Arrival: Downplayed, the Stranger is sent to Middle-earth wearing nothing but some sort of underwear.
• Now, Let Me Carry You: His supernatural presence seemingly causes Largo to badly twist his ankle — a literal death sentence to Harfoots, who are always on the move and have to cart their homes with them — but The Stranger, maybe out of guilt, volunteers to help drag the Brandyfoot family cart and not let them get left behind.
• Our Angels Are Different: He is an Istar send to Middle-earth by Eru Iluvatar to guard his creations against the forces of evil.
• Portent of Doom: Him falling out of the sky is, according to Sauron's followers, a sign that his return is near. This turns out to be misdirection, as Sauron had been hiding in plain sight this whole time.
• Power Echoes: Whenever his shouts, his voice reverberates and the wind starts to blow out of nowhere because of his dormant magic powers.
• Quest for Identity: The Stranger is an amnesiac Ambiguously Human who fell from the sky near the Harfoot camp. When he wakes up all he knows is that he must find a certain constellation, but other than that, he doesn't know from where he is or what he is. He gets mistaken for an amnesiac Sauron by three worshipers from Rhun, and fighting them, he learns he is a wizard. With the help of Nori Brandyfoot, he travels to Rhun in the search of said constellation, hoping to learn why was he sent to Middle-earth.
• Tomato in the Mirror: After meeting the priestesses of Sauron who mistake him for their Dark Lord, he comes to believe too he is an amnesiac Sauron or at least an evil being. He spends several days sulking at the fact he has to accept that is his true nature. Luckily, Nori returns after him and convinces him that only he gets to decide what kind of person he wants to become. He confronts the priestesses and discovers that he is not Sauron anyway, but an Istar and a force of good.
• Token Wizard: Among the Harfoots, he already was a Token Super, but in the final of Season 1, it is revealed he is one of the Istari.
• The Unintelligible: Initially he speaks either only in Quenya, which Nori cannot understand^note the two words he shouts at her in "Adrift" — "Mana úrë" — translate to "What is heat?" or repeating words he hears without understanding them, with the rest being unintelligible roaring. He does eventually pick up some English words like "Nori" and "friend", though, and is able to construct some basic sentences by halfway through the first season. By the finale he's able to give sage advice, most notably when he tells Nori "when in doubt, follow your nose".
• Wizard Beard: He is part of the Istari, and sports a bushy unkept long beard.
• You No Take Candle: After being sent on Middle-earth as an Emergent Human, the Stranger has no surviving or communicating skills, except for yelling. Nori tries to teach him to talk, and his first phrases are simplistic because of his reduced vocabulary.
  The Stranger: My great thumb. My great thumb.
  Nori: No. Mi... migration. Like, mi-gra-tion.

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