History Characters / MiddleEarthFilmTheFellowship

* UselessProtagonist: He's the least capable member of the Fellowship by a long shot, requiring constant babysitting from the other members to get anywhere. Sam becomes the real driving force of the quest once the duo gets separated from the rest of the Fellowship, responsible for not only carrying all of their luggage, but also protecting Frodo from harm, stopping him from hurting himself while entranced by the Ring and giving him constant moral support. Frodo is also totally oblivious to Gollum's treachery, only getting as far as he does because Sam's watchful eyes prevents Gollum from just openly picking him off. Frodo is also terrible at fighting, having no kill to his name while his fellow Hobbits all have several, with Sam in particular not only driving off Shelob but also cutting down several orcs by himself. It would not be too harsh to say that Frodo's role in the trilogy is like that of a walking lockbox for the Ring, while Sam is the one who actually takes that box to Mordor.

* UselessProtagonist: He's the least capable member of the Fellowship by a long shot, requiring constant babysitting from the other members to get anywhere. Sam becomes the real driving force of the quest once the duo gets separated from the rest of the Fellowship, responsible for not only carrying all of their luggage, but also protecting Frodo from harm, stopping him from hurting himself while entranced by the Ring and giving him constant moral support. Frodo is also totally oblivious to Gollum's treachery, only getting as far as he does because Sam's watchful eyes prevents Gollum from just openly picking him off. Frodo is also terrible at fighting, having no kill to his name while his fellow Hobbits all have several, with Sam in particular not only driving off Shelob but also cutting down several orcs by himself.

* UselessProtagonist: He's the least capable member of the Fellowship by a long shot, requiring constant babysitting from the other members to get anywhere. Sam becomes the real driving force of the quest once the duo gets separated from the rest of the Fellowship, responsible for not only carrying all of their luggage, but also protecting Frodo from harm, stopping him from hurting himself while entranced by the Ring and giving him constant moral support. Frodo is also totally oblivious to Gollum's treachery, only getting as far as he does because Sam's watchful eyes prevents Gollum from just picking him off. Frodo is also inept at fighting, something all of his fellow Hobbits can do, with Sam in particular not only driving off Shelob but also cutting down several orcs by himself.

* GutturalGrowler: He rarely speaks without a snarl to his voice.

* BaritoneOfStrength: As a Maia, he's one of the most powerful beings in Middle-earth, and he acquits himself very well in combat. Ian McKellen portrays him with a fittingly deep, melodious voice.

* HumansAreBastards: As noted under AdaptationalAngstUpgrade. It's not a ''huge'' part of his personality, but it's definitely there to some degree. He's much slower to trust other Men than he is other beings, and the primary reason he runs away from his responsibilities as rightful king is because of his awareness of human failings and the [[BoomerangBigot realization those failings are in himself as well]]: he doesn't want to be king for fear of becoming a tyrant.

* BadassNormal: Until he gets the re-forged Narsil, which is a powerful artifact of a blade in its own right that gives him a major leg up in battle, Aragorn is this to a T as the most natural fighter of the cast, even with his special heritage as the heir of Isildur. His first real fight on-screen? Tackling multiple Nazgûl at once in a bit of an ambush surprise and managing to ward them off ''by himself'', even if only temporarily. He's considered one of the greatest soldiers of Man, if not ''the'' greatest, and earns that reputation. The only deviation is his HealingHands, which he rarely uses in favor of more practical medicine.

* BadassNormal: Until he gets the re-forged Narsil, which is a powerful artifact of a blade in its own right that gives him a major leg up in battle, Aragorn is this to a T as the most natural fighter of the cast, even with his special heritage as the heir of Isildur. His first real fight? Tackling multiple Nazgûl at once in a bit of an ambush surprise and managing to ward them off ''by himself'', even if only temporarily. He's considered one of the greatest soldiers of Man, if not ''the'' greatest, and earns that reputation. The only deviation is his HealingHands, which he rarely uses in favor of more practical medicine.

* IGaveMyWord: After Pelennor Fields, the army of the dead demand Aragorn release them, as he promised he would. Gimli points out they could still be useful, but Aragorn chooses to keep his promise.

->''"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor! Go back to the shadow! The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! '''YOU SHALL NOT PASS!'''"''

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Despite him promptly putting the two Hobbits to work cleaning the dishes as punishment for it, Gandalf's slight smile and stern but otherwise gentle tone when he busts Pippin and Merry for spectacularly setting off his dragon firework at Bilbo's birthday party indicates that he was a fair bit more amused by them doing so than he lets on.

--->'''[=McKellen=]''': Why don't I zap them?
--->'''Jackson''': (thinking quickly) ...ah, you see, the staff is out of batteries and the local alchemy shop is closed for the war.

** As noted in AdaptationalWimp, Gandalf losses or has a harder time of fights in the film verse than the book-verse. Supposedly, this is more cinematich, and it raises the stakes for the Fellowship when their is wise-and-powerful wizard is beaten. His staff is destroyed by the Witch-King of Angmar in the extended edition of ''Return Of The King''[[spoiler: and by Sauron in ''The Desolation of Smaug'', just before Gandalf is captured.]]

* TheGadfly: Shoves Sam into Rosie's path at Bilbo's birthday, then cackles like a maniac at the sight of them dancing.
* GeekPhysiques: Judging from his capture on Cirith Ungol in the films.
* GoodIsNotSoft: "Release him, or I'll cut your throat!"

* HeroicBSOD: He goes into one after Gandalf falls fighting the Balrog in Moria.
* TheHerosJourney: Frodo sets off from the Shire to accomplish a mission given to him by [[TheHerald Gandalf]], and despite being given the option to head back home, he decides to keep going with the mission. He succeeds in his quest to get the One Ring to Mount Doom and though he succumbs to its corruption, he still destroys it albeit accidentally. Unfortunately, he can't recover from the physical and mental injuries he succumbed through his journey due to the Ring's influence and more, leading to him not being able to return to the Shire, as he ends up going with Gandalf to the Undying Lands as a reward. Thankfully, he seems to be content despite this given the smile he gives to his friends as he leaves.

* KubrickStare: [[spoiler:When the One Ring finally corrupts him and he claims it for himself, he sports this stare for only an instant.]]

* MoreHeroThanThou: He attempts to abandon all the rest so he doesn't drag them into danger, and almost succeeds entirely.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He has a couple moments of this: first when he is talked down by Sam after threatening him while under the Ring's influence; [[spoiler: the second after he fails to destroy the Ring, instead knocking Gollum off the ledge by accident in the scuffle to possess it. The look he gives Sam makes it clear that he's deeply saddened by what he did.]] He has another one when he is [[spoiler: betrayed by Gollum in Shelob's cave, and realizes his horrible mistake in sending Sam away.]]

** He begins to channel this as the Ring starts digging its claws into him. Over the course of the second and third film, we see him gain tired, red bags under his eyes and his skin turn a deathly pale colour. During a fight with Sam, we see Frodo display a frenzied, almost feral, look in his eyes and begin to snarl in an all-too-familiar way...

* ShipperOnDeck: He's all for Sam/Rosie, to the point where he even forces Sam to dance with her during Bilbo's birthday party when Sam proves too shy to ask her to dance himself.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Towards Gollum/Sméagol.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Along with Merry, he is fairly blond in the films, whereas in the books blond Hobbits are a rarity.

* BattleButler: For Frodo.
* BerserkButton: Don't harm Frodo. Just ask Shelob.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Displays this in the ''Extended Edition'' of ''Return of the King'', worrying about Pippin as the two are separated. Merry berates Pippin for his curiosity, gives him his half of the pipe weed because he knows Pippin smoke all of his, and is clearly overtaken with worries when Gandalf leaves with Pippin for Minas Tirith. He remarks to Aragorn that he and Pippin have always been together, ever since they were kids, and he showed Pippin all he knows, and kept him safe, and now worries about being unable to protect him. Ironically after the Battle of the Pelenor fields, it's Pippin who finds an uncouncious Merry and saves him.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: He, along with Éowyn (who also literally breaks her arm), nearly dies from contact with the Witch-King.

->''"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor! Go back to the shadow! The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! '''You shall not pass!'''"''

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the book, Gandalf's GrumpyOldMan nature was played up a lot more. While his movie incarnation is still a rather grouchy and impatient DeadpanSnarker, his kinder and gentler side is a lot more prominent. He also seems to have a soft spot for children, as he at the beginning of the first movie indulges the cheering hobbit children by giving them a small sample display of his fiereworks -- which his book counterpart notably refused to do.

* TheFool: Being the youngest and most impressionable of the bunch, he's more prone to foolishness than his companions. According to Gandalf, he is a "Fool of Took!"

* BraveScot: He's the only Hobbit in the Fellowship with a Scottish accent (to achieve greater comic timing), and he's willing to fight when he has to. Just ask that Orc he stabbed InTheBack at Minas Tirith.

* FirstIbjuryReaction Legolas has this reaction in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', when he meets his WorthyOpponent in the form of Bolg, who manages to actually give Legolas a nosebleed. Legolas is clearly confused by the experience, and briefly looks at his own blood with surprise before going after Bolg again.

* FantasticRacism: As shown in the [[Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug second ''Hobbit'' movie,]] Legolas originally shared his father's disdain for anyone who wasn't an Elf, especially Dwarves.

** On the other hand, he himself also subjects Saruman to this, twice. First when he forces the latter out of Theoden's body and mind, and then when he NoSell's a fireball thrown by him and breaks his staff.

* TheFool: Being the youngest and most impressionable of the bunch, he's more prone to foolishness than his companions.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Along with Faramir, he's just about the only character in the story who the Ring cannot tempt. It should be noted that when he saves Frodo from Cirith Ungol, he was tempted very briefly, but gave it back nonetheless.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: He's young with {{Bishonen}} looks (and being played by Elijah Wood doesn't hurt!); in the books, hobbits are more pleasant-looking than beautiful. Then again, Frodo is explicitly described as fairly good-looking for a hobbit, and Hobbits do age more slowly than humans.

* AsskickingLeadsToAuthority: He's the Heir of Isildur and rightful King of the Dúnedain. He's a better tracker and woodsman than the Wood-elf Legolas, a deadly warrior, a skilled battlefield medic, strong-willed enough to use a Palantír and even wrench it out of Sauron's control, and wise enough to know he can't and must not use the One Ring.