History Characters / RingsOfPowerEnemies

* TheUsurper: Adar rebelled against Sauron years before Galadriel caught up to either of them.

[[Characters/RingsOfPowerElves Elves]] ([[Characters/RingsOfPowerGaladriel Galadriel]]) | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerMen Men]] | '''Enemies''' ([[Characters/RingsOfPowerSauron Sauron]]) | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerOtherBeings Other Beings]]-]]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wpbdj4rf1ts91.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I have been awake since before the breaking of the first silence. In that time, I have had many names."'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/CharlieVickers (as Halbrand), Creator/WillFletcher (as Finrod in Galadriel's vision)\\\

->'''Sauron:''' Without me, your people will fade and the shadow will spread and darken to cover all the world.\\
'''Galadriel:''' I should have left you on the sea.\\
'''Sauron:''' A sea that you were on because the elves cast you out. They cast you out for deigning to beg them for a few petty soldiers. What will they do when you tell them that you were my ally? When you tell them '''[[SuddenlyShouting that Sauron lives BECAUSE OF YOU?!]]'''\\\


Morgoth's successor, a fallen Maia who at first seeks to repent of his wrongs and heal that which he destroyed during his time serving Morgoth.

* AmbiguousSituation: How genuine his attempts at [[RetiredMonster retiring]] for a simple life on Númenor as a blacksmith, seeking redemption, and what - if any - orchestration he had in meeting Galadriel and the events and feelings that unfolded between them were. How much of it was her doing and how much of it was his doing. As a masterful liar and deceiver, even if he is telling the truth about something it is nigh impossible to trust his word.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Sauron could be the physical embodiment of this trope. Even when he has good intentions, he is going to use the cruelest methods to achieve his goals.
* ArchEnemy: Galadriel clearly considers him to be hers, especially after his murder and branding [[ItsPersonal of her brother Finrod]], considering it her mission in life to track down and destroy him, even refusing the paradise of Valinor to stay behind in Middle-earth to do so. Sauron, by contrast, sees Galadriel as his most valuable potential ally, even wishing her to become his queen and rule by his side.
* TheAtoner: Sauron tells Galadriel that with Morgoth out of the picture, he had a HeelRealization about how BeingEvilSucks and wishes to undo all the damage he caused. Galadriel dismisses him anyway, as he plans to reshape Middle-earth by ruling over it, which hints that he might just be looking for any excuse to become a tyrant. That being said, his apology for killing Finrod seems to be genuine.
* BecomingTheMask: Halbrand's actor Charlie Vickers states that he believes Sauron was still in his TheAtoner phase when meeting Galadriel, mostly because he "fears the Gods and he fears retribution". Halbrand being Halbrand is then the follow-up to Sauron praying for Eönwë's forgiveness but fleeing before facing the other Valar. On the other hand, he kept his manipulative nature intact.
* BigBad: He's the titular Lord of the Rings, and is the commander of an army of Orcs, trolls, and other monsters who served his former master, Morgoth. Or rather, he ''was''. When he appears in the flesh, he'd been ousted by Adar and taken human form, now deprived of all the resources that made him an immediate danger. Sauron's BigBad status from then on was built around manipulating everyone around him into helping him ascend to power. By the end of the first series, the elves and the orcs have played right into his hands.
* BadBoss: He performed horrific magical experiments on many of his own Orc followers, eventually to the point where Adar turned against him.
* BeautyIsBad: Waldreg describes Sauron as being a "beautiful servant" of Morgoth, who shall return one day to rule the Southlands.
* BlackKnight: Sauron wears dark spiky armor, similar to the suit he wears in the cinematic trilogy.
* ColorCodedEyes: Sauron gets a lot of close-ups of his deceptive greenish, hazel eyes.
* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: At some point after the War of Wrath, he takes the identity of Halbrand and tries to atone for all of his wrongdoings in his own way. On the raft, he tells Galadriel that he is from the Southlands, having fled after his homeland got destroyed by the orcs. They both arrive in Numenor where Galadriel learns that Halbrand might be the descendant of a royal line based on a pouch with a bird symbol he owns. She confronts him over it and Sauron does tell her that he found the pouch with the bird on a dead body. On his defense, he warned Galadriel he is not the hero she seeks and he just wants to live as a humble blacksmith in Numenor. In the end, he gives in to Galadriel's insistence and rolls with her belief that he is a king, reigniting his lust for "order". When Galadriel learns of his true identity, she is understandably heartbroken.
* DevilInDisguise: [[FallenAngel A fallen Maia]] disguised as a mere human.
* DevilInPlainSight: Despite all the mystery around him and all the cryptical things he said and did as Halbrand, nobody - especially Galadriel - suspected anything until it was too late.
* DarkMessiah: Sauron is a nominal MessianicArchetype who started as a force of good before becoming a FallenAngel, and whose present goal is to establish himself as both the ruler and the savior of Middle-earth, and he invites Galadriel to share this role with him. He claims he just wants to redeem himself by healing Middle-earth and rebuilding everything he destroyed under Morgoth, and by that he means conquering Middle-earth and controlling everything.
* DragonAscendant: He was Morgoth's right-hand man who took over when his master was banished to the Void. Subverted, as by the time he appeared Adar had rebelled against him and left Sauron with nothing.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He claims that he was released from being evil when Morgoth was defeated. A few sentences later, he fails to understand why Galadriel is trying to draw a distinction between "saving" and ''ruling'' Middle-earth. Sauron doesn't see his own evil because he isn't driven by spite the way his master was; he thinks he's trying to fix everything by making it ''orderly''.
* EvilIsBigger: He towers over the stooped Orcs in his service and is a head taller than most humans even when assuming human form.
* EvilCounterpart: Galadriel calls him the Dark Lord, while Sauron wants Galadriel to be his light.
* EvilMentor:
** For Galadriel, he tries to teach her how to get under people's skin and use their fear against them.
** For Celebrimbor, he shows him how to process the Mithril and the path to obtain the power of the Unseen World.
* EvilSorcerer: Described as such in Galadriel's prologue speech.
* FallenAngel: Much like the Balrog, Sauron is a Maia who was corrupted by Morgoth. Unlike the Balrog, he has apparently maintained a human size.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: As a human, he is a dashing, charming man with PuppyDogEyes, and an [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Aragorn look-alike]] to boot. But in the end he is a FallenAngel, a former servant of Morgoth, and someone whose deeds are so horrible that even the Orcs hate him.
* FakingTheDead: While the nature of a Maia's death is ambiguous, apparently Adar managed to kill temporary Sauron. Sauron either revived himself or survived the murder attempt, and feeling betrayed, he decided to take a human form and hide himself from everyone.
* FatalFlaw: The lack of self-awareness. His inability to make distinction between healing and remaking what he destroyed in the War of Wrath, and seeking to become a God-Emperor over Middle-earth is what makes Galadriel to reject his offer to become his queen consort, but he doesn't understand the reasoning behind her rejection and leaves in anger.
* FightingAShadow: Even as a Maia, his guts will spill just like anyone else's, but killing his physical body is only an inconvenience, as he can just reform a new one, though it may take some time. Adar killed Sauron prior to the start of the series, but he is able to come back in the form of Halbrand.
* GoodFeelsGood: And twisted when it comes to Sauron. He confides in Galadriel that after Morgoth was defeated, he enjoyed feeling the light of Eru Ilúvatar once again and sought to become an AscendedDemon. He tries to manipulate Galadriel into joining forces with him because she is his GoodCounterpart and could bind her light to him and together they could rule Middle-earth, earning the forgiveness of the Valar through her.
* HatedByAll: As Adar tells Galadriel, even the Orcs can't stand Sauron due to being treated as pawns in his ambitions.
* HellishPupils: When screaming in rage at Galadriel, his human disguise slips to show he has vertically-slitted pupils.
* HiddenInPlainSight: Initially believed to be either dead or in the process of resurrection, it turns out Sauron has been active this whole time, just adopting a false identity.
* HesBack: Before Galadriel finding him in the middle of the ocean, Sauron was a powerful Maia, right hand of Morgoth. Sometime after the War of Wrath, he spent centuries trying to tap the Power of the Seen and the Unseen world by using Orcs as his lab-rats, with the goal of healing Middle-earth of the destruction he and Morgoth provoked. But he gets betrayed and killed temporary by Adar. When Galadriel finds him, Sauron pretends to be a human, being at his lowest point, having given up whatever plans he had before. But Galadriel's determination to hunt down "Sauron", reawakens in him his desire for power and order. He recovers his strength and confidence and tries once again to obtain the power he wants. By the end of Season 1, he is back to his sadistic and deceiving ways, and makes a SarcasticConfession to Galadriel about how she saved him when he gave up on himself and pushed him to heights that no one did before.
* HornedHumanoid: Sauron can take many forms, but the mirror vision he shows to Galadriel reveals that his preferred form is the one of a TinTyrant with a horned RageHelm.
* HumanoidAbomination: Sauron is a fallen Maiar who takes a humanoid form, sometimes that of a colossal figure clad in spiky black armor.
* ICanChangeMyBeloved: Sauron attempts to weaponize this against Galadriel by claiming she could prevent him from being the DarkLord if they were married. It falls flat when he admits that he still can't understand that saving Middle-earth and ruling over it as a God-King are different.
* IHaveManyNames: When Galadriel demands to tell her his name, Sauron answers that he's had many names [[TimeAbyss dating back to the dawn of time]].
* ImmortalRuler: He's been alive since the breaking of the First Silence and his goal is to rule over Middle-earth, bringing an order that would ultimately oppress all living things.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Sauron first starts dropping hints about "binding" himself to Galadriel after watching her kill multiple Orcs, and threatening to torture others, as well as vowing to commit genocide on all Orcs just so Adar can helplessly watch.
* IntriguedByHumanity: Sauron is awestruck by the beauty of Numenor. He never thought that Men could touch this level of civilization. While he is being walked around Armenelos, he smiles at seeing several children playing, and later he decides he wants to live a simple life as a blacksmith in Numenor.
* {{Irony}}: Unknown to both characters, Sauron, as Halbrand saves Elendil's life, the very man whose blood line will became his bane one day.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Everything Sauron ever did or will do is about Sauron himself. He promptly forgot about Morgoth being trapped in the void, going to beg the Valar for forgiveness. Then he decided to just hide, fearing their retribution. Then he decided to hurt the Uruk so badly in his experiments to "heal Arda" that they decided to betray and kill him. Then he decided he wanted Eru's forgiveness and Galadriel's love, and tortured Galadriel because she dared to refuse him.
* KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: He knows a lot of horrible secrets, but especially about how to obtain the power of the Unseen World, which he is very happy to share with Celebrimbor.
* LoveRedeems: Deconstructed. After developing feelings for Galadriel, Sauron tells her that he will atone for all his crimes if she will be his queen. The implications being that he's holding her responsible for his inevitable lapse back into villainy once she rejects him.
* ManipulativeBastard: And how. He isn't known as The Deceiver for nothing. From the moment he met Galadriel, he manipulated everyone from Numenor to the Southlands.
* MirrorCharacter: Sauron and Galadriel in many ways are almost mirror opposites, Sauron representing darkness and fire where Galadriel represents light and water. There are, however, also many similarities between the two, something which Galadriel becomes increasingly aware of and horrified to realise during the first season. They’re both extremely HotBlooded [[{{Determinator}} Determinators]] who are not above using others to get what they want, and they both have a desire to rule and have influence over others. It’s these qualities that make Sauron see her as worthy of being his queen, as he believes he can see her greatness and her power where her fellow elves can’t.
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: After transporting Galadriel into an illusory world made of her memories, she sees his reflection in the sea, which looks darker and more intimidating than his current form.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: After Morgoth's defeat, the Orcs followed Sauron in the far Forodwaith. Sauron too used them as slaves and made abhorrent experiments on them to convey the power of the Seen and Unseen World. He sacrificed countless lives using Dark and blood magic, until one of them, Adar, got tired of the mistreat and killed him. Since then, the Orcs follow Adar, who genuinely cares for them.
* MookMaker: Galadriel narrates that after the defeat of the Great Foe, Sauron made sure the Orcs secretly multiplied in great numbers.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Without his contribution in forging the three rings, [[YourDaysAreNumbered the Elves]] would have had to abandon Middle-earth, and with them, his only organized opposition.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: As Halbrand he saves Elendil's life during the battle at Tirharad, and saves the elves with the knowledge he contributes to forging the rings and keeping them from having to leave for Valinor, not knowing that in the future Elendil will, along with Gil-Galad, ultimately bring about his downfall and the end of the Second Age.
* NotGoodWithRejection: How does Sauron respond to Galadriel's rejection of him? He roars in fury and then traps her in an illusion of her drowning. He also seems to have ''actually'' pushed her into the river because that's where Elrond finds her.
* NotQuiteDead: Adar claims he killed Sauron, except Sauron survived the assassination attempt and took the identity of Halbrand at some point before the current events.
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: When Galadriel confronts him about his deeds, Sauron claims that he truly wants to save Middle-earth and to atone, which is indeed a noble goal to have even if it's done through extreme means, except what he truly wants is to rule and reshape Middle-earth in his image, making his goal, ultimately, just selfish.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Implied. He doesn't seem able to understand that what he does and strives for is evil, regardless of his possible good intentions.
* OffscreenVillainy: In the first season we are shown his attempts at manipulation and corruption, with most other highlights of his malign long record being told or referenced by other characters.
* OrderIsNotGood: Sauron followed Morgoth out of desire for order and control, but after witnessing what a chaotic, meaningless destruction a nihilistic force like Morgoth can cause, he started to regret the path he chose and felt relived when Morgoth was finally defeated. He than migrated in the Forodwaith with many Orcs and started experimenting on them, in the search of a power that could help him impose the order he so much wants on Middle-earth. Adar informs Galadriel of all this and how his bad treatment of the Orcs got him "split open".
* PhysicalGod: For now, he has a physical form.
* PersonalityPowers: Befitting his deceiving and manipulative nature, Sauron is a shapeshifter and a MasterOfIllusion.
* PlayingWithSyringes: A magical example. After going into hiding, he delved deep into experiments with the Unseen World that involved sacrificing an uncounted number of orcs to uncover dark secrets hidden even from him.
* PromotedToLoveInterest: In the show, Sauron becomes Galadriel’s Implied LoveInterest, whom she has sexual tension with while he’s disguised as “Halbrand”, and even almost succeeds in seducing her to the dark side during the season finale. In the source material Galadriel has nothing but hostility for him, having personally helped oust him from his abode in Dol Guldur. The concept of the Dark Lord wanting the fair Elven lady was likely burrowed from The Silmarillion, wherein Morgoth had a VillainousCrush on Lúthien.
* PsychologicalProjection: He sees himself in Galadriel, as the dark to her light and vice versa. Galadriel confesses how betrayed she felt by people close to her who could no longer distinguish her from the very dark she was fighting. True to his nature, he is deceiving, but he does empathizes with Galadriel because he felt the same after Morgoth's defeat and Adar's betrayal. He assumes that Galadriel is like him; attracted to his darkness as he is attracted to her light, resulting in him asking her to rule Middle-earth by his side. Sauron gets her attention when he tells her that he's the only one who sees her greatness, when everybody else is doubting her.
* RedemptionQuest: Sauron tells Galadriel that after Morgoth's defeat, he went on a quest of healing Middle-earth in order to earn the forgiveness of the Valar. [[SubvertedTrope This being Sauron]], his way of healing and reconstructing what he helped destroy, was by making experiments on Orcs that would put to shame any EvilutionaryBiologist.
* ReformedButRejected: Sauron wants to continue his penance by "healing" Middle-earth, if possible, with Galadriel's help, but she reminds him that no penance could erase the evil he has done. Galadriel almost considers his offer once Sauron shows their future together, but outright rejects him when she realizes that he sees no distinction between saving Middle-earth and ruling it as a god-king.
* RetiredMonster: [[UnreliableNarrator According to himself]], he was originally intending to just lie low in Númenor after his temporary death at Adar’s hand without pursuing any vengeance or planning any evil schemes but Galadriel’s urging and advice reawakened his desire for “order”.
* RevealingSkill: Sauron's unmatched blacksmithing skills and power to influence others are the reasons his cover as the Man Halbrand are blown off. In Eregion, when he tries to help lord Celebrimbor, the best Elven smith, Galadriel gets suspicious of Halbrand's blacksmithing, which exceeded the knowledge of humans, even Elves. Than Celebrimbor starts talking about seeking to craft the power of the Seen and Unseen World, which is something the orc Adar warned her that only Sauron sought to do.
* SatanicArchetype: What he becomes by the end of Season 1, after deceiving everyone. Bonus points for having HellishPupils and Mordor as his lair.
* ShadowArchetype:
** In a sense, Sauron is what Galadriel could become if she would give in her darkest impulses. She is already revengeful, ambitious, not exactly above using people for her own ends, and is hell-bend on committing genocide against the Orcs. Galadriel is capable to recognize she would turn into a tyrant next to Sauron, though he merely wants her to be his Queen.
** Also he's a ShadowArchetype of his very future nemesis, Aragorn. His human identity is built of the same mold Aragorn was built as Strider, appealing to the fantasies of a young elven maiden growing up with the myths of Beren and Tuor fresh in mind. A "lost king" stripped of his royal upbringing and rightful throne from an evil impostor, humble in his looks and gruff in his ways but ultimately noble and good willed, ready to lead his people to salvation. But while Aragorn was the real deal, Halbrand was the impostor all along. And while Aragorn was eager to [[JumpedAtTheCall accept his destiny]], Halbrand [[RefusalOfTheCall kept refusing it until Galadriel snapped him out of his bad mental state]]
* ShapeshifterGuiltTrip: He uses this trick on Galadriel after she proceeds to attack him, and traps her into a MindRape where he takes the form of her brother back when they both lived in Valinor. Galadriel is taken aback to see him alive and falls for the deceit until "Finrod" starts to justify Sauron's deeds.
* ShapeshiftingTrickster: While he is not shown shapeshifting on screen, is implied anyway that he can take multiple forms. As Halbrand, he acts as an EvilMentor for Galadriel and Celebrimbor for his own ends.
* SingleTear: Sauron sheds a tear while confessing to Galadriel how relieved he was to be finally free of Morgoth. How genuine that was, only he know the answer.
* SoftSpokenSadist: A monstrosity of a being with a smooth voice, and inhumanly creepy.
* SpikesOfVillainy: The form he assumes when taking command of the Orc legion has long spikes jutting out of his head and shoulders.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Well, his plans are to heal and rebuild Middle-earth, though in his case it actually means ruling over the entire realm.
* TinTyrant: Just like in the prologue of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', Sauron assumes the form of a large humanoid wearing spiky black armour in the prologue of the series, although his set of armour -- from what we can see of it -- is different in this time period.
* TrickAndFollowPloy: Charlie Vickers believes Sauron wounded himself offscreen during the Orodruin's eruption, to make sure that Galadriel brings him in Eregion where he could take advantage of the Elven Smiths and use their knowledge for his own ends.
* {{Troll}}: Sauron must have had a lot of fun faking being a human, making constant {{Sarcastic Confession}}s about his true nature, yet going along with what the people chose to believe about him, deceiving everyone left and right, listening Galadriel recounting him how Sauron killed her brother and than leading him in Eregion.
* TimeAbyss: Sauron is possibly the oldest being in the show, and he has "been awake since before the breaking of the first silence."
* UndercoverWhenAlone: Sauron as Halbrand, has many moment where he looks genuinely upset, detached and conflicted whenever he is alone, blurring even more the border between the moments he was deceiving or genuine.
* UnreliableNarrator: With the revelation that Halbrand is Sauron, is clear the Sauron told Galadriel only about the parts that were convenient for him to pass as just a Man from the Southlands.
* UsingYouAllAlong: Galadriel accuses him of deceiving her the whole time and using her to touch his goals. Sauron claims it's the opposite; Galadriel helped him get his mojo back after he had already given up and decided ScrewThisImOuttaHere, and Galadriel's plan was so good that Sauron decided to just roll with it.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Adar claims that after the War of Wrath, Sauron intended to heal Middle-earth's wounds and create a new, perfectly ordered realm. This being Sauron, the process involved a lot of torturous magical experiments on his own subjects.
* VillainousCrush: Sauron wishes to make Galadriel his queen so that together they can heal (and rule) Middle-earth and pleads with her to "bind her light" to him and he will "bind his power" to her. He appears to have manufactured the whole scenario of him (in the form of Halbrand) ending up stranded at sea purely so that he can meet her and gain her trust in order to eventually win her to his side. Galadriel, though seemingly tempted, doesn't give in, [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame clearly being disgusted with his proposal]].
-->'''Sauron:''' All others look on you with doubt... I alone can see your greatness. I alone can see your light.\\
'''Galadriel:''' You would make me a tyrant.\\
'''Sauron:''' [[WeCanRuleTogether I would make you a queen.]] Fair as the sea and the sun. Stronger than the foundations of the earth.\\
'''Galadriel:''' And you... my king? The Dark Lord?\\
'''Sauron:''' No, not dark, not with you at my side. You told me once that we were brought together for a purpose... this is it. You bind me to the light, and I bind you to power. Together we can save this Middle-earth.
* VillainsBlendInBetter: Unlike Galadriel who struggles to accommodate in Numenor, he blends in better among Numenorians and tries to befriend them.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Sauron offers to make Galadriel his Queen, promising her godlike powers if she becomes the light to his darkness.
* ZorroMark: Villainous example; he branded Finrod's corpse and Adar's face with his mark.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Morgoth]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morgoth_in_the_lord_of_the_rings_the_rings_of_power.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:350:''Black Foe of the World'']]
The first Dark Lord, a fallen Vala who sought to conquer Middle-earth with a horde of monsters.
----

[[Characters/RingsOfPowerElves Elves]] ([[Characters/RingsOfPowerGaladriel Galadriel]]) | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerMen Men]] | '''Enemies''' | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerOtherBeings Other Beings]]-]]]]]

[[Characters/RingsOfPowerElves Elves]] | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerMen Men]] | '''Enemies''' | [[Characters/RingsOfPowerOtherBeings Other Beings]]-]]]]]

* AnimalsLackAttributes: Averted. The warg has some rather prominent teats on its underbelly, indicating that this individual may be a female.

* HornedHumanoid: The Balrog is a bulky humanoid demon that sports a pair of thick forward-curving horns.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When Adar makes his first appearance on screen, he says no words for a few minutes, but is the way he carries himself that establish important things for his character. He is introduced as an Elf-orc hybrid, resembling Sauron more than Sauron himself, making other characters to wonder if he is the Dark Lord himself. The Orcs kneel when he appears, paying their respects to him. Before mercifully killing a wounded Orc, he caresses his head while being on the verge of tears for having to put down the orc, establishing him as an AntiVillain leader of the Orcs who genuinely looks out after his kin, contrasting Morgoth and Sauron.

* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: At some point after the War of Wrath, he takes the identity of Halbrand and tries to atone for all of his wrongdoings in his own way. On the raft, he tells Galadriel that he is from the Southlands, having fled after his homeland got destroyed by the orcs. They both arrive in Numenor where Galadriel learns that Halbrand might be the descendant of a royal line based on a pouch with a bird symbol he owns. She confronts him over it and Sauron does tell her that he found the pouch with the bird on a dead body. On his defense, he warned Galadriel he is not the hero she seeks and he just wants to live as a humble blacksmith in Numenor. In the end, he gives in Galadriel's insistence and rolls with her belief that he is a king, reenacting his lust for "order". When Galadriel learns of his true identity, she is understandably heartbroken.

* PredecessorVillain: Morgoth has a short summary of whom he was and he did in the introduction made by Galadriel. He was barely defeated in the War of Wrath, and Sauron took his place after, but following his own agenda of reshaping Middle-earth.

* {{Troll}}: Sauron must have had a lot of fun faking being a human, making constant {{Sarcastic Confession}}s about his true nature, yet going along with what the people chose to believe about him, deceiving everyone left and right, listening Galadriel recounting him how Sauron killed her brother and than leading him in Valinor.

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/JosephMawle\\\

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: When Galadriel con fronts him about his deeds, Sauron claims that he truly wants to save Middle-earth and to atone, which is indeed a noble goal to have even if it's done through extreme means, except what he truly wants is to rule and reshape Middle-earth in his image, making his goal, ultimately, just selfish.

* RousingSpeech: With the speeches Adar gives, it is little wonder why the Orcs relied behind him.

* DarkIsEvil: He first appears in a story about the supposed creation of mithril, emobdying darkness while his opponent - an Elvish knight - [[LightIsGood embodied the light]]. Their auras were merged through an intricate phenomenon which enriched the mountain on which they fought, embuing its minerals with ight and darkness.

* CastingGag: Creator/JosephMawle plays again an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette with FacialHorror who got turned from their human form into something else entirely. Are we talking about Adar or [[Series/GameOfThrones or Benjen Stark]]?

* TenderTears: His eyes a visibly misty when he has to mercy kill one of his offspring, with the reassuring smile he gives showing a degree of sensitivity otherwise unexpected from a leader of orcs.

* {{Foil}}: To Galadriel. Galadirel has blonde hair and wears white and silver, with unblemished youthful features. Adar has dark hair, dresses exclusively in black and has a haggard appearance. Galadriel travelled across Middle-earth to find Sauron, Adar travelled across Middle-earth to put Sauron's legacy behind him. Galadriel has a strained relationship with the other Elves that frequently causes her to disregard their opinions and even wellbeing, while Adar and the Orcs care about each other. Galadriel can be short-tempered towards her own allies, while Adar is capable of being fairly genteel towards his enemies.

* JoinOrDie: Adar releases Arondir from imprisonment so he could deliver his terms to the Southlanders who took refugee in the Ostirith watchtower. He asks the Elf to inform the Southlanders he will allow them to live if they forsake their claim to the lands and swear fealty to him. Episode 6 shows him seemingly break this promise, as he used as cannon fodder the very Men who believed his word and joined his side, if only because he wasn't satisifed having only half of the Southlanders on his side.

* TheGhost: Morgoth doesn't physically appear, though the cloud of darkness that forms when the Trees of Valinor were destroyed resembles a spiky humanoid and the infection on the tree in Lindon resembles the corrosion he inflicted on the Trees of Valinor.

* GreaterScopeVillain: He is the cause of pretty much all the evil in the entire Arda/Middle-earth mythology, as it is in the source material. Morgoth developed Orcs, trolls, dragons, and other monsters, corrupted the likes of Sauron and the Balrogs, and instigated a war with the elves that lasted for centuries, with the fallout still being felt two whole ages after he was defeated and sealed away.

* HumanoidAbomination: Morgoth is a god of darkness and evil, and his silhouette -- briefly glimpsed in the scene where he destroys the Trees of Valinor -- is that of a towering humanoid figure [[SpikesOfVillainy covered in spikes]].

* SatanicArchetype: He's the Satan analogue of Middle-earth, as a fallen archangel who led a failed rebellion against heaven. Sauron was his right-hand demon. Given Tolkien's strong Catholic faith and his statements that Middle-earth is meant to actually be our own world, but in a lost historical age thousands of years ago, Morgoth is ''literally'' meant to be Satan, just appearing in a different version (it's complicated).

* AlienBlood: All the Orcs have black blood. Notably, so does Adar, showing that he's also closer to an Orc than an Elf, in spite of external appearances.

* MysteriousPast: Alludes to having been in Middle-earth since the First Age (or before) and having known the lost continent of Beleriand, but doesn't elaborate. It's eventually revealed that he's one of the elves corrupted by Morgoth, making him [[MonsterProgenitor one of the very first Orcs]].

* CreepyBlueEyes: The Dweller has unsettlingly pale blue eyes, and is a wielder of powerful magic.

* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: At some point after the War of Wrath, he takes the identity of Halbrand and tries to atone for all of his wrongdoings in his own way. On the raft, he tells Galadriel that he is from the Southlands, having fled after his homeland got destroyed by the orcs. They both arrive in Numenor where Galadriel learns that Halbrand might be the descendant of a royal line based on a pouch with a bird symbol he owns. She confronts him over it and Sauron does tell her that he found the pouch with the bird on a dead body. On his defense, he warned Galadriel he is not the hero she seeks and he just seeks to be a humble blacksmith. In the end, he gives in Galadriel's insistence and rolls with her belief that he is a king, reenacting his lust for "order". When Galadriel learns of his true identity, she is understandably heartbroken.

* NotAlwaysEvil: The Orcs are the archetypal of AlwaysChaoticEvil race, and they are introduced kidnapping innocent people from the Southlands only to enslave and abuse them. When, Region, Orondir and Medhor get kidnapped by the Orcs, they witness them talking with so much respect about their mysterious commander, Revion even makes a point how impossible he finds that the Orcs are capable of reverence. When Adar is finally introduced, he has no choice but to MercyKill a mortally wounded comrade, which the other Orcs mourn.

* TheGhost: Morgoth doesn't physically appear, though the cloud of darkness that forms when the Trees of Valinor were destroyed resembles a spiky humanoid.

!!Orcs/Uruks

* NotAlwaysEvil: The Orcs are the archetypal of AlwaysChaoticEvil race, and they are introduced kidnapping innocent people from the Southlands only to enslave and abuse them. When, Region, Adar and Medhor get kidnapped by the Orcs, they witness them talking with so much respect about their mysterious commander, Revion even makes a point how impossible he finds that the Orcs are capable of reverence. When Adar is finally introduced, he has no choice but to MercyKill a mortally wounded comrade, which the other Orcs mourn.
** Adar brings this ethical and moral problem while being questioned by Galadriel, by pointing out that as evil as they may be, they Orcs have same creator as the other races, and same right to life and a place to call home. In the end, is not their fault they were turned into creatures of darkness, who cannot stand in the sun, and left with the only option of taking other People's homelands by force.

* TheBadGuyWins: With the help of Waldreg, all of Adar's plans to create a home for the Uruk come to fruition. Orodruin erupts, covering the Southlands in smoke and volcanic ashes.

* BlemishedBeauty: Adar is an intentional example to differentiate him from the other Orcs. He is the most DemiHuman looking Orc in a Tolkien adapted work until now, and his looks are the first clue of their origins. He is a corrupted Elf from Beleriand, and unlike the other Elves who were twisted and turned into Orcs by Morgoth, he kept many of his Elvish good looks intact despite some minor BodyHorror, at worst being an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette.

* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: The palest Elf seen thus far, complete with raven-black hair.

* AFatherToHisMen: The corrupted seemingly Elven leader of the Orcs. When mercy-killing a fatally wounded Orc, he shows genuine sadness. 'Adar' actually means 'father' in the Elvish language and they treat him with almost religious reverence. (As it turns out, it's literally true -- he's one of the elves abducted and corrupted by Morgoth in order to spawn the orc race, making them his actual descendants.) Subverted for the men of the Southlands. He rewards Waldreg's loyalty to Sauron with a sucker punch and then prompts him to kill Rowan as a demonstration of his fealty.

* ImmortalRuler: As the progenitor of the Orcs and a corrupted Elf, he has been alive for thousands of years.

* JoinOrDie: Adar releases Arondir from imprisonment so he could deliver his terms to the Southlanders who took refugee in the Ostirith watchtower. He asks the Elf to inform the Southlanders he will allow them to live if they forsake their claim to the lands and swear fealty to him. Episode 6 shows he would have never kept his word, as he used as cannon fodder the very Men who believed his word and joined his side.

* MysteriousPast: Alludes to having been in Middle-earth since the First Age (or before) and having known the lost continent of Beleriend, but doesn't elaborate. It's eventually revealed that he's one of the elves corrupted by Morgoth, making him [[MonsterProgenitor one of the very first Orcs]].
* NotSoDifferentRemark: Adar takes on Galadriel's threats and retorts that she sounds just as savage as any of his brethren.
* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: Managed to kill one of the most powerful beings of Middle-Earth (albeit only temporarily).

* RousingSpeech: With the speeches Adar gives, is a little wonder why the Orcs relied behind him.

* TragicVillain: Adar has a MysteriousPast, but there are a few clues about his story. He was once a an Elf from Beleriand, but under unknown circumstances, he was enslaved and turned into an orc by Morgoth, though he still kept most of his Elvish features intact. And later, he possibly served under Sauron, whom he betrayed to save the Orcs from his odious experiments. He spend the next centuries trying to create a home for the Orcs, destroying instead other people's lives in the process.
* VillainHasAPoint: It's hard to disagree with Adar when he says that orcs, no matter how abhorrent their are, have an intrinsic right to exist, or to have a homeland, or that is wrong to dehumanize them and deny they have a soul like any other {{Demihuman}} race on Arda.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Adar just wants to create a permanent home for the Orcs, so they can leave their underground bases and live on the surface again. To make this happen, though, he enslaved an killed many innocent people and terraformed the Southlands into Mordor.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook; He argues with Galadriel on the behalf of the Orcs, bringing valid arguments like them being too living, thinking beings, who should have same rights to live and prosper as any other Races. And since nobody wants to accept those facts, he will enforce those believes, consequences be damned.

* ArcVillain: They serve as the main antagonists of the Harfoot/Stranger storyline in Season 1, before being, presumably, atomised by The Stranger's HolyHandGrenade powers at the end of the season.

* RousingSpeech: With the speeches Aar gives, is a little wonder why the Orcs relied behind him.