History Characters / TheHobbit

(( When Bilbo locates and pockets the Arkenstone, he knows what it is, what it means to Thorin, and that it was almost certainly meant to be excluded from the "pick your own share" clause of his contract. He nicks it anyway, admitting that "Now I truly am a burglar". It's only later that he tries to make good of his action by handing it over to Bard and Thranduil to use as a bargaining chip with Thorin (which in itself is a pretty dodgy action but done for the purest motives).

* OddNameOut: The only dwarf with a last name, and the only one whose name doesn't rhyme with or otherwise sound similar to that of at least one other dwarf in the company. Though it does rhyme with his great-great-uncle Borin (great-grandfather of Balin, Dwalin, Óin, and Glóin). And technically "Oakenshield" isn't a surname, it's an epithet he got from wielding an oaken branch in place of his broken shield during the Battle of Azanulbizar

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:This is preumably how he was killed, as the text mentions that he fell pierced with spears.]]

* GiantsKnifeHumansGreatsword: When the party is arming themselves from the trolls' hoard, Bilbo grabs a blade that fits him well as a one-handed sword. Mannish swords are normally far too large for a Hobbit to wield -- but to the Men who originally made it this one was just a simple knife.

A Hobbit chosen by the wizard Gandalf to accompany 13 Dwarves on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug.

* TheBabyOfTheBunch: At the youthful age of 50.
* BadassNormal: The bravest little hobbit of them all.

* TheHero: They're the central heroes of the quest for Erebor, and thus the book.
* {{Hobbits}}: Considering he was the first one ever created, Bilbo Baggins is ''the'' hobbit of all hobbits.
* HomeSweetHome: Conflicting with his desire for the quest

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Bilbo locates and pockets the Arkenstone, he knows what it is, what it means to Thorin, and that it was almost certainly meant to be excluded from the "pick your own share" clause of his contract. He nicks it anyway, admitting that "Now I truly am a burglar". It's only later that he tries to make good of his action by handing it over to Bard and Thranduil to use as a bargaining chip with Thorin (which in itself is a pretty dodgy action but done for the purest motives).

For the characters that are portrayed in the Amazon's ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'', see [[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower here]]. They are set in a different universe from the films.

* {{Greed}}: Smaug, like all dragons is obsessed with treasure, and will hoard as much as he can during his lifetime ([[LongLived which is forever unless killed]]), and knows immediately that a small goblet is missing. Yet he [[AllThatGlitters never enjoys a single brass ring of it]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Although he grumps and complains about Bilbo being TheLoad, he ''will'' go rescue him when it's needed. And after Bilbo's CharacterDevelopment, he comes to have quite a bit of respect for the hobbit.

* OddNameOut: The only dwarf with a last name, and the only one whose name doesn't rhyme with or otherwise sound similar to that of at least one other dwarf in the company. Though it does rhyme with his great-great-uncle Borin (great-grandfather of Balin, Dwalin, Óin, and Glóin). And technically "Oakenshield" isn't a surname, it's an epithet.

* UpperclassTwit: Let us count the ways:
** The other dwarves, despite initially irritating Bilbo by barging in on him, are good enough to wash the dishes they dirtied during the unexpected party. Thorin, however, sits out on this because he's just too damn important. Especially since his blood nephews Fili and Kili take part in the cleanup without any complaint.

[[folder:The Rest of the Dwarves]]
!!Tropes Applying to Balin

!!Tropes Applying to Dori

!!Tropes Applying to Glóin

!!Tropes Applying to Fili and Kili

!!Tropes applying to the Company in General & Remaining Dwarves[[note]]Dwalin, Óin, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur [[/note]]
%% Zero Context Example
%%* TheLoad: They serve next to no purpose for most of the book.
----

-->'''Bilbo:''' Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!
-->'''Gandalf:''' Of course! And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!
-->'''Bilbo:''' ''(Laughing)'' Thank Goodness!

* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Dwarf]]: In chapter two after the whole troll trouble has been resolved, Bilbo is terrified, Gandalf adapts to it, Thorin’s reaction is to do his level best to gouge the troll’s eyes out (all by himself against three trolls who have already taken the rest of the company out)

* TheCavalry: Along with the other Eagles.
* GiantFlyer: A giant eagle.

* TalkingAnimal: Unlike most animals in ''The Hobbit'', he can speak Westron (the language used by Bilbo and company).

* AntiHero: He's a very dangerous individual and Gandalf warns that meeting him at night, while he's in bear form, would be a ''bad'' idea. He's also not fond of dwarves--but he also hates goblins more, and will help if talked around in the right way.

* BearsAreBadNews: Transforms into a big black bear. However, he only harms the villains.

* MysteriousPast: Gandalf notes no one knows where Beorn came from, but notes that sometimes Beorn will stare at the Misty Mountains and sigh, "Someday I will go back there."

* [[PapaWolf Papa Bear]]: Gandalf warns the dwarves that his ponies and the rest of his retinue are his children, and while he likes Thorin and company, he still follows the group making sure the borrowed ponies aren't mistreated or kidnapped.

* FantasticRacism: Towards dwarves, rooted deeply within the common history of their peoples and further fuelled by the actions the dwarves take during their time under his 'care'.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[spoiler:Kills Smaug with one shot, through a tiny hole in the armour of gems that had embedded into the dragon's soft underbelly over decades.]]

* LastStand: Died on the same day the siege of Minas Tirith entered its final phase, defending the corpse of King Brand of Dale -- grandson of the man who freed the Lonely Mountain.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Fought proudly in the wars of Dwarves and Orcs.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Thanks to Sauron, who else.
* DisappearedDad: To Thorin.
* DoomedHomeTown: The Lonely Mountain.

* EyeScream: Lost one eye in the Battle of Azanulbizar.

* MementoMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Inherited the last of the seven Dwarven Rings from his father Thrór before the latter set out to recapture Moria. Sauron took it from him, with torment, in Dol Guldur.]]
* NobleFugitive: Always on the run, trying to make a living after the loss of his throne.

* RichesToRags: Lost his fortune and throne to Smaug.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: In Dol Guldur.
* WarriorPrince: Was already fighting in the frontlines even before Thrór perished.

* DoomedHomeTown: The Lonely Mountain.

* FearlessFool: Walks alone into the orc-infested Moria against advice, gets killed.
* MementoMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Inherited the last of the seven Dwarven rings from his father and, before setting out to recapture Moria, gave it to his son Thraín.]]

* OffWithHisHead: Azog cuts off his head.

* RichesToRags: Devoid of his throne by Smaug's wrath.

A dragon in the Third Age, Smaug is the last great dragon left in Middle-Earth, and the main antagonist in the Hobbit. Prior to the events in the story, he lay waste to Dale and captured Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, from the Dwarves. For two hundred years he hoarded Erebor's treasures.

* AchillesHeel: The single weak point in his armour.

* BadassBoast: Bilbo tries to make a comment that he and the company came for revenge on Smaug for everyone he's killed, he responds with a ''VERY'' lengthy one that practically descends into a speech on how awesome he is.
-->Revenge! Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons' sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows! My armor is like tenfold shields. My teeth are like swords. My claws, spears. The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt. My wings, a hurricane. And my breath, death!
* BattleTrophy: His treasure hoard in Erebor including the Arkenstone can be seen as this, especially since [[AllThereInTheManual the Manual]] indicates dragons relish not just in possessing treasure but in the act of ''stripping it from others''.
** More literally, his hoard includes the weapons and armor of the dwarves as these are themselves valuable. At least some of these were presumably stripped from the corpses of their previous owners.

* CompellingVoice: Comes with the BadassBaritone territory.
* CompositeCharacter: Tolkien designed him as based on the two iconic dragons of the Norse lore (which he considered [[SeriousBusiness "the only true dragons"]]), Fafnir and the dragon that Literature/{{Beowulf}} killed. The former is the basis of his witty, sassy personality, while the latter is the reason he flies, breathes fire, and is nigh-invulnerable.

* DontWakeTheSleeper: Because if Bilbo does wake him while he's inside the Lonely Mountain stealing a goblet from the hoard, Smaug will almost certainly kill him and then likely also the dwarves for the theft. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Smaug wakes up between the end of Bilbo's first trip and his return trip, and notices a thief has stolen a piece of his treasure]]. Avoiding waking Smaug is actually a mission in the 2003 ''Hobbit'' video-game.

* {{Fiction 500}}: ''Forbes'' has [[http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/fictional-15-12/smaug.html done]] [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2011/04/06/how-much-is-smaug-tolkei-dragon-worth/ extensive]] [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/04/23/how-much-is-a-dragon-worth-revisited/ research]] on the question of just how rich he really is. The final official tally has him richer than Bill Gates, but not quite as rich as Carlos Slim Helu. Smaug was once considered to be the wealthiest character in fiction until dethroned by Scrooge [=McDuck=]. [[note]]However, this list specifically excludes sci-fi, where characters frequently own entire planets.[[/note]]

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They talk, for one -- Smaug was one of the first Western dragons to be depicted as talkative and intelligent, rather than a ravening beast. Tolkien, who was a fan of Myth/NorseMythology, drew his inspiration for Smaug from [[Literature/PoeticEdda Faf]][[Literature/VolsungaSaga nir]] and [[Literature/{{Beowulf}} the unnamed dragon who fought Beowulf]]. Among Smaug's original characteristics are a fondness for riddles and HypnoticEyes. While animated and live-action movies go for a saurian appearance -- with a wolf head in the former case -- Tolkien made a painting of Smaug himself and depicted him as more narrow and serpentine (Smaug is called a "worm"; the Old English form ''wyrm'' connoted both "snake" and "dragon"), with proportionally small limbs, a tail ending in a fleur-de-lis shape and a hornless, eared, mammalian head.
** They also don't seem to need to eat or drink, since he doesn't seem to have left the mountain even once in all the decades he's been living there.

* VillainHasAPoint: Deconstructs Thorin's entire quest; pointing out how it would be impossible to steal the gold piece by piece and get down the mountain even without his interference. He also deduces that Bilbo was promised a share of the treasure, but no transportation or guards for it, making it impossible to get it back home.

* EvilOverlord: Chief of the goblins of the Misty Mountains. A lesser one compared to Sauron, but still.

* {{Revenge}}: The Battle of Five Armies is caused in part by the Misty Mountain goblins wanting to [[AvengingTheVillain avenge him,]] along with all the spoils for the taking. They stir up other clans of goblins and they all converge on the Lonely Mountain.

A vengeful Orc chieftain who led the Goblins in the Battle of the Five Armies, where he was killed by Beorn.

* EvilOverlord: Leads the goblins of Mt. Gundabad.

* WeHardlyKnewYou: Is introduced and killed in the same chapter and singled out on the same page he is killed, otherwise he and his bodyguard are treated as one unit in the battle.
* {{Revenge}}: His forces join up with the Misty Mountain goblins wanting to avenge their leader, along with all the spoils for the taking, but Bolg also has a prior beef with the dwarves due to them killing his father Azog.

* EvilOverlord: King of the goblins of Moria.

* LightningBruiser: Said to be large and yet quite agile. May have murdered a defenseless Thrór but also slew the lord Náin in single combat.

* SmugSnake: Arrogantly killed King Thror. Which didn't end well for him when the Dwarves went into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

%%* PrimalFear

* TalkingAnimal: Justified by the fact that they're the offspring of the half-spider demigoddess [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Shelob]], who was in turn the child of the primal creature [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Ungoliant]].

* AdiposeRex: Notably not the "Rex" part officially, but as ruler of Lake-town, he's still the head honcho.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: No name given. But he is called "Moneybags" by the people.
* {{Greed}}: His FatalFlaw.
* HarmlessVillain: He hardly even qualifies as a villain.

* JerkAssHasAPoint: See SleazyPolitician below.

* SandWorm: Them being worm-related beings that live in a desert certainly evokes this image, to the point it has been entertained this sole CrypticBackgroundReference inspired Creator/FrankHerbert to create his ''Shai-hulud'' in ''Literature/{{Dune}}''. Of course, it is impossible to know.
* {{Weredragon}}: What their name suggests.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbo_%28sword%29 bilbo]] is a type of cut-and-thrust sword, similar to a rapier, that's often used aboard ships. It's an early clue that there's a badass Took within the little Baggins.

* {{Revenge}}: The Battle of Five Armies is caused in part by the Misty Mountain goblins wanting to avenge him, along with all the spoils for the taking. They stir up other clans of goblins and they all converge on the Lonely Mountain.

* WeHardlyKnewYou: Is introduced and killed on the same page.

Orc-chieftain of Moria and father of Bolg, he started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs when he slew Thrór (father of Thorin II Oakenshield), and later killed Thrór's nephew Náin before perishing at the hands of Náin's son Dáin II Ironfoot.

* ArchEnemy: He is this to Thorin after Azog killed Thorin's father.

* PrinceCharmless: It's almost certain that the pompous and arrogant Prince-In-Exile Thorin would know how to behave himself in the home of a guest. He does, for Elrond and Beorn, but for Bilbo, his royal highness must have decided the hobbit was unworthy of common manners. After an undignified entrance he fumes silently which Bilbo, out of a mixture of fear and politeness, apologizes for so much that finally, he lets it go. He hums so loudly that Bilbo can hear him through the wall and is kept up, smokes with his feet on the fender while Bilbo and the dwarves are doing the dishes, and when Bilbo suggests that they all have breakfast before leaving on the quest. Thorin agrees, except he takes it for granted that Bilbo will make the breakfast (and then all the dwarves follow his royal lead and order them, leaving Bilbo royally peeved).
-->'''Thorin:''' I like six eggs with my ham, when starting on a journey: fried not poached, and mind you don't break 'em.

* TheBerserker: Dori complains that during the fight against the goblins that twice he was nearly accidentally killed by Thorin and Gandalf respectively. Gandalf nearly sliced poor Dori's head off once, and Thorin? He was "stabbing here and there and everywhere with Orcrist".

* OldSoldier: At One hundred and ninety-five one of the oldest out there, and a veteran of the Goblin Wars.

* BaldOfAwesome: Because he's 152.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Dwalin has a rather inexplicable blue beard.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Smaug will always be a threat since he's a huge, flying, fire-breathing monster. However, his life's ambition was to win a treasure hoard to sit on and a quiet place to sleep on it, which he accomplished years before. He hasn't been actively terrorizing anybody in decades and as far as we can tell had no plans to do so -- unless someone were to provoke him. (Although in later books is it is noted that he would probably (and implied in the films) have fought for Sauron in the War of the Ring if not for Bard's well-placed arrow.)

* OrcusOnHisThrone: Smaug will always be a threat since he's a huge, flying, fire-breathing monster. However, his life's ambition was to win a treasure hoard to sit on and a quiet place to sleep on it, which he accomplished years before. He hasn't been actively terrorizing anybody in decades and as far as we can tell had no plans to do so -- unless someone were to provoke him. (Although in later books is it is noted that he would probably have fought for Sauron in the War of the Ring if not for Bard's well-placed arrow.)

* ImAHumanitarian: They'd eat aynything, really, so they're not above eating Men, Elves, Dwarves or Hobbits.

* TakenForGranite: When exposed to sunlight.

* BerserkButton: When he sees the dwarves' elven swords. He launches himself at Thorin.

* ArchEnemy: He is this to Thorin after Azog killed Thorin’s father.

* CoolOldGuy: Balin, while not especially old for a dwarf, looks the part and is one of the closest to Bilbo.

* BadassBeard: All Thorin's company sport them.

* BadassBeard: Because bears are big and hairy.

* BadassBeard: Compulsory for all dwarves and particularly the king of the Longbeard clan.