History Characters / TheLordOfTheRingsFreeMen

* MissedHimByThatMuch: Significantly {{downplayed|Trope}}, but he's probably the most notable character (other than Bilbo Baggins) who misses Aragorn's wedding, having previously returned to Rohan to prepare for Théoden's funeral.

* YouAreInCommandNow: {{Downplayed|Trope}} as it's in anticipation of an emergency, rather than during an emergency. On Háma's recommendation, Théoden appoints Éowyn interim lord of the Rohirrim while the soldiers march to the Hornburg. She retains her position when Théoden subsequently leads the army to the Pelennor Fields, but it's unknown whom she passes the duty to when she [[SweetPollyOliver rides off with the army in disguise]].

** ''[[Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth Unfinished Tales]]'' includes an account of the Nazgûl capturing Wormtongue while he was on his way to see Saruman (whom they had just been interrogating on the whereabouts of the Shire. Needless to say, he's so terrified that he reveals that Saruman had lied to them, and [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain promises to never breathe a word of their encounter to anyone]]. (It should be noted that, per [[WordOfGod Christopher Tolkien's notes]], Tolkien later altered the sequence of events so that Wormtongue never met the Nazgûl.)

* TheJuggernaut: One of three individuals who emerge from the Battle of the Pelennor Fields without a scratch, despite having been in the thick of the fighting. He's arguably even more impressive in this regard than the other two, as he's the only BadassNormal of the trio -- Imrahil at least [[HalfHumanHybrid has Elven ancestry]], while Aragorn is borderline superhuman due to his Elven and Númenórean heritage.

* HumbleHero: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, but according to ''[[Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth Unfinished Tales]]'', he's not ambitious, and he personally loves both his king and the heir-apparent (who also happen to be his uncle/adoptive father and cousin/adoptive brother). It's clear that he would've been perfectly content serving Théoden, Théodred, Théodred's son, and so forth, with no hope or desire of becoming king himself...unfortunately, Théodred's untimely death bumps him up to heir-apparent instead. And even then, he continues to serve Théoden loyally, even suggesting that Théoden sit out the War of the Ring in an effort to prevent his death.

* DeathSeeker: After he snaps at the Pelennor Fields ("Death, death, death! ''Death take us all!'') until he comes to his senses but is facing certain doom anyway.

King of Rohan, uncle of Éowyn and Éomer. Théoden is betrayed by his servant Gríma who enfeebled and confused him. While Gandalf helped him come to his senses, the damage has already been done: his armies are in disarray, bands of wild men have ransacked the countryside and his only son and heir is dead. Théoden faces the challenge of standing amongst legends in the midst of his failure trying to find his own strength again which he eventually does in the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

* BigDamnHeroes: Just after the door of Minas Tirith was broken and with the Witch-King seemingly about to be victorious, he arrives with his Rohirrim army and gives hope back to the good guys.
* CoolOldGuy: Despite being in his seventies, he personally led the charge at Pelennor Fields and killed the Haradrim commander himself.
* DeathByIrony: As the grave of Snowmane notes, the king of a people who loved horses more than any creature ultimately died by being crushed under his horse.

* TheLastOfHisKind: He's of the second male line of the Kings of Rohan. With the death of his only son at the Battle of the Fords of Isen [[spoiler: and later his own death at Pelennor Fields]], the second line died out.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: As all Rohirrim are.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He adamantly refuses to stay behind or go to hide in safety when the rest of his people ride to the Battle of Helm's Deep, despite being 71 years old. Later, he personally leads his troops to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Théoden's nephew, and leader of a substantial cavalry unit, Éomer does not approve of the advice Grí­ma has been offering, and the orders Théoden has issued on the basis of it. He is on an unauthorised mission when the three hunters first meets him, and in prison on charges of mutiny and assault when they reach Edoras. As Théoden's nearest male blood relative, the role of heir-apparent devolves onto him.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Éowyn, his sister.
* DeathSeeker: After he snaps at the Pelennor Fields ("Death, death, death! ''Death take us all!''") until he comes to his senses but is facing certain doom anyway.

* HotBlooded: Promises to duel Gimli within minutes of meeting him, which later becomes a BrickJoke. Later detained when he threatens Gríma and draws his sword on him, but he's released when Théoden comes to his senses. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, his fury nearly costs him and his men their lives, as his reckless charge leads to them being surrounded on all front by enemies.
* TheJuggernaut: One of the other two in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields who was unstoppable.

--> For once more lust of battle was on him; and he was still unscathed, and he was young, and he was king: the lord of a fell people.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething[=/=]WarriorPrince: He's the nephew of Théoden, and grandson of the previous king Thengel.

* YouAreInCommandNow: He becomes King of the Mark when Théoden falls at Pelennor.

* BadassNormal: Compared with all the elves, dwarves, wizards or other super-powered men of exalted lineage in this book, Éowyn was just a normal woman. It didn't keep her from taking down the Witch-King with the help of Merry, an even more "normal" badass.
* BerserkerTears: There were tears on her cheek when she was facing the Witch-King of Angmar.

* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: She literally broke her arm in the struggle against the Witch-King, but it was her ''other'' arm that was the problem--mere contact with him through the sword nearly killed her.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Goes up against the Witch-King of Angmar and, with Merry's help, defeats him.

* EmotionlessGirl: She seemed very cold and dispassionate to the other characters before she went to battle, and she stays cool and collected even while facing the Witch-King.
* FamilyThemeNaming: "Éowyn" is a mix of her parents's names Éomund and Théodwyn, and her brother is Éomer.

* MamaBear: Inverted. When Théoden is attacked and defeated by the Witch-King, she steps between them and says that she'll kill the Nazgûl if he gets close to her uncle, and demonstrates the credibility of her threat by effortlessly [[OffWithHisHead decapitating]] his mount when he mocks her.

* NervesOfSteel: The Nazgûl's main ability is the power to inspire fear in the heart of the bravest of men: their cry and shadow can reduce experienced soldiers to a broken crying mess, trained warriors flee before them. The Witch-King is the worst of them. But when he threatens Éowyn, standing alone before him, to an eternity of torture in the houses of lamentation beyond all darkness, she doesn't even flinch. And then ''she laughs at his face''.
* NoManOfWomanBorn: Aside from ''Macbeth,'' probably the most famous example of this trope. The Witch-King is quite smug, quoting that prophecy in 'Dernhelm's' face...

* StaringDownCthulhu: Her eyes grey as the sea were [[DeathGlare hard and fell]] and made the Witch-King, Captain of Despair, spear of terror in the hand of Sauron, doubt himself.

* DirtyCoward: Despite repeated offers of forgiveness from the good guys, he is too spineless to leave Saruman -- especially when proving his loyalty to Rohan requires saddling up and joining the army at Helm's Deep.

* ManipulativeBastard: Though how much of that was Saruman's ideas isn't clear.

* MirrorCharacter: Just as how Saruman is in many ways a miniature version of Sauron, Grima bears a lot of similarity to Smeagol. Both were people who were never particularly good, and fell into evil for rather petty reasons. Both are largely known by a name other than the one they were born with, but are called by their real name by those who care about them. Both of them learn that BeingEvilSucks and end up largely debased by their corruption, but [[RedemptionRejection end up too ensnared to leave it behind]]. And both are ultimately responsible for the deaths of the one who corrupted them, but die in the process.

* OhCrap: In ''Unfinished Tales'', Tolkien's notes reveal he had a run-in with the Nazgûl while he was on his way to see Saruman -- whom they had just been interrogating on the whereabouts of the Shire -- and was so terrified that he revealed Saruman had lied to them.
* TheQuisling: He turned traitor on Rohan after Saruman promised him money and/or power.

* TreacherousAdvisor: Was a loyal public servant of Rohan at first, but Saruman twisted him.
* WiseOldFolkFacade: Grí­ma looks ''enough'' like a wise old man that he's described as having "a wise face", but this is deceptive.

The first and last line of defense against Mordor and TheRemnant of the once-proud kingdom of Númenor, Gondor considers itself the bastion of the Men of the West. With Sauron's power ever increasing, it is them who must face the brunt of his wrath, and ultimately it is in Gondor the fate of Men will be decided.

* GentlemanAndAScholar: Highly intelligent and scholarly, he is also a gracious host and very pleasant individual, able to have a good and friendly conversation with various people from very different cultures and background (Frodo, Sam, Éowyn, Merry, etc...).
* TheGoodChancellor: He comes from a whole line of those: despite being actually better rulers than their royal predecessors, none of the Ruling Steward ever tried to take the throne for themselves, and instead they did everything they could to preserve the realm against the growing threat in Mordor in the Name of the King. Faramir went on to be Aragorn's loyal Steward, his First Adviser and Head of the Council of Gondor.

Denethor is the Steward of Gondor, ruling the nation from Minas Tirith in the absence of the King. He is used to being in charge and does not like the idea of having to give up power to the (possibly) rightful claimant to the throne. Denethor denies Aragorn's kingship on the basis that he is not Anárion's heir, whom the council of Gondorian nobles has always held the be only proper holder of the title 'King of Gondor.' Aragorn does descend from Anárion through Fíriel, daughter of King Ondoher of Gondor, but he is not a direct male-line descendant.

--> Denethor laughed bitterly. ‘Nay, not yet, Master Peregrin! [Sauron] will not come save only to triumph over me when all is won. He uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.’

* TheChessmaster: He thinks of the war as a duel between him, Gandalf and Sauron, and the participants as his pawns or theirs. He has been setting up his pieces into place for years, waiting for Sauron to finally strike. According to [[Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth Unfinished Tales]], he did a rather good job.

* MyCountryRightOrWrong: In one of his letters Creator/JRRTolkien points out that Denethor thought of Sauron primarily as a threat to Gondor rather than as an evil power, and if he had won by force of arms he would have tried to become an imperialistic conqueror over Sauron's former empire. And in ''Unfinished Tales'' it is said that Denethor loved Gondor too much to be pushed into treachery in the manner of Saruman; he could only be pushed over the DespairEventHorizon by becoming convinced that Gondor was doomed. [[BatmanGambit This is precisely what Sauron does]].

* TwentyFourHourArmor: Seen as a symbol of his stubbornness and pride, but also redeeming values thereof.
-->[Denethor] stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. "Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept," he said, "lest with age the body should grow soft and timid."

* YouAreInCommandNow: Gandalf places him in command “in the Lord’s [Denethor’s] absence,” and once he learns that said absence is in fact [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] due to SanitySlippage (and that Faramir is also in no shape to rule), he assumes the role of interim Steward of Gondor.

-->"''Arise now, arise, Riders of Theoden!\\

[[folder: Théoden]]

[[folder: Éomer]]

--> ''Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising''\\
''I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.''\\
''To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:''\\
''Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!''

[[folder: Éowyn]]

--> A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.’
--> A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.’

--> Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible.

[[folder: Grí­ma Wormtongue]]

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Killing Saruman once he has had enough of his mistreatment]].

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Frodo offers him a very-undeserved chance to turn his life around, and he seems to want to accept it; then, Saruman reveals what Grí­ma ''[[IAmAHumanitarian did]]'' to Lotho Sackville-Baggins, and everything just goes to hell.]]
* HumiliationConga: [[spoiler: The way Saruman treats him, especially after the fall of Isengard.]]

** "Grí­ma" is an Old English word meaning both mask and spectre/goblin/nightmare.
** "Wormtongue" can mean "snake-tongue" and/or "dragon-tongue", both evoking his deceitful words aimed at the king's ear, but he also literally has an unusually long pale tongue.

* OhCrap: In ''Unfinished Tales'', Tolkien's notes reveal he had a run-in with the Nazgûl while he was on his way to see Saruman - whom they had just been interrogating on the whereabouts of the Shire - and was so terrified that he revealed Saruman had lied to them.

-->''"Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea! West Wind blew there; light upon the Silver Tree"''

[[folder: Faramir]]

--> ''"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."''

--> And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was one whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle.

---> "[Boromir] was a man after the sort of King Eärnur of old, taking no wife and delighting chiefly in arms; fearless and strong, but caring little for lore, save the tales of old battles. Faramir the younger was like him in looks but otherwise in mind. He read the hearts of men as shrewdly as his father, but what he read moved him sooner to pity than to scorn. He was gentle in bearing, and a lover of lore and of music, and therefore by many in those days his courage was judged less than his brother’s. But it was not so, except that he did not seek glory in danger without a purpose."

--> 'Between the brothers there was great love, and had been since childhood, when Boromir was the helper and protector of Faramir. No jealousy or rivalry had arisen between them since, for their father's favour or for the praise of men. It did not seem possible to Faramir that anyone in Gondor could rival Boromir, heir of Denethor, Captain of the White Tower.'

--> "War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom."

--> "Your bearing is lowly in my presence, yet it is long now since you turned from your own way at my counsel."

[[folder: Denethor]]

--> Thus Sauron tested the strength and preparedness of Denethor, and found them more than he had hoped.

--> "[Gandalf's] hope has failed. The Enemy has found it [the Ring], and now his power waxes; he sees our very thoughts, and all we do is ruinous."

--> "Théoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and noble."

* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler: Burns himself alive and very nearly takes a comatose Faramir with him]].
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: In one of his letters Creator/JRRTolkien points out that Denethor thought of Sauron primarily as a threat to Gondor rather than as an evil power, and if he had won by force of arms he would have tried to become an imperialistic conqueror over Sauron's former empire. And in ''Unfinished Tales'' it is said that Denethor loved Gondor too much to be pushed into treachery in the manner of Saruman; he could only be pushed over the DespairEventHorizon by becoming convinced that Gondor was doomed. [[BatmanGambit This is precisely what Sauron does.]]

* ProphecyTwist: The Ships of Umbar. [[spoiler: The palantír didn't tell him that Aragorn had captured the ships, driven off the Corsairs, and loaded them with thousands of soldiers from coastal Gondor.]]

-->[Denethor] stood up and cast open his long black cloak, and behold! he was clad in mail beneath, and girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. ‘Thus have I walked, and thus now for many years have I slept,’ he said, ‘lest with age the body should grow soft and timid.’

[[folder: Imrahil]]

[[folder: Beregond]]

[[folder: Ghân-buri-Ghân]]

[[folder: Halbarad]]

* ProphecyTwist: Upon arriving at the door to the Paths of the Dead, Halbarad declares that “[his] death lies beyond it.” While technically true (he does indeed die some time after entering the Paths), he survives the Paths of the Dead and seems to be doing perfectly fine until the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

[[/folder]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Averted. Denethor's reason for refusing to acknowledge Aragorn as King was not only {{Pride}}, but also was that Aragorn was not a descendant of Anarion. In the days of old, Arnor was ruled by the heirs of Isildur while Gondor was ruled by those of his brother, Anarion. However, since Isildur and Anarion were brothers and Isildur was once High King of both Númenórean kingdoms, Aragorn does have a claim to the Gondorian throne.

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' '''[[Characters/TheLordOfTheRings Main character index]]'''\\
[[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowship The Fellowship of the Ring]] | '''Free Men''' | [[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsTheElves The Elves]] | [[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsTheForcesOfSauron The Forces of Sauron]] ([[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsSauron Sauron]]) | [[Characters/TheLordOfTheRingsOtherCharacters Other]]-]]]]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Even though he is white of hair when we meet him and deteriorates in a rather short timespan, he nevertheless is described as robust and reasonably strong despite obviously being of advanced age. One would never get the idea that he's close to 90 years old at this point (though him having the blood of Númenore in his veins might have helped in that regard).

--> "Th´eoden is a kindly old man. Denethor is of another sort, proud and noble."

* BurnBabyBurn: [[spoiler: How he meets his end.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The {{Unfavorite}} son who lost his beloved older brother, fighting a doomed war against the Dark Lord, and nearly becoming the victim in a murder-suicide by his own dad. Gets better, gets a princedom, gets true love.

* SamusIsAGirl: She took up the alias of "Dernhelm" to go to war. However, it may be that the soldiers around her knew but looked the other way.

* {{Foil}}: To Denethor. Both began as good rulers, but where Denethor succumbed to grief, madness and suicide, Théoden 'woke' from his madness, set aside his sorrow, and made a HeroicSacrifice to save his land. He is also much more fatherly and kind than Denethor.

** To Théoden. While Théoden managed to pull himself out of his despair and find the courage to save the day, Denethor went mad from grief after having seemingly lost both his sons and Gondor. He's also a whole lot more haughty and unforgiving (and from a much greater lineage) than the noble but kindly Théoden.

* JustTheFirstCitizen: Although he has nearly as much authority as a king, and he begrudges the little authority he doesn't have...

* UndyingLoyalty: To Faramir. Even though Beregond isn't under his actual command, he still admires Faramir greatly and considers him to be the best Minas Tirith has to offer. Unlike many of his comrades, Beregond values Faramir's scholarly tendencies and laments that he's considered the "lesser son" by some of Gondor's troops because their time prizes warriors above all else.

* CrypticBackgroundReference / MysteriousPast: We know next to nothing about the Woses in Lord of the Rings aside of a scant few throaway references. In ''Unfinished Tales'', we get a few glimpses of their cultures from the perspective of Elves and men of Rohan, but it's still very distant.

* FamilyThemeNaming: Faramir and Boromir.

* {{Foil}}: To Denethor. Both began as good rulers, but where Denethor succumbed to grief, madness and suicide, Théoden 'woke' from his madness, set aside his sorrow, and made a HeroicSacrifice to save his land.

* ParentalSubstitute: To Éowyn and Éomer. And oddly enough to Merry, apparently, even though Merry's father Saradoc is alive and well. At least Merry claims Théoden was as a father to him.

* LeeroyJenkins: His reaction to seeing his sister apparently dead was to charge headlong at the enemy, resulting in the above mentioned Last Stand.

* ParentalAbandonment: Orphaned at a young age, raised by [[ParentalSubstitute his uncle]].

* PairTheSpares: With Faramir. Accomplished uncommonly well.

* WillNotTellALie: Even to ensnare an orc. He does use [[HalfTruth half-truths]] and omissions however (against both Frodo and his father).

* HiddenHeartOfGold: Very deep down, but he does love both his sons.

* TheEveryman: Beregond represents the average citizen of Gondor.
* OddFriendship: Strikes one up with Pippin.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Stay at his post knowing what's going on, or ditch it (and risk the death penalty) to go save Faramir from a premature cremation? Not that it's much of a question in the moment, it just comes back later.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Faramir. Even though Beregond isn't under his actual command, he still admires him greatly and considers him to be the best Minas Tirith has to offer. Unlike many of his comrades, he values Faramir's scholarly tendencies and laments that he's considered the "lesser son" by some of Gondor's troops because their time prizes warriors above all else.
* YouShallNotPass: He leaves his post in order to pull one of these to stop Denethor from succeeding in lighting Faramir's pyre.

* UndyingLoyalty: To Faramir. Even though Beregond isn't under his actual command, he still admires him greatly and considers him to be the best Minas Tirith has to offer.