History Characters / TheSilmarillionHouseOfFeanor

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Not necessarily a villain, but whether Fëanor knew it or not, leading his people to Middle Earth saved the native Elves and the Dwarves from extermination. Even if Thingol could just stay in Doriath indefinitely, everyone around Melian's Girdle would be doomed, but for the Coming of the Ñoldor. Plus the race of Men would’ve been eternally trapped under Morgoth’s rule twisted and corrupted if not for the Coming of the Ñoldor. Plus it was his Silmaril that allowed Earendil to reach Valinor and convince the Valar to both forgive the Ñoldor for their transgressions and to finally move into open conflict with Melkor resulting in him being imprisoned again, this time for good.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: While he didn't intend to directly attack the Valar or Eru, he openly [[NayTheist rebelled against their authority]] without forgetting to [[TakeThat insult them,]] and his Oath was considered to be a BlasphemousBoast. To be fair to Fëanor though he might not have been in his right mind as Melkor or Morgoth had just stolen his father who he cherished more than anything, even possibly the Silmarilli, and people have been known to go mad after being left to stew in their own grief.

* ThisMeansWar: His response to Morgoth's theft of the Silmarils, which drags his entire House and its followers along for a ride that lasts the better part of a thousand years.

** his passion, hate, and lust ultimately saw the demise of people who had nothing to do with the whole affair, the loss of so many wonderful things, and led to a whole lot of sorrow which Tolkien hints that everyone is STILL recovering from. However the Silmarillion hints that it wasn’t entirely Fëanor’s fault in this matter as Melkor (Morgoth) had corrupted creation itself in the beginning so anything made by either the Valar or the Children of Ilúvatar (natural or adopted)already contained some of that corruption.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: While he didn't intend to directly attack the Valar or Eru, he openly [[NayTheist rebelled against their authority]] without forgetting to [[TakeThat insult them,]] and his Oath was considered to be a BlasphemousBoast.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Not necessarily a villain, but whether Fëanor knew it or not, leading his people to Middle Earth saved the native Elves and the Dwarves from extermination. Even if Thingol could just stay in Doriath indefinitely, everyone around Melian's Girdle would be doomed, but for the Coming of the Ñoldor.

* TragicHero: Fëanor, after being fooled by the lies of Morgoth, brought darkness to Valinor by refusing to donate the Silmarils to bring light and life back to the Two Trees Melkor had poisoned. He then declared a fruitless war against Morgoth, bringing doom to all who followed him back to Middle-earth for the entire First Age of Middle-earth. This ends up getting him killed.

** Faenor could also be seen as one for Ilúvatar as well as with Morgoth now returned bent on ruling and corrupting the world and with the coming of Men soon to occur Ilúvatar needed the elder to return to Middle Earth to aide those in resisting such a formidable foe.

* HappilyMarried: Implied to have been this with Nerdanel, at least for a while, having married her based on shared interests and implicitly for her mind (she was considered plain by elven standards, she was a blacksmith like him and good enough that he didn't totally disregard her work as he did pretty much everyone else, and he actually listened to her... up to a point).

* HiddenDepths: Say what you like about him, but he was not shallow - he married Nerdanel, who was apparently comparatively plain as Elves went (enough that it was worth noting as part of why marrying her was a surprise), and a talented [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] in her own right, who was just about the only person who he ever listened to. While it eventually went wrong, there's every indication that for a while they were HappilyMarried.

* CantTakeCriticism:Feänor's most prominent flaw.

[[folder: Fëanor]]

* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: Fëanor was the most ingenious Elf that ever lived while Fingolfin was the strongest and most valiant. {{Downplayed}}; [[BadassBookworm Fëanor was no weakling]], and [[GeniusBruiser Fingolfin was no fool.]]

* FetusTerrible: While not a monster in the womb, Fëanor's birth sucked out all of his mother's life energy, causing her to fall victim to a (somewhat belated) DeathByChildbirth. Then he quickly grew up to become [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels something great and terrible.]]

[[folder: Nerdanel]]

[[folder: Maedhros]]

[[folder: Maglor]]

* RedemptionFailure: Eönwë told him and Maedhros to surrender and return to Valinor to be judged. Maglor wanted to obey, but Maedhros [[PeerPressureMakesYouEvil talked him out of it.]]

[[folder: Celegorm]]

[[folder: Caranthir]]

[[folder: Curufin]]

* PetTheDog: A very intentional case. Tolkien wrote that he felt Curufin appeared more villainous than he really was because he was mostly present in the "Lay of Leithian," where he had the role of a ruthless antagonist. To change this, Tolkien wrote a scene where Curufin's cousin, Aredhel, was escaping from her DomesticAbuser husband Eöl, and Curufin captured Eöl when he was hot on her trail. Curufin was perfectly capable of killing Eöl there and then, and none of his men would have objected. However, Curufin spared Eöl because killing him would have been cold blooded ''murder'', and [[EvenEvilHasStandards even Curufin had standards.]]

[[folder: Amrod]]

[[folder: Amras]]

[[folder: Celebrimbor]]

[[/folder]]

* TheAtoner: According to information about the [[FinalBattle Dagor Dagorath]], Fëanor's spirit will be freed in time for the last battle against darkness, and will give the Silmarils to Yavanna break them (some say he himself will break them) so that the Two Trees can be revived.

* TheAtoner: According to information about the [[FinalBattle Dagor Dagorath]], Fëanor's spirit will be freed in time for the last battle against darkness, and to give the Silmarils to Yavanna so that the Two Trees can be revived.

* HiddenDepths: Say what you like about him, but he was not shallow - he married Nerdanel, who was apparently comparatively plain as Elves went (enough that it was worth noting as part of why marrying her was a surprise), and
a talented [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]] in her own right, who was just about the only person who he ever listened to. While it eventually went wrong, there's every indication that for a while they were HappilyMarried.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: She outlived six of her sons, Maedhros, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, and Amras, and her grandson Celebrimbor.

* WrenchWench: Of TheBlacksmith variety. Though her skills extended beyond just that.

* TheAtoner: His abdication in favour of Fingolfin attempts to keep his brothers in line and, with Maglor, fostering Elros and Elrond after the last Kinslaying (especially since he'd desperately tried and failed to find and save their uncles, Elured and Elurin, after the Second Kinslaying), were all attempts at atonement. While they may have failed on a personal level, he did succeed in healing the divisions between the Ñoldor to an extent, kept his brothers out of trouble for a lot longer than would otherwise have been possible, and ended up raising Elrond and Elros to be two of the greatest heroes in Middle Earth's history.

* WarriorPrince: Like most of the House of Finwë.

* For the main page, click [[Characters/TheSilmarillion here]].
* For Eru and the Ainur, click [[Characters/TheSilmarillionEruAndTheAinur here]].
* For the enemies, click [[Characters/TheSilmarillionEnemies here]]
* For the first generation of Elven royalty, click [[Characters/TheSilmarillionFirstGenerationElvenRoyalty here]].
* For The House of Fingolfin, click [[Characters/TheSilmarillionHouseOfFingolfin here]].

* EvilCounterpart: More like {{Jerkass}} counterpart. Celegorm and Beren are both animal lovers who know the ways of the wild and can talk with beasts and birds. However, Celegorm is a hunter and Beren never kills any animals. Celgorm is also the [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor Rich Suitor to Beren's Poor Suitor]]

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Let's take stock: Massacre? Yep, killed the Teleri. Betrayal? Yep, abandoned 2/3 of the Noldor forces because they weren't loyal to him. Accidentally murdered his own son? Check. He also rebelled against the legitimate kinship of Manwë.

* AccidentalMurder: His youngest son, Amras, wanted to sail back home. Knowing this, Fëanor burned his ship -- later to hear that Amras was in it at the time. [[{{Retcon}} This did not happen in the 1977]] ''Silmarillion''.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Poor Celebrimbor. All his good intentions and actions ended up tying the Elves' fate to Sauron's destiny (plus the nine men who ended up as the Nazgûl and all the Dwarf-Lords who were affected by the greed of the rings and everyone around them) and also ensuring Sauron's continuous existence as long as the One Ring existed (while he did not have any doing in the forging of the One Ring (that was purely Sauron's making), his actions contributed with Sauron going on with his plan in which the best outcome would force the Elves to leave Middle Earth forever. It is even more tragic when you consider he is the most decent of all the descendants of Fëanor.

* HeroicSacrifice: He refuses to tell Sauron the location of the Elvish rings despite being tortured.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He refuses to break open the Silmarils by saying that, like the Trees that Yavanna needs them to restore, they are his own life's greatest work and he could never create their like again. When the Teleri use that argument to deny him the use of their beautiful swan-ships, F&eauml;anor not only commits murder to steal him (as Morgoth did with the Silmarils), he ''destroys'' the ships once they've served his purpose.

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: You hear rumours that your half-brother wants to usurp your place as the heir and your father's favourite? Wear armor and threaten him with your sword in front of the whole court. [[BigBad Morgoth]] kills your father, steals your precious Silmarils, and flees to Middle-earth? Start the rebellion with your fellow Noldor against him and his "accomplices", The Valar. The Teleri don't want to give your army their ships, which are needed to cross the sea betweeen Valinor and Middle-earth? Massacre them! The ships are only enough to carry the part of your army that is loyal exclusively to you? Cross the sea, leave other part of the army, lead by your aforementioned half-brother, and burn the ships! The enemy flees before your army to their fortress? Chase them! Kill them all! You lie dying of your wounds? Order your sons to fulfill the Oath you gave to get the Silmarils back no matter the cost.

* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: He was basically the elven ideal. Tall, courageous, charismatic, an artian of unparalleled skill -- and then he used that charisma to lead his people away from Valinor into the face of an enemy that could not be defeated by them, and used that martial skill to kill anyone in his way.

* [[RelatedDifferentlyInTheAdaptation Related Differently in the First Draft]]: Originally (in the ''Book of Lost Tales''), Fëanor wasn't related to Noldorin royal house in the first place - his father wasn't their High King, but just a random Elf, while Finwë wasn't related to him at all. Various elements of the story that seem to be slightly odd in the ''Silmarillion'' can be traced back to that original setup, like him not inheriting the kingship from his father is one things (originally, he never had a claim to it) or him being constantly at odds with the other branches of the House of Finwë.

* FreudianExcuse: Fëanor not only had the luck of being born into the only broken family in a PhysicalHeaven where everyone else was [[TastesLikeDiabetes happy]], but he was also the ''cause'' of his family becoming unhappy [[DeathByChildbirth simply by being born]].

* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: He was basically the elven ideal -- and then it all went so horribly wrong...

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: He is last seen throwing his Silmaril into the ocean and wandering the beach alone. We never know what happens to him after the First Age. Is he still alive in Middle-earth? Did he fade away? Did he kill himself?

* AmbiguousSituation: He is last seen throwing his Silmaril into the ocean and wandering the beach alone. We never know what happens to him after the First Age. Is he still alive in Middle-earth? Did he fade away? Did he kill himself?