History TheLordOfTheRings / TropesSToU

** Gandalf's description of the [[EldritchAbomination "nameless things"]] that dwell beneath Moria; Tolkien's description of many of the Orc's family-unfriendly habits, and of [[UltimateEvil Sauron]] [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen himself]] and his hideouts. If it's something of which ''Gandalf or Aragorn'' "will not speak... to darken the light of day", you know it's bad.

* UltimateEvil: Sauron himself, of course is this. Although he is not [[GodOfEvil the first]].
** There's a GreaterScopeVillain in the BackStory. Then again, Tolkien states that Sauron at the height of his power was more powerful, in a sense, than Morgoth during the War of the Jewels, as Sauron merely strove for "superficial" domination: an empire on the earth and control of the wills of others, while Morgoth wanted to control the very ''matter'' of the universe. Interestingly enough, he's ''not'' motiveless [[MadeOfEvil Evil Incarnate]]: his StartOfDarkness was motivated by a desire for order and control, not destruction.
*** [[ContinuitySnarl Depending on which version you favor]], Morgoth started out far more powerful than Sauron but gradually became weaker as he spent his power damaging the world. (At the start of ''The Silmarillion'' the ''combined'' powers of all the other gods[=/=]archangels can barely hold him off; but towards the end of the War of the Jewels one single Elf challenges him to a duel and manages to wound him seven times.)
*** Sauron at his height is more powerful because he's using the power of "Morgoth's Ring", that being the corrupted world itself. All of his armies are comprised of evil creatures that Morgoth spent his power in creating. Thus Sauron is adding Morgoth's power to his own, just like what would happen if someone else claimed the One Ring. The flip side to this, though, is that unlike Sauron, Morgoth can be imprisoned but not destroyed unless the entire world is destroyed.

** InUniverse Gollum and Bilbo both give altered versions of how the ring came into their possession, each attempting to assert their claim over it. Gollum in particular has spent so long insisting the ring was his birthday present that it borders on a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies. The similarity in their stories is what first clued Gandalf in that was no ordinary magic ring.

** InUniverse Bilbo's initial story about how he "won" the ring of Gollum.

*** [[ContinuitySnarl Depending on which version you favor]], Morgoth started out far more powerful than Sauron but graually became weaker as he spent his power damaging the world. (At the start of ''The Silmarillion'' the ''combined'' powers of all the other gods[=/=]archangels can barely hold him off; but towards the end of the War of the Jewels one single Elf challenges him to a duel and manages to wound him seven times.)

** The whole first part of ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' just wouldn't have happened, had Barliman Butterbur not forgotten to just send the Gandalf's letter to Frodo.

* UntranslatedCatchPhrase: Gimli's recurring [[ConLang Khudzul]] BattleCry ''Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-enu!'' is translated in the appendices as "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Despite his short stature and lack of strength, Frodo is the perfect choice to deliver the Ring to Mount Doom since unlike, say, a human or many of his fellow hobbits, [[FantasticAesop he's too pure and innocent to succumb to its temptation.]] [[spoiler:For a while, at least.]]

* UnfortunateNames: The "-bag" in Gorbag's name? Means "shit".

* {{Undead}}: The Nazgûl and the Dead of Dunharrow. The barrow-wights however, are evil spirits possessing the remains in the barrows, so are functionally undead.[[note]]WordOfGod suggests the spirits could be the ghosts of elves who rejected the authority of the Valar, and were instead enslaved by Sauron, making the barrow-wights fully undead, but there is room for doubt.[[/note]]

* SequelEscalation: ''LOTR'' expands the relatively small-scale, personal adventure of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' is expanded to world-scale peril.

* UnfamiliarCeiling: Several examples: Frodo waking up in Rivendell in the first book, a bunch more in the third.

%%* StormingTheCastle: Subverted.

%%* ThouShaltNotKill: Frodo and Sam.

%%* TheUnfavorite: [[{{Woobie}} Faramir]].

* SecondHandStorytelling: Explained by WordOfGod that the story is mostly seen from a hobbit POV, [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis since it was hobbits that wrote the tome professor Tolkien translated]]. Example events include Gandalf's imprisonment by and escape from Saruman, The Ents' attack on Isengard, Aragorn's adventures in southern Gondor. Also note that parts of the story with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli traveling away from the rest of the Fellowship (the majority of ''The Two Towers'' and the Paths of the Dead) are known to the Hobbits because they shared their stories with them at Isengard and Minas Tirith respectively.

::TheLordOfTheRings/TropesAToC -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesDToF -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesGToI -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesJToL -- TheLordOfTheRisymngs/TropesMToO -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesPToR -- TheLordOfTheRings/TropesVToZ

%%* SanitySlippage: Denethor. Inverted with Théoden.

%%* SealedEvilInACan: The Balrog of Moria

%%* SupervillainLair: Barad-dûr and Isengard

%%* TreacherousAdvisor: Grí­ma Wormtongue

* {{Understatement}}:
--> '''Gandalf:''' "The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden son of Théngel."
* UnfamiliarCeiling: Several examples: Frodo waking up in Rivendell in the first book, a bunch more in the third.
* UntranslatedCatchPhrase: Gimli's recurring [[ConLang Khudzul]] BattleCry ''Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-enu!'' is translated in the appendices as "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"