Characters / The Lord of the Rings - Sauron

Setting-wide: Peoples and Races, Sauron The Silmarillion: Eru and the Ainur, Enemies, First-Generation Elven Royalty, the House of Fëanor, the House of Fingolfin The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Free Men, the Elves, the Forces of Sauron, Other Characters

Sauron the Dark Lord

The Dark Lord, as illustrated by J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Dark Lord of Mordor. The Lord of Gifts. The Enemy of Middle-earth.

The Evil Overlord. The Sorcerous Overlord.

The Lord of the Rings.

The all-powerful Maia formerly known as Mairon, the lieutenant of Morgoth, and the original Dark Lord, Sauron was responsible for much suffering of Elves and Men in the Elder Days. When Morgoth was banished, Sauron ultimately took his place as the second Dark Lord. His first plan to rule the world was to teach the Elves to craft magic rings (ultimately the three for the Elves, seven for the Dwarves, and nine for Men). These rings would give each of their bearers great power, but they were also secretly a trap. By creating his own One Ring as an extension of his being he would be able to control each of the other ring bearers, and through them dominate each race. However, the Elves were on guard against this evil, and the Dwarves were too focused on material wealth to be dominated. Sauron made his first bid through force but was routed and his body destroyed (twice). However, his ring anchored him to the physical realm and would allow him to return.

In the narrative, he is simply the Big Bad, an ominous evil presence that grows stronger as the heroes near his realm. If he reclaimed the One Ring, the doom of Middle-earth would be swift and final. Even without it, he seems poised to win, leaving the destruction of his Ring as the only means of defeating him.

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General Tropes

• Abusive Precursors: As much as this can qualify, Morgoth and he are this for the orcs. They "created" them (Morgoth did the main job, Sauron continued the development and growth while Morgoth was imprisoned). And to many of his "creations" too.
• Arm Chair Military: Most of the times, he is a schemer and a strategist.
• Ax-Crazy: Downplayed. Sauron has more self-control than Morgoth did and is capable of very long-term planning and scheming, as well of keeping his evil intentions hidden until the last moment. But as said in Morgoth's Ring, Sauron was contaminated by Morgoth's nihilistic desire for destruction and hatred. And by the point of the novel he has become an almost living incarnation of absolute evil (which has eroded a big part of his sanity and blinded him to anything other than an evil and cynical understanding of the world), and many of his actions are pointlessly cruel and sadistic. Adding his paranoia and fear, plus his life-consuming obsession with recovering the Ring, it is not wrong to say that Sauron is quite insane and damaged. Also, he "died" twice, which did not help at all.
• Black Speech: Sauron at one time made an artificial language as a way to communicate across his empire and his allies earlier in the backstory. Thousands of years after being killed in the final battle of the Last Alliance and getting a new form, the Nazgûl, Olog-hai, and many Orcs still use it.
• The Chessmaster: One of his greatest strengths. He used disguises and clever tactical planning to make the Elves create the Rings, and to later undermine Númenor to its downfall. And that is not counting the wars he directed or all the plans he enacted. His only flaw is that he’s incapable of predicting or preparing for unforeseen variables. If he’d known the Valar would pull a stunt like they did and Eru would’ve intervened directly to stop the Númenorans he might not have been so overly eager to encourage them to war against the Valar.
• Classic Villain: Sauron represents Pride, Ambition, Wrath and Greed.
• Complexity Addiction: This actually screws him in more than one occasion. The plan to make the elves forge the ring of power is a good plan. But a more simple military approach would have made him victorious. Corrupting the Númenóreans was a good plan too, and it paid off. But then he just had to send the king against the Valar. Any other approach to get rid of the king would have been more reasonable, less risky, and he would have been left with all the power of Nûmenor at his disposal (and in any case, regardless of the Valar reaction at Sauron ruling the earth, he would have been better prepared with all Númenor's power in his hand). But he sends the king against the Valar, and he pays dearly for it.
• Consummate Liar: Sauron "the Deceiver" is an extremely dangerous double-dealer who tricked the elves into crafting the Rings of Power.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • He and Smaug are considered to be the most terrifying and powerful forces of evil in Middle-earth and the main plot of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is to put a stop to their presence and machinations. But where Smaug was simply content to dwell underneath the riches he stole and lord over them, Sauron is defined by his ambition to control and dominate Middle-earth. While both are ancient evil beings, Smaug is mostly a footnote in Middle-earth's history while Sauron's actions have had dire consequences in them.
  • Retroactively, he's this to Melkor, his former master and the original dark lord. Despite having the same occupation, Melkor led a great army of powerful dragons, balrogs, and other monsters while Sauron is mainly relegated to orcs and lesser bestial monsters. Melkor also favoured brute force while Sauron was primarily a deceiver and strategist. Where Melkor allowed his hate and destructive urges to take over his mind and plot to utterly wipe out Middle-earth, Sauron retained his original intentions of maintaining order and control, albeit in a highly corrupted state, which would morph into taking over Middle-earth. Finally, where Melkor was a constant physical threat but constantly lost and humiliated himself before being banished, Sauron kept to the shadows and made his presence known through subterfuge and discreet actions, yet his plans ensured he came close to winning against his enemies more than Melkor ever did.
• Cornered Rattlesnake: It's cornered and exhausted of options when Sauron is at his most dangerous. The Númenóreans paid dearly for it, and in the siege of Barad-dûr, Gil-galad and Elendil both died facing the Dark Lord.
• Dark Is Evil: Darkness and shadows are his big visual motif (along with the Eye, of course), as with Morgoth before him. Black are his flags, darkness is what he spreads from Mordor to shield his heliophobic armies, and of course he's the Dark Lord.
• Deadly Gaze: The Eye of Sauron was terrible, and few could endure his gaze, in person or otherwise. Even Gandalf was fatigued and demoralized from confronting him indirectly.
• Determinator: Needless to say, Sauron is wholly determined to conquer all of Middle-earth and enforce his twisted notions of order, regardless of all the setbacks and defeats he endures.
  • By the time of the War of the Ring, he had died twice, lost three wars, and most of his plans had failed, he had lost the Ring to top it all off, and he'd had to retreat to the east to recover himself. But during the course of the Third Age, he managed to slowly climb back to power, while weakening all his enemies, until by the end of that Age he was again the most powerful being in Middle-earth, and his victory was all but guaranteed. Every time he was defeated or failed, he regrouped himself and started again, or improvised. It isn't wrong to say that his will is practically unbeatable.
  • When Sauron's influence towards Númenór reached its highest peak of corruption and depravity, Eru was called upon to enact divine retribution towards the once-great island nation by flooding and burying it underwater whilst Sauron was still in it. While the event killed every single Númenórean who remained on the island, Sauron survived thanks to the One Ring, although, with his fair form of Annatar being destroyed, and upon recovering enough to assume another physical form, he immediately resumed his goal of conquest, undeterred by the fact that he survived the wrath of God.
• Devil Complex: While he wanted to be a God-King for men, he was fine with not being the real god. In the second age he became the high priest of Morgoth. And then, at the end of the third age, he claimed to be Morgoth returned.
• Dirty Coward: Downplayed. He hates fighting unless he either really has to or he thinks he can beat his foe. Although it is justified given that he is much more of a magician and a schemer than a fighter. Also, he has a really bad track of losing, and badly, when things get physical: In his backstory, he lost a battle to Huan (the greatest hound to ever walk on Earth) and Lúthien, losing his tower and position as lieutenant of Morgoth. According to one version of the canon, in the Second Age he lost his army against the Elves and Númenóreans, and barely survived, having to retreat to Mordor and rebuild his forces. In Númenor's downfall, he lost his ability to adopt a fair physical form, being locked in his evil Dark Lord form, and also his dominion over the Númenórean empire. And then, at the end of Barad-dûr, he fell in battle against Elendin and Gil-galad (although killing them), and lost his Ring to Isildur, was forced to retreat and was unable to adopt a physical form until a millennium later.
  • This may be less due to his own inability and more due to the fact that things only got physical when his foes had some sizable advantage; for example, Huan may not have been able to defeat him had Lúthien not cast a spell of blindness and fatigue on him at the start of their still very protracted fight, and Lúthien herself could barely remain conscious in Sauron's presence due to the force of hatred he exuded.
• Dragon Ascendant: Sauron was originally a servant of Morgoth, but after his master’s defeat, he ascended to take Morgoth’s place as the Dark Lord.
• The Dreaded: It's quite literally his name... well, one of his names (Gorthaur, in Sindarin, which means "Dreadful Abomination"), anyway. Fear is one of his greatest weapons, and his most powerful servants and creations have the power to inflict fear upon those around them. The Elves and Men hate and fear him, and most of them do not dare speak his name.
• Eldritch Abomination: As a Maia, his physical form isn't really what he is. He is an extradimensional being, like all Valar and Maiar. He generally takes humanoid forms, though. The closest we ever get to his "true" form is the giant, malevolent cloud that appeared over Mordor following the Ring's destruction. Fittingly, it was only blown away by a wind from the West that "no one could feel" implied to be the work of Manwë.
• Emperor Scientist: As Morgoth's servant, he was engaged in many "scientific experiments", most notably, he had a heavy hand in the creation of the Orcs. And of course after Morgoth's downfall he created the Rings with the help of the Elves.
• Evil Genius: He's one of the smartest beings in Middle-earth (if not the smartest) from the very beginning.
  Gandalf: Let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice.
• Evil Is Petty: He burned the place where the Númenóreans raised a monument to his defeat on the second place, and that's just one example. Also the torture of Thráin in Dol Guldur, and pointlessly tormenting Pippin through the palantír.
• I Have Many Names: Sauron isn't his original name - it was given to him by the elves in the First Age and means "the Abhorred" or "the Abomination". Some of Tolkien's notes say that his original name was Mairon "the Admirable" (and that one is the Quenya version. The Valarin one, which would be his true name, is never stated). Sauron's other names include: Annatar (Lord of Gifts), Gorthaur the Cruel ^note "Gorthaur" being the Sindarin version of "Sauron", Thû, The Nameless Enemy, Dark Lord of Mordor, Lord of the Rings, Base Master of Treachery, the Dark Power, Lord of Barad-dûr, The Eye, Ring-maker, Zigurum ^note "the wizard" in the Númenórean language, Artano and Necromancer. Also the Lord of Werewolves back in his shapeshifting days and Tevildo, Lord of Cats (!) in another version.
• Joker Immunity: He does not really suffer from this, given how Tolkien's creative process was, but it is funny to see how much he survived and how long he lasted. He "outlived" his master for 2 ages (approximately 6460 years), he survived "two" deaths, the collapse of a continent he was in (first "death"), three military defeats, extreme physical and spiritual damage, and thousands of years of recovery. That is not counting the fact he escaped twice from the Valar, nor his defeat in the hands of Huan. Also he is the only one of the great Umaiar from the first age (Him, Gothmog, Ungoliant, Glaurung and Ancalagon. Morgoth being a Vala does not count) to "survive" and prosper past their master's fall. If the stories had come in order, one would wonder how the hell is Sauron still alive after all he went through. Justified considering that as a Maia he can't truly die so long as his spirit endures, even the destruction of the One Ring doesn't so much kill him as permanently destroy his corporeal form and render his spirit powerless enough that he can never be a threat to anyone ever again (which is as close to death as it's likely for him to get).
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. While he always managed to escape punishment and final destruction, he did suffer quite a lot of heavy defeats (both general and personal), and he had to retreat many times. But he always found a way to come back and rebuild himself...
• Karma Houdini Warranty: ...Until Gollum comes into play.
• Kick the Dog: Too many to count, and too many uncounted for.
• Knight Templar: He had some shades of this attitude during the Second Age, and even before when he joined Melkor.
• Lack of Empathy: While originally good, Sauron's love for living creatures, while genuine, was not as strong as the love that Maiar like Gandalf would have for them. But his lack of empathy became worse and worse while his evil grew, to the point he stopped having any empathy for anyone other than himself.
• Legacy Character: He inherited the titles of the Enemy and the Dark Lord after his master was defeated.
• The Magnificent: Referred to as Sauron the Great by his followers. Also, before he turned evil, he was called Mairon ("Admirable").
• Malicious Misnaming: Many if not most of his names were given by the Elves out of enmity, with "Sauron" (the Abhorrent) standing out as the closest to his original name among the Elves, "Mairon" (the Admirable). According to assorted notes Sauron kept calling himself Mairon until after the fall of Númenor, being unable to take a beautiful form ever again. In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn says that Sauron doesn't use "his right name" or allow it to be written or spoken after they encounter some Orcs using the Elven rune for S as insignia (i.e. it's not S for Sauron but Saruman). This is a bit of a Continuity Snarl because Sauron's minions do use "Sauron" in earlier and later scenes, but it can be read as Sauron's enemies considering that name to be his "correct" one in any case.
• The Man Behind the Man: To Celebrimbor, Ar-Pharazôn, the Witch-king, and Saruman.
  • To Celebrimbor, he twisted the smith's genuine wish to atone for his family's misdeeds to his own ends, tricking Celebrimbor into forging the rings of power. While they were mostly forged by Celebrimbor's own skill, Sauron taught and helped him in the process, thus corrupting them.
  • To Ar-Pharazôn, Sauron played on the already arrogant king's pride and fear of death, convincing him that he could challenge the Valar themselves. It did not go well for poor Pharazôn.
  • Sauron gave the Witch-king his ring of power, and everything the Witch-king did independently from Sauron was ultimately to further his master's ends.
• Meaningful Name: Like all of Tolkien's characters, his various names have important meanings in various languages.
  • His original name from Valinor, Mairon, means "Admirable", since he was the greatest and most skilled of Aulë's followers.
  • His most well-known name, Sauron, is a corruption of Mairon, meaning "Abhorrent", and so does the Sindarin version, Gorthaur.
  • The Númenoreans called him Zigúr, "Sorcerer" in Adúnaic, since he's skilled with magic.
  • To Celebrimbor, he introduced himself as Annatar ("Lord of Gifts"), Artano ("High-Smith") and Aulendil ("Friend of Aulë"). None of them are false, since he was a skilled smith that came bearing gifts, and he did serve Aulë at one point (though that point is long past).
• More than Mind Control: Can use the One Ring to manipulate the vices of the bearers of other Rings of Power, eventually bringing them under his control (in the case of the Ringwraiths) or to their deaths (like the dwarf kings).
• Motive Decay: Justified in-universe: his original motivation was to give order and peace to the world. As his evil grew, he lost sight of this goal — a desire for order became a desire to dominate everything, and a desire for peace became a lust for control and revenge against those who resisted him — the Eldar, the Númenóreans, and lastly the men of Gondor. By the end of his "life", he is only interested in controlling the entire world and practically cares nothing about the state of it as long as it is his.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: The One Ring and his reliance on Men's greed ensured he would have control over them and would eventually be able to return, whether his physical form was destroyed or not.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Sauron" is Quenya for "abomination." His less-often-seen Sindarin name, Gorthaur, means "terrible dread."
• Non-Action Big Bad: Downplayed. Sauron does engage in a physical combat if necessary, but he prefers to act by other means, and his greatest works have been accomplished through sorcery, guile and deceit, and his most severe defeats before the Third Age were when he was confronted directed by sufficiently powerful adversaries: Those times we see him fight physically, he loses (against the wolfhound Huan when he tried to capture Luthién and Beren; and against Elendil, Gil-Galad and Isildur during the siege of Barad-dûr); and he willingly foregoes combat when confronted with a stronger enemy and/or when he considers guilde a better alternative (like when he let himself be captured by Ar-Pharazôn or tried to undermine Eregion as Annatar), and corruption has been the source of his greatest successes (when he brought Numenór under his rule, dominated the Nazgul through their rings, drove Denethor to madness and corrupted Saruman). Also, he isn't above letting others do the fighting for him (like the Ringwraiths or Smaug).
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: While he started off as a genuine well-intentioned extremist, by the beginning of the Second Age he had devolved more into this. While still somewhat sincerely convinced that his objectives were for the best of everyone in Arda, deep down he came to care only about gaining absolute power, even at the expense of literally everyone else's well-being.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Heavily downplayed; Sauron's ultimate ambition is to subjugate all of life and creation into his servitude, likening to his desire for absolute order. However, if he has to, he will destroy any sort of life that he cannot control or take over, hence his actions causing an untold number of deaths and destruction throughout Middle-earth.
• Omniglot: He speaks most if not all the languages of Middle-earth. He even invented one.
• Order Is Not Good: When Sauron was originally created as a good being, the greatest virtue that was instilled in him was a love of order and perfection, leading him to dislike anything he considered wasteful. Over time though, this virtue became twisted and corrupted as Sauron began to seek to impose order upon everyone and everything and came to view unrelenting tyranny as the easiest way to do so, leading him to fall from the side of good and join Morgoth as his lieutenant. Which is especially contradictory, considering how chaotic Morgoth was.
• Our Angels Are Different: Sauron, like the Wizards, is an angel (or a demon/umaiar by that point) in humanoid form. Unlike them, however, he possesses his full power and knowledge (and was already far more powerful than all of them before they took their forms as wizards).
• Our Demons Are Different: He is an Umaiar, like the Balrogs and all those who followed Morgoth. He is the most powerful Umaiar of all.
• Our Liches Are Different: Possibly a Ur-Example. Sauron is a powerful sorcerer who placed (part of) his soul in an object that must be destroyed before he can be killed. Unlike most modern liches, he did so not for immortality (which he already had), but for power and dominance.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: A downplayed example since Sauron's greatest strengths are his strategic mind and his magical abilities. Physical prowess is not his specialty; he could hold his own against Elendil and Gil-galad at the Siege of Barad-dûr and managed to kill them, but he was also defeated. He also assumed the form of a werewolf to fight Huan, but was also defeated by him with the help of Lúthien. It's a common theme throughout all his appearances in Tolkien's works: Sauron will only engage in physical combat when all other options have been exhausted... and he will almost always lose. It's worth noting, however, that it always takes multiple powerful adversaries to bring him down, and while he may lose most of his physical duels, in duels of magic he remained unmatched. In the late Third Age, according to Gandalf, Sauron without the Ring was the most dangerous being you could face, one-on-one, in Middle-earth.
• Reality Warper: He can manipulate the very fabric of reality.
• Sadist: Enjoys torture and inflicting pain. His conversation with Pippin is enough proof of this. His torment of Gorlim in The Silmarillion is an excellent example. He was also said to have enjoyed watching Shelob tormenting her victims.
• Satanic Archetype: Although Morgoth is the big D devil, Sauron is also a Fallen Angel who earned himself the title of The Enemy, being in fact the major antagonist of the Second and Third ages. He does decidedly more Luciferian tactics of deception, like his guise as Annatar, and the fact that he is lesser in the cosmic hierarchy actually makes him more similar to the theologian view of Lucifer (as someone not equal to God in power).
• The Sociopath: He degenerated into something akin this. No empathy, completely unable of understanding good, grandiose (claiming to be Morgoth returned), petty, absolute lust of winning more and more power, and pretty sadistic to boot. Also, deeply paranoid, and only concerned about himself. But still capable of long term planning and organization, and nor limited by whims or mood swings, not at least like his previous master.
  • He is also incapable of deeply learning about his mistakes, usually getting himself screwed by the same reason (his overconfidence). Ironically he does learn ONE lesson during the downfall of Númenor: never EVER pissed off the big G again!
• Superior Successor: Sauron is the second Dark Lord after Morgoth, yet his intelligence and machinations allowed him to reign as the Big Bad in Middle-earth for two whole ages and even at his weakest, came closer to victory than his predecessor ever did.
• Weather Manipulation: Altering the weather is one of the powers commonly attributed to him. Boromir notes that he was believed to govern the storms in the mountains of Mordor, while Gandalf suspects he had a hand in the snowstorm that forced the fellowship to abandon the pass of Caradhras. Earlier on he is heavily implied to have been behind the downpour which forced Thrain and his companions to take shelter in Mirkwood, where they were promptly captured and imprisoned in Dol Guldur.

In The Lord of the Rings

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• 0% Approval Rating: It is shown many times that most of his servants despise and hate him, serving him out of a combination of fear, convenience (considering the fact that everyone hates orcs and with good reason and they return the favour, Sauron is their best option), and his sheer will. The Nazgûl are ensnared by his will. Only some Men serve Sauron out of genuine loyalty, like the Easterlings or Black Númenóreans, and even then, many come from cultures which have been conquered by Sauron's forces for generations.
• Achilles' Heel: The One Ring. In order to make it as powerful as it is, Sauron needed to pour a huge amount of his own power into the Ring. Thus, if the Ring were ever destroyed, Sauron would lose so much of his power that he'd be reduced to little more than a ghost.
• And I Must Scream: His ultimate fate. The destruction of the One Ring cripples him completely, leaving him nothing but a 'spirit of malice', unable to ever assume physical form or influence anyone or anything ever again. At least until the end of the world, which will be many millennia in the future.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: Sauron's final defeat is welcomed with joy and glory, relief and happiness from all the free peoples of Middle-earth, having been a constant evil against them since their beginning. And his fate is absolutely deserved.
• Antagonist Title: The titular Lord of the Rings.
• Arch-Enemy: By the time of the War of the Ring; Gandalf, Aragorn, and Galadriel.
• Bad Boss: Downplayed. While he is brutal and unforgiving, Mordor is still efficiently run, and he is pragmatic enough not to kill his servants indiscriminately nor to alienate them too much. Then again, everyone is miserable in Mordor. Not that there are any good people there, other than the slaves brought there against their will.
  • It's also mentioned that he has a tendency to have his orcs fed to Shelob as a form of entertainment.
• Bait the Dog: On the surface, sparing Gollum might seem like a sign of clemency, but Gandalf and Aragorn believe that he was only set free because Sauron knew that he'd seek out the Ring the second he was free, and might lead Sauron's servants to it. Gollum maintains that he escaped on his own (which is "true" to some extent, at least is what Gollum thinks, but Sauron orchestrated his escape and let him run free and escape untouched) and would've never turned over the Ring to Sauron or his servants (which is also true, Gollum wants the ring for himself).
• Battle in the Centre of the Mind: He holds battle of wills with many characters (using the palantír). Galadriel manages to keep him at bay. Aragorn manages to break the Orthanc's Palantír out of his will. Denethor (using the stone of Minas Tirith) does not bend to the Dark Lord, so Sauron decides to drive him slowly to despair. And he corrupted Saruman and bent the wizard somewhat to his will.
• Big Bad: The moving force behind nearly all evil in The Lord of the Rings. Despite Sauron himself never appearing in person, his presence looms over the entire story as his servants carry out his bidding.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With The One Ring. Sauron seeks to reclaim it, and The One Ring wants to return to its master.
• Break the Haughty: When he discovers the ring is in Sammath Naur, and discovers the magnitude of his folly and how he has been deceived, he feels consumed by fury and overwhelmed by absolute terror for the first time in millennia, knowing his doom hangs by a thread. He completely forgets about everything else and focuses all his will on Mount Doom.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Inflicted on several unfortunates who have information he wants (Thráin for one of the seven rings, and Gollum, from whom he discovered the One Ring still existed). Unlike Morgoth, it isn't made clear whether he also tortures people for fun in his spare time, but don't put it past him.
• Control Freak: Of the worst type. Disobedience in Mordor is paid with torture and death. He has spies everywhere. His eye is constantly watching, out and in. His main servants are practical extensions of his will. He is a paranoid nutcase to boot.
• The Corrupter: Directly and indirectly. Aside from the fact that his Ring corrupts everyone it touches, he corrupted Saruman and drove Denethor to such despair that he might as well have been turned evil. And that's not counting everyone he corrupted in the backstory.
• Cyclops: The Orcs portray him as one, best seen when they defile a statue of a Gondorian king to resemble their master. Though they're probably just guessing (or might be another of his forms).
• Dark Lord on Life Support: Downplayed. He has spent so much of his power on evil pursuits and attempts to subjugate Middle-earth that by the time he infuses his essence into the One Ring, he becomes incapable of sustaining himself without it. As long as the Ring survives, so does he - but as soon as it's destroyed, he is instantly and irrecoverably undone. What differs in his case is that he is still functional, he has a humanoid mobile form, and he is still powerful.
• The Dark Times: He ruled over most of Middle-earth after he created the Ring, called the Dark Years. And during the novel he tries to conquer the Earth once more.
• The Empire: He rules his empire from Mordor, which extends to Rhûn, Harad (near and far), Khand, Umbar, Dol Guldur, parts of the Misty Mountains, Gundabad, and probably other places at the south and east. He also ruled Númenor behind the scenes for some decades.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Sauron in his fall utterly lost the ability to comprehend or empathise with anyone who wasn't as evil and selfish as him, and couldn't imagine any non-selfish motivation. Tolkien talked at length about this in his Letters and essays, as in this extract from Morgoth's Ring:
  If he thought about the Istari, especially Saruman and Gandalf, he imagined them as emissaries from the Valar, seeking to establish their lost power again and 'colonize' Middle-earth, as a mere effort of defeated imperialists (without knowledge or sanction of Eru). His cynicism, which (sincerely) regarded the motives of Manwë as precisely the same as his own, seemed fully justified in Saruman. Gandalf he did not understand. But certainly he had already become evil, and therefore stupid, enough to imagine that [Gandalf's] different behaviour was due simply to weaker intelligence and lack of firm masterful purpose.
  • This is the fundamental reason the whole plan to destroy the One Ring works. Sauron believes that anyone who possesses the One Ring would use it for themselves, leaving them susceptible to its corruption. Only when it's too late does he realize that his enemies wish to destroy it. But... he turns out to be correct in the end, as nobody actually has the resolve to destroy it willingly. Instead, it gets undone as an unforeseen consequence of Bilbo's and Frodo's acts of pity and mercy, something else his evil could not comprehend.
  • Gandalf explains it to the fellowship members. The fact that they want to topple Sauron and not replace him is a thought that has not entered Sauron's mind. That they want to destroy the Ring is something that has not appeared in Sauron's darkest dreams. Also, Sauron measures the hearts of all in a scale of power and desire for power. While it's true the One Ring would overwhelm at last even the strongest will, at Sammath Naur by the Cracks of Doom at the latest, all of Sauron's conjectures were proven wrong, considering everyone powerful who was at hand rejected the Ring (Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, Elrond), and that they managed to get the One Ring to the literal edge of the fires of Sammath Naur until the corruption overtook the bearer. And then, the pity of those who spared Gollum when they had him at their mercy, and, by contrast, his own arrogance at releasing him, and a tiny push from Eru, ensured the One Ring fell into the fire and led to the defeat of the Dark Lord.
• Evil Counterpart: To Galadriel (Lady Of light), and Gandalf (The Grey, later the White). He was also this to Saruman before he got corrupted. He has many counterparts in his backstory.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: Literally, as his physical form emanates enough heat to kill anyone just by touching (like Ereinion). He's also generally associated with fire.
• Evil Is Sterile: Gets in on this later on, just like his master - while not outright stated, the avian monsters known as Fell-beasts that he gives his Nazgul as replacement steeds are implied to be created in the image of the Eagles, yet fail in battle against said birds during the Battle at the Black Gate.
• Evil Mentor: To Celebrimbor in Eregion, tricking him into forging the Rings of Power.
• The Evils of Free Will: He used the rings to try to take total control over all the beings in Middle-earth. The original reason for his fall was his desire for order in the world, and after his corruption, his unrelenting desire for power and control drive him. He is called afterward "the enemy of the Free Peoples".
• Evil Overlord: The Trope Namer and Trope Codifier for modern fantasy.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower. He built it, fusing part of his power with the base. The biggest and highest fortress in Middle-earth since Angband, and only possible to destroy forever with the destruction of the ring.
• Faceless Eye: He appears as a great eye of fire in the minds of those who perceive him. Unlike in the Jackson movies, in the books this is not his actual physical form — which is hideous but humanoid, complete with a missing ring finger. His Eye just represents his will (thanks to the palantír he can see literally anywhere).
  • Although in the extended edition of The Return Of The King, he appears inside the eye with his humanoid form.
• Fantastic Racism: Sauron has made destroying the Númenóreans one of his major goals. He also hates the Elves with passion.
• Fatal Flaw: His failure to comprehend good. This aspect of him kept him from even considering that anyone would want to destroy his pet Artifact of Doom.
• Fate Worse than Death: He ends up as a bodiless spirit too weak to influence anyone ever again (at least until the Dagor Dagorath).
• Faux Affably Evil: He was that, before, when he could conceal his evil. Now he is stuck in a monstrous form (but can still be fakely polite, like when talking to Pippin).
• Final Boss: He is this for the entire Arda and Eä until the end of the world. If Sauron wins, then it's all over for everyone in the Earth, and he will rule the world and more until its end. If he loses, then the last great evil of the world (and the only one capable of inflicting such damage aside Morgoth, who created evil) will be gone, and the last demonic threat to the world will be gone, and the world will be inherited by men.
• Fingore: Sauron's black hand has only four fingers, since the ring finger was sliced of by Isildur.
• Fisher King: Take a look at the state of Gorgoroth. Sauron's will is present in his whole kingdom and beyond. Barad-dûr, the Morannon and Mount Doom are particularly linked with Sauron (when he falls, the three of them collapse or explode). Curiously, the south of Mordor is a fertile land thanks to the volcanic ash and the sea of Nûrn, to ensure the sustenance of his armies.
• Foil: To Gandalf, who was sent to Middle-earth specifically to be his adversary. Also to Galadriel.
• Gadgeteer Genius: The creator of the Rings of Power. Not much more need be said. And in some versions of the Legendarium, he developed missiles and powered warships for the Númenóreans. Being a Maia of Aulë and Morgoth had many advantages.
• The Ghost: Tolkien never gives a clear description of what Sauron looks like in the books, nor does the Dark Lord actually appear on-page. Elrond and Círdan (who were there when Sauron was defeated at Mount Doom at the end of the Second Age), Gandalf possibly (when Sauron was masquerading as the Necromancer) and Gollum (tortured by the Dark Lord in person after losing the ring to Bilbo) are the only characters around at the time of The Lord of the Rings to have actually been in Sauron's physical presence. The only certain things about him are that he is bigger than any human, he looks evil, monstrous, and possibly charred, his eyes are terrible to behold, and he is missing a finger of his hand.
  • Gandalf has a lot to say about Sauron's motives and goals, but doesn't say anything about his appearance, and it's unclear if Gandalf actually ever met Sauron face-to-face.
  • Gollum's only comment is "Yes, He has only four [fingers] on the Black Hand, but they are enough."
  • Pippin and Aragorn both see him through the palantír, but their encounters happen "offstage", and when they speak of them to others they don't describe him in any way.
  • Frodo sees the image of a flaming eye in Galadriel's mirror, and the Orcs refer to him as "the Eye," but that seems to be more of a metaphor for his power and watchfulness than a description of his actual physical form.
  • Galadriel was approached by Sauron in his guise as Annatar, but it isn't clear if she ever came face to face with Sauron unmasked.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Or glowing eye of doom.
• God-Emperor: He sets himself as a god-king in Mordor and the lands under his dominion (Harad, Rhûn, Khand, Umbar, etc.).
• Gone Horribly Right:
  • His plan to create the Ring went so well that he became practically unbeatable as long as he had it, and ensured his continuing survival after several of his bodies were destroyed. It also tied the destiny of all the ring-wielders to his. Unfortunately it also created a fatal weakness for him, guaranteeing his final defeat if the Ring were ever destroyed.
  • Also the destruction of Nûmenor. He'd expected to be rid of the king and his armies, and rule over the madhouse that he'd made of the island. His machinations did result in the destruction of most of Nûmenor's military strength (and left the Men of lands such as Harad and Dunland with good reasons to dislike the Men of the West, making them easier to bring under his sway), but due to divine intervention from Eru, the island itself fell into a giant chasm and took Sauron with it. He survived the destruction but can never assume his fair form again.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He was this during the Third Age until he returned to power. All the evils in the story are related to him in one way or the other (even indirectly, like the Balrog, who woke up by actions instigated by Sauron, or Shelob, who lives in Mordor under Sauron's "permission" (she came there before him; Sauron likes her as a security in the pass of Cirith Ungol, given no one before Gollum and Sam managed to survive her).
• He Who Must Not Be Named: He does not allow his servants to use his name. The Elves also fear using his name or speaking the Black Speech.
• His Own Worst Enemy: In a way, Sauron's actions ensure his own defeat as much as the actions of all his enemies. His pride, paranoia, cynicism and plain insanity all played a part in his defeat. Had he not been so convinced his enemies were planning to use the Ring, he would not have lost his mind in an imaginary conflict. Had he focused on finding the Ring instead of waging war against an imaginary rival, he would have eventually found it. Had he not fallen for Aragorn's challenges, he would have won the war (he struck too fast at Gondor, without being completely prepared) and kept Mordor completely blocked for Frodo and Sam to pass (had he not fallen for the final deception). Had he just built a door or put guards in Sammath Naur, the quest would have been doomed, or made a lot more difficult. Or just paid attention to the fact there were two "spies" lost in his realm, and that an entire regiment of his orcs ended up dead (which would be suspicious to anyone, also considering the time coordination with the battle afar, and the army of men marching to the Black Gate. Had he been paying a little bit of genuine attention, he would have noticed something was off about the whole situation. Or just plainly not being arrogant and actually sending the Nazgûl or someone to patrol Mordor and find the "spies"). But all of this would not have mattered had he not committed the lethal mistake of freeing Gollum. Had he killed him, or even just kept him locked in Barad-dûr, he would have won.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: It happened with Númenor, when he brought the wrath of God upon him when he convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attack Valinor, and by putting forth the greater part of his power to create the One Ring, which dooms him to be a formless spirit when the Ring is destroyed.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: From the greatest of the Maiar and the second most dangerous enemy of the forces of good in Arda and Eä, to a mere impotent spirit of Malice, Sauron fell deep into the void (also literally. When Númenor drowned, he fell into the abyss with the entire island).
• Humiliation Conga: He suffers one in the backstory. He drowns with Númenor and loses the entire empire (which was all but ensnared to his will), comes back as a monster and incapable of taking a fair form again, his armies are defeated during the last alliance, his kingdom is invaded, he is besieged in Barad-dûr for 7 years (all while still recovering from his last defeat), and when he comes to fight he is defeated and the Ring taken from him, leaving him formless for an entire millennium. The end of the Second Age was not good for Sauron (although all this happens in a span of decades, for Sauron, being an immortal Maia, it is almost like a continuous stroke of bad events one after other).
• I Control My Minions Through...: Fear and Will. When he is gone, most of them lose the impulse for battle and disband and flee almost immediately.
• Improperly Paranoid: For all the above. While he had reasons to believe he was right, he ignored too many important things.
• Invincible Villain: At that point, he is practically this, despite being at his weakest. The war is a foregone conclusion, and if he recovers the Ring, he would become unbeatable.
• Irony: As chancellor to Ar-Pharazôn, he was known as Tar-Mairon. In other words, the entity that was responsible for taking the corruption of Númenor to its logical conclusion rendered his name in Quenya, the language of the Faithful.
  • Sauron "the Great" was undone not by men, elves or dwarves, but by the little and diminutive hobbits.
  • Sauron "the Deceiver" was deceived, right until the very end.
  • The Great Eye missed the two little hobbits passing right below his doorstep.
• It's All About Me: One of his core features, Sauron does not care about anyone or anything other than himself and his goals. He has an ego the size of Barad-dûr.
• It's Personal: With Aragorn, and Gondor. Aragorn is the last member of the line of Kings of Elendil, which goes up there to Elros (Elrond's twin brother), up until Beren, Lúthien, and Melian. A line that has been a constant thorn in Sauron's feet for thousands and thousands of years. And Gondor is the last kingdom of men descended from Númenor. Sauron wants to send unto oblivion both the line and the remnants of Númenor. And when Aragorn challenges him, Sauron feels fear for the first time in a long time, believing he has the Ring and is challenging him for power.
• Karmic Death: His final defeat came at the hand of the creature that most suffered from his worst creation, and completely unintentionally on the creature's part. This doomed him to exist as a powerless spirit until the end of the world.
  • His previous death were pretty karmic too. Killed by the god he had dismissed as nonexistent and burned (like all the people he ordered sacrificed). And then killed by the king of the survivors of Númenor and the king of the elves of Middle-earth he deceived and tormented. And then his Ring taken by the son of said men's king.
• Keystone Army: Raised — and lost — several. Practically, all his servants are guided by his will (at least all evil creatures). When he goes, they lose purpose, focus and coordination.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He managed to send the Númenóreans to their destruction. But they had become such a bunch of bastards (fuelled by Sauron) that the destruction of many of them feels deserved. Especially their king, Ar-Pharazôn.
  • Terrorizing and tormenting Saruman counts too.
  • Ordering Shagrat's execution.
  • If one speculates that some of the Nazgûl were power hungry or greedy individuals before joining him, then it also feels like this. Which might be subverted, considering that Sauron is way worse than what any of those kings were before becoming the Nazgûl.
  • Anytime he sends an orc to their death, or does anything awful to one of them. Which may be subverted, since he bears a lot of responsibility for the orcs being what they are.
  • Subverted with tormenting Gollum. While Gollum indeed did many nasty things, the fact that being tormented by Sauron is one of the worst things that could happen to anyone, plus the fact Sauron is almost entirely responsible (through the Ring) for Sméagol's suffering makes it a very awful Kick the Dog moment.
• Living Lie Detector: Lying to Sauron is practically impossible. The only way Gandalf's deception works is by planting seed and doubts in Sauron's head from afar (which mainly amounts to exploiting Sauron's weakness). The same when Aragorn faced him on the stone (although the palantír answered to him, being a Gondorian one), he showed him Narsil and wrestled the palantír off Sauron's power, but never effectively claimed that he was using the Ring. Pippin's ability to avoid directly answering Sauron's question of who he was- merely stating that he was a 'hobbit of the Shire'- was itself a remarkable feat and at least ensured that Sauron would incorrectly assume he was the one bearing the ring.
• Load-Bearing Boss: His malign will was functioning as his Evil Tower of Ominousness' foundation, not to mention the primary motivating and dominating force of his slave armies.
• Manipulative Bastard: A master of manipulating people. Him ironically being "manipulated" by Gandalf and Aragorn.
• Metaphorically True: In the backstory. He told Gorlim he would send him to be with Eilinel. He never clarified she was dead to begin with.
  • He also used this to seduce the elves. He told them he wanted to make Middle-earth beautiful. He never specified that it would involve mind control. His name also was this: Annatar, Lord of Gifts (which sounds really close to Lord of the Rings). He had gifts for all the elves...he just left out the detail of what those gifts were really for.
  • When he cannot get away with plainly lying, he uses this, half-truths, misguidance or omissions.
• Mind Control: He has the Nazgûl ensnared thanks to the nine Rings.
• Mind Rape: His specialty. "Thy flesh shall be devoured and thy shrivelled mind left naked to the Lidless Eye." Brrrrr.
• Monstrous Humanoid: After he lost his beautiful Annatar form in the fall of Númenor, he was stuck in a humanoid but horrendously monstrous form for the rest of his existence.

N-U

• Necromancer: It's one of his titles and the alias he used while recuperating at Dol Guldur, and one of his specialties as a Maia was in manipulating the connection between minds and physical bodies/objects. It should be noted that Sauron dabbles in the older meaning of the word necromancy; meaning he mostly just communicates with the dead. He doesn't summon armies of zombies or resurrect the dead. This is still considered evil in-universe as the Elves consider it taboo for their spirits to interact with dark beings.
  • This is the power that allowed him to pour himself unto the ring.
• Non-Action Big Bad: While he can fight, he goes out of his way to avoid doing so, and is never even physically encountered by the heroes in The Lord of the Rings.
• Not Quite Dead: Gandalf notes that, even with the destruction of the Ring, Sauron isn't actually dead as he is a Maia whose essence cannot truly perish. Instead, he's just reduced to an impotent "spirit of malice" that can never again grow or take form.
• Oh, Crap!: Understandably, he freaks the hell out when he realizes that his ring is in the very place it can be destroyed. He absolutely forgets about all his plans and focus all his power and will on Mount Doom.
• Orcus on His Throne: He never engages anyone in physical battle after his previous defeat by the Last Alliance. Though this isn't to say that he's inactive. His Eye is always on the move, as are his servants, propelled by his malevolent will. Justified in that, while he is immensely powerful, physical strength is not his forte. If Sauron is personally coming out to fight, like he did at the end of the Second Age, it generally means he's on the brink of defeat and getting rather desperate.
• Order Is Not Good: A core theme with his character. He fell because he wanted to impose order and structure in the world, a desire that gradually metastasized into a desire for absolute control.
• Out-Gambitted: He Out Gambits everyone, and then is in turn Out Gambitted by Gandalf. See Unwitting Pawn below.
• Paranoia Gambit: Aragorn plays one with him. It almost works too well.
• The Paranoiac: Both he and his master Morgoth fit this disorder, particularly as they got progressively weaker over the Ages and increasingly spiteful, envious, controlling, petty and grandiose as a direct result of that. Sauron especially, as by the end he simply wants to control absolutely everything and is completely enraged by any challenge to this. It also causes Sauron to have a cautious streak, both personally and as a strategist. Like his master, he generally does not attack unless assured of success, and heavily hedges his bets; his assault on Minas Tirith, for instance, only involves a fraction of his forces, with the bulk remaining in Mordor. His defeat there causes Sauron to fall back and regroup when a second assault would likely have conquered the city easily. His paranoia about others using the Ring against him ends up making him fall straight into Gandalf and Aragorn's trap, emptying Mordor of all his forces- letting Frodo and Sam breeze through to Mount Doom with no resistance.
  • That was already in play during the War. Gandalf himself states that he was more focused in waging war against his enemies for fear they'd find and use the Ring against him than actually focusing all his power on finding the Ring and guarding Mordor, which would have doomed the quest. Ironically, for all his paranoia and fear, he left Mount Doom completely unguarded (even a door could have solved the issue). But he was so convinced that everyone would use the ring against him (which suits with a real Paranoid, who is convinced everyone is scheming and conspiring against him) blinded his sight until the last moment.
• Playing with Fire: His Dark Lord form is described as looking very dark, like it is blackened from the immense heat of his body, and anybody who gets too close is burned by him.
• Pragmatic Villainy: After torturing Gollum, Sauron doesn't kill him but lets him go instead, guessing that Gollum in his malice would go after the ring's trace, allowing Sauron's spies and agents to retrieve the ring.
• Present Absence: Sauron is never present in a scene, and very few of the characters have actually been in his presence. His only lines are spoken to Pippin when he looks into the palantír, and we only know them because the incident actually happens off-page, with Pippin telling the rest of the characters about it after the fact. This actually helps to give him a might and a presence he would not have if he had a personal appearance. He is everywhere all the time, without ever making a single direct appearance. Hell, the title of the novel is his title.
• Pride Before a Fall: Metaphorically and Literally.
• Properly Paranoid: Played straight but then subverted. He was right on not trusting Gollum, and he was right in the fact that Gollum's will was indomitable. But he still set him free. He mistook how dangerous Gollum could effectively be, and sealed his own fate.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Does appear yellow at one point, however.
• Red Right Hand: He cannot grow back the ring finger he lost at the end of the Second Age.
  "There are only four fingers on the Black Hand, but they are enough."
• Shadow Archetype: Sauron is a Shadow to both Gandalf and Galadriel. He is what anyone with enough power to wield his ring would end up becoming if they managed to overthrow him. As a matter of fact, according to Tolkien, Gandalf would be even worse than Sauron, given that, while Sauron was clearly evil, Gandalf would corrupt and make good seem detestable.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: After the destruction of Númenor, he can never again assume a form that isn't hideous, hateful, and Obviously Evil.
• Sinister Surveillance: Of Mordor and the surrounding lands, with his thought ("Eye") alone and with the Palantír from Minas Ithil. Also Mordor is full of his "spies".
• Story-Breaker Power: Sauron's power is beyond all in Middle-earth by that point, even with him being at his weakest (Gandalf at his most powerful does not feel prepared to even face Sauron through the palantír, and Aragorn only manages to do so successfully thanks to the fact the palantír is his by right). The only way anyone could beat him by force is using the Ring (and even that isn't a sure outcome. Of all the possible bearers, Gandalf would have the better shot, and it would still be an extremely close fight in which either of them could come on top), and that would still leave the world with another Dark Lord. The only reason they had a chance of beating him is because of their plan to destroy the Ring, and the fact Sauron would not risk himself to come out to fight unless it's absolutely necessary.
• Stupid Evil: His inability to understand any good - such as pity and mercy - has made him this at his core, which ends up being his undoing.
  • Christopher Tolkien wrote in Morgoth's Ring that, for all of Sauron's power and knowledge, he was at the end as smart as Radagast, and was too blind to see the truth until the last hour. He really thought Gandalf and the Istari were in Middle-earth to reconquer it for Manwë, and never ever dreamed anyone would try to destroy the Ring (or that they might have just wanted to dethrone him and not replace him).
• Take Over the World: His goal, literally. And if he gets his One Ring back, he can, thanks to his enemies being far weaker than they were in the Second Age, and him still being the most powerful being in Middle-earth.
  • Ironically, the rediscovery of the One Ring worked more against his interests than in his favour. He could have easily won the war without the Ring.
• Taking You with Me: He tries to destroy the Host of the West at the Morannon after the Ring is destroyed, but he is powerless and is blown away by a gust of wind from the west. He also takes down the Nazgûl, Mount Doom, Barad-dûr, the teeth towers, and who knows what else.
  • A subtler example. With the destruction of the One Ring, everything tied to it would go down, including the three elvish rings and all their creations. Even in defeat, Sauron manages to fuck with the elves one last time, forcing them either to fade away or leave their beloved Middle-earth forever.
• Telepathy: He is a Maia. During his conversation with Pippin, he never speaks, just looks at Pippin, and he understands.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Having been originally created as an assistant for Aulë, Sauron is one of the most skilled craftsmen in all of existence (save for Aulë himself and possibly Fëanor), which is one reason the Ring is so incredibly hard to destroy, aside from the fact that it is infused with his power and essence. While there are smiths of similar or greater skill, most of them live in Valinor, outside the reach of Middle-earth. Only a Vala (and not just any Vala) could have the power to destroy the Ring by brute force, and among the elves, only Fëanor would hypothetically have the skills to actually unmake it. And he is in Mandos.
• Undying Loyalty: The Nazgûl have this for him (not that they have any choice in the matter), so do some of the men under his command and even some of his evil creatures. The Mouth of Sauron is a genuine example.
• The Unfettered: In his quest for order and power, he had no limits. He did not want to destroy the world, but he was willing to burn and maim a large part of it if it meant he could rule it after (also he was interested in dominating people, not the matter itself).
• The Unfought: Due to Present Absence. Sauron always sends his minions to do the fighting for him. This may be justified for the following reasons: First, he would never go to a fight unless absolutely necessary. Second, he would annihilate all the characters in the story. Third, he usually gets the worst of any fight he actually takes part in, and Fourth, he is busy directing his forces through his will.
• Unwitting Pawn:
  • Marching most of his army up to the Black Gate was a distraction and he fell right into it (he pulls out of it at the last minute, but it is too late).
  • Gandalf suggests that Morgoth is still giding his hand from the Void.
• Villain Has a Point: As much Gandalf criticizes Sauron's decision to wage war rather than focusing on finding the Rings, as well as that he never conceived that anyone would attempt to destroy the Ring, even calling him a "wise fool", Sauron had legitimate reasons to worry little about this possibility.
  • In order to destroy the One Ring, the only way to do so is by throwing it to the fires of Orodruin, which is located in the middle of Mordor. There are only two ways to enter Mordor. The first is through the Black Gate, a gigantic gate that is heavily guarded and with legions of orcs on the other side. The other is by going through the stairway that is right next to Minas Morgul, the Witch King's base; a tunnel that is the residence of Shelob, the greatest of Ungoliant's offspring; the Tower of Cirith Ungol, which has an orc host residing in it, and then walk through Mordor, which is filled with hundreds of thousands of orcs. Frodo and Sam only got as far as they could because a) they were being guided by Gollum, who knew of the Cirith Ungol pass, b) the host residing in the tower of Cirth Ungol started infighting, thus giving Sam the chance to rescue Frodo, and c) Aragorn managed to taunt Sauron to send all of his forces to the Black Gate.
  • While there was the possibility that someone would wish to destroy the One Ring, the latter's power would slowly but surely ensure that the bearer would reject the idea of casting it to the fire. Despite Frodo's praiseworthy resillience, even he ultimately succumbed to the power of the Ring. The Ring was only destroyed because Gollum took it from Frodo's hand and tripped to the lava.

In The Hobbit

The Necromancer

A dark presence residing in the fortress of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood that Gandalf goes to confront.

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• Cryptic Background Reference: All that the reader learns of him during the book, and yet he is the link that connects The Hobbit to the earlier The Silmarillion and the yet-to-come The Lord of the Rings.
• Darker and Edgier: Mentions of him hint of even greater dangers and older evils than what is seen on-page.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Sauron had somehow kept his true identity quiet for a long time — it was during one of Gandalf's mid-book absences that he discovers the truth.
• Evil Sorcerer: As the Necromancer, people mistakenly thought he was one of these. Technically, this is true — but in reality, he's one hell of a lot more than that.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: Lives in one, later named Dol Guldur in The Lord of the Rings.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: Since he never appears in the book on-page, he has no real characterization and exists only as a reason to keep Gandalf out of the story.
• The Ghost: He's mentioned often, but never seen on-page.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He definitely exists and will later be revealed as the canonical ultimate evil, but has no direct role in the story's plot, except as a device to give Gandalf a reason to leave the group for chapters at a time to go get information on him.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Via retroactive continuity, he turns out to be the Dark Lord, something the White Council only learn hundred of years after his arrival at Dol Guldur.
• Necromancer: Not of the zombie-master type, necessarily: Tolkien was referring to older myths of necromancy — the transfer of souls, the creation of a Soul Jar and such...
  • On the other hand, Tolkien based him off on the Necromancer Thû of his broader legendarum that he was working on at the time, and even named him as such in some drafts, a character who would later evolve into Sauron. And even at this point he was characterized as the lord of "phantoms, and of wandering ghosts".
  • Necromancy in Middle-Earth is explicitly defined in the History of Middle-Earth series as dark magic concerned with summoning and controlling spirits, often the disembodied souls of deceased elves who rejected the call of Mandos. The creation of corporeal undead is possible however, as seen with the Barrow Wights.
• Off Stage Villainy: While his evil would be elaborated on in later books, it's only hinted at without much elaboration here.
• Villain of Another Story: One that would become far more important than the events of this story.

In The Silmarillion

Gorthaur the Cruel/Sauron, Lieutenant of Morgoth/Annatar

Sauron was originally a powerful Maia and apprentice of Aulë, corrupted to Morgoth's service. He was Morgoth’s right-hand Man. Ruled Tol-in-Gaurhoth in Morgoth's name, where he caused the death of Finrod Felagund before being driven off by Lúthien. Took over his master's position as the pre-eminent force of evil following his defeat. Sauron is the direct cause of the fall of Númenor, whose king and people he corrupted with promises of immortality.

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• Accidental Truth: He told Ar-Pharazôn he would find the secret of eternal life in Valinor. While he was lying, it ended up being true in a way, as Ar-Pharazôn got trapped in the caves with his army and will remain there until the end of the world.
• Ambition Is Evil: Sauron started off as a noble Maia who wanted to bring order to what he believed to be a disorderly world, and decided that serving Morgoth was the best opportunity for that. However, his desire to achieve world order began to corrupt him to the point where he only care about dominating all life on Middle-earth.
• Arch-Enemy: As The Heavy, he functions as this to the vast majority of the cast who aren't Fëanorians, Fingolfin, or otherwise in direct conflict with Morgoth (or, in Túrin's case, Glaurung). For example, Beren, Melian, Finarfin, Lúthien, Celebrimbor, Gil-galad, Amandil, Elendil, Isildur, Elrond, Galadriel, Cirdan...
  • During the Second Age, Númenór as a whole becomes Sauron's Arch-Enemy, due to their ancestors aiding the Noldor against Morgoth, and causing his defeat in his war against Eregion & Lindon after the forging of the One Ring; he spends most of the Age working towards their destruction.
• Arc Villain: He serves as the primary antagonist of the middle portion of Beren and Lúthien and then the central evil of Akallabêth.
• Bat Out of Hell: The form he takes to flee Huan and Lúthien is a giant bat-thing.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Enjoys screwing with people's expectations by taking on the form of a raging pretty-boy, and uses this to very successfully manipulate a lot of people who should have known better. Also counts as Beauty Is Bad.
• Black Speech: The inventor and prime user of this trope.
• Breakout Villain: For a guy who originally started as a giant cat, he ended up being the second most important dark power in the whole Legendarium, and effectively the best known Tolkien villain. While Morgoth overshadows Sauron in-universe, Sauron overshadows Morgoth out of universe.
• Broken Pedestal: To Celebrimbor (who, as the last descendant of Fëanor bar possibly his uncle Maglor, was really trying to redeem his family's reputation). Sauron appeared to him and his people as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, taught him much (and received the knowledge of the Ñoldor in return). He then used that combined lore to create the One Ring, tortured Celembrimbor into coughing up the locations of the Nine Rings of Men and the Seven of the Dwarves, and then plunged Middle-earth into four millennia of darkness and war.
• Came Back Wrong: He succeeded in destroying the Númenóreans by turning them against the god-like Valar and finally pushing them to completely reject the Gift of Men (though it's fair to say that they didn't require much pushing). Eru was thoroughly pissed off with Sauron for doing so, to put it exceptionally mildly, and takes a direct and overt hand in things for the one and only time following the Music (though there's a couple of hints of His involvement in Lord of the Rings). Sauron's physical form was destroyed as his creator remade the cosmos, and when he eventually crawled his way back to Arda, he was unable to assume a fair or manipulative form ever again.
• Canis Major: During his battle with Huan, he tried to become The Greatest Werewolf That Ever Lived and fulfil the prophecy to defeat Huan. It didn't work, but he was a huge werewolf.
• The Chessmaster: Unlike Melkor, Sauron likes to plan things out in advance. The Downfall of Númenor is the greatest example; despite being taken to Númenor as a prisoner, supposedly humbled and broken and utterly devoid of resources, he manipulated everyone, from the Númenóreans themselves to the Valar, into doing his dirty work. In the end, the situation forced Eru Ilúvatar's hand. That's right, Sauron basically got the capital G god to kill his enemies (though he didn't get away entirely unscathed).
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: One of his names is Sauron "the Deceiver", and Base Master of Treachery, and it shows. He even ducks out on Morgoth at one point, though he generally remains loyal to him. What's more remarkable is his extraordinary ability to enthral people who really should know better.
• Co-Dragons: One of Melkor's chief lieutenants, along with Gothmog the Balrog and, ultimately, Glaurung the actual Dragon. Of the lot of them, he's probably closest to being the Dragon, simply because a) he outlasts the others, b) he's considerably more effective.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: If you get captured by Sauron, you can expect this treatment. The name 'Gorthaur the Cruel' was not simply coined for his biting remarks.
• Consummate Liar: Sauron talks very fast, and very well, and can fool people who quite frankly, should know better. Such as Gorlim, Celebrimbor and Ar-Pharazôn. Hence him eventually being referred to as "Sauron the Deceiver."
• The Corrupter: The Númenóreans were already having serious issues before he showed up and had already started hating the Elves and Valar, with a side of brutal imperialism. However, Sauron is the one who pushed them over the edge into outright Morgoth-worship and human sacrifice, and eventually convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attempt an invasion of Valinor. Just as his former master (who in turn,was the one who corrupted him), everyone who comes into contact with Sauron or a part of Sauron (a.k.a. the Ring) is at risk of getting corrupted. Practically no one gets away unscathed, with the possible exception of Sam Gamgee.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Twice. In Of Beren and Lúthien he shapeshifts into a great werewolf to fight Huan, only to get absolutely demolished and spend most of the next few decades sulking. Then at the climax of the Akallabêth he gets his angelic ass handed to him by Eru for meddling with the lives of mortal men. He does not look divine when he eventually recovers and reforms.
• Dark Is Evil: He is heavily associated with darkness and shadows, especially after losing his corporeal form. Inverted as Annatar.
• Deal with the Devil: Gorlim sold him his companions in exchange for his wife and his life. Ended up dead. The Nazgûl took his rings, and ended up becoming undead spectres ensnared to his will, the Númenoreans took his advice and ended up destroyed, the elves (unknowingly) also took his advice, and ended up losing their chance of making a life in Middle-earth. Everyone who makes a deal or any form of alliance with Sauron ends up betrayed, ruined, dead (if they’re lucky), or worse than dead.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: He started rebelling against Eru out of a desire for putting the world in perfect order, and even at the end "he still had the relics of positive purposes". His initial attraction to Melkor was due to the latter's power and ability to get his will done. He's even cited as being wiser than his master in his goals but not as wise as he sees himself as.
• Determinator: A villainous example. No matter how bad things get, Sauron always bounces back from defeat, until the end of The Lord Of The Rings, and is rendered powerless.
• Didn't See That Coming: Sauron was literally in the middle of laughing at his apparent victory of having convinced the King of Númenor to go to war against Valinor, when Eru steps in leaving HIM reeling!
• Divinely Appearing Demons: This is part of his whole manipulative shtick, because if Sauron is anything, he's Genre Savvy and knows that people think that Beauty Equals Goodness. His "angelic" guise as Annatar belied his demonic nature and enabled him to manipulate the Elves and Númenoreans. However he ends up with Shapeshifter Mode Lock due to being caught in the destruction of Númenor, meaning he is unable to return to his fair form after that.
• The Dragon: Morgoth's greatest servant and right-hand man, he’s second only to his master - and, frankly, both far more competent and at the peak of his powers (at the end of the Second Age), Tolkien noted that he was stronger than Morgoth at his weakest (at the end of the First Age). He had a part in all the works of Melkor in Arda, and eventually became his successor.
• Dragon Ascendant: When the Valar take out Morgoth, Sauron soon takes his place as Dark Lord, and eventually claims to be both Morgoth returned and God.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Downplayed. He was loyal to Morgoth - who was an Omnicidal Maniac - and presented himself even ages after as his emissary, but he had his own ideas, wanting to create order.
• Dragon Their Feet: He was hiding during the War Of Wrath after having lost Tol-In-Gaurhoth to Lúthien. More generally, direct combat isn't his style unless he feels devoid of all other options (usually because it works out very badly for him).
• Evil Chancellor: To Ar-Pharazôn, who put him on his council and took his advice to worship Morgoth, extend Númenórean imperialism, and invade Valinor. Considering that he'd originally been dragged to Númenor in chains, this is pretty damned impressive.
• Evil Counterpart: Just as Morgoth, he serves as this for many characters:
  • To Melian. She was originally a Maia of Yavanna, as he was one of Aulë. Their domains and powers are in opposite during the War of the Jewels. They are both noted for having extremely powerful gaze.
  • To Eonwë. Eonwë is Manwë's herald, while Sauron is Morgoth's lieutenant. Eonwë is a warrior and the best swordsman on Arda, while Sauron is a mastermind and the deadliest sorcerer on the earth. Eonwë is good, compassionate, honest and courageous. Sauron is evil and cruel, a deceiver and only personally engages in battle as a last resort. As a fact Sauron surrendered to Eonwë after Morgoth fell.
  • To Manwë himself. Their relationship with their superiors (Eru and Morgoth) as the administrators of their Kingdoms, their less creative nature, the way they deal with conflicts through secondary parties from afar, their sight (Manwë is said to be able to see everywhere, the same for Sauron), even their homes (Manwë from the taniquetil, tallest mountain on Arda, Sauron from Barad-dûr, tallest tower on Arda).
  • As a fact, he is an opposite to himself before his fall into evil. Mairon (which means The Admirable) was a good and noble Maia who wished to bring order and coordination to the universe, while Sauron (means The Ahborred) is a purely evil being bent on dominating all, who brought chaos and destruction over all the places he could.
• Evil Genius: A brilliant smith that knows just about everything about the substances the Earth is built on that he can engineer. Melkor's in charge, but Sauron's the brains of the operation.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite his loftier and more realistic goals, more controlled behaviour, and overall superior planning skills than his master, Sauron ends up being almost as petty as Morgoth. Some examples:
  • Tormenting Gorlim pointlessly, and then killing him.
  • Torturing, killing and using Celebrimbor's body as a banner
  • Destroying the monument the Númenóreans did while they captured him.
  • Torturing Thráin.
  • Planning to torment Frodo for keeping the ring from him.
  • And his overall cruel and sadistic behaviour in general, while serving Morgoth and as a Dark Lord.
  • As a matter of fact, his desire to rule the world ends up being petty. While his original goals were good, or at least well intentioned, and not petty, by the Second Age onwards (specially the late part), his motivation falls down to the area of ordering the world as he wanted and not as it was better, and all that was more an excuse for his real motivation, that was his selfish desire of ruling and controlling everyone and everything. Despite not wanting to destroy the world, he is still petty in the fact the world has to be from him because he wants to rule, and everyone should bow down to him because he is the greatest being in the earth (the fact that most men who met him crowned him as a god because of his power and knowledge made no favours to his already big pride (big enough to refuse the Valar's opportunity for redemption), which, in words of Tolkien himself, became boundless).
• Evil Makes You Ugly: Like his Master. He takes a good-looking form while corrupting Númenor. However when that is destroyed so is his handsome form, and he is afterwards cursed into only ever being able to take on corporeal forms that reflect his inner hatred and corruption, making him unable to have any other appearance than an Obviously Evil one.
• The Evils of Free Will: His plan when creating the One Ring, to dominate the minds and souls of every living being in Middle-earth.
• Evil Overlord: The archetypal Dark Lord, becoming his own boss in Mordor after Morgoth suffered his second defeat and was permanantly exiled from Arda.
• Evil Sorcerer: Often called one, in spite of actually being a Physical God.
• Exact Words: He pulls this on Gorlim, never telling him Eilinel is dead until it is too late. Later, he is on the other end of this while facing Huan. It was prophesied that the dog would die facing the biggest wolf who who would ever walk upon the earth, so he became the biggest wolf who had ever walked upon the earth... and lost. Note the important distinction of tense there. Because the greatest wolf, Carcharoth, was yet to come.
• Face–Heel Turn: Originally, Sauron was an angelic being and servant of Aulë, the godlike patron of craftsmen and maker of the physical aspects of the Earth; this is how he became such a master at creating items of power. However, he was corrupted by the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, with promises of power to bring order to the world.
• Fallen Angel: He once was a good Maia, though that was long ago. He became an Umaiar (Quenya for "demon").
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. He couldn't fathom the possibility that anyone would even want to destroy the One Ring before it corrupted them, and he never thought anyone would try to get into Mordor in the Third Age. This contributes almost completely to his undoing. While he was right in the fact that no one could actually throw the Ring into the fire, Gollum ended up doing that part, by "accident".
  • Most of Sauron's major defeats are because of or related to his pride. He was careless facing Huan as a wolf, and got beaten, losing his tower, his position, and ended up hiding in the forest of Taur Nu Fuir for the next decades until the War of Wrath. Pride also stopped him from effectively repenting from his crimes when he was offered the chance. Then, millennia later, he pitted the Númenóreans against the Valar and didn't expect any blowback onto him. Granted, Eru’s direct intervention was a bit of a rather terrifying unlooked for surprise, but even still, but he still lost his body, all or at least most of his shape-shifting powers, and the rest of the Númenórean Empire, leading to his eventual defeat in the War of the Last Alliance. And then, at the end, he is finally defeated because he left Gollum free, while he knew Gollum could not be tamed or controlled, unless killed. This one ends him up once and for all.
• Faux Affably Evil: His silver tongue and honeyed words, full of compliments and adulation hide an immensely malevolent being who won't stop at anything to rule the world. His time as Annatar is an excellent example. Same with Ar-Pharazôn and Númenor. Even with Gorlim (although his words in there are dripping with cruelty and contempt). Or with Beren and Finrod while they were dressed as orcs (there is a constant feeling of threat coming from him all the time).
• Fighting a Shadow: When Númenor is destroyed his spirit is able to escape.
• A God Am I: He was content with being thought as a god than being the actual one.
• Gone Horribly Right: His destruction of Númenor went exactly as planned — problem was, he was still on that continent when it went down and his fair form went with it. He could never appear beautiful after that.
• Hate Plague: Something he has in common with his Master, if to a lesser and more subtle extent, being one of the effects of the One Ring and his overall presence. The peoples of the Third Age are notably snappy, paranoid, and distrusting of each other in the wake of his return.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: His repentance to Eonwë while this was apparently more for fear than anything else, after witnessing the devastating force of the Valar and Morgoth's defeat - although Sauron was not currently at Morgoth's service, having deserted after his defeat by Huan, and hidden through the War of Wrath, it didn't exactly go unnoticed that he'd done a great deal before that. The fact that he doesn't follow through with it shows he wasn't really willing to redeem himself.
• The Heavy: Whenever Morgoth is imprisoned, he functions as this, and even sometimes when he's not, given Morgoth's Orcus on His Throne tendencies.
• Heel–Face Turn: He did this at the end of the First Age, when he mostly reformed and wanted to help rebuild Middle-earth...
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: ... but the fear of punishment was too great, though Tolkien indicates the real reason was Pride preventing him from a) bowing to the will of the Valar, b) admitting that he'd been wrong. Also, he didn't resist the temptation to use "reconstruction" as an excuse to conquer the world, with his initial good intentions vanishing.
• Hero Killer: Celebrimbor, Gil-galad and Elendil all died at his hand. And these are only the direct ones.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick:
  • As long as he's not getting into a fight, Sauron is far, far more effective than his old Master, and comes much closer to conquering the world. While he's less powerful for the most part (and at his peak, per Tolkien, he actually surpassed his Master's weakest point), and until the loss of his fair form, he's very good at manipulating people, allowing him to destroy his opponents with nothing but words and patience. For evidence of this, see the entire Akallabeth. In general, he's much, much more organised than Morgoth is.
  • Sauron is especially adept at exploiting Morgoth's Ring, meaning, the indelible taint of evil that Morgoth left in Arda. Since Morgoth had to invest so much of himself and his own power for this to be the case, Sauron has considerably more freedom of using it, and hence, he's more effective and pragmatic at it.
  • It's not outright stated whether Sauron is the most powerful Maiar like Morgoth was for the Valar, but having tasted defeat multiple times at the hands of beings considered lesser, as well as his reliance on cunning and deceit, suggest that it might not be the case for him. It is certain that he is indeed one of the most powerful and mighty Maiar to exist regardless.
• Insane Troll Logic: Possibly. One seriously has to wonder what the hell was Sauron thinking when he joined Morgoth, the most chaotic and destructive of all the Ainur (even when he still had not fallen into the levels of evil he would), to bring order to Arda. Even more surprising considering he had not joined Melkor's discord during the Music of the Ainur, and actually remained on Eru's side until after some time in Eä. On the other hand, it's possible that he saw Morgoth as a useful vehicle to reduce everything to rubble and rebuild it - it's worth noting that Sauron is considerably more organized than Morgoth.
• I Surrender, Suckers: He deliberately let the Númenóreans take him captive, so he could destroy their entire civilization from within, in revenge for sending their navy to save the Elves of Middle-earth several generations previous. It's important to note that the Númenóreans did have the might to defeat him at that point, but he saw an opportunity to exploit their hubris.
• Irony: As advisor to the king of Númenor, he took the name "Tar Mairon" — in other words, he took a Quenya name like the Faithful when the King's Men were taking names in Adûnaic. Although it is not clear in which language he adopted it, given that in Adûnic he was called Zigûr.
• Last Stand: During the War of the Last Alliance. He came out personally in the final day of the war during a siege on his fortress, broke the Alliance, killed Elendil and Gil-galad, and nearly won, until Isildur showed up.
• Light Is Not Good: His guise as Annatar, which is outright described as "angelic". Also, unlike other fallen Ainu, most of his "darkness" is metaphorical; he is actually more associated with fire than anything else, at least until the later Second Age.
• Magical Eye: Just looking at Sauron directly instills fear and dread in all but the bravest heroes. Best associated with his magical eye after his disembodiment, which lets him view the entirety of Middle-earth.
• The Magnificent: Before he turned evil, his name was Mairon ("Admirable").
• Manipulative Bastard: Essentially talked Númenor into self-destruction, and arguably surpasses even his master at this. Showcased particularly with his influence over Ar-Pharazôn.
  Sauron: And though, doubtless, the gift of life unending is not for all, but only for such as are worthy, being men of might and pride and great lineage, yet against all justice is it done that this gift, which is his due, should be withheld from the King of Kings, Ar-Pharazôn, mightiest of the sons of Earth, to whom Manwë alone can be compared, if even he. But great kings do not brook denials, and take what is their due.
• Number Two: First he was this to Aulë. Then to Morgoth. Then to Celebrimbor. And finally to Ar-Pharazôn (in the first two cases, he was a real number 2. In the third he was manipulating and using Celebrimbor, and in the fourth, he became the power behind the throne.). His numbers two are the Witch-king and the Mouth Of Sauron.
• Obsessively Organized: It is said that he "loved order and coordination" and this led to his desire for power and control, causing him to join Morgoth. Even when he was good, Sauron hated what he perceived to be "chaos and wastefulness" from his creator, Eru. He failed to understand how complex creation is with many diverse living souls all having their own different destinies.
• Obviously Evil: After the Downfall of Númenor, he can only take shape as something hideous that wears all his hate and corruption on the outside, where everybody can see it plainly.
• Obliviously Evil: For a time, Sauron was genuinely convinced his actions were for the best of Middle-earth. By the end of the Second Age, all this is all practically gone. It is pretty telling that until the fall of Númenor he called himself Mairon the Admirable (which was indeed his original name).
• One-Winged Angel: His form as the mightiest werewolf in the world that he uses to fight Huan and Lúthien; the Dark Lord form he takes after the Downfall of Númenor might also be considered an example, albeit a permanent one.
• Orcus on His Throne: Similar to his Master, though he's a bit more active in the First Age. Prefers to supervise rather than get his hands dirty, even though he doesn't have the same problem of mortality.
• Our Liches Are Different: He imbued the One Ring with the majority of his life-force, enabling him to twice survive the destruction of his physical form and reconstitute himself.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Takes the form of a vampire and a giant bat on occasion. He's also served by several vampires.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: The leader of the werewolves, gigantic, wolf/evil spirit crosses.
• The Power of Hate: Sauron's hatred was poured into the One Ring. In fact, his malice is so strong, it can literally send people into comas. The person in question was Lúthien, who had just overpowered the will of freaking Morgoth.
• Pride: Just like his master. He had a case form this even from the beginning. He turned on the Valar when he thought Morgoth was the best way to bring order to the universe (even when that clearly meant turning against Eru, his creator, and against his peer's and former master, Aule). He refused the Valar's pardon out of pride. And then, in the second age, his pride became boundless until he became convinced he was the greatest and smartest being in the universe, and that he knew best what was good for everyone - though, like everything else, this belief withered into a raw lust for power over time.
• Put on a Bus: After being defeated by Lúthien and Huan, Sauron takes the form of a large batlike creature and flies away screaming to parts unknown. He doesn't return to the story until many years later, after Morgoth is defeated.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Throughout the greater part of the Second Age, Sauron's goal is the destruction of Númenor, and his plan goes off without a hitch until the very end. He did not expect the Valar to set aside their stewardship of Arda for a moment and for Eru to step in, and he is caught in the ensuing cataclysm. Númenor's military is mostly wiped out and their homeland is gone, but so is Sauron's ability to assume a fair form, robbing him of one of his primary strengths, the ability to deceive others. Also, though Númenor was destroyed, the Faithful managed to survive and unite many Númenórean colonies under their leadership, thus founding Gondor and Arnor which would go on to oppose him for millennia to come.
• Redemption Rejection: After the War of Wrath and Morgoth's defeat and exile, Sauron was genuinely repentant at first, and did want to return to Valinor. Unfortunately the price of redemption proved to be too high for him. Having gotten a taste for power as The Dragon to the Lord of Evil, Sauron wasn't about to settle for much less, let alone whatever penance the Valar were surely going to impose on him for his rebellion. So instead he vanished into the unknown east of Middle-Earth for the next thousand years, returning in the guise of the sorcerer Annatar, with a Master Plan to manipulate everyone into helping him conquer the world.
• The Scottish Trope: Rarely referred to by name, and generally called "The Dark Lord", "The Shadow", or "The Enemy". Speaking his name is believed to bring misfortune, and muttering his Black Speech causes all sorts of spooky things to happen, complete with darkening the sky and trembling the Earth.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: After the destruction of Númenor, he can never again assume a form that isn't hideous, hateful, and Obviously Evil.
• Sorcerous Overlord: He was Morgoth's chief sorcerer during the war.
• Soul Jar: Using the intel he fielded from Celebrimbor, Sauron forged a gold ring using Orodruin as a forge and imbued it with the majority of his life-force and will. He likely did this to spare himself Morgoth's fate of losing more and more of his innate power as time went on.
• Squishy Wizard: Zig-zagged. He wasn't described as quite as physically large or potent as say, the Balrogs, at least when not One Winged Angeled up, but as a Maia, he was still well beyond the overwhelming majority of Elves and Men. He still only takes the field himself a handful of times, and always loses - though that speaks as much to the level of badass of his adversaries as anything. After all he does manage to slay both Gil-galad and Elendil, both of whom would almost certainly count among the greatest warriors of their time - and while that came at the cost of his own physical form, it was largely by chance. Considering that sufficiently powerful elven lords were able to duel and even defeat fallen Maiar (namely Balrogs), though typically at the cost of their own lives, this shouldn't be too surprising.
  • In terms of feats of magic, however, he is virtually unparalleled. Finrod was bested in a magical singing duel, and the force of his malice alone knocked Lúthien, an enchantress of such might that she could swoon Morgoth, out cold.
• Treacherous Advisor: To Ar-Pharazôn and Celebrimbor, as well as an Evil Chancellor. All his advice was calculated to bring them and their subjects to utter ruin.
• Time Abyss: He is one of the Ainur, so he is older than the universe. He is also one of the first spirits who entered Arda, and possibly its oldest inhabitant (or one of the oldest), given Valinor and most of the Ainur left the world.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Before he turned evil, Sauron was fascinated by architecture, engineering, and blacksmithing, and even after his journey to the Dark Side he remained one of Arda's finest engineers and smiths, responsible for building everything from the One Ring to Barad-dûr itself, the largest fortress in the history of Middle-earth.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: As noted above, this was his original goal before he began pursuing total domination as an end of itself. Even in the end he still believed his many wars and atrocities would lead to a better world.
• Villain Protagonist: He's the main character of Akallabêth, which tells of Númenor and its downfall, which Sauron personally engineered. The major events of the entire Second Age are more or less told from his perspective, as they were all caused by Sauron. Without him, the Númenóreans and the Elves wouldn't have anything to do.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Even for a Maia, he's noted to be skilled at this ability, though it is much restricted (possibly to just his Dark Lord form, but at the very least his fair form becomes permanently off-limits) after he's caught in the Downfall of Númenor.
• Weak, but Skilled: Compared to his master, Morgoth, he's way less powerful (while still a very powerful Maia, if not the most). However, he is much, much better at using what he has to best effect - where Morgoth got beaten multiple times, and wasted his powers in futile attempts to control the universe, Sauron successfully ensured the destruction of Númenor (with nothing more than patience and smooth-talking), one of its two successor states, Arnor, the Kingdom of the Ñoldor (personally killing the last High King, Gil-galad), and effectively crippling Gondor. Oh, and of all of the above, his were the only schemes that necessitated direct intervention from Eru Himself to stop - explicitly when Númenor got drowned, and implicitly when the One Ring found its way to Bilbo.
• Xanatos Gambit: Pulls one on the Númenóreans after he persuades them into declaring war on the Valar. While it does get out of his control when Eru gets personally involved (resulting in the loss of Sauron's fair form), it's worth noting that the Valar had to lay down their divinity to get Eru involved and he still accomplished his primary goals—the defeat of Ar-Pharazôn and the destruction of the Númenóreans.

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