Highlights
- The Lord of the Rings explores the worst in people, showcasing how it can transform them into terrifying creatures.
- Characters like Treebeard, Galadriel, and the Marsh Wraiths may not be evil, but they have scary and formidable qualities.
- Sauron, the ultimate antagonist, is the most terrifying of all, with his all-seeing power and his transformation into a horrifying watchtower.
The Lord of the Rings brought the story of Middle Earth to audiences around the globe. The series features hobbits, elves, dwarves, and men working together to defeat Sauron who is trying to rule all of Middle Earth. Meanwhile, Sauron has aligned with some of the scariest characters in literary history.
Lord Of The Rings: 20 Best Samwise Gamgee Quotes
Sam has no shortage of memorable quotes in The Lord of the Rings movies, and these are some of the best of the bunch.
While The Lord of the Rings focuses on themes like war and death, it also demonstrates the worst in people and how it can turn them into ugly, horrible beings. Middle Earth is filled with dark and evil creatures and people who can be very scary for readers and viewers.
10 Treebeard
While Treebeard isn't evil, he can be incredibly scary for anyone who crosses him. Treebeard, along with the other Ents, represents magic and power in Middle Earth. While caring and benevolent to Merry and Pippin, his fearsome presence comes out when he sees what Saruman did to the Fanghorn Forest.
The Ents are all in when it comes to protecting the natural world, and Treebeard leads them into battle against Isengard giving the heroes a big win at a time when they desperately needed it.
9 Galadriel
While Galadriel is not evil, she has a moment of temptation with the One Ring which demonstrates how frightening she would be if she succumbed to the temptation. Galadriel is one of the most powerful elves, but imagine how scary she would be if she were an evil elf.
This one scene in The Fellowship of the Ring puts fear into Frodo, Galadriel, and the viewers. Her intentions are pure, but she desires power. The power of the One Ring would corrupt her, though.
8 Marsh Wraiths
While the marsh wraiths were only briefly mentioned in the books, they are apparitions of dead men and elves stuck in the water. The marsh wraiths try to ensure anyone who gets too near the water with an evil spell that will cause the victim to join the slumber.
Lord of the Rings: Worst Decision Made By Characters
Even the most heroic of characters in Lord of the Rings still make bad decisions, and these are some of the worst in the films.
The films expand upon the books by making the wraiths a plot point in The Two Towers. This dramatic twist includes Frodo falling into the water and encountering the wraiths until Gollum pulls him to safety.
7 The King of the Dead
The King of the Dead was the lord of a disgraced army. He and his followers broke their oath to help Isildur leading to them being cursed to haunt the caverns beneath Dwimorberg. These ghostly and undead men are ready to kill anyone who wanders into their caverns until they can fulfill the oath they broke.
The undead army presents one of the most frightening situations for Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in The Return of the King until Aragorn reveals he is Isildur's heir. The army fulfills their oath, assists Aragon in battling Sauron's forces, and is finally freed.
6 Durins Bane
The dwarves of Moria met their end thanks to Durins Bane, one of the balrogs. The dwarves dug too deep in their quest for treasure, waking up this ancient, evil creature. Durins Bane's origins date back to the time of Melkor. He became corrupt and transformed into a terror demon.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Durins Bane pursued the Fellowship while they were trying to pass through Moria. Durins Bane controlled Moria for years until being defeated by Gandalf when he went from gray to white.
5 Uruk-hai Berserkers
While never mentioned in the books, the filmmakers created the Uruk-hai Berserkers to assist Saruman in The Two Towers. These are presented as a superior breed of orc that was specifically bred for war. The Uruk-hai tower over most people, and unlike regular orcs, are able to travel under sunlight making them a much deadlier threat.
The charging berserker was used to instill fear into the hearts of Isengard's enemies in the films. These super orcs lust for blood and are immensely frightening to any unarmored foe.
4 Saruman
What happens when one of the most powerful beings in the world turns evil? That's answered when Saruman betrays the Order he and Gandalf support and instead starts helping Sauron. The Istari were supposed to oppose Sauron not support him.
Saruman betrayed everyone close to him, bred a super species of orc trained especially for battle, and destroyed Fanghorn Forest. That is frighteningly evil and scary.
3 Witch-King of Angmar
While all the Ringwraiths are frightening former men who are now Sauron's servants, the Witch-King of Angmar is the scariest of the wraiths. While being extremely powerful and evil, the Witch-King also makes a shrieking noise and possesses terrifying speed.
Claiming no man could defeat him, it took Eowyn to slay the Witch-King in the Battle of Gondor. He is proof of how easily the Rings of Power could corrupt anyone.
2 Shelob
Shelob is one of the greatest monsters of the third age of Middle Earth. The gigantic spider is the spawn of an ancient spirit and the very embodiment of evil when it comes to Tolkien's world. Shelob feeds on anything that comes to its lair whether it be a bird, orc, human, or hobbit.
Lord Of The Rings: 10 Best Frodo Baggins Quotes
Lord of the Rings is a beloved franchise, and Frodo Baggins is a well-known name to many thanks to his wise, and funny, quotes.
Shelob is intelligent enough to paralyze her prey and eat them while alive. Sauron valued the spider as an asset that would deter threats trying to sneak into Mordor through the mountain pass.
1 Sauron
While all the other characters are scary, only one character is scarier by the fact he's not there than he would be if he was. In the books, Sauron is a humanoid with all-seeing power that is truly haunting for anyone standing against him. He is the most powerful of all evil beings.
In the films, Peter Jackson made the decision to make Sauron a giant watchtower with a burning eye, even though he had a humanoid form in the introduction. While this was controversial for some, it made the vision of his character even scarier than if he had been presented as humanoid.