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There are so many elements that go into Tolkien’s works to make them memorable, magical, and still relevant over 50 years later. One of the most significant things that all of his stories have in common is his creation of amazing heroic characters. These are characters that stay with fans, that teach them how to be brave, how to stand up for the people who need it, and how to trust the decisions that your heart knows are right, even when the world seems against them. Characters like Aragorn the humble ranger turned heroic leader, and Samwise the country hobbit turned saviour of the world, are what the Lord of the Rings is all about.
Many fans feel that Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations of The Hobbit fell short in this regard, with a lack of characters that the audience deeply cares about, or even wants to root for. The familiar faces like Gandalf and Galadriel felt fairly unchanged, but the host of new characters in this trilogy didn’t inspire the same passion and unfaltering devotion that many fans experienced with the cast of the original trilogy. However, there were two main exceptions. The first, Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman), is hardly surprising, as Bilbo is the protagonist of the story, and takes the audience along every step of the way of his first adventure, which really helps people relate to him and his struggles. The second character is Bard, who has a surprising impact in the films, even beyond slaying Smaug.
Bard has all the traits that it takes to make a great hero. For a start, he is the voice of reason. When all the other characters, including the band of dwarves and the men of Lake Town alike, are blinded by the greed and temptation of the gold that lies in Erebor under the Lonely Mountain, Bard is the only man who thinks clearly. He is the one to stand up and point out the dangers involved in waking a vengeful sleeping dragon, because he values the lives of the people who may be hurt in the process if the quest fails. Life holds more value to him than the wealth that could be gained if the plan is a success.
Bard is the only one brave enough to dispute Thorin and his plan, rather than following along with the stubborn dwarves' ideals without a second thought for his children’s safety. That is why it is so fitting for Bard to be the one who remembers Durin’s prophesy, and tries to warn the others of the predicted doom of Lake Town, before it is too late.
Like Aragorn, and many of the other great characters in the Lord of the Rings, Bard does have the help of a prestigious lineage behind him. Bard comes from the line of men who made the Black Arrows to slay the dragons of old, when they first started coming down from the mountains and burning villages to the ground. But like Aragorn, Bard is humbled by his roots, rather than made arrogant by them. He doesn’t see himself as the hero; indeed he even declines to be called king when Alfrid is trying to smarm up to him in front of the surviving members of the Lake Town wreckage. Bard has no interest in glory and fame. All he wants is to look after the people who need him, and provide a safe and better future for his children.
Bard is the first person to organize the screaming and terrified people on the shore after the city has been burned to the ground. He is the first to start gathering food to provide for them, blankets to keep them warm, and a plan to travel up to the ruins of Dale and try to negotiate with Thorin for the money that they need to rebuild the devastation wrought upon them. Bard is a true leader, one whose guiding grace is his compassion and his kindness.
Perhaps most importantly, Bard is the only character in the film (except for perhaps Bilbo and Gandalf) who wants to avoid a pointless war between the races, over some cursed gold that isn’t worth all the lives that would be lost trying to gain it back from Thorin and his dragon-sickness. His biggest priorities are always his family, which makes him one of very few positive father-figures in any of the Tolkien films, and puts him in stark contrast to Thranduil and his cruelty to Legolas. Bard is such a heroic character, simply because he is selfless, and he fights for what really matters, rather than getting swept up in the empty promises of a quest that was doomed from the start.