Highlights
- The Witch King, a severely under-utilized character in the Lord of the Rings movies, has a terrifying history of ruling kingdoms and causing destruction.
- Grima Wormtongue nearly brought about the destruction of Rohan with his evil actions and manipulation of King Theoden.
- Shelob, a beastly spider, almost ended the quest to destroy the ring and was a formidable foe that took powerful weapons to frighten.
The world of Middle Earth and the Lord of the Rings franchise has some incredible characters. The memorable Fellowship of the Ring and the world they inhabit is filled with grand heroes and similarly grand but diabolical villains.
Lord of the Rings: 10 Scariest Characters
The Lord of the Rings provides fans with some truly scary characters, from elves to the darkest of Mordor's evils.
As such, in such a filled world, it can be difficult for all the characters introduced to get the due respect and attention they deserve in either books or films. The Lord of the Rings franchise is wide-reaching and massive, but there are still plenty of horrible villainous characters who haven’t been given the due they deserve as masterminds of cruelty and evil.
6 The Witch King
Of all the villainous characters actually placed on a battlefield against the forces of good in the Lord of the Rings films, none inspire so much immediate terror as the Nazgul and their leader. However, the Witch King was severely under-utilized throughout the Lord of the Rings movies, and even in the books, there is much left unexplored, one of his few truly awe-inspiring moments is his defeat of Gandalf.
The Witch King used to be a mere man but fell to the darkness of one of the rings of power. Over centuries serving Sauron he ruled the Kingdom of Angmar, nearly wiped out the line of Gondor Kings, took a Gondorian City and turned it into Minas Morgul, and stabbed Frodo Baggins before killing King Theoden and nearly facilitating a victory for Sauron at Pelennor Fields. The history of the Witch King should be further studied by fans of the franchise, for the terror that was brought down by his death at the battle of Minas Tirith is vast.
5 Grima Wormtongue
Though his actions don’t span centuries, and though his powers seem lacking, Grima Wormtongue nearly ended the time of men with his evil. After initially serving Theoden faithfully, Grima later fell under the influence of Saruman and started whispering horrors into the ear of the king, as he slowly gained control of Rohan for himself.
By the time Gandalf the White broke the spell that Grima held over Theoden, he had already through the King managed to stop support for the villages of Rohan being attacked by Isengard, helped Saruman target and kill the King’s son, and brought Rohan to the absolute brink of destruction. If Rohan had fallen, Gondor likely would have followed, due to marshaled support from Isengard and Mordor being plenty to end their chances of victory.
4 Shelob
One of the most terrifying moments in the Lord of the Rings franchise is when Gollum tricks Frodo into the lair of the beastly spider Shelob. This creature guards the back entrance into Mordor and almost ends the quest to destroy the ring once and for all. Without the intervention of Samwise Gamgee, Shelob would have succeeded in killing Frodo or leaving him to the mercy of the orcs.
Born from Ungoliant, one of the great Primordials, Shelob is a viciously dangerous foe and was actually referred to by Sauron himself as “his cat” keeping pests out of the pass of Cirith Ungol. She resided there for thousands of years even before Sauron, having come to Middle Earth at some unknown time in the past and feasted upon thousands that fell into her webs. It took some of the most dangerous weapons in Middle Earth to even frighten her.
3 Denethor
Another villainous cretin that never showcased a lot of terrifying power, but was far more deadly than some of the greatest warriors with his stubbornness and villainy, Denethor wasn’t just an abusive father to Faramir, but also nearly led Gondor to its utter ruin while claiming that he would never bow to the true King, despite his son Boromir acquiescing.
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.
As the steward of Gondor, Denethor was meant to care for the people of his kingdom. Instead, he sent his son and many of Gondor’s best warriors on a suicide mission to retake Osgiliath before trying to ruin the defense of Minas Tirith by encouraging everyone to abandon their posts. He also tried to set his still-living son ablaze to cremate him and ended up doing the same to himself. With such a series of bizarre moves and orders, he could easily without Gandalf’s intervention have brought ruin to the world of men.
2 Lurtz
There are a number of individual orcs and Uruk-Hai throughout the Lord of the Rings franchise that deserve more credit than they get for being individually evil and capable. While they are all considered a faceless mass most of the time working under the orders of Saruman or Sauron, there are some particular stand-outs like Lurtz.
This Uruk-Hai began life by instantly murdering the orc that molded him and then was given leadership of others by Saruman as they hunted down the fellowship. This ended in him killing Boromir with several well-shot arrows before nearly beating Aragorn in melee combat as well. Being able to stand toe-to-toe with two of the best modern fighters among the human race showcased Lurtz to be one of the very best amongst the forces of darkness.
1 Gollum
Of course, the absolute pinnacle of villainy throughout the Lord of the Rings franchise belongs to Sauron, and Saruman is also one of the absolute top villains. But Gollum is something else, he is the best representative of the evil power that the one ring has on its own, the lengths to which it can drive beings in their desire for it, and one of the most mysterious creatures in Middle Earth.
Despite there still being some good within Gollum, this pitiful creature who was once a gentle being has become so violently corrupted over the centuries of influence that the ring has exerted upon him that he is a truly twisted creature, capable of twisting others against each other, even best friends Frodo and Sam. Gollum very nearly brought ruin to the entire world with his greed and lust for the ring, and if he’d succeeded in fighting off Frodo and Sam, he might have escaped with the ring and accidentally delivered it straight to Sauron.