Who's the real hero of "Lord of the Rings"?

[Psycho Kitty]

Originally posted by Rána Eressëa
Gollum.

Without him - doom would have fell upon us all.

Gollum is the perfect hero. Pathetic. Every man. Instinctual. And driven by only one purpose. To have his precious. After that he wants nothing else. No great powers. No great wealth. Just to be left alone. And he never does any harm with the ring. He only allows it to harm him. Hes my hero.

[Bombadillo]

I think it's Gandalf. Without him, so many of the accomplishments of the fellowship would have been impossible. True it was Frodo who literally destroyed the Ring, but any one of them could have done that. If you weigh out all the things each character did (which I won't do here, don't worry), Gandalf proves to be the most important.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Any one of them could not have done that. It took a great will to resist the corruption of the Ring to the very brink of the Crack of Doom.

[Telmelion]

Frodo is definently the hero. Obviously his list of accomplishments(getting the Ring to Mount Doom) looks shabbier than Gandalf(defeating a Balrog, saving Rohan at Helm's Deep, breaking Saruman's staff, etc.) it still must be realized that if Frodo had not gotten the ring to Mount Doom, nothing that Gandalf or any other character in LotR could have stopped the domination of Sauron.

And it is also likely that Frodo alone of all of the suggested heroes of LotR could have gotten to Mt. Doom. Gandalf, Galadriel, and Aragorn refused it because they knew that they could not bear it themselves. Sam likely would have been corrupted(remember in Cirith Ungol he puts the ring on arbitrarily and thinks about challenging Sauron, things Frodo never did). I'd say Frodo is the true hero.

[gimli7410]

gollum,frodo,sam,gandalf,and aragorn

[Beren, Son of Barahir]

A hero is one person who overcame all and single-handedly took their men to victory. I think that all of the characters each did their part to help the other live so they could, together, save the side of good.
Personally though I give much respect to Sam because he did not have a lot of experiance in combat or sneaking around an enemy lair and to remain calm and follow through with your plan must take a lot of courage....so Sam...I salute you!!!

[Anglorfin]

Sam was the driving force behind Frodo's individual success just as Gandalf was the driving force behind the armies of Middle Earth's success IMO.

[Bombadillo]

Originally posted by Bombadillo
True it was Frodo who literally destroyed the Ring, but any one of them could have done that.

I meant he was physically there at Mount Doom where he accidently destroyed the Ring. Anyone could have made that accomplishment.

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Any one of them could not have done that. It took a great will to resist the corruption of the Ring to the very brink of the Crack of Doom.

Perhaps some of them couldn't, but I still believe Gandalf could would have been able to if he wanted to.

[Anglorfin]

I think the temptation would have been greater for Gandalf. Even he said that he would not take it becaue the temptation would be too great and the consequences too serious.

[Bombadillo]

True, so he played it safe, but IMO he could have overcome its power if he decided to carry it. Although it probably would have tried harder if you get me.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Actually, if I remember correctly Tolkien went into a bit of detail on what would have happened if Gandalf had gotten the Ring, and he didn't overcome it. Remember, the Ring was bound to the Will of Sauron, who was a Maia, just as Gandalf was, but I believe Tolkien said he was of far higher order.

[Strongbow]

And the real hero is....

Hama!

or Manwe since he sent Mithrandir

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by Bombadillo
True, so he played it safe, but IMO he could have overcome its power if he decided to carry it. Although it probably would have tried harder if you get me.

The Ring would have seemed greater to Gandalf because of his stature. The temptation really would not have been greater or less, but it would have matched Gandalf's desires to use it out of good. Gandalf would have had more reason to use it, in that way the temptation would have been greater for him.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by Psycho Kitty
Gollum is the perfect hero. Pathetic. Every man. Instinctual. And driven by only one purpose. To have his precious. After that he wants nothing else. No great powers. No great wealth. Just to be left alone. And he never does any harm with the ring. He only allows it to harm him. Hes my hero.

Now, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. I definitely don't think he was meant to be an everyman figure. And also, he was not driven by that one purpose; also by deep malice. Remember, he wanted to kill both Sam and Frodo by the end of the Two Towers. And as for great wealth, certainly not mounds and chests of gold and gems, but his perception of wealth he definitely desired. Remember the showdown of the two sides. "Fish three times a day" or something along those lines, he wanted to be served, not to catch it himself. And the part about harm...remember, he killed a number of Goblins in the Misty Mountains, and he used the Ring for darker purposes in his early days, which is why he was cast out of his clain.

[Psycho Kitty]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Now, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. I definitely don't think he was meant to be an everyman figure. And also, he was not driven by that one purpose; also by deep malice. Remember, he wanted to kill both Sam and Frodo by the end of the Two Towers. And as for great wealth, certainly not mounds and chests of gold and gems, but his perception of wealth he definitely desired. Remember the showdown of the two sides. "Fish three times a day" or something along those lines, he wanted to be served, not to catch it himself. And the part about harm...remember, he killed a number of Goblins in the Misty Mountains, and he used the Ring for darker purposes in his early days, which is why he was cast out of his clain.

oh finally caught up to another one of my gollum posts did you.

i think he killed only as a reaction to something. never for the sake of just killing. never in a human kinda way where he would seek out others to interact with and have conflicts with. his first focus was being alone. and then if something threatened him or got in his way or seemed a danger to him then killing it became a very real option. as it would in any animal....

and if having fish served to him three times a day is considered the height of greed then we should all be more like gollum my precious.

[azalea]

Originally posted by Psycho Kitty
oh finally caught up to another one of my gollum posts did you.
... never in a human kinda way where he would seek out others to interact with and have conflicts with. his first focus was being alone.

But remember that he was originally sent away from his people because he was a malicious mischief-maker. It was only during that time that he isolated himself, the Ring making him resentful of the others' treatment of him, but really can you blame them?

and if having fish served to him three times a day is considered the height of greed then we should all be more like gollum my precious. [/QUOTE]

Ooh, that's a great comment!

[Seladeen the Hobbit]

in a way, there is no main hero. they all seem to have done something important in their own way.

[Bombadillo]

Originally posted by Anglorfin

The Ring would have seemed greater to Gandalf because of his stature. The temptation really would not have been greater or less, but it would have matched Gandalf's desires to use it out of good. Gandalf would have had more reason to use it, in that way the temptation would have been greater for him.

Yeah you get me. He would have still overcome its power, despite this fact. That is what I meant.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by azalea
But remember that he was originally sent away from his people because he was a malicious mischief-maker. It was only during that time that he isolated himself, the Ring making him resentful of the others' treatment of him, but really can you blame them?

To which I would add "remember that he deliberately plotted to kill Sam, and to relish the killing". If premeditation of murder and "malicious mischief-making" as azalea put it can be accounted to instinct and raw desire for survival and the Ring, then in the name of Elbereth and of Luthien, what cannot?

Also, don't forget that he hated all Baggins because of Bilbo. Is this what you admire, despisal of a group, because of an individual?

Regarding greed: it's all relative. It's not something so simplistic as "be like Gollum, he only wanted fish." Gollum's greed was merely different from ours.

[Psycho Kitty]

Originally posted by azalea
But remember that he was originally sent away from his people because he was a malicious mischief-maker. It was only during that time that he isolated himself, the Ring making him resentful of the others' treatment of him, but really can you blame them?

ya but like i said before he was cast out and DIDNT go find some other group to bother or even wonder around nomad like still interacting here and there. NO he found his way to an underground place FAR from ANYONE. where he could finally be at peace (call it tormented peace if you like but peace from the living none the less). And there he stayed. for years and years and life times. and he was as content as you can get when your brain is being twisted by a powerful malicious force.