re: Favorite LOTR Character

Book or movie? Because they do differ somewhat.

Frodo bears more of a burden then shown in movies. Sam, despite being steadfast and all, does waver more when it's his turn to give up the ring. Same with Galadriel.

Gimli's more of a badass, less 'comic relief', but his friendship with Legolas is more authentic.

Elves are pretty elitist, tbh, and for good reason. But they can also be cool.

Really so hard to pick ONE, but Faramir does has my favorite quote.

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

Golem - He is the bridge between good and evil I guess. Constantly fighting with his addiction. I still always say "Potatoes Precious" if having them for dinner.

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I cannot understand anyone liking Boromir. I honestly think people say this to be edgy. Dude was a total POS.

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You're being too hard on Boromir. He was a man who had spent his entire life fighting against the Shadow from up close. He knew the power of Mordor firsthand, and as the heir to the Stewardship of Gondor he also knew that the strength of Gondor was failing. They had already lost their capital city to Sauron and it was only a matter of time before Minas Tirith was itself attacked. When he found out at the Council of Elrond that the One Ring had been found, he immediately focused on it as the sole hope for defeating Sauron and saving Gondor - not by destroying it, of course, but by using it. To his mind, for the Ring to fall into his hands just at the moment when Gondor seemed on the edge of collapse was a miracle. And of course it would fall into his hands, because it had belonged to Isildur, but as the line of Gondorian kings had died out long ago, who else other than the Steward of Gondor could really lay legitimate claim to the Ring now?

So imagine that you are Boromir. You've arrived at the Council of Elrond to find it mostly consisting of Dwarves, Elves, and... Hobbits? What's a Hobbit? Regardless, in all the years that you have spent wielding a sword and battling the armies of Mordor first hand, you've never seen any of these other so-called allies so much as lift a finger to help out, despite the fact that the only reason they aren't living under Sauron's yoke right now is the desperate defense that Gondor has been carrying out alone and unaided. But - what's this? Wonder of wonders! It turns out that these Hobbits are here because they have actually by some incredible turn of events come into possession of the One Ring! The only weapon in Middle-Earth that could conceivably give Gondor the power to defeat Mordor arrives just when you need it most! But then, rather than turn the Ring over to its rightful owner to let him go, you know, defeat the ancient enemy that threatens them all with immediate doom, they instead decide to leave it in the possession of this Hobbit with instructions to carry it into Sauron's back yard and drop it into his personal smelting pit! What are these fools thinking??? One does not simply walk into Mordor!!!!!! They are going to screw up their one shot at victory and ensure Gondor's defeat and destruction! And then, as if all of that were not enough, they tell you, "Oh, and by the way, see this scruffy-looking dude over here who, again, has been nowhere to be found while you were leading Gondorian armies against the forces of the Shadow? Well, he's actually your king, so he's going to need you to swear allegiance to him, and also that means that your family's position as Stewards of Gondor probably won't exist now. Ok, great! Off to Mordor to most probably give Sauron his Ring back!"

Again, even with only what's presented to us in the movie, I still think you're being too hard on him. Boromir's failing was being a normal man. His intentions were noble - he did not want the Ring for his own power, but in order to save Gondor - but the Ring was able to use that to ensnare him. And remember that the Ring is presented as being at least semi-sentient, so it knew that in the Fellowship it was being carried by a collection of individuals all of whom agreed with the decision that had been made to try and destroy it, with one sole exception. It would make sense that the Ring would have worked extra hard to try and get Boromir to seize it.

No big deal, in the end we are talking about made-up characters in a make-believe world, after all.

Gandalf.

Book? Frodo, who was very funny at times, and nowhere near the sad sap he was in the films.

Movies? Gandalf, without a doubt, but that probably has more to do with Ian McKellen.

An honorable mention: Peter Jackson and Viggo really brought Aragorn to life in the movies. He was, to me, a very boring, almost layer-less character in the book, but became a complex driver of the narrative in the movies. Astin really did the same for Sam.

All of that is fair. Viggo Aragorn added a hesitance—an apprehensiveness to take the lead—to the character that book Aragorn never really shows. Book Aragorn already has his sword and has KING ME vibes all the way. I’ll admit that Jackson’s interpretation of the character was a big departure from the source, but damn, it worked for me.

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yet completely accurate

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Agree to strongly disagree