Unluckiest Characters In Lord Of The Rings

Key Takeaways

• Characters in Middle-earth endure endless misfortune, facing death, torture, and psychological turmoil.
• Beren, Maedhros, Frodo, Hurin, & others face grim fates despite their noble efforts.
• Gandalf, Eowyn, & Gollum also experience deep loneliness, imprisonment, heartbreak, and tragic endings.

The realm of Middle-earth is full of Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and many other creatures. They all face their share of challenges as the servants of evil seek to engulf their world. Hardship is a natural part of life, and some have it worse than the rest.

Certain figures in The Lord of the Rings universe seem to experience endless misfortune. They lose their loved ones and endure years of psychological turmoil, or experience torture and finally death to their already tragic epitaphs. J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired by the Classic epics of ancient Greece and the Biblical tales of pain and redemption, and his modern interpretation makes Middle-earth look like a truly hellish place.

Updated on November 19th, 2024, by Kristy Ambrose: Everyone has to live through hard times at some point, but as Gandalf said, nobody gets to make that choice. We have to live the time that’s given to us as best we can. To put that in a more realistic context, it’s important to remember that Tolkien was a survivor of wartime, and some of his children followed him to the battlefield. It’s not hard to see the anti-war message in LotR, especially in the way that war always scars the people and land for generations. These circumstances often lead to unfortunate turns of fate for Tolkein’s characters. They are some of the most unluckiest individuals in fiction, but they persevere anyway, taking Gandalf’s wise words to heart.

7 Beren

An Early Incarnation Of Aragorn

• Appears In: The Silmarillion

Though he’s the subject of an iconic love story, Beren faces countless hurdles along the way. He originates from a noble family of Men, but that nobility doesn’t last. Morgoth’s armies slaughter Beren’s kin at the decisive Dagor Bragollach battle. From here, the hero becomes an outlaw, scouring for scraps in the wilderness and striking at enemies from the shadows. A light in the darkness comes when he meets and falls in love with the Elf maiden, Luthien, but this leads to further struggle.

Her father, King Thingol of Doriath, refuses to let his daughter marry Beren until the suitor retrieves a legendary Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. The ensuing errand is rife with failure and death. Beren’s company is captured by Sauron, Morgoth’s lieutenant, who tortures them for information and executes them for amusement. Beren later becomes a prisoner of Morgoth himself, who makes him into a lowly slave. Coming to his aid both times is Luthien.

With her help, Beren secures a Silmaril, but the victory is short-lived. Morgoth’s wolf, Carcharoth, swallows both the jewel and the hero’s hand. His subsequent attempt to slay the beast results in his death. It seems like Beren just can’t win. At least this tale has a happy ending, though. Luthien gives up her own life and convinces the gods to give her and Beren a second chance. The two lovers then live in peace, but rather than enjoy the timeless existence of the Elves, they eventually die as mortals.

6 Maedhros

A Heroic Effort, But All In Vain

• Appears In: The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Húrin

Despite being the eldest son of a renowned Elven house, Maedhros is practically defined by failure. He’s initially against his father’s quest to recover the Silmarils, but a family oath binds him to this purpose. It also leads to his capture by Morgoth. The Dark Lord then shackles him to a mountain as proof of his triumph.

Maedhros’s friend, Fingon, comes to his rescue, but the unbreakable chains mean he must sever his buddy’s hand. After such an ordeal, Maedhros revolves around doing what’s best for his people and mending the strife between them. He even earned several military victories.

Sadly, the Silmarils and the oath return to darken his life. When he hears of Beren and Luthien’s exploits, he believes Morgoth is vulnerable and unites the Elven houses in a rebellion. This fails and scatters those houses. Maedhros later learns that Beren and Luthien’s Silmaril now rests in Doriath. His allies convince him to lead two attacks in a recovery effort, one on the kingdom itself and another on the survivors’ camp, and both attempts only yield more bloodshed.

After losing practically everything, Maedhros and his remaining brother try to steal the jewels in the dead of night. They finally succeed, but the mere touch of their prize burns their hands. They’re no longer worthy of the divine light within. All of Maedhros’s sacrifices are for nothing. In despair, he hurls himself into a fiery pit and takes the Silmaril with him.

5 Gandalf

Olórin Feared The Dangers Of Middle-earth

• Appeared In: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Unfinished Tales

He began as Olórin, a Maiar of Valinor, and he served Manwë, one of the leaders of the Vala. Unlike some of the other Maia, he wasn’t enthusiastic about traveling to Middle-earth to combat Sauron, believing he was too weak to make a meaningful contribution to the conflict.

Manwë cited his wisdom and humility as strengths, not weaknesses, and he walked in Middle-earth in the image of an old man who also happened to be a powerful wizard. His travels were defined by suffering and hardship, beginning with the early days when he was the last of the Maiar to arrive in the Third Age, and immediately became the bearer of Narya, a Ring of Power, a heavy burden by any standard.

Out of all the places he traveled and the people he met, the most mysterious and exciting turned out to be the Shire, and the Hobbits who lived there. Gandalf’s last and most profound trial was preparing Frodo for his journey and fighting Sauron and his minions personally on the battlefield.

4 Frodo

The Loneliness Of A Ringbearer

• Appears In: The Lord of The Rings trilogy

Frodo is one of the most famous Hobbits in history, but he doesn’t aspire to be. This humble hero inherits the One Ring after his Uncle Bilbo stumbles on it in The Hobbit. Said Ring is the fabled weapon of Sauron and, thus, the most dangerous object in the world. Possessing it brings untold misery.

As a result, Frodo’s quest to destroy it is full of hardship. Everyone expects him to save Middle-earth. That pressure would be crushing for anyone, but it’s worse because of the object itself. The Ring’s influence constantly gnaws away at him, tempting him toward greed and getting heavier by the day. Due to that corrupt power, few people can truly help him bear the burden. This leaves him in crippling isolation. By extension, he’s open to virtually every physical danger in Middle-earth, from Orcs to Trolls to wraiths to giant spiders.

3 Hurin

A Tragic Story From The Distant Past

• Appears In:The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, The War of the Jewels, Unfinished Tales

Hurin begins as a gallant Man of the First Age. To save his friend, Turgon, he and his army hold off Morgoth’s forces. The battle rages until he is the last one standing, after which he is captured. The Dark Lord has his balrogs torture the prisoner for information before trapping him atop a mountain peak.

The villain also grants him a far-reaching vision, allowing him to watch from afar as Orcs and other monstrosities ravage the land. Specifically, he must witness the death of his equally valiant son, Turin. Following that, Morgoth releases Hurin. One would think his fortunes are improving, but it’s all part of his captor’s twisted scheme.

The Dark Lord only freed Hurin to reap further corruption on himself and his allies. The first tragedy occurs when the hero reunites with his wife at their children’s graves. She dies immediately after, sending him into a deep depression. He tries to reach out to Turgon at Gondolin, but his former friend believes it’s a trick and turns him away. However, Hurin’s attempt inadvertently betrays Gondolin’s location to Morgoth’s spies.

From here, Hurin’s path only gets darker. He soon abandons all ideas of fellowship and goodwill. Forming an unscrupulous band of outlaws, he assaults Doriath to claim the treasure inside. Only after the bloodshed does he realize his folly. In penance, he presents a sacred necklace to Thingol, but this only feeds into the king’s growing greed and leads others to attack the city. In weakening the Free People, Hurin unintentionally does Morgoth’s work for him.

2 Éowyn

Life In A Cage

• Appears In:The Two Towers, The Return Of The King

Her brother Eomer was only exiled, and in hindsight, Eowyn’s fate might have been even worse. She’s confined to a dark and lonly existence, her closest relatives are either dead, absent, or otherwise incapacitated, leaving her all alone except for her senile old uncle and his skeevy advisor, the aptly-named Wormtongue.

It’s no wonder that she fell so hard for Aragorn when he first appeared. He was a man of action and perhaps represented her way out of the quiet Hall of Meduseld, but he eventually breaks her heart too, and it’s then that she decides to ride as a warrior into the Battle of Pelennor Fields. She has no intention of returning, thinking that death is better than returning to the life in the noble hall, and she almost gets her wish when the Nazgul mortally wounds her.

1 Gollum

His Entire Life Was A Sad Story

• Appears In: The Hobbit, The LotR Trilogy

For all of Frodo’s trouble with the Ring, his ordeal is child’s play compared to Gollum. The cursed band comes to him after two millenniums of dormancy, instantly ensnaring him in its web of temptation. That temptation drives him to kill his cousin in a possessive rage. His village subsequently casts him out. Alone in the wild with only the Ring, he decays both physically and mentally. He even develops a second, oppressive personality to cope with the turmoil.

Gollum’s condition amplifies as he hides in the Misty Mountains, where he spends the next five hundred years in a dank cave. Bilbo finding and taking the evil jewelry should alleviate this pain, but unfortunately, Gollum’s suffering progresses from here. His biting need for the Ring can never be satisfied. It’s the worst kind of addiction withdrawal with no soberness in sight. His deteriorated state earns revulsion and mistrust from everyone he meets.