Both The Hobbit and the epic follow-up trilogy The Lord of the Rings from author J. R. R. Tolkien provided the basis for timeless cinematic classics that still captivate and tickle the imagination years after release. Filmmaker Peter Jackson managed to translate this rich, majestic source material into 6 entertaining and grandiose movies.
This saga takes viewers on a journey of wonder and excitement that ends far too soon, despite the lengthy runtime. This is thanks in part to some majestic world-building, rich environments, gripping plots, and memorable characters. While it's easy to love the vast, dynamic cast of heroes, these trilogies also thrive on their dark, menacing villains, and there's no shortage of them. These are the most powerful and influential bad guys in this epic series.
Updated on December 28th, 2020 by Derek Draven: Tokkein's stories in Middle Earth are vast and full of rich and detailed characters that have gone on to make an appearance in the movies directed by Peter Jackson. This list has accordingly been updated to include 5 more fearsome villains from the Hobbit and LOTR movie franchises. There's no shortage of evil to go around in Tolkien's universe, and these are the absolute baddest of the bad.
Gothmog
This repulsive orc was one of the cruelest and relentless of Sauron's minions. A military tactician and a soldier, Gothmog ignored his own physical handicaps and diseased body to lead the attack on Minas Tirith in the final days of Sauron. He was also responsible for the re-sacking of Osgiliath, which set up a staging ground for the attack that followed.
Gothmog wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and that meant using a variety of psychological fear tactics to demoralize his enemies. With such a strong command of Sauron's army, he was easily one of the most powerful villains in the story.
The Watcher In The Water
This fearsome creature lurked in the waters outside the entrance to the Mines of Moria, and any disturbance of his underwater abode led to its awakening. The Watcher was a squid-like creature with a gigantic maw that could swallow human-sized prey whole, and its powerful tentacles could rip down foundations and tear foes limb from limb.
When the Fellowship inadvertently disturbed the creature, it immediately awoke and set against them. It took a special interest in Frodo who possessed the One Ring and attempted to find the treasure while hoisting him high above its killer jaws.
Great Goblin (The Goblin King)
He may be a pretty "sizable" villain, but there's really not much to find threatening about this lumbering ruler of Goblin-town, outside the sheer number of goblin troops at his command. Despite having Bilbo and his band of Dwarves essentially trapped and surrounded in his underground stronghold, he was unable to secure them and obtain the bounty on Thorin's head.
One swift confrontation with Gandalf was all that it took to be defeated and go plummeting to his doom. He certainly made for an easier fight for the wizard than a certain other foe confronting him in an underground lair.
Gollum
The skulking Gollum wasn't particularly deadly in a fight, and he preferred to kill his prey using cunning and subterfuge, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a powerful villain in the overarching story. In fact, Gollum's destiny was so deeply intertwined with the fate of Middle Earth that it could be said he was one of the most powerful of all.
If it weren't for his machinations, the One Ring may have been found by another, leading to disaster. Further, it was he who fought Frodo for ownership of the Ring near the fires of mount doom. In both the novel and film, his actions ended up destroying the Ring forever, thereby sealing Sauron's fate and ushering in the Fourth Age of Middle Earth.
Shelob
One of Gollum's plots, which nearly gets LOTR's main hero killed, is to lure him into the cave of a massive, man-eating spider by the name of Shelob. Despite essentially being an overgrown insect, her size, speed, and stealthiness make her more akin to a dangerous monster - and one who Frodo and Sam find themselves scrambling to fend off.
Her web traps and her ability to swiftly paralyze her targets before devouring them makes one wrong move potentially fatal. In fact, if not for the Phial of Galadriel which was able to stave her off, neither Frodo nor Sam likely would have even made it to Mount Doom in the first place.
Bolg
Lord of the Rings, for all its countless Orcs, may have run short on a truly intimidating commander. Even the aforementioned Gothmog who commanded Mordor's attack on Minas Tirith paled in comparison to this brute warrior. Bolg is the son of Azog the Defiler, another intimidating foe for The Hobbit's protagonists.
Though he may not be massive in size or possess powers, he puts up quite a fight as demonstrated in The Hobbit movies, and has a mind for military strategy. Even though he's caused some problems for Bilbo and the band of dwarves, he still ends up playing second-fiddle to his father and spends much of the trilogy unsuccessfully pursuing the group.
Lurtz
The Uruk-hai were considered to be Saruman's crowning achievement in Isengard's war machine. In essence, they were a pumped up version of a regular orc that boasted incredible physical stature, stamina and a resistance to sunlight. Their leader was Lurtz, one of the most fearsome of his kind.
Lurtz led the original hunting party to find the Fellowship and bring back the Hobbits to Saruman. His plan was foiled when Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, and Boromir managed to thin the Uruk-hai ranks, leaving only Merry and Pippin to be taken as prisoners. Lurtz met his end when he was beheaded by Aragorn's blade, but not before a brutal and bloody battle.
Azog
Anyone tagged with the nickname "The Defiler" is almost sure to be a strong and intimidating figure, and Azog certainly fits the bill. This ruthless chieftain of the Orcs is hellbent on eliminating the family bloodline of Thorin Oakenshield, and he spends much of The Hobbit trying to accomplish that goal.
As it happens, it was Azog and his fighters that took over the Mines of Moria, making him a prominent figure in the northern region of Middle-Earth. Only after a hard-fought battle against the warrior-king Thorin in Battle of the Five Armies was this beast finally slain. Still, this victory came at a great cost.
The Nazgûl
These ghoulish riders seem to be plucked right out of a nightmare. Their shadowy appearance, eerie whispers, and affinity for skewing targets with their deadly blades make them frightening in terms of their premise alone. They can get around swiftly by way of their dark horses or winged beasts and can move about under cover of darkness with creepy evasiveness.
They prove particularly scary for Frodo, whose One Ring they can sense, and are drawn to like a magnet. What's even more unsettling is that one stab from a Morgul blade is enough for a victim to fall into darkness and become like these corrupted kings of old.
The Witch-King Of Angmar
Enter the Nazgûl of Nazgûls; the intimidating presence that is the Witch-King of Angmar. Not only does this ghoul possess all the powers of his fellow Ring Wraiths, but he also holds a significant amount of power and influence in Mordor. He captured Minas Ithil, led the attack on Minas Tirith (which was nearly overrun), and frequently surveys the area on his large Fellbeast.
His supernatural powers and ability to wield a massive flail makes him one of the most ominous figures in The Lord of the Rings. It took the combined efforts of Merry and Éowyn to defeat the Witch-King - and it was still quite a struggle.
Saruman
Like the previous entry, this villain's powers stretch beyond the physical realm and include the power of sorcery. Not only this but being a wizard converted to the darkness of Mordor, he has the added benefit of being privy to the workings and locales of his former allies. These abilities made Frodo and the Fellowship's quest quite difficult, and nearly brought about the destruction of Rohan.
With a growing army of beastly Uruk-hai at his command - not to mention the power to corrupt the minds of Kings and conjure storms - Saruman is a force that's not easy to deal with. Only after his industrial empire has all-but imploded is he quelled, following the stabbing of (ironically), another traitor in Wormtongue.
The King Of The Dead
The Men of Dunharrow were considered traitors by Gondor after Isildur held them accountable for the breaking of an oath to come to his aid against Sauron's forces. Instead, the men chose to worship Sauron in the latter days of the conflict and were not keen on rising up against him.
The King of the Dead was their leader, and although he and his army fought alongside Aragorn at the Battle of Minas Tirith, he was by no means a hero. The dead army fought only for themselves so that Aragorn could lift their curse and allow them to pass on. Had it not been for that, they would have remained the treacherous traitors they were known as.
The Balrog
Gandalf basically says it best when he warns the Fellowship that "this foe is beyond any of you." This statement is proven rather quickly when this demonic beast storms through Mordor, tearing apart all in his wake and would have taken out a wizard if not for the divine intervention that sent him back.
For most of the Fellowship, this would be akin to going up against some sort of monstrous demigod. Even if his fiery whip didn't do the job, this smoldering beast could simply crush or incinerate powerless foes. This beast from the First Age illustrates just what was meant by the quote "the Dwarves delved too greedily and too deep."
Smaug
For as intimidating as Dany's dragons are in Game of Thrones, they have nothing on this fire-breathing monstrosity, a (literal) sleeping dragon who threatens to demolish all around him if awoken. Unlike most villains comprising this list, Smaug possesses power in a number of areas including sheer size, speed, and cunning - not to mention the ability to torch an entire city without breaking a sweat. Not only this, but his scales prove almost impossible to penetrate.
Essentially, he's a flying weapon of mass destruction. As he puts it - "my teeth are swords, my claws spears, my wings a hurricane, and my breath, death!" It takes the perfectly-timed sharp-shooting of Bard to finally deal with him.
Sauron
Aside from the first dark lord Morgoth, this iconic villain is so strong and menacing that he manages to be the most ominous and influential force in Middle-Earth, especially with the full power of the Ring. Still, the fact that he exists as just a watchful eye towering above Mordor doesn't stop him from nearly conquering all of Middle-Earth.
Sauron is seemingly able to corrupt even the largest armies and the strongest of kings. He assembles a massive force of hundreds of thousands of vicious fighters while remaining a threat for ages. The fact that he can toss around dozens of troops with ease - as he's shown doing in Fellowship - should illustrate just how powerful he is.