While fans adore the different heroic characters of Lord of The Rings and the great evil they fight, the fantasy world around them is just as grand. And part of what makes the world so fantastical are the different creatures, beasts, and fauna that inhabit it.
Now, in particular this list covers the non-humanoid creatures in Middle Earth. After all, there are a lot of human-like beasts that are absolutely terrifying. Just look at the Nazgul.
But here, it's particularly the ones with four legs (or more) that chill every human and hobbit to their very bones.
Badger-Folk
One the most infamous things missing from the Lord of The Rings movies is Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil's backstory comes with a wife named Goldberry and some devious Badger-folk. While he was an understandable removal from the story, it did take out some interesting creatures and characters. One example are the Badger-folk. Despite being adorable badgers, these people are much more sentient and have ideals and cultures of their own. They live in the forests and sometimes have run-ins with people like Bombadil.
The Badger-folk tried to ensure Bombadil could not get to his beloved, Goldberry, wanting to keep them apart for their own reasons. Lucky for Tom, they failed.
But when it comes to cute creatures that can be secretly devious? Badger-folk can be pretty spooky.
Mumakil
Most people just know these giant elephants as the thing that Legolas took down with a couple arrows, like the insane archer he is. They are also known as Oliphants, used by the mysterious Haradrim in battle. They are a desert people that were willing to fight for Sauron in the great wars for Middle Earth.
If elephants were already the cutest, but also terrifying large land mammals, Mumakil are even worse. They have extra tusks, too, and are more than happy to destroy whole battalions of men.
Fans kinda love the Mumakil, though, because they are a very unique creature in a world of demon monsters and high fantasy creatures.
Wargs
These mounts and war dogs of the orcs are an intimidating group to face on the battlefield. They look like a terrifying hybrid of hyena, bear, and werewolf, ready to tear apart flesh at a moment's notice.
Where the good guys stick to classic horses, orcs take their lives into their own hands by choosing Wargs. A hungry enough Warg with a weak master can easily decide a snack is more important that being obedient. Granted, they seem to want to make a snack out of most anything, the scavengers they are.
Also, one of these spooky, big canines tossed Aragorn off a cliff and that's a feat on its own.
Barrow-Wight
Frodo and friends didn't have to deal with this terrifying monster in the films, but in the books they did. This phantom would go after easy targets, lonely travelers in the night that walked passed their barrows. Once they got someone in their grips, they would stare into their eyes and enchant them, taking away their free will.
Then, the wight would take them underground to their altar, wrap them in gold and grave shrouds, and use a blade to sacrifice them.
The only way to deal with a Barrow-Wight is to avoid it or exorcise it. Sounds like a wildly unpleasant way to lose your life, watching your body accept sacrifice without your permission.
Shelob
While Wargs are a hungry group of orc-hounds, their bloodlust is nothing compared to Shelob and her fellow giant spiders. These creatures will happily entrap and suck the innards out of anyone that dares cross their path. Shelob may be the big tarantula of Mordor, but any of these giant spiders is a terrifying foe. They almost overran the dwarves when they encountered them; if it wasn't for the elves, the fight might not have gone so well.
Lucky for everyone's favorite reluctant hero, Frodo Baggins, Shelob wasn't able to gut him and make him a midnight snack. Gollum's devious scheme didn't work.
Turtle-Fish
The Lord of The Rings series doesn't spend too much time on open water, and understandably so. Their ships are slow and any attacks are harder to protect. Another great reason to avoid too much shipfaring are the Turtle-Fish. These giant creatures live in large bodies of water and disguise themselves as small islands. They entice people to come closer with the mystery of their land masses, but then will pounce on them once they're close enough.
Turtle-fish can crush an entire vessel with one flop of their belly or crunch of their mouth. Frodo and company (in the films) were very lucky to keep out of the way of these ship-crushers.
Watcher in The Water
If anyone watches Fellowship of the Ring a lot, they know the Watcher in The Water way too well. While the Fellowship spent too much time arguing and making a racket, the nearby guardian of the dwarven city of Moria. The river running by the entrance doesn't seem too deep, but it actually holds an entire, bloodthirsty aquatic monster.
Looking like a crossover of Cthulu and the Kraken, this beat almost swallowed several hobbits whole, including the one ring itself. A non-discriminate snacker, the Watcher almost destroyed the entire fellowship's agenda in one bite.
Great Eagles
Many fans have so many debates and weird conversations about the infamous Great Eagles. Despite their preference to help out the forces of good in Middle Earth, they still are terrifying beasts. They are the size of dragons and have talons that can rip a man to shreds. It's only by being very careful are they capable of carrying the Hobbits to safety from Mordor.
If the Great Eagles didn't help out the good guys, if they instead fought against them like many other intimidating beasts, the Fellowship would have been in a much more precarious position. After all, between their flying speeds and combat abilities, the Great Eagles are no creatures to underestimate.
Fellbeast
Where the Fellowship has the Eagles, the Nazgul have the Fellbeasts. A lesser version of dragons, these worm-like, winged creatures give their Nazgul riders a frightening upper hand. They are ferocious, unrelenting, and visually horrific. Anyone who sees one feels like they just said hello to a hellbeast.
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On top of these creatures, the Nazgul have better vantage points than ever. It makes their dark powers all the greater. If it wasn't for the Eagles, the armies of men would've had a much worse time trying to fight them off. After all, seeing what they did to Osgiliath, they are one of the most terrifying things in Middle Earth.
Smaug
Nothing can top the rumbling, blood-curdling roar of one of the final great dragons. Despite spending years holed up in his treasure trove, Smaug threatened everything in his path when the dwarves and Bilbo woke him up. Their clever measures were not enough; they needed the rare black arrow to even have a chance against him.
And quite honestly, the black arrow still feels like it shouldn't be enough. Smaug was thousands of pounds of growling, sneering sharp teeth and selfish greed. Of all the creatures in Middle Earth, he deserves his rightful spot as the most frightening beast. He would intimidate anyone who ever crossed his path.