Both the Harry Potter universe and Tolkien's legendary The Lord of the Rings are replete with entities of the vilest nature -- magical creatures that do not fit into the human range of consciousness.
The Nazgûl are the Ringwraiths, some of the most powerful servants of the Dark Lord, Sauron. They have a major role to play as they hunt for the Ring and go after the Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo Baggins, the ring-bearer. On the other hand, the dementors are nasty, dark creatures that act as prison guards at Azkaban, the wizard prison in the Potterverse. Let us see the ways in which they are similar and how they differ from each other.
Similar: Dark, Hooded Creatures
Both the Nazgûl and the dementors are dark, shadowy creatures. The Nazgûl are neither living nor dead. They are also known as the Black Riders since they are cloaked in black and their physical forms are not visible to the eyes.
The dementors, too, are wraithlike creatures, hooded with no concrete physical form. They are more like dark shapes, to be precise. In terms of appearance, the Nazgûl and the dementors are quite similar in that both are dark, formless shapes that ignite fear in people’s hearts.
Different: The Nazgûl Were Men, Unlike The Dementors
The Nazgûl, canon says, were once men, great kings and warriors in fact, who were given the Rings of Power by Sauron. Centuries ago, these men had a corporeal existence. The Rings gave them immense power and wealth but they also had a corrupting effect, the result of which the men gradually started living a cursed existence in the realm of the unseen.
Dementors, on the other hand, look like decaying corpses and were never humans in the first place. They are, Rowling says, one of the foulest creatures to walk the earth, inhabiting some of the darkest, filthiest places. The absence of anything remotely human in them is one of their defining traits. Being non-humans, they also never had a physical form, unlike the Nazgûl.
Similar: Both Are Antagonists
Both dementors and the Black Riders are antagonistic characters in their respective canons. The dementors join forces with the chief antagonist of the Potter universe, Voldemort, when the latter gears up and gathers an army for the final confrontation with Harry Potter at the Battle of Hogwarts.
The Nazgûl are the most terrible servants of Sauron, the primeval dark force that presides over Mordor, and plan to take over the whole of Middle Earth, in Tolkien’s epic fantasy universe. These are dark entities whose souls have been tarnished by the extraordinary power of the Rings and their fate is now bound to that of Sauron.
Different: The Nazgûl And Dementors Have Very Different Attack Techniques
The dementors are fiends that suck out a person’s soul, leaving them empty and soulless. As guards of the wizard prison, they are allowed to perform the infamous Dementor’s Kiss on the most prized prisoners. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the dementors prepare to perform the kiss on Sirius Black, who is mistakenly believed to be Voldemort’s most loyal servant.
The Nazgûl, though, having been humans once, require the use of actual physical weapons to fight their enemies. They are shown to be using daggers, swords and terrifying maces. Although they are invisible to those who cannot see into the wraith world, their past history as men makes it imperative that they carry weapons.
Similar: Both Are Messengers Of Fear And Despair
The Nazgûl and the dementors both strike a profound sense of dread and despair in the hearts of people. The Nazgûl have about them a shadowy aura of fear and darkness that spreads through the paths they travel and into the hearts of the people that cross their paths.
Similarly, the dementors, as the name suggests, are symbols of gloom and despair, leaving a person without a happy thought. They feed off happiness and their arrival drowns people in the depths of depression. The more they feed the more their numbers multiply, making them some of the most hated, disgusting and terrifying creatures in the wizarding world.
Different: The Nazgûl Are Limited And Die, But Do Dementors Die?
The Ringwraiths are only nine in number. No man, it is said, can kill the Nazgûl, but that is not to say that they are invincible, or more importantly, that they cannot die. Although they seem immune to the more conventional weapons, in Return of the King, the Witch-King of Angmar, the most powerful of the Nazgûl, is seen dying at the hands of Eowyn of Rohan and the hobbit, Merry Brandybuck.
The dementors, in the Harry Potter universe, are innumerable and nowhere does Rowling state whether or not they can die and if so, how. One can assume that since they feed on human happiness, they might also rot away if they are not able to feed. But this is pure conjecture since Rowling never actually mentions whether dementors have specific longevity, or for that matter if they can be killed.
Similar: The Black Breath And The Sense of Cold
Not only are both messengers of terror and death, but they both also have actual physical effects on those that tread their path. The Nazgûl’s Black Breath is said to be poisonous, terrifying a person and rendering them unconscious. This was one of their weapons that could have fatal consequences if not treated with Athelas, a herb with tremendous healing powers.
The dementor’s presence, although not poisonous per se, can be felt from quite a distance. The victim feels a sweeping sensation of cold as the dementor approaches. The feeling precedes the dementor’s arrival and is capable of turning water into ice. Both entities bring with them a sense of doom and overwhelming horror.
Different: The Dementors Are Not Bound To Anyone, Unlike The Nazgûl
The Nazgûl are shown to be enslaved by the power of the One Ring. Their fate is thus bound to that of the Ring and therefore to Sauron. They are servants to their terrible master and their powers depend on the strength of the Dark Lord and the fate of the Ring.
The dementors, however, are not bound to anybody else’s fate. Although they chose to ally with Voldemort in the final battle, they are not necessarily servants to You-Know-Who’s whims. It is said that they go where they can feed the most, so it is safe to assume that they owe no loyalty to anyone. While the Nazgûl serve the Ring and Sauron, the dementors as such serve no-one in particular.
Similar: Both Are Afraid Of Light And Happiness
Both the Nazgûl and the dementors are afraid of light, hope, and happiness, in the more metaphorical sense. There are instances of the Nazgûl being scared of light. They are unable to see properly and are blinded by the sun, that is, all except the powerful Witch-King who is shown to be less affected by sunlight. Gandalf himself is seen warding off a Ringwraith with a bright beam of light from his staff.
Similarly, the dementors, as Potter fans know, disperse at the sight of pure happiness. The Patronus charm that is used to get rid of them is nothing but concentrated happiness of the purest kind. The blinding Patronus created from a happy memory scares the dementors away.
Different: The Nazgûl Need Mounts, The Dementors Don’t
The Nazgûl are shown to travel on mounts, at first on horses and then on what was known as fellbeasts. These were winged, flying creatures that are able to swoop in on an unsuspecting victim. Having been human some thousands of years ago, the Nazgûl require mounts to transport them from one place to another.
Unlike these winged wraiths, however, the dementors are never seen traveling on mounts. They are floating creatures that were never human and hence do not need mounts, winged or otherwise, to carry them.