Editing Middle Earth characters (section)

== Dwarves ==
The Dwarves are sometimes referred to as the “Adopted children of Ilúvatar;” their forms were created by Aulë the Smith in his desire to have beings that he could teach his craft to, but because he didn’t possess the Secret Fire, he could not give them true life or free will. Ilúvatar, though disappointed by Aulë acting out of turn, took pity on Aulë’s creation and breathed life into them. However, he also put them to sleep since the elves were preordained to be the first-born children. Because the Dwarves were designed by Aulë and not Illúvatar, they have a few quirks to them compared to the other Children; they're extremely hardy and resistant to corruption, but also very warlike and aggressive, and were prone to pick lots of fights including with other dwarven houses. Also, they tended to suffer from population decline due to a lack of females. It is said that when the Dwarves die, their bodies return to the stone they were made and their souls are gathered to separate chambers within the Halls of Mandos; waiting for the Dagor Dagorath (Last Battle). After the Last Battle, the Dwarves would be hallowed by Eru and ordained to rebuild the world, along with Aulë. 
===Dwarves of the First Age===
*'''Durin''' (the Deathless): The eldest of the seven Fathers of the Dwarves. He's founder of the royal House of Durin and is the ruler of the Longbeards. He awoke in Mount Gundabad and travelled southwards, along the Misty Mountains, until he saw a starry crown reflected on a pool upon his head. There he'd founded Khazad-dûm, greatest of the Dwarf mansions, and which would later be known as Moria. He lived for more than two-and-a-half thousand years, hence the title "The Deathless", until the ending years of the 1st Age. Yet even after his death, it's believed that Durin returns from the Halls and incarnates as a new King Durin (presumptively thanks to massive favouritism from Aulë). In later unpublished works, Tolkien may have retconned this instead to where Durin doesn't reincarnate so much as his body regenerates and returns to the world of the living anytime that Durin's Folk is without an heir. Thus Durin restarts the royal line, and that the other Dwarf Fathers have this ability as well. 
*'''Telchar''': One of the most famous Dwarf smiths of all, whose craftsmanship could only be matched by Fëanor or equalled by very few on Middle Earth. He's the creator of Narsil, of the knife Angrist which Beren used, and of the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.
====Petty-Dwarves====
The Petty-Dwarves were a sub-species of Dwarf who were cast out by the other Clans for wicked behavior. They were [[Grimdark|hunted like animals]] during their exile by Elves who weren't aware that other sentient species could exist. When the Elves made contact with other Dwarves, they stopped and left them in peace. By the late 400s of the First Age only three remained, a father and his two sons.
*'''Mîm's Family''': Mîm was the last Petty-Dwarf alongside his sons Ibun and Khîm, who presumably wouldn't be allowed to marry other Dwarves because of their exile, leaving them without potential spouses, and their mother's death sealed their fate. The three lived together in their fathers home in a hill/small mountain, Amon Rûdh and were left alone until, by misfortune, Túrin's gang of anti-Morgoth resistance outlaws happened upon Ibun and Khîm and one of them, Andróg, killed Khîm with a bow during the panic. Túrin repented of his followers mistake and offered their service to Mîm, who accepted and assisted Túrin with resisting Morgoth for a year. Unfortunately, Beleg's arrival pissed Mîm off, understandably so as a genocide victim meeting a warrior of the people who slaughtered all his kin, and arranged to betray the outlaws with an Orc warband, on the condition that they spare Túrin and Ibun and also leave Beleg for Mîm to kill. Andróg, mortally injured, scared Mîm off from the wounded Beleg, then sacrificed himself to repent of his accidental murder and to save Túrin, Beleg and his son Andvír. Ibun either died in the battle, or of some other cause before his father. Mîm then took Nauglamír in the ruins of Nargothrond, and held home and hearth there until 502 of the First Age, whereupon he was killed by Húrin, who saw him as partially responsible for his sons accursed life. Mîm's dying curse on the treasure doomed Doriath and King Thingol and caused the Second Kinslaying. Mîm's death rendered the Petty-Dwarves extinct.

===Dwarves of the Second Age===
*'''Narvi'''
===Dwarves of the Third and Fourth Ages===
Dwarves apparently peacefully went extinct after reclaiming all their lost homes and holds, with the possible exception of Gimli who was allowed into the Undying Lands and may had been given the immortality of an Elf.
*'''Gimli, son of Glóin''': Of the non-royal branch of the house of Durin. Generally recognized as '''''the''''' archetypal Dwarf hero in fiction, bar none. Fact is, if you see any Dwarf hero in a Fantasy work who uses an axe and isn't a magically powered Cleric-type, then that character is probably at least somewhat inspired by Gimli. 
*'''Thrór''': Ruler of Erebor before it was taken by Smaug. After the great exodus of the dwarves, Thror attempted to retake Moria. Thror was killed by Azog, but was avenged by his grandson Thorin.
*'''Thrain II''': Son of Thror. Thrain was imprisoned by the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, later revealed to be Sauron, and had his Ring of Power stolen. He was discovered by Gandalf, and Thrain gave Gandalf the map and key to Erebor, dying shortly after.
*'''Dáin II (Ironfoot)''': Ruler of the Iron Hills; after the death of Thorin Oakenshield, he inherited rule of Erebor. He took an active part in the oft-forgotten northern theatre of the War of the Ring, but was killed at the gates of Erebor by a countless number of Easterlings.
*'''Thorin III (Stonehelm)''': Chronologically, the last known King Under the Mountain before Durin the Last. He rebuilt Erebor and Dale, helped Gimli settle the Glittering Caves in Rohan, and started a new campaign of mining Mithril in Khazad-dûm.
*'''Durin VI''': Famously known for having awakened up the Balrog that laid beep in Moria. Said Balrog slew many-a Dwarves and even Durin was killed. And so the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm were forced out and went on a great exodus. 
*'''Durin VII (The Last)''': The last reincarnation of Durin the Deathless, cleared out Moria and fully rebuilt the Dwarf kingdom. The Dwarves are strongly implied to have quietly died out some time after his death.
=====Thorin Oakenshield & Companions=====
*'''Thorin II (Oakenshield)''': Heir of Erebor and leader of the dwarves in exile. Thorin leads the quest for Erebor, eventually succeeding in retaking the kingdom from Smaug. However, he succumbs to dragon-sickness and very nearly goes to war with the Elves, but recovers from his madness long enough to join the battle against the Orcs outside the city gates. Thorin died in battle.
**'''Balin, son of Fundin''':cousin to Thorin and Dain. Balin served as Thorin's advisor during the Quest for Erebor, and later attempted to retake Moria with a small expeditionary force of Dwarves. Balin's fate was unknown until the Fellowship passed through Moria and discovered his dead body. According to Gloin, he was convinced by "whispers" to retake Moria despite the obvious dangers; its speculated that Sauron or his agents may have been involved as Erebor remained a target of interest after it was retaken."
**'''Glóin, son of Gróin''': Gimli's dad. One of the few real links between Hobbit and LoTR, as he was actually present at the Coucil of Elrond alongside his son.
**'''Óin, son of Gróin''': Glóin's brother. Died in Moria alongside Balin.
**'''Fili and Kili''': Thorin's nephews. Died in the Battle of Five Armies defending their relative. Yes, that's '''LITERALLY''' all of their character (at least in the books). Peter Jackson films flesh them out some, though as this entailed giving one of them a [[Rage|romance with a made-for-the-films character, many fans were not impressed]].
**'''Dori, Nori, and Ori''': Dori is a pessimistic yet strong (literally the strongest one in the team) and reliable one. Ori was killed by Durin's Bane. Nori is uhhh... 
**'''Bombur, and cousins Bofur and Bifur''': Bombur is a fat one who is slow and complains a lot, but also gets his character development by being so traumatized from Mirkwood that he becomes a complete wreck of a... well, Dwarf. Latter two are irrelevant.

=====Other Dwarves=====
*'''[[Chaos Dwarves|Nauglath/Nauglir/Nornwaith]]''': The Wicked Dwarves of the East who had fallen under the Shadow, of which little is known about. Briefly encountered in the First Age by the freshly awoken Men, who could tell that they were of "evil mind" and distrusted them. May have existed in the Third Age as well, where they may have possibly made alliances with Orcs.