Editing Middle Earth characters (section)

==Hobbits==
Hobbits appear to be a sub-species of human. Their origins are left deliberately vague since they were always meant to be an unremarkable people who did not take part in the great tales of the world, instead preferring to keep to themselves and living simple, peaceful lives. See [[Hobbits]] for more details.

* '''Bilbo Baggins''': The protagonist of the original Middle-Earth story. Starts out as a standard Hobbit (likes food and smoking pipes, not ambitious, deathly afraid of adventure, etc.) But Gandalf ropes him into the quest to Erebor, and he becomes the group's "burglar", making him the Ur-example of the "Halfling Thief/Rogue member of an adventuring party". Found the One Ring and managed to "win" it from Gollum by outwitting him in a game of riddles. Though not a fighter himself, his actions were still instrumental in helping the Dwarves reclaim their ancestral home from Smaug and stopping the forces of the Necromancer after. By the time of the War of the Ring, he retires to Rivendell and then accompanies the Elves on their journey to the West. The One Ring is thus inherited by...
** '''Frodo Baggins''' ...Bilbo's nephew. Main hero of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and initially a total nice guy. So nice, in fact, that he's able to resist the One Ring's corrupting influence longer and better than most. This makes him "the Ringbearer", and he is tasked with being the one to take the One Ring to Mordor to destroy it. Sadly, while Frodo means well, he's also as useless in a fight as one would expect a guy who's lived a pastoral existence his whole life to be. This not only requires the other good guys to bodyguard him throughout his adventure, but also results in him being (in order) stabbed by the Witch-King, stabbed by a Troll, stabbed by Shelob's stinger (notice a pattern?), captured by Orcs, and finally getting a finger bitten off by Gollum. Suffice to say, after being Middle-Earth's biggest punching bag for so long, Frodo is so shell-shocked that he realizes he can no longer stay in Middle-Earth, and so after helping to kick Sharkey (AKA Saruman) and his gang out of the Shire, joins his uncle Bilbo in sailing to the West with the Elves, bringing his story to a bittersweet close.
* '''Smeagol / Gollum''': Found the One Ring alongside his brother long after Isildur's death. Sadly, where Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam were all able to resist the One Ring to varying degrees, Smeagol...didn't. Instead, [[Fulgrim|he succumbed to corruption and killed his brother]]. From there, the One Ring morphed him into a "not-Goblin" monster who lived a tormented existence for centuries...until Bilbo swiped the Ring from him. By the time Gollum found the One Ring again, it was now in Frodo's possession, and for a time Gollum agreed to serve Frodo and Sam. Gollum swears his loyalty upon the Ring itself, which Frodo warns him repeatedly that the Ring itself would punish him by casting him into the fire if he ever betrayed Frodo- yes this is foreshadowing, and its probably why it was cut from the films, so as not to basically spoil the ending. Unfortunately, whether because his dark side is just too strong or because of a Faramir-caused misunderstanding (depending on the version of the story), Gollum regresses to evil and betrays Frodo and Sam to Shelob. [[Fail|This does not actually let him get the Ring back though]]. Ultimately meets his end, perhaps fittingly, where his "precious" was first forged; he bites the Ring off of Frodo, but then falls into the lava below shortly after (in the books he falls on his own, in the movies, he's falls over while struggling with Frodo). Widely hailed as one of fiction's great tragic villains, and, since the movies, a veritable fountain of memes. 
* '''Samwise "Sam" Gamgee''': If there's a candidate for main hero of the Lord of the Rings besides Frodo himself, it would be Sam, his best bro, gardener, bodyguard, and hypercompetent sidekick all rolled into one. As the guy who sticks with Frodo no matter what Middle-Earth throws at them, resists the One Ring's corruption ''even better than Frodo does'', and able to face down threats many Men would balk at (like Shelob), Sam is acknowledged in-universe and out as the greatest Hobbit to ever live. So in summary, [[Grey Knights|incorruptible, loyal, and better than you]].
* '''Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck''' and '''Peregrin "Pippin" Took''': Frodo's cousins and closest friends besides Sam, and basically the "comic relief duo" of the story, though they do both know how to get serious when needed. Among other things they help get the Ents to join the War of the Ring and kick Saruman's teeth in and partake in many of the big battles of the War of the Ring. Merry helps Eowyn kill the Witch-King (albeit by stabbing him in the back while he'd distracted), and Pippin [[Slayers|''kills a Troll'']]. They also each get to don the attire of one of the great kingdoms of Men (Rohan for Merry and Gondor for Pippin). 
* '''Fredeger "Fatty" Bolger''': Frodo's other friend, but never makes an appearance in the movies. Fatty gets a bad rap for not wanting to leave with Frodo and go through the Old Forest, but he still had a part to play in staying behind and convince people that Frodo still lived in the Shire. When the Nazgul arrived, he raised the Horn of Buckland to drive them off, and later aided Frodo in the Scouring of the Shire. On a darker note, after being locked away by the ruffians to starve, no one called him Fatty anymore.
* '''Farmer Maggot''': Local farmer...or so he seems. In fact, he is one of the few Hobbits in the Shire who not only knows about what goes on in the greater world, but actively works in conjunction with Gandalf as needed to ferry and receive information. [[Awesome|So basically a Hobbit Secret Agent]].
* '''The Sackville Baggins''': Proof that even Hobbits can be unlikable assholes, the Sackville-Baggins are relatives of Frodo who neither he nor anyone else particularly like. Basically a couple of obnoxious gold-diggers who Frodo sells the Shire to before heading off on his journey (an action he doesn't enjoy more than anyone else). If there's any nice thing that can be said about them, it's that they ''do'' later assist in the ejection of Sharkey and his goons from the Shire, showing they, like all Hobbits, can be courageous when it matters most. Absent in the movies, but unlike Glorfindel and [[Tom Bombadil|a certain someone]], most aren't likely to mind too much.