Editing Middle Earth characters (section)

=== Men of Middle Earth ===
Men not related to the Númenóreans, but who also play significant roles in the world.
*'''Northmen/Men of the North'''
Men who live north of Gondor and west of the sea of Rhûn. This includes the Rohirrim, the Dalish, and the Woodsmen of Rhovanion. The Northmen are distantly related to the men of Gondor, as their ancestors came from the same group as the Edain.
**'''Rohan'''
***'''Eorl the Young''': Founder of Rohan.
***'''Helm Hammerhand''': The Ninth King of Rohan, during a time of protracted war against the Dunlendings as well as great civil strife within Rohan. Said strife came to a head when a rich noble named ''Freca'' with greatly mixed Rohirric and Dunlending ancestry claimed that his family line had a greater claim to the throne and attempted to coerce Helm to marry his daughter to his own son ''Wulf''. After a great many insults and arguments, Helm punched him so hard in the head that Freca was said to have died instantly from the sheer power of that single blow, which gave Helm his byname of '''Hammerhand'''. Helm declared Freca and his kinsmen to be enemies of Rohan, and they fled into Dunland, only to return four years later with a great host of their own led by Freca's son Wulf. Edoras and the Westfold was overrun by the invaders, and Helm and his sons were made to endure a long siege at the then-named Súthburg. By all counts he was an unstoppable warrior, capable of killing scores of Dunlendings with his bare hands and routing their lines with only a blow of his great war-horn. Such was the carnage he single-handedly inflicted that he was likened to a Snow-Troll. Thus was the fortress of Súthburg renamed into ''Helm's Deep'', with the keep where his war-horn was kept renamed to the ''Hornburg''.
****[[Skub|In the Shadow of Mordor continuity, none of the above happens exactly as it did, and instead he is nearly slain; presumably by Freca and his followers. Sauron and Celebrimbor give him a ring of power as he lies dying]], whereupon he becomes an angry, hammer wielding badass with a horned helmet. The corrupting nature of his Ring of Power however drives him to ever greater madness and rage, during one such moment of anger he strikes down his own daughter, and proceeds to kill his rival for the throne and everyone who tries to stop him, which completes his transformation into a Ring-wraith. [[A Song of Ice and Fire|So basically Robert Baratheon]] but a Nazgûl.
***'''Théoden''': King of Rohan. For a time he was possessed by Saruman the White as part of his ploy to conquer Rohan, but was freed by Gandalf. Théoden led Rohan in the successful defense against Isengard and rode to Gondor's aid in the battle of Pelennor Fields. Died in battle, but by all accounts was one hell of a leader (except in the Rankin Bass animated film, where his death sucks utterly).
***'''Théodred''': Son of Théoden. Théodred was killed by Saruman's forces, but Théoden didn't learn of this until after his mind was restored.
***'''Eomer''': Nephew of Theoden and heir to the throne, after Theodred's death. As such, Eomer became King after Théoden died at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
***'''Eowen / Eowyn''': Niece of Théoden and sister of Eomer. Eowen was a shieldmaiden and long desired to win glory in battle, but was often left behind as Théoden feared Rohan would be left leaderless. Eowen developed a crush on Aragorn, but when he refused her claiming she only loved the idea of him, Eowen went to Pelennor Fields in disguise and fought against the Witch-King of Angmar in one of the most badass duels in the whole book series. After the battle she met Faramir and settled down with him, claiming she no longer wished to fight, but to restore what had been destroyed in the war. Much like Princess Leia from Star Wars, one of ''the'' original badass ladies, nerd-crushes, and feminist role models in fiction all rolled into one. The PJ movies make her even ''more'' badass by having her bring down a Mumakil solo and holding her own against an army of Uruk-hai that get into the glittering caves at Helm's Deep in a deleted-but-mentioned-in-reference books scene. 
***'''Grima Wormtongue''': Advisor to the king, but in reality a pawn of Saruman. After his treachery was discovered, Grima ran back to Saruman, where he was regularly abused and mistreated by him until Grima finally stabbed Saruman in the back (literally) during their misadventure in the Shire and was shot with arrows for his troubles; in the movies he instead dies at the Orthanc and it's Legolas who kills him. Widely recognized in-universe and out as a slimy prick and complete coward.
**'''Dale'''
***'''Bard the Bowman''': First king of the restored Kingdom of Dale. Bard was an accomplished bowman who could communicate with birds and had a black arrow that always reached its target. This combination helped him to kill Smaug after finding the weak spot on its chest. After the Master of Lake-Town disappeared, he became the new King.
***'''Master of Lake-Town''': An unnamed character who ruled Lake-Town during the events of the Hobbit. He was a greedy SOB who was only interested in his own power and wealth; he abandoned Lake-Town when Smaug attacked, then later ran off with a good chunk of the loot following the Battle of the Five Armies. Died alone and starving to death in the barren wilderness. 
*'''The Wildmen of Dunland''': Primitive men who lived in the hills. Unlike the Northmen, the Dunlendings were much more hostile to outsiders, having been enslaved and abused by the conquering Númenóreans of the past. They allied with Saruman as he promised that their original lands would be taken from the Rohirrim and returned to them.
*'''Beornings and Woodsmen''': Named after their progenitor Beorn, a large wild man who could transform into a bear, an ability some of his descendants would share. They lived primarily in the lands between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood. While not overly friendly to outsiders, they were willing to aid the Free Peoples in the fight against Sauron and his minions. They are likely distant relatives of the Rohirrim. The Woodsmen were minor tribes of Edainic men who lived in Mirkwood and were allies of Thranduil and the Beornings. After the War of the Ring with Dol Guldur destroyed, the Beornings and Woodsmen reclaimed Central and Southern Mirkwood (now Greenwood) for themselves. 
*'''Woodwoses/Druedain''': A name borrowed from medieval legend; they are wild men who live deep in the forest and remain isolated from the rest of men. They are short and stocky, so some confuse them for Dwarves, but they are definitively of mannish stock. Despte their reclusiveness, the Druedain had been allies of the Edain and their descendants as far back as the First Age, so they appear periodically among the free peoples. The Druedain helped the Rohirrim reach Minas Tirith by way of secret highway through the forest, so they could reinforce the city and avoid an ambushing army. Somewhat like a smaller version of a Sasquatch, or more size-accurate, the Orang-Pendak of Vietnam.
*'''Men of the East''': Commonly referred to as “Easterlings”, and come from the vast lands East of the Sea of Rhun. 
**'''Rhun''': Men from the vast and uncharted lands of the East. Rhun is made up of many kingdoms and tribes, most of which are under Sauron’s dominion. However, it should be noted that one of the missions of the Blue Wizards was to raise a resistance in the lands of the East and South; we don’t see them in the stories because they likely were too busy fighting in their homelands. In the Peter Jackson films (and video games based off of them), they become basically Sauron's Chaos Warriors, being elite, well-armored humans who are fanatically devoted to the Dark Lord. 
*'''Men of the South''': collectively referred to as “Southrons” and live south of Gondor and Mordor.
**'''Haradrim of Near Harad/Far Harad''': Tribesmen of the deserts and jungles of Harad. Like the Easterlings they lived under the sway of Sauron, but earlier in their history they also suffered under the dominion of the King’s Men of Numenor (who became the Black Númenóreans and Corsairs of Umbar); this would give them a pre-existing hatred for the descendants of Númenor. Also like the Easterlings, some had allied with the Blue Wizards and refused to fight for Sauron. The Southron's usage of heavy cavalry and scimitars at the battle of the Pelennor Fields suggests a Saracen-like aspect; which together with the inclusion of the tribal and African elements suggested by Sigelhearwan; implies that the Haradrim are organized in an empire-like fashion held together with tribal confederacies. Though in the books they initially keep fighting ''even after Sauron is beaten'' (which the men of Gondor and Rohan actually respect), they're implied to eventually live in peace with the other kingdoms of Men after Aragorn lets them have Sauron's now empty lands as their own.
**'''Men of Khand/Variags of Khand''': Of all the Men under Sauron’s rule we know about Khand the least, other than that they were horsemen who attacked Gondor, it is not even clear as to whether the nomadic horsemen natives and Variags are the same or separate peoples, although the etymology of the word ''Variag'' being derived from the Russian word for ''Varangian'' implies that the Variags are viking-like mercenaries in some fashion, and thus are separate (and possibly even foreign) peoples.
*'''The Nazgûl''': The Nazgûl were the nine holders of the Rings of Men and as such, bound to Saurons will. They were his foremost Lieutanants ever since they fell into his grasp and powerful foes. Tolkien left their origins deliberately vague, the only details that were given that they were once Kings of Men who couldn't withstand the temptation of the Rings giving them limitless power and immortality and that they first appeared in the second age, where they already lead Saurons Armies against the Free People. Their appearance and powers are tied to Saurons influence in the world, but also to proximity to the One Ring. Fellowship describes the Nazgûls appearance during the chase to Rivendell as those of imposing riders wearing black robes and riding tortured, wicked horses. Their foremost power was their unnatural incorporealness, which was distinct from those of normal Undead like those that haunted the Barrow-Downs and instilled a strong sense of primal fear and disgust in everyone in their presence. When their powers were at their strongest, during the Siege of Gondor, they could weaken the resolve of even their most stalwart opponents by merely being in their vicinity. They are, however, not invulnerable, the Dúnedain blood of Aragorn gave him a natural immunity against their aura of dread, for example. They could be slain and wounded like most creatures of Middle-Earth, the right weapon provided and held a strong aversion to running water. The books tip-toe around the question if they could be killed permanently as long as Sauron was around; Elrond swept them away by conjuring up a massive tidal flood from the river Bruinen, from which they recovered after some time, but the Witch-King was explicitly stated to have been killed permanently by Eówyn and Merry at the height of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. All but two of them were never named, which is where many apocryphal authors insert their own version of Nazgûl origin stories into their narratives.