The Lord of the Rings Online/Characters

The Lord of the Rings Online expands on the books it is based on with material supplementing the books' main story and drawing from background lore. Detailed here are characters made for the purpose of the game or minor characters from the lore that are given much more detail in LOTRO. This will contain spoilers.

Amdir

 * Brainwashed and Crazy: The wound inflicted by the Nazgul's Morgul blade turns him into a wraith, resulting in him getting progressively sicker and paler over time, becoming a transparent, pale maniac out to murder his fellow Rangers (starting with his brother Toradan), and finally a robed servant of the Eye.
 * Fate Worse Than Death: You end it for him soon.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: His stand against the Nazgul to protect the Hobbits in Archet. However, he does not merely die then.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: If your character is a Hobbit or of the Race of Men, he and Aragorn (who at this point in the storyline is known as Strider) play a large role in the game's intro. He does not last long.
 * Tragic Monster: At the end of Chapter 1, Amdir becomes one of the red-robed Cargûl, and you have to kill him.
 * Transformation Sequence: He completes his transformation into a wraith before your eyes just before your final encounter with him.

Candaith

 * Call Back: When summoned to the Grey Company, he gives a small speech about how he will miss the lands that he call home, but that he will go nonetheless. This speech makes a return during a cutscene that plays after his death.
 * Killed Off for Real: During Epic Volume 3, Book 3, he is killed by the Oathbreaker shades after their leader sees through his deception.
 * King Incognito: Inverted, the Rangers of the Grey Company each carry an imitation of the Ring of Barahir, heirloom of Aragorn's line, to confuse enemies if one of them is captured. The ruse fails Candaith when he tries to convince the leader of a host of Oathbreakers that he is Aragorn.
 * The Storyteller/Mr. Exposition: He tells the player a lot about the backstory of the Dúnedain, and how it relates to what happens in the game.

Golodir

 * Dead Little Sister: Saw his daughter Lorniel die before his eyes as she and the player were trying to free him from captivity.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He is not happy that his freedom was paid for with his daughter's life, and is angry at the player for allowing her to be a part of the rescue. He does get over his anger when given a chance for revenge, however.

Halbarad

 * Doomed by Canon: Halbarad will die during the battle of the Pelennor Fields, but at this point in the story he's still alive and well.
 * Narrator: Narrates many of the cutscenes and storyline-instances on the road towards Rohan, though he shares the role with a few other characters.

Lothrandir
"Lothrandir: I am Lothrandir of the Dúnedain. I have walked among the frozen wastes and the fiery south-lands. I do not fear this place."
 * Badass Boast: And a gutsy one, at that. With the Grey Company betrayed by Dunlendings, the player character and Lothrandir are taken to Isengard as prisoners. The long (off-screen) journey leaves Lothrandir in great pain, yet, he still manages to pull one of these off, before defiantly running straight into Isengard itself.

Mundol

 * Dying Message: Sends you to find Renolind after being mortally wounded by Amdir.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Is one of several Rangers murdered by Amdir during the Race of Man prologue missions.

Renolind

 * Dying Message: Just before dying, sends you to find Strider at the Prancing Pony in Bree.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Is one of several Rangers murdered by Amdir during the Race of Man prologue missions.

Toradan

 * Sacrificial Lamb: Is the first victim of Amdir when he goes Brainwashed and Crazy.

Mordirith
"Laerdan: I remember when you were called Eärnur and were the Witch-king's most hated foe.
 * Big Bad: During the Angmar storyline. Interestingly, he is not seen that often, and is even absent for more than half of the storyline, allowing Mordrambor and Amarthiel to get most of the screentime.
 * The Faceless: Like the Nazgûl.
 * Foreshadowing: There's a few hints thrown out during the storyline foreshadowing the eventual reveal that Mordirith is Eärnur, last king of Gondor. For example, a shield found in Angmar is noted by one of the characters as being highly unusual, being from Gondor; It is by the players believed to have belonged to Eärnur. Another example is a seemingly throw-away line by Mordirith just before his first defeat, after being called by his title "False King"; "I am more justly a king than he who sits before my throne," referring to the Witch-King. As was later revealed, there's actually some truth to that claim.
 * I Hate Past Me:

Mordirith: Silence! That name means nothing to me!"


 * I Have Many Names: Mordirith, The False King, The Steward of Angmar.
 * The Reveal: Mordirith is Eärnur, the last king of Gondor, who rode to Minas Morgul at the Witch-King's challenge and was never seen thereafter, turned into a wraith and placed in charge of Angmar.
 * Tragic Villain: Eärnur was the Witch-King's nemesis before being turned into a wraith and made into his Steward.
 * Unexplained Recovery: After his first defeat, his spirit was forced to return to Mordor to take shape (similar to what happens to the Nazgûl after being destroyed at the Ford of Bruinen) before he could come back. His second defeat is permanent.
 * Was Once a Man: His past is the same as that of the Nazgûl, being a mortal man turned into a wraith (though weaker than the Nazgûl) in Sauron's service.

Mordrambor

 * Black Magic
 * Compelling Voice
 * The Dragon: To Mordirith. Also to Amarthiel, but plots to overthrow her.
 * Evilly Affable
 * Flaming Sword
 * I Surrender, Suckers
 * Playing with Fire

Amarthiel/Narmeleth

 * Fallen Hero: Narmeleth was an elf-maiden of Lindon, who after being swayed by Sauron in his guise as Annatar, ended up being possessed by the spirit of Amarthiel and taken into the service of Mordirith.
 * Redemption Equals Death: After shaking of the guise of Amarthiel, she leads an assault against Angmar and Mordirith. She kills Mordirith herself, only to die seconds later.
 * The Shapeshifter: Amarthiel. She has a tendency to take on the shape of innocent-looking old women.
 * Split Personality Takeover: Seeing her father die is enough to make Narmeleth shake off the spirit of Amarthiel.
 * The Starscream: When Mordirith is first defeated, Amarthiel takes the opportunity to take control of Angmar. When Mordirith returns, she does not bow down, instead fighting him for control.

The Blackwolds
Bree-land ruffians and brigands that fall under the sway of Angmar early in the Race of Man storyline.


 * Anti-Villain: Type I. They're decidedly nowhere near as evil as the rest of the villains. Most of them are just Bree-landers that fell in with a bad crowd.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: They are broken and scattered thanks to their partnership with Angmar.

Calder Cob
A guard of Archet who Captain Brackenbrook believes has been loyal to him and Archet since he was a boy. But Calder's true allegiance lies with the Blackwolds, and he leads a deadly assault with the Blackwolds upon Archet and murders Captain Brackenbrook, the leader of the village, before being taken down.


 * Starter Villain: Calder Cob is your final enemy in the Intro scenario for Hobbits and Men.
 * Treacherous Advisor: To Captain Brackenbrook.
 * Treacherous Quest-Giver: Your quest for him ends with you being ambushed by a Blackwold Wolfmaster who Calder tipped off.

William Skunkwood
Skunkwood is the leader of the Blackwolds in Archet Dale, and the one who made the deal with Angmar.


 * The Beast Master: Skunkwood regularly employs wolfhounds in his fighting in addition to his men.

The Dourhands
A clan of Dwarves from Ered Luin that trace their descent to the evil Dwarf-lord Skorgrím Dourhand. With Skorgrím resurrected by Ivar the Bloodhand, the Dourhands have fallen to evil. They have joined forces with the goblins, their ancestral foes, and are attempting to start a war between the Elves and the Dwarves of Ered Luin.


 * Enemy Mine: The Dourhands have joined up with the goblins, normally the ancestral foes of the Dwarven race, in their service of Skorgrím and Angmar.
 * War for Fun and Profit: The Dourhands kidnap the elven prince Avorthal in the hopes of starting a war between the Elves and the Dwarves of Ered Luin.

Gormr Doursmith
Gormr is the steward appointed by Thorin Oakenshield before he left to take part in the events of The Hobbit. The discovery of the body of Skorgrím, the fallen king of his people, in the Silver Deep Mine has triggered a desire in Gormr to restore the lost glory of the Dourhands. But joining with an evil Gaunt-lord of Angmar will cost him dearly...


 * Regent for Life: Gormr was supposed to rule Thorin's Hall until Thorin returned, but since Thorin's death, Gormr and his clan have taken over rule of the fabled hall.
 * Starter Villain: Bringing down Gormr and restoring Longbeard rule to Thorin's Hall is your first objective as an Elf or a Dwarf.
 * Tragic Dream: Gormr's goal was to serve his fallen king again and reclaim the lost glory of the Dourhand clan. Instead, Gormr was betrayed by Ivar and his clan fell to evil.

Skorgrím Dourhand
The evil ancestor of the Dourhand clan, Skorgrím sought to become immortal, and sought the relics of the Elves in order to carry out this dream. He met his end in the Battle of Edhelion, when Talagan Silvertongue, an elven warrior, sacrificed himself to bring down the library upon him. Now Skorgrím has been resurrected by the evil Gaunt-lord Ivar the Bloodhand and he and his clan are now servants of Angmar.


 * Immortality Immorality: Skorgrím's quest for immortality brought him and his clan into war with the Elves and ultimately led to his fall.
 * Reforged Into a Minion: Skorgrím was resurrected by Ivar the Bloodhand and has become a servant of Angmar.

The Gaunt-Lords
Powerful and dangerous necromancers made in mockery of the Five Wizards. They hold power over Fear/Death, Wounds/War, Poison/Pestilence, Disease/Plague, and Purest Evil.


 * Evil Knockoff: Of the Five Wizards. Ivar is this to Radagast, Gortheron to Gandalf, and the other three have counterparts in Saruman and the Blue Wizards (which of these three is the counterpart to which is not revealed).
 * Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The lesser four are based on the War, Famine, Pestilence and Death version.
 * Killed Off for Real: This is your goal during the In Their Absence instances and quest line, by killing all five of them in succession.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Thadur the Ravager, Drugoth the Death-monger, Ivar the Blood-hand, Ferndur the Virulent, and Gortheron the Doom-Caller.
 * The Necromancer: Aside from the Horsemen of the Apocalypse theme, this is their thing. The Witch-King of Angmar is a famous necromancer, but the Gaunt-Lords and their underlings seem to be responsible for maintaining his wights. This is Drugoth's specialty.
 * Our Liches Are Different: They are technically not liches, as they were never mortal, but they certainly fit the role.
 * Only Mostly Dead: The lesser four are defeated one after the other in quests that occur prior chronologically to the In Their Absence story, by which Gortheron has resurrected them all.

Drugoth

 * Demonic Possession: The Gaunt-Lords are evil spirits in physical form, and in the fight against Drugoth in the Misty Mountains, he does this to the carcass of Thorog, the dragon that killed Durin V.
 * Evil Is Deathly Cold: The two locations he is fought in are both in cold places, and he in his final fight he uses his powers over frost and blizzards.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: The aforementioned possession of Thorog's corpse.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Seems to suffer one in between his defeat at Helegrod and his re-appearance during "In Their Absence". He's described by a quest giver as being so insane he makes his already dead troops fight each other.

Ferndur

 * Bad Boss: As demonstrated by the mercenaries he brings to the Lost Temple, it is unwise to work for a plague-mongering necromancer who can just reanimate your corpse when you succumb to the disease.
 * Mystical Plague: He is the Gaunt-Lord of Pestilence, and this is his plan for Eriador before the player's fellowship puts an end to him.
 * No Mouth: He's missing his lower jaw.
 * Plaguemaster

Ivar

 * Blood Is Squicker in Water: Due to the corruption Ivar has brought to Agamaur, the water and plants are tainted red.
 * Reforged Into a Minion: Does this to the evil Dwarf-lord Skorgrím Dourhand in the finale of the intro scenario for Elves and Dwarves.
 * The Starscream: His monologue before you fight him the second time implies this.
 * Took a Level In Badass: When first killed, he appears in an instance meant for three level 32 characters. In In Their Absence, he is the penultimate boss in a level 65 12-person raid.
 * Upgrade Artifact: His helmet.

Thadur

 * Butt Monkey: Some players find him this. He's always the easiest to kill of the Gaunt-lords.
 * Evil Plan: He wants to launch a poisonous attack on the Shire. He needs time to prepare his poison. How does he keep the heroes busy? By trapping some Hobbits with poisonous pies of course!
 * Fantastic Racism: He hates Hobbits.
 * Master Poisoner: In In Their Absence.

Gortheron

 * Evil Gloating: Big fan of it.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: The other Gaunt-lords have raspy voices, Gortheron has a deliciously evil-sounding deeper version of it.
 * I Know What You Fear: Type 3: "Can you defeat that which smote your wizard? Can you stand against Durin's Bane?"
 * Master of Illusion: The Fear Wing of Ost Dunhoth is all an advanced illusion.
 * The Reveal/: At the end of the players battle against him, . Complete with This Cannot Be!
 * Title Drop: The title of the storyline ("In Their Absence") is dropped when Gortheron relays the fate of the five Wizards. Interestingly, it was initially believed that the title referred to the absence of the Rangers of the North, who at that point had just left Eriador behind.
 * Would You Like To Hear How They Abandoned You: At the end of the players battle against him, he says that with the five Wizards being absent (two having gone into the East, Radagast caring only for nature, Saruman having turned evil, and Gandalf (at the time believed to be) dead), the dark powers of Mordor will triumph..

Mazog

 * Multiple Choice Past: He is described as the both the son of Azog, and the son of Bolg (two orcs that appeared in Tolkien's writings), throughout the storyline.
 * Older Than They Look: Though it is hard to tell how old an orc really looks, assuming he is the son of Azog, he is at least 220 years old.
 * Prisoner Exchange: He is taken to Dol Guldur as a prisoner to be exchanged for the dwarf Bori (and some other dwarves who were also taken captive). The exchange does not go as planned.

Gorothûl

 * Black Magic: He's a sorcerer of Dol Guldur.
 * Flat Character: Especially when compared to the earlier villains of the Angmar storyline, who were very fleshed out. He only appears three times throughout the entire storyline and isn't given any sort of backstory or characterization, apart from being described as a servant of Sauron.
 * The Man Behind the Man: The true Big Bad of the Moria storyline, being the one behind the orc-chieftain Mazog.

Durin the Sixth
"Durin VI: Nafni, protect my son! He must rule in Khazad-dûm now!"
 * Ascended Extra
 * An Axe to Grind
 * Badass Beard: In proper dwarven fashion, tucked into his belt.
 * Dying Moment of Awesome: Goes up against the Balrog that would end up being the doom of Moria.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: He appears to be fully aware that the Balrog is beyond him, but fights it so that his son can escape and become King.


 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: He doesn't send his guard to fight the Balrog to give himself a chance to survive; He fights the Balrog himself.

Nár

 * Ascended Extra: Had a small role in canon when it came to the death of King Thrór and the start of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * More Than Meets the Eye: Though at first glance, it might seem like he's just saying random things, much of what he says are actually references to things he experienced that happened hundreds of years ago, that those familiar with Tolkien's writings might recognize. Basically, he believes he is still in that timeframe, even mistaking the player for old friends of his.
 * Talkative Loon
 * The Reveal: He has been fed information from Saruman, unaware that he has gone evil.
 * Wham! Line: During a brief moment of sanity, he reveals that he knows of the Grey Company's plans to pass through the Paths of the Dead.

Théodred, prince of Rohan
"Théodred: Grimbold estimates that each one of us is worth at least twenty uruks, but he is from Grimslade, and the men of that place are not known for their mastery of numbers."
 * Ascended Extra: His role in the books was a minor one, used as a means to characterize Théoden more than anything. In the game, he is given a much more expanded role, and it is easier to relate to his death after fighting alongside him.
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Deadpan Snarker

"Théodred: Cynstan... where is...
 * Doomed by Canon: Players familiar with Tolkien's work knew that he was bound to die as soon as they met him. Finally happens when he, and the player character, takes part in the First Battle of the Fords of Isen.
 * Last Request: As part of his dying speech, he asks to be left at the Fords of Isen, to be buried there to ever guard it, rather than to be taken to Edoras and buried.
 * Never Say "Die": Averted. He does not want the death of his squire to be sugar-coated for him.

Grimbold: You need your rest, my Prince. We will speak of Cynstan another time...

Théodred: Grimbold... I am not... a child...

Grimbold: Cynstan fell defending you from the Orcs, my Prince. He was very brave."


 * Reasonable Authority Figure: After all the aid you lend him and his riders, he does not hesitate for a moment when it comes to aiding you in the rescue of the Rangers imprisoned by the Dunlendings of Tûr Morva.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Warrior Prince
 * What the Hell, Hero?: When meeting him for the first time, he isn't entirely happy about the player character having spent time helping the Dunlendings, old enemies of Rohan. Gets over it rather quick, though.

Elfhelm

 * Ascended Extra
 * Badass Mustache
 * Big Damn Heroes: Just as things seems to have turned for the worst, Elfhelm arrives with a company of riders to turn the tide of the battle.
 * Horseback Heroism: Strikes down the Uruk who gave Théodred his mortal wound (though off-screen).
 * The Cavalry: He leads the cavalry that arrives for the First Battle of the Fords of Isen.

Grimbold

 * Doomed by Canon: Grimbold will die at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Nona

 * Cool Sword: Nona wields an ancient Rohirrim sword that her brother carried for awhile. The sword has some as-yet unexplained properties that helped drive off a Nazgul.
 * Dead Little Sister: The death of her brother Wadu drives Nona to call herself "Wadu's Ghost" and to prey on the turncoat Dunlendings responsible for his death