The Protagonist of the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy
Who is the real hero/protagonist in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien?
Although J.R.R. Tolkien did not expressly identify a protagonist for his trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, I do believe a character towers over everyone else in the book and can be said to be the overarching protagonist. Read on to know I am referring to whom.
According to Merriam-Webster, the protagonist is one who is the “the principal character in a literary work (such as a drama or story)” or “the leading actor or principal character in a television show, movie, book, etc.” Of course, this is a loose definition, for we can identify more than one such character in many of the literary masterpieces.
From the dictionary definitions, the protagonist is the “principal character, leading actor, and main character in a play.” In fact, we posit the word against “antagonist” and propose that the “pro” in “protagonist” means “in favor of”; however, “prot” is a Greek word meaning “first.”
The protagonist struggles for something and the antagonist struggles against something, both driven by a central conflict. However, these are loose definitions. Also, note that a protagonist or an antagonist is not always a must — some works may not have a protagonist and others an antagonist and some both. This entirely depends on the nature of work, its audience, and its purpose. Hence, the traditional equation of a protagonist vs an antagonist is not always a given.
Sometimes, the roles do get reversed — the antagonist becomes the protagonist in the sense of a “principal character” or a “leading actor” and there may not be an actual protagonist, or you might have a series of significant actors who play significant roles that influence the story line but none so overarching as the antagonist.
Such a character should not be confused with “antihero,” which stands for, according to Merriam-Webster, “a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities.” What I am referring to here is an antagonist with the qualities of a hero or protagonist. An antihero is a main character of a book but does not act like a typical hero but acts villainous. If you will, an antihero is a mix of hero and a villain. They are villainous but heroic, they are destructive but are significant in the book, they do anti-heroic things, but they have heroic qualities. All these make the antihero or heroic antagonist a complex character and for that reason he/she is popular, interesting, impressive, and from whom we can learn something. You can think of such a character as a great hero but with inherent flaws that makes him/her irredeemable. Think about Joker from the Batman franchise!
Coming back to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, think about a character who
Initiates the first struggle and continues to struggle until the end
Is ambitious and has grand plans
Schemes and plots against all his enemies
Is powerful, inspiring, courageous, bold, and inventive
Commands a horde of armies, soldiers, characters, animals, and birds
Is the master of grand castles, brave generals, and ingenious wizards
Is the central character around whom the entire trilogy is centered
Influences all the events in the trilogy
Influences the motives and actions of all the characters
Is unmatched in grandeur and pomp
Strikes mortal fear in all his enemies
And he does all this without even making an appearance in the story line (except for a teeny-weeny bit).
So, the unquestionable, chief antagonist, even if flawed, of the Lord of the Rings is none other than the Dark Lord Sauron — the main antagonist, a necromancer, and the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth.
And that is why J.R.R. Tolkien called the trilogy by his very name, The Lord of the Rings.
-Originally published in Quora
