The Lord Of The Rings' Legolas Problem

The Lord of the Rings will forever be one of the greatest film trilogies to ever hit the silver screen. Not counting The Hobbit movies, The Lord of the Rings changed the landscape of adapting classic novels to the big screen. Though one member of the Fellowship didn't quite live up to his novel counterpart. Legolas, played by Orlando Bloom, didn't really have a whole lot to do in The Lord of the Rings, besides killing some orcs and looking cool while doing it.

#lordoftherings #legolas #nerdstalgic

SOURCES:
CBR - Legolas' Fate Explained
Screen Rant - Legolas And Gimli's Friendship

[BBassistChrist]

I agree with many of the comments: Legolas doesn't need a character arc, -he's over a thousand years old and is a supporting character. Despite that, he does have heart-to-heart moments with other characters where he is often humble to confess personal error. The good trilogy definitely could have used some of his book humor to add character, however.

[nickgoodwin]

I think it's okay to have Legolas there just to help. He's incredibly old, wise and skilled. He doesn't need an arc. He's like Brad Pitt in the Ocean's movies; he's done stuff like this before, he's good at it, he's unimpressed and not talkative. He's mostly there to show that the elves care about this cause which adds gravity to the story.

tbh if he had a more significant arc it would have over-crowded the movie more than people think it already was. He's as important as the sword Sting and I think that's okay because they both serve valuable and memorable roles but not main characters.

[Ujio]

I disagree. I think you are nitpicking this to oblivion. Legolas, according to estimates was 1000 to 2000 years old when the events of LOTR happened. What kind of character development do you expect from someone who lived for so long? I say he is very much developed already. No Elf shows any character development in the trilogy. They are mostly ideal paragons of wisdom or skill and this is fine. Not all characters need to be flawed and change to be interesting.

[AFGuidesHD]

Aragorn: "For Frodo"
Legolas: "Who?"

[RoquenoLiraIluvatarva]

You can't just say "He's a boring character other than his relationship with Gimli". That's like saying Hamlet is a boring character aside from the whole revenge thing. Legolas' prejudice-to-friendship with Gimli is just as important as Aragorn's reluctant king arc or Merry and Pippin's arcs of bravery. Diversity is one of the core themes of LotR, that's what Fellowship is.

Legolas and Gimli are a microcosm of Elven and Dwarven society, their friendship represents the rekindling of ancient alliances that are outside the scope of what the audience is show. We have 4 hobbits to represent their society, we have Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, Théoden, Éowyn, and even Denethor to represent the relationships between various cultures of Men and how they see other races, but for elves we only get Galadriel in 1 scene (who is obviously very different from all other Elves), and Elrond in 2 scenes. There isn't that constant presence in the story like there is for the other races. And for Dwarves, it starts and finishes with Gimli.

Without Legolas, we'd have no idea how Elves perceive Dwarves for the vast majority of a story about how diverse Free Peoples have to learn to unite to defeat oppression.
Their friendship is just as important as Frodo's with Sam, or Gandalf's with Pippin, or Merry's with Éowyn.

[_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: Orlando Bloom landed the role of Legolas two days before he finished drama school.

[jakekeskeys]

The fact that Frodo might not even know Legolas’s name is so funny to me

[fransmith]

Not every character has to have a definitive character arc. Legalas has a minor character arc in the book to do with befriending Gimli - he realises that strong friendship can surpass race. That's the only character arc he needed to have. None of the elves have strong character arcs, and that was deliberate on Tolkien's part: the elve's time in Middle Earth was finishing - their time was finishing. Their arc was almost over. Had Tolkien put in strong character arcs for the elves, that would have belied that very important fact. Not every character has to have a character arc, sometimes the lack of an arc might actually be a deliberate feature, and you can usually find a reason for an author's choices, particularly an undisputed celebrated classic author such as Tolkein, if you look and think about it properly...

[HoboGaming]

I wish you would've touched on Legolas most emotional moment. Legolas shows real emotion when he witnesses Aragorn comforting a dying Boromir. He doesn't actually say a word but his face says everything.

[christinetracy]

I love Legolas. He is loyal, brave and funny. This video took me by surprise. I really enjoyed him in the movies. To each his own 😊

[Huhnrschrck]

No, Legolas is no main charakter. He is supporting, and for that he is like the silent friend, who is always there but doesnt take much attantion.

[biguy]

Legolas has excellent eye sight because he is an Elf. That is why he gives exposition in those scenes.

[tigizarts]

You will never have a higher number of people disagreeing with your take, than you will get with this video. Legolas was spectacular, he didn't need to do extra. Him being an elf was already loud enough, getting him to do more will take away from the rest. He is a typical example of "show us, dont tell us". And that was just enough for all of us to fall in love with the character

[IacomusPX]

One thing that is brought up far too often when discussing characters in movies/novels or whatever is their "character arc" or lack there of. Just wanted to say that having a character arc is not mandatory in order to have a good or interesting character. Some character might be the same at the end of the "journey" and still be awesome, because the nature of the story is different. Legolas is a supportive, secondary character, he doesn't inherently need a character arc, he just needs to fullfill his role in the story (basically, an elf representative in the Fellowship and the Three Hunters that is kinda fun and cool). He does that and it's fine. Is like saying that James Bond for example is a "bad character" or that his movies are bad because of the lack of development... Thing is, he doesn't need one, the movie is about a cool dude doing cool things, and we follow along in the journey. That's fine too. Same with Legolas here. I don't think that's a valid criticism. Same with all the different dwarves in the Hobbit; although I dislike the movies with a passion, they didn't have "character arc" or relationship with Bilbo, in the books or in the movies, because they don't really need it. They are kind of a joke to be honest (I think that this is said by Tolkien himself btw). Bunch of dwarves with funny names that are somewhat irrelevant to the story, that is about Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin.

[theendofit]

Its odd how everyone seems to forget that elves being lightfooted comes from the books and many of the crazy super hero/unrealistic things he does in both hobbit and lotr are examples of how light footed works. Hes able to walk up falling stones walk ontop of the blizard, surf ect all cause of that

[shouvik]

The main reason Legolas - and largely the elves seem so "bored" or almost "disinterested" in the happenings of LOTR and more - is their life span. Do remember, that besides being lightfooted, and skill full - they are literally Thousands of years old - even older than the wizards for example.

It is thus quite understandable that they have a solemn - almost detached, melancholic manner to how they perceive events and time, and they even age slower than the other ancient beings (like Ents)

As for Legolas's growth during the LOTR trilogy? He followed - clearly the least of the two beings the Elves had regard for at the time - Dwarves & Men.
Elrond literally says - "Men are weak", and "Dwarves are greedy, selfish" and yet Legolas - being a Prince of the Elves no less - chooses to follow them. With all the solemnity, "superpower" and everything - he puts his faith in them.

And Finally, Elves also possesses a rare gift - including Legolas - which explains their demeanor - which is: foresight. Legolas not only sees far but also possibilities in the future coming up - having lived thousands of years. Legolas's gift is his restraint, in all events, times, and places - and the rare times he does show emotion show how taken he is towards his Fellowship when they die or are lost. He's a watchful guardian, but probably the most mature amongst them in warfare for example.

Another way of interpreting it - as most of us did possibly during that time - is Legolas is a man of few words but heavy on action, and in that regard, I would say Peter Jackson knew exactly what he was doing with the character in the LOTR Trilogy.

[Dan-B]

Legolas was too busy stacking combos and making up 90% of the Fellowship’s kill count to have a personality

I think his role in the films was one of action more than dialogue, to embody the incredible incredible skill of the elves in the story; showing style and personality through that.
I personally feel that you see plenty of his playful character in his interactions with Gimli.

[zettkusanagi]

Only one other person asked for a strand of Galadriel's hair, the most powerful elf ever.. Feanor. and Galadriel refused. Gimli got it, and he got 3.

[landonweldy]

I think the whole 11 hours of runtime is unfair. Frodo is only with Legolas for half of one movie, and establishing his relationship with Gandalf and Aragorn and Boromir is simply more important. Legolas on the other hand, has business with Gimli. Legolas doesn't hve a problem in LOTR, he does in the hobbit, which is where you got your thumbnail from

[thallus]

Legolas was WAAAAYYY more grounded in LOTR than in the Hobbit 😂