10 Dumbest Decisions By Lord Of The Rings Characters

The characters in Lord of the Rings were brave, loyal and strong, but at times, very dumb.

The Lord of the Rings
New Line Cinema

The saga of The War of the Ring is a profoundly impactful piece of fantasy media. The Lord of the Rings - written by J.R.R. Tolkien - took popular culture by storm and completely invented a new mythology that would become the blueprint for similar fantasy products in the future.

To take this even further, the ambitious movie adaptation from Peter Jackson revolutionised cinema. It proved that fantasy had a place in the medium, creating a sense of scale that had never been matched before and establishing many new VFX techniques that would become integral to the future of filmmaking.

With all the prestige, critical praise and reputation behind the saga, it's often amusing to think of some of the series' weirdest leaps of logic. Saving the world is no easy feat, especially when it falls into the hands of Hobbits. This led to many awful decisions being made by the leading characters, proving that heroes can make some pretty big mistakes at times.

A few honourable mentions before starting include Bilbo Baggins using The Ring at his birthday party, Legolas not shooting the Orc carrying the flame during the Battle of Helm's Deep in the head and Saruman tearing down the forest surrounding Isengard.

10. Pippin Looks At The Palantir

The Lord of the Rings
New Line Cinema

Curiosity killed the cat, or more accurately to this situation, curiosity caused havoc to the Hobbit. This isn't the only appearance that Peregrin Took will be making on this list, as little Pippin was notorious for generating plenty of mayhem thanks to his overly eager curiosity and lack of impulse control.

After discovering the seeing-stone after the collapse of Isengard, Pippin was enamoured with the pretty object. His desire to gaze upon it was taken too far after he snuck up to Gandalf in his sleep, took it and was subsequently put into direct contact with Sauron, who tortured him for information.

This segment would rank far higher on the list if it weren't for the fact that it accidentally assisted the heroes, as by gazing into the Palantir, Pippin was able to catch an eye into Sauron's plan to attack Minas Tirith, and thus Gondor was able to prepare.

However, while it did work out for Pippin in the end, this could have royally destroyed humanity's resistance to Sauron and revealed the whereabouts of The One Ring. Thankfully, Pippin stayed strong under the duress of The Dark Lord of Mordor, but if he hadn't, the final film might have ended a lot quicker.

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Michael is my name, overanalysing comedy is my game! Anime, wrestling, TV, movies and video games all live in my head rent free!