1. Aragorn
One of my favorite friends: I love this character - he is all man with an edge of vulnerability. He was the true hero, with the biggest character arc of anyone, in the Lord of the Rings. He started as a Ranger who rejected his past, his future, his destiny, and his elven soul mate. He wanders Middle Earth as a gypsy without a home or friends. By the end, he has claimed his destiny, overcome his fears, revealed compassion, grace and integrity, inspired loyalty, looked evil in the face, and fought to the end after he believed all hope was lost. Once he committed, he was all in. He emerged victorious, the King of Men, with Arwen - his true love - by his side. In this earlier version of this character, then, primed for The Hobbit, he would still be in the maverick Ranger stage, dashing and daring, a champion swordsman, willing to go to the defense of the weak. And he's one of the few men who genuinely looks good with a beard!
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