The Lord Of The Rings: Ranking Every Major Villain From Worst To Best

J.R.R. Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy. His in-depth world and extensive roster of characters helped to bring fantasy to the mainstream and inspire generations of writers.

Whilst the majority of Tolkien’s villains lack nuance when compared with the current frontrunners of the fantasy genre (such as George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire), the antagonists in The Lord of the Rings certainly weren’t bland.

With Peter Jackson at the helm, the movie adaptations of The Lord of the Rings lifted these villains from the page to the screen with plenty of respect for the source material.

Indeed, the Black Riders set the tone for the quality of villainy throughout the trilogy. From the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring to the closing stages of The Return of the King, Jackson’s version of Middle-earth was teeming with frightening antagonists.

Given the stellar costume designs, many of the villains retain their aura of fear almost two decades later, and even those who were constructed using CGI have aged relatively well.

As such, even the less powerful villains are hard to forget in a hurry…

Gríma Wormtongue – who served as a spy for Saruman whilst masquerading as King Théoden’s advisor – certainly wasn’t an awful character, he just felt a bit too much like a pantomime villain.

First introduced in The Two Towers, Gríma was an oily, snake-like character who was clearly a villain despite his position alongside Théoden. His attempts to win the affection of Éowyn were particularly unsettling, as was the unhinged and slightly twisted nature of his movements and dialogue.

As creepy as Brad Dourif’s performance was, Gríma was not a very effective antagonist. Whilst he did manage to temporarily keep his true loyalty hidden, the moment Gandalf turned up he was cast aside almost at once.

In fact, the most interesting aspect of Gríma occurred in the extended edition of The Return of the King. Following the Ents' assault on Isengard, Gríma then betrayed his master by stabbing him in the back on the pinnacle of Orthanc.

However, aside from this scene, Gríma was a rather unremarkable villain.