Which Lord of the Rings Character Are You?

The The Lord of the Rings cast, sorted

The Lord of the Rings is a book about what people do when they are offered power, and most of its cast fails the test in some small way. The Ring is the same temptation for everyone, but it speaks in a different voice to each. It tells Boromir he could save his city. It tells Galadriel she could be loved and feared. It offers Sam a garden the size of a country. The quiz asks which voice you would hear, and what you would do about it.

The first fault line is size. Tolkien keeps returning to the idea that great deeds are done by the small and the overlooked, and the cast is split along it. On one side are the people built for history: Aragorn, Gandalf, Galadriel, Boromir. On the other are four hobbits who would rather be at home. The book's surprise is that the second group does most of the work, and that the first group knows it.

The second is memory. Galadriel and Legolas remember ages; Gimli carries the weight of a lost kingdom; Aragorn lives in a long line of failed kings. Frodo and Sam have a few years of small-town life behind them. Each one handles time differently, and so does the quiz. Some of these people look back and some look ahead, and the distinction matters more than courage does.

Fans argue most about Boromir. He is the one who tries to take the Ring, and for decades readers have written him off as the weak link. A closer look shows a man who loves a besieged country and who dies protecting two people he barely knows. Nobody else in the Fellowship is so clearly punished for caring too much, and nobody else is so openly forgiven. He is a more honest picture of duty than most of the heroes.

Then there is friendship. Merry and Pippin follow Frodo because they will not be left behind. Sam follows because he cannot imagine doing otherwise. Legolas and Gimli begin as inherited enemies and end as the closest pair in the book. The Fellowship breaks, but the friendships do not. Answer as you would on a long road with company you did not choose, and the quiz will find the person you resemble. It is not asking who you admire. It is asking who you would be when the road gets hard, the light fails and someone nearby needs a decision from you.

All 10 possible results

Frodo The Ringbearer

You take on the job nobody else can do, and you carry it more quietly than anyone realizes.

Sam The Steady Friend

You do not need to be the hero, and you will not let the hero go on alone.

Gandalf The Wanderer

You see the whole board and move early, and you rarely explain until it is too late to argue.

Aragorn The Ranger

You have waited a long time to be the person your name says you are, and you will not rush it.

Legolas The Far-Sighted

You see further than most and you are quicker than all of them, and you are learning to stay for the slow.

Gimli The Loyal Axe

You are proud, direct and slow to trust, and then you are loyal for life.

Merry The Planner

You do the quiet planning, show up when it counts and are braver than anyone expected.

Pippin The Heedless Heart

You act first and learn on the way, and what you learn makes you wiser than you look.

Boromir The Defender

You love your people fiercely, and you cannot stand to watch a weapon go unused.

Galadriel The Seer

You see what people carry and what an offer will cost, including the offers made to you.

How this quiz scores you

Each answer gives points to one to three characters, based on how they act and choose in the novel. At the end the points are added up, and the character with the highest total is your result. Your later answers break any tie.

Spoilers: Discusses the fate of the Ring and several deaths, including one of the Fellowship. Read the book first if you want to be surprised.

Sources

• The Lord of the Rings, The Tolkien Estate

An unofficial fan quiz. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of The Lord of the Rings.