The Lord of the Rings is not the world’s most famous high fantasy story for no good reason, bringing more dangerous monsters than one can shake a staff at to literature and cinema since 1954. English high fantasy pioneer J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings and had it published in three parts between 1954 and 1955. This inspired Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy, adapting a part of the novel per movie. Thankfully, most of Tolkien’s most dangerous monsters actually made it into the movies, given they presented a huge opportunity to inspire awe on-screen.

From The Lord of the Rings’ Orcs to Benedict Cumberbatch’s terrifyingly voiced Smaug, the beasts of Middle-earth were often a match for the Fellowship. While the Orcs or Uruk-hai of Sauron and Saruman sometimes fell like dominoes in the presence of the Fellowship of the Ring, they also incurred some major damage. Meanwhile, demonic monsters far larger had unique abilities that could sometimes see vast swathes of land destroyed in a heartbeat. The most dangerous monsters of The Lord of the Rings were forces to be reckoned with on land, air, and water.

10

Trolls

Strong But Stupid

Trolls may be stupid, but they are certainly strong, and could be the death of an unsuspecting human or Hobbit without much effort. J.R.R. Tolkien’s trolls were popularized in The Hobbit movies, released between 2012 and 2014, adapting the 1937 children’s book by Tolkien. Although the movies came under fire for their deviations from the book, the troll scenes faithfully depicted the threat these lumbering monsters presented.

The troll scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey were easily some of The Hobbit trilogy’s best scenes. These giant creatures are strong enough to squash an Elf, Hobbit, Man, or Dwarf underfoot, although an Elf or Dwarf may be able to put up more of a fight. However, trolls don’t quite have the intellect to render them an enemy dangerous enough to take on the Eldar or Gondor’s finest.

9

Wargs

Orc Steeds And Vicious Canines

Wargs are often forgotten as one of Middle-earth’s most dangerous types of canines, which only ever works to the detriment of the unsuspecting Elves or Men forgetting. Peter Jackson presented the Warg encounter of Thorin and Company in The Hobbit with relative faithfulness, depicting these giant wolves and their alarming level of intelligence. Perhaps more intelligent than Trolls, the Wargs nearly got the best of the Dwarf company.

The Great Eagles saved the day in The Hobbit, but also, Wargs’ wit and strength in numbers empowers Orcs to do their foul deeds. Both Sauron and Saruman had Orcs or Uruk-hai doing their bidding. At least in Peter Jackson’s version of Lord of the Rings (not so much Tolkien’s), Orcs from Isengard rode on Warg-back to ᴀssault the Fellowship. This standout scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie shows Wargs at their terrifying best.

8

Barrow-wights

ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Skeletons

Barrow-wights nearly put an end to the Hobbits in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novel. If it wasn’t for The Lord of the Rings’ Tom Bombadil saving the day, perhaps there would be no Ring-bearer to carry the One Ring to Mordor. These unᴅᴇᴀᴅ spirits animated bones in the grave of the Last Prince of Cardolan, resulting in beings with a unique dark magic. Inflicting cold and confusion on their victims as they went in for the kill, Barrow-wights shining eyes gave them away in the darkness.

Barrow-wights were sadly left unadapted in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Amazon Prime Video’s The Rings of Power season 2 brought them to screens. Although nothing to do with Tolkien’s story, these Barrow-wights were hauntingly portrayed and communicated the danger they posed. Rings of Power’s Barrow-wights were sent packing by Galadriel and her team of well-trained Elves, but Barrow-wights had a major advantage over less magical species.

7

Watcher In The Water

Giant Sea Beast

The Watcher in the Water lurked near Moria in The Lord of the Rings, catching unsuspecting victims and dragging them into the deep. Frodo’s encounter with the creature could have easily been the end of his journey. The Watcher’s appearance was a highlight of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie, atmospherically appearing to cause chaos outside the Doors of Durin.

This tentacled sea creature didn’t show the ability to talk, but seemed to be hunting for prey. It could have picked on Frodo due to the influence of Lord of the Rings’ One Ring, implying a possible evil leaning. The Watcher could also be related to the nameless things described by Gandalf when he returned from death after his fight with the Balrog. These mysterious subterranean creatures seemed more brawn than brain, a bit like the Watcher.

6

Fell Beasts

Nazgûl Steeds

The Ringwraiths wouldn’t get far without their Fell Beasts, terrifyingly transporting them across land in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King. These dark creatures weren’t described in too much detail by Tolkien, but Peter Jackson visualized them amazingly for his movies, playing into a rubbery texture for their naked hide. Whether they were engineered in dark halls or creatures from an older time, as the legendarium implied, they certainly got a dark job done.

Ferrying the Ringwraiths around, these creatures mᴀssively facilitated their actions. Much like Wargs made it far quicker for Orcs to get around, the Fell Beasts, or “hell-hawks,” allowed the Nazgûl to get around as the crow flies, rather than having to take their horses down roads. Also, they allowed the Ringwraiths to spy their enemies from afar, letting them inflict their dark magic from above. Appearing in the Third Age, these creatures helped Sauron greatly in the War of the Ring.

5

Orcs

Corrupted Elves

Orcs were among the most dangerous creatures in Middle-earth based on sheer numbers alone. Although they appeared to vary in intellect and strength, they were generally vicious and reasonably fearless. These warriors couldn’t match Elvish or human royalty, without the training to bring them up to par, but they could easily swarm villages and towns of civilians and cause injury and death on a huge scale.

Uruk-hai were another breed of Orc, engineered by Saruman to be bigger, stronger, and more dangerous. These Orcs came into play in The Two Towers with brute force, a match for their opponents, who were some of Lord of the Rings’ strongest armies. Importantly, Sauron could control swathes of Orcs with his mind, making them drones doing his bidding with no will of their own.

4

Shelob

Giant Spider

Shelob will go down in history as one of Hollywood’s freakiest moments. Inspiring Aragog in Harry Potter and countless other giant spiders in fantasy, Shelob put the horror of tiny arachnids into high definition, scaled up. The insect world is innately terrifying, with some spiders able to carry 50 times their body weight. In line with real spiders, Shelob had super strength, but this was the least of her victims’ worries.

Shelob could spin web around her victims and paralyze them with poison until they were ready to be eaten by her or her brood. More than just powerful, Shelob appeared powerfully amoral. Whether or not she was particularly conversational is unknown, but she had the mental faculties of any functioning free person of Middle-earth, having formed a deal with Gollum. Sauron occasionally sent Shelob Orcs to torture, demonstrating her lack of scruples.

3

Nazgûl

The Nine Ringwraiths

The Nine Ringwraiths of The Lord of the Rings must be one of the scariest monsters of cinema and literature, faceless demons with poisoned blades and nightmare howls. The Ringwraiths influenced creatives for generations – without them, there would be no dementors in Harry Potter. The Witch-king of Angmar and Khamûl the Easterling were the only two named Ringwraiths, but news of them was not good news for the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.

The Witch-king of Angmar not only led the charge for Sauron in many ways in the War of the Ring, including in the hunt for the Ring, but also sabotaged the Realms of Gondor and Arnor. By luring Eärnur into single combat, the Witch-king of Angmar saw to it that the Gondor royal line mysteriously vanished. The H๏τ-headed Eärnur was never seen again, leading to the Ruling Stewards of Gondor taking over, destabilizing Middle-earth, and paving the way for Sauron’s return. Mentally and physically lethal, the Ringwraiths were also leaders of Men in their time as mortals, so dangerously positioned to turn their followers towards Sauron.

2

Balrogs

Giant Creatures With Flaming Whips

Whether or not they have wings (the eternal Tolkien fandom debate), Balrogs are undeniably among Morgoth’s most powerful followers in The Lord of the Rings. If even Gandalf couldn’t defeat a Balrog without the destruction of his body, and Gandalf is an immortal Wizard, it should be clear how evenly matched these foes were. The Balrog is actually the same species as Gandalf, one of the Maiar order of the Ainur race.

Blessed with eternal life, the Balrogs were tied to their form through evil deeds. But they were tied to a dangerous body with the power to wield fire in multiple formats, including at the end of their flaming whip. Morgoth’s Balrog lieutenant Gothmog claimed more than the life of just one Wizard, boasting kills ranging from Fingon to Fëanor, two of the most powerful Elves of The Lord of the Rings.

1

Dragons

Reptilian Monsters With Special Powers

Although Balrogs may seem like the bigger threat, dragons have more skills overall, and are more dangerous in general. Smaug alone should be enough to say that, able to decimate Esgaroth with a single breath. Fire-breathing dragons were probably the greatest threat of the dragon world, with cold-drakes also in existence. Smaug was not just fire-breathing, but flying, negating the need for any Fell Beast steed.

This huge power granted control from the skies, something the Balrogs may or may not have had. And yet, the most dangerous dragon in the legendarium may have lacked wings. Although he never appeared in the movies due to living in the First Age, Glaurung bewitched two humans from important, powerful families into committing suicide after a painful decades-long psychological campaign against them. He also overtook the Realm of Nargothrond, invading and ousting the Elves. Dragons could be as cunning as Wizards in The Lord of the Rings, without the need to veil their power like the Istari.