As the series’ villain, it’s easy to mistake Sauron as the most powerful figure in The Lord of the Rings movies, but in reality, there are quite a few beings represented in the film that put him to shame. Sauron is a looming presence throughout the entire Lord of the Rings movie franchise, acting as the major evil force driving the Fellowship into action.

An enigmatic character as presented in the Peter Jackson movies, J.R.R. Tolkien’s works such as The Silmarillion go into further detail, explaining exactly who and what Sauron is. Sauron’s origins are complex to understand, especially considering that at first, his name wasn’t Sauron at all, but Mairon, according to the 17th issue of Parma Elderlamberon.

To understand Sauron’s origins, one must look to the Ainur race, the original peoples created by the all-powerful god of Tolkien’s universe, Eru Ilúvatar. Some of the Ainur, known as the Valar, descended to the planet of Arda containing Middle Earth to guide the development of the life growing there.

There were 14 of these named Valar who went on to nurture the nascent planet, with the sole defector being the profane Melkor, who became the first Dark Lord. Other, lesser Ainur known as the Maiar were used by the Valar as primordial spirits to help them in their task of rearing the world. Among them included Mairon and, later, Gandalf.

Mairon was once a close ᴀssistant and colleague of the Vala Aulë, one of the most renowned and respected Valar responsible for creating the world. But after untold centuries of devotion to her, he joined the evil Melkor, now known as Morgoth, becoming the Dark Lord Sauron once and for all.

There’s An Entire Order Of Beings Stronger Than Sauron

Not To Mention A Mysterious Spider-God

Like their creators, the Maiar are essentially the gods of the Tolkien mythos, existing in entirely spiritual bodies by default, but able to inhabit physical forms that they could gradually become trapped in as they enjoyed them. However, they are ultimately subservient to and weaker than the Valar, who operate on a whole other level of power in the Tolkien cosmic hierarchy.

While Sauron’s shape-shifting ability, magical knowledge, and physical prowess are impressive, the Valar simply outpace him and all other Maiar in terms of sheer divine might. The Maiar could be considered angels to the Valar’s archangels, with Eru himself acting as “God” in the classical sense.

Sauron isn’t even Morgoth’s most powerful ally, with the dark spider spirit Ungoliant forming out of the vile essence swirling around the early creation of Arda, possibly more ancient and eldritch than Melkor himself. Ungoliant’s origins are unclear, but considering she was almost able to kill Morgoth, it’s safe to say Sauron wouldn’t have been stronger than her either.

Are The Characters More Powerful Than Sauron In The Lord Of The Rings Itself?

Who Does And Doesn’t Appear In The Movies Is A Different Story

The mythos of the earlier years in Tolkien’s Second Age may ensure that Sauron is nowhere close to the strongest being in the franchise, but the actual The Lord of the Rings movie timeline seems to tell a different story. However, even here, the presence of yet more powerful characters does echo.

First and foremost, Eru himself is responsible for bringing Gandalf back as Gandalf the White, meaning that Eru’s presence technically is a part of the movies. The Valar are also occasionally represented by proxies, such as the eagles Gandalf is fond of summoning, which represent Manwë, the King of the Valar.

Finally, even Ungoliant’s descendant Shelob may have some claim of being more powerful than Sauron, possibly proven by the fact that Sauron never makes any great effort to keep her from occsionally devouring the wayward Orcs manning the border of her territory. Of course, that doesn’t stop the arrogant Sauron from viewing Shelob as his pet.

Is LOTR’s Tom Bombadil Stronger Than Sauron?

Tom Bombadil Is A Bizarre Outlier Than Might Surpᴀss The Dark Lord

Another fascinating outlier in the grand cosmic pantheon of power in the Tolkien mythos is the mysterious Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil appears in The Rings of Power, not technically a movie but nevertheless a live-action adaptation of Tolkien’s works worth discussing.

Though Tom appears to be a jolly, gnome-looking Hobbit by looks and personality, in reality, he is an ancient and puzzling enтιтy, implied to be the oldest living inhabitant of Middle-earth, preceding even the Valar. He’s undoubtedly exceedingly powerful, able to playfully resist the effects of the One Ring without breaking a sweat.

However, Gandalf is unsure as to whether Tom Bombadil could withstand a siege laid by Sauron “unless such power is in the earth itself“, implying that Bombadil’s powers only extend as far as the natural domain of Middle-earth can supply. Sauron has proven himself to be able to master such things before, and Bombadil’s lackadaisical atтιтude might prevent him from ever surpᴀssing Sauron in practice.

Sauron is certainly worthy of his venerated status as main villain of the Tolkien movies and TV shows, but at the end of the day, he isn’t the most feared being in the fantasy universe for his power. Between clear-cut superiors like the Valar and Eru and strange outliers like Ungoliant and Tom Bombadil, The Lord of the Rings has plenty more powerful characters.