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This Villain was Headlined on April 2017.

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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being terminated blocked. You cannot make said Removal Proposal without permission from an admin first.
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Villain Overview

Alas, for the weakness of the great! For a mighty king is Gil-galad, and wise in all lore is Master Elrond, and yet they will not aid me in my labours. Can it be that they do not desire to see other lands become as blissful as their own? But wherefore should Middle-earth remain for ever desolate and dark, whereas the Elves could make it as fair as Eressëa, nay even as Valinor? And since you have not returned thither, as you might, I perceive that you love this Middle-earth, as do I. Is it not then our task to labour together for its enrichment, and for the raising of all the Elven-kindreds that wander here untaught to the height of that power and knowledge which those have who are beyond the Sea?
~ Sauron, as Annatar, to the Elves.

Mairon, better known as Sauron after his betrayal of the Valar, is the main antagonist of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium.

Once the greatest smith in service to Aulë, he joined with the first Dark Lord Morgoth during the First Age, becoming his first lieutenant. During the Second Age, Sauron became the second Dark Lord of Middle-earth who resided in Mordor and created the One Ring; which he lost upon his defeat to Isildur.

During the Third Age, his goal was to reclaim the One Ring and rule over all of Arda in darkness, but the Ring's destruction would ultimately be his downfall. He was also the archenemy of Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor; the Hobbit Frodo, the Ring Bearer; and Gandalf the Grey (later White).

Etymology[]

Sauron was called numerous titles:

  • Sauron (In Quenya; A corruption of Mairon meaning "Foul")
  • Gorthaur the Cruel (in Sindarin; Gor meaning horror or dread, thaur meaning "abominable" or "abhorrent"

Appearance[]

First Age and most of the Second Age[]

Sauron existed even before the beginning of time itself as an Ainur spirit, created by Eru Ilúvatar. Like all of his kind, he had the ability to shapeshift and existed without any physical form for quite some time.

In The Silmarillion, Sauron is described as being a capable shapeshifter, taking forms such as a serpent, a vampire, and a great wolf. After Morgoth was defeated, Sauron appeared in a beautiful form as "Annatar", the Lord of Gifts, and maintained this appearance until the Fall of Númenor, when he was condemned to assume the form of a monstrous dark knight as punishment for his crimes.

In addition to his physical appearance, Sauron also apparently had an aura of malevolence. A passage in The Silmarillion describes him as having a "dreadful presence", and daunting eyes. Furthermore, his mere presence could bend all but the strongest wills.

End of the Second Age and the Third Age[]

BrothersHTheDark

Sauron on his dark throne.

Despite being the title character of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron is notable in that he never directly appears during the events of the novel. Nowhere is any detailed description given of what he looks like, other than in vague terms.

A few clues are given as to Sauron's appearance as the Dark Lord after he lost his ability to take a pleasing form: Tolkien described Sauron in one of his letters as having the form of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic, and as an image of malice and hatred made visible. He apparently gave off great heat, to the point that the Elf king Gil-Galad was burned to death by his mere touch of him, and Isildur described Sauron's hand as black, yet burning like fire, suggesting that his entire body was blackened from fire and heat.

Gollum (having apparently seen Sauron directly) described him as having only four fingers on his black hand, suggesting that Sauron was unable to regenerate the finger from which Isildur took the One Ring, similar to how the wounds Morgoth suffered at the hands of Fingolfin never healed.

Personality[]

In my story, Sauron represents as near an approach to the wholly evil will as is possible. He had gone the way of all tyrants: beginning well, at least on the level that while desiring to order all things according to his own wisdom he still at first considered the (economic) well-being of other inhabitants of the Earth. But he went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination, being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit. Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants, by a triple treachery:

1. Because of his admiration of Strength, he had become a follower of Morgoth and fell with him down into the depths of evil, becoming his chief agent in Middle Earth.
2. When Morgoth was defeated by the Valar finally he forsook his allegiance; but out of fear only; he did not present himself to the Valar or sue for pardon, and remained in Middle Earth.
3. When he found how greatly his knowledge was admired by all other rational creatures and how easy it was to influence them, his pride became boundless.

By the end of the Second Age he assumed the position of Morgoth's representative. By the end of the Third Age (though actually much weaker than before) he claimed to be Morgoth returned. If he had been victorious he would have demanded divine honour from all rational creatures and absolute temporal power over the whole world.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien regarding Sauron's personality in his letters.

Sauron was once a wise Maia who valued order but was corrupted by Morgoth and became his first lieutenant wishing to assist Morgoth in order to create the world he saw fit. However, after Morgoth was banished, Sauron merely wanted power and domination, becoming utterly malicious and cruel just like Morgoth. While he wasn't as powerful as his master, he was more successful.

During his time in Middle-earth, Sauron proved himself to be merciless, extremely wrathful and aggressive, and happy to slaughter as many as he wished. He had the will to dominate Arda itself, despising free will and wanting all life to be his slaves. He was so unsympathetic for human life that he wanted to kill the women and children of Minas Tirith, alongside the entire city's population. Those who he didn't want to kill were nothing but slaves who carried out his bidding without question, such as the Nazgûl and his Orc armies.

He was a master of deception, taking advantage of the greed and corruptibility of others, such as the Nazgûl whom he corrupted with the Rings of Power. Sauron despised the Free Men who refused to join him most out of all races, waging war against the free kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, wishing to destroy the world of Men. In addition to this, he feared Isildur's heir, Aragorn, knowing that he would become King of Gondor. He was also a sworn enemy of the Elves, with his presence alone in the Second and Third Age, leading many of them to leave Middle-earth out of fear of him. He also wanted to destroy the Shire and enslave the entire race of the Hobbits, solely out of spite.

Sauron was cruel and sadistic, committing acts of cruelty such as tormenting the Hobbit Pippin Took while they communicated each other via the palantír; telling a man his wife was already dead after lying she wasn't and then killing him to "reunite" them; and ordering the Mouth of Sauron to mock the Fellowship about Frodo being tortured in order to break their spirits.

Powers and Abilities[]

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
~ The Poem of the One Ring.

While the extent, nature, and specifics of Sauron's power are largely left to the imagination, there are some things that are known. Much like how his master was seen as the most powerful of the Valar, Sauron was often regarded as the most powerful of the Maiar. Even in a weakened state in the Third Age, he was still easily the most powerful character in the story, surpassing the likes of other powerful Maiar such as Gandalf the White, Saruman, and Durin's Bane. He is even said to be mightier in power than Eonwe, Manwe's personal banner-man (although Eonwe is a far greater combatant who could defeat Sauron should they fight).

Powers[]

  • Necromancy: Sauron was able to deceive the Númenóreans and steer them directly to their own destruction under promises of eternal life. Such destruction is a testament to Sauron's manipulative nature and ability to twist the perceptions of his enemies.
  • Pyrokinesis: Sauron also seemed primarily linked to the use of fire, and as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, his ability to tap into the fires in the earth was of great value. Like his master Morgoth, he was capable of altering the physical substance of the world around him by a mere effort of will. He could control the elements in the weather surrounding his domain and will the volcano of Mount Doom to do the same.
  • Craftsmanship: Originally of Aulë's people, he acquired great "scientific" knowledge of the world's substances and how to use them. As a craftsman and smith, his skills were second only to Aulë himself. He would retain this knowledge throughout his tenure as the Dark Lord in Middle-earth, using it to forge the One Ring and construct his fortress of Barad-dûr. Sauron was literally instructing the Elves to make artifacts that while capable of great good, were ultimately purposed for his own domination and were imbued with the power to arrest the natural order of the world. The Elves were unaware of who they were dealing with until the eleventh hour, and only narrowly escaped his trap.
  • Immortality: As one of the Ainur, Mairon/Sauron was functionally immortal; failing that, seemingly very long-lived having existed with and without a physical form for the better part of several thousand years, Sauron was created before the physical realm of Arda and Middle-earth was established thus his age is unquantifiable. Assuming a consecutive lifespan, he is at least 56,000 years old.
  • Vast Physical Strength: Sauron was very physically strong with the One Ring on, able to kill multiple soldiers in a single hit. In The Bestiary under the section "Wolfhounds", it is said Huan "took the greatest of the Maiar by the throat", referring to his fight with Sauron. However, in the section Maiar, it says "the mightiest of the Maiar is Eönwë."

Abilities[]

  • Shapeshifting: Among Sauron's chief abilities were shape-shifting. While all Ainur possessed the power to change their physical form, Sauron took this ability to its highest degree, becoming arguably the most skilled in this ability. It was his mastery of this power that allowed him to easily engage in deception, manipulation and disguise: In the First Age Sauron took on many forms. His battle against Luthien and Huan in The Silmarillion has him taking on no less than four separate shapes: his "normal" shape, presumed to be that of some kind of terrible dark sorcerer, a great wolf, a serpent, and finally a vampire "dripping blood from his throat upon the trees" ("Of Beren and Lúthien", The Silmarillion). At the end of the First Age, Sauron took on a fair form to appeal to the Captain of the Hosts of the Valar and ask for pardon. In the Second Age, Sauron took up that fair form again and used it under the alias "Annatar" to deceive the Elves into creating the Rings of Power. However, after the destruction of Numenor by Eru, Sauron forever lost the ability to assume a pleasing form.
  • Combat: Sauron was a skilled warrior, able to defeat both the Noldor and Gondorian king. Despite his skills, he is a strategist first and foremost, and only relies on combat as a last resort.
  • Intelligence: Alongside the One Ring, Sauron's greatest and deadliest weapon was not his innate power, but his mind. Sauron is infamous for his intelligence, quite possibly the most intelligent character in the whole legendarium, He was highly skilled in politics, a genius in warfare, and a master manipulator.
    • Manipulation: The level of deception required to fool the Elves of Eregion must have gone beyond simply taking on a fair form. An interesting dichotomy is set up between his deceptive nature and his symbol. While rarely appearing personally and deceiving all but the wariest, he represented himself as an all-seeing eye that could pierce all disguises. Sauron himself had the ability to disguise by changing shape and taking a fair form. But after the Fall of Númenor he was incapable of taking physical form for many years, and then later became a horrific Dark Lord. After losing the Ring it took even longer for him to regain physical form, although by the War of the Ring he had regained it.

Weaknesses[]

John Howe - The One Ring 03

The One Ring to Rule Them All, an extension of Sauron's will.

  • The One Ring: While the One Ring was Sauron's most powerful super weapon, it was also his greatest weakness. Having invested the majority of the energies and will of his personal being into his ring (in order to exert maximum influence over the other rings he created) the destruction of the ring led to the disillusion of his form. While the ring was for all intents and purposes indestructible by conventional means; it could be destroyed by its means of creation.
  • Arrogance: Another weakness that led to his downfall was his arrogance, as he poured much of his power into the One Ring with the idea his plan with the rings would succeed; that he did not think he would lose the Ring and thus his source of power. Furthermore, he was so spiteful of his defeat by Isildur that he sent all his forces against Aragorn's army, which ultimately allowed the Ring to be destroyed by Frodo Baggins. It also led to his defeat by the magical hound Huan at the Isle of Werewolves.
  • Lack of Morality: As a being of pure evil, Sauron had abandoned all sense of right and wrong long ago. He did not value concepts or judge ideas as good or evil, instead judging things by power. In his mind, everyone was power hungry and greedy, so it never occurred to him once that his enemies would destroy the One Ring, and this also lead to his defeat.

Other Media[]

Animated Films[]

Main article: Sauron (Animated Films)

Middle-earth (film series)[]

Main article: Sauron (Peter Jackson)

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power[]

Main article: Sauron (The Rings of Power)

Family Guy[]

Sauron appeared in an episode as the Eye of Sauron, having lost his contact lens.

One Ring to Rule them All[]

Sauron is the main character of Legendary Frog's parody series of flash videos, One Ring to Rule them All. He is portrayed as extremely stupid and often says “The One Ring… TO RULE THEM ALL!”

In the first video, he hires Wayne the goblin as his evil henchman, receives some evil pizza he ordered, and hears from Wayne that the union of orcs is on strike. The second video follows the plot of Frodo and Sam going to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, but Sauron stupidly attempts to lower them into the fires of Mount Doom with the ring, oblivious to the fact that the ring will be destroyed, and it eventually is during the battle with Gollum, who spits the ring into the lava, but Sauron and Wayne survive. In the third video, Sauron receives a visit from his old master (or college roommate) Melkor, who steals his spices and seasonings for Legolas, who ironically is hired by Sauron to steal Wayne's girlfriend, a hippie elf chick, back from him.

Gravity Falls[]

The Eye of Sauron has a cameo appearance in this series.

A Study In Fear[]

Atmos insults Sauron and similar villains, as they are the cause of him being overworked to study the secretly dark and macabre in film. Sauron sends down the Hand of Sauron, a basic minion of darkness, to threaten him with a wooden sword. After Atmos apologizes, Sauron knocks him unconscious and takes over his body.

Marvel Comics[]

X-Men villain Sauron was named after the titular Lord of the Rings.

Military[]

Bases[]

Barad-dûr[]

Sauron's main stronghold was Barad-dûr, a dark tower far to the east of Middle-earth.

Sauron's Commanders[]

Allies and Armies[]

Quotes[]

Said by Sauron[]

Whom do ye serve, Light or Mirk?
Who is the maker of mightiest work?
Who is the king of earthly kings,
the greatest giver of gold and rings?
~ Sauron, on himself, to Finrod's company.
I hear now that thou wouldst barter with me. What is thy price?
~ Sauron interrogating a man named Gorlim and asking him what his price is.
That is a small price for so great a treachery. So shall it surely be. Say on!
~ Sauron after discovering Gorlim's price.
Nonetheless I will grant thy prayer, and thou shalt go to Eilinel, and be set free of my service.
~ Sauron before putting Gorlim cruelly to death.
It is not for you, Saruman! I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!
~ Sauron speaking through Pippin.
So you have come back? Why have you neglected to report for so long? Who are you?
~ Sauron to Pippin, initially mistaking him for Saruman when Pippin is looking at him through the Palantír.
Wait a moment! We shall meet again soon. Tell Saruman that this dainty is not for him. I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!
~ Sauron mistaking Pippin for the ringbearer and telling him to send a message to Saruman.

Pertaining to Sauron[]

Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful power, master of shadows and of phantoms, foul in wisdom, cruel in strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled, lord of werewolves; his dominion was torment.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien on Sauron during the First Age in The Silmarillion.
Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into that One Ring; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien on Sauron forging the One Ring in The Silmarillion.
Upon that ship which was cast highest and stood dry upon a hill there was a man, but greater than any even of the race of Numenor in stature… And it seemed to men that Sauron was great; though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien about how the Númenóreans saw Sauron in The History of Middle-earth.
But Sauron was not of mortal flesh, and though he was robbed now of that shape in which he had wrought so great an evil, so that he could never again appear fair to the eyes of Men, yet his spirit arose out of the deep and passed as a shadow and a black wind over the sea, and came back to Middle-earth and to Mordor that was his home. There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr, and dwelt there, dark and silent, until he wrought himself a new guise, an image of malice and hatred made visible; and the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien describing Sauron after the Downfall of Númenor in The Silmarillion.

Reception[]

Sauron is often ranked as one of the greatest and most iconic villains of all time. He was ranked as #12 on Wizard's "Top 100 Greatest Villains" list. Complex ranked Sauron as #37 on their "50 Best Villains in Movie History" list, saying "Without him, there'd be no long-### trek to a get rid of a piece of jewelry." The Telegraph ranked Sauron as #25 on their "50 greatest villains in literature" list. Shortlist listed Sauron as one of the "40 Greatest Villains Of Literature". IGN ranked Sauron as #22 on their "Top 100 Villains" list. MTV ranked Sauron as #31 on their "Top 50 Villains Of All Time" list. Stylist ranked him as one of the "Top 30 Villains in Literature". WatchMojo ranked him as the #1 greatest fantasy movie villain.

Trivia[]

  • Sauron can be considered an evil counterpart to Frodo Baggins, as both have nine fingers due to them losing a finger, both were wielders of the One Ring, and both were important figures in the history of Middle-earth. In fact, Frodo even briefly gave in to the Ring's corruption before Gollum took it for himself and died alongside it. However, Frodo was a humble fellow while Sauron was motivated by pride, a trait that ultimately led to Sauron's own downfall, as it caused him to be unable to fathom that someone was even willing to destroy the Ring. This is especially ironic because Sauron thought very lowly of Hobbits, as well as the rest of life itself.
  • He shares the distinction of being one of the few characters or creatures to have been drawn by Tolkien, which he shares with Bilbo Baggins (on a picture at the end of the Hobbit novel), Smaug, Gandalf (in the same drawing as the three trolls), the three trolls in the Hobbit (Bert, Tom, and William), Old Man Willow and a Fellbeast.
  • Despite being the main antagonist and having the novel named after him, Sauron never directly appears in the novel, yet his presence is always felt by the characters throughout the entire story. His insignia, the Eye of Sauron, is seen by Frodo twice, and when he is defeated, a shadow of him is seen by the Army of the West before it is blown away.
  • Sauron has made an appearance in the popular vs. web series Death Battle!, where he fought Arthas Menethil as the Lich King and won.

External Links[]

Navigation[]

           Middle earth sbg-1-1024x257 Villains

Ainur
Dark Lords
Morgoth | Sauron

Balrogs
Gothmog | Durin's Bane | Tar-Goroth

Others
Saruman

Men
Nazgûl
Witch-king of Angmar | Khamûl

Black Númenóreans
Mouth of Sauron | Queen Beruthiel | Agandaur | Black Hand of Sauron | Hammer of Sauron | Tower of Sauron

Others
Alfrid Lickspittle | Master of Laketown | Gríma Wormtongue | Bill Ferny | Ar-Pharazôn | Lheu Brenin | Hwaldar | Easterlings (Balcoth) | Corsairs of Umbar | Dunlendings | Haradrim | Karsh | Hill-men of Rhudaur

Elves
Orcs
Azog | Torturer of Dol Guldur | Bolg | Fimbul the Hunter | Lagdush | Brogg the Twin | Mogg the Other Twin | Gimub the Slaver | Yazneg | Morgash | Grishnákh | Gothmog | Guritz | Slugat | Luga | Gorbag | Rogash | Morun | Snaga | Narzug | Gartor | Sharku | Radluk | Gordmúl | Zog the Eternal | Gazmog | Grublik the Flogger | Goroth Caragor Tamer | The Blacksmith | Dark Tribe | Outlaw Tribe | Feral Tribe | Slaughter Tribe | Machine Tribe

Goblins
Gorkil the Goblin King | Great Goblin

Others
Fëanor | Celegorm | Caranthir | Curufin | Maeglin | Celebrimbor

Hobbits
Gollum | Lotho Sackville-Baggins | Ted Sandyman

Dragons
Smaug | Ancalagon | Scatha | Drogoth the Dragon Lord | Glaurung

Great Spiders
Shelob | Ungoliant

Werewolves
Carcharoth | Shade of the Wolf

Uruk-hai
Uglúk | Lurtz | Shagrat | Hodhvarz | Mauhúr | Dhar | Morflak | Mog | Daskila | Grimbosh | Mauhúr (Uruk Scout) | Vrasku | Talons of the Black Hand

Trolls
Olog-hai (Brûz the Chopper)

Others
Barrow Wights | Fellbeasts | Gûlavhar | Mountain Giants | Old Man Willow | Watcher in the Water | Wargs | Wyrms

Alternate Continuities
Peter Jackson
Sauron | Saruman | Smaug | Azog | Morgomir | Helm Hammerhand | Suladân | Isildur | Nazgûl Sisters | Rogash | Denethor

The Rings of Power
Morgoth | Sauron | Adar

Animated Films
Sauron | Witch-king of Angmar

Rankin/Bass
Smaug | Lord of the Lash

Ralph Bakshi
Saruman

Gene Deitch
Slag

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