The Lord of the Rings: 5 Reasons Legolas Is an Underrated Character (& 5 Why He's Overrated)
While Legolas is not the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings and in some ways is more of a minor character, he's very popular. But is overrated?
While Legolas is not the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings and in some ways is more of a minor character, he was definitely a fan favorite. Fans over many decades have fallen in love and been very interested in the elves from Middle-Earth, and when the movies brought Legolas to the big screen, many fans were fascinated.
However, while Legolas is definitely an exciting character with many character strengths, there are some ways that he’s overrated by fans and others where he’s underrated.
10 Overrated: He was largely loved for his good looks
Loving characters for being attractive is not a new thing, and there’s nothing really wrong with it. Most famous actors and actresses are considered beautiful, and it’s understandable many fans thought Legolas was handsome.
However, the character didn’t really get that much actual character development in the movies, so sometimes he lacked a personality.
9 Underrated: He’s basically a prince
The movies don’t really touch much on Legolas' background, although The Hobbit films do go more into this but in a way that isn’t accurate to the books.
The fact is, however, that Legolas is a prince of sorts as his father is King of Mirkwood. Legolas has a rather interesting lineage with a grandfather who fought in the battle against Sauron, and none of this is really talked about much amongst fans.
8 Overrated: The amazing tricks he did were too far fetched
One thing that many fans loved about Legolas was seeing his grace, skill, and acrobatics as an elf. While elves do have many abilities that humans do not, the films, especially in The Hobbit, took things way too far at times.
These amazing feats might have been interesting to watch, but they often went into the land of superhero abilities as opposed to accurate to the books.
7 Underrated: Because he had a good sense of humor
While Gimli often gets presented as the comedic relief, and Merry and Pippin are also quite funny, Legolas isn’t viewed as a funny character. While he might not be one to bring the outright laughs, he does have a quick wit.
This is apparent when he jokes about getting Gilmi a box to stand on and in the hilarious games that he plays with Gimli to see who can finish off more orcs.
6 Overrated: The lines he said were often basic
In the books, Legolas also wasn’t much of a main character, and he didn’t get a lot of character development. So, it makes sense this was also the case in the movies.
However, because of this, the fact is that Legolas didn’t have a lot of great lines, and he didn't ever give any inspiring speeches like many of the other characters. He was often just used to point out obvious things such as that orcs were around.
5 Underrated: He cared more about Middle-Earth than most elves
While the movies do a good job of telling the story, there are a lot of things about the history of Middle-Earth and the various races that didn’t get explored due to time. It’s made pretty clear even in the movies that elves are giving up on Middle-Earth, but the reality is that their fates were tied to the Ring.
This means they didn’t really have much of a duty to help Middle-Earth anymore. However, despite this, Legolas wanted to do his part to help Frodo and destroy the Ring.
4 Overrated: He wasn’t that important of a member of the Fellowship
Legolas often gets a lot of hype and attention in The Lord of the Rings fandom, and this makes sense given that elves are just really interesting. However, with how much attention he gets, it’s easy to think he’s important to the plot.
Overall, however, Legolas is a more minor character who is in a more symbolic role as the representative of the elves in the Fellowship.
3 Underrated: He was an extremely loyal friend
While Legolas might not get a lot of attention or character development, he was shown to have some great character traits.
One of the most obvious that doesn't often get acknowledge was how loyal he was to his friends. Just like other members of the Fellowship, Legolas was willing to do whatever it took to help the others, and he especially was devoted to Aragorn and eventually Gimli.
2 Overrated: While an elf, Aragorn was a better tracker than him
Considering that Legolas is nearly 3,000 years old during the events of the series and that Aragorn is only 87, the fact that Aragorn is just as good, and often better, at things like tracking is a bit odd.
This is mostly the fault of the filmmakers and even Tolkien himself for making Aragorn too overpowered in comparison to other much more experienced beings like Legolas.
1 Underrated: His friendship with Gimli
Probably the most interesting and multifaceted thing about Legolas is his friendship with Gimli. This friendship has a lot of significance given the history of the elves and dwarves in Middle-Earth, and this odd pair is also just really endearing.
The fact that these two basically spent the rest of their lives off and on as companions doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.