Which Middle Earth heroine was the best written character?

[krycek]

Something I've been wondering since I love the Middle Earth films, but feel Game of Thrones has spoiled the heroines a bit for me. So in terms of character and relevence to the story, who would you say was the best one?

For me its definitely Eowyn. Especially in the Extended Editions, she is by far the most fleshed out and never feels "tacked on" like the others do. I loved her desire to do more than just sit on the sidelines and the build up for that payed off when she finally goes to battle. She was pretty hardcore! Plus she had plenty of great moments with the other characters. I think it helped a lot having her interact with a variety of different characters instead of just 2-3 since we got to see a lot more of her personality. Its a shame they didn't do more with the Houses of Healing even in the Extended Edition to give her proper closure, but the final scene with Theoden did its job well.

Its hard to rank the others after her. Arwen is basically just the token love interest with about 7 minutes of screentime in a 3-3.5 hour movie - most of which involves close ups of her crying endless slow motion tears.

Galadriel is little more than a walking exposition device. The worst example is perhaps her only scene in the middle of The Two Towers where she gave Elrond a "Previously on LOTR..." recap as if it were the opening of a TV show. Her only two scenes of relevence in all six movies are really banishing Sauron and being tempted by the ring - both of which are somewhat spoiled when she transforms into a silly demonic CGI drag queen.

Tauriel had absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the movie. Her role ultimately comes down to her and Legolas being attracted to each other, Thranduil forbidding them being together so she rebounds to a guy that makes a dick joke and spends the rest of the trilogy chasing after him faster than Smaug after gold. They try to give her some depth by rebeling against Thranduil's anti-isolation policy, but it all falls flat on its face when it ends up being purely motivated by her desire to chase Kili.

Not that I dislike any of them - they still have their moments, but are too detatched from the storyline for my liking and aren't as compelling as many of the other characters in the films. It will be interesting to hear everyone else's thoughts on the matter.

[Coenskubrick]

Eowyn is kind of a prototypical feminist "strong female character", who shows all those backwards men that women can fight and be badass heroes, but damn she's a good one. I'd say she has the strongest character of any women in LOTR.

[BaerGriggs]

I understand that the scene with Galadriel in Battle of Five Armies does seem a bit strange considering it didn't actually occur in the book as such (although Sauron was banished around the same time). However, the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Galadriel transforms is one of the most important in the film/book. It shows that even one of the wisest and most powerful being on the side of the Fellowship could be tempted by the power of the Ring in short.

It isn't really possible in my opinion to fully flesh out the character of Galadriel on film but in the books I think she is one of the most interesting characters in the saga and in my opinion she's the best written female character.

[Infernal King]

Those movies were such sausage fests

[JavaJulien]

Honestly I'd say Eowyn by default.

[Todd Tomorrow]

There is no best, only a least awful.

[MechaGodzilla]

I voted for Eowyn, I think she's the most interesting of the bunch and gets the coolest moment (I am no man!).

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Those movies were such sausage fests

I thought you were a fan of sausage.

Seriously though, yeah there's a pretty small number of women compared to men. The funny thing is there's a much larger female presence in the movies than the books. Arwen gets a much expanded role, same goes for Galadriel (she doesn't appear in The Hobbit novel but is in the movies) and Tauriel doesn't even exist in the books.

[Falaskan]

Eowyn easily. My ranking:

Eowyn
Galadriel
Arwen
Tauriel

Tauriel is a turd. But then the entire Hobbit Trilogy is a turd, compared to the LORT trilogy. Galadriel is awesome. If they made a movie just about her fighting Sauron, I'd be there, day one. Arwen is alright. She's a nice sweet elf, and I get she has a lot of history with Aragorn, but Eoywn was my favorite from day one. She's classy and beautiful and not a hussy (except when she wants to get it on with Aragorn ). And can hold her own. But that's not the main reason why I like her. I just think she's the best woman out of those four. I was always wishing Aragorn would dump Arwen for her. lol

[Al_The_Strange]

I like Galadriel a lot. Even though she doesn't have as much screen-time as the others, I do believe her scene in TFOTR shows a strong amount of character, and it ties in to the main story pretty well. I like how her character is almost ethereal in nature, providing a kind of spirit-like support to Frodo in ROTK and Gandalf in The Hobbit. Much of this may be more Cate Blanchett's acting than the writing, but the character's few scenes do have some great lines and are fairly insightful.

I'm not quite as enamored with Eowyn as everybody else, but I can't deny she's a well-written character. The things that make her a strong character will be the (largely implied) infatuation with Aragorn, her devotion to her brother and father, and her strength (physically and in spirit). They're all admirable traits and she has a strong motivation, which is the core of good characterization. My only complaint is that I always felt she was a lacking in personality.

Arwen is a very straightforward love interest. She has a few strong parts, a few good lines, and that one scene in TTT where Elrond talks to her about immortality is quite evoking. Other than that though, her role in the whole thing seems pretty minor. I think Live Tyler's acting does the character more justice than the actual script.

I like Tauriel as a kick-ass character with charm and personality, but that's pretty much all there is to her. The love triangle between her, Killin, and Legolas never felt fully fleshed-out or fully realized in any way; I think she was meant to show growth of some kind by experiencing the death of a loved one, but the catharsis was never fully articulated or realized. We never even really know what happens to her after the battle. I don't think she's a terrible character; shallow, perhaps, but I like her anyway.

Between the four, I think it's a tough choice between Galadriel and Eowyn. Given that this is about "best written" and not "favorites," I'll vote for Eowyn.

[Ray_Rogers]

I'm biased towards Galadriel. Not only is she one of the oldest Elves and beings on Arda/Middle-Earth (She's older than The First Age) but I'm also quite fond of Cate Blanchett. Main reason why I voted for her.