When you think of The Lord of The Rings, you probably think about Frodo, Aragorn, Gandolf, and Legolas. Those are the good guys; they are the men that saved Middle-Earth. However, none of this could be possible without Smeagol. He is the quintessential, unfortunate, and layered villain. In no way is he innocent, but he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was swept up in a power that made even stronger men give in. Smeagol was powerless against its penchant to cause obsession and greed at all cost. Much like Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, Smeagol can be seen as a friend or foe. His actions inadvertently lead to the book’s climactic conclusion.
There are times when you want to take pity on the guy, and then there are times when you see his rage and anger bubble above the surface. He is remorseful yet resentful, pitiful and also sturdy. He is a walking contradiction, and he has chosen to channel a lot of his rage and anger into a split personality known as Gollum. As we all know, the heroes are great to root for, but villains are excellent to analyze and dig into. Why did they choose the path they did? What drives them to be evil? Well, this post is dedicated to the controversial figure known as Smeagol. Here are 25 crazy things you probably never knew about this guy.
25 Old Money
So, you might have thought the ugly, pale, and pitiful create Smeagol came from some incredibly humble beginnings. You would be right to think so….I mean seriously…look at him. However, there is more to this unfortunate fellow than his current look. Gollum came from a wealthy family.
Was Smeagol a spoiled rich kid?
This guy was living it up on the Shire and had some money to play with in Middle-Earth. His great-grandmother was the matriarch of their tribe, so you could also kind of say he was royalty. Basically, Gollum had every reason not to go the path he did. He had everything he could want, but apparently, nothing was as good as his “precious.” Hmm, come to think of it, maybe his old clan spoiled him too much. Whatever happened, he was promptly kicked out of the tribe to lurk around on his own.
24 Mr. Burrow
There is not a whole lot known about Mr. Gollum’s former life before he turned into a subhuman monster. However, one this is for sure, this guy loved to dig and burrow. He also had a fondness for studying roots and finding things below ground. This activity could have been the reason he immediately went underground when he was banished from the Shire. Smeagol’s name actually means “burrowing” or “apt to creep into a hole.” His name describes his character as he used to dig under trees and mounds. Who knows, maybe Smeagol could have been a farmer in his own time; there were so many possibilities that were open to the complicated hobbit. Unfortunately, the ring came calling, and he grimly answered the call.
23 Legendary Inspiration
Older novels had a fondness for monsters and medieval times. A lot of authors were writing of idyllic countrysides and monsters lurking beneath the beauty. So it makes total sense that experts would draw comparisons between some of the most famous stories. Gollum shares a lot of traits with another scary but misunderstood monster. Many feel that Smeagol was inspired by Beowulf’s Grendel.
The best always learns from the best.
Both are feared by townsfolk, have insane bouts of strength, and live long tortuous lives. Grendel is also claimed to be descendent of Cain, a notable character with a famous bloodline. Tolkien’s fondness for the story of Beowulf has led more credence to the argument that Grendel was a direct inspiration for Smeagol. There is never anything new under the sun, and considering how epic LOTR turned out, we are happy he was inspired.
22 Whose Face?
A lot of groundbreaking advances in motion capture and CGI were made on the set of the LOTR films. Some things had never been done before, and some breakthroughs would impact movies that came after. During LOTR, animators did a lot of work on Smeagol, but the emotion award goes to Andy Serkis. He did not just do voice work and let the animators do the rest; he actually participated in the actual movements of Smeagol.
Andy Serkis put in overtime for this role!
Every time you see Smeagol move, jump, or interact with anyone in the films, this is actually Serkis with Smeagol’s design placed over him. As a result, most of the emotions and facial features of Smeagol actually belong to Serkis himself. Major kudos to this guy, as he had to spend hours in a tight motion capture suit with balls all over it.
21 No Easy Feat
The human body is a difficult thing to recreate. The intricacies of our faces, the nuances of our skin, and the way light bounces off our bodies to reveal muscle movement is something that even the most talented artist has a hard time capturing. As a result, bringing Gollum to life was no easy feat. Throughout the ten years, the character was portrayed on screen by Weta Digital, the company responsible for his design, had to work on making him realistic. By the time The Hobbit was released in 2012, they had figured out how to accurately convey muscle movement, joints, and fat slabs on Smeagol. The results are surprising, and they show how much dedication the company put into this character. However, we are a little horrified about how good it actually came out.
20 Divine Intervention
So, Tolkien pulled a J.K. Rowling on fans and had some extra knowledge about Smeagol and his role in the destruction of the ring. Great novels have complicated characters who can be seen as friend or foe. It lets people know the realism of human nature, and that sometimes people can be as good as they are evil. Smeagol is a perfect candidate for this characterization.
Some things are just supernatural.
While fans have always said the Gollum was really a hero since his destructive deeds ultimately led to the demise of the ring, Tolkien later stated that the Middle-Earth version of a god named Eru had a hand in Gollum’s last “accident.” While people can sometimes get the job done, Tolkien apparently felt that some divine intervention was necessary. – According to the Letters of JRR Tolkien.
19 Ribbit Ribbit!
Most Gen Xers and some older millennials probably remember the old school Hobbit cartoon. Many millennials who have come to know the LOTR probably forget that Smeagol used to be portrayed as a reptile-like creature that could be mistaken for a frog. This was entirely in opposition to Tolkien’s original description. Smeagol was meant to be a humanoid creature that had a resemblance to his old nature inside of him. Unfortunately, these animators missed the memo and had Smeagol looking like an extra from The Land Before Time. Eventually, animators figured it out and gave us the legendary Serkis portrayal of Smeagol. We could not be more grateful and horrified at the same time. We couldn’t imagine hearing that voice in the middle of the night.
18 Listen To The Experts
Even though Smeagol is a fictional character, that has not stopped psychological professionals from trying to analyze his mental state. Something is fascinating about the mind of a villain. Why do they do the things they do? What is their thought process like? What does this say about the author?
Smeagol definitely had a lot of material that experts could analyze.
Gollum’s mental state was such a hotbed issue that doctors from the peer-reviewed journal the BMJ took the time to examine Smeagol’s psychological state. The typical diagnosis was a schizoid personality disorder. What was interesting about the analysis was that the doctors used the ring as a reason for his turn to evil and other potential psychological issues. This franchise clearly has fans all over the world.
17 More Than Meets The Eye…
We had a feeling that Smeagol would have a little more going on than just one personality disorder. This guy was in isolation for what is probably hundreds of years. He also had to live with the remorse of eliminating his cousin over a ring. Therefore, it would make sense that Smeagol would create two personalities: one that was a shadow of his former self, and the other a resentful and rage-filled individual. The medical professionals concluded that Gollum and Smeagol are not just innocent parts of one person. They think Gollum may have multiple personality disorder since both beings seem to hold their own independent residence in his mind. He channels his anger at the ring and at his actions into the personality of Gollum.
16 He And Legolas Wouldn’t Get Along…
Who could hate Legolas? He has sweeping blonde hair, a gentle disposition with a pure heart of a warrior. Well, someone is not fond of this guy because Smeagol hates Elves. For some reason, their food burns his mouth which is why he is unable to eat Lembas bread. Most of the Elven materials have an adverse impact on his body, including an Elvish rope that was used to restrain him.
Frodo and Sam should have brought Legolas along from the beginning.
The reason for this is not totally explained, but could it possibly be that Elven materials are seen as pure which conflicts with Smeagol? Things would have turned out a lot differently if Legolas had been along for the journey to destroy the ring. Smeagol might not have made it halfway through the films.
15 A Different Smeagol
In comparison to the last two movies, Fellowship of the Ring is not as compelling. There is a lot of dialogue to build up the next two installments. Every trilogy needs an introductory chapter, and the first movie definitely was that for the series. However, the film did have a really cool moment that pointed to a central character that would take center stage in the rest of the movies. For a brief moment, Smeagol can be seen lurking behind rocks. He is peering at the group, calculating his next move to win back the ring. Something is a little different about this character in this film. In the Fellowship of the Ring, Smeagol actually had a different facial design that was not Serkis’. He had much darker skin and more sinister looking eyes when compared with later versions.
14 A Better Placement
A great director has to know when to tweak the sequence of the movie to improve the flow. Peter Jackson felt a pivotal scene that let audiences in on the origin of Smeagol fit better in another location of the films. The footage of Smeagol before he became Gollum in the Return of the King was initially supposed to happen in the Two Towers.
Regardless of where this scene is…it is still sad.
However, Jackson moved it to the last movie because he wanted people to bond with the character more before revealing his origin. This meant that Smeagol had to be redesigned to match Serkis’ face. This was the reason for the departure of the character’s look in Fellowship of the Ring. Knowing what Serkis did for the role, we think this was a great idea.
13 Ummm….This Is Not Normal
It is normal to wish that you could live forever. What would you do if you could? How would you go through life knowing that your days were unlimited? Now, what would you do if you had a long life, but you had to eat raw fish and live in a dark cave potentially surrounded by giant spiders? Well, we can’t always get everything that we want, can we? The effects of the ring caused Smeagol to live a lot longer than his hobbit counterparts. While his age is never stated initially, after doing some math of when he attained the ring and the events of The Hobbit, some feel he lived to be 600 years old. Long life can be cool, but we will pass if we have to shrink into a creature like Smeagol.
12 Coughing Up A Hairball
The world can thank cats for a lot of things: Lord Beerus, funny YouTube videos, Garfield, and some fascinating Egyptian history. However, we now have one more thing to thank the feline population for. One day, Andy Serkis, the voice behind Smeagol, was sitting at home and noticed his cat hacking up a hairball. Instead of sinking away in disgust or even wondering if the cat was alright, Serkis took note of the occurrence for his iconic role.
A disgusting version of method acting.
Andy Serkis got his guttural “Gollum” cough from watching his cat cough up a furball. He even acts out the development of the cough. While this is undoubtedly an unpleasant sound, it does bring even more realness to this horrifying creature. So, cats…thanks again for contributing to pop culture!
11 A Rockstar Reference
Now, you know you are an iconic villain, etched into the pages of history when a legendary rock band decides to mention you in their song. Led Zeppelin, the composers of classics like “Stairway to Heaven,” “When the Levees Break,” and “The Immigrant Song,” were huge fans of Tolkien’s tales. They enjoyed it so much that they mentioned Gollum in the song “Ramble On.” Hey Frodo, Samwise, and even Gandolf were cool guys who were incredibly heroic, but we all know who stole the show. Legolas and Aragorn were warriors who won the admiration of fans everywhere, but Gollum…he caught the eye of one of the greatest bands in history. If Led Zeppelin is name-checking you in a song…then you have officially become the star of the story.
10 Historic Representation
Many people consider The Lord of the Rings series to be a historical set of books. The designation makes a lot of sense. Yet, Gollum is also a part of another historic event. Apparently, the people of Germany loved Gollum so much that they included his image as graffiti art on the east side of the Berlin Wall.
We would even travel to see this one.
It is not entirely clear when this happened, but looking at the image’s similarity to Andy Serkis’ portrayal, it is likely that it occurred after The Two Towers. This guy takes out his cousin, terrorizes hobbits, threatens cannibalism, leads others to a giant murderous spider, and bites the finger of Frodo Baggins, and he gets the opportunity to grace the historic Berlin Wall. The villains are always more interesting anyway.
9 A Terrifying Giant
Peter Jackson’s portrayal of Smeagol is disturbing. He croaks, has insane strength, and looks as if he is one transformation away from a Wraith. He is an unsettling character to look at all by himself, but imagine how terrifying he would be if he were a vicious giant. In the first novel, Tolkien did not specify Smeagol’s size, so he was actually illustrated as a giant. Tolkien realized the mishap and clarified his size, but we almost ended up with a gigantic Gollum. This would have turned him into more of an immediate foe like Smaug. Tolkien’s decision to keep him around the height of the hobbits allowed him to be a companion while also looking as if he could strike at any moment.
8 Bilbo Saves The Day
The LOTR and Hobbit franchise is a buildup of a lot of decisions. What makes the novels so great is that one action leads to a whole new set of possibilities. Tolkien does an excellent job of connecting the dots.
A lot of Smeagol’s journey depends on pity.
Bilbo and Frodo both spared him due to his pitiful nature and misleading harmlessness. Many probably felt the pair was foolish for letting a cunning being like Smeagol live, but it turns out they were rewarded for showing mercy. If Bilbo Baggins had eliminated Gollum in The Hobbit, then Gollum would not have been present in Return of the King to bite Frodo’s finger (taking the ring away from him). He would have fell victim to the Nazul who would have returned the ring to Sauron.
7 Was It All The Ring?
Many people have cited Smeagol’s descent into evil and murder as a result of the ring. It would make sense as many others have been driven to evil acts and irrational decisions due to its power. However, many now feel that he harbored dark intentions all along, even before he came in contact with the ring. Other characters experienced a slow descent into madness (Bilbo and Frodo), while Smeagol was taken into craziness before he even had it. His journey with the ring started with a murder, while others were heroic. He was willing to do anything to get it, even citing his birthday as the reason his cousin should have given it to him. Smeagol may have been profoundly impacted by the power of the ring, but it looks as if he had darkness in him from the start.
6 The Speech To Rule All Speeches
There have been many portrayals of Smeagol throughout the years. However, the most memorable is Andy Serkis’ commitment to bringing Smeagol to life. The combination of motion capture, voice acting, and CGI design won over the general public and cemented Smeagol as a pop culture icon. Smeagol was such a cultural phenomenon that Serkis’ representation won an MTV Movie Award.
Things did not go as planned when Smeagol hit the mic.
Serkis begins with the award in hand thanking everyone for their help and positivity, but mid-way through the speech Smeagol makes an appearance and totally steals the show. His profanity-laden and comedic speech was so lively and well-received that Serkis won a Hugo Award for the performance. You have to be pretty impressive to win an award for your acceptance speech for another award.
