21 deaths from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movies, ranked from least to most heartbreaking

Even though “The Lord of the Rings” is a fantasy series, it doesn’t feature a ton of notable character deaths.

Based on the fantasy books by J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy contains a fair share of deaths, though most aren’t from the core cast of characters.

While rewatching all 11-and-a-half hours — it’s either the extended editions or nothing — I compiled a ranking of the major (and some minor) on-screen deaths based on how upsetting they were on a scale from one to ten.

21. Sauron

The Dark Lord Sauron was the creator of the One Ring and main antagonist of the films.

He spent the entire trilogy trying to reclaim the magic item and vanquish his enemies so he could rule the world — or what was left of it.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: Sauron died (physically) during the War of the Last Alliance, when Isildur (Harry Sinclair) cut the ring from his finger, but the rest of him wasn’t destroyed until the last act of the final film.

When the One Ring was destroyed in the fires of Mordor, the Eye of Sauron and Barad-dûr (the Dark Fortress) imploded, presumably for good.

Sadness ranking: -5/10

Even though Sauron’s fiery eye looked cool, the Dark Lord had zero redeeming qualities and was responsible for many injuries and deaths.

If someone tells you his demise made them sad — run.

20. Lurtz

The firstborn Uruk-hai, Lurtz pledged allegiance to Saruman (Christopher Lee). He was made the leader of the scouts and sent out to do the White Wizard’s bidding.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: Lurtz’s life was short-lived — he didn’t make it through the first film of the trilogy.

In a battle against Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the Fellowship, Lurtz barely reacted to the pain as he was stabbed multiple times and even lost an arm. When Aragorn impaled him in the stomach, he pulled the blade in deeper and growled before ultimately getting beheaded.

Sadness ranking: 0/10

Lurtz was a formidable opponent, but killing Boromir (Sean Bean) erased any modicum of sadness I could have for that scary hybrid soldier.

19. Denethor II

Denethor II (John Noble) was the father of Boromir and Faramir (David Wenham), and the Steward — not king — of Gondor.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: After trying (and failing) to burn himself and his least-favorite son alive, Denethor II was kicked into the flames by Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax.

Still ablaze, he ran screaming off of a cliff in Minas Tirith and presumably died on the long journey down or when he hit the ground.

Sadness ranking: 0/10

Denethor sucked from day one. When he ran flailing and on fire from the pyre where he tried to kill Faramir, I cheered.

18. Snaga

One of the few orcs that got to speak in the films, Snaga (Jed Brophy) was a member of Saruman’s army.

Time of death: “The Two Towers”

Cause of death: A starved Snaga let his appetite get the better of him and tried to eat hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) against orders. Uglúk, the new leader of the Uruk-hai, then cut off his head.

Sadness ranking: 0/10

It sucked to see such an entertaining and well-designed character go, but sadness wasn’t an emotion I felt in that moment.

17. Grishnákh

Grishnákh (Stephen Ure) was an orc captain from Mordor.

Time of death: “The Two Towers”

Cause of death: After Snaga was killed chasing Merry and Pippin, Grishnákh followed them into the forest. Before he could hurt the hobbits, he was stepped on by Treebeard the Ent (John Rhys-Davies).

Sadness ranking: 0/10

*Shrug.*

16. The Witch-king of Angmar

The leader of the Ringwraiths, or the ominous Black Riders, the Witch-king of Angmar had been corrupted by the nine Rings of Power.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: According to prophecy, the Witch-king cannot be killed by any man.

While trying to finish off King Théoden (Bernard Hill), the Witch-king came face-to-face with a soldier who turned out to be Éowyn (Miranda Otto) in disguise.

She said, “I am no man,” before stabbing the undead Lord of the Nazgûl in the face.

Sadness ranking: 0.5/10

I love a good crown-and-cloak ensemble, but that was all the Witch-king had going for him.

15. Théodred

Théodred (Paris Howe Strewe) was the Prince of Gondor and the son of King Théoden.

Time of death: “The Two Towers”

Cause of death: Théodred initially survived an orc attack and was found by his cousin Éomer (Karl Urban), but he later died from his injuries.

Sadness ranking: 1/10

I couldn’t give him the same rating as the orcs, but I was pretty unfazed by Theodred’s death.

14. Elendil

Elendil (Peter McKenzie) was High King of the Dúnedain and the cofounder and first King of Gondor.

The main events of the trilogy happened long after his death, but viewers are introduced to him at the onset since he and his bloodline are important to the history (and future) of Middle Earth.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: Elendil was slain during the War of the Last Alliance. Upon joining the fight, Sauron made light work of his enemies with a few swings of his mace.

King Elendil was sent flying by the force of Sauron’s blow and landed against a boulder. As he lay dying, his son, Isildur, took up his broken sword and cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand.

Sadness ranking: 2/10

Although Elendil was very accomplished and important, viewers didn’t get a lot of time with him, so it was difficult to feel attached.

13. Isildur

Isildur was the eldest son of Elendil and the first coruler of Gondor.

But his greatness comes with a caveat — even though he defeated Sauron in battle, he refused to destroy the One Ring when he had the chance.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: Isildur died not long after the Last Alliance battle, during the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. This is shown in the first movie during Galadriel’s (Cate Blanchett) narration.

When his company was attacked by orcs, he was betrayed by the One Ring. He put it on to disappear and hide underwater, but it slipped off, exposing him.

Orc archers took advantage of this and killed him.

Sadness ranking: 2/10

Isildur deserves at least the same level of sadness as his father, but not destroying the ring comes with a healthy dollop of orc-flavored karma.

12. Gríma Wormtongue

Officially, Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) was the chief counselor to King Théoden. Unofficially, he was a puppet for Saruman.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: After it was clear that Saruman had lost and never respected Wormtongue, the traitor pulled a blade and stabbed the wizard in the back atop his tower in Isengard.

Attempting to stop the murder, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) shot Wormtongue from the ground with an arrow.

Sadness ranking: 2/10

Even though Wormtongue killed Saruman and his actions were, in part, out of unrequited love for King Théoden’s adopted daughter, Éowyn, that wasn’t enough to redeem his traitorous behavior.

11. Saruman

Saruman was a wizard and former friend of Gandalf (Ian McKellen) who turned and started working for the Dark Lord Sauron.

Time of death: “The Return of the King.”

Cause of death: After his army-birthing factory was destroyed by the Ents, Saruman and his lackey Wormtongue fled to the top of his tower in Isengard.

When Gandalf and the other members of the Fellowship confronted them, Wormtongue betrayed his master, stabbing him. Saruman fell from the tower and landed on a spiked wheel.

Sadness ranking: 2.4/10

One does not simply give Sir Lee a zero.

Even though Saruman was responsible for some (read: nearly all) of the deaths in the films, Lee’s performance made me kind of love the character, so I became invested in his schemes.

10. Unknown goblin

In “The Fellowship of the Ring,” a nameless goblin was charged with overseeing the birth of the Uruk-hai. Little is known about his life prior to that moment.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: This goblin was introduced and immediately killed in the first film.

As a thank you for his service, he was choked to death by Lurtz, the first Uruk-hai to hatch from a muddy embryonic sac. Tragic.

Sadness ranking: 4/10

Can you imagine helping to deliver a 6-foot-tall baby, only for that jacked newborn to immediately kill you?

9. Háma

Háma (John Leigh) was a Man of Rohan and the captain of Théoden’s guard. He also had a sick red beard.

Time of death: “The Two Towers”

Cause of death: Háma and Gamling (Bruce Hopkins) were ambushed by warg-rider scouts while the people of Rohan retreated, and one of the giant wolves took his head.

Sadness ranking: 4/10

Háma was a loyal captain and good guy. He also let Gandalf through security with his staff when entering the king’s hall, so he got extra cool points.

8. Cave troll of Moria

As the name suggests, this is the troll that the Fellowship encountered while in the mines of Moria. The nameless being was kept on a leash by an army of goblins.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: After taking heavy damage from swords and axes, the troll was finally brought down when Pippin stabbed him in the back of the neck and Legolas shot a perfectly placed arrow.

Sadness ranking: 4.2/10

The troll clearly didn’t enjoy being used as a weapon — the moans it let out as it collapsed and died were those of a sad beast that deserved better.

7. Harry Goatleaf

Harry (Martyn Sanderson) was a gatekeeper in Bree, the village where Frodo (Elijah Wood) was supposed to meet Gandalf at a tavern called The Prancing Pony.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: When Frodo accidentally put on the ring at the Prancing Pony, the Black Riders sensed it and headed for Bree.

Not ones to wait for an invitation, they charged through the gate, knocking it down and trampling Harry in the process.

Sadness ranking: 4.5/10

Harry may have come off like a nosy bouncer when Frodo and the other hobbits arrived at Bree, but he was just doing his job. He even showed them respect and called them “young sirs.”

6. Gollum

Gollum (Andy Serkis), also known as Sméagol, was a former Stoor-hobbit and the bearer of the One Ring for over 500 years.

For centuries, it poisoned his mind and gave him an unnaturally long life.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: Unable to shake his obsession with his “precious,” Gollum attacked Frodo while he and Sam (Sean Astin) were trying to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

Gollum and the evil totem fell into the volcano and were destroyed together.

Sadness ranking: 5/10

This may be a controversial opinion, but splitting the rating in half seemed like the right choice for a tragic character like Gollum.

He did some good, and he did a lot of bad, but the latter wasn’t entirely his fault.

5. Haldir

Haldir (Craig Parker) was an elf from Lothlórien. The Fellowship met him at the beginning of their quest and crossed paths with him again at Helm’s Deep.

Time of death: “The Two Towers”

Cause of death: After showing up to fight at Helm’s Deep, Haldir was killed by orcs before he had a chance to retreat with the others.

Sadness ranking: 6/10

Haldir seemed like a bit of a snob, but he was there when needed the most.

The scene was made sadder by the slow-motion shots and depressing music, namely Howard Shore’s “Haldir’s Lament.”

Even at over 3,000 years old, he was gone too soon.

4. Déagol

Déagol (Thomas Robins) was Sméagol’s cousin and best friend. He died long before the events of the trilogy, but his death led Gollum to the One Ring.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: Déagol was dragged into the water while out fishing with his cousin.

He happened upon the ring before swimming to the surface, but when he refused to let Sméagol have it, his kin choked him to death and took the “precious” for himself.

Sadness ranking: 6/10

Déagol seemed like the sweeter of the two Stoor-hobbits. To watch him be brutally choked to death by a family member over a piece of jewelry on a nice, peaceful day was deeply unsettling.

And knowing how that day changed Smeagol’s life makes the scene even worse on subsequent rewatches.

3. Snowmane

Snowmane was King Theoden’s horse.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: Snowmane was killed in battle when the Witch-king of Angmar’s fellbeast grabbed and flung him across the battlefield.

He died as he lived: a warrior.

Sadness ranking: 6.5/10

Animals are precious and we don’t deserve them, especially horses. Snowmane served Gondor well and it was a shame he had to be there when it all hit the fan.

2. Théoden

Théoden was the seventeenth King of Rohan. He was also the father of Théodred and adoptive father to Éowyn and Éomer, his niece and nephew.

Time of death: “The Return of the King”

Cause of death: Théoden was killed in battle when his horse, Snowmane, was attacked by a fellbeast and thrown on top of him.

Sadness ranking: 7/10

Théoden did so much for his people. It was a real bummer that he didn’t get to die of old age with his loved ones by his side.

1. Boromir

Boromir was the eldest son of Denethor II, a renowned warrior of Gondor, and a member of the Fellowship.

Time of death: “The Fellowship of the Ring”

Cause of death: Boromir died in the first film, but we saw more of him during his brother’s flashback in “The Two Towers.”

After trying to take the One Ring from Frodo, Boromir was ambushed by Uruk-hai. After putting forth a valiant effort, he was struck multiple times by Lurtz’s arrows, yet continued to fight to protect Merry and Pippin.

He survived long enough to apologize to Aragorn and acknowledge him as the rightful king, then died against the roots of a tree while holding his sword.

Sadness ranking: 9/10

I don’t blame Boromir for attempting to steal the One Ring. He was only trying to help his people and had been negatively influenced both by the ring’s power and by his terrible father.

Bean is also one of the best when it comes to dying on-screen — his performance sold Boromir’s demise and broke my heart.