A Guide to Lord of the Rings Canons

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Lord of the Rings
(by Radsos)

Basically, consider this as a 'suggestions guide' to those who happen to want to take canons from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Meaning, to those of you who wish to take the Lord of the Rings canons, you don't have to take the ideas that I have for the characters, they are just suggestions.

The Plot Translated

I'm operating the idea more that the characters - or, rather, the Fellowship itself (and two others) - is now more or less a group of rag-tag men who more or less come together to put their skills (whatever they may be respectively) to investigating and otherwise 'taking down' a group of certain people who are known to practice less-than-healthy ways of religion erring on the side of occult. I am not saying that there is any 'magic' involved or that there is any paganism involved either. Simply, it is a cult that these people have all become aware of and are ready to join together to fight it for whatever their reasons may be.

On the idea of what the cult does, I was actually thinking of modeling it a little bit after Jim Jones' cult in that it has a lot of people and basically it appeals to 'minority groups' (so think disabled people, war veterans, mentally unstable, homosexuals, minority races, etc.) as a 'socialistic group' when in reality it is really about these people being controlled to the point of being forced into doing drills for committing mass suicide, torture, sex, and possibly a number of other very disturbing things.

Note: Not all of the characters in LotR are listed for a reason... Mostly because it's hard to come up with why all of them would be involved. Feel free to still make a character from LotR that goes with this plot, they just aren't on this list.

"Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee"
Occupation: Cook and gardener at the 'church' where Sauron's 'cult' meets.
Description: Perhaps Frodo and Sam knew each other when they were younger by way of Bilbo perhaps having Sam as a personal chef and thus Frodo and Sam have kept in touch since Bilbo's disappearance and, especially since they now notice what is going on within the cult, they are becoming closer and closer friends.

"Peregrin 'Pippin' Took"
Occupation: college student / elementary school teacher
Description: Pippin could be a friend of Frodo's and Merry's (Merry is his roommate?) who both knew him in high school and Pippin ran into Frodo by chance one day. Frodo basically started to become a really good friend with them and it did not take long for them to realize that Frodo was hiding something, so they kind of forced it out of him and are now trying to help.

"Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck"
Occupation: bartender
Description: Much like Pippin, he was a friend of Frodo's in high school and when Pippin found Frodo, so did Merry. Merry could basically pick up on what was going on, much like Pippin, especially after all of the time that Frodo seemed to be spending brooding. So, yes, it's kind of an accident that Merry is even involved.

"Aragorn/Strider"
Occupation: small businessman
Description: Perhaps Aragorn knows Sauron as someone who really screwed up his family (as in, Sauron managed to maybe draw in a family member of his) and instead of trying and failing to do his best on his own to fight him, he kind of contributes with what money he can as well as occasionally uses the fact that he has family in the cult to investigate and seem like an intrigued outsider who might want to 'join up', but is too busy to do so.

"Gandalf the Grey/the White"
Occupation: Criminal Psychologist / College professor
Description: Gandalf could be a college professor at the school Frodo went to and took a particular liking to (think mentor-ish) and, when Frodo first heard tell of what Sauron's group might be about, he gave Gandalf a call to ask if he would be involved. So, yeah, Gandalf is basically the reference/guide with how to handle certain things carefully and safely.

"Gimli, son of Gloin"
Occupation: Chemistry teacher (can be high school or college level)
Description: "And my axe!" I know it's not based off the movie, but it's hard not to suggest that he would be somehow involved with something that, when put together, could build bombs. This said, perhaps Gimli could be a teacher that Frodo heard about being rather good and well informed in making bombs, while Frodo does want things to end peacefully, some weapons would probably be wise.

"Legolas Greenleaf"
Occupation: Archery instructor
Description: Legolas probably could more have stumbled upon this by being introduced to the cult, but not wishing to join it seeing as he could see the signs of trouble a mile away. He still kept tabs, however, and eventually was contacted by someone asking if he wished to find a way to stop the dealings that Sauron's cult were involved in, even if he can only do so much.

"Boromir"
Occupation: Journalist at New York Times
Description: I was thinking that he perhaps could be a fellow journalist for the Times and maybe Frodo got him into it because Boromir saw some things he was looking at and wanted to help him. Only, after awhile, maybe Boromir starts to feel more drawn towards the cult as being a member versus being opposed to it.

"Bilbo Baggins"
Occupation: Perhaps a writer or journalist under a pen name of sorts.
Description: Bilbo has a little less flexibility than most of these others and I would kind of point whomever is interested to look at Wesley/Frodo's app, because the idea is that Bilbo is that kinda eccentric but really, really awesome uncle that took care of Frodo after his parents died. We could perhaps play with the idea that he is in fact in New York, but under a different name (and possibly disguised) and actually infiltrated into Sauron's 'cult' as a measure of investigation, but he also can't help but be drawn to the simple concept of the cult as well, so he's somewhat torn.

"Gollum/Smeagol"
Occupation: I'm kinda leaving this open? cult member?
Description: Basically, I was thinking that maybe he could be a cult member who already was mentally unstable and then, after some unlucky incidents with torturing information from him, he hasn't been right in the head since. Part of him, admittedly, is attached to the cult, but he's also managed to get in touch with Frodo, who seems to be very trusting and kind to him in a way that he hasn't felt for a long time, so he's kind of acting as a spy for Frodo, but he still isn't sure what he'll do in the end.

"Sauron"
Occupation: 'Cult' Leader
Description: Basically, he wants power and control over people and he is somewhat suspicious about the stirrings of a group inside and outside of his group, and he knows for sure that Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry are involved, but he cannot yet figure out quite what to do about them seeing as they seem harmless enough and it's hard to legally 'dispose of' most of them.