Bolg

NOTE: This page is only for Bolg's characterization in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film franchise, considering the original novel counterpart was not voted Near Pure Evil. Therefore, only the film version's info and crimes should be listed here.

Bolg is the secondary antagonist of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy based on the late J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 fantasy adventure novel of the same name.

He is a strong and dangerous Orc warrior who is the son and second-in-command to Azog the Defiler, aiding him in the quest to destroy the Oakenshield bloodline. He is also the archenemy of Legolas, Kíli, and Tauriel.

In The Desolation of Smaug, he was played by Lawrence Makoare who also played the Witch-king of Angmar in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In The Battle of the Five Armies, he was played by John Tui.

His Evil Ranking[]

What Makes Him Close To Being Pure Evil?[]

In General[]

Unlike most of the Orcs, Bolg has moral agency, knowing right and wrong and consciously choosing wrong to annihilate dwarf kind and pledge his services to Azog and Sauron of his own free will.
While he seems to have some degree of unrequited love for Azog, sincerely wanting his father's approval, this isn't given enough elaboration.
Although Saruman the White, Smaug the Terrible, and Lord Sauron are obviously way more heinous, they are also far more powerful, so it is very unfair to compare Bolg to any of them.

The Desolation of Smaug[]

He chases after Thorin Oakenshield, the other twelve Dwarves and Bilbo Baggins and tries to kill them all under orders from his father, Azog.
While the Dwarves and Bilbo escape from the Elves of Mirkwood in barrels through a river, Bolg and his Orcs attack and slaughter multiple Elven guards in an attempt to get to them.
Bolg personally shoots a poisoned arrow that pierces Kíli's leg, causes him to have fever and slowly starts killing him. He would have died if Tauriel hadn't cured him.
After Bolg and his Orcs track them down to Lake-town, they attack Bard's home and try to kill the Dwarves who are inside along with Bard's family.
When Legolas and Tauriel come to aid the Dwarves, Bolg engages Legolas in a fight and tries to kill him before retreating.

The Battle of the Five Armies[]

Under Azog's orders, Bolg goes to Gundabad and personally leads the legions from there to reinforce Azog's army and aid him in wiping out all the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves at Mount Erebor, who number in the thousands, and to conquer Erebor for their master, Sauron. The plan is for Azog's army to first engage the Free Peoples in battle and then for Bolg's second army to arrive, sweep in from the North and slaughter all their enemies. They almost succeed in wiping out all the people at Erebor, which is prevented only by the arrival of the Eagles.
- What makes this even more heinous is the fact that the reason why Sauron seeks to reclaim Erebor is because this would serve as a gateway to restoring the dark kingdom of Angmar. Gandalf makes it clear that if the kingdom of Angmar is restored, it would spell doom for the races of Middle-earth and many of its nations would be wiped out as a result.
He hits Bilbo in the head with the blunt end of his weapon which causes him to faint.
He personally kills Kíli by stabbing him through the chest. He does this in front of Tauriel, Kíli's love interest, with his death deeply traumatizing her her.
He tries to personally kill Tauriel first by grabbing her by the neck and trying to slowly choke her to death and then he tries to kill her a second time even after she is so injured that she can't fight back anymore.
He engages Legolas in battle and tries to kill him for the second and final time, before he is defeated and killed by Legolas.

What Prevents Him From Being Pure Evil?[]

He fails the heinous standard, as while he is aware of Lord Sauron's agenda to wipe out all the Men, Elves and Dwarves at Erebor and conquer the place for it to be used as a gateway for restoring Angmar, his role in this scheme to obey Sauron's will is slightly less crucial than that of his father Azog.
Unlike Azog, he is sincerely loyal to Lord Sauron and nothing or anyone says otherwise.