Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings: Who He Is and Who Plays Him

Frodo Baggins is the Shire hobbit who inherits the One Ring from his uncle Bilbo and carries it across Middle-earth, which makes him the central figure of the saga. Elijah Wood plays him in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003), each directed by Peter Jackson, and he holds the top billing slot every time. The credits give the name as "Frodo", and "Frodo Baggins" is the full form.

How is he related to Bilbo? Frodo is Bilbo's nephew. The trilogy begins as Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday, quietly walks out of the Shire and leaves the Ring behind for Frodo. The opening prologue sets out why that matters: Sauron made the Ring to rule the other Rings of Power, lost it in battle without it being destroyed, and it later reached Bilbo by way of Gollum. Gandalf is the one who recognizes it and sends Frodo away from home.

What is so special about Frodo? Nothing in his strength or rank marks him out. At the council in Rivendell, where nobody agrees on what to do with the Ring, he is the one who steps forward to take it to Mount Doom. When he later decides to head into Mordor alone, his gardener friend Sam refuses to let him go without company.

Frodo also shows up, briefly, in the prequels. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) frames its story as the elderly Bilbo writing his memoir for Frodo to read. For the actors around him, see the lord of the rings cast page.

Frodo's most important relationships are with Sam, Bilbo, Gandalf and Gollum, and each one shapes a different part of his journey. The tie to Bilbo comes first: Bilbo gives him the Ring, and An Unexpected Journey shows old Bilbo writing down his account of the adventure for Frodo to read. Old Bilbo later sails with Frodo to the Undying Lands.

Gandalf is Frodo's guide and the first to understand the Ring. He tells Frodo to leave the Shire and is lost in Moria, so that Frodo must go on without him. Gandalf returns as Gandalf the White in The Two Towers, and the two are together again at the end.

Samwise Gamgee is the central bond of the trilogy. Sam refuses to let Frodo walk into Mordor alone, and he rescues him after the orcs capture him in The Return of the King. Merry and Pippin are the other two hobbits who leave the Shire with them, and both are carried off by the Uruk-hai after Boromir's death.

Gollum, played by Andy Serkis, is Frodo's darker mirror. He was once Sméagol, who murdered his friend Déagol for the Ring, and he serves as Frodo's guide while plotting to betray him. Aragorn and Boromir test him in different ways, one by protecting him and the other by reaching for the Ring. Arwen heals him, Galadriel warns him and Faramir lets him go. Behind all of them stands Sauron, whose Ring is the reason any of it happens. For the others in the saga, see the lord of the rings characters page.

Frodo's best moments are the quiet ones, and in my opinion the trilogy works because it lets Elijah Wood play exhaustion rather than heroics. These are my picks, in story order.

The first is the council at Rivendell. The Ring has just been judged too dangerous to keep or use, and Frodo volunteers to take it to Mount Doom. It is a small, decisive moment, and the film wisely does not dress it up.

The second is the scene with Faramir in The Two Towers. Faramir holds the Ring within his grasp and lets the hobbits go after seeing what it does to Frodo. It is one of the few moments where the Ring's effect is shown on Frodo from the outside, and it helps explain why he cannot rest.

The third is Mount Doom. Frodo finds he cannot give up the Ring, Gollum bites it from his hand, and both fall into the lava. It could be argued that the film is honest here: the hero fails, and the quest succeeds anyway. In my opinion that is a bolder choice than most blockbusters of the period made.

The last is the departure by ship, where Frodo gives the Red Book to Sam and sails with Gandalf and Bilbo. Perhaps it stays with viewers because it refuses a tidy return home.

The scale of the production adds context. The three films were shot together, with principal photography starting on 11 October 1999 in Wellington, and the shoot ran 274 days across 15 months using nine units, according to American Cinematographer. Wood carried Frodo through all of it. For the next chapter of the saga, see the hunt for gollum, dated for 17 December 2027. Any casting for Frodo in that film should be treated as unconfirmed until Warner Bros. announces it.