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Still from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Character · by Priya Nair

Gollum: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What Happens to Him

Gollum is the corrupted creature, once called Sméagol, who owned the One Ring for years before it passed to Bilbo Baggins, and Andy Serkis plays him in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 to 2003). He is also the figure Bilbo meets in the Misty Mountains in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), and he is the title character of the next film, The Hunt for Gollum, dated for December 17, 2027.

Image: TMDB

Who Plays Gollum / Smeagol?

Who Is Gollum in The Lord of the Rings?

Gollum is the creature who possessed the One Ring before Bilbo Baggins, and the films credit him as Gollum and as Gollum / Smeagol. His birth name in the story is Sméagol, which the credits shorten to Smeagol in the third film.

What the heck is this creature? In the films he is the end result of the Ring's pull on its owner, a twisted survivor who has lived with it so long that he speaks of it as his treasure. The prologue of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), directed by Peter Jackson, explains that the Ring passed through his hands on its way to Bilbo in the Shire. The credits list Andy Serkis in the role at billing position 15 in that film, and the actor moves up to position 5 in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), where the character carries a much larger share of the story.

He also appears in the second trilogy. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) stages the riddle game under the Misty Mountains that sends the Ring toward Bilbo. If you are new to the order of these films, the guide to lord of the rings movies in order shows where each of his scenes falls. For the wider saga, see lord of the rings characters and the lord of the rings cast page.

Was he once a man? The films do not present him as one. They show Sméagol as the cousin of Déagol, the friend he kills for the Ring, and the later creature as what remains after the Ring has worked on him over a long time.

Gollum / Smeagol Films

The Creature Before the Ring and Through the FilmsSpoilers

This story runs backward and forward across the saga, and the films reveal it out of order. The earliest event shown is the murder that opens The Return of the King: Déagol finds the One Ring in a river, and his cousin Sméagol kills him for it, then slowly turns into the wretched creature of the later films.

In An Unexpected Journey, the story jumps to Bilbo's journey with Thorin's company. Goblins of the Misty Mountains seize the party and take them to the Great Goblin. Bilbo is separated from the dwarves, meets the creature in the dark, wins a riddle contest with him and takes a magic ring that makes him invisible. That scene is the hinge of the whole saga, since Bilbo leaves with the very object Sauron needs. He brings it home to the Shire, where, as The Fellowship of the Ring shows, he keeps it until his 111th birthday and leaves it to Frodo.

The Two Towers brings him back in the present. Frodo and Sam struggle toward Mordor and bind him to serve as their guide. He agrees, but the film's closing stretch shows him secretly plotting to betray the hobbits and lead them to the spider Shelob. The Return of the King pays that off: he leads Frodo into Shelob's lair, Frodo barely escapes, and orcs capture him before Sam rescues him.

At Mount Doom, Frodo finds he cannot give up the Ring. The creature bites it from his hand and falls into the lava with it, the Ring is destroyed, Sauron is defeated and Mordor collapses. The guide of the hobbits is the same figure who lost the Ring to Bilbo long before, which is why release order and chronological order place these scenes so far apart. The lord of the rings timeline lays them out in sequence.

Sméagol and the People Around Him

His relationships are defined by what each person wants from the Ring, and he stands in a different position to each of them. Déagol is the first, the friend who finds the Ring and dies for it. Bilbo is the second, the stranger who wins it from him in the dark. Frodo and Sam are the pair who try to bring him back into the light.

Sméagol versus Gollum is the question the films keep returning to. The credit for The Return of the King reads "Gollum / Smeagol", and the performance moves between a guide to Frodo and a creature who secretly plans a betrayal. In The Two Towers the hobbits bind him to serve as their guide, and the Mordor chapters of the trilogy turn on that uneasy arrangement. See frodo baggins lord of the rings and samwise gamgee for the other side of those scenes.

Bilbo is the other mirror. In An Unexpected Journey, bilbo baggins lord of the rings escapes with the ring in his pocket, and the one ring is the link between the two. The wizard gandalf is the one who works out what the Ring is, and sauron lord of the rings explains why whoever holds it matters so much.

How Was Gollum Killed?Spoilers

He dies at Mount Doom in The Return of the King, when he bites the Ring from Frodo's hand and falls into the lava with it. The fall destroys the Ring, which ends Sauron's power and brings down Mordor.

Frodo reaches Mount Doom and finds he cannot give up the Ring, and the creature's attack changes the situation. Frodo and Sam are then rescued by eagles, and Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor. In plain terms, the quest is completed by the one character who has spent the trilogy trying to undo it. The film prepares this through the betrayal plot of The Two Towers and his leading Frodo into Shelob's lair.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the next film in the saga, is dated for December 17, 2027. Variety Australia reported on July 15, 2026, that production had officially begun, with filming under way in New Zealand. The latest status is tracked on the hunt for gollum page, and any footage will appear on the hunt for gollum trailer page.

Best Moments of the Creature in the Films

In my opinion, the best scenes are the ones that make you feel for him and fear him within the same minute. These four are my picks.

First, the riddle contest in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). It is a small, quiet scene set beside a vast adventure, and it carries the most important plot point of the saga, because it is how Bilbo ends up with the Ring. The film builds it on dialogue and performance, with no battle or chase to prop it up.

Second, the Two Towers sequence in which Frodo and Sam bind him as their guide. It sets up the trust and the betrayal that drive the next film, and it gives the Mordor journey its human friction. Perhaps the nicest touch is that you can see why Frodo wants to believe him.

Third, the opening of The Return of the King, with Déagol and Sméagol at the river. It is a short murder scene, but it shows what happened before the Ring changed hands, and it puts the series' idea of corruption on screen faster than any explanation could.

Finally, the climax at Mount Doom. He bites the Ring from Frodo's hand and falls with it into the lava. It could be argued that the saga's cleverest decision is to let the villain's greed finish the job, and after 201 minutes the film earns the moment.

Facts

FAQs

What the heck is Gollum?

Gollum is the corrupted creature who kept the One Ring for years before Bilbo Baggins took it from him in the Misty Mountains. He began as Sméagol, who murdered his cousin Déagol for the Ring and was slowly changed by it.

How was Gollum killed?

He falls into the lava of Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). After Frodo fails to give up the Ring, the creature bites it from his hand and tumbles into the fire with it, and the Ring is destroyed.

Is Gollum based on a real person?

No, he is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's story. In the trilogy the credits list Andy Serkis in the role, and the character comes to the screen through his performance.

Was Gollum once a man?

The films do not present him as a man. They show Sméagol as the cousin of Déagol, and the creature he becomes is the result of the Ring's influence over a long time.

Is Gollum a sympathetic character?

It depends on the scene, and it is a matter of opinion. In The Two Towers and The Return of the King he guides the hobbits while secretly planning to betray them, and leading Frodo into Shelob's lair works against sympathy.

Why did Sméagol turn into Gollum but not Bilbo?

The films show Sméagol killing for the Ring the moment he finds it, while Bilbo gets it through a riddle contest and keeps it at home until he leaves it to Frodo. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug does show the Ring starting to darken Bilbo, so he is not untouched. The longer ownership and the murder account for the difference.