Gollum

Gollum (real name: Smeagol) is a supporting antagonist in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by thelatet J.R.R. Tolkien. He is a slimy, wretched creature whose mind and body have been twisted by centuries under th power of the One Ring, which he famously calls his "precious". He is often portrayed as having a split personality: the lovable, childlike "Smeagol" and the evil "Gollum".

He has been portrayed by several actors throughout various adaptations, but arguably the most famous is Andy Serkis in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) His idiosyncratic, oddly endearing speech patterns.
 * 2) His inner struggle between his need for the Ring and his desire to be free of it.
 * 3) The famous "Gollum/Smeagol" scene in The Two Towers, in which his two personalities argue.
 * 4) Andy Serkis gives an iconic performance.
 * 5) Inadvertently saving Middle-Earth when he seizes the Ring and falls in Mount Doom to his death
 * 6) He is one of the more complex, "shades of gray"-type characters in a story with largely one-dimensional ones, either pure good or pure evil.
 * 7) His backstory is very tragic.