| “ | I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, but you have elected the way of PAIN! | „ |
| ~ Saruman while battling Gandalf in Orthanc. |
| “ | So you have chosen… death. | „ |
| ~ Saruman's famous quote as Gandalf escapes from Orthanc. |
| “ | One of the Halflings carries something of great value. Bring them to me alive, and unspoiled. Kill the others. | „ |
| ~ Saruman orders Lurtz to hunt down the fellowship. |
Saruman the White is the secondary antagonist of the Middle-earth film series.
He is the former close friend turned archenemy of Gandalf as well as Treebeard and the Ents. Saruman was sent to Middle-earth to help counter the re-emerged Dark Lord; ultimately, Saruman's envy of Gandalf, coupled with his greed and accompanying arrogance led to him being lured by Sauron into his service. Betraying his allies, the White Wizard became the Dark Lord's puppet, an instrument by which to subjugate the Free Peoples.
He was portrayed by the late Sir Christopher Lee, who also played Count Dracula in the Hammer Dracula films and the Jabberwocky in the 2010 Alice in Wonderland film.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- While he was once a force for good and one of Gandalf's best friends, his lust for power along with getting fed up with defending the weak consumed him, making him a Social Darwinist.
- He later in the Lord of The Rings, betrayed Gandalf because he believed that Sauron would be unstoppable. This led him to join forces with Sauron and the concept of Evil so he can be on the winning side of the War of the Ring, becoming a fallen Maia and subverting all redeeming qualities. As Sauron desired to massacre thousands of innocents and enslave all life on Earth, making Saruman's willingness to side with him truly vile.
- While working with Sauron and believing him to be unstoppable, it is clear that he had plans to take the ring for himself, as shown when he created the Uruk-hai to be loyal directly to him and look down on the other orc breeds.
- He tried to convince Gandalf to join his side, claiming that it would be a wise decision to make. When Gandalf refuses, Saruman attempts to kill him in Orthanc while telling him that he has chosen pain instead of victory and then tortures him out of spite on top of the tower.
- He has Sauron's orcs raze all of the flora from within Isengard, replacing it with massive caverns where Saruman would breed the Uruk-hai and build weapons of war.
- He creates a snowstorm over the Pass of Caradhras to kill the Fellowship of the Ring on their journey to destroy the One Ring.
- When Gimli mentions the Mines of Moria, Saruman warns Gandalf of Durin's Bane, and though this may have been twisted care for Gandalf, it's more likely that this was only so that the Fellowship would fail on their quest, and he attempts to kill Gandalf anyway when he is locked in Orthanc and is defeated, making it dishonorable.
- He ordered Lurtz and a pack of Uruk-hai to bring him the One Ring and therefore the Hobbits in the Fellowship to him alive and unspoiled and told them to kill the others. This led to the death of Boromir, for which he is indirectly responsible.
- He has the Uruk-hai burn down many of the Ents in the Fangorn Forest close to Isengard to fuel his machinery and weaponry, despite knowing that the Ents were sapient beings, an action that prompts Treebeard and other Ents to attack Isengard later on alongside Merry and Pippin.
- He convinces the Dundenlings to burn all of Rohan's villages alongside his orcs by lying to them that Rohan took over their lands and forced them to live under the rocks, even having their chief cut the palm of his own hand as an oath of loyalty.
- To make things worse, manipulating the Dundenlings means he started an armed conflict between two human factions, which makes him the only villain in the film saga who manipulated humans into massacring each other outside of Sauron. The burning of the Westfold results in the massacre of entire villages and thousands of deaths, including children.
- He is responsible for the death of King Théoden's son, Théodred, and later on possesses Théoden to make Rohan much more vulnerable to his forces from Isengard. He even uses Théoden to sign a treaty that banishes Éowyn's brother Éomer from Rohan under penalty of death.
- He cares nothing for his second-in-command GrÃma Wormtongue, seeing him as nothing more than a pawn to advance his own goals.
- As the people of Rohan escape from Edoras, Saruman sends out his Warg riders to kill them, despite knowing that there are women and children with them.
- When the men, women and children of Rohan reach Helm's Depp, he unleashes an army of 10,000 Uruk-hai to breach Helm's Deep and slaughter everyone there, down to the last child. This makes him responsible for the deaths of Haldir and the countless other casualties of the Battle of Helm's Deep.
Extended Cut Only:[]
- When Gandalf, Théoden, and the others reached the ruins of Isengard, he taunted them at the top of Orthanc by telling Gandalf that Frodo would die and showing them his palantÃr and telling them that this is where they will find information.
- When Gandalf gave him a chance of redemption by giving him information about Sauron, he refused, knowing full well that thousands of lives were at stake.
- Even after Gandalf promised to spare his life, Saruman responded by trying to kill him by throwing a fire ball at him.
- He also said that he would not give information because he didn't want to remain prisoner in Isengard.
- When Théoden asked Grima to come down and be forgiven of his crimes and Grima expressed his desire to be free, Saruman slapped him and called him a "cur".
- This makes him indirectly responsible of Grima's death, as he stabbed him in his anger and was accidentally shot by one of Legolas's arrows.
Trivia[]
- He is one of four Middle-earth villains from Peter Jackson's films to be Pure Evil, predated by Sauron from across the entire series, and Azog and Smaug from The Hobbit trilogy, then followed by Gothmog.
- While Sauron is also Pure Evil in the film series, Saruman's actions such as the burning of the Westfold and attempted genocide against the people of Rohan are comparable to his.
- The book version of Saruman does not count as Pure Evil due to being overshadowed by Morgoth and Sauron's actions in The Silmarillion.
- Saruman's actions of burning the Westfold and attacking Helm's Deep were considered so vile in-universe that even Théoden, who often made peace with his enemies after wars, wanted him to be executed for his crimes.
- Christopher Lee described Saruman as the "most evil of […] all" the enemies of the Fellowship.
External Links[]
- Saruman on the Villains Wiki
- Saruman on the Lord of the Rings Wiki
[]
 Pure Evils
| ||
|
Mainstream Peter Jackson | ||
 Pure Evils
| ||
|
Live-Action Features Scripts Fanon See Also | ||
 Pure Evils
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also | ||
 Pure Evils
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Features | ||