In 'The Lord of the Rings', the _real_ hero was
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The last thing Frodo does as an effective main character is tell Sam not to kill Gollum. But Gandalf is such an odd choice from a literary standpoint that I suspect you mean something other than "main character" or "protagonist" by "hero". Least substitutable personnel?
IMHO, Gandalf is absolutely central, the sina qua non. Without him, nothing happens, there's no fellowship, no strategizing, no coordination. He's the ultimate Effective Altruist, the guy who sees the X-risk early and heroically orchestrates an effective response.
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- That's like saying Obi-Wan Kenobi is the hero of A New Hope. - If we're gonna start holding Gandalf to X-risk management standards, what the hell was he doing, leaving Frodo in the Shire for years after he started suspecting the One Ring? One Nazgul wins the war.
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Or you could say that oxygen was the hero, because without it, everyone would stop breathing and there'd be no story. Stories are about variables that change over time. Gandalf is a beneficial constant of the story, like oxygen.
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But he’s not really a “hero” in the narrative sense because he was created to do this job and doesn’t have the hapless to hero arc we all expect
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If you're still having a 'character arc' after being alive for 2,000 years, you haven't learned much.
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Well he is an angel.
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Maiar is essentially a demigod. While all 5 of the Istari are Maiar, not all Maiar are Istari. Gandalf is essentially on the same level as Sauron, however the Istari were forbidden from using their full powers while in middle earth by the Valar so Sauron is more powerful
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Not to mention, Gandalf deeply desired to use the ring and repeatedly managed to escape its seduction.
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Wouldn't that make Sauron or Saruman the main character aswell?
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In that case, why not go with Tom Bombadil?
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Saying Gandalf is the hero of LOTR is about the same as saying Yahweh is the hero of the bible.
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THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING (although i thought Jesus)
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