The Nature of the Nine

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by TheLostPilgrim

Were the Nine--those who would become Ringwraiths--good/just people before the Rings enslaved them?

Very little is known of the lives of the Men who became the Nazgûl before their enslavement. The Witch-king though was said to be a "great king and sorcerer" though in his earlier life. As a "sorcerer", I would suspect he was already on the evil side before he obtained his ring.
No matter the good or evil intent they might have had before, in Tolkien's world the desire for power and life beyond one's native abilities is not a positive trait. The use of the Nine Rings in itself was a negative act, no matter how the men might have tried to justify it.

Originally Posted by TheLostPilgrim

And also, in their slavery, did they have anything of a "mind" anymore? Or were they simply restless spirits? Had their beings become truly evil, or simply bound to an evil will? Did they have any sort of will of their own that is known--did they wish in some way to escape their servitude? Did they have any sort of true loyalty to Sauron, or only the mindless subservience of a zombie to it's necromancer?

The Nazgûl had no will or being outside that of their master. They had been utterly conquered by the rings, which were subject to the One. If someone, say Gandalf, had overcome Sauron and become the new Ring-lord, they would have obeyed him.

Originally Posted by TheLostPilgrim

And in the end, after Sauron's defeat, were they freed? Were their spirits made whole and allowed to go into "Heaven"--Or were their spirits totally extinguished or cast into the Void?

As earthbound beings in Arda, their existence was over when Sauron was rendered impotent by the One's destruction. The fate of their fea is unknown, but I guess they went wherever all the spirits of Men journeyed after physical death. That's delving into territory never expounded upon by Tolkien, so it would be merest speculation.

Originally Posted by TheLostPilgrim

I actually feel bad for the Nine, in a sense, because they were unwittingly enslaved and kept as such for millenia, and died as villains. It's not as if they voluntarily fell to evil, they feel simply to weakness and perhaps false promises by Sauron.

Again though, even listening to such lies and giving in to the temptation for power could be seen as a negative act. Consider Ar-Pharazôn of Númenor. He too was deceived by Sauron to his doom, yet it would appear he was held accountable for his own folly in being receptive and failing to repent.