The scariest characters in the LOTR?

Not the Witch King. Dont get me wrong, I like the guy, but he seemed to make too many mistakes to be the scariest servant of evil.

Probably Durin's Bane, considering Gandalf's and Legolas' response upon seeing him.

Without his ring, would Sauron be as powerful as Durin's Bane? My initial guess is no, though I have little from the literature to back that claim up. And then, since Tolkein doesn't personify Sauron very well in the trilogy, it is tough to guess much of his power (and scary factor) very well. Though being an enigma might help his case.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Famov

Without his ring, would Sauron be as powerful as Durin's Bane? My initial guess is no, though I have little from the literature to back that claim up. And then, since Tolkein doesn't personify Sauron very well in the trilogy, it is tough to guess much of his power (and scary factor) very well. Though being an enigma might help his case.

But there must have been something in Sauron that the Balrogs lacked. He was one of Morgoth's chiefs, and at least I have understood that his status was higher than that of the Balrogs'.
The Balrogs were of a different type of maiar than Sauron, but I don't know if being a demon of fire necessarily means being more powerful than an "ordinary" maia.

But his Ring lost a great amount of Sauron's original power was lost, too, so you may be right. Of course this depends whether we are speaking of Sauron whose Ring still existed, though not safely in his pocket, or of Sauron whose Ring was destroyed. A Balrog would probably win the latter in a combat.