"Bad Guy" Trivia

[Urwen]

I was thinking of Gollum and Maeglin (and they are connected by the manner of their deaths), but your answer is better, so you can go.

And I request that you make an interesting question which requires some thinkin'.

[Huinesoron]

Thinkin'? Well, all right...

If prizes were being given out for killing the most (known) kings between the beginning of Arda and the end of the Third Age...

... who would take home the bronze?

And for how many kings?

Be prepared to defend your answer.

(And for bonus points: how many kings did first and second place kill each?)

hS

[Urwen]

Well, Melkor is responsible for death of three Kings (Finwe, Feanor, and Fingolfin). Four, if you count Fingon.

Then there is Sauron, who is responsible for deaths of Finrod, Pharazon, Miriel, Elendil and Gil-Galad

And finally, we have the trio of Hurin/Turin/Maeglin, who lead to deaths of Thingol, Orodreth and Turgon, respectively.

(Alternatively, there is Castamir)

(Is this satisfactory?)

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Well, Melkor is responsible for death of three Kings (Finwe, Feanor, and Fingolfin). Four, if you count Fingon.

Then there is Sauron, who is responsible for deaths of Finrod, Pharazon, Miriel, Elendil and Gil-Galad

And finally, we have the trio of Hurin/Turin/Maeglin, who lead to deaths of Thingol, Orodreth and Turgon, respectively.

(Alternatively, there is Castamir)

(Is this satisfactory?)

You've come up way short on Sauron, and I'd say pretty short on Morgoth, too - Turgon, for instance, was killed by his army, so counts exactly as much as Fingon. And there's several more by that measure...

You also haven't given an answer to the actual question: who takes third place? You've named three people whose actions led to the deaths of kings, and one who... I don't think Castamir killed a king? He killed the crown prince.

I can name at least two characters who killed two named kings.

hS

[Urwen]

Sons of Feanor, maybe? Or more specifically, Celegorm. I don't know whether he personally killed Olwe, but he definitely killed Dior.

[Urwen]

Or Gothmog, who killed Feanor and Fingon?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Sons of Feanor, maybe? Or more specifically, Celegorm. I don't know whether he personally killed Olwe, but he definitely killed Dior.

I believe Dior killed Celegorm, actually. And Olwe isn't dead (he's last seen asking in vain for Osse to sink the swanships after the theft).

Originally Posted by Urwen

Or Gothmog, who killed Feanor and Fingon?

Gothmog is a definite contender. I'm inclined not to give him credit for commanding the army that killed Turgon, because, well, he was dead by then. But there's at least two other characters who can claim at least two kills, so you're going to need to find someone with three or more.

hS