"Bad Guy" Trivia

[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

[Urwen]

Can't think of anyone of the top of my head. Unless it isn't a person, but a concept....

[Huinesoron]

We're not going to give a bronze medal to a concept.

There is a specific character who can make a firm claim to at least 5 king-killings.

For the record, my final count give Morgoth six kills (three of them by his forces at his direct command), and Sauron ten(!!!) firm kills, plus another three if we count the three Kings of Gondor killed by Easterlings/Wainriders under his presumed command. I'm not giving him credit for kills by random Haradrim, Black Numenoreans, and Orcs - only for cases where he sent an army with a reasonable expectation of killing a specific king.

I count 46 Kings who died in an untimely manner (43 if you discount Maedhros, who wasn't High King when he died). I credit my candidate with 5 kills, Gothmog with 2, and I can only find one other character who claims more than 1 kill (also achieving 2). I originally thought Glaurung qualified, but apparently Azaghal was Lord of Belegost, so he only gets Orodreth.

hS