Journal of Tolkien Research Volume 10 Issue 1 J.R.R. Tolkien and the works of Joss Article 4 Whedon 2020 Why Do Villains Insist on a Ring? Greed and Fetishism from Sauron to Spike Valerie Estelle Frankel Mission College, San Jose City College,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch Recommended Citation Frankel, Valerie Estelle (2020) "Why Do Villains Insist on a Ring? Greed and Fetishism from Sauron to Spike," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol10/iss1/4 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Christopher Center Library at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Tolkien Research by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at
[email protected]. Frankel: Why Do Villains Insist on a Ring? The twist of Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised is that the only person worthy enough to claim the Philosopher’s Stone hidden within is one who doesn’t desire to use it but is driven to protect it from the villain’s dreams of eternal life and soaring power. This is also the key to Tolkien’s epic: ringbearers Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and even Gollum are (somewhat) protected from the ring because they don’t seek world domination. This theme is also heavily present in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These fantasy creators, it seems, differentiate their heroes from villains through the defining trait of greed: resisting temptation or gleefully succumbing to it.