Sauron (Middle-earth)

Sauron is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, and the eponymous main villain of the book The Lord of the Rings.

In the Second and Third Ages, Sauron ruled the land Mordor in the eastern regions of the known map of the continent Middle-earth. He kept armies of orcs and human slaves, and also had influence over various eastern and southern human peoples. He is the creator of the One Ring and formerly ruled under Morgoth.

Biography
The Maia Sauron was originally a follower of the Vala Aulë, called Mairon. He then became the Lieutenant of the evil Morgoth, until the latter was banished at the end of the First Age.

Second Age
In the Second Age Sauron established himself in Mordor. He later went to the Elves of Eregion in the guise of Annatar and taught them how to create the Rings of Power. The twenty Rings of power were so created around the 16th century: the Elves made the Seven Rings and the Nine Rings with his influence, but also created the Three without his knowledge or influence. Sauron himself created the One Ring in Mount Doom in Mordor to control all the other rings; into this Ring he put part of his own lifeforce and power.

Sauron revealed himself and went to war against the Elves, capturing the Seven and the Nine, which he gave to seven Dwarven and nine human leaders respectively. While the Dwarves could not be controlled, he gained power over the human ring-bearers. They became his servants and became the Nazgûl.

Towards the end of the Second Age the Last Alliance of Elves and Men fought against him near and in Mordor. After a years-long siege of his fortress Barad-dur, Sauron himself went out. He killed King Elendil and the High Elf King Gil-galad but his physical body was in turn destroyed by them after a fierce fight; only after Elendil's son Isildur cut of the Ring from his hand with the remains of his father's sword Narsil. Isildur kept the Ring as a weregeld against, the counsel of the elves Elrond and Círdan who asked him to destroy it. Because the One Ring contained part of Sauron's power, Sauron himself did not die fully, but was able to reform again and retake his old position.

Third Age
His spirit went into hiding for an age. He soon captured Gollum and, after torturing him, discovered that Bilbo Baggins of the Shire had the Ring. So he sent the Nazgûl to find Frodo (who now had the ring), kill him, and take the ring back to Sauron so he could take his full powers again. Saruman also joined forces with Sauron, who commanded him to build him an army for Mordor. Saruman crossed orcs with men to make an army of Uruk-hai, but most of them were killed in the Battle fo the Hornburg that took place in the land of Rohan.

After his defeat at the Hornburg, Sauron decided to attack Gondor, and sent an army of orcs, Southrons and Easterlings over to Minas Tirith to destroy it. The soldiers of Gondor fought against the army, which also had several trolls and Oliphaunts in it; they were later helped to gain victory by the Riders of Rohan, led by King Théoden, and by an army of soldiers brought by Aragorn from Gondor southern fiefs.

Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam entered Mordor through the secret passage of Cirith Ungol; Sauron nearly discovered Frodo and Sam, but his attention was diverted away from them when the Army of the West (led by Aragorn, Gandalf, Eomer and Prince Imrahil) came to draw out his forces to give Frodo and Sam a chance to get to Mount Doom. Eventually they reached Mount Doom, but Frodo decided to take the ring for himself at the last second. Gollum attacked and bit Frodo's finger off, taking the ring back, but overjoyed by his conquest he didn't pay attention and fell in the lava pit along with his "precious". This completely obliterated Sauron powers and sent him into the Void where is master Morgoth already was; in the process the very foundations of Barad-dûr and the Black Gate were destroyed, and Mordor's host of Orcs, Trolls and beasts fled in terror.

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films
Sauron naturally appears in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films, although various changes were made.

Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, forged the One Ring to Rule them All in the fires of Mount Doom. He conquered many lands in Middle Earth, until the Last Alliance of Men and Elves fought against him on the slopes of Mount Doom. They defeated his army of orcs easily, but Sauron proved to be a bigger challenge. He massacred many of the men and elves, killing the king, Elendil, with a mace.

Elendil's son, Isildur, grabbed his father's sword, but Sauron stepped on it, breaking it. Isildur cut off Sauron's fingers, including the one with the One Ring on it, destroying Sauron's body, but he survived as a spirit, unable to die unless the One Ring was destroyed, which could only be done if it was thrown into the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.

Many years later, after the One Ring was found by Gollum, and later taken by Bilbo Baggins, Sauron became obsessed with finding the ring. Over the 17 years after Bilbo gave the ring to Frodo, Sauron regained much of his former strength, though unable to take physical form, he existed as an eye, called the Eye of Sauron, shown as a real manifestation on top of Barad-dûr. Saruman also went over to his side and he sent the Ring Wraiths after Frodo to kill him and take the One Ring back.

Saruman sent an army of 10,000 Uruk-hai to invade Rohan, but eventually they were defeated when Gandalf, the Rohirrim and the trees of Fangorn Forest arrived. Saruman himself was killed by Grima Wormtongue at Isengard. Sauron's defeat at Helm's Deep showed him that the men were still able to resist him, and so he decided to attack Gondor with another powerful army of orcs, led by the hideous orc Gothmog and the Witch-king of Angmar. The men of Gondor and Rohan fought against them, but it wasn't until Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli showed up with the Dead that Sauron's army was defeated. In the battle, the Witch-King was killed by Éowyn, and Gothmog by Aragorn and Gimli.

In the meantime, Frodo and Sam were making their way into Mordor with the One Ring to destroy it. Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Éomer, Merry, Pippin, and what remained of the men of Gondor and Rohan went to the Black Gates to draw Sauron's army out and his attention away from the two hobbits. Gollum attacked Frodo and Sam as they made their way up Mount Doom. In the end, Frodo decided to keep the ring for himself, and put it on, thus attracting the attention of Sauron and the eight remaining Nazgûl. Before anything else could happen, however, Gollum bit Frodo's finger off and took the ring back. Frodo fought Gollum, resulting in them both falling over the cliff. Frodo held onto the edge and survived, but Gollum fell into the lava with the One Ring. With the ring destroyed, Sauron could no longer survive. Barad-dûr collapsed, and Sauron was destroyed in a shockwave of energy that collapsed the foundations of Mordor.

Allusions in other works

 * Sauron appeared in a Family Guy episode as the Eye of Sauron, having lost his contact lens.
 * Sauron is the main character of Legendary Frog's parody series of flash videos, One Ring to Rule them All. In the first video, he hires Wayne the goblin as his evil henchman, receives some evil pizza he ordered, and hears from Wayne that the union of orcs are on strike. The second video follows the plot of Frodo and Sam going to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, but Sauron stupidly attempts to lower them into the fires of Mount Doom with the ring, oblivious to the fact that the ring will be destroyed, and it eventually is during the battle with Gollum, who spits the ring into the lava, but Sauron and Wayne survive. In the third video, Sauron receives a visit from his old master (or college roommate) Melkor, who steals his spices and seasonings for Legolas, who ironically is hired by Sauron to steal Wayne's girlfriend, a hippie elf chick, back from him. Sauron is portrayed as extremely stupid and often says "The One Ring... TO RULE THEM ALL!"