Gandalf (Peter Jackson)

This article pertains to a Pure Good with more than one version who is Pure Good!
This article is for the version of Gandalf from the Peter Jackson continuity. You may be looking for more info on his mainstream counterpart.

Pure Good

The Grey
The White

Full Name

Gandalf

Alias

Gandalf the Grey

Gandalf the White
Mithrandir
Gandalf Greyhame
The White Rider
The Grey Pilgrim
Gandalf Stormcrow

Origin

Middle-earth film series

Powers/Skills

Power of the Maiar

Swordsmanship
The sword Glamdring
Immortality
Telekinesis
Illumination
Calling Gwaihir
Pyrokinesis
Counter-Spells
Blinding Light
Divine authority over the Istari

Family

Eru Ilúvatar (creator)

Allies

Bilbo Baggins
Thorin Oakenshield
Dain II Ironfoot
Beorn
Elrond
Lady Galadriel
Legolas
Saruman (formerly)
Radagast
Gwaihir
Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Peregrin Took
Aragorn
Boromir
Gimli

Enemies

Morgoth (very heavily implied)

Sauron (arch-enemy)
Saruman (arch-enemy)
Smaug
Azog
Bolg
The Great Goblin
Tom, Bert, & William
Durin's Bane

Goals

Help Bilbo and Thorin on the journey to reclaim Erebor.

Guide Frodo to Mordor to destroy the One Ring.
Protect Middle-earth from Sauron (all succeeded).

Goodness Zone

Helping Frodo and the Fellowship destroy the One Ring in spite of its temptations.

Saving the Fellowship from Durin's Bane at the temporary cost of his own life.
Freeing King Théoden from Saruman's control.

Type of Hero

Honorable Determinator

“	You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor! The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the Shadow! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!	„
	~ Gandalf's most famous quote.

Gandalf the Grey, later known as Gandalf the White, is the main protagonist in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series. He is the overarching protagonist of both the Hobbit trilogy and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

He is a wise and elderly wizard and one of the Ainur, primordial spirits that entered Arda when it was first created, and who assists Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring in destroying the One Ring.

He was portrayed by Ian McKellen in the live-action films, who also played Zebedee in The Magic Roundabout.

What Makes Him Pure Good?[]

In General[]

He believes his life's purpose is to go out of his way to keep evil at a distance and do whatever he can to give good people a fun time on the side, which he does with remarkable efficiency.
He never takes a life unless absolutely necessary, like the Great Goblin and the Balrog for instance.
He is consistently a kind and gentle wizard and friend to his allies through and through, be it as Grey Wizard or later, White Wizard.
- While not above impatient jabs or petty insults, he never antagonizes Thorin Oakenshield or Pippin Took more than what they warrant.
- He trusts Sam in ensuring Frodo's well-being from the moment they left the Shire in a bid to keep One Ring from ever returning to Sauron's hands and later, helping carring such dangerous artifact to Mount Doom where it can be truly destroyed owing to the latter's undying loyalty. Indeed, he is visibly relieved upon Aragorn's reassurance that Frodo still has Sam on his side following circumstances between his death and rebirth which not only saw Boromir dying, but also made it clear that Fellowship of the Ring is meant to complete its mission as splintered groups (the task of carrying One Ring lies in Frodo alone; Merry and Pippin are under the care of Treebeard the Ent and his brethren in which they will inevitably take arms to stop Saruman from assiting Sauron any further, and finally, Gandalf himself, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas had to liberate Theoden from treacherous Saruman's evil influence). Although, his worries whether he will end up dooming the two instead of completing their part of mission becomes more and more apparent the closer they are to Mount Doom thus agrees with Aragorn's insane plan of provoking Sauron to send everything he had against them so Frodo and Sam may destroy One Ring on ease right behind the Dark Lord's back.
- Although he and Saruman became archenemies and the latter even tortured him after revealing his (Saruman's) duplicity, Gandalf doesn't harbor grudge towards the former White Wizard for what the latter had done. It's even implied that he lamented Saruman's fall from grace; during his reunion with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas as the true White Wizard, Gandalf claims to be what Saruman supposed to be).

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim[]

Intrigued by Hèra's encounter with two orcs from Mordor who were taking rings from the dead near Hornburg as per Sauron's bidding, he invited her to his counsel hoping it will provide a clue or two regarding One Ring's whereabouts.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey[]

He convinced Thorin to band together a company to defeat Smaug, partially because he believed if Sauron was around, he would use Smaug as a weapon.
He convinced Bilbo Baggins to join the company of Thorin and be their burglar, a role the hobbit later played very well.
- Although he let the dwarves break into Bilbo's house and pillage his food, which sounds cartoonishly jerkish on paper, it would've been irrational for Gandalf to try and stop Thorin, who has concocted far more bizarre tactics to achieve the quest either way.
Gandalf kills the three trolls who kidnapped the company with sunlight. He consistently shows Thorin the benefit of Bilbo; by the end of the first film, Thorin realizes Bilbo's use.
He gave Bilbo his sword and convinced Thorin to keep the one he found in spite of its Elvish origin, given his speciesist perception of Elves.
He brought the company to Rivendell for shelter, where the Elves supply knowledge of their swords, the map, and what to do. As a result the company knew they had to arrive at the mountain by a set time.
He tells the White Council of Sauron's eventual return. He also buys time for the dwarves to escape Rivendell to not be questioned by Saruman.
He saves the dwarves from the Goblin army and leads them out of the caverns, personally killing the Great Goblin himself.
He uses a butterfly to summon great eagles to their rescue from Azog.
He burns pinecones so the company could use them against Azog and his Orcs, effectively buying great eagles enough time to reach them.
He revives Thorin.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug[]

He rescues the dwarves from Azog by leading them directly to Beorn's house, knowing Azog genuinely fears the beast.
- In the extended cut, Gandalf intended to use a similar trick he used in the book to entice Beorn into letting them stay at his house.
He goes to the High Fells of Rhudaur to visit the Nazgul graves to find it empty, confirming Sauron's return.
Gandalf braves into Dol Guldur itself to fight Azog and Sauron, telling Radagast to get the White Council. He proceeds to meet Thrain and attempts to rescue him. Additionally, Thrain confirmed Gandalf's suspicions of Smaug and Sauron being allies.
He courageously faced Sauron himself, provoked into doing so by Thrain's death, briefly managing to repel him with an orb of benevolent spellwork before Sauron pins him down and knocks him out with a hallucination.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies[]

He fearlessly faced down the Dol Guldur Torturer, refusing to surrender his ring.
He asks Galadriel to come with him to intercede Erebor, which she strongly considers. After escaping Dol Guldur, he rushes to the Lonely Mountain to warn everyone of Azog's attack.
He devises a plan with Bilbo, Thranduil and Bard to make Thorin give everyone the jewels and gold they need and are owed.
He tells Thorin, who is being driven crazy by dragon sickness, to let Bilbo go.
He tries to convince the Elvenking that his uncharacteristically indecisive behavior is madness.
Aggravated that his counsel is counting for so little, he reluctantly partakes in the Battle of the Five Armies and eventually moves to intercept Orcs marching upon Dale.
He urges Thranduil to warn Thorin about the Gundabad Orcs, surmising that this was Sauron's battle strategy all along. And when Bilbo tries to do it in Thranduil's stead, Gandalf warns him he would never make it, only for Bilbo to defy his wishes anyway.
He accompanies Bilbo all the way back to Erebor, alarmed that he only took two small chests with him and approving of his claim that he'll never need more gold than that and that his pony can only carry so much weight.
He makes one final attempt to get Bilbo to confess about the One Ring, which unfortunately doesn't go well.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring[]

He convinces Bilbo to let the ring go at last, especially after noticing its effects on his friend.
He researches Isildur's account to confirm the ring that Frodo has is One Ring.
He tells Frodo and Sam to leave the Shire to meet Aragorn to be given further instructions. He also tells Sam to take care of Frodo.
He goes to Saruman for assistance, only to be captured by the unexpected traitor when he wanted to warn Frodo. He also warned Saruman that Sauron wouldn't share power.
He explains to Frodo why he couldn't meet him at Bree and forms the Fellowship with Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir and the other hobbits.
He helps them get through Moria and faces a Balrog so they can escape.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers[]

He defeats the Balrog he has been locked in combat with, sacrificing himself in the process. It is this heroic sacrifice which led to his revival as true White Wizard, a role Saruman had abandoned.
He exorcises Saruman from Theoden.
He recruits Eomer and the other riders of Rohan to help defeat the Uruk-Hai attacking Helm's Deep, and arrives with them at dawn to defeat and drive them off, winning the battle for them and saving all of the people from Rohan who were holed up there.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King[]

As shown in the Extended Edition, he attempts to convince Saruman to redeem himself and even destroys the latter's staff to cease his attempt to resist.
He told Pippin not to fool with Saruman's Palantir, still remember how the fallen wizard had used it to contact Sauron through the latter's.
He and Aragorn take Saruman's Palantir away from Pippin as Sauron psychologically tortures him through it. He comforts Pippin who shakened by the ordeal as well.
He deduces that Sauron would attack Minas Tirith based on what the Dark Lord showed to Pippin while tormenting the latter.
He told Aragorn to summon the Army of the Dead to fight against Sauron's forces both to save Gondor and importantly, giving said Army a second chance to atone their past sins.
He warns Theoden and attempts to convince him to join forces with Aragorn to save Gondor. Although Theoden is initially skeptical about such idea, he wisely changes his mind as soon as Aragorn informs him that Gondor calls for aid for real.
He instructs Pippin to light the signals of Gondor without Denethor's approval due to the steward's worsening state of mind, which the latter done without much issue. For the same reason, he later attempts to convince Faramir to not listen to his father and even takes command of Minas Tirith and tells the city to fight.
He made the people of Gondor catapult debris onto Orcs in response of them tormenting them with thrown heads of their victims.
Though he had Shadowfax pushing Denethor into the pyre he lid to cremate himself and Faramir leading to the maddened steward burning to his death might be extreme, it ultimately counts as mercy kill considering not only Faramir is actually still alive, but also his father attempts to kill Pippin for interfering.
Plots to defeat Sauron with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas in which they and they allies buy more time for Frodo and Sam to reach the slopes of Mount Doom where One Ring can be destroyed, setting the Battle of the Black Gate in motion.
In the Extended Edition, he didn't get mad at the Mouth of Sauron when he claimed Frodo died. He also didn't take back the mythril armor when close to the Mouth, unlike in the books where Gandalf becomes spiteful at the Mouth and does those things.
He partakes in the Battle of the Black Gate. Upon learning that Frodo and Sam managed to destroy One Ring signified by the destruction of Sauron's Tower, he summons the Eagles and even joins them in saving the two. Note that during the rescue attempt, Gandalf brought three instead of two for Sam and Frodo respectively, indicating the third is meant for Gollum in case of him redeemed himself instead of dying.
He crowns Aragorn as king of Gondor.
He accompanies Bilbo, Frodo, Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn on their ship to the Grey Havens. It should also be noted that the trip brings Frodo peace as the wound that the Witch-king gave him could never fully heal in Middle-earth.