I personally feel thereâs a strong correlation between the âheroes save suffering world through WAR AND SUFFERINGâ school of fantasy and the people who think Aragorn is the hero.
Instead of, you know, functioning entirely as a) a healer, b) a distraction, and most importantly c) a hobbit delivery system. Â
Hobbits brought down Sauron AND Saruman, thwarted Denethorâs insanity, stopped the Witch King of Angmar, thwarted Saruman again, and REBUILT AFTER THE WAR. And they did it all with, I swear to God, the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.Â
Bilbo befriends Gandalf and a bunch of cranky dwarves, intervenes repeatedly to try to prevent dragon attacks, murder and war, and then just WANDERS HOME WITH THE RING.
Bilboâs POWER OF FRIENDSHIP allows him to actually leave the Ring, something nobodyâs ever done before.
Frodo and his friends set off to take the Ring to Elrond, make friends with the local reclusive demigod and survive purely thanks to THAT FRIENDSHIP.Â
The hobbits unite the Nine Walkers with FRIENDSHIP.Â
Merry and Pippin befriend the reclusive tree people, GOODBYE SARUMAN.Â
Frodo trots across the world befriending people and gets them all the way to the fiery mountain, when Samâs friendship GETS THEM THE REST OF THE WAY.Â
Meanwhile, Pippin makes friends in Minas Tirith and SAVES THE DAY AGAIN.Â
Merry befriends Eowyn and inspires âDernhelmâ to just suit up and go like he does and distracts the Witch King at the crucial moment DAY SAVED THANK YOU.Â
Then when they think itâs all over, they amble back to the Shire, find it in trouble, and CALL ON THEIR FRIENDS TO FUCKING CARE BEAR STARE SARUMAN OUT OF TOWN.Â
So, you know, any swords-and-orcs fantasy that has the Aragorn/Boromir character as the hero and no hobbits? You know that author Missed The Point. Aragorn was a great guy, but he wasnât the hero. The hero, always, was the Ordinary Person, the Little Guy, the kindly souls who never wanted to pick up a sword, but did it because it needed to be done.Â