Character Profiles: Dori, Nori, Ori

– Dori: Bilbo’s personal “out of trouble” carrier

My impression of  Dori has always been that “decent fellow” (as written by Tolkien), who risked a lot in an attempt to physically get Bilbo out of trouble – be it the escape from the Misty Mountains, or lending a helping hand up a tree to avoid being devoured by Wargs.

It’s not the first time that, throughout the book, Dori is referred to whenever Bilbo is lost or in a very dangerous situation. Unfortunately, so far, we haven’t yet seen this relationship in ‘An Unexpected Journey‘.

Within the cinematic Middle-earth, Dori (Mark Hadlow) is more focused on taking care of his younger brother Ori, Needless to say, whilst it continues to add more character depth and the essential distinction between the 13 individuals, it detracts some of essence found in the book.

Again, as with all of the Dwarves’ characters, we have yet to see how they will evolve over the course of the next two films – so I’m keeping my mouth shut for now and enjoying the unfolding personalities of all of them …

– Nori: The starfish thief

As with 9 or 10 of all the Dwarves in ‘The Hobbit’, Nori is one of those who is barely mentioned and remains a background character during the Quest.

It won’t come as a surprise therefore, that the main feature which distinguishes the film-version of Nori (Jed Brophy) from the rest, is his appearance. Just like Bifur with his axe, Dori and Ori’s other brother shines out (no pun intended) primarily due to his three protruding spikes out of his head – making him look like a half-formed starfish.

Unfortunately, as is once again the case with some of the Dwarves, ‘An Unexpected Journey’ hasn’t yet provided us with the wealth of background information the film-makers have conjured up for their on-screen protagonists – information which is found in movie tie-in books, visual companions and official guides (rather than in the film itself).

As a matter of fact, Nori is apparently the equivalent of a dwarf thief – preferring the skulking shadows to conduct his shady business. Something which, as I have stated numerous times already, is a very interesting way to provide a more varied Company – rather than a “copy and paste” approach of a Gimli-style character multiplied by thirteen.

– Ori: The youngest and the not so young dwarf

There is a bit of a discrepancy between Ori from the book and Ori from the film. Both are (indirectly or not) suggested as being the author of the famous Book of Mazarbul (the account kept by the Dwarves who tried to reclaim Moria during the Third Age).

However, within film-terms, Ori (Adam Brown) is presented as the youngest (and most naïve) of the dwarf-lot. His goat-like beard (if you can call it that) and his childish mannerisms, somewhat undermine the essential qualities of a Tolkien dwarf.

That is not to say that the cinematic Ori is completely off course. From what we have seen in the first film, it is clear that his character has more to offer: both in terms of character development and the story itself (not least his connection with a particular event in ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ – book and film).

And with the “triplet” groups over, the next post shall tackle the three sets of pairs … (hope that made sense).

(Images taken from the ‘Heirs of Durin’ site here)