Thorin Oakenshield

"I have no right to ask this of any of you...but will you follow me, one last time?"

- Thorin's most famous line

Thorin Oakenshield is the leader of the band of dwarves who wants to reclaim his lost kingdom and gold from the dragon, Smaug. He used a piece of bark as a shield  in the battle against Azog, thus being dubbed "Oakenshield".

Role in book
Thorin was featured in the book written in 1937 by J. R. R. Tolkien. He also appeared in a flashback of "The Quest of Erebor" and one of the appendix of The Return of the King. In this story, Thorin was revealed to be at least 56 when he fought in The Battle of Moria.

Revealed in "Unfinished Tales" short-story, the "Quest of Erebor" revealed how Thorin and Gandalf met. It was also revealed by Gandalf that he chose Bilbo was because of the Hobbit was

In his debut novel, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Thorin seeks to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug and the treasure inside it. He later succumbs to his grandfather's sickness and becomes obssessed with the Arkenstone. His burglar and former companion, Bilbo Baggins trades the stone. When Thorin finds out, he almost kills him before Bilbo is saved by Gandalf.

During the Battle of Five Armies, Thorin allies himself with Bard and Thranduil to fight off Bolg, son of Azog and his allies. However, during the battle, Thorin is mortally wounded with Beorn saving him and carrying him back to camp.

He later requested Bilbo Baggins' presence and apologized to Bilbo for his poor treatment of the hobbit. Mr. Baggins is left mourning for Thorin and learns that his nephews, Fili and Kili died along with him.

Personality
"Farewell, Master Burglar. Go back to your books... and your armchair... plant your trees, watch them grow. If more people... valued home above gold... this world would be a merrier place."

- Thorin's famous last words

Thorin was smart, proud, brave, intelligent and vengeful. Thorin's phenomenal amount of bravery and capacity for self-sacrifice was incredible for a Dwarf, and he would stand up of his own volition for any cause he saw as just. Thorin knew fear, but did not seem to possess any - possibly for the benefit of his comrades - making him charismatic to a fault. He was also a gifted speaker to large crowds, shown incessantly throughout the films.

He was extremely noble and highly respectable with a flair of vanity about him. He was respected by many throughout middle earth. He shared the greed of his family and had an extensive love for gold, though he valued the welfare of others as well. Ironically quite like his grandfather, when he came into the possession of the treasure of Erebor, he became intensely paranoid and protective over it.

In some cases he could be bitter, sly and aggressive, particularly when faced with the likes of Smaug and Azog, and sometimes even Gandalf. Thorin could experience violent and illogical mood swings that made other people, even his friends, fear him. Still, he quickly redeems himself after these moods pass. Thorin was exceptionally intelligent and resourceful, capable of using his environment and company to his advantage, and could also use mere words to win the day. He quickly formulates plans to combat the spiders, the goblins, the trolls, Azog and, finally, when battling Smaug.

Until the time of his death, he seemed to be cruel, stubborn and vain, and had a very high opinion of value. He was obsessed with possession of the Arkenstone, since it was the heirloom of his family and part of the Mountain itself. This negative traits doesn't last long as upon realizing that his greed over Arkenstone (referred as Dragon Sickness) would ruined him in the end. When seeing this error, he was hallucinating when he sees a vision of Smaug slithering on the pool of gold where it was originally used to kill Smaug before being drowned by the pool himself. Upon being snapped from the hallucination, he tossed his crown in frustation over the said mistake, and eventually returned to his Dwarf underlings as his true, noble self.