Legolas



Legolas Thranduilion, sometimes called 'Greenleaf ', is a character from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He is a Sindarin elf, the son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood, and an expert archer. In the movie trilogy adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, Legolas is played by actor Orlando Bloom and has blond hair and blue eyes.

Legolas in Book Canon
We first meet Legolas during the Council of Elrond, where he becomes a member of the Company of the Ring and pledges to aid Frodo in the quest to take the One Ring to Mordor. After the breakup of the Company of the Ring following the skirmish at Amon Hen, when Frodo and Sam leave for Mordor, he accompanies Aragorn and Gimli across the plains of Rohan, tracking a party of Orcs that kidnapped Merry and Pippin. It is during this time that his friendship with Gimli, a dwarf, is formed, and they become the closest of friends, pledging to travel together once the War is done. Overall, Legolas is depicted as wise and extremely competent, a fine woodsman and hunter, a deadly warrior, and a loyal friend.

Legolas in Movie Canon
Legolas as portrayed in the film trilogy has a more visible sense of humour, making jokes at or with Gimli (mostly from the second film onwards, when this duo seem to take on the mantle of comic relief now that Merry and Pippin are in mortal danger and have few opportunities for jokes). He also appears to be credited with inventing skate- or snowboarding during the Battle of Helm's Deep, where he slides down a set of stone steps on a shield. In the films, he is still shown as wise (although sometimes his lines give more of a feeling of 'stating the obvious' than 'deep and meaningful'), competent, and masculine (for the importance of this last, see below).

Legolas in Badfic
In badfic, Legolas's sole defining characteristic is that he is 'hott' or 'hawt'. Badfic authors often lament their lack of ownership or dominion over him. In this, they are often confusing Legolas, the character, with Orlando Bloom, the actor. They will also frequently call him Leggy.

He is probably the most frequently allied character in LotR badfic, either with a Mary Sue or with Aragorn. In relationships with Aragorn, he is almost always reduced to a snivelling, crying girly-man who has been abused or upset in some way in his past. He will often bear Aragorn's child, with a passing mention of how Elves' biology is different enough to allow males to bear children, or sometimes a prophecy. Legolas is also often put into abusive relationships with other canon males.

His hair will be 'golden' or 'blonde' (again, despite the fact that he is male) and his eyes 'cerulean', 'sapphire', 'azure', or sometimes all three in the same fic, in complete disregard of the fact that in the books, his and most elves' eyes are grey.

In bad parodies, he is also occasionally portrayed as a girly wimp, with frequent mentions of using dye or hair spray. Rarely do authors in either type of story strike any notes that ring true to his character.

Surname
Badfic writers will often mistakenly assign Legolas the moniker 'Greenleaf' as his surname. In fact, Greenleaf is a byname—more of a title, like 'the Gray'. If anything, Legolas's surname is Thranduilion, which means 'son of Thranduil' in Sindarin.

Legolas and the PPC
As a result of his experiences in badfic, Legolas is a frequent patient at both Medical and FicPsych, and it doesn't even bear thinking about how many times he's been neuralyzed.

He is the lust object of some agents, though the proportion of Legolas fans in the PPC seems to be lower than the proportion of Legolas fans in the general population. This is a good thing, since it means that most agents are competent to handle Legomances without getting distracted by their feelings for him.