Legolas

Legolas 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 (Pirates of the Caribbean, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy) and has blond hair and gray 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, 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' 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. 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 even in the films, his eyes were grey. Legolas is also often put into abusive relationships with other canon males.

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