There are many races in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings world including Men, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Trolls, and Ents. There are also other spiritual beings like the Valar and Maiar or Wizards. And there are several monstrous creatures like dragons, Balrogs, and giant tentacled monsters. Each Middle Earth being has their own strengths, some more than others, but who is the strongest of them all? Which has the most power? And which one is the deadliest? Though Sauron is perhaps the most deadly, there are other powerful beings as well.

The Lord of the Rings world can be confusing, as characters who are known to be the greatest and most powerful are sometimes defeated by those who are considered lesser than they are. This was so when Isildur of the race of Man took up his father's sword and defeated the great and powerful Dark Lord, Sauron. Or when Merry and Éowyn (a Hobbit and human) defeated the Witch-King of Angmar who was the leader of the Ringwraiths as well as Sauron's second-in-command. And one could also say that the Hobbits shouldn't have been able to survive several battles with Orcs, or that Sam shouldn't have been able to fight off Shelob, the great Spider.

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But these events happened by either chance, destiny, or an untold prophecy. For some of these characters, their best traits that take them from ordinary to powerful would be their old age and experience. The Ents (specifically Treebeard), are some of the oldest living creatures in Middle Earth, with Treebeard being the oldest. Treebeard is a Shepard of the forest and was able to heard and lead the Last March of the Ents in an organized attack on Isengard, which caused the great White Wizard to meet his untimely end.

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Speaking of old and powerful creatures, the Great Eagles of Manwë were sentient beings (initially described by Tolkien as bird-shaped Maiar, and later described as animals who were taught the language of the Valar), and they aided in the destruction of the Ring and carried Frodo and Sam away from Mount Doom. The most notable Great Eagles were Thorondor, Landroval, Meneldor, and Gwaihir—Lord of the Great Eagles in the Third Age.

As mentioned before, there are a lot of giant monsters in The Lord of the Rings that are not on either side of the war, but they are so large and strong they are considered some of the most powerful creatures in Middle Earth. Two of these monstrous creatures would be Shelob and the Watcher in the Water. Shelob's lair was in the pass Cirith Ungol (called Torech Ungol), and here she waited for any unsuspecting creatures to stumble by so she could feast on them. Shelob didn't discriminate and chose her victims at random, much like the Watcher in the Water—a giant tentacled monster who lurked outside of the West Doors of Durin in the stagnant, dark lake.

This giant sea monster was powerful enough to trap the Dwarves inside the Mines of Moria and even kill Gimli's uncle, Óin. Gandalf hinted at the Watcher being very old and powerful, as it had lived in the deep parts of the world for some time. Other giant and powerful creatures in The Lord of the Rings are the Balrogs and Smaug. Balrogs were fallen Maiar, seduced by the first Dark Lord, Melkor, and were powerful enough that even Gandalf the Grey feared them. Though there were more powerful dragons to exist before him, Smaug was the last great dragon. He makes the list simply because of his long-lived control and greed over the treasures in The Lonely Mountain as well as the Dwarven countryside nearby.

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Wizards are some of the most powerful beings in Middle Earth. There were five Wizards in Middle Earth—Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, and the two Blue Wizards Alatar and Pallando. These Wizards were Maiar spirits disguised as old Men sent to aid the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. Although they appeared as old Men, they actually aged quite slowly and still had powerful bodies and brilliant minds. Saruman the White was the most powerful until he was corrupted and outranked by the resurrected Gandalf the White—who actually banished Saruman from the Order of Wizards and took his place. In Tolkien's Unfinished Tales, the number of Wizards in Middle Earth contradicted previous books in stating the total number was unknown.

Elves are described as "immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings." There were many great and powerful Elves in The Lord of the Rings including Glorfindel, Círdan, Celeborn, Galadriel, Gil-Galad, and Elrond (who was actually Half-Elven). Elrond was born of an Elf maiden and Man. Given the choice to be counted among Elf or Man, Elrond chose the Elves and founded Rivendell. He was a great influencer, warrior, and powerful leader. Galadriel and Celeborn (husband and wife) were two of the wisest and oldest living Elves in Middle Earth in the Third Age, along with Círdan. Galadriel (owner of the Ring of Water, one of three Rings of Power given to the Elves) is said to be the most powerful Elf capable of greater destruction and terror than even Sauron had she chose to use her powers for evil instead of good.

The race of Men is constantly disregarded even by other races in The Lord of the Rings as they fall victim easily to their own desire for power. But Aragorn is perhaps the greatest of the race of Men. He is a fierce warrior and very loyal to Frodo and the quest to destroy the Ring. Aragorn is brave and an inspiring leader. In the movies, he even fights off the Nazgûl single-handedly. One of The Nine was the Witch-King of Angmar, the leader of the Ringwraiths. The Witch-King was said to be indestructible, as no man could kill him. The only thing that could kill him was one of the Daggers of Westernesse, which was given to the Hobbits by Tom Bombadil (which is why many say Tom Bombadil is one of the most essential and powerful characters in Middle Earth).

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