Peter Jackson has admitted that he was hesitant about taking on such a momentous task as adapting The Hobbit into a film trilogy, simply because of the sheer complexities of bringing 13 different dwarves, each with their own individual personalities and characteristics to life.
Jackson wanted each dwarf to be identifiable by the audience, by their silhouettes, their hairstyles, down to the very clothes they wear and their weaponry of choice. Thus, he created each dwarf with their own personal specification in mind. Going into such a dense trilogy and keeping track of 13 dwarves might seem like a tall order, but there are ways to keep track of the brave group helping Bilbo along his journey.
The Royal Line
The three most easy to distinguish, because they are the three in the direct royal line from Durin, and also the three that are targeted in the ambush on Ravenhill are Thorin, Fili, and Kili. Thorin needed to look regal, he was the leader of the whole expedition, and the one upon whom audiences, and the other dwarves in the story, would be pinning all of their hopes. He is described in the book as having "a forked beard he tucked in his belt," but Jackson and the team moved away from this style, giving Thorin a short beard in the films as a ‘singed beard’ which was a mark of respect to all of the dwarves who were burned in Erebor when Smaug came.
Thorin means ‘darer’ - the one who dares to reclaim the kingdom, and his whole personality was built around this stubborn, loyal and proud concept. Fili and Kili are the twins, the youngest members of the team. To reflect this, Fili was designed with twin swords and twin daggers. His main element is throwing weapons. The weapons were designed to be asymmetric, to reflect that Fili and Kili are not identical, but at the core, they are the same, loving loyal characters.
Fili is next in line for the throne after Thorin, and bears the weight of this responsibility. Kili is most known as the dwarf who falls in love with Tauriel, the she-elf. His concept design was based heavily around actor Aiden Turner, and he had the least prosthetics of any od the dwarves as the team wanted to keep his face as unobscured as possible. His other most distinctive characteristic is that his weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.
The Most Loyal In The Fold
Dwalin is Thorin’s right-hand man, his most loyal counterpart, and the most well-trained soldier.. His iconic style is a bald head, with a scar across one eyebrow. His whole look is fierce and tough, and he is clothed in garments with a fur collar, cut in strong angles to make him look wolflike. He also has several tattoos and markings across his body that depict the fate of the dwarven race, his own mark of respect for their fallen kin. His weaponry consists of 2 axes called grasper and keeper, which are inscribed on the blades in dwarven runes, and his knuckledusters. He is the brother of Balin, the oldest on the quest, who is known for his white beard and red clothing.
The biggest challenge with this was making him not look like Santa, so they had to keep his design very grounded. To do this they put flicks in his beard, which match the motif across his costume, including the flicks on his shoes. Balin is the most reluctant member of the crew, he is the philosopher, the educator, and the one who later dies in the tombs of Moria.
Little is known about Gloin other than that he is Gimli’s father. He has the same red hair and bushy beard, and the same axe as Gimli, which would be later handed down. He’s the banker of the group, looking after their finances, and like his son, he also has a bit of a temper! His brother Oin is another older member of the clan, and is known as being their medicine man. He makes potions, studies herb lore, and has healing powers, including being able to read signs and omens. He is probably most recognized by the golden tube he has in his ear, to aid his hearing.
The Distant Relations
Another strand of the more distantly related dwarves to Thorin and Fili and Kili are Dori, Nori and Ori. Dori is often mocked as the fussiest of the bunch. He is particularly prim and proper, dressed in mauves and purples to signify his royal blood, and the style chosen for his beard is very intricate, as if he has spent ages preening it. He is surprisingly family-oriented, and acts as a bit of a mother-hen to Ori who is much younger.
The next is Nori, who has another unusually iconic style because of his three-pointed ‘starfish hair’. The designs for his wig, made of Yaks hair, incorporate his eyebrows, which are long enough to be braided all the way up into his hair. The team wanted something very conceptually unique for his look, and they certainly achieved it according to most fans. Among the team he is thought to be the poacher, the thief, and as such he has a certain respect for Bilbo. He is also the best horse-rider of the company.
Ori is the youngest of these three, and his whole design reflects this. He is dressed in lavenders and pastel colors, with his clothes being knitted, to give the other dwarves the feeling that they want to mother him. Even his weapon of choice is wonderfully innocent and child-like, being a slingshot, and he is the shy, gentle, character, known as the scholar. He is seen throughout the films writing in his journal. When the fellowship finds the tombs in Moria, just before they are attacked by the Balrog, Ori is the skeleton they find sitting beside Balin’s grave, who has written ‘the way is shut’ in their book if records.
The Workers of the Group
The last three are the most rustic of the crew, with the least connection to the royal line, they are the blacksmiths, the miners, and the groundsmen. Described by Fran Walsh as the ‘plebs’, they were given much scruffier, brown, and green earthy colors for their wardrobe, made of coarse and thick materials like Hessian's rough silks.
Bifur is the only character of the bunch who cannot speak in the common tongue, and he relies entirely on his dwarvish roots, thanks to the orc axe that is buried in his skull. The head trauma boggled his mind, and it makes him incredibly berserk, volatile and violent. His weapon is a staff with a spike on the end, that he can sling around and kill multiple enemies at once. Interestingly, he is also a toymaker, which means that he has a beautiful gentle side and a love of children beneath his addled mind.
Bofur is a comical character, with a strong sense of Irish humor, a silly hat that points out at the ends, and a perfect grasp of witty timing in any situation. He is also the musical one, with a beautiful Irish singing voice, and he plays the flute. He is the one who tries to keep the others optimistic and comes out with some amazingly deep and sensitive advice when it is needed.
And last but not least is Bombur. He is a round and rotund character, and this is reflected in every aspect of his appearance. The team designed him in circles, with a beard shaped like a donut (which was originally designed to have little containers of food stashed inside) He has the most prosthetics, and the most layers to his body suit, giving him a full lower face prosthetic to make his kneck sack larger like a double chin. Unsurprisingly, as the one who loves food, Bombur is the cook of the crew.