Tauriel

Tauriel is a character from The Hobbit movies directed by Peter Jackson. She first appears in The Desolation of Smaug, where she is Captain of the Guard in Mirkwood who reports to Thranduil. Tauriel is a skilled fighter with both a bow and long knives. She is close to both Legolas, who she has known for many years, and the dwarf Kíli, who she develops an attachment to when the Company of Thorin Oakenshield passes through Mirkwood on their way to reclaim Erebor. She survives the movies, but her future fate is unknown.
Tauriel is played by Evangeline Lilly, who is also known for playing Kate Austin in Lost.
==Canon==
Tauriel is mostly original to the Hobbit movies, so her only canon information comes from them. In the second movie, she and Legolas are portrayed as close, trusting each other and comfortable fighting side by side. She is shown to be a skilled warrior but a Silvan elf, rather than Sindarin, and Thranduil therefore calls her an unsuitable match for his son. When Tauriel leaves Mirkwood to follow the orcs and save Kíli from poison, Legolas follows and tries to dissuade her. She refuses to turn back, so Legolas joins her. They trail the orcs to Laketown and rescue the dwarves and children in Bard's house from an attack. Against Legolas's orders, Tauriel stays behind to heal Kíli's wound.
After Tauriel rescues everyone in Bard's house from Smaug, she and Kíli have a brief exchange on the shore of the Long Lake, then she goes with Legolas to scout in the north. Together they discover a second approaching army, so she and Legolas rush back to Dale, only to discover that Thranduil is about to leave the battle. Tauriel demands they warn the dwarves on Raven Hill about the trap they're walking into and about the second army, but Thranduil refuses. Tauriel defies him, even to the point of physically threatening each other. Legolas intervenes, and both Tauriel and Legolas rush to Raven Hill.
Once on the hill, Tauriel is attacked by Bolg. Kíli comes to her rescue and, after an intense fight, is mortally stabbed. Legolas sees Tauriel grappling with Bolg by the edge of a cliff and rushes to attack Bolg himself, eventually killing the orc. Thranduil, running to the hill in fear for his son's life, finds the severely injured Tauriel cradling Kíli's dead body in her arms. Thranduil acknowledges that her feelings for the dwarf were real; it's implied that he's remembering his own wife's death in battle.
Tauriel appears to survive the battle, but no other conclusion is given for her in the theatrical release of The Battle of Five Armies.
==Fannish Reaction==
In mid-2011, more than a year before the first film was released, Tauriel's existence was publicized. There was some negative reaction to her existence as an original female character,Wish She Could Be Part of Your World: On Tauriel-hate and Original Material by Zoe Chevat, posted Dec. 17, 2013. Accessed February 20, 2015. though Jackson had introduced other original characters (or dramatically expanded minor character roles) in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and indeed would introduce several other original female characters in the Hobbit trilogy as well, including Sigrid, Tilda, and Hilda
As annathepiper pointed out after the airing of the Desolation of Smaug trailer:
Complaints about Tauriel often referred to her as a Mary Sue, even though Peter Jackson is a man and therefore unlikely to have used her as a self-insert. One blogger posted Lilly's own comments about Tauriel's creation:
In response, an anonymous commenter called Tauriel a "mary-sue" [sic] 6 times. Other commenters declared:
Some other commenters framed Tauriel's addition to the storyline as a cheap attempt to appeal to women moviegoers. Similar comments could be found on many different sites.
However, not all commenters agreed: 
A blogger at theonering.net compared the reaction to Tauriel after the trailer for Desolation of Smaug to the reaction to Arwen's expanded role in Lord of the Rings.Evangeline Lilly gets personal with TORn about Tauriel and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ by MrCere, posted October 30, 2013. "Back in the day, there was quite a fan uproar when rumors placed Liv Tyler’s Arwen in battle at Helm’s Deep. So are Tolkien enthusiasts now more willing to accept new material?" Accessed February 20, 2015. A columnist at dailylife compared it to broader negative reactions in fandom toward particular female characters, such as Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones.The woman who 'ruined the Hobbit', by Clem Bastow. "Lilly is not alone in playing a character arbitrarily loathed by fans. Spare a thought for poor Sophie Turner, whose Game Of Thrones character Sansa seems to have – despite the presence of many far more despicable characters – become a beacon for all that is mean and unpleasant about online fandom." Posted June 13, 2013. Accessed February 20, 2015. An article at The Mary Sue explicitly called the negative reactions sexist, but also addressed fears women had about how Tauriel might be portrayed, as the only fighting woman in a boys' club:
Indeed, there were elements of a love triangle in the movies, and this disappointed some fans who were otherwise disposed to like Tauriel as a character. Whatanerdgirl explained:
Lilly herself fought against the inclusion of a love triangle and was disappointed in the producers for adding one after principal filming.'Lost' Survivor Evangeline Lilly Is Not Happy About That 'Hobbit' Love Triangle, by Erik Davis. Posted December 16, 2013. Accessed February 20, 2015. In a response to Whatanerdgirl's post, Chloe described the inclusion of a love story plot as a way to give Tauriel typically feminine qualities as strengths:
After Desolation of Smaug opened in theaters, Tauriel saw increased acceptance and even a spreading fanbase among younger viewers, especially young girls.Evangeline Lilly on ‘The Hobbit': It ‘changed my mind about acting’ by Noelene Clark. Posted December 10, 2014. Accessed February 21, 2015. Some fans specifically gave Tauriel a closer look due to the backlash against her romantic plotline:
The Tauriel Test was coined by JennIRL to describe a canon in which at least one woman is competent at her job."the Tauriel test (which i made up in response to The Hobbit 2 [which passes] and Skyfall [which fails]): a) there is a woman, b) WHO IS GOOD AT HER JOB." - the Bechdel test, the Ellen Willis test, ALL THE TESTS: or, a handy guide to feminist critiques of narrative by JennIRL. Accessed July 30, 2015.
==Shipping==
After The Desolation of Smaug was released, parts of fandom adopted Tauriel into romantic relationships. By February, 2015, the Kíli/Tauriel ship was the third largest in the Hobbit fandom on AO3, its 864 works there (on February 21, 2015) surpassed all but Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield and Fíli/Kíli. Other romantic/sexual ships involving Tauriel include:
* Legolas/Tauriel (96 works on AO3 as of February 21, 2015)
* Tauriel/Thranduil (39 works on AO3 as of February 21, 2015)
* Fíli/Kíli/Tauriel (27 works on AO3 as of February 21, 2015)
* Arwen/Tauriel (25 works on AO3 as of February 21, 2015)
==Example Fanworks==
===Resources===
* Fuckyeah-tauriel on Tumblr
* Tauriel tag on deviantArt
* Tauriel tag on Pixiv
* Tauriel tag on Cosplay.com
* Tauriel Cosplay on deviantArt
* Tauriel tag on Archive of Our Own
* Tauriel tag on Fanfiction.net
* char:tauriel and char:male!tauriel on hobbit-kink's Pinboard
===Cosplay===
* Halloween Tu-Tauriel with Strawburry17 by i love makeup. (video)
* Tauriel: Desolation of Smaug by PeregrineTook310
* Tauriel: Green Battle Dress by Kay_77
* The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Tauriel (1) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Tauriel (2) by Fiora-solo-top
* they're coming and She is far away by AngelaBermudez
===Fanart===
* Tauriel by godfathersky
* Tauriel, a Silvan elf by Samaell
* Tauriel (The Hobbit) Speed drawing by Carolina Gonzales (video)
* She Walks in Starlight by Yuuza
==References==
Category:Tolkien Characters