Merry Brandybuck

## Personal Information

### Personality

Loyal, brave, childish (formerly), trouble-making (formerly), observant, intelligent

### Enemies

Gothmog, Nazgûl, Witch-King of Angmar, Treebeard (briefly), Saruman, Gríma Wormtongue

### Interests

Causing mischief (formerly), taking Farmer Maggot's crops, his friends and family, smoking, drinking ale, singing

### Dislikes

Trouble, orcs, Pippin's curiosity, being separated from his friends, the Ettenmoot not going to war, abandoning, the dark forces of Sauron, evil

## Portrayal

### Live Action

Dominic Monaghan

**Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck** is one of the eight main protagonists of *The Lord of the Rings*, portrayed by Dominic Monaghan and first appears in *The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring*
Merry is portrayed by Dominic Monagahan

## Background

### Personality

Before journeying through all of Middle-earth, Merry used to be something of a troublemaker, and he was the one who got Pippin in trouble, notably his idea to steal a firecracker from Gandalf's cart. However, he felt a sense of responsibility over Pippin, saying he was always the one to get him out of trouble.

Merry was also notable in knowing lore in Middle-earth. In example, when Pippin heard sounds in the trees, Merry claimed that the trees could come alive and talk and knew to call them "treehearders" when they met Treebeard for the first time.

Over the course of the journey, Merry develops a sense of maturity and loyalty to his friends, to both the friends he has known forever and his newer ones. For example, he joined the Fellowship of the Ring immediately after Sam, shwoing his unwillingness to abandon Frodo. When the Ents would not help the fight with Sauron, Merry was unwilling to abandon them in their time of need. He even tells Eowyn that his only hope is seeing Frodo, Sam and Pippin again and didn't want Frodo to be found by the Orcs. Merry also grew to care for Eowyn, and immediately came to rescue her by stabbing the Witch-king in the back before he hurt her any further.

Overall, Merry is a very lovable person who is willing to protect the ones he loves and cares for.

### Appearance

Merry has blond, curly hair and green eyes. He used to wear a brown jacket with a yellow waistcoat over his plain white shirt. Merry also wears a greyish-green Elven cloak.

### Abilities

* **Sword-fighting:** Merry is capable of using a sword and became an expert swordsman, being able to defend himself against an Orc. It could also be because he was taught how to sword-fight by Boromir.
* **Leadership:** Merry has a sense of leadership, as the other members of the Army's forces.

## *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy

### The Fellowship of the Ring

During Bilbo's 111th farewell birthday party, Merry instructs his cousin, Pippin to steal one of Gandalf's fireworks, which takes on the shape of a dragon. However, they stick the firework inside a tent, Merry begins chastising his cousin for not putting it outside with Pippin blaming Merry, as it was his idea. As they bicker, the firework goes up, causing them to fall down the ground. Merry decides for them to get another one but Gandalf catches them in the act and has them wash the dishes.

A couple of nights later, Merry and Pippin visit the Green Dragon with Frodo, Sam and their other friends. Both best friends sing a song while dancing on the table.

Another couple of nights, Merry and Pippin literally run into Frodo and Sam, who were on their way to Bree. As Sam and Frodo yells at their friends, the four hobbits heard Farmer Maggot coming to catch them in the act. Though they are able to get away, the four of them fall down a steep hill after Sam accidentally knocks them down while not looking. Before, Merry felt that he broke something and as he reaches down, it is only just a carrot. When Pippin spots mushrooms, Merry and Sam both run to gather them but are forced to hide when Frodo hears the Nazgûl coming down the road. Luckily, as they are crowded underneath a mini-cave, Merry takes a bag of vegetables and throws it in another direction giving them a long time to escape. When nightfall occurs, Merry analyzes the situation and says that black Rider was looking for something, or someone and knows it was Frodo. The hobbit tells his cousin where he and Sam are going and that they need to get there as fast as possible. Merry leads his friends to Buckleberry Ferry which will take them to the Brandywine Bridge. They encounter the Nazgul but are able to make their escape.

The four hobbits make their way to the Prancing Pony to meet Gandalf, but are told he has not been there for six months by Barliman Butterbur. . During their stay, Merry takes up a pint of ale, which prompts Pippin to get one as well.

After Strider takes Frodo to his room, Merry, Sam and Pippin
all rush in to rescue their friend, only to see that the Ranger is a friend of Gandalf's.

The next morning, Merry asks Frodohow they even know this stranger is  a friend of Gandalf's and not a servant of evil. Frodo replies they have no other option but to trust Strider, as he is not a servant of Sauron as one would be fouler than fairer. Aragorn reveals that they are headed to Rivendell, home of Lord Elrond.

During the battle in Weathertop, Merry and Pippin attempt to protect Frodo but are pushed to the side by the Nazgul. The battle ends with Frodo being wounded by the morgul blade.

Later, Merry reunites with Frodo after he is healed by Lord Elrond and joins the Fellowship of the Ring. During the breaking of the Fellowship, Merry realized that Frodo was missing, as well as Boromir missing. Merry and Pippin both ran to find him, where they found Frodo hiding behind a tree. Merry was the one who realized that Frodo was not coming with them and going to continue the quest alone. Pippin yelled to them as a distraction with Merry joining him. He shot one look to Frodo and told his cousin to run as he and Pippin ran to lead the Uruks away from Frodo as he made his escape. Boromir died defending them in battle, which resulted in Merry and Pippin being carried off by the Uruk-Hai

### The Two Towers

In *The Two Towers*, Merry falls ill during his and Pippin's capture by Orcs and Uruk-Hai but the two are able to escape when Rohirrim attack and are protected by Trebeard at the behest of Gandalf.

Merry later presses on to the Ents to go to war. He is successful when Treebeard sees that half the trees he knew was cut down. He and Pippin later find Saruman's storeroom and stealsl longbottom leaf.However, when Pippin asks if they should share the smoking leaves with Treebeard but Merry says they must keep it to themselves before pulling out a pipe and imitates the Ent

### The Return of the King

While he and Pippin are guarding Isengard, they are reunited with Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli. He was sadly separated from Pippin as he and Gandalf accompanied each other to Gondor while Merry stayed at Rohan, where Merry befriended Lady Éowyn and became an esquire of Rohan in order of the King. However, while Théoden intends to leave him behind, Éowyn secretly takes him with her.

During the Battle of Pelennor Fields, Merry noticed the Witch-king attacking Éowyn. He helped her by stabbing the Witch-king's leg, which enabled her to kill the evil servant of Sauron. However, in doing so, Merry is poisoned with the Black Breath and was separated from Éowyn while losing his Elven cloak in the process. Later that night, Merry is found by Pippin. He tells his best friend that he knew that he would find him and then asks if he is going to leave him again, but Pippin says he is not going to leave Merry, but look after him.

Aragorn later heals Merry from the Black Breath, as he is seen accompanying the army to the Black Gate. During the confrontation between Sauron's emissary, the Mouth of Sauron and the company, Merry believes Frodo to be dead but Aragorn doubts that he is gone.

After the Battle of the Black Gate, Merry, Frodo, Pippin and Sam are reunited with each other. The hobbits attended Aragorn's coronation, where they were congradulated for their bravery.

## Trivia

* He is one of the very few hobbits to have light colored hair.
	+ Which differs in the book, as It was rare for hobbits to have blonde hair or any other fair hair colors in  the novels, as most of them had dark brown curls. Merry was one of those rare cases to have light blonde hair.
* Merry is Fili's *Lord of the Rings*counterpart.
	+ They are both older brother figures to their best friend or relative. Merry is to Pippin as Fili is to his little brother, Kíli.
	+ Set as comic relief along with the ir friend.
	+ Both are mischevious
	+ have saved a friend. Fíli saved his
* Merry is fluent at throwing rocks and other objects. He shares those traits with Pippin and Bilbo.
* Merry has yellow waistcoat in The Lord of the Rings similar to the one Bilbo wears in the beginning of An Unexpected Journey, except in different patterns.
* Merry is the second youngest member in the Company of the Ring.
* Merry is shown to be very capable and sensible  and wise when not with Pippin. However, they are both mature by the end of the story's conclusion.