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The Lord of the Rings

Scariest lord of the rings moments

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

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33contenders high-voltage

287votes

3TopList

0commentsUpdated on 08/25/2026 at 12:00 PM

III – Denethor's meal1257

The worldwide ranking generated by 287 votes

33 / 33

III – Denethor's meal1257

III – The Mouth of Sauron1254

III – Shelob's lair1251

III – Frodo possessed by the Ring1251

II – Théoden possessed by Saruman1244

III – Sméagol's transformation into Gollum1241

III – Gollum biting off Frodo's finger1238

I – Boromir possessed by the Ring1235

III – Pippin looking into the Palantír1230

#10

I – Bilbo possessed by the Ring1226

#11

I – The Black Riders hunting at the edge of the Shire1226

#12

II – Frodo facing the winged Nazgûl at Osgiliath1221

#13

I – The Nazgûl stabbing Frodo at Weathertop1208

#14

I – The future shown in Galadriel's mirror1203

#15

II – Sméagol and Gollum plotting to deliver Sam and Frodo to Shelob1200

#16

I – The Watcher in the Water1199

#17

II – The Dead Marshes1199

#18

I – Gandalf startling Frodo at Bag End1198

#19

III – The Paths of the Dead1197

#20

II – Wormtongue with Éowyn1194

#21

I – The arguments at the Council of Elrond1193

#22

II – Gollum attacking Frodo and Sam in the Emyn Muil1192

#23

I – The Nazgûl in the room at the Prancing Pony1181

#24

I – Galadriel possessed by the Ring1176

#25

III – Frodo drawn helplessly toward Minas Morgul1173

#26

III – Frodo and Sam among the orcs1172

#27

II – Merry and Pippin captive to the orcs1169

#28

II – Merry and Pippin trapped by the trees of Fangorn1167

#29

III – Denethor's madness burning Faramir alive1164

#30

I – Frodo putting on the Ring for the first time at the Prancing Pony1154

#31

II – Frodo and Sam vulnerable before the Black Gate1147

#32

II – Treebeard's appearance1140

#33

III – Gandalf sleeping with his eyes open1100

What the community says

Rank the scariest and most horrifying moments from The Lord of the Rings.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.