Gandalf has no real spells!

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
He can communicate with insects. Remember he spoke to that moth when he was trapped on the tower. That's magic, isn't it.
 

DannyBoy

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 2002
8,820
2
81
www.danj.me
Originally posted by: CPA
He can communicate with insects. Remember he spoke to that moth when he was trapped on the tower. That's magic, isn't it.

no thats skitzofrenia, however you spell it
 

oLLie

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2001
5,203
1
0
Originally posted by: Azraele
He can defeat a Balrog.

I can defeat balrog but I don't wanna.



Actually I sort of have to resort to "cheaping" him in the corner with Sagat. But irregardless :D it's still a win!
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: oLLie
Originally posted by: Azraele
He can defeat a Balrog.

I can defeat balrog but I don't wanna.



Actually I sort of have to resort to "cheaping" him in the corner with Sagat. But irregardless :D it's still a win!
:D
 

WinkOsmosis

Banned
Sep 18, 2002
13,990
1
0
Originally posted by: Megatomic
No, it seems Gandalf is a Druid! He can speak with the animals.

And I guess Aragorn isn't a ranger because he can't speak with animals and has no magic :).

 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
Gandalf can make his horse run really fast.

And he can make light come from his staff.

What else can he freaking do?

Did you even WATCH the first two movies?

What about the first one? Invoking fear into someone (Bilbo), Destroying the bridge
Second one: Destroying a Balrog? Driving Saruman out of King Theoden
The ones you listed are from the 3rd one, and Gandalf didn't make his horse run like that. It was the horse itself. The last of a special breed. It also looks like he used a bit of magic to wake Pippin back up after he looked into the Palantir.

If you want cheesy, cliched wizards go back to your Dungeons and Dragons sillyness. This isn't cheese fantasy. It's fantasy with roots in reality, that is what sets LOTR apart.
 

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,127
6
81
Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Originally posted by: Megatomic
No, it seems Gandalf is a Druid! He can speak with the animals.

And I guess Aragorn isn't a ranger because he can't speak with animals and has no magic :).
He's a Ranger who CAN'T speak with animals and do magic. He's been too busy to study.

 

CinderElmo

Senior member
Jun 23, 2000
732
0
0
I think Gandalf was going to put up a Bubble of Invulnerability around Minas Tirith in the last movie, but I distinctly saw him fail rolling two dice 20's. He needed two "20's" and only got a 6 and a 7. Thus, he had to do it the old fashioned way by using his staff and sword to put the smack on the Orcs. No wizard in Dungeons and Dragons can handle weaponry like that. Remember that old cartoon of D&D? They were weak compared to Gandalf!
 

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,127
6
81
Maybe he's a Spellsword like in Morrowind? A Battlemage? Something like that?

Actually, he seems to be modeled after wizards from Celtic mythology, those guys could sing magic and sling a sword at the same time. Complete badasses they were.
 

PowerMacG5

Diamond Member
Apr 14, 2002
7,701
0
0
Originally posted by: kami
Gandalf can make his horse run really fast.

And he can make light come from his staff.

What else can he freaking do?

Did you even WATCH the first two movies?

What about the first one? Invoking fear into someone (Bilbo), Destroying the bridge
Second one: Destroying a Balrog? Driving Saruman out of King Theoden
The ones you listed are from the 3rd one, and Gandalf didn't make his horse run like that. It was the horse itself. The last of a special breed. It also looks like he used a bit of magic to wake Pippin back up after he looked into the Palantir.

If you want cheesy, cliched wizards go back to your Dungeons and Dragons sillyness. This isn't cheese fantasy. It's fantasy with roots in reality, that is what sets LOTR apart.
I have to agree with you. All these people that complain about the movie's have no respect for the books. Jackson did not create the idea behind the movie, he turned a great book into a great movie.
 

TRUMPHENT

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2001
1,414
0
0
Tolkien wrote great reading. I didn't know what to compare it to until I read Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes Saavedra. Cervantes was a cynic with a loveable sense of humor. Tolkein was a language professor with an imagination and love of elf stuff.

They both wrote about the strenths and weaknesses of men.

Gandalf was the mentor of the good in men. He constantly guided the movers and shakers to success.

The other members of the same order of Gandalf may not have been written about in detail but the hint is that they were working off the map for the same goal. They may have had impact that goes unrecorded, in regions that were not written about.

I believe that Gandalf knew full well that he was near indefeatible. He also knew that his mission was to appear as something else to whomever was observing him.

I read all the books years ago! Pah! Bah Humbug.


:D:beer:
 

Rufio

Banned
Mar 18, 2003
4,638
0
0
Originally posted by: Azraele
He can defeat a Balrog.

Big whoop!

I defeated Balrog when I was a child!

I beat Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison too while I was at it!
 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
Originally posted by: Electrode
Originally posted by: lowfatbaconboy
Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
None of the magic in LOTR was agreesive except for causing fear. All action was done by muscle.

wussy ....psht people need to get blown up by fireballs......and possibly magic missle

Don't forget lightning bolts. :)

iirc in the book for return of the king, when he rides from the minas tirith to take on the nazgul as the riders come back to the city, he does use lightning....in the movie it was just a beam of light, how meh
 

BeauJangles

Lifer
Aug 26, 2001
13,941
1
0
Originally posted by: xSauronx
Originally posted by: Electrode
Originally posted by: lowfatbaconboy
Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
None of the magic in LOTR was agreesive except for causing fear. All action was done by muscle.

wussy ....psht people need to get blown up by fireballs......and possibly magic missle

Don't forget lightning bolts. :)

iirc in the book for return of the king, when he rides from the minas tirith to take on the nazgul as the riders come back to the city, he does use lightning....in the movie it was just a beam of light, how meh

I thought that was because Jackson hates the idea of magic?
 

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
In the books (and maybe the movies?) he fought off the nazgul on top of Weathertop in the Fellowship of the Ring. The battle was seen (as lots of lightning strikes) by Aragorn and the hobbits as they were trying to get to Rivendell. IIRC, there were scorch marks on the hilltop when they arrived.
 

Hector13

Golden Member
Apr 4, 2000
1,694
0
0
Originally posted by: CPA
He can communicate with insects. Remember he spoke to that moth when he was trapped on the tower. That's magic, isn't it.

that's another thing I don't get. I'm willing to accept the fact that he can't shoot out fireballs or lightning bolts (though I would think any sell respecting wizard should be able to do such things), but if he can talk to (and seemingly control) those big flying pigeons, then why doesn't he?

Instead of walking around using their feet like a bunch of idiots, he could summon up of few of the pigeons and they could have flown from the shire to mt. doom, tossed the ring in, and been back in time for dinner (or second dinner).
 

Ameesh

Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
23,686
1
0
Originally posted by: Rufio
Gandalf can make his horse run really fast.

And he can make light come from his staff.

What else can he freaking do?

magic missle and chain lightining are gonna fell pretty fvcking real when you get hit with them ;)
 

WinkOsmosis

Banned
Sep 18, 2002
13,990
1
0
Originally posted by: BlinderBomber
Originally posted by: xSauronx
Originally posted by: Electrode
Originally posted by: lowfatbaconboy
Originally posted by: Dr Smooth
None of the magic in LOTR was agreesive except for causing fear. All action was done by muscle.

wussy ....psht people need to get blown up by fireballs......and possibly magic missle

Don't forget lightning bolts. :)

iirc in the book for return of the king, when he rides from the minas tirith to take on the nazgul as the riders come back to the city, he does use lightning....in the movie it was just a beam of light, how meh

I thought that was because Jackson hates the idea of magic?

No he doesn't use lightning. He fights it mentally. A beam of light is right on.



Why didn't he take the ring and fly to Mt. Doom? Because it's not his ring. Why didn't Frodo do it? Because Sauron would have killed the eagle and Frodo and taken the ring. And he didn't control the eagles or the butterfly. He spoke to them. The giant eagles can speak human languages in any case. In the book, one of the eagles flies to Minas Tirith and announces the victory.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,268
126
This is like saying the US has no military power because we havent nuked anybody since WWII