AI Portrays Book Descriptions of Lord of The Rings Characters

[@waitingforyouatthedoe2267]

I love how an AI’s interpretation of Gandalf is LITERALLY Ian Mackellen.

[@elvoria]

too many sample of Ian in pointy hat on the internet i guess.

[@harmlessratz7151]

Perfect casting

[@hrk8670]

I was about to comment that! lol

[@gib59er56]

Sorry, if you read the book and Gandalf`s looks are yes a long gray beard and hair with eyes black as coal but keen and sharp holding wisdom and knowledge. At first glance you see a face lined with long labor and toil, but if you look at him closely you see mirth and laughter that will make everyone near erupt in joy and laughter. Pippin describes him in Minas Tirith in this way. Also his nose is long and sharp, not at all like Ian McKellen, bless Ian for a great job though!

[@MasterMalrubius]

My first thought on casting was that Ian was the only good choice in all. Then I was proven wrong on every count. They did an excellent job.

[@pepperVenge]

If this video tells me anything, its that the casting of the Peter Jackson LotR films was spot on.

[@DrWhom]

or that the majority of source material the AI dived into was from the movies or adjacent publicity

[@JohnSmith-wo2fz]

@@DrWhom Exactly right. It's amazing how dumb a lot of the commentators are here. You've got 20 years of depictions of Jacksons version of LotR characters online for it to draw it's images from.

[@artharious]

@@JohnSmith-wo2fz Depends. If the images were generated based on the description of the books (without names), then it is a valid video. If, on the other hand, whoever created the images limited himself to describing them according to the movies (or simply name them), then you would be right.

[@SysterYster]

@@artharious Exactly my thoughts.

[@Soft_Ghost]

@@arthariousEven if you generate it from description from the book, AI still have to use materials from the film to learn. It can’t create from nothing.

[@mrmrgaming]

I like how it got to Gandalf and just went, "Screw it, use Sir Ian"

[@AIOverlords]

Haha, this is definitely skewed by the training data, when you think old wizard, there's two major fandoms with Gandalf and Dumbledore to pick from.

[@mrmrgaming]

@@AIOverlords Yeah, its a short list lol

[@berserkirclaws107]

AI - " I can't do better that Peter Jackson's version, guys !"

[@user-fq1y7b8td]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@great_supernova]

Hahaha! Haha!😆🤣😆🤣 Haha! 🤣

[@EaglebeakGaming]

I’m pretty sure the AI used images from Peter Jackson’s film to “learn” some of the descriptions 😅

[@DrWhom]

obviously. the AI is a very sophisticated image-average-and-morph tool, and even then, a human operator needs to pick out the small fraction that does _not_ look grotesque

[@SysterYster]

Obviously. Unless the descriptions left names out of it.

[@antonioo.martin222]

Even if they didn't give the character name, the passage can be linked to lord of the rings and the character's name will become apparent with the completed sentences, I'd guess. If you prompt something like "draw a cibernetic humanoid that says 'hasta la vista, baby'" what do you think you're gonna get?

[@suitedpanda3108]

Yea i mean the second picture of Galadriel just is Cate Blanchett

[@Revenant7n]

I love Peter Jackson's Tolkien Universe, but damn these are elegant renditions. Also demonstrates what we all know - Ian McKellen IS Gandalf.

[@voliac2014]

This video proves that 20 years ago filmmakers read the original texts and respected them. Not just random "blind" choice, like it is now.

[@dwightalexander2648]

Are you referring to magic the gathering's black aragorn?

[@voliac2014]

@@dwightalexander2648 i`m about the current tendency in cinema: rings of power, the witcher and so on... When filmmakers spoil original characters, a plot without any reason.

[@nicolasneumann1886]

"blind", right...

[@waza987]

Or was the information the AI was trained on heavily influence by the movie casting?

[@Draddar]

​@@waza987 probably this. Too many similarities

[@TheMone22]

I find Liv Tyler as Arwen to be more accurate as a stunning elven beauty than the super model look that the AI made!!

[@Rbcop1]

The AI Arwen is an absolute babe 😍

[@saskk2290]

The AI stuff is somewhat impressive but it still looks fake as hell

[@JohnGriffith222]

@@Rbcop1 FACTS. I'D SMASH

[@rduke325]

So you have never read the books then. Got it

[@Kazuya720]

Well.. Liv Tyler is a goregous woman back than, but this AI girl.. uuuuuiiii perfection pure!

[@humbleopulence]

So what you're saying is, the films were perfectly cast

[@wendelmiguelolivan8361]

Exactly!

[@ДжекДемпси-в1ю]

Indeed they were

[@udrevnavremena]

Book Aragorn also doesn't have a beard, because of his Elvish ancestry.

[@earlofsmeg]

@@udrevnavremena Aragorn is not an elf.

[@udrevnavremena]

@@earlofsmeg In a letter written late in his life, Tolkien confirmed that all Numenoreans of royal blood do not have beards, because of their Elvish heritage - they are descendants of Elros, brother of Elrond. He specifically singled out names such as Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, Denethor, and Imrahil. He said that the Elvish genetic strain is very strong, so that's why it can go on for many generations.

[@inuhundchien6041]

Even AI can't make a fake person more beautiful and more ethereal than Liv Tyler. Truly one of the most beautiful woman in the world.

[@NethP]

That's what I thought

[@asdfg9531]

The comment I was looking for ❤

[@korilshey1934]

Nah the AI version is way better looking

[@OneGeekStudios]

*women

[@warrenleezy]

Cate Blanchett? Evangeline Lilly?

[@movieguy992]

Didn't realize Aragorn was supposed to be 6'6. Guy was a tank.

[@grossepointemichigan]

He wasn't called "Longshanks" for nothing!

[@faustomadebr]

Numenorian blood: tall and longer life.

[@pathfinder2reality]

Aragorn is also beardless since Numenorians of high lineage couldn't grow them.

[@grantwithers]

Almost all of them were tanks, lego, gimli, fara, boro, and eomer (also as tall as aragorn) as well. Probably more of em as well, they're all supposed to be the chaddest warriors like many such back in the day (tho in real life they rarely broke 6 feet 2 inch because of malnutrition even as king or nobleman lol).

[@skaraturbo]

@@grantwithers I would not call Legolas a tank Assain Bowman fits better

[@luthientinuviel3916]

The cast of the movies is more than perfect, the way the characters were designed is so close to the description. The filmmakers really honored tolkiens vision

[@DrWhom]

you have no clue as to how this actually works, do you?

[@juliapigworthy]

Although the filmmakers did indeed honour the character descriptions with their chosen actors the AI would definitely have unavoidably included internet imagery from the films as a source ingredient to generate its output.

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

Peter Jackson: "let's read the book carefully, pick good actors that are the most faithful to the characters, and make sure to give them proper training and costume." Amazon: "Whoever can abide by our sick ideology without question is welcome. No skill required. Just make sure to fill the quota. Litteracy is optional."

[@Friendlyfirefish]

Legolas isn't blonde.

[@tord2354]

A lot of them aren't really that close to description.

[@savage_the_wild]

AI did a better casting job than Amazon ever could 😂

[@tokivikerness8863]

A child using one book line could have done a better job.

[@grantwithers]

They could have done better. Bezos even told his son that was involved in running the show to "not f this up". Of course we see the outcome.

[@ozymandias1759]

A blind monkey do it better than Amazon

[@Radwar99]

Because the AI went with what was described in the books which Amazon writers decided to ignore. Just a few errors though in the AI version like the Hobbits having facial hair.

[@JohnSmith-wo2fz]

@@ozymandias1759 A blind monkey wouldn't have had enough african elves for Bezos and co.

[@mehitablestorm8877]

It's amazing how well Jackson got the characters down - he respected the text and didn't try to warp it...for "Modern Audiences".

[@thegreywanderer8427]

"Modern Audiences" didn't even exist yet back then. Gender studies had only had time to warp only one generation into radical leftism, those became teachers for the people who went into college and universities after the 2000's and these people then propagated the ideology into both the public and private sector wherever "higher education" was the requirement for the job. It's still a small, very warped bubble today because the number of jobs requiring "higher education" always gets outnumbered by the more basic type of jobs. But that's changing fast because the ideology has been taken even into elementary schools and kindergartens now.

[@gildor8866]

Funny how the AI completely agrees with Jackson decision to make Frodo a young hobbit instead of 50~60 years old (middle-aged). Actually that gives away that the A.I. either did not go by the descriptions in the book at all. Or it "read" only the the first chapter (Bilbos birthday), where Frodo is indeed young. Given the resemblance of all other characters I think it used images based on the movie as its source.

[@davepastern]

you obviously never read the actual books...Jackson bastardised The Two Towers and The Return of the King and not in a great way. The trilogy started off well with The Fellowship of the Ring (albeit with Tom Bombadil's omission).

[@DrWhom]

@@gildor8866 none of you clowns seems to grasp how deep learning works...

[@terrystewart1973]

@@thegreywanderer8427 Going by how popular most of this stuff, produced for "Modern Audiences", actually is, I'm not sure "Modern Audiences" exist even now - or at least not in the way Hollywood thinks.

[@Francisco-mn7gt]

Gandalf was basically Ian McKellen again. About Eowyn I prefer Miranda Otto rather than AI version, she's so beautiful 😍😍.

[@hodgeelmwood8677]

Agreed. There's no way the AI versions could've passed for a male soldier if anyone had gotten a look at her face.

[@gib59er56]

Gandalf had "eyes black as coal". Read it.

[@HerrRoehrich]

She's a redhead though, when Eowyn is explicitly stated as being 'golden-haired'. I didn't dislike her casting choice as much as Théoden's or Faramir's, but I still wasn't happy with it back then, and I still think it was wrong now.

[@gryla5290]

​@@HerrRoehrichwho's the redhead? Miranda?

[@speak_your_truth.]

AI version is super hot 🔥

[@kingdollop-head743]

How did it know Legolas and Gimli’s hair colours though? Gandalf is also stated to have a blue, not grey, hat, although that wasn’t mentioned in the prompt text here.. Still, I can’t help but think the AI based these partly on pictures of the actors tied to the names..

[@annandune]

Is it largely film based? I think Aragorn doesn't have a beard too in the book.

[@williamashley7147]

Blue and gray, if I remember correctly (though I may not), have some conceptual overlap in old northern European cultures. Tolkien may have been considering those things a little while writing his descriptions.

[@gib59er56]

Gandalf has eyes as black as coal! Read "Many Meetings book 2 Fellowship.

[@DrWhom]

@@annandune It is most heavily influenced by what prevails in the data base, which contains numerous movie stills. the word Gandalf triggers mostly movie pics, plus some earlier fantasy artwork (on which the movie version was based anyway!). Gollum and eowyn are more heavily influenced by prompt words outside of the LOTR iconography.

[@Friendlyfirefish]

It didn't. Elves are usually dark haired, yes his dad is described as having golden hair but then legolas is described as having almost black hair (which is the norm for his race)

[@Claribole88]

The problem with AI and how they are "trained" : they will not "read" the book, just create pictures that seem "right" for us. I think the informations the AI was trained with was heavily influenced by the movie and how "we" all imagine the characters perhaps not the way JRR Tolkien imagine them. There are very few descriptions in the book and they are often incomplete.

[@h.m.v.]

Yes. The AI was obviously not exclusively fed lore. (Or all that much of the latter in the first place) Legolas hair colour for example is never described, but should be either silver or brown, based on Tolkien's description of different elf ethnicities. Where's the light of the trees in Galadriel's eyes? Sam's slightly darker complexion? I also hate that quite a few of the faces are pretty much generic Instagram model.

[@DavidKristoffersson]

Exactly. The AI's training data is "biased" because of the LOTR movies.

[@mary-kittybonkers2374]

I noticed that they all had light eyes. Even Sam, who was supposed to have brown eyes, had a light brown, hazel colour to his eyes, this was most apparent in the last image of him.

[@kaltziferYT]

It heavily depends on prompt. I don't believe they just entered a part of the book. They surely added something they thought would be necessary.

[@audien9178]

The "training part" is true. I've designed a few unsupervised and supervised machine learning models and you're spot on. How they train is the most important part by far. After that, the incentives given for choosing book related features would also be implemented.

[@nessus47]

Fine as these are, I prefer the movie cast, they are perfect.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

It pretty much is the movie cast lol😂

[@HerrRoehrich]

Except Eowyn - no idea why they cast a readhead to play a blonde character. Also, Faramir should have been played by someone with black hair. Their hair mingling in the wind at the Houses of healing is described as "raven and gold". Then again, changing the hair color is the least of what they did to Faramir's character...

[@teleriferchnyfain]

@@HerrRoehrich She has BLONDE hair in LOTR!!!! Strawberry blonde, but still demonstrably blonde! Plus Jackson's take on Faramir, as his take on Aragorn, made them human rather than unrealistic larger than life hero characters. Tolkien flat out said that 's what he was doing, you know - that his human characters weren't meant to be realistic but rather mythic types.

[@syannah344]

AI Aragorn took a heavy L lol

[@ironheart6984]

Contrary to the video, Eowyn's hair colour actually is described. In the chapter "The Steward and the King" in "Return of the King," Eowyn and Faramir, convalescing in Minas Tirith from their battle wounds, are standing together looking out over the city, when "a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air." So either Eowyn has dark hair and Faramir has light hair, or Eowyn has golden hair and Faramir has raven hair. 😄

[@TihoJeNebo]

Eowin’s hair description in Two Towers chapter six The King of the golden Hall: “her long hair was like a river of gold”.

[@DrWhom]

@@TihoJeNebo yes, this was included in the prompt. This is why the AI is less heavily biased towards pics from the movies (why is everybody astounded that an averaged pic from the movies looks like the movies?) in her case, and has more generic gorgeous blondes mixed in (a bit of Charlize, I believe?)

[@h.m.v.]

Faramir has the "Numenorean" look and Eowyn is of the Rohirrim. Tolkien may not give his characters extensive physical descriptions, but he does delve into genealogy and describing different tribes of men, hobbits, dwarves and elves*. It's when characters fall out of the scheme for their respective people that he points that out (Imrahil being blond, Cirdan having a beard, ...) *On that note: Legolas hair colour is a mystery, but should be either silver (Sindar) or brown (Silvan).

[@anwenm]

I think Faramir’s hair is described as black elsewhere too

[@JohnGuyJohn]

@@anwenm Yes, Boromir and Faramir both have dark hair like other Gondorians. I wouldn't want anyone other than Sean Bean playing Boromir, though!

[@carllazarraga2858]

Not even AI can make a better aragorn than Viggo.

[@hafidzahmad4540]

Gotta admit the AI depiction of Gandalf looks so much like Ian's Gandalf.

[@gib59er56]

Gandalf had eyes "as black as coal". Read the book.

[@remilenoir1271]

​@@gib59er56 So what ?

[@DrWhom]

@@remilenoir1271 so the AI just dove into what is available online, and most of it is from the movies

[@remilenoir1271]

@Deipatrous Not what I was talking about. I see this guy scurrying the comment section, spamming the same information over and over again. So my question is simple : why does it matter that Gandalf has black eyes in the book and blue eyes in the movies. Is it really such a big deal ?

[@pamplemoo]

​@@DrWhom read the description. The character's names weren't mentioned at all when asking the AI

[@sofiesdeco118]

I love the fact that AI couldn't top Cate Blanchett's natural ethereal beauty. Also Liv Tyler's.

[@wendelmiguelolivan8361]

I remember my Mom always told me that this Film was a masterpiece way back and when The Two Towers was first release in Cinema, she brought me to watch it. I can't barely remember it cuz I was just 2 years old that time. Now, I still sometimes watch LOTR and Hobbits trilogy when I have a long weekend.

[@benvergus1573]

In my high school days I watched (scenes of) the Lotr Trilogy, listened to the film music and played the pc and gameboy games almost every day. Glad to hear that 15 years later, a new generation has found a similar passion for this amazing story

[@sarasunshinemt4444]

I took my 3 month old daughter to Return of the King on opening night! The people next to me saw me with her and I told them that if she made noise, I'd leave the theater. She slept thru the whole thing! Didn't wake up until people clapped at the end of the movie. She's 20 years old now and engaged 😅

[@suitedpanda3108]

0:13 he’s thicc…….. curly brown hair

[@irov5892]

:D even AI knows, that Aragon is not black.

[@MrEthan100]

I think the AI found previous artwork, perhaps with the descriptions listed, and used those as the basis rather than just the descriptions.

[@greenman4946]

I agree. Legolas’ hair colour is never mentioned in the books. Nor Gandalf’s eye colour.

[@mediadunce653]

Except for maybe Gollum

[@Sparklester]

This is way more likely than it casually making characters similar to the film's cast. It might not only have found artwork but whole scenes to take inspiration from.

[@DrWhom]

yes, that is more or less exactly how it works. the millions of pics that form the underlying database are all tagged with numerous descriptors, weighed by applicability, and the AI finds a balanced mix. so if the name Gandalf appears in the passage, practically all Gandalf is from the movie, and the rest from the fantasy artist on whose work the movie wizard was based. The Gollum rendering is more heavily influenced by horror words such as gaunt, the Eowyn is more heavily influenced by female beauty descriptors.

[@Yattayatta]

@@DrWhom If whoever made the video did what you usually do, you'll just prompt it with the description of the character, the race, height, build etc and let the AI draw, you won't say "draw gollum" as that is useless. Check out some other videos from other books converted to TV series and you'll see that some characters, for instance Fringilla looks completely different from the netflix series.

[@rameking1]

Aside from the facial hair on the hobbits (not the AI's fault since it was never provided that information), these are all so freakin amazing and so spot on!

[@AIOverlords]

Glad you liked it! We've got more fandoms on their way, stay tuned!

[@TallisKeeton]

never provided ? but this video is made by comparison of book descriptions and movie charachters right ? So first sourse to make such comparison is book description. without it - whats the point?

[@user-fq1y7b8td]

Agreed

[@nitewulf2020]

Also, Aragorn was beardless, due to his pure Dunadain blood, and strong Elvish strain. Other than that, pretty good.

[@StuartKoehl]

What do you mean it wasn't supplied? It's right there in the preface, "Concerning Hobbits".

[@KosmicJelly]

Can you please do Troy? Achilles, Hector, Priam, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Paris & Helen, etc. Bonus points if you do the full cast of characters from David Gemmel’s Troy series for character descriptions!

[@juanpablogonzalez8528]

They are not black?!?! Smh

[@ikelevermann1491]

There is no way the AI made it better then Liv Tylers beauty lol

[@Mlai00]

Some people just look elven after donning some latex ears. Anya Taylor-Joy would be another one (though she looks more Sylvan to me).

[@h.m.v.]

I think that AI was using whatever look is in fashion as "ethereal" and "beautiful". Accurate to the book would also mean delving deeper into Tolkien's lore - and who inspired that character. There may not be that many photographs of Edith Tolkien, but enough to know that she looked a bit different than these AI generated pictures.

[@CLBOO6]

Arwen has too much make up on. I prefer Liv the natural beauty look in the movie.

[@lavane6943]

AI always portrays the same appearance to all the character it produces. Same bone structure, same deep eyes, same extreme femenine and masculine beauty. At this points is quite boring and I thank god that films are made by real human beings.

[@raniel32]

For now....

[@salkoharper2908]

They all just look like cousins from the same extended family to me lol. Same brow, chin, nose, eyes, etc. I don't know why everyone is raving so much about AI, these aall look so similar to me. Boring.

[@ivanstrydom8417]

AI Arwen is exquisite. AI Legolas looks to fake, Orlando is 100 times better, real life Samwise is so much better than AI Sam. AI Gollum is way to evil and demonic, movie Gollum is much more fitting. With all the rest, the AI characters look just as good as the original.Gnadlaf..... Gandalf is just a 1 to 1 copy of the real deal hahah Gandalf is perfection haha.

[@thedragonking8854]

That awkward moment when Wizards of the Coast should’ve just gone with the AI rendering

[@thephyrexian9664]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@AeroEng42]

Absolutely perfect comment!

[@Nesseight]

I would love to get one of those cards autographed by Vigo Mortensen himself. "Hey man, I'm a big LotR fan and I thought your portrayal of Aragorn was spot on. Would you sign this for me?"

[@ozymandias1759]

​@@NesseightUnfortunately Wizards of the coast wants that we have a card autographed by Jamal

[@phloriaernas2149]

Aragorn should be beardless, yes? Elves can have beards but only after they aged very much. Even Elrond who passed 5000 years old still didn't have beard. ... I mean, Elros and Elrond are twins. Aragorn is a descendant of King Elros, he was noted to have strong Numenor blood. And Numenor born from Elros are known for being beardless. I mean royal blood Numenor have really strong elven blood. I mean, super strength, super spiritual power, super eyes, can live much much longer than men (but still less than elves). Aragorn was around 80 in the movie, too young to have beards. ... I remember when Galadriel gave Aragorn elven clothes, people almost cannot distinguish Aragorn from elven lords.

[@mattlisch8952]

You sure know about Tolkien lore. For the exact same reasons, I was surprised when I first saw Aragorn in the movies featuring a beard. Maybe they didn‘t want to overcomplicate things by stressing the distinction between Dunedain and „lesser men“ because that would confuse the movie audience, I don‘t know. I also found Viggo Mortensen not physically imposing enough by far for the role given the description in the original text.

[@Blokewood3]

Im not sure about Aragon, but I do know that Hobbits shouldn't have beards.

[@alomejorqueno]

@@Blokewood3Tolkien specifically said descendants of the house of Elros don’t have beards. For Hobbits, you’re right, only Stoors can grow light beards. I think that Jackson wanted Aragorn to stand out because he would have been a very Elvish looking man, as well.

[@hannagrabowska9130]

Where's Marry? Pippin? Boromir? Elrond? Celeborn? King Theoden? Theodred? Eomer? Faramir? Denethor? Rosie? 🤔😏

[@whiteknightcat]

And Grishnakh! What about Grishnakh?! And Ugluk?

[@capitanodisseo429]

The AI model is most likely trained on the images of the movies so this exercize is like a snake biting its own tail.

[@DrWhom]

it is trained on a much broader database, but since LOTR contains unique proper names, this focuses almost all characters toward LOTR-related image material, of which the large majority of movie-derived, as you say - and a goodly portion of the rest is fantasy artwork by John Howe, who was the production designer for the movies. interestingly, in two cases more generic prompt words have weighed more heavily and mixed in non-LOTR source images. With Eowyn we get a bit of Charlize, with Gollum we get a horror monster

[@deardove1710]

I think Lord of the Ring Galadriel and Awen actress are much better then this AI, they look innocent and soft in film

[@bobo577]

5:33. Incorrect. Faramir and Eowyn’s hair are described as dark and golden respectively. The wind blows and their hair mingle with each.

[@TallisKeeton]

from this comparison I assume that it was made more based on fan illustrations and games than on book descriptions. :)

[@h.m.v.]

Yes... and not the really good lore accurate illustrations either. Quite a few Instagram models instead

[@jwoellhof]

Cant wait for the next great adaptation for modern audiences with Lizzo as Galadriel.

[@RavenclawDaisy95]

Lizzy would be a great cast for the Goblin King. Edit: stupid phone auto corrected Lizzo.

[@fullmetalprism5249]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MrEustace]

AI Eowyn is wife material

[@benmacleod7000]

This video proves that Jackson and his team were faithful to the text and the results were a great and everlasting film series. Amazon could learn a thing or two.

[@DrWhom]

I am discovering that not so great minds think alike too. you fools all make the same ignorant remark

[@DeclanOReilly]

it aint that hard Amazon, but no you failed

[@heroisesquecidos]

Aragorn has short black hair with gray streaks, no beard and a noble bearing. Aragorn is almost 2 meters tall. Legolas has black hair, gray eyes and is slightly taller than Aragorn. Legolas must be between 2.05 and 2.10 meters. Don't use the films as a basis, many characters are completely different in the films, both in appearance and personality.

[@nelsongoris7098]

legolas as described by Tolkien is about 6.1' or 6.2

[@Amadeus_A]

If an AI can do a more accurate design than an official card game, then AI is the future.

[@swordwhetstone9576]

My first thought exactly. These could’ve at least been used for inspiration for the artists but alas…

[@SysterYster]

AI's are already getting thousands of people kicked from their art jobs. AI's are faster and cost less. :/ They are also less varied and unique, since they can't really create things nobody's done before, but they forget that.

[@adamdesanti6713]

These are mostly excellent. Aragorn I would argue should be even more masculine, rugged, bigger and with a veiled majesty and kingly nobility. He is taller than everyone in the Fellowship, a man of Numenorean blood, stern looking with grey eyes. Before the events of Fellowship he fights for 60 long years against the schemes of Sauron in Arnor, Gondor, Rohan and the far East/South, gaining much in wisdom, craft and lore. He has a kingly presence that comes out even when he walks as a Ranger and strength of character that is not necessary a physical one, although he has that in spades. Would also liked to have seen Boromir, Eomer, Theoden, Faramir and Denthor. Big guys, hardened warriors, men of wisdom, justice and nobility.

[@cutelionfish7104]

I loved the LOTR casting and I think it was more accurate than the AI versions. Wasn't Aragorn described in the book as not very nice or trustworthy looking? Plus, the AI doesn't seem to handle the various fantasy races very well. The Hobbits didn't have facial hair, and since only their faces are shown in the video, you can't see that they're smaller than humans. They look like men, perhaps even a little too thin for members of their race. On the other hand, Gollum (ugh), Éowyn and Gandalf (a.k.a. Sir Ian McKellen, lol) were spot on.

[@iagobroxado]

As for Aragorn, people often depict him as handsome looking, when he was not. Also, he was very skinny, if I can remember correctly.

[@mireadur]

Liv's unbeatable as Arwen. Also, i think to recall aragorn having no facial hair.

[@Djelevic88]

We had perfect cast like 95%

[@spacerx]

Nice, but Tolkien said very plainly that hobbits had no beards except some few Stoors.

[@hanslaitinen31]

Legolas looks like Zac Efron

[@walfredswanson]

These are interesting, but a character is more than physical attributes. Female characters especially were so strongly portrayed in the films that it’s hard not to see the chosen actresses in those roles, a testimony to the thoughtful casting choices made then. AI threatens to become a crutch to support the most superficial choices in the future.

[@BlueberryDragon13]

Yes, Arwen and Galadriel look identical if you ignore the hair color. Also, they all wear makeup.

[@bojangles4398]

@@BlueberryDragon13 Agreed. Too makeup-looking, it just doesn't seem right for the characters and their settings

[@glarthir2213]

Its a testament to the casting of the trilogy that these mostly seem like downgrades. Liv tyler as arwen in particular was perfect. I liked the ai galadriel and gollum, though. And ai legolas/gimli would have worked for a more serious tone.

[@DrWhom]

no, that is not what is going on

[@kingdollop-head743]

Hobbits don’t have facial hair though

[@GabrielleNyx0109]

What I learned from the video : Thormund's GOT actor should play a Dwarf in LOTR, and Galadriel should have been portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer

[@peterang6912]

Sorry to say this but Michelle Pfeiffer is to short, Uma Thurman is better...

[@GabrielleNyx0109]

@@peterang6912 Well, the actors aren't hobbits either, and even then, they managed to make us believe they were small with movie-making tricks ;)

[@peterang6912]

@@GabrielleNyx0109 you where not talking about the hobbits but about Galadriel....

[@GabrielleNyx0109]

@@peterang6912 yeah, same movie right ? I what I mean is that you can take any actor on earth and make someone believe they're small or tall with tricks or CGI, and that goes for Michelle Pfeiffer too :)

[@peterang6912]

@@GabrielleNyx0109 yes i know that, she was great as catwoman and as a witch but don't see her as Galadriel...

[@fredkelly6953]

More poster children than real characters. Visual representations of every stereotype one could think of yet only skin deep lacking depth like all ai art.

[@baterg2344]

I thought LOTR characters were all Sub-Saharan Africans. Artificial intelligence indeed...

[@Abbadonhades]

I think Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) were two AI versions close to the actor/actress looks. For Galadriel at least one of the images mimicks the area around the eyes for Cate Blanchett. As for The Legolas version that was also the most obvious fake version in that it is not an image of a real person.

[@geraldstiling3735]

Oh really. Is Ian McKellen now the definition of what a Wizard looks like! 🧙 Perfect casting of Orlando bloom 🧝 Cate blanchett. Liv Tyler. Seriously leave the AGI to the video games 🙋

[@DrWhom]

whatever prevails in the database when you fish with prompts is what the algorithm comes up with

[@jellysso3255]

I have a crush on Aragorn when I was a kid. Arwen's beauty is ethereal. Perfect casts.

[@boredpandacafe]

Hello Legolas, my long lost love. Don't judge me, aha.

[@aneliaperdana9488]

Been there done that too

[@azekel7687]

After watching this video, I can say for certain that the casting was marvellous and perfect, they chose the right actors for each character within J. R. R. Tolkien's books with Gandalf being pretty much the most accurate. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbits trilogy will always remain within my heart as one of my most favoured and beloved movies in which I grew up watching as a child and each character are like my role models. Sometimes when I see Sir Ian Mckellan in other movies I always be like "Look it's Gandalf" and I never refer to him as the character he's acting in that specific movie😂🤣😭

[@anoykoaoi]

3:55 - books meanwhile amazon:

[@keikun145]

WOW they got galadriel right! This better than Amazon ROP

[@peterpalmer-uz3zx]

When AI gets it right than the rings of power castings you know Amazon F'"#ked up.

[@IronMax418]

What app do you use for ai generated pics?

[@rayfabian9488]

In the next remake, the characters will be black, trans, non binary, except for one white character that will be racist and will spend the whole film trying to keep the characters from feeling safe.

[@AshleighBaggins]

That would definitely happen should Disney buy LOTR, but luckily, they possibly don’t even have the rights to it given that Tolkien hated Disney.

[@grallonsphere271]

I dabbled a bit with one of the free program - some of the results were interesting, some were grotesque. Perhaps you get more tools & sliders with a paid version - which gives photorealistic results like this. Still, this AI sh!t is creepy and creeping up everywhere. Edit: @2:25 Gorgeous Legolas though - @4:19 Now that is the Galadriel I envisioned in my mind (Cate Blanchet was preggers when they filmed the trilogy - so her face was round... not elven. Although here she could use a bit more... aging - this looks like late 20s - a decade more and she would have the necessary gravitas).

[@andrewfontana3136]

Gave up after the first two. Who programmed in that Frodo and Aragorn had beards? The written evidence from Tolkien says neither did. The AI is useless if you feed it false information.

[@Atenejin]

I thought Aragorn shouldn't have any facial hair due to his Numenorian blood.

[@LaurenceHoneytoast]

Can you imagine if AI could read all of Tolkien writings and lore and make movies or tv series based off of it exactly as it is in the books it would be epic.

[@michaelkelleypoetry]

In the book, Gandalf's hat is described as being Blue.

[@gib59er56]

Yes, but his eyes are "as black as coal".

[@grimgingrin830]

AI really loves that same chiseled jaw that it keeps giving everyone lol

[@salkoharper2908]

They all look like cousins from the same extende family lol. These AI projections are rubbish. Don't know why everyone is raving about them so much. They all just look like the same have the same brow, chin, nose, eyes, etc.

[@DrWhom]

authors like using that as a description. pictures of people tagged with the identifier chiseled jaw can be found in the database it is all very pleonastic, you see?

[@grimgingrin830]

@@DrWhom yeah I suppose lots of people like that chiseled jaw making it a popular feature for AI to use

[@georgina1848]

AI missed the part about Legolas actually having black hair. As much as I enjoyed the films, I remember being surprised that Legolas was blonde.

[@bettinajahn6648]

Valid point. I remember that Legolas was from the wood elves - not the high elves like Galadriel..... so he should not be blond...

[@lastef2159]

Up

[@velvet_victor]

His hair color was never actually described in the books. Could be any color.

[@gib59er56]

Yes, black or brown for Legolas` hair. The thing that keeps bugging me is Gandalf. He is described in detail by Tolkien. His eyes are "black as coal"

[@bettinajahn6648]

@@gib59er56 yes, very true. Ian Mac Kellen did a magnific job but he did not fit the description of the book.... and was he so tall..? I have to look it up but I remember I was surprised... the remark about his blue hat is also true...

[@SquirrelGamez]

Love how one of the first thing said about Sam is he has brown eyes but on every single image, he has blue eyes...

[@khfan4life365]

The casting for these movies was pretty spot on. Gotta love when the AI actually matches with some of the cast members.

[@vivianecristinavicentimach5789]

Peter Jackson did wonderful and respectful work.

[@celtofcanaanesurix2245]

There are some problems here. For Frodo and Sam they give them a beard in one photo, which is impossible for a hobbit (at least of their lineage), and also Sam doesn't really look tan and brown eyed in any image either. The depictions of Aragorn don't show the grey flecks much except in one photo were they over do it, and his eyes don't look grey to me, as well as the fact that Tolkien unfortunately said Numenorian men couldn't grow beards (the rare case of me disagreeing with Tolkien on what should be in his world, though who am I to say it). Legolas is never said once to have blonde hair, and in fact it more than likely he has either silvery or brown hair, as only the Vanyar elves are blonde, and Galadriel inherits this from her partial Vanyar ancestry. Gimli hasn't really been depicted here with a mail shirt, so much as fantasy plating and leather. Gollum should have a few hairs left on his head, and his eyes probably don't glow so much as they reflect light like a dog, and he is described as being very frog like in build as well. Gandalf is described as having eyebrows that go past the brim of his hat, which means his eyebrows were very long, and his hat likely had a very short brim, unlike the movies, he is also said by Tolkien to be short, the shortest besides the hobbits and Gimli in the fellowship anyways.

[@h.m.v.]

Also Arwen is inspired in looks by Edith Tolkien. (And not whatever is considered generic ethereal beauty by digital artists at this time - my issue with AI generated art is that it often reflects the facial features that are in fashion right now (because that is what it is fed as "beautiful")) And Galadriel's hair is (and this has in-universe historic importance) described as like a mixture of the light of the two trees, like silver and gold starlight (something along those lines). Not simply blond or platinum blond. It's a mixture of Teleri silver and Vanyar gold that was "Wow!" enough to inspire the making of the Silmarils. Also her eyes are too dark here. Not only her's, but it is especially noticeable for her, because she is an ancient elf born in Valinor. Her eyes are supposed to reflect the Light of the Trees. If anyone on this list is supposed to have glowing eyes it's her!

[@celtofcanaanesurix2245]

@@h.m.v. didn’t know those factoids, thanks!

[@MaDPuPPeTgames]

Sam and Frodo are the same person. The rest of it just looks like AI was trained off the movies.

[@mareksplichal6646]

Hobbits have no beard!

[@MadScientyst]

So where's Boromir, Lord Elrond, Saruman & most importantly...SAURON! Also, would've like to see the Treebeard version...😂😂

[@simonperring2546]

Although I am left-wing, I do like movie adaptations to be truthful and respect the source material. It’s really great to see characters actually based on the text of “The Lord of the Rings” and true to the source material, rather than the “political checklist” and woke mess that is “The Rings of Power”. When I studied world history, historically from the earliest time of movie-making in the early 1900s, whether capitalist countries like America (until recently), or left-wing communist countries like the Soviet Union, they all tried to make classic movies which were true to the text and respected the source material. The only country historically which deliberately had a “political checklist”, and race-swapped characters, and had a complete disrespect for the source material, apart from “woke” America was ironically Nazi Germany in the 1930s...😢

[@SysterYster]

Weeell... the whitewashing isn't made up, you know. Old movies about Egypt has white people playing Egyptians, there's even old movies with white people playing black characters (black face), etc etc. I think it's a general problem that has always existed and always will. People will do their own version of anything (what the versions and visions are may differ from times, what's popular atm, etc) before staying true to the sources. Something that's always annoyed me. I do love it when people follow the source material, however. Usually makes for better movies.

[@TamaraWiens]

Following the source material for LotR means using a book created by a religious leaning cis het white male, raised in the British public school system, and in a heavily hierarchical and racist culture. Combine that with the natural English-speaking audience (I assume that there are translations, but I don't know how good or popular they are) for the books and the movies, along with another white cis het male creating the movies, and you end up with a vision that excludes anyone who isn't white and cis het being cast. It's noteworthy that, although made in NZ, which is typically better about integrating indigenous peoples than other colonizer nations, the only roles for people of colour were as orcs with full facial make-up, stunt doubles without face shots, and size doubles for the hobbits. As a white person, I usually imagine written characters as white unless specifically noted otherwise, so I am always appreciative of movie makers who break my skin colour bias through diverse casting. I think that properly casting Jesus, Moses, and other Bible characters as men from the Levant would shake up the white Christian nationalists in the USA, who love their (totally non-historic/not true to the source material) white Jesus.

[@simonperring2546]

Thank you both for your very correct and valuable opinions. I am left-wing, and would cast any film correctly and truthfully according to the original source material - if the film was about Ancient Egyptians, I would definitely cast them as black Africans, because that is what the people of Egypt were before the Arab invasions (the TV series “Cleopatra” showed Ancient Egyptians as black Africans, which drew a lot of racist abuse from modern-day Arab Egyptians). If the film was involving Chinese people, like a life of Confucius, then it would be Chinese people - if a life of Gandhi, then he would be rightly portrayed by an Indian (just accurate storytelling, no racism involved) - and in Professor J.R.R. Tolkien’s work where “The Shire” and “Gondor” and the “Rohirrim” in the source material correspond to locations and people’s in Western Europe, then it should be cast accurately from people of that region. I can only echo the words of one of the people who responded to my post “I do love it when people follow the source material, however. Usually makes for better movies.”

[@TamaraWiens]

@@simonperring2546 when you are dealing with fantasy, unless the author specifies a certain skin colour, why stick with your preconceptions? I'm not aware of a highly horse based European culture, but there are at least 2 Asian ones that immediately spring to mind, the Mongols and the Parthians (we still commemorate their tactic of charging in, firing borsebows, and then firing one last shot as they wheel away - the Parthian shot has become parting shot, a language evolution known as an egg-corn). While England became a maritime power, and the Vikings preceded them, the Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Pacific Islanders all had significant maritime power. The Chinese could have been cast as the Numenoreans and had the Gondor location, given the real-life history of the wall of China, the long fights against barbarism, and the decline into bureaucrats. Indeed, even the term Middle Earth resonates with the Asian Middle Kingdom, and the use of the rising sun as the Japanese symbol makes them a viable stand-in for the elves. They even had the samurai which links at least as well with Tolkien's honour code as the European knights did. The southrons were presented as African (cf. oliphaunt) and Arab, and Peter Jackson cast them that way as well, which smacks of the profiling imposed on black Americans after Emancipation, where movies and vaudeville portrayed black men as vicious rapists and black women as sex starved and promiscuous. Every time that we stick to stereotypes, clichés, and cultural norms in service of some notion of "canon", we just continue to propagate prejudice and bias. This can lead to injustices like the internment camps of WWII, where people of Asian descent were locked up even though Japanese infiltrators would have had a much harder time remaining incognito than Germans or Italians on the east coast...but neither of those groups was interned, all because of stereotypes carried in popular entertainment. As progressives, we should be better than that.

[@reenieg8439]

​@@simonperring2546 But you would be incorrect. Ancient Egypt had people with various skin colours depending on which part of Egypt they lived in.

[@toradora1439]

Funny how AI is intelligent enough to *NOT* race/gender swap based on Tolkien's description of his characters.

[@bacul165]

These images are so similar to the cast actors i don't believe it's coincidence. Like Gimli's hair color being red - that's not book canon, is it?

[@grossepointemichigan]

No, it is not.

[@joseph906]

Neither are Eowyn's hair color mentioned. But the narrator does mention the Scandinavian characteristic applied to Eowyn. So I think Gimli's hair are based on the typical dwarf of fantasies in both the movie and this video.

[@grossepointemichigan]

@@joseph906 Éowyn's hair color not mentioned? You can't be serious. "Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold." Chapter: The King of the Golden Hall in The Two Towers. Or this: "But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders." Chapter: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Return of the King. Or this: "And so they (Faramir and Éowyn) stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air." Chapter: The Steward and the King in The Return of the King. By the way, Faramir and Boromir were not strawberry blondes, like they were in the movies. They had raven hair (see above) - that is to say, VERY dark.

[@joseph906]

@@grossepointemichigan my bad 🤦‍♂ I based that from this video.

[@adrak91]

So AI has Zac Efron as Legolas. Maybe one day AI will remake the whole movie series with these characters.

[@CrankyGrandma]

The AI still worked film aspects in. Frodo was “stout” or plump when the book started (all the hobbits were). In most of these images I could see movie influences. Legolas was unlikely to have been blonde either. And Sam with a beard? Hobbits were very unlikely to grown beards, according to the books. This shows how influenced by the films the AI is.

[@gib59er56]

Everything you just said is 100% right on. And Gandalf is described in detail and his eyes were "black as coal".

[@DrWhom]

The AI cannot help but show you what prevails in the database, and yes, that is to a large extent the movies

[@AshleighBaggins]

One of the AI’s had a bearded Frodo too which is so weird.

[@ironedgeninja7484]

Pretty sure Legolas had dark hair since he was from the woodland elves

[@mary-kittybonkers2374]

I’d love to see them do Thranduil, Elven King of the Woodland Realm…you have to give his full title because he’s so fabulous…I don’t think that AI could make him any more gorgeous than he already is🤔. Haha.

[@syrupgoblin4920]

6:15 shiit

[@anastasial2365]

please keep in mind that ai is not actually intelligent, but instead trained in an already existing database. These movies were very iconic, changing and shaping the fantasy genre and a lot of movies/games/series/artists took inspiration from them. So it stands to reason that the ai would produce images pretty close to the original casting (especially for Gandalf, who i think is the first person to pop up into most people's heads when they think of the word "Wizard")

[@sharontzu5]

Arwen and Galadriel here look much more like what I had imagined when I read the books. I also like how Gimili is pictured. Sam and Gollum - much better in the movie. It would have been nice to see one picture of Aragorn as king.

[@bobfg3130]

Galadriel should have looked better.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

Yes, Kate Blanchett will forever be the quintessential Galadriel.

[@MetaphorUB]

The AI hasn’t been trained in a vacuum though, right? The sheer number of images on the web for these characters and these *kinds* of characters must be staggering, right? Is it showcasing the brilliance of the casting, or representing how ingrained these likenesses are in the internet’s DNA? For the record, the casting *was* brilliant and all credit where it’s due. I’m just musing on the horse-and-cartness of it all.

[@DrWhom]

Yes. In principle, the AI works from a much larger database, but proper names (unique to Tolkien) in the prompt funnel its attention down to pretty much exclusively the movies.

[@Dimaina1975]

well, the faces of the female actresses used in the Trilogy were much more successful choices than the AI portraits. As for the gollum, I could agree with the AI depiction, but he's too terrifying to appear like this in the movies. And the AI portrait of Gandalf is Ian McKellen himself! So, overall the crue of the movies made the perfect choices.

[@gib59er56]

I do not understand all of this Gandalf stuff. Ian was great, but Gandalf had "eyes as black as coal". It is there for all to read.

[@DrWhom]

do any of you know how this AI stuff actually operates? my god, this is going to take over global culture and most of you young ones have no clue how it works...

[@v1e1r1g1e1]

In the books, Hobbits don't have beards. Nor did Aragorn.

[@BellaCahill]

Eowyn’s hair colour was stated in The Steward and the King, where she and Faramir are standing on the wall together and their hair, raven and golden, mingles in the breeze.

[@amer6706]

One of the most beautiful lines.

[@JordanBacon-l2x]

"Samwise, a browner hobbit with suntanned skin" Shows picture of a white dude

[@joaquindiaz2347]

Whites cannot suntan?

[@joanna_vanderhoeven]

Wow - a whole video created by AI, including narration. We are now in the machine.

[@shawnlaroche1098]

That is a scary demon looking Gollum

[@MrVadallat]

I would like to see the time when AI will make movies. You just have to tell the book's (or game's, or anything) name, and after a few minutes, you can watch it

[@SysterYster]

Considering how hard it is to get just one image to be just right, you'll need a little more than a title to make the AI create a movie. At least a watchable one. XD

[@lupusHegemonia]

So... the A.I. read the books and created portraits of those characters, which they're looking SO PERFECTLY MATCHED with Peter Jackson's choices!!! That means... sometimes, beck in near past, producers and directors REALLY LOVED their work and REALLY RESPECT their references.