Different techniques were used to differentiate the cultures of Middle-earth in the series. A design language for each culture was defined, dialect coach Leith McPherson used different dialects, and calligrapher Daniel Reeve used different scripts and writing systems. Composer
Bear McCreary wrote a main theme for each culture and then created individual character themes that relate to their culture's music in different ways.
Ainur • : The equivalent of
gods in Tolkien's mythology. Valar who are mentioned in the series include the Dark Lord Morgoth and Aule, the Vala of smithing who created the Dwarves. • : Angelic beings that serve the Valar. They can take on different forms. Maiar who are seen in the series include Wizards, who take on the appearance of Men, and the demonic
Balrog.
Free peoples • :The main Elves in the series are the
Noldor (High Elves) who traveled from the Undying Lands of Valinor to fight Morgoth in Middle-earth. Since Morgoth's defeat, their power—the "Light of the Eldar"—has begun to fade. Also included in the series are
Silvan Elves (Wood Elves) who never lived in Valinor.
Half-Elves, descendants of unions between Elves and Men, can choose between living a mortal or immortal life. • :The series depicts the Dwarf realm of Khazad-dûm in its "full glory", compared to the ruins that are seen in the
Lord of the Rings films. A key part of this is the discovery of the rare ore mithril in Khazad-dûm's mines. Beard, hair, and facial prosthetics were used to portray male Dwarves. The female Dwarves also have beards, but the producers did not want them to lose their femininity so opted for more subtle facial hair. • :The people of the island kingdom of Númenor are categorized as "High Men". They are descended from Elros, brother of the Half-Elf
Elrond, and were originally in close contact with the Elves. Over time, many Númenóreans have turned away from the Elves and grown envious of their immortality. This group become known as the "King's Men" while those who remain friendly with the Elves are known as "The Faithful". • :The showrunners believed the series would not feel like Middle-earth without the diminutive Hobbits, who do not appear in Tolkien's history until the Third Age. They decided to explore precursors to the Hobbits called Harfoots who live in a nomadic, secretive society. In the second season, a tribe of Hobbit-like Stoors are introduced. Precursors to River-folk like
Smeagol from
The Lord of the Rings, the Stoors live in Rhûn. • : Tree-like beings that serve as shepherds of the forests. They were created with visual effects. The series depicts Entwives, who the Ents have lost by the events of
The Lord of the Rings.
Enslaved peoples • : The people of the Southlands in Middle-earth are categorized as "Low Men". These include the villagers of Tirharad, who are descended from followers of Morgoth. • : The people who live in the land of Rhûn, in the east of Middle-earth, are known as "Easterlings". • :The series presents the origins of the Orcs as initially being corrupted Elves, as suggested by Tolkien in
The Silmarillion, and explores what this means for them as sentient beings rather than "monsters". This includes depicting female and child Orcs, and expanding on Orc culture. The showrunners wanted to use practical prosthetics for the Orcs where possible. • : In addition to Orcs, the armies of the Dark Lords also include large Trolls in the series. They were created with visual effects.
Other creatures • :The reanimated corpses of long dead human royalty and noblemen. The Barrow-wights appear during the Third Age in Tolkien's writings, but were not adapted in Jackson's films. The series takes the opportunity to depict them, recreating key details from their roles in
The Lord of the Rings. They were depicted through a combination of practical and visual effects, with dancer contortionists hired to portray them on set. • : A great eagle sometimes appears at the coronation of a Númenórean monarch, which is interpreted as a sign of approval from the Valar Manwë. • : Giant, blind bats live in the caves of Khazad-dûm. They were created with visual effects, and were designed to look like they evolved in complete darkness. • : There are nameless things that live in the deep places of the world, including serpent-like monster that lives in a mud pit. • :An evil, giant spider. The offspring of
Ungoliant, a spider-like evil spirit, Shelob lives in the Dark Forest in Mordor. While the creature's design was based on the
New Zealand tunnel-web spider in the
Lord of the Rings films, the series' version is based on research into every kind of spider in the world including a South African
tarantula that Tolkien was bitten by as a child. • The : A
sea monster that lives in the Sundering Seas. The visual effects team designed it to resemble an eel with the mouth of an
anglerfish, and the aggressive movements of a shark. • :Large wolf-like creatures that serve Orcs. The Wargs in the
Lord of the Rings film trilogy were based on hyenas while those seen in the
Hobbit film trilogy were more like wolves. For the series, visual effects supervisor
Jason Smith asked "What would an Orc's pet giant dog monster be?", leading to a new design inspired by
chihuahuas but tall with of muscle. • : Wolves in the series have a more naturalistic design than Wargs that was influenced by
prehistoric warthogs. They were referred to as "Predators" by the production. == Geography ==