Then, there’s Alfrid, the Master of Lake Town’s right-hand man. Alfrid is a character who fits into a category all of his own: self preservation. He is the kind of slimy weasel who will do literally whatever it takes to end up on the winning side, regardless of if that side is good or evil. He gravitates towards power and authority, simply because he wants to benefit from the wealth and the infamy of whoever is in charge, without having to do any of the work for himself. He’s the most morally suspect of any character in The Hobbit trilogy, including Smaug the dragon! At least with Smaug, the audience know where they stand, and know that Smaug is evil down to every single scale on his reptilian body. With Alfrid, it’s difficult to place him, because he not only has this sort of slimy, entitled, ‘teachers pet’ vibe, he is also a great source of comedy and ridicule throughout the movies, which makes him somehow more likable.
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He is the typical fool character, the character whose own self-importance only furthers how ridiculous he is, and he is often shown in funny scenes like when he is dressed as a woman to avoid fighting with the men in the battle, and when he has gold coins slipping out of his large breasted corset. In fact, his whole costume is designed to make him look silly, with his belt worn too high up his ribs, his painted yellow teeth and unibrow, and his fur coat that is as oily and greasy looking as he is. His interactions with the Master serve to add in some comic relief from some otherwise dark and difficult material, such as the violent battle of the Five Armies, and the fate of Thorin and his cousins.
From the moment that Alfrid first comes sticking his nose into the barrels of the trapped dwarves who have just escaped from Mirkwood, he is a stickler and a snitch, seeming to make life hard for everyone else just because he likes to feel some sort of ego trip form acting righteous. But in reality, he is actually a pretty cowardly character, hiding in the shadow of better men, and hoping to catch some of the magnamity from being the person beside them. He has no real love for the Master of Lake Town, he only stays beside him because it serves his purpose.
In this is a direct parallel to Bilbo, who has come all this way on the quest with the dwarves to help them reclaim their home, not because he will gain something from it, but because he is full of compassion, and knows what it is like to be pushed out from where you belong. Alfrid very quickly changes sides when Bard is the one to defeat the dragon, and gain the respect of the people, and so it is really highlighted that he will try to slither into whatever position is going to help him thrive off others.
Alfrid’s character doesn’t exist at all within the books, it is only mentioned briefly that the Master of the town has counselors, but Alrid is an essential character for the engagement of the audience, and arguably adds in a more enjoyable and varied layer to the plot than some of the other additions, like Radagast the Brown and his unusual wizard powers of nature, or Tauriel the elf who seems to only exist as a love interest for both Legolas (who also wasn’t in the original story!) and Kili.
There are lots of changes in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations that people disagree with, and feel that it convoluted the message of the book, like Azog the white orc, and the fact that Thranduil tells Legolas to seek out the ranger Strider (even though Aragorn would only be a 10-year-old by at this point) but of all of the seemingly unnecessary additions to the story, many feel that Alfrid is the best, both because he adds some humor and entertainment, and because he is played fantastically by the talented actor Ryan Gage.
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