While most of the Company of Thorin Oakensheild is related to the royal and noble line of Durin, Bofur, his brother Bombur and their cousin Bifur most definitely are … not. Born and bred in the West, descendants of coal miners and iron workers, they have joined the Quest for the Lonely Mountain partly to seek their fortune and partly because they were told the beer was free.

AKA, these three will be comic relief. (At least that's my interpretation.)
I gotta say, my first glance at this picture, I was like CHECK OUT THAT BEARD ON BOMBUR!! And then I looked at it again and realized, it's not even a beard. He's totally cheating!! ROFL!!
Well out of all the dwarves we've seen so far, I rank them kind of like this from favorite to least favorite.

Oin and Gloin
Dori and Bifur
Bombur, Bofur, Fili and Kili
Ori
Nori

Bifur, Bofur and Bombur fall right in the middle for me. But when I look at all of the dwarves, the whole range, I love them. I love that they're very different and individuals (even though I don't care for some of the looks), and they're not cookie-cutter dwarves. So yeah, I love where this is going.

Bring on Balin, Dwalin, and Thorin!!

Bombur looks great! He looks like someone out of an Asterix comic. The others I'll have to get used too.

Bifur's haircut is a little crazy, but overall he feels very Dwarvish. I really like Bofur. His beard isn't very long, but, like Bifur, he just feels more Dwarvish than some of the other ones we've seen. Bombur...where did that braid come from?!

I agree, FK. It does sound like they'll be providing the comic relief. Maybe Bombur's crazy braid is supposed to make everybody laugh.

I think it's really cool how different all the dwarves look - I think it'll make their personalities interesting. Very exciting seeing pictures! Some do look odd, but I'm okay with it. Not sure how I'm going to stand seeing Thorin . . MR THORTON LOOKING UGLY!!

these dwarves are really not impressive, IMO. Bombur is disturbing. why is his beard a necklace? ack these dwarves are not anything like LOTR dwarves. they don't even look like dwarves, IMO.

Ela: I'm with you. I don't think I really want to see Thorin.....

Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur are so far the only ones I really don't like. I think the others are pretty cool, especially Kili.

I hadn't even noticed Bombur's beard was a necklace. That's pretty ridiculous. I wonder, though, is that really his beard? Or just a neck ornament made of something else's hair?

For some reason, Bofur's hat really bugs me.

I saw a glimpse of Thoring in the EW pics. I wasn't really a fan of what I saw. He looked too... Klingon... or something. Just so different from how I pictured him, which is sad since Thorin is one of my favorite Tolkien characters ever. But I'm sure Richard Armitage will do a great job acting him.

~Riella

Ooh, more spoilers! How exciting!

Fili and Kili did not look like how I pictured them - they're rather skinny for dwarves and remind me more of elves. But as long as their acting is good, I can't complain. Gymmie, your comment about the Pantene hair made me laugh.

I can definitely see why people don't like Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. The hair necklace is weird; Bifur's hat is... interesting, and overall they look rather comical. I think that's the point, though - they're supposed to be comic relief. That's how they always seemed to me when I read the book, so I don't think I mind the comicalness too much. And actually, I do like them.

It probably helps that I haven't read The Hobbit in a while. Once I re-read it to refresh my memory, I might start getting a lot more picky about how the movie turns out. Still, I've learned that pretty much everything that happens in book adaptations nowadays isn't how I pictured it at all, since the filmmakers can't get inside my heads. So, I try to go into movies with a clean slate.

I saw a glimpse of Thoring in the EW pics. I wasn't really a fan of what I saw. He looked too... Klingon... or something. Just so different from how I pictured him, which is sad since Thorin is one of my favorite Tolkien characters ever. But I'm sure Richard Armitage will do a great job acting him.

I saw a sneak peek of him too, but I've been waiting to see a full picture of Thorin before I decide whether I like him or not. It did crack me up when you said he looked too Klingon.

My first impression was that he looked a lot different from what I was expecting. Whether the difference is good or not remains to be seen.

^^ Yeah, maybe I will like him once I see a better picture of him. Although, I doubt he'll look anything like how I pictured Thorin. I read The Hobbit before LOTR, and before seeing the LOTR movies; so I was picturing him more like a Narnian dwarf than a Middle Earth dwarf.

Still, I've learned that pretty much everything that happens in book adaptations nowadays isn't how I pictured it at all, since the filmmakers can't get inside my heads. So, I try to go into movies with a clean slate.

That's happened a lot with me for other movies, but strangely, with LOTR, all the characters ended up looking, sounding, and acting exactly like how I pictured them. The locations looked the same to me too. It felt like Peter Jackson had gotten inside my head. So, I guess I was expecting him ot get inside my head for The Hobbit too.

~Riella

That's happened a lot with me for other movies, but strangely, with LOTR, all the characters ended up looking, sounding, and acting exactly like how I pictured them.

Really? Wow. Some of the characters were spot on (ok, most of them ) but a couple of them were very far off from how I pictured them. Frodo and Elrond being number 1 & 2.

For me personally though, the appearance isn't nearly as important as the portrayal. Faramir looked perfect, but I had HUGE issues with his role being a complete opposite of how Tolkien wrote him.

On the flip side, Georgie Henley looks very little like the way Lucy is described in the Narnia books, but she did such a good job bringing book Lucy to life, that 99% of the people who saw The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe have fully accepted her as THE Lucy.

AKA, these three will be comic relief. (At least that's my interpretation.)

I laughed when I read this. In the Hobbit though aren't most of the dwarves comic at times? I really need to reread.

Well, Bombur is fat like in the books. What in the world happened to Bifir's hair!?! Bofur looks okay.

The way the characters look isn't going to make or break the movie for me. How they are portrayed is what matters. Of course that wouldn't stop me from commenting on how the look. Hopefully, they will look better on screen than in a photo shoot. Natural pictures are usually much better than posed ones.

Is that star think Nori's hair or some kind of a hat? At first I thought it was a hat but when I looked at the picture again it looked it was hairlike.

That made me smile. The Dwarves must make sure their hair looks nice while off on an epic quest!

I thought it was only elves that could go on quests and have their hair look nice.

That's happened a lot with me for other movies, but strangely, with LOTR, all the characters ended up looking, sounding, and acting exactly like how I pictured them.

Really? Wow. Some of the characters were spot on (ok, most of them ) but a couple of them were very far off from how I pictured them. Frodo and Elrond being number 1 & 2.

Okay, well maybe not every character. I was being more general, and was speaking about the characters overall. I could name quite a few instances when characters did things that were, well... out of character. But for the most part, I think PJ captured my LOTR "friends" quite well.

Movie Elrond reminded me of book Elrond; but Frodo seemed very different from the book to me. Merry and Pippin had the look, but were too frivolously silly. Eowyn seemed too old to be Eowyn, Gimli was reduced to comic relief; and Legolas just seemed to be there to look pretty, and didn't really portray the character I got to know him as in the book. A lot of what they did with Faramir was really unnecessary. And I won't even get into ROTK. *is not a ROTK fan* So, as you can see, I wasn't impressed with absolutely everything. But out of all the adaptations I've ever seen, LOTR has come closest to what's in my head when reading the original.

Gandalf, I thought, was perfect. Aragorn was too, for the most part, though there were a couple things that were different. I actually liked Grima and Boromir more in the movie than in the book. And I liked them in the book to begin with.

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EDIT: NINE HOURS LATER...

Balin and Dwalin are up!!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hp ... 7379_n.jpg

What does everyone think about them?

~Riella

I Love them!
I think they look more like Gloin and Oin.
I Love Graham McTavish! He played the bad guy in my favorite video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves!
He was actually in the middle of doing Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception while he started filming The Hobbit!

I really love the variety of the dwarfs, I will have no problem remembering who is who.
A lot of the dwarfs don't look exactly how I pictured, but I'm very happy with how they turned out!
And like Pattertwigs Pal said whats important to me is how the characters are portrayed.
Really looking forward to Thorin next!

ack these dwarves are not anything like LOTR dwarves. they don't even look like dwarves, IMO.

I know everyone has their own opinion, but I think its important to keep a few things in mind when it comes to the dwarfs.
In the Trilogy we really only got to see Gimli and in the Fellowship of the Ring only a few others dwarfs (Gloin being one of them) all of them I would think were from the same House of Dwarfs.
We never really got to see what the different Houses of dwarfs from different parts of Middle-Earth would look like.
And If they all looked like Gimil or similar it would be harder to know who is who (for me anyway).
Another thing to keep in mind is that even though The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are both the same world and characters, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children's book unlike The Trilogy which was for an older audience.
The Hobbit has a bit of a different feeling to it then the later books because it was written differently.

From Wikipedia

"The Lord of the Rings contains several more supporting scenes, and has a more sophisticated plot structure, following the paths of multiple characters. Tolkien wrote the later story in much less humorous tones and infused it with more complex moral and philosophical themes. The differences between the two stories can cause difficulties when readers, expecting them to be similar, find that they are not.
Many of the thematic and stylistic differences arose because Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story for children, and The Lord of the Rings for the same audience, who had subsequently grown up since its publication."

I think that will come across in the movie a little bit, not a lot though.
I can't remember where I read it, but there was an interview with Peter Jackson where he mentioned the difference between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

This was a nice thing to wake up to this morning I don't even recognize Ken Stott as Balin!

"Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly."

Where Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur said 'comic relief' to me, these two (and Balin in particular) say 'character drama' ... as in your reality TV character drama. I can deal with a little bit of antagonistic and angsty drama, and in the right places it can be fine (Mirkwood in particular), but to me, the biggest flaw of the dwarves was their gold lust and that kind of kept the dwarves of one mind. None of this "yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain" so hopefully the squabbling will be kept to a minimum.

I like their look though. Dwalin especially is mighty impressive! Balin makes me think of Father Christmas.

Just looking forward to Thorin now!

Though some of the hats are weird and the beard necklace is strange, I don't really have any problems with the dwarves we've seen so far. I'm just glad they didn't dye their beards.

I can deal with a little bit of antagonistic and angsty drama, and in the right places it can be fine (Mirkwood in particular), but to me, the biggest flaw of the dwarves was their gold lust and that kind of kept the dwarves of one mind. None of this "yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain" so hopefully the squabbling will be kept to a minimum.

Indeed. Really, if anyone is going to get angsty and complain about the trip it should be Bilbo wanting to go back to his hobbit-hole, sit in front of the fire and have his afternoon tea. Balin harbouring doubts seems a bit out-of-character for him. He was one of the Dwarves who went back to Moria and that was a much more dangerous quest than the Lonely Mountain.

I do love the way Balin looks. Dwalin being bald will take some getting used to, but I think I like him as well.

*waits eagerly for the King Under the Mountain*