Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey

Summary

Gandalf is a very old, very wise and very powerful wizard and one of the Ainur who entered the world of Arda at the dawn of creation. He is a main character as well as one of the main heroes in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth saga and Peter Jackson's live-action adaptations of the books respectively.

Being thousands of years old, he is known far and wide by all: men, elves, dwarves, hobbits, and evil such as Sauron and orcs. Has many friends and known as Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Mithrandir, the White Rider, the Grey Pilgrim, etc. He is the servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor, which is said where he is to be from. During the third age, he guides Frodo in destroying the One Ring, and participating several battles during the War of the Ring. Once a member of the High Order of wizards, he travels all around Middle-Earth visiting friends and embarking on journeys. In the hobbit and the first film, the Fellowship of the Ring, he was Gandalf the Grey, cloaked in all gray and wields a wooden staff. He offers to guide Frodo to Mordor to destroy the Ring and several comrades of all races join them.

While traveling through the mines of Moria, he duels with a monstrous demon of fire: the Balrog. He sacrifices himself and falls to his supposed death. He returns in the last two films reincarnated: Gandalf the White, having survived the fall. This time, his hair, beard, cloak and staff are all white, which some mistake him for Saruman. In all the films, he is portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen.

Power and Stats

Tier: 7-B/7-A | 7-A | 7-A, potentially higher

Name: Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, Olorin, Tharkun, Mithrandir, Greyhame, The Grey Pilgrim, Stormcrow, The White Rider, Lathspell, Incanus and likely many others

Origins: Lord of the Rings

Gender: Male

Age: Created along with the other Ainur before the shaping of Arda, basically at the beginning of the universe, his human form is still over thousands of years old

Classification: Maiar (Ainur), Divine Spirit in a Mortal Body/Wizard

Destructive Capacity: Possibly Building Level+ with physical attacks, Small Mountain Level with magic (split the side of the mountain while fighting the Balrog) | Presumably higher | Possibly reaching Mountain Level (destroyed a mountainside when fighting against Durin Bane), potentially higher (powerscaling from the Maia)

Range: Extended melee range, several hundred meters with spells, at least several kilometers for his telepathy, was shown to engulf an entire hilltop in fire pretty much instantly | Presumably higher | Possibly planetary

Speed: Above Peak Human with Supersonic to at least Hypersonic+ reactions via powerscaling | Presumably faster (faster than Balrogs which flew kilometers to aid Morgoth) | Unknown

Lifting Strength: Superhuman (was able to grapple and physically contend with the Balrog) | Presumably higher | Unknown

Striking Strength: Superhuman (Stronger than human by a decent margin) | Presumably higher (Can break solid wood from trees and solid stone, he was strong enough to kill a troll with a sword) | Unknown

Stamina: Vastly superhuman (can ride for days, fight for days and fought the Balrog for days on end) | Presumably higher | Effectively limitless

Durability: Small Mountain Level (as shown in his fight with the Balrog) | Presumably higher, as well as supposedly being immune to damage from all mortal weapons | Almost impossible to kill

Standard Equipment: Narya, the elven ring of fire, which has the power to "strengthen hearts" and inspire others to resist tyranny, as well as the ability to hide him from forms of remote observation (however it won't work against a wielder of the One Ring), his wizard staff, which he can use to physically fight, as well it seemingly is used to channel/amplify his abilities, the elven sword Glamdring, which is very strong, durable, and sharp, and capable of harming dispersable/intangible beings like Balrogs

Intelligence: Inhumanly high. Has thousands of years of knowledge and experience about many things, including the peoples and events of Middle-Earth, very skilled combatant,can command the armies of Gondor and plan battles days in advance, possesses foresight, carries centuries of knowledge, as a Maiar his mind is on another level from human beings

Powers and Abilities: Superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina, senses, skilled swordsman, ability to create light (either to see in dark places or to blind enemies), telekinesis, immortality (type 1), telepathy, communication with animals, able to harm intangible/dispersible beings, can call down lightning, fire creation and manipulation, a limited reality warping ability facilitated through spoken commands, supernatural senses, resurrection | All of the previously listed powers at a higher level (stronger than Saruman), as well as supposed immunity from harm by any mortal weapon | Intangibility, non-corporeal, immortality (types 1 and 4), presumably teleportation, soul manipulation, immune to most types of weapons and attacks aside from very high - level spiritual/soul based attacks, as well as all of the powers of the two previous forms magnified to a much higher level

Weaknesses: In his first two forms he can still be killed (but it's significantly more difficult in the second [Gandalf the White stated that Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli weren't even capable of harming him]), most of his powers are sealed by the Valar in his first two forms

Notable Attacks/Techniques

-Illumination: Gandalf can create light from his staff to allow him and others to see in dark places

-Blinding Light: This can be focused and concentrated on enemies to temporarily blind and disorient them

-Fire: Gandalf apparently has the power to cause any object to burst into flame remotely, including people. The flammability of the target does not seem to matter - he used it on a bunch of trees which were wet and covered with snow. The fires are much more difficult to put out than normal fires, but Gandalf can put them out at will

-Lightning: Gandalf can call down lightning bolts to strike enemies

-Telekinesis: Gandalf can use this to do simple things, like manipulate the shape of fireworks or smoke rings, or more impressive things such as move and deflect his opponents around or create protective shields

-Telepathy: Gandalf can keep in telepathic contact with allies, gain information from the minds of others, detect and resist mental compulsion (such as that used by Saruman and Sauron), and inspire others to increase their morale. He is also likely capable of offensive telepathy, but the most we have seen of this is when he creates a type of intimidation, causing himself to appear gigantic and threatening to others. It is likely that he would not do more than this due to his nature, even if he is capable of it.

-Communication with animals: He is able to form bonds with and communicate with animals such as the giant eagles and the horse Shadowfax

Gandalf the White

Key: Gandalf the Grey | Gandalf the White | Unrestricted Maia Gandalf (he was never at this level in the books except for in the Silmarillion before he arrived on Middle-Earth)