There’s been some outcry among hardcore fans that the Peter Jackson-created character, Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly), is an ill-intentioned plea to woo the romance crowd. We’ve been fans of the move at HobbitFandom.net, and so is TheMarySue.com:
There are some folks out there incensed that Peter Jackson has added a character to The Hobbit, a sentiment I almost entirely lack sympathy for. In another case, I might understand, but unlike The Lord of the Rings, with its four women (three of whom appear in one scene each), The Hobbit has exactly zero named female characters. Jackson’s inclusion of material from the LotR appendixes have already brought Galadriel into a story in which she otherwise does not appear, and that’s about as far as he’s likely to get with canonical characters, since Liv Tyler hasn’t been hired on. So those of you who, like me, welcome the addition of Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel, kickass commander of Mirkwood military forices, will be interested to see what her character looks like, as revealed by some action figures.
They also have shots of the new Tauriel action figures:
See all photos here!