Sméagol is one of the more tragic characters in The Lord of the Rings, and the film goes to some length to show his transformation into “the creature known as Gollum.”

However, despite the best efforts of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, some fans are only just clocking why the ring took hold of Sméagol so quickly.

On Reddit, one fan asked the simple question, “Why did the ring seem to possess Sméagol so much quicker than anyone else?”

The answer is also pretty simple, but it comes from the books rather than the films. We don’t see a great deal of Sméagol and when we do, it’s a couple of minutes of fighting over the ring.

Tolkien heavily implies that Sméagol isn’t a particularly nice person in the first place – he’s scheming and conniving.

The ring takes advantage of that, as explained by fellow Redditors.

“He acquired it through murder, and it’s implied he wasn’t a great guy to begin with,” said Beyond_Reason09.

Another user describes it, “Short answer: [The] Ring’s effect is somewhat proportional to the goodness or badness of the heart of its bearer.”

The ring corrupts, so it stands to reason that an already corrupted individual will only get worse and lust after the power within.

“Think of it like addiction. Some people are far more susceptible,” explains ShiggitySheesh, which is a pretty apt way of explaining it.

You also have to take into account how we see the ring works on others. We spend most of the films watching Frodo fight the effects, but he’s not like others.

As one user explains, “both Bilbo and Gandalf held Frodo to be the best hobbit in all The Shire.”

Frodo was taken to the brink, and he was pure of heart, so the speed of possession of Sméagol is understandable.