The Lord Of The Rings trilogy did a good job of showing how terrible Sauron was without having him actually show up.

We do see him in flashbacks in The Lord OfThe Rings but he’s hidden away inside his menacing armour, and watching him mow down dozens of soldiers with minimal effort solidified him as a major threat to Middle-Earth.

The Eye Of Sauron is also fantastic in showing that he’s always watching, and his Nazgûl practically being extensions of his essence all around make him a terrifying villain.

But if he’s this scary and this powerful how come the story never had him appear, ending the trilogy with a climactic fight where he’s slayed and everyone gets a happy ending.

Fans have their theories of course and one fan perfectly summarised the sentiment in a post talking about the legendary villain.

“Tolkien wanted to keep LOTR as a work that young and old people alike could enjoy, a work for the whole family, a work that readers of the Hobbit could read while growing up,” they explained.

They continued: “ Sauron doesn’t fit into that. Sauron is too terrifying and disturbing to be easily displayed … the human sacrifices that Sauron made in Númenor for his master Lucifer Morgoth are quite strong for even a youthful audience.”

Now this is a great interpretation but someone in the comments took it a step further and declared the opposite, saying: “Sauron’s terror is most profoundly visible through his works, his impact on the world, and depicting him as an actual material Guy would actually weaken that.”

It’s like if Darth Vader didn’t have the suit and ominous voice, if he was just an ordinary guy he wouldn’t be as imposing.

Sauron is a monster in every sense of the word, so showing us the man underneath would make him far less impressive.