The Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth have been adapted to many video games over the years, each one redeg one of Tolkien's most beloved characters: Gandalf. The original high fantasy wizard to reach pop culture, Gandalf is perhaps LOTR's most iconic character, appearing in most Middle-earth games. Below are Gandalf's top ten designs from Lord of the Rings video games, from the worst of the best, to the best of the best.
With the recent release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Gandalf makes yet another debut. But the wizened wizard has had nearly as many iterations as there have been games in the long-running franchise. Gandalf's new design in Gollum ranks among his best in LOTR gaming history, but it doesn't quite take the number one spot.
10 The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Gandalf's first appearance in the rankings is also his first appearance on home consoles in The Fellowship of the Ring, first released on Xbox in 2002. This design captures the character well enough that he's recognizable, but its downfall is its lack of detail. The flat textures of Gandalf's robe and remarkably polygonal face and beard stick out when comparing this iteration of Gandalf to others across the series, but also other games released around the same time. The game itself is far more focused on exploration and questing than later titles, which might explain the lack of close-up character detail.
9 The Lord Of The Rings: Conquest
With a jump in console generations to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era, comes a jump in expectations for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. The wrinkles of Gandalf's robe are a bit more pronounced here, and his staff has great definition in the branches around the crystal on top of it. However, LOTR: Conquest was Middle-earth's answer to the widely beloved Star Wars: Battlefront, meaning control of storied heroes like Gandalf was a rare treat. The game was designed to capture large-scale battlefields from the books and films through the eyes of a common soldier, not revered characters, and it shows when models like Gandalf occasionally look at the camera.
8 The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
2003's The Return of the King might be a surprising inclusion, but it has to do with how developer EA focused on capturing the essence of the films. As beloved as Tolkien's novels are, there is no denying that it was The Lord of the Rings films that brought Middle-earth to the public eye. Where the texture of Gandalf's white robe might be flat, his face has a few extra lines and wrinkles to represent his movie appearance. For many, Sir Ian McKellen is the one who brought life to Gandalf's character in the films, which makes this game design for Gandalf more widely appealing.
7 Guardians Of Middle-earth
Gandalf appears in the online arena battler Guardians of Middle-earth alongside many other characters from LOTR. Aside from more detailed textures, what makes this design for Gandalf stand out is the uncommon blend of his two personas. Tolkien's classic wizard is known for his transformation from Gandalf the Gray to Gandalf the White. The former is often seen with his traditional pointed wizard hat and gray robes, while Gandalf the White wears no hat and has white robes. In Guardians of Middle-earth, Gandalf is represented with grayish, off-color robes, but no hat. That, coupled with the game-specific potion in his belt, makes this design for Gandalf unique.
6 J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, Vol. 1
Gandalf's design from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1 for the MS-DOS back in 1990 should be commended for breaking convention and working with limitations. As a top-down adventure RPG from the 16-bit era, there was only so much to be done with character sprites. But developers cleverly represented characters with detailed portraits in the corner of the screen. There can be seen lovingly rendered bushy eyebrows and stress lines. Gandalf’s blue hat is unusual, as wizards in Tolkien's universe are associated with colors, and there are already two blue wizards mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but never shown. So, while not in-canon, it is interesting.
5 The Lord Of The Rings: The Battle For Middle-earth
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy video game that features Tolkien's characters, including a faithful and simple rendition of Gandalf. Zoomed in close, his model is nothing special and lacks a significant amount of detail, but that's not what makes this design for Gandalf standout. This game was never meant to be zoomed in, because it aims to capture the true scope of a strategic war. This is why this Gandalf design works - because of the sense of scale. It allows players to experience the tremendous power of the singular white wizard squaring off against hundreds of goblins.
4 The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
What makes Gandalf's design great in The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age has less to do with details of his clothes or face, and more to do with how the interface influences players' perception of him. In this classic-style turn-based RPG, Gandalf appears as a guest character in battle. When he does, players can see the impressive disparity between the power of well-developed party and the iconic wizard, represented by much higher stat numbers. Being temporarily given control of a character in such a league of their own makes the battles he partakes in extremely memorable, which is great design.
3 LEGO The Lord Of The Rings
The LEGO rendition of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy features a design for Gandalf that was both detailed and timeless. Lego games emulate a fun, whimsical energy that doesn't take itself too seriously, and it ages well. Other games that aim for realism are quickly outdated by advances in technology, but LEGO titles create fun caricatures that stand the test of time. That said, it shouldn't be overlooked that Gandalf's hair and beard here have more depth and shading to them than many of his other designs going for a more realistic look.
2 The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum
If The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has anything going for it, it might be Gandalf's new design. The most recent Middle-earth video game, Gollum has been widely panned as a disaster for glitches and lackluster gameplay graphics, but it doesn't drop the ball on Gandalf character design. Solely focusing on that, Gandalf's look here might be a shred of light in this lackluster release. From the feathery accents and patches on his robes to the ornamentation on his famed sword, Glamdring, it can't be denied that Gandalf pops with detail in cutscenes, regardless of how justified the criticism for Gollum's gameplay might be.
1 The Lord Of The Rings: War In The North
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North features the crowning image of Gandalf. While only appearing as an NPC during the story, he leaves quite the impression. This design captures all the parts of what makes the wizard's design great. His general face shape is that of the Gandalf so many fell in love with from the films, he has enough wrinkles to convey both fatigue and wisdom, his robes are well textured, and his beard and hair are haggard. War in the North features the very best design of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings video games.
