Who is Legolas? Legolas is a Sindarin Elf from the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood. His father, Thranduil, is the King of the Silvan Elves living in that realm, making Legolas the Prince of Mirkwood.
In The Hobbit, Thranduil is the Elf King and father of a key player in the war of the ring, Legolas. As a king he takes his rule seriously, fighting for his people and trying to keep them alive at all costs.
That was never said outright, but there were only four Elven realms during the Third Age: Rivendell, Lothlorien, Thranduil's kingdom and the remains of Lindon. Of those realms, only one had a king -- Thranduil. Thus, Legolas was the only "prince" in Middle-earth during the Third Age.
Fictional history. Legolas is the son of Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood, who appeared as "the Elvenking" in The Hobbit. Thranduil, one of the Sindar or "Grey Elves", ruled over the Silvan Elves or "Wood-elves" of Mirkwood.
The Complete Travels of Thranduil | Tolkien Explained
Is Legolas more powerful than Aragorn?
Legolas Had Two Major Advantages Over Aragorn
While Elves in The Lord of the Rings were best known for their speed and agility, they also tended to be stronger and more durable than Men. In Volume 2 of The Book of Lost Tales, Tolkien described Legolas as "immensely strong...
As an Elf, Legolas had the abilities typical of his race. He could walk silently on grass and snow leaving minimal footprints, allowing him to advance unhindered. His eyes were sharper than that of Men, seeing through great distances and in the dark.
Yet, since Tolkien does give family trees for other important Elves in the book, such as Galadriel and Elrond, it's clear that Galadriel is not Legolas's mother. (Besides, she is one of the Noldor, not a Silvan or Sindar Elf.)
Though she and Legolas first met as children, and their relationship is significant, her romantic arc is not with him, as she develops a mutual attraction to the dwarf Kíli.
Legolas never marries. The closest he gets is spending the rest of his life, as far as we know, with Gimli; they travel around Middle Earth for decades together, and eventually Gimli is given special dispensation to travel to the Undying Lands with his "friend" Legolas—the only dwarf ever to do so.
Arwen probably got to know Legolas as her husband's friend and as the leader of the Elven colony in Ithilien. As Mary Tower points out, it is possible that they are distantly related, but it's nowhere stated.
In terms of physical power, many cite Fingolfin, Fëanor himself, Fingon, Ecthelion, and Glorfindel as great warriors, but the strongest elf, or at least strongest Noldo, is a forgotten character as he does not appear in the Silmarillion, only in early tales.
Legolas was a Sinda Elf, the prince of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood. His grandfather Oropher was of the Sindar of Doriath, and his father Thranduil was king of Mirkwood (Greenwood the Great).
Legolas stuck around for another 120 years before Aragorn died, which was when he finally decided that his own time in Middle-earth might be up as well. He built his own ship and, in a pretty unprecedented honor, invited Gimli to accompany him to the Undying Lands.
Legolas and Gimli's relationship is strong in The Lord of the Rings, even though it wasn't explicitly romantic in Tolkien's source material. The members of the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings forge an unbreakable bond while on their mission to destroy the One Ring.
Their relationship is fraught with awkwardness thanks to Tauriel's solely platonic feelings toward Legolas. Despite the unrequited interest, the two Mirkwood Elves have a great deal of respect for one another and have each other's backs. Legolas also comes to accept that Tauriel does not see him the way he sees her.
For those that haven't read Tolkien's work, it's easy to see why many audiences suspect Gandalf and Galadriel are in love. After all, many of their interactions in The Hobbit trilogy practically scream romance. However, their relationship remains purely platonic in Tolkien's source material.
Thus, Galadriel's dark form in Jackson's The Lord of the Rings personified what would have occurred had the Lady of Lothlorien given in to temptation and taken the One Ring for herself. She would have succumbed to evil because the Ring was indomitable, even with her power.
Aragorn and Legolas are long-time companions and best friends since Legolas' father Thranduil sent him to live among the Rangers of the North. Aragorn and Legolas grew close, up to the point where Aragorn revealed his true identity to Legolas. Throughout his journeys, Aragorn and Legolas are as close as brothers.
In the films, Bloom wore contacts to make his eyes blue, probably to distinguish him from the Silvan elves of Mirkwood, Legolas, the son of Thranduil, is a Sindarin, often treated as nobility by elves of less distinguished lineage.
The actor is suffering from Legolas Syndrome — where you accidentally get cast into a role that suits you far more than your real-life looks, leaving you with a tricky predicament after the wrap party. Do you A) nick all the costumes and stay in character the rest of your working life, or B)
Yes. After the crowning of Aragorn, Legolas returned to Mirkwood and recruited a group of elves to migrate to Gondor and populate Ithilien so that the land could be made fair again. He must have seen his father and obtained permission to lead some of his father's people to Ithilien.
