Voss wrote:Directly from LotR. Boromir takes down a dozen or two Uruk-hai, and Pippin and Merry get carted off like fucking luggage. And except for stabbing a single enemy that literally doesn't give a flying fuck about them (each) they remain fucking luggage, to be carted around and given plot exposition on behalf of the readers. (Who they are essentially standing in for the entire time).
Have you even read the fucking book?
'Merry and he [Pippin] had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight and tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands.'
Any hiker with writer imposed 'resistance to corruption' would have been just as good, and possibly less whiny.
It's not an inherent bullshit 'resistance to corruption.' Frodo, like most hobbits, has no particular ambition for the ring to corrupt. It's a societal thing, all they want is to farm, smoke, and write poetry. The hard part is finding a hobbit who's willing and able to undergo the rest of the hardships along the way.
Its like in
First Lensman, when the first Lensman is looking for other people to join up, but finds very few because total incorruptibility is a prereq, and totally incorruptible humans are hard to find. Then he finds a race of totally incorruptible aliens, but most of them still don't qualify, because having a strong sense of self is as rare in them as incorruptibility is in humans, and that's also a requirement.
That's why Frodo and Sam are exceptional. Sam happens to be much more exceptional than Frodo, performing deeds of valor that Gimli or Legolas would hesitate to try, but whatever.