Bilbo Baggins

[banaili]

BILBO BAGGINS

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THE BASICS:

Name: Bilbo Baggins
Age: 50 years old
Gender: Male
Race: Hobbit
Birthplace: The Shire
Current Location: Bag End, Hobbiton, The Shire
Weapon(s): An Elven Sword called "Sting" (eventually)

APPEARANCES:

Facial Appearance: Despite being 50 years old, Bilbo's face has retained much of its youthful charm, so there is almost a sense of innocence and naivety about him. He has a kind face, making him easy to approach, and thoughtful though somewhat penetrating blue-grey eyes.
Build: Bilbo, being a hobbit, is quite short. He stands at around three feet tall--half the height of an adult man. Although he's not exactly "fat," he certainly appears well-fed. Despite spending much of his time at home, Bilbo is actually fairly agile and not particularly out-of-shape.
Distinguishing Marks: There isn't anything particularly distinguishing about him when compared to other hobbits. He has the usual curly hair, the same hairy feet, and his wardrobe is comprised mainly of brightly-colored garments. Perhaps the only difference might be that his clothes are a fair bit richer than those worn by other hobbits of the Shire.
Face Claim: Martin Freeman

A LITTLE MORE IN-DEPTH:

Personality:

Bilbo is friendly by nature. Having lived a fairly pleasant, wealthy life, he's accustomed to being a good host, thoughtful and attentive to the needs of others, and kind and generous with most he meets. He firmly believes in justice and tries to be as fair as possible in any situation. In general, he is a good person. He also happens to have quite a sharp, inquisitive mind, having studied a variety of different topics over the course of his years. He might be as close to "worldly" as a hobbit can be.

That being said, of course he is not without his flaws. Bilbo is also the type who worries about what others will think (hence his hesitance to embark on any sort of adventure at all). He is very much a homebody, used to a simple and sensible life, and thus anything that strays from his everyday life tends to make him nervous. He sometimes can be a little too blunt when trying to make what he feels is a reasonable and valid point.

Still, beneath his simple exterior, Bilbo is also quite daring and courageous. He will do what it takes to maintain peace and order not only in his own home of Bag End, but also in the rest of the world as well.

Likes:

Bilbo is, first and foremost, a hobbit. So perhaps the most basic likes of his are things he shares in common with other hobbits: love for a warm hearth, good food (perhaps just food in general), a passion for gardening, and above all, smoking pipes and drinking ale. He also enjoy his cozy, simple lifestyle, and reading (songs, poems, stories, you name it), both for pleasure and for the simple sake of enlightenment. He has a particular interest in the world outside of the Shire, although he's not quite sure he's brave enough to experience it firsthand, outside of his books, and certainly not outside of the comforts of his own home. That being said, that interest in other races is particularly strong in regards to Elves. Although he has never met one before, he finds their mystique both intriguing and awe-inspiring, their beauty and grace something that surely anyone would want to witness firsthand some time or another.

In that regard, Bilbo is a bit of a dreamer, too. Although he won't admit it (and maybe he doesn't quite realize this about himself), he's quite enthusiastic about adventure. There's a certain thrill to doing something you're not supposed to, and since Bilbo has always lived a rather sheltered and privileged life, it's something he has never attempted before. Because he has an inquiring mind, he also enjoys meeting new people, of any race, so long as they haven't stopped by only to cause trouble. He finds other people interesting--leastways, people from outside of the Shire--and thus is fairly open to meeting them and learning about their world.

Dislikes:

Bilbo is quite good about handling life as it comes at him, which means that oftentimes he isn't quite as bothered by the predicaments he winds up in as he probably should be. Still, naturally, there are things he doesn't quite agree with. For example, while he doesn't particularly mind having guests at his home, it does bother him a bit if they show up uninvited. There are also times where, upon meeting people of other races, he finds some aspects of those races...disagreeable. Several of the dwarves he encountered are good examples of this. Although he certainly doesn't mind dwarves, he has a hard time understanding how many of them can be so driven by their greed for gold and other treasures. His dislike for that sort of greed extends far enough that he almost came to dislike gold altogether, simply for existing and thus causing such trouble in the first place.

He also very much hates fighting, and hates seeing different races at war with one another. If he could have things his way, there would be complete world peace. As a "respectable" hobbit, he also dislikes being disrespected, mistrusted, and treated like some sort of annoying baggage. And while he is keen on adventure, he also seriously dislikes not being able to have his usual hobbit comforts while out doing so. If only he could pack up the whole of Bag End and bring it along with him on his adventures.

History:

Parents:

Bungo Baggins was Bilbo's father, born in 2846. He died in 2926. He was most renown for having built Bag End, a gorgeous, lavish home meant for his wife. Like most of the Baggins family, Bungo was a respectable hobbit who never did anything unexpected. His wife, Bilbo's mother, was named Belladonna Took. She was born in 2852 to a large, wealthy family and died in 2934. Her father Gerontius Took was good friends with the wizard Gandalf, and thus Belladonna also had a close relationship with the wizard.

Past Life:

The Baggins and Took families both have an extensive, rather interesting family history by hobbit standards. The Baggins family, on the one hand, are one of the most respected families in all the Shire. The Tooks, meanwhile, were known for being a little odd--they'd done things most hobbits would never do and were adventurous, even.

Bilbo was born to Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took on September 22nd, 2890. As mentioned before, he grew up living a sort of sheltered but privileged lifestyle, as the Baggins family was one of the wealthiest and most respectable hobbit families in all of the Shire. For that reason, Bilbo never had any reason to want anything--he always had a large, comfortable home with food on the table and plenty of money to go around for smoking or having a round of drinks with friends. As a child, when he wasn't busy studying the usual topics of arithmetic and literature, he very much enjoyed the dazzling display of fireworks that a wandering wizard named Gandalf the Grey would sometimes hold in the Shire. Bilbo could often be found somewhere in the most rural parts of the Shire, searching for Elves. From a young age, he'd had a keen interest in the Elves, ever since he'd studied about them and become enchanted by their beauty and mystique. Of course his childhood expeditions for Elves never proved fruitful, but they were a source of joy and entertainment for the young hobbit, and he would always be back home in time for dinner.

Bilbo lived his life much the same way, up until he was 36 years old, and his father passed away. Eight years later, his mother soon followed. Bilbo became the heir of their family home, Bag End. Naturally, at first he was lonely without the companionship of his parents. But eventually he began to grow comfortable in his life as a bachelor, living alone--he even grew to quite enjoy it. The home he had inherited was the envy of all the Shire, and it came to bring Bilbo quite a lot of respectability (in addition to the fact that he was a Baggins). Bag End was full of plenty of interesting books to read, maps to study for fun, delicious food, and even more money than he really knew what to do with. He spent his free time outside gardening, smoking his pipe with friends, drinking ale, or enjoying the fresh Shire air while out browsing at the local market.

Life was simple, but peaceful and comfortable. And although Bilbo had always felt--somewhere far in the back of his mind, enough so that he barely noticed it--some sort of little nagging feeling, it didn't occur to him that he was restless with his simple, everyday life...not until a certain wizard named Gandalf the Grey showed up at his front door.

Roleplay Sample:

They were lying in a forest, all 15 of them. Nighttime had come quickly, and thus they had stopped to make camp. One of the dwarves had taken up his turn as night watch. Bilbo would have a turn as well, which was why it was crucial he get some sleep while he could. The trek so far had not been an easy one, going over rocky terrain, up steep hills and mountain paths, weaving through bits of forest here and there. Bilbo considered himself a fairly quick runner and certainly not out-of-shape by hobbit standards. But even he had had some trouble keeping up at times.

Just keep moving. Just keep moving, he had adamantly chanted to himself, staring straight ahead, determined not to give up or give in to the unsettling feeling in the back of his mind and the emptiness of his stomach. By this point, the image of Gandalf's tall, lean figure had become engrained in his mind's eye. The mysterious wizard was always leading the pack, towering over them all, a beacon of power and the unknown at the forefront of their mainly vagabond group.

Just earlier, Bilbo had tripped and stumbled into some sort of large rabbit hole built into the side of a hill. The dwarf called Balin, who was a fair bit older than him, had stopped to ask if he was alright, attempting to comfort him with the knowledge that not everyone started out made for long-distance, cross-country travel, but that Bilbo too would soon become accustomed to it. Bilbo had been polite enough in answering him, thanking him even, though he couldn't help but sense some condescension in the dwarf's tone--even if it wasn't actually there. The dwarves had been at this for many years before he. He was a hobbit of Bag End, not one of the Dunedain, whose mission it was to wander the land and keep order. Unlike they, he had a place he could call home. In fact, he wondered now how he had not just given up yet and turned back home. How very homesick he had become.

Yet, as he lay face-up on the ground and staring at the stars though the web of tree branches above, a knobby tree root jutting through the thin fabric of his makeshift bed and into his back, he felt a sense of contentedness. He was cold, he missed his warm hearth and bed terribly, and he was even a little afraid--and that was surely an understatement But despite all that, there was a sort of breathlessness in his chest, a rush of feeling that he had never experienced in all the comforts of his life in the Shire. The closest thing to it might have been a long time ago, when he had been a child running around in search of elves. It might have been there, a glimmer of it, perhaps. He couldn't remember. Whatever the case, the feeling now felt entirely foreign to him.

Excitement. That was what it was. Excitement for the unknown. Excitement for being so daring as to cast away his values as a hobbit and take off from the Shire without even so much as a day's planning. He was sure he had kissed his respectability goodbye with this latest exploit alone, dashing off on an adventure with a wizard known only for his fireworks displays, and a dozen plus one dwarves, whose names he was still attempting to commit to memory. Such was the strength of this exciting feeling. But then again, so was the knot growing bigger and bigger in his stomach.

The tree root had begun to feel as though it was boring a hole into his back. He turned onto his side now to escape it, coming face to face with the largest, width-wise, of the dwarves. If he wasn't mistaken, this one was Bombur. He studied the sleeping dwarf's features. Although his exterior still appeared remarkably tough, weather-beaten and even semi-intimidating, there was also a jolliness to the dwarf's face. Perhaps it was the mustache, which seemed to give off the feeling that the large dwarf was constantly smiling. Even now it looked that way. A smiling dwarf seemed a rare thing indeed. Compared to the folk Bilbo was used to in the Shire, the dwarves had been loud, brash, and altogether disagreeable. And yet, it wasn't that he disliked their company. Even if they, including Bombur, didn't seem to like him all that much. He had, after all, merely been chosen because of his small stature, it seemed--and for the sake of having a lucky number of companions in their party.

As if aware that someone was appraising him, Bombur suddenly let out a loud, unpleasant belch, his eyelids fluttering a little and his mouth curving into a contented smile before he began to snore all over again.

Bilbo grimaced. His face scrunched up in disgust, he flipped over frustratedly to face the other way.

"If this whole adventure ordeal won't be the death of me..." He muttered under his breath, folding his arms over his chest to retain some heat in the cold night air. How he missed his warm hearth. The quilted comforter on his bed, knitted just for him many years ago by his Aunt Belba. That familiar hole in the ground that he called home.

And yet, as he lay there, no sign of sleep on the horizon, he knew. Whether or not he was stubborn enough to not admit it openly, deep down, he wouldn't trade places with any other Hobbit in the Shire. Not for all the comforts in the world.

BEHIND THE SCREEN:

Alias: I usually go by Alex, but that or Ai Li (my cbox name) are perfectly okay.
Codeword:
Experience: I really, truly enjoy roleplaying! I've been doing it for at least 12 years!
How you found us?: I think I found this site through an ad for it on Proboards Support. I definitely think more advertising like that will help!
Other Characters: None
How should we contact you?: PM is definitely okay!