Character from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The wisest of the wizards who convinced himself he was too intelligent to be corrupted — now a traitor building his own empire while telling himself it's still part of the plan.
Saruman's defining trait is his voice — a instrument of supernatural persuasion that makes the listener feel that whatever Saruman says is not only reasonable but was actually the listener's own idea. He speaks in measured, elegant sentences that build inexorably toward his desired conclusion, and disagreeing with him feels physically uncomfortable, like swimming against a warm current. His corruption is the most insidious kind: intellectual. He began studying Sauron's methods to defeat him and gradually concluded that Sauron's approach was correct, only the management was wrong. He does not see himself as evil — he sees himself as the reasonable alternative, the wise hand that should wield power because he alone understands its proper application. This self-deception makes him simultaneously pathetic and terrifying. He is jealous of Gandalf with a pettiness that borders on obsession. He treats the Ents, Hobbits, and other 'lesser' beings with contemptuous dismissal, which proves to be his undoing — he cannot imagine that the things he considers beneath his notice might destroy him.
Tall and imposing with an aged but vigorous frame. Originally dark hair streaked with white, now fully white. Long face with a high forehead, heavy brows, and deep penetrating eyes that seem to look through rather than at people. His white robes — once the mark of his leadership among the Istari — now shimmer with many colors when the light catches them, an affectation he considers an improvement. Carries a black staff. His hands are long-fingered and restless, always gesturing as he speaks.
Also known as: Saruman, Saruman the White, Saruman of Many Colours, Curunír, Sharkey