"The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies are, of course, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy books. But the movies definitely feature special twists from Peter Jackson.The director, who is responsible for all six films in the franchise, added new characters, storylines and battle sequences to amp up the epic series -- and his mark can be spotted in multiple scenes from the last installment, "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."
1. LEGOLAS. 
Although elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) was not in Tolkien's original novel, he is featured in Jackson's "Hobbit" films. He's also a key member of "the fellowship of the ring" and appears in all three "LOTR" movies.
2. Frodo Baggins, Galadriel, Gollum and Gandalf are in both trilogies, too. 
Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis appear in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Ian McKellen is a major player across both franchises and -- spoiler alert -- Cate Blanchett has an awesome scene as Galadriel in "The Battle of the Five Armies," too.
3. A creepy cave/mountain dweller. 
"Hobbit" has dragon Smaug, "LOTR" has giant spider Shelob.
4. A love triangle. 
In "The Lord of the Rings," Eowyn (Miranda Otto) is in love with Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), who is in love with Arwen (Liv Tyler). In "The Hobbit," Legolas is in love with Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), who falls for Kíli (Aidan Turner).
5. The sneaky right-hand man.
In "Rings," no one trusts Gríma Wormtongue, the suspicious chief advisor to King Théoden of Rohan. Similarly in "The Hobbit," Alfrid, the slimy, mischievous counselor to the Master of Laketown, isn't very likable either.
6. The ruggedly handsome man-flesh.
Aragorn is the ranger men, elves and dwarves will follow to the ends of the earth in "LOTR." In "The Battle of the Five Armies," Bard (Luke Evans) assumes a similar role.
7. Mithril.
The metal cloak Bilbo gives Frodo in "LOTR" is featured in "The Battle of the Five Armies."
8. The one character who gets possessed by power and wealth.
Boromir (Sean Bean) tries to take the "one ring to rule them all" from Frodo in "The Fellowship of the Ring" after becoming obsessed by its power. In the final installment of "The Hobbit," Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) comes down with a bad case of "dragon sickness," which causes him to see past rationale and crave only wealth.
9. Gandalf makes an epic "ride through" on horseback.
Like many scenes in "Rings," Gandalf makes a memorable entrance during the battle at the Lonely Mountain in "The Battle of the Five Armies."
10. An orc leader. 
There are multiple orc leaders in the trilogies, including Lurtz and Gothmog in "Rings" and Azog in "Hobbit."
11. The eagles. 
The eagles are back in "The Battle of the Five Armies" (and they save the day once again).
Before You Go
