Faramir is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring, but first appears in The Two Towers. In the latter, Tolkien reveals that when Faramir was five years old, his mother died. After her death, his father, Denethor, became somber, cold, and detached from his family. However, the relationship between Faramir and Boromir, who was five years Faramir's elder, only grew closer. Denethor openly favoured Boromir over Faramir, but there was no jealousy or rivalry between the two. Boromir protected Faramir, and Faramir looked up to his older brother.Tolkien writes that it was Faramir's "love of lore and music" that led him to form a friendship with Gandalf, called "Mithrandir" by the people of Gondor. He learned what he could from Mithrandir's wisdom and mentoring. Denethor did not approve of Faramir becoming the “wizard’s pupil”, for he neither trusted nor liked the Istari (as wizards of Gandalf's order were called).Faramir’s leadership, skill-in-arms, and swift but hardy judgement proved valuable in battle, and earned him the respect of others. During the War of the Ring, he was the Captain of the Rangers of Ithilien, which consisted of the Dúnedain of the South belonging to the line of the Lords of Westernesse. Faramir valiantly defended Gondor from the Enemy on many fronts, but did not enjoy fighting for war’s sake.
Sideshow has just released only their fourth figure in their 12" Lord of the Rings line, and yet it's already a character most folks would consider D list. Oh, if you were putting together a "hot hunks of Middle Earth" calendar, he'd certainly be chosen before Gimli, but Faramir isn't one of the first characters - or first couple dozen characters - that leaps to people's minds when they consider the license. Okay, so maybe he wasn't part of the Fellowship, but he's got a couple good things going for him. He had one Hell of a snazzy outfit, which is always a big plus. And if you're looking for a character that follows a certain design and style after Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir, Faramir does make sense. Of course, having your older brother already produced probably meant he put in a good word for him as well.
There's also a very good proportion between this head and the fully clothed body. He's wearing a lot of clothes, but they're well tailored for the most part, and the size of the head matches up extremely well with the appearance of the clothed body. There's no bobble or pin head here.
The sculpted hair is the right style, and it flows pretty well. There's enough detail in the strands, and there's no tootsie roll issues. Both sets of included hands are also very well sculpted, and we actually have a set designed specifically to hold the bow and arrow that work perfectly.
The sculpted hair is the right style, and it flows pretty well. There's enough detail in the strands, and there's no tootsie roll issues. Both sets of included hands are also very well sculpted, and we actually have a set designed specifically to hold the bow and arrow that work perfectly.
The figure comes with his long bow, arrows, a quiver, his long sword and scabbard, and and am extra set of hands. Of course there's also the black display base, emblazoned with the LOTR logo.
The arrows look terrific, and fit nicely on the bow. In fact, they are even notched to fit over the string. They fit inside the quiver nicely, and the quiver is perhaps my favorite ever produced.
What would Faramir be without his sword and sheath, attached to the leather belt. While the hilt of Faramir's sword is a bit more plain than some of the other characters, I think I like this one better. The plain style, and perfectly painted blade makes it look much more realistic.
This item can be found at Darkfigures.com for $59.99 ($5.00 less than if purchased directly from Sideshow)
Parts of this review were supplied by Darkfigures.com, Michael Crawford Reviews, Sideshow collectibles, IMD Movie Database & Wikipedia
