Gimli, Lockbearer - I've always felt
Lockbearer is nothing more than a worse version of
Gimli, Faithful Companion. In TT he's pushed out by Aragorn and the need to keep under 4 cultures and 6 companions for
Dauntless Hunter decks, and the amount of Hobbits needed to make him better than
Lord of the Glittering Caves in WotR and on doesn't seem effective (though admittedly, it could be a fun deck). My honorable mention goes to
Counter of Foes, who would be awesome if he could be used with
Feared Axeman.
Gimli's Armor and
Dwarven Bracers do some work and an "Enduring" Dwarf is neat, but it seems so fragile so late in the game's lifespan.
EDIT: I mistook Lively Combatant for Faithful Companion originally. Lively Combatant is probably worse than Counter of Foes, but at least he fills a niche. I'm comfortable with my Lockbearer vote Arwen, Elven Rider - The only place I can imagine using her is in Fellowship facing Twilight Nazgul, in which case
Daughter of Elrond seems much better for the job. It is neat that her ability can stack with
Mithril-coat (unlike most armors, which are null with wound prevention), but other than a round-about way of cycling I don't see her as useful. A little surprised that
Evenstar of Her People is mentioned. With ally Elrond and Galadriel alone she's a free -3 each turn, I use her in all TT decks with an Arwen.
Lady Undomiel is much harder to use past Fellowship Block, in my opinion. I'd use
Echo of Luthien primarily as a better (though less free) version of
Smeagol, Poor Creature.
Legolas, Fleet-footed Hunter - His lack of the Archer keyword makes him so much worse than
Of the Woodland Realm, nevermind that the two abilities are leagues apart. Even considering his rarity, I don't see him being often better than
Companion of the Ring.
Nimble Warrior is certainly bad, though. Could've been cool if there were any way to remove threats in Archery or if
Gimli's Battle Axe, Trusted Weapon added to the Archery total at 1 threat, but as it stands it's hard to use to gain very little.
Gandalf, Stormcrow - As pointless as I think
The Grey Wizard is, Stormcrow has absolutely no place in any deck. At least I could dream up a reason to use
The Grey Wizard.
Smeagol, Hurried Guide - I'm not surprised to see
Old Noser mentioned, but I think he's just misunderstood.
Hurried Guide is simply a (much, much) worse version of
Poor Creature in decks without buffs for Smeagol, and decks with buffs would be far better served by nearly any other Smeagol. Honorable mention goes to
Wretched and Hungry, who is a (much, much) worse version of
Pitiable Guide. A resistance boost to the RB is what keeps him above
Hurried Guide.
Aragorn, Guide and Protector - Most Aragorns are good and none are outright useless. Still, as was mentioned years ago, the "skirmishing" restriction is hard to get around. If you're playing an event in Aragorn's skirmish, you probably don't need to bother wounding that minion anyways.
Swift Hunter is markedly worse than
Heir to the Throne of Gondor and
Thorongil (duh), but he's also not rare and can buff the Ring-bearer with
The Ring of Doom.
Isildur's Heir seems tricky to use, too, but I'd be more tempted to build a deck around him than
Guide and Protector. Who is he protecting with that ability, anyway? Himself?
Boromir, Destined Guide - Yeah, I really want to envision a world where the Fellowship keyword is worth having and starting Boromir, Merry, and Pippin is something worth doing. The fact that
Bearer of Council can bear the Ring shoots him up pretty high in my opinion, even if he is one of the less worthwhile Ring-bearers. As a non-Ring-bearer, I'd say
Bearer of Council is actually worse because, while his ability is better, there's no point in using him. Exertions on Hobbits are nearly free, so it's a (justified) lore restriction in my mind.
Destined Guide gets style points, but is still the loser here.
Faramir, Stout Captain - I'm a little biased against
Stout Captain because his picture is clearly of a knight, and yet he's a ranger. The spot requirement makes starting with him incredibly difficult for no reason I can see, and the easiest ways to enable rangers to win skirmishes usually come with damage bonuses. At least
Prince of Ithilien gets an easy Defender bonus.
Eomer, Heir to Meduseld - Eomer is one of my favorite companions (since Rohan is my favorite culture), so I may have an unpopular pick but I stand by it. I've always felt the damage bonuses on Rohan were highly unnecessary, and the strength bonus (What, +3 in most cases?) is just not worth having. Rohan can do big fellowships without much trouble, but even then +6 (gotta save a spot for
Merry's Sword) shouldn't be the best you could do. In my opinion, there's a better version in
Valiant Warchief: he cycles terrifically (bonus for me, but some people see it as a burden), can actually start with a useful companion, and is a Valiant companion for Valiant companions. Plus he can spot himself.
Eored Captain has similar issues as a
Third Marshal of Riddermark that you can hardly start with (Hurray for
Aldred or
Swordthain, I guess), but Valiant is underrated, doggone it! Forthwith
Banished is abundantly easy to start with, but it's hard to imagine why it's necessary. I like
Eored Leader's swarm-proof-edness, I think if nothing else he could be fun to use. I think
Rohirrim Captain and
Sister-son of Theoden are grossly misunderstood (especially
Rohirrim Captain - so good!) and
Sister-son of Theoden absolutely deserved Valiant. Lots of opinions on Eomer, haha.
Eowyn, Lady of the Mark - Not much contest, though I've always thought
Willing Fighter,
Shieldmaiden of Rohan, and
Restless Warrior had limited uses if all Eowyns are available.
Theoden, Ednew - Full disclosure, I really didn't want to pick
Son of Thengel (I think he's misunderstood, too. Also, he should've been valiant). Still, I stand behind my decision fully.
Ednew's bonuses are just worse versions of bonuses he can get other ways. Again, I don't see the point of a damage bonus and
The Renowned has that same effect with other, actually useful effects. Would rather have
King of the Eorlingas' strength boost, though I appreciate the spot cost. If you're using him with Gandalf, you'd want
King of the Eorlingas again. No easier to start with than any of those guys, either.
Bilbo, Retired Adventurer - Not a terrible card (can be healed by Fellowship versions of Elrond, which is neat if nothing else), but by far the worst Bilbo. I'm only now building my first deck to include him.
Frodo, Resolute Hobbit -
Wicked Masster! got some hate earlier, but he's one of my favorite copies of Frodo. Expensive, yes, and worthless outside of King Block (unlike every other copy of Frodo), but wounding a minion in a pinch is sometimes exactly what it takes to win a game. Add it to a Hobbit Hospital deck (or anything with a burden removal engine) and his text, in my opinion, is more valuable than most other Frodos available for that site path. I'm with Legion here, 2 extra resistance looks better than it is. No corruption deck is only going to be able to put 10 burdens down, and once you're past 5 you're in rough waters regardless. Honorable mention goes to
Son of Drogo, my initial pick. Exerting someone else to heal Frodo is usually the opposite of what players want to do, but decks which can use him are interesting.
Merry, Unquenchable Hobbit - So, so situational. I wouldn't ever put this guy in a deck until RotK, when
Orcs have minions fearsome enough to try maneuvering around. Honorable mention for
Impatient Hobbit, who I guess could have some interesting recursion healing at least (whether or not it's worth the deck space). This version of Merry may be the only one worse than his correlating Pippin (Well,
Resolute Friend has stiff competition).
Pippin, Hastiest of All - Oh, Pippin. It was not until much later that anyone at Decipher cared very much for you at all. By the time recursion of this guy is worth trying to achieve, the effect is no longer worth achieving.
Mr. Took clocks in at a close second (he was my initial pick), and
Friend to Frodo (may take some heat for this one) would be third for me.
Sam, Steadfast Friend - The only copy of Sam totally ineligible of bearing The One Ring. The resistance boost is interesting, I'll grant, but that's all you got?
Loyal Friend is a lame discounted version of
Great Elf Warrior, but I'd still pick him over Steadfast Friend in any deck with Frodo as the Ring-bearer. Alternate Ring-bearers shouldn't waste a companion slot on so little.
Good eye, Legion! Excellent topic to bring back to the forefront! I'd like to have another run at this one for support characters and Shadow characters from the movies when I've got the time.