The first and greatest Dark Lord, originally named Melkor, the mightiest of the Valar. Consumed by pride and the desire to dominate, he turned to evil before the world was made, marring the very fabric of Arda with his malice. He stole the Silmarils, destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor, and bred Orcs, Trolls, Dragons, and Balrogs as weapons of war. His centuries-long tyranny over Middle-earth in the First Age is the central conflict of The Silmarillion. He was finally overthrown in the War of Wrath and cast into the Void beyond the world, but his influence endures through his servant Sauron and the corruption he wove into the substance of Arda itself.