Which character is the central ring-bearer in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

Frodo Baggins is the central ring-bearer in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo inherits the One Ring from his uncle Bilbo and accepts the task of taking it from the Shire toward Rivendell. At the Council of Elrond, he volunteers to carry the Ring to Mordor, where it can be destroyed in Mount Doom. This makes him the principal ring-bearer of the main narrative.

Samwise Gamgee accompanies Frodo and becomes essential to the quest, but Sam is not the story’s original or primary ring-bearer. Bilbo carried the Ring before Frodo, after finding it beneath the Misty Mountains. Aragorn, meanwhile, is a major human hero and future king rather than the ring-bearer.

Frodo’s role is difficult because the Ring exerts increasing power over him. Tolkien’s story therefore treats courage not as freedom from fear, but as continuing a necessary task despite fear, exhaustion, and temptation.