Which fictional character did J.R.R. Tolkien describe as a hobbit in The Hobbit?

Bilbo Baggins is the hobbit described as the central character of The Hobbit.

Bilbo begins the novel as a respectable resident of Bag End who prefers comfort, regular meals, and a quiet life. The wizard Gandalf and a company of thirteen dwarves draw him into a quest to reclaim treasure from the dragon Smaug. During the journey, Bilbo finds the ring that later becomes central to The Lord of the Rings.

Bilbo is not the same character as Frodo Baggins. Frodo is his younger relative and inherits the ring from him in the later novel. Samwise Gamgee is Frodo’s gardener and companion, while Meriadoc Brandybuck is another member of Frodo’s travelling party.

Bilbo’s adventure also changes Tolkien’s fictional world. The Hobbit was initially written with a lighter, children’s-story tone, but Tolkien’s later revisions and the sequel connected it more closely to the darker history of the Ring and Middle-earth.