J.R.R. Tolkien’s character Bilbo Baggins belongs to the fictional people called Hobbits.
Bilbo is a Hobbit of the Shire, a rural region in northwestern Middle-earth. At the beginning of The Hobbit, he is known for valuing food, comfort, routine, and respectable domestic life. Gandalf’s arrival and Thorin Oakenshield’s expedition pull him into an adventure far beyond the Shire.
Hobbits are generally smaller than Men and are known for their quiet habits, love of hospitality, and skill at moving unobtrusively. Bilbo’s courage develops through encounters with trolls, giant spiders, Elves, Gollum, and Smaug. He later becomes connected to the history of the One Ring.
Readers sometimes use “halflings” as though it were a separate species. In Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Halfling is a common alternative term for Hobbit, especially in the speech of other peoples.