In most media, Influencers are side-kicks. They’re the happy-go-lucky characters who encourage the main protagonist or bring the team together with a “power of friendship” moment. They’re the characters who rarely lose hope. Think of Happy from Fairy Tail or Olaf from Frozen. While these characters are fun and important, the archetype is usually shallow. It plays down the importance of an Influencer’s role, reducing them to cheerleaders rather than showing the strength it takes to carry others when even their own hope has been lost.
Samwise Gamgee from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is different. He isn’t a comic relief sidekick or a foolish, naive dreamer. He’s one of the strongest Influencers in media: he shows what happens when empathy, loyalty, and dream-casting are taken seriously. Without Sam, Frodo wouldn’t have come close to completing his journey.
What Are Influencers?
At their core, Influencers are driven by people. They thrive on connection, belonging, and inspiring hope in others. You can see this in their greatest strengths.
We’ve talked many times about this motivator. If you want an overview of Influencers and the other 3 motivators, go read our blog Conflict Strategies That Stick. Here we will be talking about something we didn’t talk about there called dream-casting.
- Empathy – They notice what others feel, even if it isn’t said.
- Encouragement – They speak life into people at their lowest.
- Dream-casting – They paint a picture of what could be, and in doing so, give others the courage to keep going.
These qualities are why so many stories make the Influencer the “heart” of the group. But too often that heart gets watered down into shallow optimism or comic relief rather than true inspiration and meaningful encouragement.
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise is set apart from the stereotypical archetypes we’ve talked about by having smaller moments throughout the story where he shows the strengths of an Influencer, rather than only having a few big speeches.
Fellowship of the Ring
- Small: Encourages Frodo by pointing out how far they’ve made it before they’re even out of the Shire: “If I take one more step, I’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.”
- Big: When Frodo tells him he’s going to Mordor alone, Sam responds, “Of course you are! And I’m going with you!” He then chases after Frodo’s boat despite not being able to swim.
The Two Towers
- Small: Despite not being directly told, he still takes notice that Faramir’s decision to let them go will cost him. He encourages him, saying, “You’ve shown your quality sir–the very highest.”
- Big: At one of Frodo’s lowest moments, he tells Sam he can’t go on. Sam responds with dream-casting, reminding him that in the great stories, the heroes kept going despite everything because there was still good in the world worth fighting for.
Return of the King
- Small: Even in his darkest moments, he’s still encouraging Frodo. He admits he doesn’t think there’ll be a return journey, but he doesn’t let that stop him from keeping Frodo going.
- Big: Near Mount Doom, Frodo collapses, unable to take another step. Sam first tries dream-casting by asking Frodo if he remembers the Shire, but when that doesn’t work, he simply picks Frodo up and carries him despite being in terrible condition himself.
Why This Matters
Samwise’s role is essential. Without him, Frodo could never have destroyed the ring, let alone make it to Mordor. The quest doesn’t just need Sam’s optimism or companionship; it needs his strength, his loyalty, and his relentless commitment to another person.
He proves Influencers are more than side-kicks or cheerleaders. When written well, they carry the emotional weight of the story and can even be the deciding factor between success and failure. That’s why Frodo’s words at the end of The Two Towers ring so true. Sam isn’t just a follower; he is Samwise the Brave, the kind of Influencer whose quiet courage changes everything.
What Writers Can Learn
Samwise Gamgee is proof that writing Influencers with depth matters. When storytellers reduce them to comic relief or shallow encouragement, they miss the true strength of this motivator: the one whose faith in others changes the outcome of the entire story.
So if you’re writing an Influencer in support of the main character, don’t settle for surface-level optimism. Go deeper:
- Let empathy guide their choices, even if it costs them something.
- Show how their encouragement restores hope in others, even when their own hope has been lost.
- Give them dream-casting moments that reveal a future worth fighting for.
- Allow their commitment to the main character to change the story’s outcome.
A well-written Influencer doesn’t just make the hero look better. They make the hero possible. That’s what Tolkien understood in Samwise Gamgee. And that’s what makes him one of the greatest Influencers ever written.
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