Image: Collage; Gollum, Witch King, Smaug
About This Quiz
We've all had the character-building experience of a really bad boss - but each bad boss is bad in their own special way. Which particular Tolkien villain does your bad boss most resemble?
Does your boss micromanage?
So much, it's maddening
Not too much
No, he never communicates with anyone
No, he lets people get on with it
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Is your boss willing to get their hands dirty?
No, he has underlings for that
Yes, he loves it
Yes, usually
He wouldn't let anyone else
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How's your boss' temper?
Surprisingly level
When he goes, he goes big
Erratic
Fiery
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Do people respect your boss?
Mostly, yes
No, but they fear him
Not at all
Some people do
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Does your boss suffer from target fix?
Yes, it's creepy
She can manage a few things
She has only one thought in her head
No, she keeps a lot of stuff going
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Can your boss work well with others?
Only underlings
Yes, if he trusts them
Occasionally
No
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Is your boss smart?
Yes
No
No, he can be crafty though
Reasonably
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Is your boss adaptable?
No
Not very
He can be, sort of
He's too powerful to need to be
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Does he look after his own?
His favorite ones, yes
Yes, but he also takes them down with him
Nope
He has no "own"
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Is she greedy?
Extremely
No
Sort of
Yes
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Is he self-made?
Yes
No, he had a patron
He isn't successful enough to say so
No
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Does she have style?
She thinks so, but no
Yes, very idiosyncratic
Not at all
She defines it
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Was he always like this?
He was a jerk, then he got worse
Some say not, but I think so
He was the exact opposite
Yes
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Is she intimidating?
Very
Not as much as she thinks
No
Immensely
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Does he do business fairly with his equals?
Yes actually
Mostly
No, he is dishonorable
He does not see himself as having any
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Is he a good boss in any way?
No, he's awful
Working for him is an adventure I guess
He's amusing
He's very rich and successful
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Do you trust him?
No
Yes, he's predictable
No, he's nuts
Yes, he is clear about his expectations
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Is he decisive?
Sort of, though he has no plan
No, he only reacts to whatever is going on
No, he's like a split personality
Extremely
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Is she disruptive?
She thinks so
No but she's not trying to be
Unintentionally, and in a bad way, yes
Yes
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Is he good at his job?
I'm not sure, actually
Reasonably
LOL no
Yes
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Does he understand his industry well?
Not really, he doesn't get out enough
He knows his particular specialty
He doesn't know much of anything
Yes, I'll grant that
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Is he obsessed with long hours?
Yes, he's always on the clock
He likes them
No, he flakes
No, he's quite lazy
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How did he get the job?
Money
Nepotism
He knifed the last guy in the back
Hostile takeover
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Does she demand a lot?
Yes
So much it's ridiculous
Not really
No, but she's very specific about what she wants
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How stable is he?
Um...
Sort of
Not even a tiny bit
Mostly, until he gets riled
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How does she treat people above her?
She's OK to her equals, I've never seen her with a superior
Respectfully
She grovels a lot
No one is, so I don't know
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Are you basically desperate to get out?
Yes, this guy is nuts
I'm hoping for a promotion actually
I'm hoping he'll quit and I will get his job
No, the pay is too good
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What are his priorities for the company?
Destruction of all competitors
Corporate espionage, mostly
Goodness knows, they change so often
Profit!
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Does she set her employees against each other?
Yes
Not exactly
She doesn't mean to, but yes
No, she demands loyalty only to her
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Does he communicate clearly?
About the mission, yes, but not the specifics
Only to his own team
No, he's too wild
Yes, in fairness
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You Got:
