It looks like the Company of Dwarves is beginning to fill out - at least when it comes to our first looks at the actors in costume. Several days ago, I talked about the latest production vlog for The Hobbit and posted my reaction to some early character stills, including five of the dwarves who accompany Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) on the Quest of Erebor. We saw Dori, Ori and Nori, as well as Oin and Gloin. Now, via three separate sources, we have images of seven more: Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Balin and Dwalin. Hit the jump to check out the stills, and to leave your thoughts in the comments!

First off, we have a shot of the brothers Fili (Dean O'Gorman) and Kili (Aidan Turner) coming to us from MSN. I haven't seen O'Gorman in anything until now, but his filmography (via IMDb) doesn't suggest any huge hits prior to The Hobbit. Perhaps this role will be his big break, but in any case, I'm interested to see what he does with the role. I'm more familiar with Aidan Turner, as he plays the lead vampire Mitchell on the original (British) series of Being Human (the one where a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost live in a flat together and try to blend in with normal society). I liked Turner in that role, so it should be interesting to see how he transitions from playing a vampire to playing a Dwarf. Check out the official character description on Fili and Kili:

Dean O’Gorman as Fili and Aidan Turner as Kili in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Two of the youngest dwarves, Fili and Kili have been born into the royal line of Durin and raised under the stern guardianship of their uncle, Thorin Oakensheild. Neither has ever travelled far, nor ever seen the fabled Dwarf City of Erebor. For both, the journey to the Lonely Mountain represents adventure and excitement. Skilled fighters, both brothers set off on their adventure armed with the invincible courage of youth, neither being able to imagine the fate which lies before them. (Photo by James Fisher)

In terms of the image, I love Fili's double swords, and Kili's uniquely-shaped broadsword. I can't wait to see these two hacking into some Orcs onscreen!

Next is a look at the trio Bombur (Stephen Hunter), Bofur (James Nesbitt) and Bifur (William Kircher), in an image courtesy of IGN. It seems like most of these actors' previous work was also in British TV, and if you're curious about each one, click on their name above to take you to the respective IMDb pages. Here's the official description of the characters:

While most of the Company of Thorin Oakensheild is related to the royal and noble line of Durin, Bofur, his brother Bombur and their cousin Bifur most definitely are … not. Born and bred in the West, descendants of coal miners and iron workers, they have joined the Quest for the Lonely Mountain partly to seek their fortune and partly because they were told the beer was free.

I don't remember much in particular about Bifur and Bofur from the novel, other than how they were usually getting into more trouble than the other, war-hardened dwarves. Bombur, as you might guess, was always getting stuck in tight places or slowing everybody else down, so I imagine the three characters together will provide quite a bit of comic relief for the two films.

Lastly, a still of the brothers Balin (Ken Stott) and Dwalin (Graham McTavish) obtained via Time. Stott appears to have had more visibility here in North America compared to the actors above, with roles in movies like The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Charlie Wilson's War and King Arthur. McTavish's career, meanwhile, is solidly based in video game voice work, and has games like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Infamous 2 on his resumé. The following blurb describes Balin and Dwalin in more detail:

Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly.

Balin, of course, was the Dwarf who went on to become Lord of Moria prior to the events of The Lord of the Rings, and later died when his people accidentally unleashed the Balrog buried under his mines. When the Fellowship of the Ring enters the mines during their journey, Gimli expects a "royal welcome" from Balin, only to find the dwarf city destroyed and occupied by Goblins. As I stated when I posted the last crop of Dwarf images, I'm glad that Peter Jackson and his designers have gone with individual looks for each dwarf - not only does it help us identify each one, but it suggests that the scripts of the movies likely incorporate each character's personality and eccentricities.

What do think of these latest character stills? The only one left to be released is that of the leader of the Company, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) - who I think is most fans' favourite Dwarf. Keep checking Professionally Incoherent for more Hobbit news and commentary as it becomes available - or take a look at my recent Hobbit-themed articles:

-Second Hobbit Production Vlog and New Character Stills-

-Sherlock Star, Former Greek God and Lost Star Cast in The Hobbit-