Get The First Peek At Evangeline Lilly As Elven Warrior Tauriel In 'The Hobbit'

Peter Jackson's abiding affection for J.R.R. Tolkien's works is well established at this point, and as such it's probably safe to expect his three-part adaptation of The Hobbit to remain relatively faithful to the source material. But no story goes from page to screen without getting a few tweaks along the way. One of Jackson's is the addition of a Tauriel, a Woodland Elf created specifically for the movie and portrayed by Lost actress Evangeline Lilly.

Since the character has no counterpart in the novel, up until now it's been anyone's guess what she'd look like in the movie. Thanks to the upcoming onslaught of product tie-ins, however, we now have our first peek at the new character. Check it out after the jump.

She is a warrior. She's actually the head of the Elven guard. She's the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she's lethal and deadly.

Collider picked up the first peek at Tauriel from The One Ring, who noticed the image on the packaging for a Hobbit toy.

[via Collider]

While the first look sadly doesn't do much to show off Tauriel's apparently formidable talent as a fighter, it's encouraging to see that she looks appropriately tough. Love the ice-cold, don't-even-think-about-it glower she's got going on.

Unfortunately, it may be a while yet before we actually get to see Tauriel in action. Back when we were expecting just two Hobbit films instead of three, Lilly revealed that Tauriel was "not in the first film very much" and that she'd have a much stronger showing in the second. Now that the story's become a trilogy, it's entirely possible we won't see her at all until the second installment opens next year.

In any case, the first cinematic chapter of Jackson's adaptation, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits December 14.

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever...Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.