Her story arc is contrived and forced and comes across like fan fiction shoehorned into the script. She's completely superfluous and her story arc did nothing to move the story forward, and in fact, detracted from it and resulted in some unfavorable deviations from the source material. Removing the character and her story arc would result in a tighter and more engaging plot, it would improve the pace, and it would improve canon character story arcs by allowing filmmakers to devote more screen time to integral characters like Bilbo. She strays too far from canon, IMO, and her inclusion coupled with the Kili story arc diminish the Legolas/Gimli and the Gimli/Galadriel moments, while serving absolutely no purpose in the grand scheme of things. I didn't need this Kili/Tauriel nonsense to care about Kili's fate, and she wasn't a necessary element to explore Thranduil's isolationist policies. Legolas would have sufficed. I wish they had instead explored the father/son dynamic because then Legolas wouldn't have been reduced to the third wheel in an unnecessary love triangle and an acrobatic orc killing machine. (And yeah, I get that some of you didn't think it was a love triangle. If it in fact doesn't exist, we sure wasted a lot of screen time alluding to the possibility, such as Thranduil's dialogue with Tauriel, etc.)

And it's why I feel Tauriel is a Mary Sue--she's entirely "too much": She’s not only a female but the best fighter* and a healer. She’s got a dwarf and an elvish Prince 'fawning' over her. She’s got red hair, a rarity in the Tolkien realm**, that's longer than even Lady Galadriel's or Arwen's. She has a dark and dismal past (orphaned when her parents were killed by orcs) and was taken in and favored by the King. She’s rebellious and despite only being 600 years old, has risen to the position of the Captain of the Guard. The list goes on... She's what's known as a "Special Snowflake" in that she has traits (and a back story) that set her apart from her race (traits such as rebelliousness, able to fall in love-at-first-sight with a dwarf and instantly sympathize with their plight, incredibly long flowing red hair, an overwhelming concern for outside realms and races, plus those mentioned above in the "too much" section. And, she seems unusually complicated and conflicted for a Silvan elf).

*Canon: Sure, there were a handful of female elf 'warriors' in Tolkien's writings, such as Luthien and Aredhel, but they were few and far between. And let's not forget: Luthien was a Princess of Doriath (and the daughter of Elu Thingol, King of Doriath, and his Queen, Melian the Maia), and Aredhel was a Princess of Gondolin (also known as the White Lady of the Ñoldor). They were unique and for good reason.

**Canon: red hair is a rarity among elves known to only exist in Feanor’s line via Nerdanel. It made them unique in Tolkien's world. Tauriel is not of his line--Feanor was the High King of the Noldor. In addition, Tauriel gets the 'absurd hair award' from me. Not only is it unsuitable for battle but it looks ridiculous.

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The addition of Tauriel (while a poorly executed concept) doesn't automatically mean that Legolas should become a such a dick. As I've said, he can be better written regardless of whether Tauriel is added or not.

Sorry, but while I don't like Tauriel, I simply don't buy the argument that the concept of a fleshed-out female captain and a well written/portrayed Legolas (and other characters) are mutually exclusive.

Regarding red hair, yeah, that's pretty jarring when it comes to canon, though several elves in DOS also had red hair, so it's not just her alone.

which is why I said it was already developed in the LOTR trilogy. But we never see him as ignorant or arrogant otherwise in LOTR so it's strange to make him such in the Hobbit while not allowing enough time for the character to change. In FOTR Legolas has respect towards Aragorn, for example. Naturally he does have the same towards the mightier Elves but towards an exile? It shows wisdom and respect towards the mankind in Middle Earth and their history. This doesn't fit with some arrogant Elvish prince in the Hobbit with no time to turn into a respectful companion and wise friend and supporter. I don't see him as just an eye-candy in LOTR and never have. Elves were always described as creatures with beauty and grace, so it would be strange if the casting didn't show that. Each one of the Elves in the LOTR trilogy has parts of these traits, IMHO. To me, for example, Haldir is far more handsome. Matter of taste.

The storyline with dwarves is a completely different issue in Tolkien's work and I don't discuss it here, besides it was already harmed enough by the inclusion of Tara Croft, IMHO. I'm grateful Tolkien si at a better place already and hopefully they don't show the Hobbit trilogy there. PJ went too far.

...were adventurous, but neither was a "warrior" in any sense.

I agree, Tauriel is a Mary Sue from start to finish. And the hair is ridiculous. I can forgive red hair, but not the utterly impractical long hair, completely unsuited to a serious fighter.

which is why I said it was already developed in the LOTR trilogy. But we never see him as ignorant or arrogant otherwise in LOTR so it's strange to make him such in the Hobbit while not allowing enough time for the character to change. In FOTR Legolas has respect towards Aragorn, for example. Naturally he does have the same towards the mightier Elves but towards an exile? It shows wisdom and respect towards the mankind in Middle Earth and their history. This doesn't fit with some arrogant Elvish prince in the Hobbit with no time to turn into a respectful companion and wise friend and supporter. I don't see him as just an eye-candy in LOTR and never have. Elves were always described as creatures with beauty and grace, so it would be strange if the casting didn't show that. Each one of the Elves in the LOTR trilogy has parts of these traits, IMHO. To me, for example, Haldir is far more handsome. Matter of taste.

The storyline with dwarves is a completely different issue in Tolkien's work and I don't discuss it here, besides it was already harmed enough by the inclusion of Tara Croft, IMHO. I'm grateful Tolkien si at a better place already and hopefully they don't show the Hobbit trilogy there. PJ went too far.

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We see plenty of male elves with quite long hair, maybe not as long as hers but certainly and most definitely long, at least halfway down their backs if not more, and it's every bit as "impractical" in a realistic sense when it comes to being a warrior as her longer hair is.

If no one has seen fit to complain about Elrond's hair, or Legolas' hair or Thranduil's hair or how about the dwarves and their long hair, Thorin's is pretty long, Kili's isn't as long but he only a simple clasp, Fili's has a few little braids - all of them have hair that would be quite easily graspable to an enemy and in their cases more likely to hang in their faces than the way the elves have their's styles. Never mind the dwarves with the long beards.

The fact is any of them wearing it in any way that is not tightly tied back and preferably held close to the head in some sort of bun like style, are being impractical, not just Tauriel and it's no more ridiculous on her than it is on them.

If any hair is longer than a crew cut, it's at risk for getting in the way for any warrior/soldier in reality. However, ALL the elves we've ever been shown in PJ's films have pretty long hair, and the Dwarfs have long hair & beards too (well, most of them). We've never been shown an elf with short hair in these movies, so I have no reason to believe that any of them wear their hair short for any reason. They all wear their hair long, and it's not been shown to ever be a problem. Did Legolas tie his hair up in LOTR when he was fighting? Nope. Did Haldir at Helm's Deep? Nope. Did the elven hunters who were patrolling during the spider scene in DOS? Nope. All had long, flowing, get-in-the-way hair. If we can accept the fact that none of these have ever had a problem before, than I see no reason to pick on Tauriel for her excessively long hair.

Perhaps the elves have inborn gracefulness that keeps all Orcs and other assorted evil do-ers from grabbling a handful of their hair and tugging them down with it. Or maybe it's just too greasy to hold on to, or has a magic forcefield.

Anything more than a handful, is a liability.

...her hair was designed longer than the other Elves we meet (which, as others have noted, is already quite long) because she is female. I see no reason to suppose that other female Silvan Elves have shorter hair than she does.

...her hair was designed longer than the other Elves we meet (which, as others have noted, is already quite long) because she is female. I see no reason to suppose that other female Silvan Elves have shorter hair than she does.