King Théoden
"Théoden no longer recognises friend from foe."
Éomer
When Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli first meet King Théoden he is withered, sickly looking man, he appears bleached by the hand of age and is entirely reliant on his servant Gríma also known as Wormtongue to those in the court.
However the King was not always like this. He was once a great warrior, strong and proud, although he had seen much tragedy in his life. His wife, Elfhild, died whilst giving birth to his son, Théodred, and this son in turn recently perished whilst trying to save the borders from an attack of Orcs. Long before this his sister's husband, Éomund, was killed by Orcs, and soon, Théodwyn, his sister, died also, of grief at her loss. Théodwyn left behind two children, Éomer and Éowyn, who Théoden has raised as his own. However, now his vision has become cloudy.
Gríma Wormtongue helped Saruman work his will on Théoden and so took over the King's mind. Théoden is now constantly looking to Wormtongue to advice, all of which is ill, and so allows Saruman to make plans to take over and destroy Rohan.
When Gríma realises that the guards did not take the wizard's staff he panics and attempts to escape, but Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli stop both him and the guards he calls forward to help him. Gandalf proceeds to save Théoden by removing the spell that Saruman has placed on him, in the process Saruman speaks through Théoden's body and Gandalf reveals that he is now Gandalf the White.
Finally Théoden returns to his old self and sees through his own eyes once more. At once the pale, beautiful young woman rushes to his side and the old King recognises her as Éowyn, his niece.
Now that he has been saved from Saruman's clutch Théoden must learn of his son's death and must also decide the fate of his Kingdom. At last he decides that Rohan's only hope of survival lies in the stone fortress of Helm's Deep and so everyone in Edoras must leave, taking only what they can carry, and head for the ancient stronghold.