The Tom Bombadil

"Tom put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice. They could not catch the words, but evidently Merry was aroused." (J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)

"We went back to his and tried a bit of The Tom Bombadil, but he didn't really have the voice for it. I prefer tenors..."

Tom Bombadil

Term for a literay character that serves no purpose in the narrative. Named for a superfluous character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring.

"That detective is such a Tom Bombadil, he never shows up in the story again and has no impact on the narrative or anyone's character development."