The Dark Lord - also called the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Power, the Enemy or the Devil - were names given to the chief foes of the Free Peoples who ruled over the forces of Darkness, being the prime movers of evil in Middle-earth. Ever they oppressed the inhabitants of Arda and either sought to make themselves masters over all other rational wills or destroy that which they could not twist to their dreadful purposes.
The true and most well-known Dark Lords were by far the two rebellious Ainur: the great subversive Vala Morgoth and his heir, the mighty fallen Maia Sauron; some of those who served them or followed in their footsteps wishing to continue the evil works they had wrought also assumed monikers that when translated into Elvish literally meant "Dark Lord", or were bestowed upon these names by Loremasters based on the heinousness of their actions.
- The first Dark Lord, Melkor later named Morgoth
- The second Dark Lord, Mairon later named Sauron
- Herumor (third Dark Lord?)
- Dark Lords or Lich-Lords, greater Ghosts of men entrapped in decaying bodies and ruling over other lesser Undead.
- The Balrog of Morgoth, Múar at the height of his ambition calling himself the Dark Lord of the Palisor