The character does not appear in the original novel, but was created by Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh as an expansion of material adapted from the novel.

In The Desolation of Smaug, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and thirteen dwarves, while traveling to Lonely Mountain, pass through the black forest of Mirkwood, where they are attacked and captured by giant spiders.

Just before Thranduil seals off his kingdom upon learning that an evil entity has returned and is amassing great power in the south, Tauriel goes after the dwarves.

When Tauriel witnesses Thranduil attempting to leave the battlefield, with the intent of sparing his people further bloodshed, she accuses him of turning away and abandoning the dwarves to be slaughtered.

Tauriel then nocks an arrow; pointing it at Thranduil as she queries him whether he believes his life is more valuable than those of dwarves, and proclaims that he is devoid of love.

In 1937 J. R. R. Tolkien published the fantasy novel The Hobbit, whose plot centres on a group consisting of the titular Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarves, who go in search of a treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug.

"[7][8][9] In June 2011 Peter Jackson announced that actress Evangeline Lilly, who was known for her portrayal of Kate Austen in the ABC television drama Lost, was cast in the role.

"[7] Nonetheless, following the June 12, 2013 release of the first trailer for the film, some fans expressed dissatisfaction with the creation of a character that did not originate in the source material.

"[13] Alluding to Tauriel's pursuit of the dwarves in The Desolation of Smaug after Thranduil closes his kingdom's borders and forbids any interference on the part of Elves in outside affairs, and her refusal to fight alongside him in The Battle of the Five Armies, Lilly explains, "In a very out of character move for an elf, she's broken ranks and disobeyed authority.

[5] Lilly stated that she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the set, and the familiar experience of filming with a male-dominated cast, which was reminiscent of her work on Lost and The Hurt Locker.

[7][13] In addition to the red wig she wore to effect Tauriel's knee-length red hair, Lilly, when given a choice of wearing small, medium or large prosthetic ears, chose the large ones, which are three times the size of the prosthetics Orlando Bloom wore as Legolas, though Lilly believed that the length of her hair would distract attention from the ears.

In terms of costuming, unlike previous female Elves who were noblewomen that wore complex formal gowns, Tauriel is a border guard and soldier, and therefore wears more pragmatic Elven military garb.

[23] In an article written in The Huffington Post, Clarence Haynes compared Tauriel to Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, describing both of them as archetypical embodiments of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis.

[24] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post, in his review of The Desolation of Smaug, welcomed Tauriel's addition to the set of characters and called her "a sort of pointy-eared Lara Croft".

[25] Shaun Gunner, Chairman of the Tolkien Society, praised the inclusion of Tauriel as "the biggest gem and missed opportunity of this film" stating that she provides "a strong and warm voice in the story" but that the writers "were wrong to cheapen the character by putting her in a love-triangle".

[27][28] In Mad magazine's parody of The Desolation of Smaug, writer Desmond Devlin emphasized the similarity of the setting in which actress Evangeline Lilly's character was placed with that of her character on Lost, with her statement, "I can't believe I'm back in another weird forest, fighting random threats and making random alliances on a vague and poorly-defined mission.