We have 17 awesome new character posters from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to share with you today.  They run the gamut of characters from Hobbits, to Dwarves, to Elves, to Humans, to...whatever the hell Gollum has become.  The design for each of the Dwarves is of particular interest because of the challenge of making each of them unique and memorable.  Be sure to check out Steve's incredible set visit experience for more information on the upcoming epic film from director Peter Jackson.Starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.  Hit the jump to check out the new posters. You can get caught up on all of our The Hobbit coverage here.  The following posters come courtesy of Empire and can be seen in their current issue: