| “ | Bow to death, Harry. It might be quick. It might even be painless. I do not know. I have never died. | „ |
| ~ Lord Voldemort to Harry Potter in their first duel. |
| “ | I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my power. After tonight if they speak of you, they'll only speak of how you begged for death. And how I being a merciful Lord...obliged. | „ |
| ~ Voldemort addressing his sadistic death threatening statement to Harry Potter. |
Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort or simply Voldemort, is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter franchise.
He is a psychopathic dark wizard that seeks to forever possess immortality, rule the world over all, exterminate all Muggles, slaughter those who oppose him and kill the one who is destined to put an end to his reign.
He is the archenemy of Harry Potter due to murdering his parents Lily Potter and James Potter, as well as the second arch-enemy of Albus Dumbledore.
In the films, he was portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, who also played Amon Goeth in Schindler's List and King Richard III in the Almeida Theatre's 2016 production of The Tower of London, in remaining five films; Christian Coulson (16-year-old) in Chamber of Secrets; and both Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (11-year-old) and Frank Dillane (15-year-old) in Half-Blood Prince. In The Philosopher's Stone, he was portrayed by Richard Bremmer in the flashback scene, and voiced by Ian Hart.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Believes that the meaning of life is to hold power over all life so he can accomplish power over death as a consequence and indulge his own thanatophobia forever.
- He is responsible for all of the psychological damage and PTSD inflicted upon Harry Potter, which continued to traumatise him even as an adult.
- As the founder and leader of the Death Eaters, he holds deep prejudice against Muggles, Muggle-borns, and other magical creatures.
- He is incapable of real love, going out of his way to take care of Nagini because she is one of his Horcruxes. As for Bellatrix Lestrange, he doesn't reciprocate her genuine love for him (even shoving her aside when she checks to see if he is alright), only letting her follow him due to her desire for evil and complete selfishness.
- Voldemort was incapable of feeling true love, so possibly the only reason the two conceived Delphini was to either have another body for him to possess if he got killed again or to continue his legacy.
- The only reason he has shown any sentiment towards his late mother Merope Gaunt is because she was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, which makes him his ancestor as well, even commending his mother for brainwashing his father Tom Riddle Sr. with the Imperius Curse to love her and conceive him, which was essentially a rape.
- Although he admires his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, it is not a redeeming quality because he only sees him as an inspiration due to his anti-Muggle opinions.
- His actions were so horrible that he became feared, to the point where no one dared to even say his name. He also put a taboo on his name, teleworking with anyone who said it, which likely would cause harm and even death to the person who said it.
- He also rivaled Gellert Grindelwald, whose crimes were one of the few that actually came close to being on par with Voldemort in terms of heinousness, yet still beat him with his lack of compassion and quite literally his lack of soul.
- While he did start off with several legitimately sympathetic aspects, with him being born as a product of a failed experiment, abandoned by his parents as a baby, having an inability to feel genuine love and growing up with no friends in an orphanage, these Freudian Excuses were eventually subverted through his cruel actions and behavior.
- He is a bad boss towards his partisans, brutally punishing them if they fail, and he doesn't care about them. Moreover, they didn't mourn his disappearance, and because of it, he severely reprimanded them.
- Basically, most, if not every, negative event in the original seven books can be tied directly to him.
Background[]
- As a child, he would use his magical powers to harm the other orphans, stealing their belongings to enrich himself (and sometimes keeping them as a souvenir of his deeds), hoping that no one, such as Mrs. Cole, would notice, and making the orphanage an enjoyable place for himself.
- He killed another orphan named Billy Stubbs' pet rabbit by hanging it from the rafters because they had a fight.
- He terrorised Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, two fellow orphans, while they were in a cave, and the experience was so traumatic that they refused to divulge exactly what happened, with Mrs. Cole noting they were never humorous again.
- He murdered his father and his paternal grandparents, Thomas and Mary, in cold blood, for whom he felt exponentially less genuine sentiment than his mother. While they weren't well-liked or saints by any means, the callous disregard extended to his grandparents clarifies Voldemort’s harshness.
- He also framed his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, for the crime by placing his memory of committing the murder in his head. While Morfin himself was also not a kind man and did have a criminal record, he certainly did not deserve to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban for a crime in which he had no involvement.
- As a student at Hogwarts, he released the Basilisk in the school to kill all "Muggle-borns," resulting in many being petrified, a particular example being a student named Myrtle Warren. Moaning Myrtle, as they came to address her, was tragically killed in the incident, which Voldemort only stopped to prevent his role in the attacks from being discovered and the closing of Hogwarts. In order to ward off any possible scrutiny for his heinous deed, he put the blame on Rubeus Hagrid.
- This unfortunately led not only to Hagrid getting expelled but also to having to release his beloved Acromantula, Aragog, for the spider’s own safety from suspicion. Hagrid would later be sent to Azkaban for two months for allegedly reawakening the Basilisk. And while he didn’t want Hogwarts to be closed down, it was only because he wanted not to go back to the orphanage and someday use Hogwarts as an academy of the Dark Arts.
- Placed a jinx on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts that wouldn't allow a teacher to hold the job for more than a year, purely out of spite for not being given the job by Dumbledore. This included Professor Lupin, even though he was well-liked among the students; it also included Dolores Umbridge, who was extremely unpopular.
- He had the house elf Kreacher test his protection of Salazar Slytherin's Locket by forcing him to ingest the Drink of Despair, which causes horrific damage to the brain, and was prepared to let Kreacher be killed by the Inferi in the cave.
- He forced many people to join his cause using the Imperius Curse. Because of it, he is responsible for the villainy of numerous Death Eaters.
- When he was on his way to the Potter house, he considered killing a child when he stepped in front of him and commented on Voldemort’s “Halloween costume” and only spared him because he was too busy and the child’s life was too trivial, and this was also likely to avoid any attention.
- Murdered Harry Potter’s parents and attempted to kill Harry himself, who was only an infant at the time.
- Created Seven Horcruxes in order to live forever, splitting his soul into each object. Each of these Horcruxes was created through murder. They are therefore considered among the darkest and most vile forms of magic.
- His diary was made a Horcrux through the murder of Myrtle Warren. While it was not a direct murder, it did not disqualify him from creating a Horcrux.
- His maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, was made a Horcrux through the murder of his father.
- Salazar Slytherin's Locket was made a Horcrux through the murder of a Muggle tramp.
- Helga Hufflepuff's Cup was made a Horcrux through the murder of Hepzibah Smith, a woman who thought he was her friend and left her domestic elf Hokey to take the blame. While Hokey was not penalized for accidentally killing her mistress, he still made her believe she was responsible by planting false memories in her head.
- Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem was made a Horcrux through the murder of an Albanian peasant.
- Nagini was made a Horcrux through the murder of Bertha Jorkins, though Dumbledore theorized otherwise.
- Harry Potter was accidentally made a Horcrux through the murder of Lily J. Potter, the one Horcrux he wasn’t aware of.
- He waged the First Magical War with the intention of taking over Britain, establishing a pure-blood dictatorship, and wiping out or subjugating all Muggles, Muggle-borns, and blood traitors.
- During the war, he had the giants ally with him, who were responsible for some of the worst atrocities against the Muggle community, with hundreds of Muggles, Muggle-borns, and other enemies of the Death Eaters being killed or disappeared.
- Tortured Wizards and Witches, usually with the forbidden Cruciatus Curse or with painful, realistic illusions using Legillimency, inducing them with agony and only killing them once they were already begging for death.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone[]
- He manipulated Quirinus Quirrell, using his body as a host.
- He ordered Quirinus to kill Harry during his Quidditch match.
- He had Quirinus kill unicorns and drink their blood to sustain his weakening body. It is said that anyone who kills unicorns is cursed, since it is so utterly repulsive to kill such an innocent creature.
- He tried to manipulate Harry into believing that if he gives him the sorcerer's stone, he can resurrect his parents, even though he was the very reason why Harry's parents were dead in the first place.
- He abandoned Quirinus to die when he attempted to take the Sorcerer's Stone from Harry.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets[]
- He attempted to manipulate Harry and turn him against Hagrid by making him believe Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets.
- The soul of his Horcrux in the diary took possession of Ginny Weasley, draining her life force. He also made her open the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing the Basilisk and petrifying many Muggle-born students.
- If it weren't for a series of fortunate events, some of them would have died from the Basilisk's deadly gaze.
- He had Ginny kill Hagrid’s roosters and force her to write messages on the wall using their blood, then took her to the chamber itself to lure Harry.
- His Horcrux attempted to kill Harry using the Basilisk.
- He was not upset when the Basilisk was killed by having a sword rammed through her mouth.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[]
- He has Bertha Jorkins tortured to break the Memory Charm and reveal the information about Barty Crouch Jr., then kills her when her mind is broken beyond repair.
- Murdered Frank Bryce for overhearing his plans, despite being incapable of stopping him regardless, as wizards would not likely believe him on account of being a Muggle, excluding Albus Dumbledore.
- He ordered Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch to kidnap Alastor Moody and have Barty impersonate him to take his place at Hogwarts.
- He forced Barty Crouch Sr. to obey him with the Imperius Curse.
- He punished Pettigrew for allowing Barty Crouch Sr. to escape and nearly foiling his plans by torturing him with the Cruciatus Curse.
- He was responsible for Harry being in the Triwizard Tournament, where he nearly died during some of the events.
- He had Pettigrew murder Cedric Diggory, an event that would horrify the students of Hogwarts and leave Harry with PTSD for the summer and following school year.
- He used the Cruciatus Curse on his Death Eater, Avery, when he asked for forgiveness.
- Tortured Harry with the Cruciatus Curse before attempting to murder him.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix[]
- Broke his followers out of the hellish Azkaban prison and enlisted the Dementors, which would go across England and drain the happiness of Wizards, Witches, and muggles. While he was extremely happy about their escape, it was only due to pragmatism.
- Although Barty Crouch Jr. contributed to his return, he does not regret the fate he has met in the slightest and does not mention it at all, nor does he say any words of praise to him for his loyalty and the success of his task.
- He used the Imperius Curse to force Broderick Bode to retrieve the prophecy, but the attempt ended up causing him permanent psychological damage before having him assassinated in the hospital via devil's snare.
- He sends false images of himself torturing Sirius Black in the Department of Mysteries to Harry, which would cause Harry to go try and rescue Sirius and lead to Sirius' death.
- Tried to corrupt Harry into murdering Bellatrix after she killed Sirius, telling him that she deserved it. This is in spite of Bellatrix's devotion to Voldemort, further showing that he has no loyalty to his followers.
- In the Department of Mysteries, he attempted to kill Harry again and dueled Dumbledore in his attempt to murder his teacher. He then possessed Harry in order to have Dumbledore kill Harry as a means to put an end to Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince[]
- Attempted to force Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge to resign, and when he refused, he attacked the Brockdale Bridge, murdering many people in the process.
- Ordered his Giants to cause mass destruction in England, destroying property and murdering many more people.
- He gave Draco the practically impossible task of murdering Dumbledore as a way to punish Lucius for his repeated failures. Though Draco was fairly sadistic for a bully, he was nowhere near that evil to have such a fate, not to mention the task took a significant toll on his mental health. He also threatend to kill Draco should he fail as another way to punish Lucius.
- He is responsible for the death of Dumbledore, a major ally who was heavily looked up to by not only Hogwarts but the wizarding world itself. Again, another example of Voldemort's callous traits, as he didn't care how stressed it made Draco Malfoy and even Severus Snape to perform the murder.
- Murdered Amelia Bones and her entire family in order to replace her with a puppet, giving him control over the Ministry of Magic.
- He used the Death Eaters to make a number of potential enemies disappear; while some, such as Garrick Ollivander, definitively survived, others, such as Florean Fortescue and Octavius Pepper, were never seen again and were likely killed.
- Likely ordered or at least sanctioned the torture-murder of Igor Karkaroff for leaving the Death Eaters.
- He had Emmeline Vance murdered to stop her from warning the Muggle Prime Minister about the Death Eater threat.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[]
- Slew Alastor Moody with the Killing Curse during the Battle of the Seven Potters.
- Massacred the Ministry of Magic, torturing and killing Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour and establishing a pure blood dictatorship where he had Muggle-borns rounded up and prosecuted on trumped-up charges of stealing magic, sending them to Azkaban to have all their happy memories fed off by Dementors under threat of having their souls sucked out by the Dementor's Kiss if they tried to escape.
- Took over Hogwarts and arranged for all students to be taught the Dark Arts and indoctrinated with pure blood supremacy, being forced to use the Unforgivable Curses on each other in class.
- He took Lucius Malfoy’s wand as an act of spite for him having gotten his Diary Horcrux destroyed through his negligence, even though Voldemort had never told Lucius what it really was and Lucius had only gotten rid of it when he believed Voldemort had been killed.
- Murdered Bathilda Bagshot and used her as a trap for Nagini to capture Harry and kill Hermione.
- Abducted and murdered Charity Burbage for teaching about Muggles and believing in equality between Muggles and Magics, then fed her body to Nagini.
- Killed a family, which included a mother and two children, in his search for the Elder Wand, even though they told him only that Gregorovitch no longer lived there and that they didn't know him.
- He had Mykew Gregorovitch tell him about Grindelwald stealing the Elder Wand and then killing him anyway.
- He did the same to Florean Fortescu, who gave him information about the Elder Wand, only for him to kill him afterwards.
- Murdered Grindelwald for mocking him to his face. Again, similarly to his father, though Grindelwald was an evil tyrant, his murder was unjustified, as he’d already shown some remorse for his crimes and spent decades imprisoned.
- He broke into Dumbledore's tomb, which counts as a corpse desecration, and stole the Elder Wand.
- Murdering his followers for their failure, such as when he killed Griphook and others for failing to protect a Horcrux. He also murdered an entire room of goblins and people, possibly even the snatchers and/or Peter Pettigrew.
- He forced Draco to torture Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle with the Cruciatus Curse to punish them for failing.
- Although it seemed as though he was honorable as he gave Peter Pettigrew a silver hand to replace his original one, he secretly designed the hand to strangle him to death should Pettigrew consider showing the slightest mercy to his enemies or betraying him as he did Harry’s parents, proving the only reason he gave it to him was to ensure control over him. His generosity is only to get more wizards to side with him for a reward in return, rather than a legitimate redeeming quality.
- While this was only shown in the books, as the film version of Pettigrew was only knocked out by Dobby instead, it's possible Voldemort still killed him offscreen or just abandoned him to be imprisoned in Azkaban for his failures.
- In the movie, he killed Pius Thicknesse, his own follower, merely for interrupting him.
- Killed Severus Snape, who he still thought was one of his most loyal servants who had given him vital victories, and killed Dumbledore, believing it would give him total control over the Elder Wand, and while he said he regretted doing it, he showed no sadness or remorse over Snape's death.
- Forced Harry to turn himself in to save his friends, then mercilessly killed him. After that, he sadistically defiles his body by using the Cruciatus curse. Then, when he arrived with Harry's body at Hogwarts, he lied that Harry had attempted to flee and save himself purely out of spite to ruin his reputation and frame Harry as a coward.
- He planned only making Slytherin the only house in Hogwarts.
- When Neville refused the offer to join the Death Eaters, he prepared to kill him before being interrupted.
- After Bellatrix was killed by Molly Weasley, Voldemort furiously attempted to kill her only because he was upset at the loss of such a powerful and loyal Death Eater.
- Upon learning of the Elder Wand's true allegiance in the books, he planned to kill Draco once he finished dealing with Harry.
- Even when given the chance by Harry to end things peacefully and show remorse for his actions, he refused to even entertain the notion and attempted to kill Harry once again.
- Despite his mutilated soul being put in Limbo for all eternity, which is a fate much worse than death, it's not played for sympathy as he completely deserved it for all the crimes he has ever committed, not to mention that, as said earlier, he had a chance to reconstruct his soul through feeling remorse, but he refused because of the fact he's too evil to show any remorse for his actions and still attempted to carry out his goals for the last time.
Trivia[]
- In spite of being Pure Evil as well, Lord Voldemort's evilness is slightly toned down in the film series, as the flashback scene of the orphanage from Half-Blood Prince has him admit that he only does bad things to the people who are mean to him (implying some orphans bully him) as opposed to the books where he admits that he does bad things to the people who annoy him (implying that he bullies some orphans). Similarly, Voldemort doesn't force Peter Pettigrew's silver hand to kill him and spares Gellert Grindelwald after asking him about the Elder Wand's whereabouts, as Grindelwald does tell him where it is unlike the book.
- That said, while the Heinous Standards of the Wizarding World's film version are significantly lower due to some tie-in material not being adapted, Voldemort's crimes remain mostly the same and manages to stand out due to his plans: while in the books he just plans to take over the Wizarding World and enslave all Muggles, he plans to commit genocide on all Muggles and non-pure blood wizards in the films. As for his different interactions with Pettigrew and Grindelwald, Pettigrew's death was omitted from the films because the producers feared it would be too intense for younger viewers and Grindelwald's redemption was apparently scrapped for the sake of saving time.
External Links[]
- Lord Voldemort on the Villains Wiki
- Lord Voldemort on the Ultimate Evil Wiki
- Lord Voldemort on the Harry Potter Wiki
- Lord Voldemort on the VS Battles Wiki
- Lord Voldemort on the Wikipedia
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 Pure Evils
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