Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort is a male literary villain who features in Harry Potter.
Contents |
Biography
Tom Marvolo Riddle was a male human wizard born on 31 December, 1926 as the son of Tom Riddle, Senior and Merope Riddle where his mother had been a member of the ancient wizarding Gaunt family. Born at the Wool's Orphanage in London, his mother Merope staggered to the door of the orphanage, gave birth to Tom there, and died shortly after. Riddle grew up in the dingy orphanage, completely unaware of his wizarding heritage. Since the Muggle orphanage staff did not know anything about his mother, they did not know about his magical background. Instead, they believed that Merope was a circus worker, as Mrs Cole told Dumbledore shortly before his first meeting with Riddle. It is unknown whether or not the staff relayed this to Riddle before his first encounter with Dumbledore. Despite his ignorance of his mother's true background, Riddle did have some grasp on his abilities beyond that of normal magical children of his same age, and an unusually high degree of control over them. He could move objects with his mind and cause them to float wherever he wished, manipulate animals and creatures as he wished, speak Parseltongue, and use his power to inflict harm on other orphans. After getting into a fight with fellow orphan Billy Stubbs, he used his powers to hang the boy's rabbit from the rafters. On one occasion, he took two other orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act, likely with his powers, so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatised into silence. Afterwards, he may have told them, in some means, not to tell anyone what happened in the cave. Riddle also stole from other orphans and hid their things in his cupboard like trophies.
When Riddle was 11 years old, Dumbledore, who at the time was the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, talked to Mrs Cole, who informed him of how unusual the boy was, sharing tales of his extraordinary influence over the other children. When Dumbledore was at last introduced to the boy, Riddle at first believed him to be a doctor or psychiatrist of some sort, coming to take him to an asylum because of what the staff had seen. He was convinced after Dumbledore demonstrated his power by using a Flame-Freezing Charm on Riddle's cupboard and revealed that Hogwarts was a school for people with magic, whereupon Riddle realised that was what his abilities were at the time. Tom also mentioned his proficiency for Parseltongue in this same meeting, asking if it was a common gift amongst wizards, to which Dumbledore gave no reply. Dumbledore also admonished Riddle for stealing from others and made him return the items with his apologies. He also warned Riddle to stop his misbehaviour, as Hogwarts had an honour code whereupon lying, cheating and stealing were not tolerated. At a very early age, it was clear that Riddle displayed a desire to be different and set apart from others. Riddle was not surprised upon being informed by Dumbledore that he was a wizard — he was, in fact, eager to believe that he had special gifts that no normal person had. Riddle also showed an eminent fear of death, considering it a human weakness. He claimed that his mother could not have been a witch, because if she was magical, then she would have been able to avoid dying, and thought his father was a wizard. He asked if his father was an alumnus of Hogwarts, to which Dumbledore said he did not know offhand.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Tom Marvolo Riddle was originally said to had been a tall and handsome human with pale skin, jet black hair, and dark eyes.
His practice of the dark arts led to a change in his once human appearance that became increasingly waxy and more reptilian with his skin becoming bone-white whilst the sclera of his eyes took on a perpetually blood-shot. He came to be known by a number of names that included You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and as the Dark Lord.
He was regarded as the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years. It was said that he did not know nor understand concepts such as love, loyalty or innocence.
From his mothers side, he was said to possess the blood of Salazar Slytherin that ran through his veins. This also made him related to the Gaunts that were a very ancient wizarding family noted for their instability and violence which flourished for generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins.
Powers and abilities
He came to be the most powerful, skilled and dangerous Dark wizard of all time. He was amongst the greatest wizards to have ever lived, often considered to be the second most powerful wizard in history.
He was knowledgeable in the use of the Inferius that were dead bodies animated through the magic of a dark wizards spell. It was said that in his time that he had killed so many people that he was able to create an army of Inferi to serve him.
Notes
- Lord Voldemort was created by J. K. Rowling where he featured in the setting of the Harry Potter universe.
In other media
Films
- In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Lord Voldemort appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Ralph Fiennes.
Video games
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
External Links
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