Lord Voldemort aka Tom Marvolo Riddle: Character Analysis

[wolfbrother]

I think ultimately he would have wanted to become dictator of the universe. I don't think he was the type to sit idly. If he had conquered Britain, IMO he would have attempted to take over other countries.

[Peakes]

He had set himself on a course (the quest for immortality) and all he did was motivated by that quest, which in itself is motivated by fear - of the unknown, of betrayal, of death. As a consequence of that quest, he had put himself in a very difficult position of having legions at his command, and many powerful witches and wizards aligned with him who we would never be able to trust - being a trait that he could not risk, nor even comprehend fully.

I dare say he'd continue his campaign for blood purity, eliminating the muggle-borns and blood traitors, establishing wizarding rule over the muggles. But as for what he would do with this power, I cannot imagine. Because I do not think he would know himself if and where it all ended. He was on a journey without map or rudder.

[merrymarge]

That is true. He reminded me of the oldest Peverall brother, the one who first had the Elder Wand. that brother was cruel and insisted on total domination and Voldemort was the same. Eventually, the eldest brother was killed. If Harry didn't kill Voldemort, someone else probably would have killed him.

[Peakes]

Ah, but herein lies the problem, he can't be killed unless someone takes out the horcruxes first; if not for the prophecy causing a diversion to attack the Potters, his next step would have been to eradicate all evidence of what he had done - Dumbledore, Slughorn and in due course, even Lucius and Bellatrix who were complicit in concealing the horcruxes. Even if they didn't know exactly what they were, they knew that they were valuable artifacts and precious to Voldemort.

Not sure what he'd do about the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw though.

[merrymarge]

Fall in love with her? lol!

[Halcipher]

I remember Hagrid said that he couldn't believe he'd live to see the Tri Wizard Cup be hosted in Hogwarts again... And Hagrid was a 3rd year when Tom Riddle was in his 5th or sixth year? So do you think Hogwarts had the Triwizard tournament when Tom's time era, OR Lily and James time era, while Hagrid was gamekeeper?
Because if it was hosted during Tom's time, would you think Tom would have put his name in the goblet?

[wolfbrother]

I believe it was a few hundred years back that the previous tournament was held. If it had happened during Tom's time, I'm pretty sure he'd have put his name and won it (unless he was in his first couple of years at hogwarts).

[potter_gleek]

I don't think the Triwizard tournament was held in Toms time at Hogwarts. Wasn't it cancelled in the 1700's because the judges were killed or something like that? Maybe Hagrid just meant he never thought he'd live to see it revived.

If a tournament did take place whilst Tom Riddle was at Hogwarts, I think he would definitely have entered and likely won. The chance for 'eternal glory' sounds like something he'd want.

[Hanover_Fist]

What was Voldemort's eventual goal? If he hadn't been blown to smithereens in 1981 and continued his rise to power, what would he have done with it once he had it? Did he intend to make himself Perpetual Minister of Magic? Did he want to rule Britain as a dictator? Did he want to just kill all muggleborns and then kick back on his porch with a fruity drink?

Ultimately, his wrath would have turned from Muggle-borns to Muggles themselves. I think he was a little like Magneto in X-Men: he had heard the history of witch-hunts and suspected wizards and witches being burned, and believed that that prejudice never goes away, and that the only way peace could be achieved is if wizards were to enslave or eradicate Muggles and dominate the world as a whole.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

I remember Hagrid said that he couldn't believe he'd live to see the Tri Wizard Cup be hosted in Hogwarts again... And Hagrid was a 3rd year when Tom Riddle was in his 5th or sixth year? So do you think Hogwarts had the Triwizard tournament when Tom's time era, OR Lily and James time era, while Hagrid was gamekeeper?

It's not that Hagrid had seen the Triwizard tounament before, his excitement, and everyone else's excitement, was due to this legendary tournament being revived after centuries. It would have been like someone in 1896 saying "I never thought I'd live to see the day the Olympics were being held again!" because they hadn't taken place for something like 1,500 years.

[arithmancer]

Carried over from the general "what if" thread in The Cloak...

Originally Posted by MerryLore

They way I see it, Voldemort wanted to punish Lucius and was using Draco to do it. He never thought Draco could kill Dumbledore, but either way, Voldemort had nothing to lose and something to gain: he'd either get to punish Lucius or DD would be dead. I don't think Voldy respected Draco any more than he did Lucius, and had no intentions of making Draco a DE.

The Death Eaters certainly considered the Dark Mark a great honor and themselves Voldemort's inner circle. (We can see this in, for example, how Bella speaks to the Snatchers in "Malfoy Manor", DH).

However, my own understanding of Voldemort's character suggests that he thinks of people and things as interchangeable, and only in terms of their utility to him and how he will use them. Thus, I think he would "bestow the honor" of a Dark Mark on anyone he decided he wanted to be able to summon to him at will. For this reason, I suppose that he would have made Draco a Death Eater, the better to get updates in the plan when he wanted them, and the better to issue threats with which to add to his (and his family's) distress.

We know of other characters who were marked quite young and have no known notable accomplishments, like Regulus Black and Severus Snape (I suppose it is possible the latter only received his mark after delivering the Prophecy...but Regulus is not known to have done anything and is described to us as having "cold feet" which suggests to me that like Draco, he proved not a very useful tool for Voldemort.)