Lord Voldemort aka Tom Marvolo Riddle: Character Analysis

[FurryDice]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

I think Voldemort was partially amusing himself by offering her the choice to step aside. If she does he has the pleasure of watching her watch him kill her baby. If she doesn't, he's losing nothing by killing her to get to Harry.

He may well have gotten some kind of sick enjoyment out of it. However, he did really consider letting Lily live. His thoughts in the flashback in DH show this. He was offering her the chance and when she continually refuses, he considers magically moving her aside before deciding "but no, it seemed more prudent to finish them all".

Voldemort is a sick dude and while I don't think he would pander to Snape and offer Lily the choice simply to pacify his follower, neither do I think Voldemort would throw away the opportunity to try and recruit Lily one last time. He offered her the choice as much or more because he could gain a powerful new Death Eater in Lily than simply because Snape requested that he spare her. Voldemort didn't do anything unless there was something in it for himself.

I agree. I don't think it was just to reward a DE. He never did anything that straightforward. It may have been about getting Lily's talents on his side.

I think that the reward was part of it. Or at least, he would play it up as a reward. However, like Wormtail's hand, it would have been a double-edged sword. His DE would get his reward, but she would be killed if Snape stepped out of line or messed up. Or, she could be left alive on condition that Snape persuaded her to be useful to the Dark Lord. There are several ways in which Voldemort could have made a "reward" for a servant benefit him - see the shiny new hand that strangled the guy who momentarily gave a slight gesture of acting against him.
Even boasting, as he did with Wormtail's arm - boasting about how Lord Voldemort rewarded his followers. To be seen to give a reward, and one which cost him nothing, would motivate his followers, to be more useful in trying to impress him in the hopes of their own rewards.

[Sereena]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

Voldemort is a sick dude and while I don't think he would pander to Snape and offer Lily the choice simply to pacify his follower, neither do I think Voldemort would throw away the opportunity to try and recruit Lily one last time. He offered her the choice as much or more because he could gain a powerful new Death Eater in Lily than simply because Snape requested that he spare her.

I know this is what JKR said but I personally don't see how DE!Lily could work out for Voldemort. If he recruited her he would expose his ideology as a sham and risk alienating pure blood supremacist followers. I mean can anyone imagine Bellatrix or Lucius working with Lily? They would probably try to leave Voldemort or only stay with him out of fear instead of loyalty or the sense of having a common goal. I don't think this is something Voldemort would have risked. The reason why he had such a grip on the wizarding world was because he could manipulate their prejudices to work in his favour and gain followers by having blood purity as one of his central goals. No matter how talented Lily was I don't think Voldemort would have risked his entire order for the sake of recruiting her.

[FurryDice]

Originally Posted by Sereena

I know this is what JKR said but I personally don't see how DE!Lily could work out for Voldemort. If he recruited her he would expose his ideology as a sham and risk alienating pure blood supremacist followers. I mean can anyone imagine Bellatrix or Lucius working with Lily? They would probably try to leave Voldemort or only stay with him out of fear instead of loyalty or the sense of having a common goal. I don't think this is something Voldemort would have risked. The reason why he had such a grip on the wizarding world was because he could manipulate their prejudices to work in his favour and gain followers by having blood purity as one of his central goals. No matter how talented Lily was I don't think Voldemort would have risked his entire order for the sake of recruiting her.

Sereena. The thing is, his pureblood supremacist supporters were hypocrites just as much as he was. Not all the DEs were purebloods - and people like Bellatrix and Lucius, raised in fanatic families, would have known well that "Snape" wasn't a wizarding surname. I think they would have looked on it as "making use of a useful mudblood". I don't think they would have considered it as giving her any kind of status.


And Voldemort probably wouldn't have given her the Mark -only those "worthy" enough got that. Others were just "useful". The DEs, in their prejudice, would have considered Greyback inferior and tainted, but, mostly, they put up with him because he was useful. And they were secure and perhaps proud in the knowledge that he hadn't been given the honour of being branded like an animal that they had.

[Halcipher]

I wonder, if all of it succeeded. If he finally got rid of all muggles, muggle-borns, and all those who oppose to him. If he finally finished his own world, and basically dominated all earth....then what's next?
What else could his Death Eaters do? Cause all he could ask them by that time is "Go get me some grapes" or "Massage my feet" , but those are things he'd never say.

What would he do with all of his spare time, when he, can live forever?
I wonder if he'd ever grow bored, and tired, and just accept death once and for all. Because he obviously knows everything, and has achieved all his wishes, he might grow curiosity to death.

[twinsrule26]

1) Do you think Voldemort deserves to be voted the "number one villain"? What qualities and/or actions make you think so (either way)?

No I don't think he deserved it ,if you ask me Bellatrix was a far more evil villain than he was .

2) What do you think of Voldemort's takeover plan in DH? What do you believe his ultimate objectives were?

I don't think he had an ultimate objective or goal , I think he was just taking control of as much as he could and after every small victory he would look around and say hmm what shall I grab next ,then make a new plan and go after it .

3) Tom Marvolo Riddle was a brilliant student, considered charming by many, and apparently a model of good behavior (prefect, Head Boy). How did he go so wrong on his life path? How did his childhood environment affect who he became? What was it about his years at Hogwarts that kept him on the path to evil? Why did he take a job as a lowly store clerk when he left Hogwarts?

I think he had his plan in place and getting those horcruxes done was first on his list of things he wanted done. He was twisted and evil even as a child . Remember he told Dumbledore at their first meeting at the orphanage that he could hurt people at will . The gaining of prefect & head boy status would have appealed to his sense of being superior to others I'm not sure if having those titles really meant anything to him other than how they made him better than the rest of his fellow students .

4) Professor Trelawney prophesied that the Dark Lord would return more powerful than before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKR
...Lord Voldemort requires my constant presence at the moment, as his Dark plans are unfolding in all their grisly glory. I hope those of you who voted for him in the Big Bad Read enjoy reading about him in book seven, where he finally gets the legroom for which he has been aching during all those years in exile.

What things do you expect Lord Voldemort to do to show this greater power and increased legroom? Which of his plans can move forward now that Albus Dumbledore is dead?

5. How effective are Voldemort's methods for controlling his followers? How do his methods compare to those of other leaders in the Potterverse?

Fear is not a truely effective way to control someone it breeds resentment and discord and a desire to get free of it.

6. Voldemort has committed murder, "the supreme act of evil" according to Horace Slughorn. But it seems that splitting one's soul ("an act of violation, it is against nature" according to Slughorn) multiple times is also supremely evil. How has the act of creating Horcruxes damaged and/or aided Voldemort?

I think it hurt him because it left him weaker than Harry who had an undamaged soul .

7. What flaws do you think led to his downfall? Could he have avoided it?

His biggest flaw in my opinion was his ego he was blinded by his ego into thinking that he could do no wrong .

[Halcipher]

1) Do you think Voldemort deserves to be voted the "number one villain"? What qualities and/or actions make you think so (either way)?
So far as I have read, and to how many characters I have come to know, I think he does deserve the title. But there may be some other books/stories I have yet to pick up, bearing a charcter that may just make Voldemort sound like a dancing ballerina. And keep in mind, I haven't read too much books.

2) What do you think of Voldemort's takeover plan in DH? What do you believe his ultimate objectives were?

I thought he wasn't too well thought out. There were so many things that had gone wrong which could have been prevented. His main objective I think is to finally announce to the wizarding world that their hero was gone. This would have been a big step in taking power


3) Tom Marvolo Riddle was a brilliant student, considered charming by many, and apparently a model of good behavior (prefect, Head Boy). How did he go so wrong on his life path? How did his childhood environment affect who he became? What was it about his years at Hogwarts that kept him on the path to evil? Why did he take a job as a lowly store clerk when he left Hogwarts?

He was well behaved to charm people to his benefits. He was allready in the wrong path, ever since. He just puts up a very good act.
His childhood enviroment was essential of all. The moment he was born, I think he was allready tainted. But there was still a chance. If only he grew up around love, which I think the Orphanage didn't fulfill, having many children to attend to at once. I know it's all about his 'choices', and Tom and Harry's childhoods are comparable, but he was a child who needed really extra attention.
What kept him in that path is first, because he never felt love, and it was too late. Second, the only good emotion he ever felt, is the feeling of overpowering someone, and power itself. And Hogwarts supplies so much knowledge he was determined to get his hands on. He claimed he knew Hogwarts better than everyone. Though I thought the bit where he thought he was the only one who knew of The Room of Requirement and left a part of his soul there that could have essentially save his life, just left me to headdesk and facepalm.
And to choose the lowly job, I think was to immerse himself more into the dark arts and their objects


4) Professor Trelawney prophesied that the Dark Lord would return more powerful than before. What things do you expect Lord Voldemort to do to show this greater power and increased legroom? Which of his plans can move forward now that Albus Dumbledore is dead?

I don't know how to answer this since the story is over.
But I'll imagine it isn't, and say,
Well I think he'd let his Death Eaters go on a muggle-slaying spree. And now that Dumbledore is gone, I think he feels more powerful, and safer that no one as powerful as Dumbledore would interfere anymore. Which I think helped cause his downfall too, because he starts to think he is completley invulnerable now, and takes accounts lighter than he did before, and in return would cause some of his plans to go opposite as planned

5. How effective are Voldemort's methods for controlling his followers? How do his methods compare to those of other leaders in the Potterverse?

I think he needed to calm some. He killed as much followers as his followers killed the opposers.


6. Voldemort has committed murder, "the supreme act of evil" according to Horace Slughorn. But it seems that splitting one's soul ("an act of violation, it is against nature" according to Slughorn) multiple times is also supremely evil. How has the act of creating Horcruxes damaged and/or aided Voldemort?

Aided, simply cause it's harder to destroy him.
But damaged... oh there's a list.
#1 The more he split his soul, the more he was prone to PMS-ing. The more prone he is to PMS-ing the more followers rejected him (for example, the Malfoys)
#2 The more he split his soul, I think the less intelligent he became. The less intelligent he became, the plans become more vulnerable, and whilst the plan goes wrong, the more he starts PMS-ing. So the PMS-ing cycle starts again, as mentioned in #1
#3The more he split his soul, the more inhumane he got. The more inhumane he got, the harder it was for him to gain followers. (I'm assuming he would have more eager followers if he was goodlooking)
#4The more he split his soul, the more doomed he was and incapable of finding peace after death.

7. What flaws do you think led to his downfall? Could he have avoided it?

I think I've answered these in my other answers

[wolfbrother]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

I wonder, if all of it succeeded. If he finally got rid of all muggles, muggle-borns, and all those who oppose to him. If he finally finished his own world, and basically dominated all earth....then what's next?
What else could his Death Eaters do? Cause all he could ask them by that time is "Go get me some grapes" or "Massage my feet" , but those are things he'd never say.

What would he do with all of his spare time, when he, can live forever?
I wonder if he'd ever grow bored, and tired, and just accept death once and for all. Because he obviously knows everything, and has achieved all his wishes, he might grow curiosity to death.

Well, if Voldemort ever became something close to the supreme ruler of the universe, he may have become bored. Getting to such a state was extremely unlikely though. He had plenty of trouble just taking over England, he'd have faced other problems for other countries. Each country would be a new challenge with different strategies needed.

To be honest, this is like asking what a person will do after they achieve everything they ever wanted to achieve. Most people don't get to that stage and half the fun is in the journey.

[Halcipher]

To be honest, this is like asking what a person will do after they achieve everything they ever wanted to achieve. Most people don't get to that stage and half the fun is in the journey.

Exactly what I was asking :P
I think no living or dead being has but, if only, hypothetically... I wonder if he would grow a curiosity to death.

[JohanT]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

Exactly what I was asking :P
I think no living or dead being has but, if only, hypothetically... I wonder if he would grow a curiosity to death.

Interesting thought. However, I see a curiosity in actually dying as something only sparked after a person has seen all that there is to life. And seeing all that there is to life, in my opinion, is a bit impossible. Not just because we have limited amounts of time on solid ground, but because we do not know where the unanswered questions will end. Voldemort is a man who is, in my opinion, obsessed with the boundaries, and wishes to push them. Though there appears to be boundaries as far as the soul is concerned, it is only at the moment that there are. Who is to say that Voldemort would stop in his research for immortality, had he won. Perhaps being an immortal "human" would not be enough. Being a man who seeks more and more to create within himself a superior being, perhaps he would want to advance his status to something akin to God (no religious undertones, just so you know. Merely what a person in general would call the "superior being").

I would also like to point out that Voldemort's obsession with survival is very primal in nature. In reality, he is very animalistic in this regard. To grow curious of death would imply something non-instinctual, something that strays away from his inherent nature. In my eyes, the irony would be him growing interested in dying, something, incidentally, that is rather foreign to humanity as a whole. Seeking death in the face of a boring life would actually be quite inhuman of him. Perhaps he doesn't realize how incredibly human he actually is...

And just to address his supposed "killing" of all those of non-pureblood status, I disagree that he would have wiped all of them out. What is the point of ruling if there are none to rule? Voldemort is not stupid. In my opinion, throughout the series, there have been no proper incidences where he has killed a person simply because of blood status (disregarding Moaning Myrtle). He kills those in his way, those who oppose him or who have performed inadequately. I do think he would have let them all live, but naturally, they would be oppressed to a rather large degree. I also think that it is important to consider what Voldemort was after primarily. Was it truly to rule over the wizarding world? I don't believe so. I think his main wish was to evade death.

[wolfbrother]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

Exactly what I was asking :P
I think no living or dead being has but, if only, hypothetically... I wonder if he would grow a curiosity to death.

Perhaps at some stage. Old people have a different view of death than young people and the same could happen to Voldemort too. I'd say that he would try to find out what happened after death rather than dying and experiencing it.

Originally Posted by JohanT

I also think that it is important to consider what Voldemort was after primarily. Was it truly to rule over the wizarding world? I don't believe so. I think his main wish was to evade death.

IMO Voldemort wanted to stand out and be known. At the core of it all, he wanted attention. His first priority was to evade death but he figured out how to do it before he hit his 20s. Dying should no longer have been a concern for him. Its interesting to think how Voldemort would have been if there wasn't a readymade solution to beating death. I think we'd have found him doing lots and lots of research trying to find one rather than trying to take over the country. Instead of going to work at Borgin and Burkes, he probably would have tried to work with Nicolas Flamel or some other person in that field.

[Halcipher]

If Voldemort had to choose which one do you think he would choose and why:

a. To live forever and never die but to be tortured every day of his life, with pain equivelant to giving birth 5 times each day to quadruplets, and never grows immunity to the pain no matter how familiar he would be with the pain.

b. To be mortal for the sake of being the happiest man in the world with all the love and goodness.

Sorry, I really like asking these type of impossible 'if' questions

And do you think if after his death, Death gave him a choice, to be Earthbound again and live forever but he has to learn to love within a year and be kind, or to just stay dead. Which would he choose?
And again, these type of questions are intriguing to me. :P

[Sphereness]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

If Voldemort had to choose which one do you think he would choose and why:

a. To live forever and never die but to be tortured every day of his life, with pain equivelant to giving birth 5 times each day to quadruplets, and never grows immunity to the pain no matter how familiar he would be with the pain.

b. To be mortal for the sake of being the happiest man in the world with all the love and goodness.

To live forever

And do you think if after his death, Death gave him a choice, to be Earthbound again and live forever but he has to learn to love within a year and be kind, or to just stay dead. Which would he choose?

Again, to live forever. That's what Voldemort is about.

[Sereena]

Originally Posted by wolfbrother

IMO Voldemort wanted to stand out and be known. At the core of it all, he wanted attention. His first priority was to evade death but he figured out how to do it before he hit his 20s.

I agree and I think this is an important point. Had he not wanted power only to be immortal then he could have easily achieved that. The wizarding community would not try so hard to destroy him if only kept to himself and made a Horcrux now and then. Sure, he would still be wanted for the murders but he wouldn't be in such great danger. But living forever as a normal wizard just wasn't enough for him. He wanted to live forever as a ruler.
This is why I think Voldemort's character feels a bit like he's just trying to fit his role without actually gaining anything from it. The story needs a villain so here he is but it is unclear why he does the things he does and where they get him. For example, he is obsessed with being the one to kill Harry Potter. This is another trait typical of villains, wanting to personally off their nemesis and it's understandable to a certain extent but it also becomes hugely detrimental to him since his followers, who had plenty of opportunities to get rid of Harry, were unable to do so. Another thing is the Horcruxes. It would have been much better for Voldemort to choose random, less eye catching objects to turn into Horcruxes. But because of his vanity he wants to put his soul in important magical artefacts which in the end makes them easier to find and destroy. My point isn't at all that he's one dimensional but I do think he's more obviously than other characters trying to fill a certain role in the story and can act in rather clichéd ways in order to do so. He wants to take over the world... because he is the villain and that's what the villain does in a story. His motivations are sometimes unclear, IMO, and his actions only set him up for his downfall without actually benefitting him at all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can see the authorial strings behind his character.

[wolfbrother]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

If Voldemort had to choose which one do you think he would choose and why:

a. To live forever and never die but to be tortured every day of his life, with pain equivelant to giving birth 5 times each day to quadruplets, and never grows immunity to the pain no matter how familiar he would be with the pain.

b. To be mortal for the sake of being the happiest man in the world with all the love and goodness.

Sorry, I really like asking these type of impossible 'if' questions

IMO he'd go for the first one. Being immortal was what made him happy so the second option would seem like a paradox to him.

And do you think if after his death, Death gave him a choice, to be Earthbound again and live forever but he has to learn to love within a year and be kind, or to just stay dead. Which would he choose?
And again, these type of questions are intriguing to me. :P

This would depend on how his current views about death were. At that point, death is no longer an unknown for him. Its likely that Voldemort would take the deal though. Its another question whether he'd attempt to follow it.

Originally Posted by Sereena

This is why I think Voldemort's character feels a bit like he's just trying to fit his role without actually gaining anything from it. The story needs a villain so here he is but it is unclear why he does the things he does and where they get him. For example, he is obsessed with being the one to kill Harry Potter. This is another trait typical of villains, wanting to personally off their nemesis and it's understandable to a certain extent but it also becomes hugely detrimental to him since his followers, who had plenty of opportunities to get rid of Harry, were unable to do so. Another thing is the Horcruxes. It would have been much better for Voldemort to choose random, less eye catching objects to turn into Horcruxes. But because of his vanity he wants to put his soul in important magical artefacts which in the end makes them easier to find and destroy. My point isn't at all that he's one dimensional but I do think he's more obviously than other characters trying to fill a certain role in the story and can act in rather clichéd ways in order to do so. He wants to take over the world... because he is the villain and that's what the villain does in a story. His motivations are sometimes unclear, IMO, and his actions only set him up for his downfall without actually benefitting him at all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can see the authorial strings behind his character.

He had a massive ego, something that's not all that uncommon. Harry was a prophecied threat and his defeat at Harry's hand was extremely well publicised. For someone like Voldemort that would sting. IMO that is why he wanted to be the one who did it. As for the horcruxes, he probably believed that only certain objects should have the privilege of holding his soul.

IMO his downfall was caused mostly by a combination of bad luck and certain bad decisions. Harry was really lucky that Dumbledore managed to take out the horcruxes that were the most powerfully protected. If all of Voldemort's horcruxes were protected in the same way like the locket in the cave was, I think it would have been extremely hard for the trio to break through.

Even with his existing protections, if he'd had a system of checking them every now and then, he'd have managed to keep them safe. For someone who was obsessed with immortality, I'm surprised that he didn't seem paranoid about the safety of his horcruxes.

[Halcipher]

His motivations are sometimes unclear,

Which brings me to question another: if he had the choice to become immortal but to give up all his wizarding powers in return, do you think he'd do it?

I wonder if it's his life or his power that he cares most of.

Personally I think he'd always choose the choice with the 'immortal' part no matter what catch there is either...

[JohanT]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

Which brings me to question another: if he had the choice to become immortal but to give up all his wizarding powers in return, do you think he'd do it?

I wonder if it's his life or his power that he cares most of.

To be honest, I believe his immense magical potential was one of the primary reasons for his quest for immortality. More than evading death, he wanted to be superior, to stand out. Living as a muggle, but being immortal, would not cut it, in his eyes. Of course, if he were born a muggle, he may have still harbored an interest in immortality, as it would only set him apart from the rest of the human race. But no, if he were to choose one, I believe that his powers would hold more importance. However, this is merely my interpretation of his character. It could very well be that he may believe that immortality separates himself from both wizards and muggles, and thus was the perfect choice above all others. But, I do believe that he took pride in his wizardly abliities. Giving them up would be getting rid of his very reason for seeking immortality in the first place.

Anyways, good question!

[Halcipher]

It could very well be that he may believe that immortality separates himself from both wizards and muggles, and thus was the perfect choice above all others.

Nicely said! So I believe he'd choose immortality over power.
But then again his 'cleverness' may choose power and then create immortality through that power, which obviously didn't work since he's not the only one who knows about horcruxes. They say it's a rare dark magic and barely any people know (who would look such a thing up anyways?) But also, at the same time I think he'd choose power cause he's so arrogant and thinks he'll find immortality through power anyways. If that makes ay sense :P

[JohanT]

Originally Posted by Halcipher

Nicely said! So I believe he'd choose immortality over power.
But then again his 'cleverness' may choose power and then create immortality through that power, which obviously didn't work since he's not the only one who knows about horcruxes. They say it's a rare dark magic and barely any people know (who would look such a thing up anyways?) But also, at the same time I think he'd choose power cause he's so arrogant and thinks he'll find immortality through power anyways. If that makes ay sense :P

Funnily enough, I always had a feeling that Voldemort may have been the first to successfully create horcrux. We do not necessarily hear of any wizards who have lived much longer than average, but this could be because of an immortal's wish to remain secret, so that he/she is not threatened. After all, when you hold such ability, it is only natural to assume that others would be after your hide . But, there is also the fact that Voldemort sought to create more than one soul vessel, something that had not been considered before. So even if others had made a horcrux, they only ever had one, whereas Voldemort aimed for six of them. That would be enough to separate himself completely, as it would render him inhuman, and the closest to true immortality that any man has ever been.

I do stand by my initial point, though. Voldemort did want immortality, but living an ongoing life with no special, outward ability is very different from living a shortened life with the magical powers intact. You see, while Voldemort wanted to distance himself from others, he also wanted recognition. What type of recognition would he recieve if he were an immortal muggle? And would this immortality even be considered, if his magical powers were gone? I don't think so. While no one would be able to kill him (depending on the type of immortality you are referring to, of course), he would be degraded to the point that he would not even be able to fare against an 11-year old Neville Longbottom .

[mirrormere]

Originally Posted by JohanT

I do stand by my initial point, though. Voldemort did want immortality, but living an ongoing life with no special, outward ability is very different from living a shortened life with the magical powers intact. You see, while Voldemort wanted to distance himself from others, he also wanted recognition. What type of recognition would he recieve if he were an immortal muggle? And would this immortality even be considered, if his magical powers were gone? I don't think so. While no one would be able to kill him (depending on the type of immortality you are referring to, of course), he would be degraded to the point that he would not even be able to fare against an 11-year old Neville Longbottom .

But DD said that Voldemort feared death above all else. Would that fear eventually outweigh his desire for recognition?

[JohanT]

Originally Posted by mirrormere

But DD said that Voldemort feared death above all else. Would that fear eventually outweigh his desire for recognition?

Well, you see, Voldemort incidentally has more than one fear. One less stressed fear may actually be a fear of going unnoticed. What is death but a similarity among all humans? (Heh, fits my signature quite well ) To be similar in all regards, but to be immortal would be conflicting for Voldemort in ways that demonstrate his deeper nature. What does he truly want? Is death a fear because of its connecting factor? That is what I think, personally. And if it is a fear of such a thing, his recognition would be acknowledged, but would his wizarding powers, which also set him apart, even among the magical community, be worth giving up? I don't think so. They also make him special. They actually make him powerful, and a threat, both of which he sought to become. Immortality is power over death. Magic has the potential of being a power over both death and humanity itself.

If that makes sense. It is a difficult thing to pinpoint. But as I suggested earlier, Voldemort's obsession for immortality stemmed from the death of his witch mother. A mother who he believed could have saved herself, if only she had magic. I think this is extremely significant in his thought process. Essentially, his wish to live forever was born out of his belief that magic was a solution to humanity's weakness.