Lord Voldemort

Who is Lord Voldemort?

Lord Voldemort is the main villain of the series and the most feared dark wizard of all time. Many witches and wizards are so afraid of him that they won’t say his name, calling him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

He was born Tom Marvolo Riddle in a Muggle orphanage in London. His mother, Merope Gaunt, was a witch descended from Salazar Slytherin; she died shortly after giving birth. His father, Tom Riddle Sr, was a wealthy Muggle who had abandoned her.

Why Tom Riddle was sorted into Slytherin

Tom Riddle was everything Slytherin values: brilliant, ambitious, resourceful and charming. He was also the last heir of Salazar Slytherin and a Parselmouth.

He was top of his year, a prefect and Head Boy, and many teachers adored him. As a student he opened the Chamber of Secrets and framed Hagrid for the death that followed. He represents Slytherin’s ambition pushed past every moral limit. Read Gryffindor vs Slytherin.

Personality and traits

Voldemort is ruthless, manipulative and utterly without empathy. He values power above everything, and fears only one thing: death. He believes himself superior to everyone around him, including his followers, whom he treats as tools.

He’s also brilliant and charismatic. As a young man he could charm almost anyone. Dumbledore was one of the few who distrusted him from the start.

Magical abilities and skills

Skill	Details
Dark magic	The most powerful dark wizard of his era.
Legilimency	The greatest Legilimens alive; can read and invade minds.
Parseltongue	Inherited from Salazar Slytherin.
Flight	Could fly without a broom.
Horcruxes	Split his soul into multiple pieces to avoid death.
Duelling	Matched Dumbledore in the Ministry Atrium.

The Horcruxes

Horcrux	Destroyed by	How
Tom Riddle’s diary	Harry	Basilisk fang, Chamber of Secrets
Marvolo Gaunt’s ring	Dumbledore	Sword of Gryffindor, before Half-Blood Prince
Slytherin’s locket	Ron	Sword of Gryffindor, Deathly Hallows
Hufflepuff’s cup	Hermione	Basilisk fang, Deathly Hallows
Ravenclaw’s diadem	Crabbe’s Fiendfyre	Deathly Hallows
Nagini	Neville	Sword of Gryffindor, Deathly Hallows
The piece in Harry	Voldemort himself	His own Killing Curse in the Forbidden Forest

Voldemort’s story

Period	Key events
Childhood	Grows up in a Muggle orphanage; discovers his powers; Dumbledore visits to bring him to Hogwarts.
Hogwarts	Sorted into Slytherin; opens the Chamber of Secrets; makes his first Horcrux.
First war	Leads the Death Eaters; kills James and Lily Potter; his curse rebounds off Harry and he loses his body.
Philosopher’s Stone	Shares Quirrell’s body and tries to steal the Stone.
Goblet of Fire	Returns to a body in the graveyard using Harry’s blood.
Order of the Phoenix	Tries to obtain the prophecy; duels Dumbledore.
Deathly Hallows	Takes over the Ministry; hunts the Elder Wand; dies at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Key relationships

Character	Relationship
Harry Potter	The boy of the prophecy and his final enemy.
Albus Dumbledore	The teacher who saw through him and the wizard he feared.
Severus Snape	Trusted servant who betrayed him.
Bellatrix Lestrange	His most devoted follower.
Nagini	His snake, and a Horcrux.
Peter Pettigrew	Servant who helped him return.

Strengths and flaws

Strengths: immense power, intelligence and strategic skill.

Flaws: an inability to understand love, which Dumbledore calls his greatest weakness. His fear of death and his arrogance about ancient magic he doesn’t value lead directly to his downfall.

Voldemort in the books vs the films

Ralph Fiennes played Voldemort from Goblet of Fire onwards; younger versions of Tom Riddle were played by Christian Coulson and, in flashbacks, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane. In the book, Voldemort’s body is left lying in the Great Hall, an ordinary corpse. In the film he disintegrates into flakes.

Why Voldemort matters to the story

Voldemort is the series’ argument about death. Every hero accepts death in some way: Lily dies for Harry, Dumbledore plans his own end and Harry walks into the Forest. Voldemort refuses, splitting his soul to avoid it, and that refusal destroys him.

Fun facts

• “Tom Marvolo Riddle” rearranges to “I am Lord Voldemort”.
• J.K. Rowling has said the final T in Voldemort is silent, though most people pronounce it.
• He and Harry share wand cores from the same phoenix, Fawkes.
• He never fully understood why his curse rebounded on the night he killed the Potters.

Find your house

Voldemort is Slytherin at its most extreme, not its most typical. Take our house quiz to see where you’d be sorted.