Barty Crouch, Jr: sociopath or zealot?

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 22462

My impression of Barty Crouch Jr. is not so much that he's a sociopath as a
person utterly, totally committed to a cause---in his case, Death-Eater-ism
or whatever Voldemort calls his rationale for doing all sorts of nasty
stuff.  If you doubt that he could be so dedicated to such an awful thing,
remember that even the most evil causes imaginable (insert your own
most-abominated cause here; I'd insert mine but I fear a flamewar) have
managed to get people that were completely, utterly, samurai-to-lord-level
dedicated to making them real.

A sociopath basically has no conscience and sees other people as objects.  I
doubt strongly that any true sociopath would be as loyal to Lord Voldemort
as Barty Crouch was,  or the Lestranges.

Voldemort himself may well be a sociopath---witness his behavior toward
Hagrid while at school, his manipulative cruel treatment of Ginny (I've read
about loads of villains who were utterly evil bastards, but deliberately
manipulating an eleven-year-old girl?  Somehow, I think somebody like Darth
Vader would spit on Voldemort for that little stunt) and his single-minded
search for power and immortality _for himself._

Why the DEs follow him---now, there's an interesting question.  Admittedly,
they almost all scurried for the woodwork when he fell afoul of Harry Potter
the first time, but hey, if you're an Evil Overlord(tm) that's part of the
game.  What did, what does Voldemort offer that makes these people, most of
whom I think are pretty nasty just on their own, and _not_ likely to do
something nice for somebody else's benefit, willing to risk Azkaban or a
fatal encounter with an Auror's wand for his sake?  Has he promised them
immortality "once I've got the bugs worked out and I'm sure that it'll
work?"  Personally, I trust Voldemort about as much as I'd trust a dinner
invitation at Castle Borgia; if he offered me immortality I'd immediately
think of that Greek myth about the guy who got eternal life, but not eternal
_youth_ and ended up as a cricket.