Character Sketch: Lord Voldemort

[joym999 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 13730

Excellent, excellent character summary, Amy.  Voldy is a tough one to 
summarize...I am impressed.  Of course, this wouldnt be HP4Gups 
without a few nits to pick:

> Lord Voldemort (born Tom Marvolo Riddle)
[snip]
> I mean, come on.  Exactly what 
> peerage *is* he a lord in?

Good question.  The Universal Peerage of Evil Entities, or the Evil 
Overlords Association.  Or maybe the more anagramically-correct Evil 
Vile Insidious League.  One thing that is striking about Voldy is his 
adolescentness.  His title is simply an anagram of his real name, 
created while still a student -- it has a boyish cleverness.  And 
calling himself Lord also seems very adolescent.  I think that kids 
often give themselves royal titles to make themselves feel bigger.  
It seems as childish as those one of those stupid ''Kentucky 
Colonels'', like calling yourself Colonel Sanders or something.  And 
the only time we really get to know him very well is when he appears 
as his adolescent self out of the diary.  Maybe this is true of all 
Evil Overlord-types, but Voldy does seem awfully adolescent.

> Now *why* do some women name their sons after the scum 
> who got them pregnant and split?

Depressing, isnt it?

> The missing years . . . He reappeared at an unknown date as 
> Voldemort, whom few people know is the same person as Tom Riddle.  
His 
> reign of terror began c. 1970; was marked by mass murders of 
magical 
> and Muggle folk, alliances with the giants, and chaos in the MOM; 
and 
> ended in 1981 with his unsuccessful attempt to kill Harry.

But what did he really do?  It is still unclear to me.  OK, he 
murdered a bunch of people, but is that enough to get an Evil 
Overlord rating?  I thought you had to be more than just Jack the 
Ripper or Son of Sam to be an Evil Overlord.  What did Voldy do that 
rates him higher than just a garden-variety serial killer?

Also, I dont remember Voldy having an alliance with giants.  Did I 
miss something? (Likely, but if anyone could point me to the 
appropriate chapter and verse I will reread.)
> 
> Bad qualities
> 
>    You name `em, he's got `em.  Power-mad, multiple-murdering, 
racist 
> (vs. Muggles and their descendants), sadistic, sarcastic, vengeful, 
> unforgiving, arrogant, manipulative, megalomaniacal, duplicitous; a 
> hater of Hitlerian proportions.  He even smells bad (PS/SS 17).  
> 
Sarcastic?  SARCASTIC?  What is wrong with being sarcastic?  Are you 
trying to tell me something?

> Good qualities:
> 
>    Umm...
> 
He looks sort of like Harry, or did when he was younger.  And he is 
smart.  And Ollivander points out that he did great things...evil, 
yes, but great.  OK, pretty minimal in the good qualities department.

> 
> 1. What is Voldemort's primary motivation?  To live forever?  To 
rid 
> the world of the non-pureblood (I know, he doesn't qualify 
> himself--racism knows no logic)?  Sheer lust for power?
> 

It seems to me that there are two possibilities:
(1) Voldy will turn out to be your standard evil guy, just out to do 
evil for the hell of it -- essentially a plot device so that the hero 
has someone to best.
(2) Voldy will turn out to have some Hitlerian Evil Plan to rule the 
world, live forever, kill all the non-pure types, market his own 
brand of hair-care produces, take over Hogwarts, etc.

> 2. Can he be killed?
> 3. How will having been restored by Harry's blood affect him?

This questions, IMHO, are intimately related.  I am of the school of 
thought that says that having Harry's blood makes him mortal enough 
to be killed, and that is such good news that it made Dumbledore's 
eye gleam. 

> 4. Does he have an heir, and does he want one?

Draco Malfoy seems to be doing a pretty good job, so far.

> 5. Is he your typical Evil Overlord who repeatedly makes 
unbelievably 
> dumb mistakes, or are we underestimating him?
> 

We are underestimating him.  He will eventually defeat Harry Potter, 
Dumbledore, and the other forces of good and take over the world.  In 
fact, the HP books are documents of his rise to power.   JKR has been 
ordered to write them in order to prepare us to bow down and serve 
him.  However, the resistance survives. If you want to join, meet in 
Joywitch's  cave  in the woods over near the.......NO, NO, 
STOP....AARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

******green flash of light*******