Character Sketch: Lord Voldemort

[ourobouros_1999 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 13743

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., joym999 at a... wrote:
<snip>\
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.
> 

That's true. I'm trying to think of what would make an Evil Overlord 
type more adult. But he can't exactly change the Lord Voldemort name 
after carrying it so long, can he? Look what happened to the artist 
formerly known as Prince. 

<snip>
> 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?

Well, I think it is the nature of the ambition. Lord Voldemort is not 
really a serial killer in the clinical sense of the term, as opposed 
to the literal sense. He doesn't only want to kill people, but wants 
to take over the world and leads an organization of people who want 
to help him do it (that's the overlord part. To be an overlord, you 
need minions), overthrow the government, rebuild the world in his own 
image, etc. 
> 

> 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.)

Somewhere in GoF, I recall. That's the reason for Hagrid's mission. 

<snip>

> 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.

I think canon currently supports the second. Muggle oppression is a 
large part of his program, as can be seen from his statements. 
Voldemort, like most evil villains, probably sees his goals as good 
(no matter twisted his logic is), rather than bad. So he can't really 
be described as out to do evil for the hell of it. He's not doing 
gratuitous acts. 

<snip>

Other questions:  (geez, I am responding waaaay too much to these 
Lord Voldemort threads)

How many people know of his true identity as Tom Marvolo Riddle? 
Isn't it odd that no one, after his defeat, would write about it or 
discuss where Lord V came from? Certainly wizards just don't pop out 
of nowhere. 

Is Lord V the evil wizard to end all evil wizards, or are movements 
like the Death Eaters not unprecedented in the HP world?

Before he became Lord Voldemort, did he act in a somewhat psychotic 
way at Hogwarts? (From what we see now, Voldster always behaves in a 
very melodramatic way) Dumbledore suspected something, didn't he? 

Is Lucius Malfoy really his friend, if Voldemort can be said to have 
any, or was that just a figure of speech? 

Why are some of the Death Eaters so loyal to him that they'd be 
willing to go to Akzaban for his sake? (The rest just seem along for 
the ride/out for their own interests)

Charmian