[HPforGrownups] Re: Who's the baddest of them all?

[Ashfae]

No: HPFGUIDX 47995




> From: "Caius Marcius <coriolan_cmc at hotmail.com>"
> 
> And nobody in Middle-Earth seems afraid to say Sauron's name.
> 
	That's largely because they think he's been dead for...how long is 
it? one thousand, two thousand years? Very long time. Perhaps at the 
beginning, they were afraid to say his name. And they are afraid of his 
language, the language of Mordor; though perhaps that's only sensible, 
given that it seems to have a power of its own.

	It's difficult to make a comparison between the two. As Shauna 
poined out, Sauron remains offstage for all the books, whereas Voldemort 
is certainly present. Voldemort's cruelty is enacted on a smaller scale, 
and we see it on a smaller scale, and therefore it hits home much more 
pointedly; Neville's parents were tortured into insanity, and they weren't 
alone. Countless deaths, fear and paranoia and pain all over the place. On 
the other hand, while Voldemort is often called the most evil wizard in 
the world, we haven't seen much evidence for how he affected other 
countries. How much influence did he have outside of Britain? Obviously 
some (witness Karkaroff), but how far did his domain spread?

	In contrast, Sauron is/was feared *everywhere*. Again, as Shauna 
pointed out, this is largely because he's been around for so very long. 
He's not a god exactly, not as I recall, but he's definitely been around 
for thousands of years, and as the books themselves demonstrate, is nearly 
impossible to kill. He doesn't bother with torturing people (though his 
minions do); he kills them or steals their souls entirely. The scale of 
his evil is far, far greater; in some ways, that makes it more difficult 
for us to see it, because we spend the books up close and personal to a 
few particular characters' views. 

	But I'd definitely say that of the two, Voldemort is to be
preferred. Voldemort has several weakneses, and makes mistakes; it's at
least possible to anticipate and fight him. Whereas Sauron has only one
chink in his armor, and a damned difficult one to get at. All Middle Earth
can really do is hold him off as best they can, until the Ring is
destroyed; that's their only hope of getting rid of him. I'd rather fight
Voldemort, thanks; at least I'd have some small chance!

	Ashfae