Voldemort the Cartoon and Cliches? (was Re: Draco = Evil?)

[northsouth17]

No: HPFGUIDX 124833


Dave Hardenbrook 

> It seems to me that in disfiguring himself in pursuit of immortality
> and total evil-overlordiness, Tom Riddle robbed himself of his most
> powerful weapon.  In the Chamber he tells Harry, "I've always been
> able to charm the people I needed."  It's hard to be charming when
> you have a snake-like face, big red eyes, and spidery fingers.
> 
<snip>

There you go. What kind of person do you have to be to do that to 
yourself? What *did* he do to himself, exactly? That kind of self 
mutilation, for whatever purpose, is scary. (Why does he want 
immortality so badly?) 

Voldie is a cheesy villain, but he's a cheesy villain with back 
story, and I put my trust in JKR that he will manage to break out of 
the cliched evil overlord mould, if only because she dosen't have 
many other cliche's. 

Hagrid is the somewhat-simple-but-good-savage, and Hermione has a 
little bit of the know-it-all, even after five books. I can't offhand 
think of any other easily sorted characters. DD has gained a lot of 
depth over the books, Harry never quite fit the orphan-boy (too 
outgoing, too confident), Lupin and Sirius are both fairly original, 
I think. 

I've got a feeling I'm missing something though. Are the charachters 
cliched and my reading experience is not letting me see it? 

Northsouth