Voldy's weaknesses as a villain WAS:Re: Why does Snape wants DADA job if it cursed? LONG

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 148993

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Sydney" <sydpad at ...> wrote:
>

> 
> and, also Lupinlore:
> 
> > Villains never really make sense, that's part
> >of the reason they're villains.  Heroes or "good" characters,
> >however, are supposed to make at least a surface kind of sense.
> 
> Just so you know, I'm going to cross-stitch that last one on a sampler
> and hang it over my desk.
> 


ROTFLMAO!! Be my guest!  I've never found that particular rule to lead 
me far wrong, in either life or fiction.  

But really, let's think about it. In that particular quote, as I 
recall, I said that whether kids get upset by Snape not making sense 
depends on what role Snape plays in the overall saga.  Villains, as I 
say, really aren't expected to make sense.  It's one reason that evil, 
in and of itself, is so boring.  It's ultimately senseless and self-
destructive. Voldemort is acknowledged by everyone as a villain.  Does 
anything about Voldemort make any sense?  The man's the most 
incompetent villain this side of Gargamel.  Let's see:

1) We could have had fake!Moody enchant a book as a portkey, call 
Potter down to his office, and say "Oh Potter, hand me that book, will 
you?" Later he could say, "No, I haven't seen Potter, Albus.  He's 
probably out watching the Tournament." Instead we go through this 
ridiculous and insanely complicated Rube Goldberg plot in which the 
person you want to kidnap is placed front and center under the gaze of 
wizards from three different nations.  That makes a lot of sense, yes 
indeed it does.

2)  We forget to warn our DEs "Oh, by the way, you can apparate, you 
know.  Try using that in the MoM to get behind the kids once they move 
away from the shelves.  And don't forget about those nice unforgivables 
you are supposedly so good with."

3)  For that matter, Voldy might have remembered that, as he is 
featured in the prophecy, he can take it down from the shelf as easily 
as Harry.  And since he evidently has no problem apparating right into 
the ministry in the dead of night, he could easily polyjuice himself, 
go in, and get it anytime he wants.  But no, we have yet another 
nonsensical and totally inept Rube Goldberg ploy designed to get Potter 
to take the prophecy down.

4)  We don't like the idea of dying, so we turn ourselves into a 
snake.  The man really needs to read the Evil Overlord's Handbook.

5) We manage to get a direct route into Hogwarts, so do we come ourself 
to deal with our most hated enemy.  No.  We send the same group who 
couldn't handle a half-dozen adolescents into a castle packed with 
adolescents.

6)  We had a strategy of legilimency that worked wonders last time.  
What do we do this time?  Oh, that love HURTS.  Makes you wonder how 
he's going to deal with it the first time he molts.

7)  The REALLY big one.  Voldy is afraid of dying.  Okay, fine.  Why 
doesn't he go off by himself, make his little horcruxes, and live 
unhappily ever after? What's getting in the way?  Because, for some 
reason, he wants to take over the Wizarding World.  Why?  What does 
taking over the wizarding world have to do with making horcruxes and 
living forever?  Nothing.  In fact, taking over the wizarding world is 
directly antithetical to his goal, as it draws attention to himself 
when he would be far better served by obscuring his goals and actions.  
So why does he want to rule the world.  Sigh.  For the same reason all 
villains want to rule the world -- he just WANTS to.  Some great and 
deeply revealing motivation that is, :-)).  

7b) A corollary to the above.  As has been pointed out further up the 
thread, why does he call attention to himself by using such NOTICEABLE 
objects for his horcruxes.  Does it have to do with the horcrux 
creating magic?  That would be plausible -- i.e. only exceptional 
objects have the correct arcane qualities to serve as a horcrux.  But 
no, its just because he WANTS to.  Chalk another one up as great and 
revealing motivation, :-)).


Lupinlore, who acknowledges that #7 occurs in real life, and thus 
points out that even in real life (Hitler, Stalin, the Kaiser) villains 
often don't make very much sense at all