Voldemort

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Voldemort (伏地魔)
Alias(es)	Tom Riddle; Tom Marvolo Riddle; the Dark Lord; Tom Marvolo Gaunt (identity adopted by the diary-born incarnation)
Species/Race	Wizard
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Death Eaters; formerly the Knights of Walpurgis
Occupation/Role	Dark wizard; founder and leader of the Death Eaters
Status	Fragmented through Horcruxes. His wandering soul was destroyed by Albus Dumbledore, but several Horcrux fragments later revived; the diary-born Tom Gaunt was reduced to ash by Phoenix Fire 28 263 264.
First Appearance	27

Background / History

Early life and Hogwarts

Tom Riddle was born to a Muggle father and a mother from the Gaunt family, who claimed descent from Salazar Slytherin. Although he was half-blood, he later built his movement around pure-blood supremacy and concealed or rationalized the contradiction for political advantage 208 219.

At Hogwarts, Riddle was handsome, academically brilliant, highly skilled in dueling, able to speak Parseltongue, and influential among Slytherin’s pure-blood heirs. He served as Slytherin prefect and Head Boy, while the group of followers he gathered—the Knights of Walpurgis—became the precursor to the Death Eaters 19 113.

During his school years, he opened the Chamber of Secrets, caused Myrtle’s death, and framed Hagrid. At sixteen, he created his first Horcrux, the diary; later that year, he murdered his father and grandparents and turned the Gaunt family ring into another Horcrux 31 256.

Rise as Voldemort

After leaving Hogwarts, Riddle adopted the identity of Voldemort and gathered old pure-blood families behind a promise to restore their social dominance. Some followers accepted his ideology, while others joined from fear or calculated self-interest 40 102 219.

His repeated creation of Horcruxes greatly enhanced his Dark Magic but damaged his sanity, humanity, appearance, and capacity for empathy. By the time he returned to Hogwarts at thirty to seek the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, Dumbledore found him visibly distorted and rejected him outright 29 208 256.

Voldemort’s campaign remained confined to Britain because Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix prevented the Death Eaters from expanding abroad. His initial defeat was credited to the infant Harry Potter, whose survival followed Voldemort’s attempt to fulfill Trelawney’s prophecy 12 119.

Wandering soul and first destruction

Reduced to a remnant soul, Voldemort hid in Albania until Quirinus Quirrell found him and became his host. Voldemort ordered Quirrell to seek the Sorcerer’s Stone, while intending to use Hogwarts and Harry’s arrival as cover for his return 26 27.

Dumbledore confronted Quirrell at his home, evaded a Killing Curse, disintegrated Quirrell with the Elder Wand, and trapped Voldemort’s escaping soul behind a barrier. He then destroyed the wandering soul with Avada Kedavra 28.

Appearance

Voldemort’s appearance changed drastically as his soul was divided. Tom Riddle was originally an exceptionally handsome young man, but repeated Horcrux creation left the later Voldemort monstrous and noseless 19 29.

• Young Tom Riddle — handsome, poised, and outwardly idealized as a magical student 19 261.
• Wandering soul — black mist capable of escaping a host body 28.
• Locket fragment — red pupils, waxy-yellow sclera, blurred and twisted features 207.
• Diary-born Tom Gaunt — physically embodied as a handsome young man with conspicuous ambition and charisma 254.
• Possession form — manifested as a green skull surrounded by serpents while attempting to seize Isaac Waldore’s body 208.

Personality

Voldemort was ambitious, vain, controlling, and deeply insecure around Dumbledore. His fear of Dumbledore followed him from childhood through his Hogwarts years and into his rise as the Dark Lord; he never accepted that Dumbledore could see through his carefully constructed image 256 261.

He presented himself as the champion of pure-bloods despite his own Muggle parentage. Pure-blood families accepted this hypocrisy because his power and ideology appeared useful to their interests, but many later judged him too unstable and incompetent to rule safely 208 219.

His Horcruxes worsened his instability. When challenged, he readily shifted from persuasion to threats or violence, as shown by his attempt to possess Isaac after failing to secure his loyalty 208. However, the diary-derived Tom Gaunt retained more of the original teenage Riddle’s composure: he rejected the titles “Voldemort” and “Dark Lord,” studied broader magical disciplines, and tried to learn from Voldemort’s failures 254 260.

Abilities & Skills

Dark Magic and dueling

Voldemort possessed extraordinary magical and dueling talent from his student years. Dumbledore identified his Parseltongue, spellcasting talent, and dueling ability as the foundations of his exceptional status 20.

• His Killing Curse, cast through Quirrell, was powerful but could not touch Dumbledore 28.
• The sixteen-year-old diary incarnation could deflect Harry’s Incendio and withstand ordinary fire magic 262 263.
• His mature self was considered a top-tier combatant despite his instability; Isaac explicitly avoided the prospect of fighting Voldemort at full strength 208.
• His dependence on Dark Magic limited his versatility compared with Dumbledore and Grindelwald, who mastered broader magical disciplines 31.

Horcrux creation

Voldemort used murder to split his soul and seal fragments into objects or living beings, gaining a corrupted form of immortality 29 207.

• Each Horcrux further enhanced his Dark Magic aptitude 31.
• Soul-splitting irreversibly degraded his sanity, humanity, and appearance 29.
• Horcrux fragments could revive after Voldemort’s death, creating independent incarnations with differing memories and mental states 113 208.
• A Horcrux was vulnerable to destructive magic such as Fiendfyre and Isaac’s Phoenix Fire 114 263.

Parseltongue and the Chamber of Secrets

Voldemort could speak Parseltongue and used the ability to open the Chamber of Secrets while at Hogwarts 19 256.

• Parseltongue strengthened his standing among Slytherin’s pure-blood students 19.
• The diary incarnation’s memories ended during his Hogwarts years; without access to the Chamber’s Basilisk, he was far less dangerous than the mature Voldemort 262.

Dark Mark

The Dark Mark was Voldemort’s signature brand for core Death Eaters and a major expression of his advanced Dark Magic 98.

• It distinguished official Death Eaters from peripheral followers and Snatchers 98.
• It allowed Voldemort and marked followers to transmit signals, locations, intelligence, and short commands 98.
• Voldemort could use it to summon his followers coercively 98.
• Dumbledore could not remove a Dark Mark after Voldemort’s fall 98.

Possession and life-force revival

As a bodiless soul, Voldemort could inhabit or attempt to seize other bodies.

• He possessed Quirrell from the back of the professor’s head after Quirrell returned from Albania 26 27.
• The locket fragment attempted to requisition Isaac’s body by force 208.
• The diary-derived Tom Gaunt gained a physical body by absorbing Dobby’s life force 260 263.

Inferi and Dark artifact defenses

Voldemort created and concealed a force of more than a thousand Inferi in a protected seaside cave 219 230.

• The Inferi were likely made largely from Muggle corpses, alongside vanished victims of Death Eater attacks 219.
• The cave’s defenses included anti-Apparition magic, Inferi, and a potion basin guarding Slytherin’s Locket 207 220.
• Regulus Black infiltrated the cave, replaced the locket with a fake, and died after Inferi dragged him into the lake 207.

Horcruxes

Voldemort created six Horcruxes, including Harry Potter as an accidental living vessel. Nagini had not yet been made into a Horcrux during Voldemort’s weakened period under Quirrell’s control 31.

Horcrux	Location / Origin	Documented Development
Tom Riddle’s Diary	Created in Voldemort’s fifth year and entrusted to Lucius Malfoy at Malfoy Manor 31	The most unusually active fragment. Its incarnation, Tom Gaunt, gained a body through Dobby’s life force and was destroyed by Phoenix Fire; Lucius later sealed the diary in a Dark Magic containment box and took it to America 113 263 264 267.
Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring	Created after Riddle murdered his father and grandparents; hidden in the Gaunt Shack 31	Contains the Resurrection Stone and is protected by a curse dangerous even to Dumbledore 31.
Slytherin’s Locket	Originally hidden in the seaside cave; secretly removed by Regulus Black and concealed at the Black family home 31 207	The fragment revived from the locket in the Black family house and attempted to possess Isaac 207 208.
Hufflepuff’s Cup	Stored in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts 31	A youthful soul manifestation emerged from the Cup; Isaac used Fiendfyre to destroy the Horcrux during the Gringotts operation 112 114.
Ravenclaw’s Diadem	Hidden in Hogwarts’s Room of Requirement 31	Isaac and Vinda Rosier confronted its soul fragment. The Diadem was later found shattered and magically reassembled 41 43.
Harry Potter	Accidental living Horcrux created when Voldemort attacked Harry as an infant 31	Harry became Voldemort’s marked equal and Dumbledore’s contingency against his return 119.

Relationships

• Albus Dumbledore — lifelong enemy and the wizard Voldemort feared most. Dumbledore saw through Tom’s façade, rejected his Hogwarts post application, opposed his rise, and destroyed his wandering soul 28 256 261.
• Harry Potter — Voldemort marked Harry as his equal by choosing to attack him; Harry became both an accidental Horcrux and the central figure in the prophecy opposing him 31 119.
• Quirinus Quirrell — host and subordinate. Voldemort possessed Quirrell after Albania, punished him brutally, and used him in the search for the Sorcerer’s Stone 27 28.
• Lucius Malfoy — core Death Eater entrusted with the diary. Lucius later hid and served the revived Tom Gaunt, but turned fearful and opportunistic when confronted with the diary’s true nature 31 254 265.
• Death Eaters — followers bound through ideology, fear, political interest, and the Dark Mark. Their loyalty was generally weaker and more self-interested than Grindelwald’s Acolytes 40 98 219.
• Regulus Black — former follower who discovered Voldemort’s Horcrux secret, stole Slytherin’s Locket, and died trying to ensure Voldemort would become mortal 207.
• Dobby — the house-elf whose life force enabled the diary-derived Tom Gaunt to obtain a body 260 263.

Notable Quotes

“Swear loyalty to me, boy. You will receive everything you desire!” 208

“I told you not to mention Voldemort or the Dark Lord ever again. The facts have proven that it was the wrong path.” — Tom Marvolo Gaunt 254