Editing Lord Voldemort (section)

== Characterisation ==
=== Outward appearance ===
After he regains his body in the fourth book, Rowling describes Voldemort as having pale skin, a chalk-white, skull-like face, snake-like slits for nostrils, red eyes and cat-like slits for pupils, a skeletally thin body and long, thin hands with unnaturally long fingers.<ref name="HP4ch32333435">{{HPref|book=4}}</ref> As mentioned in the first chapter of the seventh book, he also has no hair or lips. Earlier in life, as seen through flashbacks contained in the second and sixth books, Tom Marvolo Riddle was handsome<ref name="HP6ch13">{{HPref|book=7|chapter=13}}</ref> and tall with pale skin, jet black hair, and dark brown eyes. He could charm many people with his looks. The transformation into his monstrous state is believed to have been the result of creating his Horcruxes and becoming less human as he continued to divide his soul.<ref name="HP6ch23">{{HPref|book=6|chapter=23}}</ref> In the films, Voldemort's eyes are blue with round pupils, as the decision was made not to have his portrayer Ralph Fiennes wear colored contact lenses.

=== Personality ===
Rowling described Voldemort as "the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years".<ref name="rehm">{{cite web |url=http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/1299-wamu-rehm.htm |title=J.K. Rowling on The Diane Rehm Show |publisher=WAMU Radio Washington, D.C. |date=20 October 1999 |access-date=15 August 2007}}</ref> She elaborated that he is a "raging [[psychopath]], devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering", and whose only ambition in life is to become all-powerful and immortal. He is also a [[sadistic personality disorder|sadist]] who hurts and murders people—especially Muggles—for his own amusement. He has no [[conscience]], feels no remorse or empathy, and does not recognise the worth and humanity of anybody except himself.<ref name="EW2000">{{cite web |first=Jeff|last=Jensen |url=http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/0900-ew-jensen.htm |title=Fire Storm|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]]|location=New York City|date=7 September 2000 |access-date=20 April 2008 }}</ref>
He feels no need for human companionship or friendship and cannot comprehend love or affection for another. He believes he is superior to everyone around him, to the point that he frequently refers to himself in the third person as "Lord Voldemort".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/things-you-may-not-have-noticed-about-lord-voldemort |title=Things you may not have noticed about Lord Voldemort |website=[[Pottermore]] |date=19 March 2018 |access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref> Rowling also stated that Voldemort is "incredibly power hungry. [[Racism|Racist]], really",<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=A Good Scare |url=http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20001030/potter.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|issue=43|date=30 October 2000 |access-date=3 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114013140/http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20001030/potter.html |archive-date=14 January 2008 }}</ref> and that if Voldemort were to look into the [[Mirror of Erised]], in which one sees one's greatest desire, he would see "Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That's what he wants."<ref>{{cite web |title=What Jo says about...Lord Voldemort, aka Tom Marvolo Riddle |url=http://www.accio-quote.org/themes/voldemort.htm |access-date=3 November 2008}}</ref>

Rowling also stated that Voldemort's conception by influence of Amortentia—a [[love potion]] administered by his mother, a witch named [[Merope Gaunt]], to the Muggle Tom Riddle—is related to his inability to understand love; it is "a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union—but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved him. The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because it shows coercion, and there can't be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the result of such a union".<ref name="AfterBook7" />

Like most archetypical villains, Voldemort's arrogance leads to his downfall. He also suffers from a [[Death anxiety|pathological fear of death]], which he regards as a shameful and ignominious human weakness. According to Rowling, his [[Boggart (Harry Potter)|Boggart]] would be his own corpse.<ref name="www.accio-quote.org"/> Rowling also said that the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry accepts mortality, and thus Harry is, in the end, stronger than his nemesis.<ref name="AfterBook7" />

=== Magical abilities and skills ===

Rowling establishes Voldemort throughout the series as an extremely powerful, intelligent, and ruthless dark wizard, described as the greatest<ref>[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]] Chapter 1 The Worst Birthday</ref> and most powerful Dark Wizard of all time.<ref>[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]] Chapter 2 The Scar</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.pottermore.com/explore-the-story/lord-voldemort| title = Lord Voldemort-Pottermore}}</ref> He is known as one of the greatest [[Magic (Harry Potter)#Legilimency and Occlumency|Legilimens]] in the world and a highly accomplished [[Magic (Harry Potter)#Legilimency and Occlumency|Occlumens]]; he can read minds and shield his own from penetration. Besides Dumbledore, he is also the only wizard ever known to be able to apparate silently. Voldemort was also said to fear one wizard alone, Dumbledore.<ref name="HP5ch33435">{{HPref|book=5|chapter=36}}</ref>

In the final book, Voldemort flies unsupported, something that amazes those who see it.<ref name="DH4" /> Voldemort, like his ancestral family, the Gaunts, is a [[Parseltongue|Parselmouth]], meaning he can converse with serpents. This skill was inherited from his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. The Gaunt family speak Parseltongue among themselves. This highly unusual trait may be preserved through inbreeding, a practice employed by the Gaunt Family to maintain their blood's purity. When Voldemort attempts to kill Harry his ability to speak Parseltongue is passed to Harry through the small bit of the former's soul. After that bit of soul is destroyed, Harry loses this ability.<ref name=LeakyCauldron20070730>{{cite web|url=http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript|title=JK Rowling web chat transcript|date=30 July 2007}}</ref> In a flashback in the sixth novel, Voldemort boasts to Dumbledore during a job interview that he has "pushed the boundaries of magic farther than they had ever before".<ref name="HP6ch20">{{HPref|book=6|chapter=20}}</ref> Dumbledore states that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is more extensive than any wizard alive<ref name="HP5ch33435"/> and that even Dumbledore's most powerful protective spells and charms would likely be insufficient if Voldemort returned to full power. Dumbledore also said that Voldemort was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.<ref name="HP2ch17" /> Although Voldemort remains highly accomplished and prodigious in skill, he is enormously lacking and highly inept in the most powerful magic, love. This inability to love and trust others proves to be Voldemort's greatest weakness in the series. Voldemort initially voices scepticism that his own magic might not be the most powerful,<ref name="HP6ch20" /> but upon returning to power, he admits to his Death Eaters that he had overlooked the ancient and powerful magic which Lily Potter invoked and that would protect Harry from harm.<ref name="HP4ch33">{{HPref|book=4|chapter=33}}</ref>

On her website, Rowling wrote that Voldemort's wand is made of yew, whose sap is poisonous, and which symbolises death. It forms a deliberate contrast to Harry's wand, which is made of [[holly]], which she chose because holly is alleged to repel evil.<ref name="WAND">{{cite web|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=18 |title=Section: Extra Stuff WANDS |access-date=15 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724184214/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=18 |archive-date=24 July 2007 }}</ref>

Rowling establishes in the books that Voldemort is magically connected to Harry via Harry's forehead scar. He disembodies himself when his Killing Curse targeting Harry rebounds on him, leaving the scar on Harry's forehead. In the books, and to a lesser extent in the films, Harry's scar serves as an indicator of Voldemort's presence: it burns when the Dark Lord is near or when Voldemort is feeling murderous or exultant. According to Rowling, by attacking Harry when he was a baby Voldemort gave him "tools [that] no other wizard possessed—the scar and the ability it conferred, a magical window into Voldemort's mind".<ref name="scarfaq">{{cite web|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=84 |title=jkrowling.com F.A.Q |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205110922/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=84 |archive-date=5 February 2012 }}</ref>

=== Family ===
Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle on 31 December 1926. His mother Merope died in childbirth, leaving the baby to grow up alone in an orphanage.<ref name="voldbirthdatefaq">[http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=119 F.A.Q] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214193435/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=119|date=14 February 2012}}</ref> In ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', it is revealed that Voldemort murdered his father and grandparents, leaving himself the only surviving member of the Riddle family.

==== House of Gaunt ====
Most of the [[Exposition (literary technique)|exposition]] of the '''House of Gaunt'''{{'}}s background occurs in ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', through the medium of Dumbledore's [[Pensieve]]. The Gaunts were once a powerful and influential family, and are the last known descendants of [[Salazar Slytherin]]. However, a vein of mental instability and violence within the family, reinforced through [[cousin marriage]]s intended to preserve the pureblood line, had reduced them to poverty and squalor, as shown in the Pensieve's "memory" that Harry and Dumbledore witnessed. Like Salazar Slytherin, the Gaunts spoke Parseltongue. At the time of the story, the Gaunts' only material asset is a ramshackle shanty in Little Hangleton, that stood in a thicket in a valley opposite the Riddle House. Like the Riddles, the Gaunts were also unpopular with the local residents, with a reputation for being vulgar and intimidating.<ref name="HP6ch10">{{HPref|book=6|chapter=10}}</ref>

Marvolo Gaunt was the last family patriarch. He was sentenced to a short term in Azkaban for his and his son's assault upon a [[Ministry of Magic]] official; this affected his health and he died soon after returning home. His [[Seal (emblem)|signet ring]] passed to his son, Morfin Gaunt, who was convicted of assaulting a Muggle, and later died in Azkaban, convicted this time as a party to the murder of Tom Riddle Sr and Riddle's parents.<ref name="HP6ch17">{{HPref|book=6|chapter=17}}</ref>

Dumbledore discovers the real culprit while visiting Morfin in Azkaban to gather information about Voldemort. After Dumbledore successfully extracts Morfin's memory of his encounter with his nephew, he tries to use the evidence to have Morfin released, but Morfin dies before the decision can be made. The House of Gaunt ended with Morfin's death.

Merope Gaunt ({{IPAc-en|m|ɛ|ˈ|r|oʊ|p|i}}) was the daughter of Marvolo, and sister of Morfin. Harry's first impression of her was that she looked "like the most defeated person he had ever seen". She married Tom Riddle Sr and became pregnant within three months of the wedding.<ref name="HP6ch10" /> It is suggested that she tricked her husband into loving her by using a love potion, but sometime during her pregnancy, chose to stop administering the potion. It is implied that Merope had grown tired of living the lie and thought that her husband might have grown to love her, or that he might have stayed for the sake of their unborn child; however, he left her. Desperate, Merope wandered through the streets of London. The only thing she had left was the heavy gold locket that had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin, one of her family's most treasured items, which she sold for a small amount. When she was due to give birth, she stumbled into a [[Muggle]] orphanage, where she gave birth to her only son. She died within the next hour.