Lord Voldemort aka Tom Marvolo Riddle: Character Analysis

[wolfbrother]

Originally Posted by FurryDice

I think he did expect her to relent -not understanding love and obsessed with his own fear of death, I think he could not fathom that she would choose to protect her child over saving her own skin.

Voldemort understood love well enough and its effects on people. He didn't feel it himself and saw it as a weakness but he knew enough to manipulate people using it.

[twinsrule26]

I wonder how Tom handled teenage hormones ,I mean he was said to be good looking when he was a Teen . I wonder what he did about females being interested in him at Hogwarts?.

[purplehawk]

Originally Posted by twinsrule26

I wonder how Tom handled teenage hormones ,I mean he was said to be good looking when he was a Teen . I wonder what he did about females being interested in him at Hogwarts?.

I've often wondered about that, too. Indeed, I've pondered the same thing where Sirius is concerned. Other than a brief blurb about a girl looking at him hopefully during their OWL, Sirius is never mentioned being in the company of a real female.

Where Voldy is concerned, though, I've wondered a lot of things - and even toyed with the idea of writing a tangential piece on a hidden Voldemort heir, through Bella - or another woman who Voldy killed after the birth - who pops up at Hogwarts or one of the other schools during Harry's years as an Auror.

[Sereena]

Originally Posted by purplehawk

I've often wondered about that, too. Indeed, I've pondered the same thing where Sirius is concerned. Other than a brief blurb about a girl looking at him hopefully during their OWL, Sirius is never mentioned being in the company of a real female.

Where Voldy is concerned, though, I've wondered a lot of things - and even toyed with the idea of writing a tangential piece on a hidden Voldemort heir, through Bella - or another woman who Voldy killed after the birth - who pops up at Hogwarts or one of the other schools during Harry's years as an Auror.

I never thought as Voldemort as asexual to be honest. I think that especially during his years at Hogwarts, he would at least be curious about relationships and want to see for himself what the fuss is all about. I also think that since he hung out with so many other boys, they might have viewed him as weird if he never gave girls any attention (especially since girls would probably be all over him seeing as he was handsome, brilliant and charismatic) so he might have had a "girlfriend" only to keep up appearances, but without feeling any real affection for her. I just don't see it as very likely that he could get away with never getting involved with anyone and not be considered weird. His words to Snape would also suggest that he has known intimacy, IMO.

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by purplehawk

Where Voldy is concerned, though, I've wondered a lot of things - and even toyed with the idea of writing a tangential piece on a hidden Voldemort heir, through Bella - or another woman who Voldy killed after the birth - who pops up at Hogwarts or one of the other schools during Harry's years as an Auror.

Somehow I can't see Voldemort ever allowing a descendent of his to be conceived. I think he'd be immediately jealous and insecure -- someone who might inherit his talent for magic and be a pureblood to boot? Anyway, someone who pursued immortality with the single-mindedness of Voldemort wouldn't care about legacy of his gene pool....his plan was to personally live forever.

[purplehawk]

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

Somehow I can't see Voldemort ever allowing a descendent of his to be conceived. I think he'd be immediately jealous and insecure -- someone who might inherit his talent for magic and be a pureblood to boot? Anyway, someone who pursued immortality with the single-mindedness of Voldemort wouldn't care about legacy of his gene pool....his plan was to personally live forever.

That's quite possible. Voldy was one truly whacked-out individual - and a born narcissist.

What if he had planned to merge himself and the child when the latter reached adulthood? I think maybe that was what Jo was alluding to when she said that, had Riddle walked free of that diary, Voldemort would have been greatly strengthened. Yes? No?

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by purplehawk

That's quite possible. Voldy was one truly whacked-out individual - and a born narcissist.

What if he had planned to merge himself and the child when the latter reached adulthood? I think maybe that was what Jo was alluding to when she said that, had Riddle walked free of that diary, Voldemort would have been greatly strengthened. Yes? No?

Hmm indeed. Diary Riddle was a horcrux, so I'm not sure how that would have worked. As Ginny grew weaker, Harry thought that Riddle seemed more solid....he was draining Ginny's life energy, but that's not a physical thing that he could use for a real body. When Voldemort makes his replacement body in GOF, he needs physical matter -- remnants of his father's bones, Harry's blood and living flesh from Wormtail, and at that point he is just a bit of soul inside a weird scaly covering manufactured from Nagini's flesh somehow (which again would be some sort of physical matter). It would seem Diary Riddle would need the same. Unless it was a non-physical form that had some qualities pure spirit doesn't have....after all, Peeves could pick things up and throw them...

[purplehawk]

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

Hmm indeed. Diary Riddle was a horcrux, so I'm not sure how that would have worked. As Ginny grew weaker, Harry thought that Riddle seemed more solid....he was draining Ginny's life energy, but that's not a physical thing that he could use for a real body. When Voldemort makes his replacement body in GOF, he needs physical matter -- remnants of his father's bones, Harry's blood and living flesh from Wormtail, and at that point he is just a bit of soul inside a weird scaly covering manufactured from Nagini's flesh somehow (which again would be some sort of physical matter). It would seem Diary Riddle would need the same. Unless it was a non-physical form that had some qualities pure spirit doesn't have....after all, Peeves could pick things up and throw them...

Oh, I dunno... I've always thought that if Ginny had died, the 16yo Tom Riddle would have walked away from the Chamber whole - his own younger self. He knew enough to head straight for Albania where, we were told, he had already visited previously to snatch the diadem. He had to know where his wrecked, spectral self could be found in that forest, and his reborn self would have been all he needed to become whole again and, I think, he would have been much stronger than he was when he finally got a body two years later in GoF.

These are just my personal thoughts on it, of course, but he wouldn't have needed the DNA from Tom Riddle Sr. if he could possess his own 16yo self as Tom Riddle Jr. He shouldn't have needed the flesh of a willing servant if he had had his own younger self at hand. The only "ingredient" he was missing is the drop of Harry's blood and, with it, a bit of Lily's sacrifice. And there are any number of methods by which he could have obtained that bit later.

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by purplehawk

Oh, I dunno... I've always thought that if Ginny had died, the 16yo Tom Riddle would have walked away from the Chamber whole - his own younger self. He knew enough to head straight for Albania where, we were told, he had already visited previously to snatch the diadem. He had to know where his wrecked, spectral self could be found in that forest, and his reborn self would have been all he needed to become whole again and, I think, he would have been much stronger than he was when he finally got a body two years later in GoF.

These are just my personal thoughts on it, of course, but he wouldn't have needed the DNA from Tom Riddle Sr. if he could possess his own 16yo self as Tom Riddle Jr. He shouldn't have needed the flesh of a willing servant if he had had his own younger self at hand. The only "ingredient" he was missing is the drop of Harry's blood and, with it, a bit of Lily's sacrifice. And there are any number of methods by which he could have obtained that bit later.

I'm not sure about that. Diary Riddle was a horcrux, whatever extra strength he may have gained if Ginny died still doesn't give him a physical form. Merging with his horcrux/Diary Riddle would be possible, but according to the book on horcruxes that Hermione has in DH, it's a painful process, and if I recall correctly, involves some sort of remorse on Riddle's part which of course would never happen. And don't horcruxes need their containers to protect them? Diary Riddle was, after all, still vulnerable to being killed when Harry stabbed the diary, even though Riddle was stronger and could pick up physical objects (Harry's wand).

[sailorlum]

Originally Posted by Sereena

I never thought as Voldemort as asexual to be honest. I think that especially during his years at Hogwarts, he would at least be curious about relationships and want to see for himself what the fuss is all about. I also think that since he hung out with so many other boys, they might have viewed him as weird if he never gave girls any attention (especially since girls would probably be all over him seeing as he was handsome, brilliant and charismatic) so he might have had a "girlfriend" only to keep up appearances, but without feeling any real affection for her. I just don't see it as very likely that he could get away with never getting involved with anyone and not be considered weird. His words to Snape would also suggest that he has known intimacy, IMO.

Since JKR didn't cover that aspect for Voldemort (nor for many of her characters, esp. outside of Harry's generation), I figure just about anything is possible. I'd say Voldemort is definitely aromantic (since he doesn't love in general, even), and he apparently understands desire on a certain level, at least (enough to understand that other people, like Snape, have desire, at least). Beyond that, he could be sexual or asexual, I think. I tend to go with the theory that he's asexual, though, because he doesn't seem to have much appreciation for the human body. He went on to warp his own body with Dark Magic and he was never shown to appreciate statues or paintings of people, so I have a feeling he just didn't really appreciate the human body enough to truly be attracted to any body. He could still engage in experimentation out of curiosity and/or to keep up appearances, providing he had some biological drive (or was able to work something out with a potion or something), though, even if not really feeling the attraction towards others. I figure he did experiment and keep up appearances during his Hogwarts days, but stopped bothering after he started getting to the point of warping his body with Dark Magic. But who knows?

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

I'm not sure about that. Diary Riddle was a horcrux, whatever extra strength he may have gained if Ginny died still doesn't give him a physical form. Merging with his horcrux/Diary Riddle would be possible, but according to the book on horcruxes that Hermione has in DH, it's a painful process, and if I recall correctly, involves some sort of remorse on Riddle's part which of course would never happen. And don't horcruxes need their containers to protect them? Diary Riddle was, after all, still vulnerable to being killed when Harry stabbed the diary, even though Riddle was stronger and could pick up physical objects (Harry's wand).

Yeah, I agree. I think Diary!Riddle became corporeal (a la Peeves), but still couldn't survive without his container, since it was the thing tethering him to the mortal coil. And I figure that Voldemort's spirit probably wouldn't be able to possess another spirit or spirit part, even if that spirit was corporeal (a la Peeves). And even if Voldemort merged his spirit with Diary!Riddle, I think that would undo Diary!Riddle's tethering to the mortal coil by way of the container, and thus the newly reintegrated Voldemort would still need a body. And from what I gather, if Voldemort had felt enough remorse and desire to rejoin with Diary!Riddle, I think that act of remorse would affect the other spirit parts as well and they would rejoin at the same time, and unless that Voldemort was in a new body, he'd lose all his tethers to the mortal coil and would go straight beyond the Veil.

[twinsrule26]

When Voldemort Killed his muggle family and framed Morfin .Why did he hide the ring in their hut/home? he went to great lengths to hide the locket so why leave it in a run down old hut?
My only idea on this is that in some way he was honoring his mom by hiding it in her old home. Anyone got an idea on this ?

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by twinsrule26

When Voldemort Killed his muggle family and framed Morfin .Why did he hide the ring in their hut/home? he went to great lengths to hide the locket so why leave it in a run down old hut?
My only idea on this is that in some way he was honoring his mom by hiding it in her old home. Anyone got an idea on this ?

I don't think Riddle necessarily thought about it that much. And after all, the curse it carried for anyone who put it on was quite deadly.

[NorthernZel]

Originally Posted by twinsrule26

When Voldemort Killed his muggle family and framed Morfin .Why did he hide the ring in their hut/home? he went to great lengths to hide the locket so why leave it in a run down old hut?
My only idea on this is that in some way he was honoring his mom by hiding it in her old home. Anyone got an idea on this ?

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

I don't think Riddle necessarily thought about it that much. And after all, the curse it carried for anyone who put it on was quite deadly.

Actually, my theory is that he wanted to state two things by hiding the Horcrux there: a) that the Riddle lineage now was ended, and b) he assumed his status as a descendant of Antioch (?) Peverell, and therefore Slytherin's Heir. But it was more likely just a statement he wanted to make to himself - he obviously thought (and Dumbledore hints to it in HBP) that noone could think upon looking for a Horcrux in an abandoned, derelict house.

As for his mother, I don't think he gave it many thoughts - he believed that his mother would have been a Squib (or simply too weak for his liking) since she couldn't save her own life by magic.

[flimseycauldron]

Originally Posted by NorthernZel

Actually, my theory is that he wanted to state two things by hiding the Horcrux there: a) that the Riddle lineage now was ended, and b) he assumed his status as a descendant of Antioch (?) Peverell, and therefore Slytherin's Heir. But it was more likely just a statement he wanted to make to himself - he obviously thought (and Dumbledore hints to it in HBP) that noone could think upon looking for a Horcrux in an abandoned, derelict house.

As for his mother, I don't think he gave it many thoughts - he believed that his mother would have been a Squib (or simply too weak for his liking) since she couldn't save her own life by magic.

I agree that the bolded was what he was thinking. Also, that anyone who would accidentally stumble upon it would not know what it was or have an real interest in researching it. Where as something under lock and key hints that whatever is being locked away is very valuable...