Lord Voldemort

Lord Voldemort is the central villain of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, first appearing in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997). He appears in person or through flashbacks in every novel except Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where he is only mentioned. His name is an anagram of his birth name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and he is Harry Potter’s archenemy. According to a prophecy, Harry has the power to defeat him.

After murdering Harry’s parents, Lily and James, Voldemort tried to kill the infant Harry but instead left a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Most witches and wizards refuse to say his name, using terms like “You-Know-Who,” “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” or “The Dark Lord.” Voldemort is obsessed with blood purity, seeking to eliminate Muggle (non-magical) heritage and conquer both the wizarding and Muggle worlds for pure-blood supremacy. Through his mother’s family, he is the last descendant of Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin.

He leads the Death Eaters, a group dedicated to purging Muggles and making Voldemort the supreme ruler. Rowling created Voldemort as Harry’s nemesis, initially leaving his backstory vague. She explained that the basic idea was Harry not knowing he was a wizard, and she worked backward from there: when Harry was one, the most evil wizard in centuries killed his parents and tried to kill him, but the curse rebounded, leaving Harry with his scar and Voldemort in hiding.

In the second book, Rowling established that Voldemort hates non-pure-blood wizards despite being a half-blood himself. She described him as a self-hating bully who projects his own defects onto others. She later called him a raging psychopath devoid of normal human responses to suffering, though she did not base him on any real person. At his core, Voldemort fears death, which he sees as shameful human weakness.

His name is so feared that speaking it is dangerous; in Deathly Hallows, a taboo spell allows him or his followers to trace anyone who says it, leading to Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s capture. The anagram “I am Lord Voldemort” is revealed in the second book, and his name derives from the French vol de mort, meaning “flight of death” or “theft of death.”

In Philosopher’s Stone, Voldemort tries to regain his disembodied body by stealing the Philosopher’s Stone, using Professor Quirrell by latching onto the back of his head. Harry prevents him. In Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort’s true identity is revealed as Tom Marvolo Riddle, a former Hogwarts student and Slytherin prefect. He appears as a teenage manifestation inside a magical diary found by Ginny Weasley, who writes to him out of loneliness and anxiety.