Voldemort

Voldemort is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. He operates as the alias and persona of the dark wizard who seeks to dominate the wizarding world and purge it of those he deems unworthy. The character has become a central symbol of fear and authoritarian ambition within the narrative.

Born Tom Marvolo Riddle on December 31, 1926, he is the son of Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle Sr. He was raised in a London orphanage and later attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was sorted into Slytherin. After leaving school, he constructed a plan to achieve immortality through the creation of Horcruxes, which housed fragments of his soul. He adopted the name Voldemort, rejecting his birth name as part of his rejection of his past. The name Voldemort is famously linked to the anagram “I am Lord Voldemort,” formed from his birth name Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Voldemort is described as pale, with a serpentine appearance and red eyes. He is a skilled dark wizard, fluent in Parseltongue, and he leads the Death Eaters in a campaign to subjugate Muggle-borns and seize control of the wizarding world. His pursuit of power accelerates after his first fall, during which he loses most of his physical form and later regains it.

In the narrative, Voldemort repeatedly targets Harry Potter, the only known person to survive his Killing Curse as a baby. His demise comes at the Battle of Hogwarts, after all of his Horcruxes are destroyed and his final curse backfires, due in part to the loyalty of the Elder Wand and the protections surrounding Harry. In adaptations, he is portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, with the young Tom Riddle appearing as Christian Coulson in Chamber of Secrets.