Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle

Now I know that Voldemort is the bad guy but he still is one of the biggest characters in Harry Potter so I am still going to talk about him. This first excerpt from Wikipedia is all about Voldemort. The second is about the actual person he is: Tom Marvolo Riddle. So here is the first one.

Harry Potter character
Lord Voldemort
Ralph Fiennes


as Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Parentage
Half-Blood
Actor
Ralph Fiennes



Christian Coulson, as a 16-year-old (HP2)



Ian Hart (voice) (HP1)



Richard Bremmer, as flashback non-faced Voldemort (HP1)
First appearance
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone



Lord Voldemort is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the Harry Potter novel series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort made his debut appearance in the first novel of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997. He was born as Tom Marvolo Riddle, the last descendent of the wizard named Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort appeared in all the following instalments of the series, except the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Voldemort has also appeared in all the corresponding film adaptations as of present date, except the third.
In the series, Voldemort is the main enemy of Harry Potter, who according to a prophecy has the power to defeat him. The wizarding community fears him so much that they refuse to refer to him by his name, instead saying "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Even his followers only refer to him as "The Dark Lord".
Several people have portrayed Voldemort in the films, but the most referenced actor is British actor Ralph Fiennes, who has portrayed him in the film adaptations of the fourth and fifth novels. In a 2006 BigBadRead poll, British students voted Lord Voldemort their favourite literary villain of all time.[3]
Character development
According to a 1999 interview with author J. K. Rowling, Voldemort was invented as a literary foil for Harry Potter, the main protagonist of the series, and that she intentionally did not flesh out Voldemort's backstory yet at first. She had the idea that: "The basic idea … Harry … didn't know he was a wizard … and so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was.… When he was one-year-old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry - he tried to curse him.… Harry has to find out, before we find out. And - so - but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since." [4] She also added that his name is invented and has no real life basis. [5]
In the course of the second book, Rowling established the paradox that Voldemort was a racist who hated non-pure blood wizards, but was a half-blood himself. In a 2000 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Rowling fleshed Voldemort out as a prototypical self-hating bully: "Well I think it is often the case that the biggest bullies take what they know to be their own defects, as they see it, and they put them right on someone else and then they try and destroy the other and that's what Voldemort does." [6]
In the same year, Rowling became more precise about Voldemort. She began to link him to charismatic real-life tyrants, describing him as "a raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering, and there ARE people like that in the world. But then you have Wormtail [his cowardly, but cruel henchman], who out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person". [7] However, according to statements in 2004, Rowling says that Voldemort is not directly based on any historical character. [8]
Finally, in 2006, Rowling established that Voldemort was not only a racist, genocidal psychopath, but at his core a person with a very human fear: the fear of death. She said: "Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it's a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death." [9] This plot point would be essential in the last book, when Voldemort's hunt for immortality is a large plot thread.
Throughout the series, Rowling established that the name "Voldemort" is so feared in the Wizarding world that it is considered dangerous even to speak his name. Most characters in the novels refer to him as "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" rather than saying his name aloud. In Deathly Hallows, a Taboo is placed upon the name, such that anyone who utters it may be traced by Voldemort or his followers. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are found and captured by "Snatchers" and the werewolf Fenrir Greyback when Harry inadvertently utters the name. Such a Taboo is not mentioned in any of the other books in the series; it is not known whether Voldemort used a similar tactic during the First Wizarding War.
According to an interview with J. K. Rowling, "Voldemort" is pronounced (IPA: [ˈvəʊldəmɔː]), with a silent 't' at the end, as is common in French. [10] This was the pronunciation used by Jim Dale in the first four U.S. audiobooks; however, after the release of the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which the characters who dared refer to him by name pronounced it with the "t", Dale altered his pronunciation to that in the films. The pronunciation has since been used in the other films, as well.
Voldemort's given name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. The second book establishes that the appellation "Lord Voldemort" is derived from an anagram of his birth name: TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE ~ I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. This is also a play on words, as his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is also itself a riddle. In translated versions of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort's original name is changed to accommodate the anagram. In the Polish edition, however, translator Andrzej Polkowski decided not to make any changes, presumably because of the difficulty of translating the anagram into a meaningful sentence. In the Portuguese edition (as distinct from the Brazilian edition), the name was similarly left untranslated.
In the books
Lord Voldemort on the back of Professor Quirrell's head in Harry Potter and the Philsopher's Stone
First three books
Lord Voldemort makes his debut in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In this story, Rowling introduces him as the Dark Lord who has murdered the parents of protagonist Harry Potter, and unsuccessfully tries to regain his dissolved body by stealing the eponymous Philosopher's Stone. While writing the book, Rowling established that Harry Potter's parents have been killed by the powerful Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort; but for some reason, baby Harry survives when Voldemort tries to murder him with a Killing Curse. Voldemort is disembodied and Harry since then carries a mysterious scar on his forehead as a result. According to a 1999 interview with The Diane Rehm Show, fleshing out Voldemort's backstory was a case of backwards planning: she decided that the parents of Harry Potter had been killed by a supremely powerful and evil wizard, and that wizard became Voldemort.[11]
In the second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling introduces the character of Tom Marvolo Riddle, a manifestation of Voldemort that resides inside a magical diary found by Ginny Weasley. In this book, Ginny is written as a shy girl with a crush on Harry Potter.[12] Feeling anxious and lonely, she begins to write into the diary and shares her deepest fears with the sympathetic Tom.[13] However, at the climax of the story, it is revealed that Tom Marvolo Riddle is an anagram of "I am Lord Voldemort", and Tom is indeed the magical manifestation of the Dark Lord himself. Riddle states he has grown strong on her fears and eventually possessed Ginny. He then used her as a pawn to unlock the Chamber of Secrets, from where a basilisk was set free which petrified several Hogwarts students. Harry defeats both the Riddle from the diary and the basilisk.[13] In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore reveals to Harry that the diary was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes (an external vessel which contains a part of his torn soul).
In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Voldemort does not make an appearance, either in person or in the form of a magical manifestation. He is, however, heard when Harry passes out from the effects of a Dementor. The Divination professor, Sybill Trelawney, makes a genuine prophecy: The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these 12 years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight... before midnight... the servant... will set out... to rejoin... his master....[14] Towards the end of the book, the servant is revealed to be Peter Pettigrew, who, since the fall of Lord Voldemort, has been disguised as Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers.
Fourth to sixth books
A corporeal Lord Voldemort returns to power.
In the fourth instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort appears at the climax of the book. Rowling lets many seemingly unrelated plot elements fall into order. It is revealed that Voldemort's minion Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Hogwarts professor Mad-Eye Moody, has manipulated the events of the Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort's goal is to teleport reluctant participant Harry Potter to the Little Hangleton graveyard, where the Riddle family are buried.[15] Harry is captured and, after Death Eater Peter Pettigrew uses Harry's blood (which would prove to be a major flaw) to fulfil a gruesome magical ritual, Voldemort regains his body and is restored to his full power.[16] For the first time in the series, Rowling describes his appearance: "tall and skeletally thin", with a face "whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was as flat as a snake’s with slits for nostrils".[15] Rowling writes that his "hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat's, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness".[15] It was revealed that, while in Albania, Pettigrew had captured the Ministry of Magic official Bertha Jorkins, who was tortured for information about the Ministry.[17] After they learned that Barty Crouch Jr, a faithful Death Eater, had been smuggled out of Azkaban and was privately confined at his father's house, they killed her. With Pettigrew's help, Voldemort created a small, rudimentary body, corporeal enough to travel and perform magic, and formulated a plan to restore his own body by capturing Harry. A portion of the plan had been overheard by Frank Bryce, a gardener, whom Voldemort then killed.[17] Voldemort then completes his plan and returns to life in his full body as a result of the ritual with Harry's blood. He then summons his Death Eaters to the graveyard to witness the death of Harry Potter as he challenges Harry to a duel. However, When Voldemort duels Harry, their wands become magically locked together due to the twin Phoenix feather cores of the wands. Due to a phenomenon later revealed as Priori Incantatem, ghost-like victims of Voldemort's most recent victims (including Harry's parents) then appear and distract Voldemort, allowing Harry just enough time to escape via portkey with the body of fellow-student, Cedric Diggory, who was murdered by Peter Pettigrew on Voldemort's orders.[18]

Lord Voldemort duelling Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic.
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort appears at the climax, having again carefully plotted against Harry.[19] In this book, Harry Potter goes through extreme emotional stress, and according to Rowling, it was necessary to prove that Harry is emotionally vulnerable and thus human, in contrast to his nemesis Voldemort, who is emotionally invulnerable and thus inhuman: "[Harry is] a very human hero, and this is, obviously, there’s a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanized himself. […a]nd Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down, and say he didn’t want to play anymore, he didn’t want to be the hero anymore – and he’d lost too much. And he didn’t want to lose anything else. So that – Phoenix was the point at which I decided he would have his breakdown."[20] In this book, Voldemort makes liberal use of the Ministry of Magic's refusal to believe that he has returned.[21] Voldemort engineers a plot to free the Death Eaters from Azkaban and then embarks on a scheme to retrieve the full record of a prophecy regarding Harry and himself which is stored in the Department of Mysteries. He sends a group of Death Eaters to retrieve the prophecy, where they are met by the Order of the Phoenix. All but one, Bellatrix Lestrange, are captured, and Voldemort engages in a ferocious duel with Dumbledore. Voldemort attempts to possess Harry Potter but finds that he cannot; Harry is too full of that which Voldemort finds detestable: love. Sensing that Dumbledore could win, Voldemort disapparates, but not before the Minister of Magic sees him in person, making his return to life public knowledge.
In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort once again declares war, and begins to rise to power once more. He murders Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and begins to target members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Emmeline Vance. Rowling uses several chapters as exposition to establish Voldemort's backstory. In a series of flashbacks, using the pensieve as a plot device, she reveals that Voldemort is the son of the witch Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, Sr. However, Riddle abandons Merope before their child's birth, soon after which Merope dies. Riddle never comes to find his son.[22] After living in an orphanage, young Tom is picked up by Albus Dumbledore, who takes him to Hogwarts.[23] Riddle is outwardly a model pupil, but is in reality a sadist who enjoys using his powers to harm and control people. He eventually murders his father and grandparents for abandoning him.[24] The book also discusses Riddle's hatred of "Muggles" (non-magical humans), his obsession with Horcruxes, and his desire to split his soul in order to achieve immortality.[25] J.K. Rowling stated that the fact that Voldemort was conceived under a love potion has to do with his non-ability to understand love 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".[26]
In the main plot of the book, Voldemort's next step is to engineer an assault on Hogwarts, and to attack Dumbledore himself. This is accomplished by Draco Malfoy, who arranges transportation into Hogwarts by means of a pair of Vanishing Cabinets, which bypass the extensive protective enchantments placed around the school.[27] The cabinets allow Voldemort's Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts, where a battle commences and Dumbledore is cornered. Hogwarts professor (and double agent) Severus Snape uses the Killing Curse against Dumbledore when Malfoy is unable to do so himself.[27]
Final book
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book of the Harry Potter series, Voldemort furthers his quest for ultimate power. He disposes of the Minister for Magic and replaces him with his own puppet ruler, giving him control of the Wizarding World. Establishing a totalitarian police state, he has Muggle-borns persecuted and arrested. After failing to kill Harry with a borrowed wand (to avoid the effect of Priori Incantatem), he goes on a murderous search for the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever created, seeing it as the weapon he needs to overcome Harry's and make him truly invulnerable. After stealing it from Dumbledore's tomb, he then finds out that Harry and his friends are stealing his Horcruxes. He assembles a large army and launches an invasion on Hogwarts, where Harry is searching for a Horcrux. He murders Snape believing it would make him the true master of the Elder Wand, since Snape killed Dumbledore. He then calls an hour armistice, in exchange for Harry Potter. When Harry willingly walks into Voldemort's camp in the forest, Voldemort strikes him down with the Elder Wand. However, the use of Harry's blood to resurrect Voldemort's body proves to be a major setback: while Harry's blood runs in Voldemort's veins, Harry cannot be killed. Instead, a part of Voldemort's soul that resides in Harry's body is destroyed by Voldemort himself. Voldemort forces Hagrid to carry the apparently lifeless body of Harry back to the castle as a trophy, the sight of which sparks another battle. Revived, Harry reveals himself and explains to Voldemort that Draco became the true master of the Elder Wand when he disarmed Dumbledore; Harry, in turn, won the wand's allegiance when he took Draco's wand. Refusing to believe this, Voldemort casts the Killing Curse with the Elder Wand while Harry uses a disarming spell with Draco's. The Elder Wand, however, recognizes its master and rebounds, finally killing Lord Voldemort.
Portrayals within films
As of 2007, Voldemort appears in four Harry Potter films, namely Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he is merely a face on the back of Quirrell's head. This was achieved by computer generated imagery. Ian Hart, the actor who played Professor Quirrell in the same film, provided both the voice and the facial source for this character. Voldemort also appears in a scene in the Forbidden Forest where he is seen sucking the blood of a unicorn. As Voldemort's face was altered enough by CG work, and Hart's voice was affected enough, there was no confusion by Hart's playing of the two roles. In that film, he was also shown in a flashback sequence when he arrived at the home of James and Lily Potter to kill them. In this scene Voldemort is played by Richard Bremmer.[28] His next appearance would be in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as Tom Marvolo Riddle (portrayed by Christian Coulson).
Young Tom in his fifth year at Hogwarts as played by Christian Coulson
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort is initially only heard, possessing the scratchy, weak voice heard in the first film. By the film's climax, however, he appears in his actual physical form for the first time, played by Ralph Fiennes. Voldemort is shown clad in dark black robes, being tall and emaciated, with no hair and yellowish teeth; his wand has a white tone and the handle appears to be made of bone; his finger nails are long and pale blue while his toe nails appear to be infected. Unlike in the book, his pupils are not snake-like and his eyes are green, because producer David Heyman felt that his evil would not be able to be seen and would not fill the audience with fear (his eyes do briefly take on a snake-like appearance when he opens them after turning human, but quickly turn normal). Instead, the film version of Voldemort has no nose and has snake-like slit nostrils. The film version of Voldemort also has a forked tongue.
Fiennes himself stated that he had two weeks to shoot the climatic showdown scene where he is gloating at a terrified Harry Potter, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Fiennes said with a chuckle: "I have no doubt children will be afraid of me now if they weren't before." In preparation, he read the novel Goblet of Fire, but jokingly conceded "I was only interested in my scene, and I had to go through thousands and thousands of other scenes which I did, dutifully, until I got to my scene and I read it many, many, many, many, many times and that was my research."[29] Fiennes reprised his role as Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.[30]
Attributes
Personality
Ralph Fiennes, as Voldemort, nears Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Voldemort is regarded as highly ruthless and sadistic even to his own henchmen who serve him out of a mixture of fear and respect. Rowling described him as "the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years"[31] She elaborated that he is a "raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering"[32] who is able to attract cowardly, but cruel minions like "Wormtail, who out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person. "[32] What seems to drive him is his megalomaniacal sense of entitlement. He believes he is superior to the point that he will frequently refer to himself in the third-person as "Lord Voldemort." Rowling alluded to this saying that Voldemort is "incredibly power hungry. Racist, really" and holds human life in utter disregard.[33] Rowling has also stated that if Voldemort looked into the "Mirror of Erised" (i.e. the mirror which reflects a person's greatest wish), he would see "Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That's what he wants."[33]
J.K. Rowling, also stated that the fact that Voldemort was conceived under a love potion has to do with his non-ability to understand love 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".[26]
Rowling established that Voldemort's greatest fear is "ignominious death", and that his boggart would be his own corpse. She said: "Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it's a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death".[34] According to Rowling, the difference between Harry and Voldemort is the fact that Harry accepts mortality, and thus Harry is in the end stronger than his nemesis: "[T]he real master of Death [i.e. someone like Harry] accepts that he must die, and that there are much worse things in the world of the living."[26]
Magical abilities
Throughout the series, Rowling establishes Voldemort as a supremely powerful, intelligent, and ruthless Dark Wizard. He is also known as one of the greatest Legilimens in the world and a highly accomplished Occlumens, and is thus able to read minds as well as shield his own from penetration. However, in the seventh book, he loses control, allowing Harry to see through his eyes and hear his thoughts.[35] Voldemort can fly without support, an ability he exhibits while in pursuit of Harry Potter over Little Whinging.[36] In addition, Voldemort is a Parselmouth, a trait he has inherited from his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. It seems that most of his Gaunt ancestors have inherited this highly unusual trait: such traits are commonly passed down through families through inbreeding, a practice employed by the Gaunt Family. When Voldemort attempts to kill Harry, turning him into a Horcrux, his ability to speak Parseltongue is passed to Harry through the small bit of his soul. After that bit of soul was destroyed, Harry loses this ability.[35]
On her homepage, Rowling has written that Voldemort's wand is made of yew, whose sap is poisonous and which symbolises death, according to Rowling.[37] It forms a deliberate contrast to the wand of his nemesis Harry Potter, whose wand is made of holly, which she chose because holly is alleged to repel evil.[37]
Rowling establishes in the books that Voldemort is magically connected to Harry Potter via Harry's forehead scar. He disembodies himself when his Killing Curse targeting Harry Potter rebounds on him, leaving a scar on Harry's forehead. In the books, Harry's scar serves as an indicator of Voldemort's presence: it burns when the Dark Lord is near or whenever Voldemort is feeling particularly 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."[38] Rowling also has established that Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter are distantly related through their ancestors, as most wizards are.[35]
Outward appearance
After he has regained his body in the fourth book, Rowling describes Voldemort as having very 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.[15] As mentioned in the first chapter of the seventh book, he also has no lips. Earlier in life, as seen through flashbacks contained in the second and sixth books, Tom Marvolo Riddle is described as very handsome which is seemingly an inherited trait from his father, for his mother "...was no beauty".[23] The transformation into his monstrous state is believed to have been caused by practising extremely advanced Dark magic, such as creating Horcruxes to split his soul, or deliberate intent to further separate himself from his father.[39][40]

That is all for Voldemort. Now is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Keep in mind that these are the same people!

Tom Marvolo Riddle
Birth and adolescence
Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on New Year's Eve, 1926 to Tom Riddle and Merope Gaunt. Through his mother, he is the last descendant of the famous ancient wizard Salazar Slytherin. Through his father, he is a descendant of the Riddles of Little Hangleton, a Muggle family. His mother, Merope, had used a love potion means to persuade the elder Riddle to marry her. Later on when Merope stopped feeding the potion to Riddle, she and her unborn child were abandoned by Riddle.
One New Year's Eve night, Merope wandered into an orphanage in London when she suspected she was about to enter labour. After giving birth, Merope asked the matron to name her son Tom, after his father, and Marvolo, after his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, and died within the hour. Riddle was raised at the orphanage. The staff there knew only that "no Tom, nor no Marvolo, nor any kind of Riddle ever came looking for him".
From an early age, he showed an extraordinary insensitivity. He was suspected by the staff of being a bully who tortured other children at the orphanage largely for fun. It was Dumbledore's duty to visit Riddle when he reached the age of 11 and invite him to study at Hogwarts. By that time he already showed great potential as a magic-user; he could move things with his mind, make animals do his bidding, speak with snakes, cause people pain, and, in his own words, "make bad things happen to people who annoyed him." He displayed cruelty, a disregard for others, a need for absolute and total control and a lack of moral judgment. In his first meeting with Dumbledore, Riddle was seen to be a sharply intelligent and calculating boy with a cold, smoothly expressionless face intended to prevent others guessing what he was thinking. He was sure that he was born to be different, and detested his name "Tom," which he deemed to be too common. He also demonstrated a hunger for power when Dumbledore proved that magic was real to him, by setting his wardrobe on fire and then extinguishing the flames, without any harm done.
Before going to Hogwarts, he obtained a magic wand made of yew, a wood associated with death and rebirth, which has innate destructive workings and is well suited for use in transfiguration. It was 13½ inches long and had the feather of a phoenix at its core. The wand's maker, Mr Ollivander, obtained this feather from Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes. Fawkes gave just one other feather to be used in a wand, and coincidentally this wand "chose" to belong to Harry Potter.
Riddle attended Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945 and was sorted into Slytherin house. He was an extremely handsome and gifted student, with a thirst for knowledge, and became a staff favourite. He was made a Prefect and eventually the Head Boy. He was described by Albus Dumbledore as "the most marvelous student ever to pass through Hogwarts". However, Dumbledore never forgot the enjoyment in cruelty that Riddle had confessed to him on their first meeting, and never fully trusted him. During holidays he was obliged to return to the orphanage, which he hated.
He quickly gathered a group of followers, particularly fellow Slytherin students, whom he referred to as "friends", but for whom he is said to have felt little or no compassion. Many of these people, and later on, their sons, were to become what he termed Death Eaters; he is shown to have at least a two generation influence over the Avery and Lestrange families. Riddle and his friends started their trouble-making while at Hogwarts; Dumbledore states that during the time they were at school, a series of incidents occurred to which the answers were never satisfactorily linked. It was around this time that Riddle began using the name "Lord Voldemort" among his followers; "I am Lord Voldemort" is an anagram of his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Knowing that he shared at least some traits with Salazar Slytherin, Tom was eager to trace his own ancestry. Having failed to find any mention of the name "Riddle" in the school records or wizarding literature, he instead discovered the origins of his middle name "Marvolo". In 1942, the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts (or, as Dumbledore phrased it, in the summer of his sixteenth year), Riddle returned to Little Hangleton, hoping to meet his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, and confirm that he was a descendant of the Gaunts, and, through them, Slytherin. Instead, he met his uncle Morfin, learning of his grandfather's death and his father's non-magical nature. He stole an heirloom ring from Morfin, and, upon learning that his father was still alive and had abandoned his mother, murdered him and his father's Muggle parents. He framed Morfin for the murders by modifying his memory so that Morfin believed he was the murderer. Morfin confessed this to the Ministry of Magic, and sent to Azkaban for life. Frank Bryce, the Riddles' gardener, fell under suspicion from the muggle police, as the door to the Riddle House had not been forced and Bryce was the only person with keys to the house. The cause of death could not be determined, however, due to the fact that the Killing Curse leaves the victim lifeless with no signs of any struggle, wound, or medical problem, and Bryce was released, though he was regarded with suspicion by the other villagers until his death in 1994 at the hand of Voldemort. In this way, two men were blamed for the Riddle murders and Riddle kept the Gaunts' ring and returned to Hogwarts for his fifth year.
An illustration of Tom Riddle reading just before his meeting with Albus Dumbledore.
During Riddle's fifth year at Hogwarts, in 1942–1943, he opened the Chamber of Secrets, created by his ancestor Salazar Slytherin, which led to the death of a muggle-born student named Myrtle. When the repercussions from the incident threatened to result in Hogwarts being closed, he used Rubeus Hagrid's possession of an acromantula to frame him for the crime, and got the boy expelled. Riddle was even given an award for "Special Services to the School". CS Ch.13 Only Dumbledore ever suspected him, as Riddle had exercised his considerable charm over most of the other staff, including Potions Master Horace Slughorn.HBP Ch.17
In his fifth to seventh years at Hogwarts he became even more obsessed with immortality. Some time in either his sixth year, or the first term of his seventh year, Riddle questioned Slughorn about Horcruxes. Riddle successfully fooled the professor into thinking that it was only for school work or for "further knowledge", and Slughorn explained why and how Horcruxes were created. It is certain that Riddle already knew much of the lore of Horcruxes DH Ch.6, and was asking Slughorn whether seven Horcruxes would bring a person closest to immortality, seven being the most powerful magical number. Slughorn reacted with horror at the thought of the multiple murders required.HBP Ch.23
After Hogwarts
After completing his education, Riddle sought to become a teacher at Hogwarts; specifically, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The Headmaster Armando Dippet turned Riddle down, but only because he had felt that the young man was not old enough.
Riddle took a job at Borgin and Burkes, purveyors of dark magical objects. In the course of his work there, he came into contact with two relics of the Hogwarts founders. Salazar Slytherin's locket had once been an heirloom of the Gaunt family, but had been bought by Burke for a tiny sum of ten galleons when Merope Gaunt had been homeless and starving. It was sold to Hepzibah Smith. One day, when Riddle visited Hepzibah to make a request from Mr. Burke regarding a piece of goblin-made armor, Hepzibah showed Riddle the locket, as well as her own family heirloom, a cup bearing the Hufflepuff badger which had once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff,HBP Ch.20 of whom Hepzibah was a distant descendant. Riddle murdered Hepzibah two days later and implanted a false memory with Hepzibah’s house-elf, Hokey, framing her for the murder. Having stolen the artifacts, he left wizarding Britain for a decade. Riddle traveled to Albania where he obtained a relic from another of Hogwart's founders, Rowena Ravenclaw. Her magical diadem was hidden in a tree by her daughter Helena.DH Ch.31 Riddle used all three relics to create Horcruxes, containers for portions of his soul which might protect him from death.
At some point during his travels, he officially rechristened himself Lord Voldemort and stopped using the name Tom Riddle entirely. Once he returned to Britain, he again sought the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position. By that time, Albus Dumbledore had succeeded Dippet as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. However, the new Headmaster was averse to the idea and suspected that Riddle had ulterior motives in seeking the job. Moreover, Dumbledore knew of Riddle's followers, now referred to as Death Eaters, and had no intention of allowing Riddle access to the school's ancient secrets, nor to be in a position of power and influence over the students. Riddle was again refused the post. From that time and until Lord Voldemort's final downfall, Hogwarts was unable to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year, due to a curse he had set upon the position after being refused it.
Tom Riddle's Diary
Before his first downfall, Voldemort had entrusted some of his Horcruxes to prominent Death Eaters. In the autumn of 1992, Lucius Malfoy secretly sent one of them, the diary kept by the young Tom Marvolo Riddle, into Hogwarts by passing it into the unwitting possession of first year student Ginny Weasley. By means of this sinister diary, the memory (or rather, the encapsulated portion of the soul) of Riddle manipulated Ginny into opening up her soul to him, allowing him to sporadically possess her and to open the Chamber of Secrets once again, nearly killing a number of students. Riddle then tried to drain Ginny's life-force to allow himself to regain physical form outside the diary. He was defeated, however, by Harry Potter, and the diary was destroyed, along with its portion of Riddle's being.
It is not known what would have happened had Ginny been consumed by this past version of Tom Riddle, but author J.K. Rowling has noted it would have strengthened the present-day Voldemort. It is unclear if Lucius Malfoy was aware that the diary was a Horcrux, or if he intended to facilitate the return of Lord Voldemort. His principal aims were to get rid of a Dark item, have Dumbledore dismissed from Hogwarts, and discredit his enemy Arthur Weasley by planting it on his daughter (thereby ruining Weasley's reputation once it was discovered his daughter was opening the Chamber of Secrets). Dumbledore believed that Voldemort planned to use the diary as a weapon, but at at time of his own choosing. Two years after Malfoy's failed ploy, when Voldemort returned to a full body, he became enraged to discover the diary - and Horcrux - had been destroyed.
Traits
Both men named Tom Riddle were notably handsome in their youth, enjoying hollow cheeks, patrician bones, dark eyes and black hair. The elder Riddle's appearance at the time of his death is unknown. Tom Marvolo Riddle's appearance degenerated as he sank into the Dark Arts. Both men shared certain attitudes regarding class, and exhibited scornful attitudes towards those of lower status than themselves (the elder towards 'the old tramp' Marvolo Gaunt, the younger towards Muggles and non-Pureblood wizards). The younger also killed his father and grandparents partially through disgust at their lack of magical ability or knowledge, or perhaps their lack of wizarding pedigree.
Tom Marvolo Riddle has been shown to dismiss information he considers unimportant. For example, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets he forgets that the tears of the phoenix have healing powers, leading him to dismiss Dumbledore's phoenix as 'a songbird' — much to his detriment. Even more important, he does not comprehend and despises any but the basest motives. In particular, his lack of understanding of Severus Snape's feeling towards one of his victims (Lily Potter), allowed Snape to masquerade for years as one of his most faithful lieutenants, while devoting himself to bringing about Voldemort's downfall (although Snape himself admitted that only the most skilled Occlumens could maintain the facade as he himself did). OP Ch.24
There are some notable similarities between Tom Marvolo Riddle and Harry Potter — for example, both were (effectively) orphans, raised in unhappy conditions with Muggles until they were admitted into Hogwarts. There are also some physical similarities: both have black hair, thin faces, and possess the ability to speak to snakes (although Dumbledore states that Voldemort unwittingly gave this ability to Harry). Both felt more at home at Hogwarts than anywhere else in the world. In fact, Dumbledore once noted that Riddle probably had more profound feelings of attachment for Hogwarts than he ever had for anyone or anything. However, where Riddle was a calculating and manipulative boy, Harry is far more sincere and rash.
Superficially, the inability of the younger Riddle to empathise with others appears to be shared with his father (who abandoned his wife and unborn child). But this is unlikely to be the case. Tom Riddle Sr has been shown to care for the attractive girl he once rode with (Cecilia), and justified his abandonment of Merope through having been bewitched — moreover, abandonment may be a sign of callousness, but not necessarily of an inability to relate. Tom Marvolo Riddle, by contrast, has been clearly stated and shown by Rowling to be a sociopath, entirely incapable of relating to others, caring for them, or understanding their emotions. This may stem from being raised in an institution (an orphanage), which meant that he never experienced parental love, no matter how well-meaning the staff and directors of that institution (who largely left him to himself whilst he was a baby, because he rarely cried); his knowledge, from an early age, that he was different to the other children would also have thrown up a barrier to forming relationships with them during that important period of his life.
It is difficult to know how much "nature" rather than "nurture" contributed to Riddle's personality. His maternal ancestors, the Gaunt family, were described by Dumbledore as having "a vein of instability and violence which flourished through the ages"HBP Ch.10 due to inbreeding. His paternal forebears, the Riddles, were noted as being disliked in their home village of Little Hangleton for their arrogance and snobbery. However, Rowling once claimed that his motives and actions were his own and chosen; this would not be the case if he were simply doomed by his family.
Representation in film
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the memory of the former Hogwarts student, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is played by Christian Coulson.
Tom Riddle Sr is first mentioned in "The Goblet of Fire" book, where his murder is recounted; however, he is not actually seen. The story was not told in the film, though Riddle Sr was mentioned, and his grave shown.
Both the father and son appear in "The Half-Blood Prince" when Harry and Dumbledore make visits into others' memories containing information of young Tom Marvolo Riddle, including a memory featuring the elder Riddle. Coulson has expressed a desire to reprise the role if called upon by producers [1]. However, On June 25, 2007, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince director David Yates indicated on MTV that he is not inclined to bringing back Coulson for the sixth film, due to Coulson's age (28).
There are no indications as to the casting of Tom Riddle Sr, but a Hogwarts-age Tom Marvolo is being cast in summer 2007.[2]
Derivation of Name
"Riddle" as a surname is rather uncommon in Britain. The related forms of "Ryedale" and the Scottish "Riddell" are more common. [3] "Ryedale" is, as the name suggests, a valley or dale used for growing rye, and derives from Norse. The small village named Ryedale is near Pickering in North Yorkshire.
A "riddle" is a coarse sieve, used for winnowing grain, or sifting gravel or cinders. It is also a verb, meaning to fill with holes (and reduce to the appearance of a sieve). More pertinently to the Harry Potter stories, a Riddle is a "Question, statement or description, designed or serving to test the ingenuity of the hearers." When the name first appears in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, it is as the untraceable owner of a seemingly unused diary. Although the "T. M. Riddle" to whom it belonged had attended Hogwarts, the second-year pupils Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger could initially find out little of his past. Not until near the end of the book is it revealed that Riddle later became Lord Voldemort.

That is all the info on Voldemort.

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