Lord Voldemort

 Tom Riddle

Biographical Information

Full Name

Tom Marvolo Riddle (birth name)

Nickname(s)

• Tommy (by bullies in Wool's)

• Brother (by Maya only)

• Riddle (by professors)

• Lord (by his followers)

• Mr. Riddle (by non-family members)

Born

December 31, 1926 

Age

71

Status

Deceased

Cause of Death

Killing curse (his own spell backfired on him while duelling with Harry)

Killed By

Harry Potter

Blood Status

Half-Blood

Nationality

English

Also known as

• Lord Voldemort (self-proclaimed title and chosen name)
• You-Know-Who (used by those who are too afraid or if it is too dangerous to refer to him by his chosen name)
• He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (used along the same line as "You-Know-Who")
• The Dark Lord
• Your Lordship (used by Wormtail)
• Chief Death Eater (used by Lee Jordan)
• Heir of Slytherin

Titles

• Prefect
• Head Boy
• Dark Lord
• Heir of Slytherin
• Master
• Lord Voldemort (self-proclaimed title and chosen name)
• You-Know-Who (by wizarding community)
• He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (by the wizarding community)
• Chief Death Eater

Physical information

Species

• Wizard (formerly)

• Spirit in Limbo (Currently)

Gender

Male

Hair Color

Bald (originally black)

Eye Color

Blue

Family Information

Children

Unborn child † (miscarriage, during Hogwarts years)

Siblings

Maya Riddle (Younger Twin Sister)

Parents

• Tom Riddle Senior † (Father)

• Merope Riddle † (Mother)

Aunts/Uncles

Morfin Gaunt † (Maternal Uncle)

Nieces/Nephews

• Thomas Bulstrode (nephew)

• Isabelle Bulstrode (niece)

Grandparents

• Thomas Riddle † (Paternal Grandfather)

• Mary Riddle † (Paternal Grandmother)

• Marvolo Gaunt † (Maternal Grandfather)

• Unnamed Maternal Grandmother †

Ancestors

• Peverell Family † (Maternal Ancestors)

• Slytherin Family † (Maternal Ancestors)

• Salazar Slytherin † (Maternal Ancestor)

• Corvinus Gaunt † (Maternal Ancestor)

• Cadmus Peverell † (Maternal Ancestor)

Descendants

• Henry Potter †

• Fleamont Potter †

• James Potter I †

• Harry Potter

• James Potter II

• Albus Potter

• Lily Potter II

Relationships

Allies

• Maya Riddle (formerly, was obsessed with her)
• Abraxas Malfoy † (former classmate and trustful follower)
• Lestrange †
• Rosier †
• Nott †
• Avery †
• Walburga Black †
• Lucius Malfoy (formerly)
• Narcissa Malfoy (formerly)
• Draco Malfoy (formerly)
• Bellatrix Lestrange † (a trustful follower and was obsessed with him)
• Antonin Dolohov †
• Barty Crouch Jr. †
• Peter Pettigrew †

Romances

• Bellatrix Lestrange † (possible lover)

• Maya Riddle (ex-lover; was obsessed with her during his childhood and Hogwarts years)

Enemies

• Mrs. Cole † (disliked and hated her)
• Prof. Albus Dumbledore † (archenemy, disliked and hated him)
• Rubeus Hagrid (accused him and his pet of Myrtle's death)
• Maya Riddle (possibly, he was still obsessed with her even if he was Voldemort)
• Lily and James Potter † (archenemies, killed them)
• Harry Potter (archenemy, tried to kill him but failed in the end)
• Order of the Phoenix (archenemies)
• Weasley family (blood traitors all because they supported Muggles)
• British Ministry of Magic (archenemies)
• Prof. Severus Snape † (ordered Nagini to kill Snape because he thought the Elder Wand was his)
• Lucius Malfoy II
• Narcissa Malfoy
• Draco Malfoy

Supernatural Information

Boggart

His own corpse

Wand

• 13½", Yew, Phoenix Feather

• Elm, Dragon Heartstring (temporary)

• Elder, 15", Thestral Tail Hair (temporary, never mastered)

Affiliation

Occupation

• Hogwarts Student (graduated)

• Shop Assistant at Borgin and Burke's (formerly)

School

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1938 - 1945)

House

Slytherin

Loyalty

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (formerly)

• Slytherin

• Slug Club

• Tom Riddle's gang

• Borgin and Burke (formerly)

• Death Eaters

• British Ministry of Magic (only under his control)

Tom Marvolo Riddle (b. December 31, 1926 – d. May 2, 1998), later known as Lord Voldemort, was a half-blood wizard and considered to be the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. He was the son of wealthy Muggle Tom Riddle Sr. and pure-blood wizard Merope Gaunt, who died shortly after childbirth. He was the heir of Salazar Slytherin and was ordered to finish his work. Tom Riddle Sr. left his wife soon after she became pregnant with their twin children, having been released from the enchantment of a love potion that had started their relationship. Their son and daughter, Tom Marvolo Riddle and Maya Riddle, were both born and raised in a Muggle orphanage, but eventually attended the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1938-1945) and were sorted into the Slytherin House. Tom and her twin sister were the most talented pupils to ever attend Hogwarts. To the school at large, he appeared to be an exceedingly handsome and polite child. In reality, however, Riddle was cruel, arrogant, sadistic, manipulative, psychopathic, and megalomaniacal; unlike her twin, Maya wasn't. Borth achieved outstanding grades in every examination they took; the Riddle siblings left Hogwarts, and Tom went on to brief employment at Borgin and Burkes before Tom disappeared from public view completely; however, her twin Maya became an Auror.

Biography

Early life (1926–1938)

Mrs Cole: "He scares the other children."

Albus Dumbledore: "You mean he is a bully?"

Mrs Cole: "I think he must be, but it’s very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents... Nasty things... Billy Stubbs’s rabbit... well, Tom said he didn’t do it, and I don’t see how he could have done it, but even so, it didn’t hang itself from the rafters, did it?"

— Mrs Cole informs Albus Dumbledore of Tom Riddle's life at Wool's Orphanage

Tom Marvolo Riddle and Maya Riddle were born on December 31, 1926, at Wool's Orphanage in London. Their mother, Merope, staggered to the door of the orphanage, gave birth to twins there, and died shortly after. Riddle's siblings grew up in the dingy orphanage, completely unaware of their wizarding heritage. Since the Muggle orphanage staff was unaware of their mother's magical background, they were also unaware of their own magical heritage. Instead, they believed that Merope was a circus worker, as Mrs Cole told Dumbledore shortly before his first meeting with Riddles. It is unknown whether or not the staff relayed this to the Riddle twins before their first encounter with Dumbledore.

Despite his ignorance of their mother's true background, Riddle and her twin did have some grasp on their abilities beyond that of normal magical children of the same age and an unusually high degree of control over them. He and her twin could move objects with their mind and cause them to float wherever they wished, manipulate animals and creatures as they wished, and speak Parseltongue; however, her twin did not harm others, but Tom did and used his power to inflict harm on other orphans. After Tom gets into a fight with fellow orphan Billy Stubbs, he uses his powers to hang the boy's rabbit from the rafters. On one occasion, he took two other orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatized into silence. Afterwards, he may have told them, by some means, not to tell anyone what happened in the cave. Riddle also stole from other orphans and hid their things in his cupboard like trophies, but it shocked her twin Maya when she heard this from somewhere and told Tom not to hurt everyone, which Riddle showed no emotion about, and told her twin that she's too kind to others.

Hogwarts years (1938–1945)

Tom Riddle: "Sir, I wondered what you know about…about Horcruxes?"

Horace Slughorn: "Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?"

Tom Riddle: "Not exactly, sir, I came across the term while reading, and I didn’t fully understand it."

— Tom Riddle inquiring about Horcruxes

Riddle and her twin were educated at Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945 and were sorted into Slytherin House, a nod to their ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. During summer breaks, they were forced to return to the Muggle orphanage, which they despised and dreaded more than any other place on earth.

Riddle described how he was seen as "poor, but brilliant, parent-less, but so brave, a school prefect, a model student," unlike her twin. Due to his exceptional acting abilities, he was able to convince virtually all of the Hogwarts staff and instructors that this facade was his true personality. The sole exception to this was Dumbledore, who, though not necessarily suspicious of Riddle, never forgot about his misdeeds at the orphanage, nor his unsettling behaviour during their first meeting. In turn, Riddle realized that he had been careless in showing Dumbledore his true character upon their first meeting, and never attempted to win him over as he had with his other instructors. In time, he came to fear and despise Dumbledore.

Over time, Riddle gathered himself a gang of Slytherin thugs, which his sister also joined for a while without realizing it was a dreadful idea. A motley composition of "the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty", most of which would become the first Death Eaters. Riddle claimed they were his friends and made it appear so in public, but in truth, they amounted to little more than servants, and he cared almost nothing for them, unlike her sister, whom only he cared about and protected. He often manipulated them into committing petty crimes and other misdeeds, but none of these incidents were reliably traced back to the group.

His Obsession with her twin sister

During Riddle and her twins' childhood in Wools. They shared a bed together because Riddle had nightmares, and Maya comforted him often. According to Mrs Cole, they were very close, and Riddle protected him from everyone, which she told Professor Dumbledore later on, also when he visited Riddle's siblings.

However, when he and Maya attended Hogwarts, he was pissed and mad that they did not share a dorm together. He asks Dippet, but the headmaster tells him that girls and boys can't share a room together. When Riddle becomes a head boy and Maya a head girl, then they share a room and often sleep together.

Opening the Chamber of Secrets

Tom Riddle: "What are you doing here, Maya? How did you get here??"

Maya Riddle: "Through the hatch, where else, besides, I can speak the language of the snake, Tom?"

Tom Riddle: "I forget that almost, dear sister. It's our ancestor's one of his chambers!"

Maya Riddle: "I know. We have to be more cautious about our meeting because Dumbledore already suspects!"

                                                                                                                                — Maya and Tom about Dumbledore's suspects.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Riddle became obsessed with his heritage and began researching it with an insatiable hunger. He focused solely on the identity of his father, thinking him to be the magical parent, as he felt his mother could not have been a witch if she had died. He searched for his father's name in the school trophy room, in the records of Hogwarts prefects, and in records of wizarding history, but found nothing to suggest his father had even attended Hogwarts. He was eventually forced to accept that his father was the Muggle parent and that his mother was the magical one. It was around this time that Riddle gave himself the alias "Lord Voldemort" to spare himself the reminder of his "filthy Muggle father".

Using his middle name, Marvolo, which was taken from his maternal grandfather, Riddle discovered his mother's heritage and the Gaunts' bloodline connection with Salazar Slytherin. Once Riddle learned of his ancestry, it was not long before he discovered the existence of the Chamber of Secrets under Hogwarts during his fifth year, and tamed the Basilisk which dwelt within. As the Heir of Slytherin through his mother's family, Tom was able to open the Chamber Slytherin had left behind to "purge the school of all those who [were] unworthy to study magic" — in Riddle's and Slytherin's eyes, Muggle-borns.

Around June 13, 1943, the Basilisk injured many at Hogwarts, with its last victim being a student named Myrtle Warren, who was killed in the girls' bathroom when she saw the Basilisk's yellow eyes. In light of this incident, the Hogwarts Board of Governors decided that Hogwarts was to be closed. During that year, Riddle made a special request that Headmaster Armando Dippet allow him to stay at school over the summer break. However, Dippet informed him of the governor's decision and denied his request. Realizing that the Chamber would need to be closed and the culprit caught to keep the school open (and not have to return permanently to the orphanage), Riddle framed fellow student Rubeus Hagrid and his pet Acromantula, Aragog. He convinced Dippet that Aragog was the monster that had terrorized the school. Hagrid was expelled, and Riddle received an engraved trophy for Special Services to the School.

Dumbledore, who did not believe that Hagrid was responsible for the killing, managed to arrange for him to be kept on as Hogwarts's groundskeeper. Distrusting Riddle, Dumbledore kept an "annoyingly close" watch on him after that. Due to this, Riddle realized that he would not be able to risk opening the Chamber while still a student. As such, he would use this murder to eventually preserve a part of his soul within his own school diary, the very first of his seven Horcruxes, hoping it would one day lead someone to finish Salazar Slytherin's "noble work".

Relationships

Family:

Parents

Merope and Tom Senior

Tom Riddle grew up in a Muggle orphanage, not knowing any members of his family. His mother, Merope Gaunt, died shortly after giving birth, never attempting to save herself through magical means. His father's feelings toward him are unknown, as he fled then-pregnant Merope after she stopped drugging him with a love potion, and didn't track down the whereabouts of their child thereafter. The two met face-to-face in 1943 when Riddle killed his father and paternal grandparents. Riddle was disgusted by his Muggle relatives and took on the alias "Lord Voldemort" partly out of a desire to be rid of his “filthy Muggle father’s name”. Tom Riddle Jr. viewed his father as abandoning his mother for being a witch. Whether this was due to a lack of information or Riddle's prejudice against Muggles is unknown.

Despite the maternal side of his family being direct descendants of the great Salazar Slytherin, Tom was unimpressed when he found his deranged uncle Morfin living in squalor at the Gaunt Shack and was not above framing Morfin for murder and stealing his maternal grandfather's prized heirloom ring. Even as a child, he showed contempt for his mother and for the weakness of mortality when he assumed Merope must have been a Muggle if she had been unable to survive. Ironically, it is very possible that Voldemort's more sociopathic and violent tendencies throughout his life could be a result of the "vein of instability" caused by centuries of inbreeding due to the Gaunts' narcissistic attitudes towards their Slytherin lineage.

Considering Voldemort's loathing towards his heritage and true name, coupled with the rather dysfunctional dynamics of the Gaunt and Riddle families, it raises questions about why Merope chose to name him after his father and maternal grandfather. One possibility is that Merope, even after the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her father and husband, still held enough affection for them to name her only son after them. Alternatively, as Merope was on her deathbed while giving birth to the younger Riddle, she was likely reflecting on her life. Considering her Gaunt childhood of abuse, poverty, and isolation, she likely had very few, if any, friends to socialize with before her marriage to the elder Tom Riddle, leaving Marvolo and Morfin as the only men in her life, and "Tom" and "Marvolo" as the few male names that she could think of.

Grandparents

Marvolo Gaunt

Marvolo was Tom and Maya Riddle's maternal grandfather. They never met or knew each other because Marvolo went to prison for touring Merope several times with Merope's brother, Morfin. However, when Marvolo gets out, he finds the house unclean and full of dust. He discovers Merope was married to a Muggle man and never came back, but a love potion which Merope made slowly fades, and Tom Senior discovers horror, he was married to a witch and escaped. By that time, Marvolo was dead, possibly, and Morfin mentioned his father never used Merope's name again not at, not because she married a Muggle.

Siblings

Maya Riddle

Maya was his twin sister, who was born after him when their mother died after giving birth to both of them. He was always protective of her sister and a little bit obsessed, also. They were both unique and different from other children because they were special ones.

One day, an old man named Albus Dumbledore from Hogwarts visits them and tells them they are special and that they are welcome to the school where special children like them study. Both were speechless but happy.