When it comes to intimidating villains, few were as terrifying as Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort. His name alone was enough to strike fear into witches and wizards worldwide and his powers were so great that few who squared up against him lived to tell the tale. In the end, he was destroyed by his own magic but he racked up quite the body count during his time at the top. In spite of his fame, however, there's still plenty of mystery surrounding the Dark Lord.
In the years that have followed the publication of the final Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling has revealed plenty of new information about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As a result, those who have not been keeping up with the author's tweets and interviews are likely unaware of these interesting facts surrounding You-Know-Who's origins and past.
Updated April 10, 2022, by Tom Bowen: Though Voldemort almost certainly won't be appearing in Hogwarts Legacy, there'll no doubt be comparisons drawn between the Dark Lord and the game's main antagonist, Ranrok. Each character poses a very real threat to both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, although it's difficult to imagine the latter ever getting all that close to he who must not be named when it comes to either power or backstory. After all, the Dark Lord played the main villain in seven books and eight movies, ensuring that there are plenty of interesting Voldemort facts for those with an interest in the Harry Potter franchise.
12 His Family Had A History Of Incest
The Gaunt family were well known for marrying their cousins, as mentioned by Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This led to mental instability and violent tendencies and, ultimately, the family's downfall. Sickening though it may be, this is actually a lot more common in the wizarding world than one might think though.
Some of the most prominent wizarding families chose to marry their relatives in order to maintain their pure-blood status. These include the Black and the Lestrange families, both of which harbored their fair share of dark witches and wizards over the years. One of the big exceptions, however, is the Malfoy family, who, according to J.K. Rowling, chose to avoid inter-marrying to avoid enfeebling their bloodline.
11 He Was Actually A Half-Blood
Despite his assertion that Wizards should rule over the Muggle world and his now-infamous "Magic is Might" motto, it may surprise some series fans to learn that the Dark Lord was actually a half-blood wizard himself. His father, Tom Riddle Senior, was very much a muggle, something that Voldemort could never really come to terms with, as evidenced by his decision to murder both his father and his paternal grandparents when he was just 16 years old.
After taking on the Voldemort persona, Riddle set about highlighting his connections to the Gaunt family, whose lineage could be traced back as far as Salazar Slytherin. Eventually, after seizing enough power, he's eventually able to come to terms with his muggle parentage and drop the act a little, though it's doubtful that snobbish elitists like Lucious Malfoy would have accepted him as their leader so readily had they known the truth from the very beginning.
10 He And Harry Were Related
The invisibility cloak that Harry used to sneak around Hogwarts undetected played a key role in many of the events that took place throughout the series. It was not until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows though that fans learned its true origins. The cloak had been handed down from generation to generation before finding itself in Harry's possession but its original owner was Ignotus Peverell.
This might not seem too significant at first glance, not until one realizes that Voldemort's family had a similar heirloom, that is. The Gaunt family's resurrection stone once belonged to Cadmus Peverell which suggests that Voldemort and Harry were actually related. This means that the pair were not only connected by fate and prophecy, but also by blood.
9 Voldemort Had A Lot In Common With Harry's Mother
In many ways, Lily Potter (or Lily Evans, as she was known before her marriage to James) and Voldemort are like two polar opposites, though that's not to say that they don't still share a few similarities as well. One of the more well-known examples of this is that both were members of Horace Slughorn's Slug Club at one point or another, but that's far from the only one.
In Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault, a book detailing the conceptualization and production of props for the Harry Potter movies, it's revealed that both Lily and a young Tom Riddle were once recipients of the Medal for Magical Merit. Neville's father Frank was also awarded the medal during his time at Hogwarts, as too was Ron's brother Bill. In addition to these links, it's also Lily's magic (or, to be more precise, her love for her son) that leads to Voldemort's initial downfall.
8 He Was A Senior Citizen At The Time Of His Death
One might not think it to look at him, but Voldemort was actually more like Oldemort by the time that the Battle of Hogwarts took place. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was born on New Year's Eve in 1926, which would have made him 71 during the final showdown with Harry and 54 when the two first met on that fateful night in Godric's Hollow. Age works a little differently in the Wizarding world though, it seems.
Dumbledore was a prime example of how powerful witches and wizards are not slowed by their advancing years in the same way as mere mortals. The former Hogwarts headmaster lived to the ripe old age of 115 and only bit the bullet due to a pesky curse and a cunning plan to take down You-Know-Who once and for all. The previous headmaster, Armando Dippet, lived to be 355.
7 Ralph Fiennes' Nephew Also Played Voldemort
Voldemort was portrayed by numerous actors throughout the Harry Potter movies, but there can be no disputing that Ralph Fiennes is the real Dark Lord. It's perhaps fitting then that Fiennes' young nephew, Hero, also played the part of Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Hero, or Hero Beauregard Faulkner Fiennes Tiffin, to give him his full name, portrayed the 11-year-old version of Tom Riddle that Dumbledore visits at the orphanage. The appearance helped to launch the young actor's career and he has gone on to win several awards over the past few years. He still has some way to go if he wants to catch up with his uncle though.
6 Murder Runs In The Family
Acting clearly runs in the Fiennes family, but there's something far more sinister lurking in Voldemort's genes. His connection to Salazar Slytherin is no secret nor is the Hogwarts founder's desire to murder mudbloods and squibs. Unable to do so under the noses of his peers, however, Slytherin instead made arrangements so that one of his heirs may one day make his pure-blood vision a reality. This isn't the only member of Voldemort's family that has a taste for blood either.
Gormlaith Gaunt was one of Voldemort's cousins and, like Slytherin and the Dark Lord himself, despised muggles and muggle-born witches and wizards. She hated them so much, in fact, that she murdered her own sister and brother-in-law just for showing sympathy to non-magic folk. Their blood may be pure, but the hearts and minds of Slytherin's descendants are anything but.
5 He Had A Child With Bellatrix Lestrange
While on the subject of Voldemort's family, those who skipped over Harry Potter and the Cursed Child might not realize that Voldemort actually has a daughter. Delphini (or Delphi) is the unstable offspring of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange and the last surviving heir of Salazar Slytherin now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is no longer around.
While there was certainly time enough for a child to have been conceived and born in the build-up to the battle of Hogwarts, many fans didn't take too kindly to this somewhat bizarre plot point. That said, when compared with some of the other major story beats in the play, it doesn't actually sound too far-fetched. Given all that he went through to conquer death though, it's perhaps a little ironic that something so simple could help the Dark Lord to live on even after his downfall.
4 You've Probably Been Pronouncing His Name Wrong
Remember when the guy who created the GIF file format tried to tell everybody that they should be pronouncing it 'jif'? Well, as it happens, J.K. Rowling pulled something similar a few years back when she revealed that the 'T' at the end of Voldemort's name is actually silent. It turns out that the most villainous dark wizard of all time was actually called 'Vol-de-more'.
When coming up with a name for You-Know-Who, Rowling took inspiration from the French language with 'vol' meaning 'flight', 'de' meaning 'of' and 'mort' meaning 'death'. This not only sounds cool, but it also describes the character's driving motivations. The proper pronunciation of the name could perhaps have been better communicated to some of the actors in the movies though.
3 He Was A Man Of Many Names
Speaking of names – even if it is one that's not supposed to be spoken – Voldemort is a man of many. Fans of the series should be acquainted with most of them, but there are some that many will have never encountered. Most will tell you that Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, but that's not entirely true. At least not for some of those who only read the books, that is.
In order to fit in with the fantastic "I am Lord Voldemort" reveal in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort's name was changed in many foreign language versions of the book. In French, for example, he is known as Tom Elvis Jedusor ('Je Suis Voldemort') while in Dutch language versions of the book he's called Marten Asmodom Vilijn ('Mijn naam is Voldemort'). Pretty much every foreign language version makes changes in this regard with some being drastically different from the original.
2 He Was Named After A Real Person
Voldemort may be derived from French, but the origins of the name Tom Riddle can be traced back to a cemetery in Scotland. Greyfriars Kirk can be found in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town and is just a stone's throw away from the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote parts of the Harry Potter books. It's there that a father and son named Thomas Riddle were laid to rest.
The graveyard is thought to have inspired several other characters from the books including Professor McGonagall, Alastor Moody, and Rufus Scrimgeour to name but a few. As a result, it's not uncommon for fans of the series to make a pilgrimage to the church in order to see these tombstones for themselves.
1 His Infamous DAtDA Curse Was Inspired By A Mockumentary
Before cutting off his nose and shaving his head, a young Tom Riddle twice applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at his alma mater. Sadly, however, he was knocked back on both occasions. Following the second rejection, he placed a curse on the position preventing anyone from holding the post for more than a year. According to J.K. Rowling, this was inspired by the 1984 movie This is Spinal Tap in which the titular band's drummers frequently ended up dead.
The curse may at first seem like a petty and spiteful response to rejection, but it actually helped the Dark Lord in later years. With nobody able to hold onto the post for more than a year, young witches and wizards never really learned how to protect themselves from dark magic. Whether this was all part of some brilliant plan or just a happy coincidence isn't entirely clear, but it certainly made life considerably easier for Voldemort and his followers.