Tom Riddle

 Tom Riddle a.k.a. Slytherin's Prince

Biographical information

Full Name

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Date of Birth

December 31, 1926; Wool's Orphanage, London

Blood status

Half-blood

Marital status

Married

Also known as

• Lord Voldemort (self-proclaimed title and preferred name)

• The Dark Lord

• One True Heir of Slytherin

• Pureblood Supremacist

Title(s)

• Perfect

• Parselmouth

• Legilimens

• Head Boy

• Dark Lord

Physical information

Species

Human

Gender

Male

Hair Color

Black

Eye color

Dark Brown

Skin color

Pale

Family information

Children

• Aleister Salazar Riddle (son; alternative timeline)

• Delphini (daughter; erased original timeline)

Parents

• Tom Riddle Sr. † (father)

• Merope Gaunt † (mother)

Grandparents

• Thomas Riddle † (paternal grandfather)

• Mary Riddle † (paternal grandmother)

• Marvolo Gaunt † (maternal grandfather)

Uncles

Morfin Gaunt † (maternal uncle)

Ancestors

• Salazar Slytherin † (distant ancestor)

• Cadmus Peverell † (distant ancestor) 

• Corvinus Gaunt † (distant ancestor) 

Relationships

Allies

• Abraxas Malfoy
• Ralph Lestrange
• Ichabod Avery
• Walburga Black
• Orion Black
• Druella Rosier-Black
• Evander Rosier
• Mark Mulciber
• Cantankerus Nott
• Delphini "Delphi" Rowle

Romances

Delphini Rowle (wife)

Enemies

• Gellert Grindelwald †

• Prof. Albus Dumbledore

• British Ministry of Magic

Magical characteristics

Powers / Skills

• Genius-level intelligence
• Mastery of Magic
• Dark Arts
• Dueling
• Parseltongue (inborn ability to communicate with serpents)
• Mastery of Legilimency and Occlumency
• Possession
• Charms
• Transfiguration
• Spell creation
• Potions
• Unsupported flight
• Pyrokinesis
• Non-verbal and wandless magic
• Elemental mastery
• Wand versatility
• Charisma
• Leadership
• Manipulation
• Intimidation
• Indomitable willpower

Boggart

His own lifeless body

Wand

13½", Yew, phoenix feather core

Patronus

None

Hobby

• Killing and torturing his enemies (either to further his plans or for his entertainment)

• Plotting and scheming

• Punishing his followers

Goals

• Become the greatest sorcerer in the entire Wizarding World (succeeded)

• Kill Albus Dumbledore (indirectly succeeded)

• Create Horcruxes to become immortal (succeeded)

Crimes

• Malefic
• Familicide
• Theft
• Torture
• Organized crime
• Attempted world domination
• Kidnapping
• Conspiracy
• Breaking
• Infiltration
• Defilement
• Abuse of power
• Psychological abuse
• Incrimination
• Brainwashing
• Mutilation
• Enslavement
• Endangerment
• Hate crimes

Affiliation

Occupation

Student at Hogwarts

House

Slytherin 𓆘

Loyalty

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

• Slytherin

• Slug Club

• Tom Riddle's gang

• Knights of Walburgis

• House of Black

Tom Marvolo Riddle, known as Lord Voldemort and the Dark Lord, was born in 1926 to Tom Riddle Senior, a Muggle-born father, and Merope Gaunt, a pure-blood wizard.

Hogwarts years (1938 - 1945)

Riddle was educated at Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945 and was sorted into Slytherin House, a nod to his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. During summer breaks, he was forced to return to the Muggle orphanage, which he despised and dreaded more than any other place on Earth.

Riddle defined himself as 'destitute, but brilliant, parentless, but so valiant, a school prefect, an ideal student'. Because of his exceptional acting and attractive looks, he convinced practically all of the Hogwarts staff and professors that his more thoughtful façade was his true personality. The lone exception to this was Dumbledore, who, though not necessarily suspicious of Riddle, never forgot about his misdeeds at the orphanage, nor his unsettling behavior during their first meeting. In turn, he realized he had been careless in showing Dumbledore his true character at their first meeting, and he never tried to win him over as he had with his other professors. In time, he came to fear and loathe Dumbledore.

Over time, Riddle gathered to himself a bunch of Slytherin hoodlums, 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 whom 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 for them almost nobody. He often used them to commit inconsequential crimes and other wrongdoings, but none of these incidents were reliably traced back to the group.

Opening the Chamber of Secrets

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Riddle became obsessed with his origin and began researching it with an unquenchable hunger. He focused solely on the identity of his father, still thinking of him as the magical parent, as he had held onto his beliefs that death was a Muggle effect and a liability. 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 being reminded of his 'filthy Muggle father', who he later learned had dumped his wife after learning she was a wizard (although in reality, he left her after she stopped controlling him with a love elixir).

Using his middle name, Marvolo, which was taken from his maternal grandfather, Riddle discovered his mother's legacy 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 resided within. As the Heir of Slytherin through his mother's family, Tom was able to open the Chamber that Slytherin had left behind to 'purge the school of all those who [were] unfit to study magic' — in Riddle's and Slytherin's regard, Muggle-borns.

Meeting a mysterious girl

Riddle patrols the halls like every night, which he doesn't like, but he likes to take points away from the other house students. Abruptly, he notices the girl lying on the ground and rushes to her side. He notices the girl is cold, not dead, then picks her up and takes her to the hospital wing. The next day, Riddle comes back to inspect an anonymous girl whom he found yesterday; yet, Dumbledore and Dippet are already there. A girl wakes up and is terrified, but can talk and tells them she was run by dark wizards who slaughtered her family. Yet, Riddle does not believe her, and he uses Legilimency on her, but her walls are somehow plugged, and he knows the girl was an Occlumens; yet, the girl looks at Riddle and shakes her head only. She tells Dumbledore and Dippet that her name is Delphini.

Magical capabilities and talents

Passive abilities

Spell Casting

• Cruor Saeptum: it translates approximately to "blood section" or "blood border."

• Muffliato Charm: when cast, it fills the ears of nearby people with an unidentifiable buzzing sound, allowing the caster to have private conversations without being overheard.

• Sanguis Aeternus: translates to "eternal blood" or "blood lasting"

• Firmamentum sanguinis: Implies a ritual or spell meant to make a target's life force stern, strict, or permanently attached. Used in fantasy settings to represent binding a contract in blood, reinforcing physical vitality, or hardening a pool of blood into a physical barrier. Voldemort is likely casting a massive, unbreakable defensive ward or boundary over his stronghold or his family line. By using his own blood combined with Delphini's, he creates a "foundation" of protection that cannot be penetrated by outside wizards.

Potion Making

• Regeneration potion: This potion was an "old component of dark magic" that restored a wizard whose body had become disabled and deformed to their true and whole physical form.

• Felix Felicis: a potion that made the drinker lucky for a period of time, during which everything they attempted would be successful. It turned an ordinary day into an extraordinary one.

• Polyjuice Potion: a potion that allowed the drinker to temporarily assume the physical form of someone else.

Skills

• Parseltongue: Riddle was a Parselmouth, a trait he inherited from his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, the magical ability to communicate with snakes. It seems that most of his Gaunt ancestors (even his mother, grandfather, and uncle) inherited this highly unusual quality; such traits are commonly passed down through families through inbreeding, a practice used by the House of Gaunt.

• Occlumency and Legilimency: Riddle was exceptionally adept and gifted in the use of both Occlumency and Legilimency, being able to effectively shield his own mind and penetrate the minds of others. He was particularly talented and skilled in Legilimency. His frighteningly exceptional prowess in Legilimency allowed Riddle to delve and peek deep into the minds of others without needing to say the incantation or use his wand, seeing their deepest thoughts, and he could even use Legilimency to influence the minds that he invaded. He almost used to examine Delphini's mind, but it was barred.

• Dark Arts: Riddle was exceptionally skilled in the Dark Arts, widely considered to be the most powerful practitioner of the Dark Arts the world had ever known during his reign of torment. He had a masterful knowledge of the most arcane and complex magic that wizardkind was capable of and could perform successfully, such as the ability to create Horcruxes and raise an army of Inferi using necromancy. He had a particular association with the Killing Curse, having slain enough people to create a whole army of Inferi, and was able to cast this curse effectively while still underage and using Morfin Gaunt's wand.

• Duelling: Riddle was a duellist of exceptional, nearly unparalleled skill, with his only opponent being Dumbledore.

• Intellectual brainiac: Riddle was not only an outstanding wizard, but also possessed an incredible intelligence, as he was considered to be the most competent student ever to attend Hogwarts by Dumbledore. His intellect is evidenced by his strategic cunning in being able to mastermind and produce two of the most destructive wars. He also proved himself to be a skilled researcher, having successfully discovered his heritage with his middle name, and, by extension, the location of the Chamber of Secrets and his status as the 'Heir of Slytherin'.

• Charisma/Manipulation: Even at an immature age, Riddle showed a unique talent for the manipulation of others, being able to use Horace Slughorn into telling him about Horcruxes and gaining the trust of every professor in Hogwarts, with only Albus Dumbledore managing not to be convinced by Voldemort's charm. He also surrounded himself with a group of friends who would become Death Eaters, though Voldemort felt no fondness for any of them.

• Acting skillfulness: Besides his formidable magical skills and extensive knowledge of magic, as a teenager, Tom proved to be a consummate performer, being able to hide his true nature from almost everyone in Hogwarts except Dumbledore. He was able to convince virtually all of the Hogwarts staff and instructors that his facade of being a standard student was his true personality and was able to bypass the discovery of his having opened the Chamber of Secrets.

• Leadership skills: Even when he was still only an immature student, Riddle was already a very influential leader, as he was able to lead the forerunners of the Death Eaters to effectively sneak past management, being responsible for several malicious happenings that were never connected to them, showing that even at a young age, Riddle was a very qualified leader. As he grew older and gained more experience in leading and thus honed leadership skills further, Tom's style of leadership presumably changed from the original charismatic rule of the Hogwarts gang to the tyrannical and completely ruthless, though no less highly effective, control of his Death Eaters.

Associations

Family:

Parents

Not very knowledgeable about his parents because his mother, Merope, passed after giving birth to him, and his father was a Muggle after leaving his mother. Yet, in later years, Riddle discovers the truth that his father was a Muggle, and he slew both his paternal grandparents and his father. Also, he arrived at Gaunt's house and put fake memories in Morfin's mind.

Uncles

Morfin Gaunt

Morfin was Tom Riddle's maternal uncle. When Morfin first noticed him, he assumed that he was Tom Riddle Senior.

Grandparents

Marvolo Gaunt

Riddle has a grandfather known as Marvolo Gaunt (his mother's father); yet, Tom never met Marvolo because he passed shortly after, according to Morfin Gaunt. He had other grandparents also on his paternal side, but he slew them along with his Muggle father in 1943. 

Outside family

Supporters:

Abraxas Malfoy

Abraxas was Tom's right-hand man and one of his faithful devotees.