Sergius Micara

Kaz Brekker. Destin Karn.

The Darking. Ty Blackthorn. Tom Riddle. Walter White. Littlefinger. Leliana. Tywin Lannister.

## Physical Appearance

Lean, sinuous build. Fine-boned artist's hands. Pale and unmarked skin as if he has never seen sunlight. Hazel eyes, oddly pale under thick dark lashes. Hair the color of ale. Flinty eyes. Tall. Slender but is all muscle. Light brown sun-streaked hair. Carries himself like someone shaped by a lifetime of discipline, chin up, shoulders back. Faint freckles. Fine-boned thoroughbred.

Tall, handsome, pale skin, jet black hair, dark eyes. Bone-white skin. Skeletally thin body, dark scarlet eyes, cat-slit pupils. Long fingers. Long sharp pale blue fingernails. Wears a black hooded cloak and elegant black robes with no shoes. High, cold, sibilant voice.

Sharp jawline. Narrow face. Lean muscular build. Voice is a gravelly rasp. Eyes the color of bitter coffee or strong tea in sunlight. Pale skin and dark hair trimmed short on the sides. Coat that clings to him in perfectly tailored lines. Cane. Hair neatly pushed back from his brow. Wears simple dark tailored suits, black hat. Always wears black leather gloves with small slits in the fingers for better card handling and lockpicking. Limp.

Tall. Handsome young man. Ink-black hair. Grey eyes. Sharp beautiful features. Six feet tall. Wide chest and thick muscular arms. Handsome and good-looking. Sharp features, triangular face, pointed chin, black eyes, hair so fair it is nearly white. Formidable.

## Personality

Intimidating. Cold-blooded. Like fire and ice welded together with pain. Is a noble and speaks like one. Secretive. Intense. Driven. Restless. Very private. Ruthless. Thinks that connections are vulnerabilities and that love is a risk. Notices everything. Dangerous. Moody. Mercurial. Offers no mercy and expects none. Angry. Hard for him to trust anyone. Resistant to pain, as if taught that it was an unacceptable show of weakness. A chameleon who can play any part and take on the colors of his surroundings. Good at being intimidating. Talent for killing. Gifted interrogator. Very protective of his mother. Raises his eyebrow. Skilled at reading people. Thinks he is a monster that is only good for hunting other monsters. Even after people work with him for two years, they are not sure who the real him is.

Ingenious planning and manipulation, not incapable of making mistakes, not above overplaying his hand if he is convinced of the superiority of his position. Cunningly used his good looks to charm people. Prestigious leadership positions. Façade of kindness and politeness.

Thief. Liar. Utterly without conscience. Will keep to any deal you strike with him. Cold-hearted. Ruthless. Well-known for being willing to do any job, no matter the danger or violence involved so long as it makes him a good deal of money. Various egregious actions. Intimidating reputation. Manipulative. Conniving. Makes sure to always be the person in control of the situation. Quick-witted. Always has a trick up his sleeve. Discouraged trust and is willing to exploit almost anyone for his own gain. Usually appears calm and collected, rarely allowing his emotions or true thoughts to show. However, he holds a penchant for wrathful revenge.

He has extreme difficulty expressing his emotions, even to those close to him, thanks to his PTSD. It takes him a great deal of time and effort to realize and admit his genuine feelings. Suffers from haphephobia, the fear of being touched or touching others.

Would see the world burn if he could be king of the ashes. Extremely dark and manipulative. Power-hungry. Ambitious. Lonely. Cunning. Machiavellian. Unpredictable. Deceitful. Ruthless. Opportunistic. Extremely intelligent. A genius at financial matters and controlling those around him. Greatly skilled at befriending and ultimately manipulating powerful people. Grasper. Cold sociopath who hungers for power over others for it's own sake. Enjoys exerting power over others.

Makes his revenge brick by brick. Turned his tragedy and trauma into a fearsome reputation, actively encourages rumors about his ruthlessness and lack of humanity. Not entirely without morals, genuinely cares about his friends and their wellbeing, openly against the idea of harming children, and never would, even if necessary.

## Skills & Abilities

Sleight of hand skills, lockpicking, card tricks, considerable influence over the city, knows information on just about anyone and anything in the city. Mastermind and leader of a gang, devises the plans and directs them, extremely complex plans with many layers that even those participating do not know the entirety, his people follow his orders without question. Outstanding intellect for his age, extraordinary memory, can manage a business. Uses a cane in combat, comfortable using knives and guns, can hold his own with his fists and improvised weapons. Exceptionally strong-willed. Fully capable of taking a hit, can run long distances even when in pain and with a bad leg.

## Equipment

Kaz uses a cane with a crow's head handle, due to a broken leg that failed to heal properly. The cane is lead-lined and Fabrikator-made to enhance the weight of its swing, allowing Kaz to use it as a lethal weapon. He also carries at least two knives, not including a small oyster shucking knife hidden in his coat sleeve.

However, he is also shown to truly care for and wants to be loved by his people (the Grisha) and his nation, claiming that all he ever wanted was to create a safe place for people like him. He willingly sacrifices himself to stop the blight and save Ravka, with his only condition being that he is recognized as a Saint.

He is at times capable of putting on a seemingly friendly face with a friendly smile - but his eyes don't smile when his mouth does. Unlike in the books, where the exact inner motivations that drive Littlefinger are unclear, as are his ultimate goals, in the show he has made clear in several occasions that the Iron Throne is what he desires. Behind his smiles and forced mild manners, Littlefinger is shrewd and calculating, willing to dispose of anyone, even those who trust him, as he would an old coat.

Curiously, even seemingly plausible goals such as "revenge against the Starks and Tullys" - which at times is what he tells himself he is doing - are really only excuses and rationalizations for his utter ambition to control everything around him - he has stated more than once that he wants "everything."

He is willing to use other people, often vulnerable and weak people (i.e., prostitutes), purely for his own gain, while at the same time using the weaknesses of his enemies as leverage; sometimes he doesn't even use people for any actual purpose, but simply because he enjoys destroying them like a man swatting a fly.

## Personality and traits

"*His knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing.* Nothing*. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth that he has never grasped.*"
— Albus Dumbledore on Voldemort's fundamental limitations[src]

Voldemort was considered by many to be '*the most evil wizard in hundreds and hundreds of years*'. His evil nature far exceeded that of any common evildoer and Dumbledore stated that he '*went beyond normal evil*' in the extent of his crimes. Hagrid claimed that while all Dark wizards 'go bad', Voldemort went 'worse than worse'. Indeed, Voldemort speedily developed into a power-obsessed megalomaniac of the worst kind and the worst of any known Dark wizard, being considered by all to be far more evil than even Gellert Grindelwald. He was unable and unwilling to express remorse or empathy for the countless crimes he had committed. This was a stark contrast to Grindelwald, who proved to display genuine remorse for his crimes and even before his fall, pity for those abused for their magic and even if only a little, care for his followers, all which Voldemort completely lacked. These anti-social traits were seen in his childhood, from stealing to disturbing incidences with other orphans. Dumbledore stated that the young Riddle had a certain disregard for rules. In his adult life, he performed the darkest forms of magic and had no regard for human life. He was a prolific killer, as seen by his killing so many that he created an army of Inferi. Voldemort also did not believe in the concept of good and evil, as he made clear to Harry in their encounter at the Mirror of Erised, and that only power and 'those too weak to seek it' truly mattered.

Highly intelligent, top performance in school, tremendous magical achievements, interests narrowly focused on the usefulness of people and objects to his goals. Inattention to things that were not immediately useful to him.

After his first defeat, many (namely Hagrid, Dumbledore, Neville's grandmother among others) believed that he had yet to be truly vanquished, and would one day return on the grounds that there was not enough humanity left in him to die in the first place. At the same time, due to his excessive evil and brutality, others (namely Cornelius Fudge and a good deal of the wizarding world) would deny he was still alive for a sense of self-comfort, until evidence was given to their very eyes. During his lifetime, including much of his childhood, he was shown to be highly ruthless, cruel, merciless, and sadistic, showing as little mercy to his followers as he did his enemies. According to Dumbledore, he felt no desire or need for human companionship or friendship. The closest he came to caring about another living being was feeling affection for his pet snake, Nagini.

Voldemort thought of everything in terms of power (which he equated to domination through magical ability). He was somewhat wilfully ignorant of people or matters which he considered to have no value. He was dismissive of the unique magic of house-elves due to their social status, and thus was dealt major setbacks by house-elves on two occasions: first Kreacher, who escaped the cave with Slytherin's locket due to the sacrifice of his beloved master, Regulus Black, and Dobby, who bypassed the defences of Voldemort's headquarters (because Voldemort had neglected to render it inaccessible to house elves as he had to wizards) and helped Harry escape right before Voldemort could arrive to kill him.

Voldemort had a need for independence that bordered on pathological, and he preferred to operate in secrecy and solitude whenever possible. Dumbledore claimed that even if he had managed to obtain the Elixir of Life, he would have eventually found his dependency on it intolerable because it would have robbed him of his sense of self-reliance. Instead, he preferred to make Horcruxes, which were magical extensions of himself. Voldemort was a sociopathic narcissist, to the point that he frequently referred to himself in the third person as 'Lord Voldemort'. He detested being common, as when he heard of another person named Tom, he expressed his dislike; Voldemort always considered himself unique and above all others due to his magical powers among an orphanage of Muggles, his rare ability to speak Parseltongue among his schoolmates, and his own esteemed lineage as the Heir of Slytherin. Ironically, Voldemort's actions to ensure his own league of fame made him no different from any tyrant who would come to fear the ones they oppressed. It was said that if Voldemort looked into the Mirror of Erised, he would see himself, all-powerful and eternal.

"*Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry. He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practised at operating in secrecy.*"
— Sirius Black regarding Voldemort's skill for subtle secrecy[src]

Despite his independent streak, it is not to say Voldemort would completely reject all assistance, if only he was forced into a desperate measure. When he lost his physical form at the Potters' cottage, he placed his hopes for his faithful Death Eaters to find him and help restore his body, to the point that he even feared that they all abandoned him, and when Peter Pettigrew finally came back to him, he relied on his cowardly servant to brew the potion in order to maintain the rudimentary body as well as carry that body around for transport. In between the time of his first defeat and rebirth, Voldemort came to rely on Quirinus Quirrell to seize the Philosopher's Stone for him, while using the young wizard's body as a temporary way to regain a grip on the physical world. Although Voldemort rejected the use of the Elixir of Life for immortality, he would be prepared to drink it to create a new body for himself, but nothing more.

Aside from his desperate times, Voldemort would also rely on his Death Eaters and army of versatile beings to do his bidding, knowing that he could not overtake the Ministry all by himself (or with only a small handful of Death Eaters), or depend on them to handle the more trivial matters that he did not think was worth his effort. He even trusted the conquered Ministry of Magic to his army while he would focus on other matters personally. He entrusted two of his precious Horcruxes to his lieutenant Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, knowing they have the resources and skills to provide satisfactory security, but did not tell them the truth of these unholy artefacts, furthering his reliance on their skills over any genuine trust. Overall, Voldemort's need for solitude and independence is not so much as doing absolutely everything himself, but to make use of everyone around him to the fullest without ever gaining any sentimental attachment to them, as he was easily prepared to discard anyone or anything once they fulfilled their purpose.

Voldemort had very little attachment to anything that did not amplify his fame or existence, as he viewed his followers as nothing more than disposable pawns to carry out his tasks while only valuing their usefulness and physical abilities. Despite doting on pure-bloods, he was willing to execute any of them (or anyone else) if it suited him, even if they were completely loyal to him. Even his wand, which served him powerfully and faithfully for nearly six decades, was disposable when he discovered the even more powerful Elder Wand. The reason he valued his Horcruxes was because they were an extension of himself, thereby giving him independence, which was a reason why he carefully chose objects of extreme fame or importance to become worthy hosts to his precious soul.

Voldemort did not believe in anyone but himself, nor did he value his fellow human beings except to the extent that they were useful to him. He often described his followers as 'friends' and his Death Eaters even as 'family', but in no way treated them like an ordinary person does with their friends or family. He demanded his followers' unswerving loyalty and obedience, spitefully took revenge for their mistakes or even bad luck by torture or going after family members, and mistreated or even killed them at the slightest provocation. His cold-blooded murder of the man he believed to be one of his most powerful and useful followers, Severus Snape, just to be sure he was the true master of the Elder Wand and his callous attempt to sacrifice Draco Malfoy by ordering him to assassinate Dumbledore as punishment for Lucius Malfoy's blunders, are evidence of this. He was, however, capable of rewarding his followers should they aid him, as he, when otherwise admonishing Wormtail for having fear act as his motivating factor in returning to Voldemort instead of genuine loyalty to him, nevertheless supplied him with a silver hand to replace the one he lost when restoring Voldemort to life, specifically citing that Wormtail had nevertheless proved his usefulness in the past few months.

Unable to understand or comprehend love.

The fact that Voldemort was conceived through coerced 'love' (theorised to be a love potion by Dumbledore or to be the Imperius Curse by Harry)—administered/used by witch Merope Gaunt to Muggle Tom Riddle Snr - was related to his inability to understand love: it was a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union - but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had chosen to live for the sake of raising her son with love. 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.

As a child at Hogwarts, and in the early years of his adult life, Riddle was considered an intelligent, polite young man who showed an enthusiasm to learn and was able to use his superficial charm to make many do his bidding, thereby showing his skill at being an exceptional master manipulator. He described himself being viewed by others as poor, but brilliant, parent-less, but so brave, a school prefect and a model student. His reputation as a model pupil had earned him the trust and respect of his teachers and of the customers he was sent to deal with at Borgin and Burkes. However, this was all a ruse, as he was very manipulative, with Dumbledore claiming that there were a number of 'nasty incidents' that happened throughout his time at Hogwarts that the authorities were never completely able to link to him. In his youth, Voldemort was capable of charming everyone at Hogwarts except Albus Dumbledore and surrounded himself with a group of 'friends' which would eventually become his Death Eaters. This was in direct contrast to his behaviour in the orphanage, where he terrorised his fellow residents, openly enough to leave a negative reputation among the children and staff, but discreet enough to avoid prosecution.

Voldemort's arrogance inevitably led to his major downfall. He suffered from thanatophobia, a pathological fear of death, which he regarded as a shameful and ignominious human weakness. He equated death with being defeated or loss of domination, the ultimate humiliation. His Boggart would be his own corpse, which shows his extreme fear of death. The biggest difference between Harry and Voldemort was that Harry, as the true Master of Death, accepted mortality, which ultimately made him a stronger person than his nemesis. His fear of death and obsession with immortality led him to create seven Horcruxes, a feat unheard of.

Voldemort had an extremely obsessive nature. When Harry glimpsed into his mind, he often saw repetitive imagery, symptomatic of Voldemort's inability to let go of thoughts or diversify his interests. In his fifth year, he travelled with Voldemort down the locked corridor in the Department of Mysteries for many nights. During the second war, he followed Voldemort's unfolding obsession with the 'merry-faced thief', Grindelwald, and the Elder Wand. He was able to use Voldemort's compulsive mental check of his Horcruxes to uncover the location of the one he had not yet found: Ravenclaw's Diadem, hidden at Hogwarts.

"*Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress. All of them realise that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!*"
— Albus Dumbledore regarding Voldemort to Harry Potter[src]

Voldemort's main obsessions were immortality, pure-blood supremacy, the attempts on Harry Potter's life, and the search for the Elder Wand. This was reflected in his daily habits as well: he had a magpie-like tendency to collect lots of small objects and hold onto them. As a child, he is shown hoarding things that he stole from the other orphans, which eventually blossomed into his conception of the Horcruxes. This could also have been seen as trophy taking, a trait seen in serial killers. This was especially seen after a particularly cruel act, such as the incident at the Cave, and creating Horcruxes after killing. Dumbledore said to Harry in the Limbo King's Cross that his obsession with the Elder Wand was to rival his obsession with Harry himself. The Dark Lord stopped at nothing in his many attempts to kill Harry Potter.

The search for the Elder Wand was an extension of his obsession with murdering Harry, which, in turn, was an extension of his preoccupation with immortality (which he felt that Harry's very existence threatened). Ironically, his obsession of eliminating Harry in person, an obsession seemingly multiplied by every single failed attempt, is what led to his own death. Dumbledore noted that Voldemort was no different from any other tyrant in paranoid fear of an individual rising against him *because* of his own obsessive actions. This trait could be traced back to his childhood when he was convinced at first that Dumbledore had come to take him to an asylum. In another ironic twist, this indicates that Voldemort failed to make himself unique as he had the flaw of any evil tyrant.

Few ever saw anything troubling about the young Tom Riddle, but Albus Dumbledore observed psychological issues and their potential dark implications from their very first meeting. Dumbledore described a 'magpie-like tendency' to collect trophies, as well as a need to obsess over his collection, that led him to make a correct guess at what was behind the secret of his immortality: multiple Horcruxes. Dumbledore noted a similarity between Voldemort and other famous tyrants, in that obsessive actions driven by paranoia can *bring about* the thing most feared. Tom Riddle remained charming and well-liked as a young adult, and at first seemed to be aiming lower on the scale of ambition than his talents would have supported. He used his stint at Borgin and Burkes to develop his knowledge of the Dark Arts, and to track and collect powerful magical objects. Only a few people ever had an ominous feeling about his imminent rise as a powerful dark wizard: Hepzibah Smith, who saw his eyes flash red with avarice when he saw her treasured artefacts, and, again, Albus Dumbledore, who refused to give him a job teaching at Hogwarts. realising he would use his influence as a teacher to recruit students and do evil.

Gradually taking more and more power, eliminating rivals and those who stood up to him, and transforming his his social image into a persona that inspired fear.

Despite his narcissistic nature, Voldemort could acknowledge his mistakes, as shown when he accepted the fact that the destruction of his body was more his fault then Harry's, even going so far to openly admit this to his Death Eaters. However, though Voldemort was capable of admitting his mistakes, Harry asserted that he didn't *learn* from them, especially relating to matters he did not value such as love. When he was angry, Voldemort was unpredictable: he was capable of being cold and calm, but could also explode with rage and when he lost his temper he never hesitated to slay even his own loyal followers. He expected complete respect from his Death Eaters but did not truly care for any of them in return. He did rescue Bellatrix Lestrange after his duel with Albus Dumbledore, and also screamed and attempted to avenge her after she was killed by Molly Weasley. It is likely, though, that he was furious about the loss of a very powerful and talented servant as well as the mother of his daughter Delphini, rather than truly missing Bellatrix as a person. Bellatrix herself was obsessively in love with him (incidentally, this somewhat mirrored the fascination that Voldemort's mother had with his father), but he never returned the romantic feelings due to his lack of understanding and desire for love, despite having engaged in a purely physical relationship with Bellatrix which resulted in the birth of their daughter.

Disregards that which he does not understand. Shows a degree of calculated humility. Egomania. Does not think himself infallible. Acknowledges his mistakes with candor and charm. Openly reveals unflattering information to his followers, using it to illustrate how he could use his wits to further enhance his powers.

Voldemort's talents for sowing discord and mistrust showed during the Second War, as did his violent temper. As he neared the last days of his life, he made error after error, alienating his followers with a grisly display of mass murder in the aftermath of the Gringotts robbery, tipping Harry off to the location of the last unknown Horcrux due to a compulsive mental check of their location accompanied by fear, which he should have known would make the thoughts readable on his and Harry's soul fragment connection, and neglecting to notice the signs of Harry's closeness to defeating him, Snape's duplicity and Dumbledore's last plan.

Deep under his terrifying demeanour, Voldemort was capable of fear whenever he didn't feel that things were completely in his control. On some occasions, such as when he tried to murder Harry while he was a defenceless baby, Voldemort displayed cowardice. He was also furious, yet terrified, when he found out that Helga Hufflepuff's Cup was stolen. Voldemort was also more afraid than Harry was when their wands underwent *Priori Incantatem*, although he refused assistance from his followers due to his desire to kill Harry unaided. Nevertheless, Voldemort was capable of suppressing and concealing his fears, and confronting the things that threatened him. When he entered Morfin Gaunt's home as a teenager and confronted his deranged uncle, even Harry could not help but admire Riddle's complete lack of fear when witnessing the event in Dumbledore's Pensieve. Gaunt was drunk, unstable and showed murderous inhumanity whilst wielding a knife in teenage Riddle's face, all of which nonplussed him. Voldemort was even bold enough to engage Albus Dumbledore in a duel, despite Dumbledore being the only wizard Voldemort was ever said to have feared.

Voldemort was also a pathological liar and a hypocrite, even when he was a child. He was sadistic to other children in the orphanage where he grew up and opened the Chamber of Secrets while at Hogwarts, resulting in the death of a fellow student. When confronted by Dumbledore on both occasions he denied any involvement. He also lied to Slughorn about his reasons for wanting to gain knowledge on Horcruxes. A further example of this is how Voldemort deemed himself a 'Merciful Lord' with respect for his enemies, when in fact he considered everyone he had killed to be 'worthless (as he held no regard for them) and nameless' (he had killed so many that they became vague figures and not people with names to him) and used the words 'The more the better' regarding how many people died fighting his army. Despite this, he had an intense hatred of being lied to or anyone trying to deceive him or withhold the truth. As a child, he demanded that Dumbledore tell him the truth in such a forceful way that Dumbledore was deeply unsettled by the young wizard's demeanour. Upon mastery of Legilimency, he was able to easily tell whether he is being lied to from most people, and would warn them rather menacingly, as he snarled at Pettigrew for trying to deny his fear of the Dark Lord's mangled temporary body, and told Frank Bryce 'do not lie to Lord Voldemort'.

Voldemort also announced to Hogwarts after Harry's supposed demise that he had died whilst trying to run away for fear of his own life, despite knowing full well that Harry had willingly walked to what he believed was his death in the hopes of saving his friends. However, Voldemort did have moments in his life where he was willing to keep his word: after his discussion on Horcruxes with Professor Slughorn he promised not to tell anyone about the subject (though this was mainly for Voldemort's own safety) and gave Hogwarts a chance to turn Harry Potter over to him and leave the school untouched (however this was only keeping with his 'Merciful Lord' façade). He also denied his blood purity having been a half-blood himself.

Despite the fact that he usually maintained a calm, reserved and sophisticated persona, Lord Voldemort was capable of phenomenally explosive and violent fits of rage. His rage would often get the better of him, as shown when he duelled Harry Potter in Little Hangleton, casting curses violently and screaming with fury whilst attacking Harry. He also roared with anger whilst duelling Dumbledore. When he experiences these mood swings, he would instinctively cast Killing Curses at whomever he saw first. The most famous display of fury was when he discovered that Gringotts Bank had been infiltrated, specifically his vault, and he murdered every survivor of the incident simply out of wrath, further supporting his fear of dying.

Has always been able to charm the people he needed. Highly intelligent and charismatic, able to inspire powerful and influential people to follow him loyally. Could not care less what happened to anyone else, as long as he got what he wanted. Never concerned with the consequences of his actions, only if they benefited him or got him into trouble with the law. Selfish. Malicious.

However, despite Voldemort's general malicious ways, he had proven that he was capable of acknowledging the desires of others, but only if those desires did not interfere with his ambitions and were presented by someone whom he deemed a worthy servant. The only time this was ever really seen was when he agreed to Severus Snape's plea for Lily Evans' life. Although he did not agree to spare Lily unconditionally, he said he would offer her the chance to live if she did not attempt to stop him from murdering her son. Uncharacteristically, Voldemort followed through on his promise to Snape and gave Lily several chances to step aside. Doing this was what caused Lily's death to be a willing sacrifice, and in turn, is what protected Harry from Voldemort in the first place.

He also seemed to have respected, and sometimes even admired, bravery and skill, even when displayed by some of his enemies. After his return in 1995, he remarked to Harry that Harry's father had died 'straight-backed and proud'. Previously, at the end of Harry's first year at Hogwarts, he had referred to the Potters as 'brave' and said that James Potter 'put up a courageous fight'. During the Battle of Hogwarts, he appreciated Neville Longbottom's 'spirit and bravery' and wanted him to become a Death Eater, though this was also partially due to Neville being a pureblood. Although not caring for his Death Eaters, he did appreciate loyalty. When he learned that the Lestranges went to Azkaban rather than denounce him, Voldemort was so moved that he promised to reward them beyond their dreams. Similarly, when Harry seemed to take too long to arrive to offer himself to be killed to save the Hogwarts students and staff, he expressed some disappointment at Harry apparently abandoning the school to save himself, as he had hoped his ultimatum would ultimately drive Harry to be killed by him.

Voldemort apparently had a small degree of honour, as just before his duel with Harry in the graveyard and Harry tried to flee, Voldemort deliberately missed his Avada Kedavra and scolded Harry for turning his back on him, insisting that he refuses to kill Harry while the latter's back was turned and preferred to have Harry facing him when being killed, and during the Priori Incantatem event, he repeatedly insists that none of the Death Eaters interfere even on his behalf. However, it should be noted that he only did this because he was obsessed with wanting to kill Harry himself, and more importantly, he wanted to make sure he saw Harry's life leave his eyes before him.

Typical for a Slytherin and unlike his blood traitor mother, especially as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, Voldemort greatly believed in blood purity. In fact, his beliefs were far more extreme than an average pure-blood supremacist. At the age of 16, Voldemort released Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets in order to purge the school of Mudbloods, thus showing his murderous hatred towards them, and kept a diary Horcrux in order to continue his actions, putting at risk a precious piece of his soul for his ideals. However, he was too much of a coward to give his life for his "cause".

Voldemort's obsession with blood purity also bred a strong disgust and hatred for the Muggle world. There are several indications — such as the statue Voldemort erected in the Ministry of Magic depicting Muggles being crushed — that Voldemort planned to manipulate and take over the Muggle government of Britain had he been successful. In addition, Voldemort, shortly after his return to physical form, told Harry about his Muggle family, only later to rebuke their memory and herald the return of his 'true family'.

In his later life, Voldemort claimed that Muggle-borns were actually Muggles who stole magic from real wizards and witches, rather than actually inheriting it rightfully, and so deserved to be severely punished for it. Whether he knowingly made this theory up or truly believed it (or if he was the first proponent of it) is unknown. He ruthlessly murdered Charity Burbage for supporting Muggle-borns. Despite his racist beliefs, however, he allowed the werewolf Fenrir Greyback to join his cause, though he did not consider him an official Death Eater. It is also interesting to note that he was willing to allow Lily Potter to join him, despite the fact that she was Muggle-born. This showed that if the wizard or witch was exceptionally talented, Voldemort was capable of suppressing his hatred towards Muggle-borns and half-bloods, as long as they were willing to serve him.

Despite his hatred towards non-pure-bloods, Voldemort himself was a half-blood. Under his rule for a year, he allowed half-bloods to continue to attend Hogwarts, albeit with less respect. Voldemort was ashamed of his Muggle-sided parentage so much that he denied it, left misleading hints that he was a pure-blood and proudly presented his ancestry from Salazar Slytherin. However, Bartemius Crouch Jnr appeared to be aware that Voldemort was a half-blood, telling Harry that he and Voldemort both had very disappointing fathers (though it was more likely that Voldemort simply relayed the disappointing father part while ignoring his blood status).

Extremely humble origins. Orphan.

Voldemort found it useful to maintain a system of followers drawn from the Slytherin-centric Wizarding aristocracy, disaffected paupers with long-gone noble origins, as well as criminal elements, and in their company spoke like one of them, lecturing on themes of blood purity, Muggle inferiority, and the proper order of society. On one occasion, he even tortured and murdered a witch considered to be a blood traitor, Charity Burbage, for their pleasure. But Voldemort did not truly work for their cause, and only allowed them to set up a pure-blood supremacist regime at the Ministry of Magic for his own reasons: to control the government, to compensate them for their service and to ensure their continued loyalty. Voldemort's preoccupations were increasing his own dominion and stamping out opposition: the wizarding aristocracy's concerns were of no real interest to him. The alliance between Voldemort and the Death Eaters was a natural result of Voldemort's ancestry, of having been raised in Slytherin house, and of promises to help them achieve their ends, but there should be no mistake — Voldemort was merely using them.

Despite claiming his actions were for the 'noble work' of purifying the wizarding race, there is evidence that Voldemort treated this with lesser importance than his preoccupations with immortality and domination. During his time studying at Hogwarts, while he used Slytherin's Basilisk to attack Muggle-born students, ultimately using the Basilisk to murder Myrtle, he didn't take credit for the crimes at the time, as doing so would result in getting him into trouble with the legal authorities of the magical community. He framed Rubeus Hagrid to both get away with his actions and to keep Hogwarts from closing down, which were both in his interests at the time. Knowing it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber of Secrets again with Dumbledore keeping a close eye on him, while he was still at school, he decided to create his Horcrux diary, with the intention of eventually repeating his actions through someone else. It was only after creating his identity of Lord Voldemort, that he began to openly acknowledge himself as the Heir of Slytherin, long after most people would have been able to link him to being both Tom Riddle and the one responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets the first time round. This shows that while he does not full-heartedly support the pure-blood supremacy ideology (if only using it to enter the elite social circles), he does indeed hold Muggles and Muggle-borns with contempt for their alleged inferiority.

Dangerous. Evil. Soulless. Intellect vastly beyond genius level. Mentally unstable. Frequent and violent mood swings. Willing to attack anyone in the line of sight when angered. Feared temper. Poor impulse control. Delusions of godhood from an early age. Thinks he is unique and different from others and special. Speaks of himself in the third person. Thinks he is much more than a man, the most important and precious. Extremely possessive, egotistical.

Lord Voldemort was the most powerful, skilled and dangerous Dark wizard of all time. He was amongst the greatest wizards to have ever lived, often considered to be the second most powerful wizard in history, his only superior being Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort was extremely talented even while still a student of Hogwarts, with Albus Dumbledore himself saying Voldemort was the most brilliant student to have ever attended Hogwarts. As an adult, Voldemort became a tremendously powerful and accomplished wizard of nearly unrivalled skill, admired and feared by even the most powerful wizards and witches. Combined with his utter megalomania, Voldemort was regarded as the most powerful and most dangerous Dark wizard of all time, being the only Dark wizard to surpass Gellert Grindelwald.

* **Magical mastery**: Even at a young age, Voldemort proved himself to be a precociously gifted magical prodigy, as he was able to utilise and control magic, without the use of a wand or even knowing the very existence of magic itself, to an unnaturally high level: he had a power to move objects with his mind, to communicate with and control animals, and even inflict harm on those who opposed or annoyed him, which left even Dumbledore astonished. As a student of Hogwarts, Voldemort was acknowledged by Dumbledore to be the most brilliant student in the school's history. As an adult, Voldemort's unimaginable power and skill were so great that he successfully terrorised all of Britain and defeated so many that he quickly earned the reputation as the most powerful and dangerous Dark wizard in history, surpassing even Gellert Grindelwald. He performed feats of magic thought impossible and his magical accomplishments eclipsed and dwarfed those of any dark wizard before him. Between his tremendous magical power and skill and profound capability for evil and destruction, Voldemort was thought to be unbeatable, with the only hope of the wizarding Britain during his reign of terror, up until the arrival of Harry Potter, being Albus Dumbledore. Because of this, Dumbledore was widely known as the only wizard Voldemort ever feared. Despite this, during their Duel in the Ministry Atrium, Voldemort proved capable of standing up to Dumbledore, although he was still ultimately held back by Dumbledore and was forced to flee. Possessing an incredibly deep amount of knowledge and understanding of magic, Voldemort had experimented and pushed the boundaries of magic farther than they had ever been pushed, and if he were to be granted a teaching position, he could teach students things that they could gain from no other wizard. Even Dumbledore himself acknowledged that Voldemort's knowledge of magic was more extensive than any wizard to have ever lived, with presumably only Dumbledore standing as his equal in terms of magical knowledge; additionally, Dumbledore admitted that even his most powerful protective spells and charms, which were further enhanced by the Elder Wand's legendary powers, could not effectively fight off Voldemort if the Dark Lord was ever at his full power. This degree of immense magical power and deadly skill, coupled with his blatant lack of morals, made him an extremely dangerous adversary indeed. Voldemort's magical might and knowledge made him capable of overcoming almost any magical protection in his way, making extremely few safe from him, with not even the combined efforts of all the professors of Hogwarts holding Voldemort off for long. Notably, Dumbledore and Alastor Moody were the only single wizards known to be capable of casting defence charms that could keep Voldemort at bay. In addition, although rarely applying this talent, Voldemort was as equally capable in protecting specific places magically as he was in breaking magical protections, as he set up many powerful wards on both the Horcrux Cave and Gaunt Shack to protect his Horcruxes, which were powerful enough to impress Dumbledore. Even though he managed to overcome them, the last and most powerful enchantments in the Horcrux Cave were powerful enough to block out even Dumbledore's magic. This was made even more impressive by the fact that Voldemort created the defences around the Horcrux cave before 1979, when he was less than 55 years old, whereas Dumbledore was more than twice that age at 115 years old, two months before his 116th birthday.
* **Control of underage magic**: Even before being told that he was a wizard, or having any knowledge of magic or the wizarding world at all, the young Voldemort displayed an exceptional degree of control over his usage of underage magic, which he used to torment many of the other children at the orphanage. He was able to move objects with his mind, control animals to do his bidding, and even make bad things happen to those who annoyed him. Even Dumbledore commented that his powers were surprisingly well-developed for his young age, and that his level of control over them had made him uneasy.
* **Dark Arts**: Voldemort was unbelievably talented and phenomenally accomplished in the Dark Arts at all levels, widely considered to be the most powerful practitioner of the Dark Arts the world had ever known during his reign of terror. He had a masterful knowledge of the most arcane and complex magic that wizardkind was capable of and could perform them successfully, such as the ability to create Horcruxes and raise an army of Inferi using necromancy and was also highly masterful in the use of all three Unforgivable Curses. Despite being weakened, Voldemort was still able to cast the Cruciatus Curse with enough strength to force Bertha Jorkins to regain the memories that were suppressed by a powerful Memory Charm cast by Bartemius Crouch Senior and an Imperius Curse strong enough to control the latter for half of a year, and although he eventually resisted, he became delirious from it. He had a particular affinity for the Killing Curse, having murdered enough people to create an entire army of Inferi, and was able to cast this curse effectively while still under-aged and using Morfin Gaunt's wand. Voldemort was also capable of developing extremely powerful dark charms: he placed a jinx on the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher after being refused the post by Dumbledore that would cause something terrible to happen to those who held the post within a year and was powerful enough that not even Dumbledore could lift it, and another on Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, so as to protect it after it had been made into a Horcrux so that it would kill anyone who touched it. The curse was so strong, even Dumbledore could only contain the curse for some time and Snape, a wizard of exceptional knowledge in countering curses, was only able to suppress the curse for a year. Voldemort was also capable of casting an extremely powerful spell that fired a bolt of blinding and explosive energy that could penetrate the extremely powerful defences that shielded Hogwarts, which was strong enough to hold against the relentless attacks of his Death Eaters. Voldemort also unleashed a torrent of dark energy at Dumbledore that he was able to release into a cataclysmic powerful blast that shattered every glass on the Atrium and even overwhelmed the defensive spell that Dumbledore used to hold it at bay, although it proved able to negate much of the force of the attack, leaving Dumbledore and Harry unharmed and only briefly knocked down. He was also very experienced and skilled in performing the very complex Fiendfyre, as he was able to fully control the cursed fire it creates and can even condense the flaming jet into a single colossal snake, using it against Dumbledore in their duel. He was also capable of performing a wide variety of unique and powerful dark magic wards, as he created the defensive measures of The Cave to protect the locket Horcrux, which included a spell that made it so the entrance can only be opened if blood were to be spilled, as well as another which prevents any attempt to magically summon the Horcrux, and finally, an enchantment on the Potion of Despair that not even Dumbledore was able to overcome. Voldemort was also very knowledgeable in the use of dark potions, having been aware of and able to instruct Peter Pettigrew into brewing the potion that resurrected him fully. He could even craft his own potions, having made the Emerald Potion, which could show the drinker their most hated fears, and also the Rudimentary Body Potion, which he taught Peter how to brew in order to allow him to regain a physical form, albeit a very small and weak one. While possessing Quirrell in his weakened state, Voldemort could cast an unknown lethal curse that emitted a wave of energy that he used against Harry, which also gave him the power to collapse a bridge on Harry and lock down the door out of the Dungeons with a pair of four curses.

* **Duelling**: Voldemort was a duellist of immense, nearly unparalleled skill, with his only rival being Dumbledore. His abilities were so great that he was capable of matching Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Horace Slughorn (who were masterful duellists themselves) simultaneously and overpower each of them, despite being incapable of harming them lethally due to Harry's sacrificial protection. He was also able to easily overpower many other prodigious witches and wizards, such as the extremely skilled Amelia Bones, and later also murdered the extremely powerful ex-Auror, Alastor Moody. Voldemort's duelling style was, ironically, much like Dumbledore's in its unpredictability: he could instinctively switch styles in the blink of an eye, and was extremely aggressive, using powerful Dark magic to overwhelm his opponents. Apparently, he only chose to face opponents whom he saw as worthy adversaries. Voldemort's duelling skills were even great enough that he was able to stay in combat and hold his own against the Elder Wand wielding Albus Dumbledore (who wasn't even fighting to kill), although he was steadily being held back and was eventually forced to abandon his effort and flee. He was the only known wizard in history to face Dumbledore and avoid defeat or capture. Although Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, it was only because he had mastered the Elder Wand, and Voldemort was using it at the time against Harry.
* **Potions**: Voldemort was exceptionally knowledgeable of potions, as he was aware of an advanced dark Regeneration potion that could resurrect him to full power and corporeal form, which he successfully guided Pettigrew into brewing, allowing him to regain a corporeal body and full power. He possessed such incredible talents and skills in potions that he was capable of inventing advanced potions, such as the Emerald Potion (or the Drink of Despair), which he used to protect Salazar Slytherin's Locket within the Horcrux cave and would show those who drank it visions of the thing they fear the most and the Rudimentary body potion, which he instructed Peter into brewing to enable him to assume an extremely weak, barely-alive physical form. He utilised poison very effectively, having spilled a little known one into Hepzibah Smith's evening cocoa to kill her, and making it appear as though the house-elf Hokey mistook the poison as sugar instead.

"*... in a second he had cast upon himself a Disillusionment Charm that hid him even from his own eyes.*"
— Voldemort's powerful use of the Disillusionment Charm on himself[src]

* **Charms**: Voldemort was extremely skilful with charms, as he was able to cast a Disillusionment Charm so powerful that it hid him from his own eyes, a very advanced level of magic. He also easily used the Summoning Charm the Sorting Hat from many floors above to punish Neville for opposing him, and then setting it alight with the Fire-Making Spell, and beforehand effortlessly disarming him with the Disarming Charm. He could effortlessly levitate objects out of the way, blast down doors and break locks. He effortlessly levitated the body of Charity Burbage with the charm *Mobilicorpus* in Malfoy Manor whilst torturing her there. He was capable of performing an incredibly flawless spell to create fabricated memories in his victims, having used the spell twice in his lifetime: first on the House-elf Hokey after having murdered Hepzibah Smith, to falsely implicate her for the crime, and again on his uncle Morfin Gaunt to frame him for the Murder of the Riddle family, both crimes he himself committed. He was effortlessly capable of casting a powerful Shield Charm, allowing him to deflect spells and magical assaults instantly. Before the Battle of Hogwarts, he amplified his own voice to a significant volume so all of Hogwarts could hear him deliver his ultimatum with the Amplifying Charm, that his voice even sounded as if it was coming from the castle walls. He also performed an outstandingly powerful Silencing Charm on the defenders of Hogwarts during the final half of the Battle of Hogwarts to silence all of them, after he had supposedly killed Harry Potter, in a blinding flash of white light, showing his skills in charm-work to be exceptional..
* **Apparition**: Voldemort was exceptionally proficient in Apparition, and could apparate with pinpoint accuracy even when locked in combat, using this ability to dodge and evade spells when duelling Dumbledore. Voldemort was also able to apparate silently, something that only he and Dumbledore were reputed to be able to do.

"*Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord! Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!*"
— Severus Snape explaining to Harry Potter's exceptional psychic abilities, during their Occlumency lessons[src]

* **Occlumency and Legilimency**: Voldemort 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, and as an adult, Snape claimed he was the most accomplished Legilimens the world had ever seen. His frighteningly exceptional prowess in Legilimency allowed Voldemort to delve and peer deep into the minds of others without needing to say the incantation or using his wand, seeing their deepest thoughts, and he can even use Legilimency to influence the minds that he invaded. Severus Snape has stated that Voldemort could not only read, but also control and unhinge the minds of others, often enjoying telepathically invading the minds of others, creating incredibly realistic visions designed to torture them into madness (such as the one he sent to Harry Potter in 1996), and only killing them 'after extracting the last exquisite ounce of agony', when he had them literally begging for death. He was also able to use Legilimency to briefly possess Harry, even though he had already regained a physical body, which caused Harry so much pain that he even begged for death. Hence, Voldemort could almost always tell when someone was lying. However, when Narcissa Malfoy lied that Harry Potter was dead, Voldemort notably believed her. The most remarkable part about this skill was that he seemed to have already been able to consciously use it while he was still a child in the orphanage. Extremely few people were skilled enough in Occlumency to shield themselves from him. Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald, and also possibly Narcissa Malfoy were notably the only known ones able to block out Voldemort's Legilimency using Occlumency. Additionally, Harry Potter, despite his link to Voldemort's mind, discovered that he could block Voldemort's intrusions into his mind by feeling love, as direct contact with Harry's mind while he was feeling love was excruciatingly painful for Voldemort with his maimed and diminished soul. Using his mastery of Occlumency, Voldemort was able to block his connection to Harry, preventing him from seeing what he is doing, although it could be broken through when Voldemort was angered enough, which became increasingly so due to Voldemort's volatile temper rising from the exhaustive search for the Elder Wand and the destruction of his Horcruxes. While it's unknown if Severus Snape or Albus Dumbledore ever attempted Legilimency on him, it's likely that neither would be able to penetrate his mind despite being skilled Legilimens themselves.
* **Power of possession**: Voldemort had the power to possess living creatures and gain complete control over their actions by doing so. While in his spectral form, this was the only remaining power he had access to until his body was restored. Since he told his Death Eaters that this was his only *remaining* power, he must have been able to use this power during at least the First Wizarding War. Once the possession is done, the victims will have no knowledge of what happened. This form of possession shortens the lifespan of the small animals he inhabits, and in the terms of wizards, his face would appear on the back of their head. In this case, it would seem that his possession is partial, as Quirrell had some (albeit little) control over his actions. It also shortened the host wizard's life, but he was able to extend it via unicorn blood, and enhanced their magical abilities by combining their own innate powers with his weakened powers. He was also able to possess Harry and presumably others in his physical form. It is unknown if this ability is unique to him, as he is the only one known to use it.

"*Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or Thestral to hold him, his snakelike face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again –*"
— Voldemort flying without support during the Battle of the Seven Potters[src]

* **Flying**: Voldemort was able, and invented the ability, to fly without support, defying the law of magic that states objects can only fly through use of a flying charm. He first exhibited this flying ability when in pursuit of Harry Potter over Little Whinging. He frequently used his ability to fly throughout the Second Wizarding War, and was known to have taught Severus Snape how to duplicate the feat.

"*I can speak to snakes. I found out when we've been to the country on trips — they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?*"
— A young Tom Riddle telling Albus Dumbledore about his ability to communicate with snakes[src]

* **Parseltongue**: Voldemort 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 trait; such traits are commonly passed down through families through inbreeding, a practice employed by the Gaunt family. This ability was one that he favoured immensely, as he was extremely capable of communicating with the Serpent of Slytherin and his loyal pet snake and Horcrux Nagini, commanding them to commit horrific actions in his various diabolical plots.

"*Thereafter, I am convinced, he intended to continue to rely on his Horcruxes. He would need nothing more, if only he could regain a human form. He was already immortal, you see... or as close to immortal as any man can be.*"
— Albus Dumbledore explaining Voldemort's immortality[src]

* **Immortality**: Voldemort is the only Dark wizard who was known to have created more than one Horcrux. These Horcruxes were his school diary, the Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket, Nagini, and Harry Potter himself. As long as these Horcruxes remained active, Voldemort was immortal and undying, even by a magic as powerful as the Killing Curse.
* **Transfiguration**: Voldemort displayed tremendous and near unrivalled skills in Transfiguration. He easily transfigured Dumbledore's fire-rope into a black snake during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He was also skilful in conjuration, as he could craft silver objects of incredible durability, as seen when he produced a silver shield strong enough to repel Dumbledore's curse, which was extremely powerful. He could even conjure artificial limbs that possessed far greater strength and immunity to some spells, as he created an artificial silver forearm and hand for Peter Pettigrew non-verbally.
* **Defence Against the Dark Arts**: As Defence Against the Dark Arts was the subject Voldemort offered to teach when he tried to become a teacher, it can be assumed that despite being far more interested in using dark magic than learning to defend from it, Voldemort had achieved a high score on his O.W.L and N.E.W.T exam and therefore that this was his favourite subject as a student. He was excellently skilled in defending from dark magic in addition to being the most powerful practitioner of the Dark Arts. It can also be assumed that his knowledge of the Dark Arts also made him aware of many advanced defensive spells that few knew of, as he claimed that he could teach students magic they cannot learn from any other should he be the Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.
* **Spell creation**: Voldemort was also extremely capable of inventing his own magical spells, as evidenced with the spell Morsmordre, which summoned the Dark Mark in the sky, being one of Voldemort's own dark inventions. He and his followers used it to summon a floating, green Dark Mark, usually over the houses of their victims. Voldemort also invented a spell which allowed a witch or wizard to fly without support, something long considered a magical impossibility. He once mentioned to his followers that a few spells of his own invention were used to assist in his rudimentary body. It is also likely that some of the dark spells used to hide and protect his Horcruxes were constructed by him as even Dumbledore had difficulty in overcoming them.

* **Wandless and nonverbal magic**: Voldemort was also immensely accomplished at both wandless and nonverbal magic, enough so to be capable of using both effortlessly. He could move objects magically without the incantations to do so normally, using his hand to remove the masks from the Death Eaters who returned to him after his rebirth while he scolded them and easily lifting the grounded Harry Potter up by harshly motioning him and later instantly disarming him with a simple wave of his arm during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. He was also capable of pushing a dead giant out of his way with a lazy wave of his hand during the Battle of Hogwarts and also magically moving his cloak to restrain Harry Potter with a mere hand gesture. He was capable of casting spells ranging from simple charms to Dark spells and even the most advanced of magic such as the Unforgivable Curses to their full potency without speaking the incantation.
* **Wand versatility**: Voldemort has shown the ability to use wands other than his own with no handicap. He used his uncle Morfin's wand to kill his father and paternal grandparents as a teenager and in 1997, he used Lucius Malfoy's wand for a period of time, and could effectively cast a Killing Curse on Charity Burbage with it. Later, during the same year, he intended on using Selwyn's wand, though this did not come to be. In the following year, he took ownership of the Elder Wand; despite not unlocking the wand's full power, he was still able to use his usual level of magic (which was described by himself and Snape to be extraordinary), being able to pressure and ultimately defeat three extremely skilled opponents all at once (Minerva McGonagall, Horace Slughorn and Kingsley Shacklebolt).

* **Intimidation**: Lord Voldemort, due to his virtually unequalled capacity for heinous torture and murder, commanded an extremely intimidating presence, enough to frighten low-level thugs and make them work for him out of sheer fear of how he would react to their refusal. He was able to swiftly intimidate famed wandmakers Garrick Ollivander and Mykew Gregorovitch, both of whom instantly submitted to his malevolent demands, with even the mere sight of him effortlessly terrifying Frank Bryce and likes of the extremely courageous Harry Potter, the latter of whom would become haunted by the crimson eyes and cruel gaze of the Dark Lord for three years. Among the extremely few individuals who did not fear Voldemort included the tremendously fearless Albus Dumbledore (who remained staunch in consistently opposing the Dark Lord), the exceptionally brave Sirius Black and Remus Lupin (who were among the extremely few wizards unafraid to call him by name), along with those who defiantly stood up to Voldemort during his reign of terror and died fighting valiantly against him. He also failed to intimidate Gellert Grindelwald, who mocked him to his face and challenged him to kill him. His inner circle of Death Eaters overwhelmingly feared him and consequentially maintained their fierce loyalty to him at least partly out of fear of what he would do to them otherwise. Indeed, Voldemort's profound experience in intimidation tactics allowed him to instil great fear into the hearts of wizardkind, to the point that almost all feared uttering his name aloud to one another, with Boggarts even commonly appearing as Voldemort since he represented the worst fear of many members of wizardkind.

* **Intellectual genius**: Voldemort was not only a great wizard, but also possessed an incredible, genius intellect, as he was considered to be the most brilliant student ever to attend Hogwarts by Dumbledore. His intellect is evidenced by his strategic cunning in being able to mastermind and orchestrate two of the most destructive wars in British wizarding history, with him overwhelming all of the Britain wizarding community and nearly triumphing in both the First and Second Wizarding War. 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**: Even at a young age, Voldemort displayed remarkable talent for the manipulation of others, being able to manipulate Horace Slughorn into telling him about Horcruxes and gain the trust of every teacher in Hogwarts, with only Albus Dumbledore managing to not be swayed by Voldemort's charisma. He also surrounded himself with a group of friends who would become Death Eaters, though Voldemort felt no affection for any of them. He was considered charming by most people who met him, and was able to inspire others to follow him. As an adult, his skills in manipulation grew even further, successfully convincing many wizards and witches to join his cause, although Sirius Black noted that Voldemort also used tricks, jinxes, and blackmail to get people to join him. Even when his physical body and magical powers were severely weakened, Voldemort was able to use his charisma to manipulate Quirinus Quirrell into serving him, when Quirrell originally intended to be the other way around. He also earned the trust of Ginny Weasley when she discovered his diary.
* **Acting skills**: Besides his formidable magical skills and extensive knowledge of magic, as a teenager, Tom proved to be a consummate actor, 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 model student was his true personality and was able to avoid discovery of him having opened the Chamber of Secrets.
* **Leadership skills**: Even when he was still only a young student, Riddle was already a very effective leader, as he was able to lead the forerunners of the Death Eaters to effectively sneak past surveillance, being responsible for several nasty incidences that were never connected to them, showing that even at a young age, Riddle was a very competent 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 - command of his Death Eaters demonstrated throughout both the First and Second Wizarding War. The best example of his efficiency as a leader would be the fact that he, with the help of fewer than forty united Death Eaters, completely overwhelmed and came very close to dominating the entire population of magical Britain during the First Wizarding War and eventually conquered the whole magical Britain during the Second Wizarding War.
* **Salesmanship skills:** A largely overlooked talent of Voldemort's was his skills at brokering sales as an assistant at Borgin and Burke's when he was in his late teens. Even Dumbledore was impressed by his skills as a salesman during his time as an employee of Borgin and Burkes. His charisma and knowledge of various magical artefacts helped him in this job and allowed him to acquire a wide variety of magical relics for his employers at the time. This talent and job allowed him to discover the Locket of Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup in the possession of Hepizbah Smith. He was often reserved for rather delicate matters that took subtlety and persuasion, but which he also masterfully completed.
* **Teaching skills**: When Voldemort attempted to apply for a position as a teacher at Hogwarts, he expressed full confidence in being able to teach the students things they can gain from no other wizards. Despite his ulterior motives that concludes his lack of desire to genuinely pass down knowledge to the next generation, his years of extensive studies and charisma would have certainly made him a successful instructor; something he intended to take advantage of to influence the students and recruit his future army. It can be assumed that had he been allowed to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, he would have been able to convince many of his students to join his cause and, given that he claimed to be able to teach them magic they cannot learn from others, he would have most likely successfully created a powerful army of wizards and witches. He had proven himself to be a powerful mentor; among his known feats are personally training Bellatrix Lestrange in the Dark Arts, instructing Peter Pettigrew how to brew advanced dark potions, and teaching Severus Snape unsupported flight. In general, the Death Eaters knew how to perform some spells of his own making, mainly the *Morsmordre* spell. Even Quirinus Quirrell believed that if he sought out Voldemort's remains, he would be able to learn some powerful magic from the Dark Lord.
* **Alchemy'*: Voldemort was learned in the ancient art and science of Alchemy, to the point where he was confident that if he was able to steal the Philosopher's Stone, he would be able to not only use it to produce the Elixir of Life, but also manipulate the process of doing so in a manner that would allow him to*** *create a body of* [his] *own*' for his mangled soul to inhabit, thus restoring himself. Dumbledore also seemed to believe that Voldemort would certainly be capable of creating his own Philosopher's Stone, but chose not to because he would find the dependence on the stone to be intolerable.
* **Physical aptitude**: Voldemort was in excellent physical condition despite his skeletal physique, with his strength and agility easily overwhelming Harry Potter when he attacked him violently.
* **Elemental magic mastery**: Voldemort was immensely accomplished in the manipulation of the elements, especially fire. He set Neville and the Sorting Hat aflame with a flick of his wand when he defied him. In addition to fire, Voldemort was extremely proficient with the element of lightning, casting a colossal upsurge of lightning into the sky after acquiring the Elder Wand that could be felt distances away and even blasting through Hogwarts's shields with a single, immensely powerful bolt of lightning.

"*Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful... He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course.*"
— Albus Dumbledore explaining Voldemort's usage of Necromancy in the First Wizarding War[src]

**Necromancy**: Voldemort was the only dark wizard known to have the ability to create and control Inferi using the dark art of necromancy, and an army at that, though it is implied that other Dark wizards had used or intended to use them. Even Gellert Grindelwald sought the Resurrection Stone, believing it could create inferi (though the stone only summons the souls of the dead, not animate dead bodies) whereas Voldemort created them without the stone. Indeed, Voldemort was capable of spawning and unleashing an enormous and overwhelmingly powerful horde of Inferi and manipulate them to do a certain task only. His Inferi were particularly aggressive and could not be harmed by many typical offensive spells, although they were very vulnerable to fire.
* Brilliant. An accomplished liar.

Walter White starts off as a milquetoast, highly overqualified high school chemistry teacher. The job does not pay well, so to supplement his income, he has another job at the local car wash. Though hired to work the register, his boss forces him to wash cars outside, which often proves to be extremely humiliating when he has to clean the cars of his students. At home, his sex life appears to be passionless; Skyler seems more involved in selling their household items on eBay than sharing an intimate moment in the bedroom, and Walt has trouble getting "inspired" in any case. Furthermore, Walt has an alpha-male brother-in-law, Hank, who has a flashy job as a DEA agent and is infinitely more impressive to Walt Jr. than his own father.

It is clear from the start that Walt is suffering from a mid-life crisis. He feels frustrated, overwhelmed, beaten down, stretched thin, passed over, cheated, unappreciated, emasculated, exploited, and unfulfilled. Even the field where he has the most skill, chemistry, falls on the deaf ears of his disrespectful, apathetic students. Even before his diagnosis, Walt felt like a failure, unable to adequately provide for his family and fulfill the role expected of him by American society. The news of his terminal lung cancer leaves Walt numb and he shows almost no emotion upon learning of it, as if he was already dead. Learning that his life will be unexpectedly cut short, coupled with the knowledge that he's going to leave his already financially struggling family bankrupt, is the final slap in the face, the last humiliating insult life can dish out.

When Walt partners up with Jesse to make meth, he claims that his motivation is his family. He says that before he dies he wants to be able to take care of his loved ones. He wants Skyler to be able to pay off the mortgage, to cover college educations for his children, and medical bills for the whole family. At one point he even calculates an exact figure of how much money he needs to make in order to provide the essentials for his family over the next 20 years ($737,000), and then he'd quit selling drugs once he reaches that number. While deciding to make meth is morally dubious, the anger Walt feels about having to scrounge for every dollar while being trapped in an monotonous cycle, his life passing by day by day without any job or fulfillment, is legitimate, and it's compounded by the importance placed on the "traditional" patriarchal family unit, as well as the pressure and expectation put on men to provide for their families.

After surviving his first foray into the dangerous drug underworld - a foray that was life threatening, terrifying, and violent - Walt feels invigorated for the first time in years. He goes home and sleeps with his wife. Skyler, surprised by his sudden sexual advance, asks, "Walt, is that you?!" as she gasps for breath. When Jesse questions Walt about his decision to enter the meth business, Walt reveals that he feels "awake." In addition to his chemistry expertise, Walt was shown to be a good mental calculator, as he calculated most of the numbers to his deals within his head and with no calculator.

Walt more frequently uses the concept of providing for and protecting his family as a justification for his actions and crimes, but his true motivations are gradually revealed to be personal satisfaction, pride, authority, and power. He wants to shed the image of the nerdy science teacher who can't take care of his family. Walt wants respect, and wishes to seek revenge against the society that he views as having screwed him over, undervalued his worth, and overlooked his potential. Walt does what he does to give himself a sense of worth and pride, and he justifies his murderous, nearly insatiable greed by claiming he's just doing it for the good of his loved ones even as he pushes them away. Underneath that thinly veiled altruistic excuse is a naked desire to dominate others for the sake of unfettered growth and power. Walt finally reveals to Skyler in the final episode of the series that truly everything he did was for himself, admitting he enjoyed it and that it made him feel alive.

Becomes ruthless, dangerous, and amoral. Willing to ruin and end lives in pursuit of greater riches and the nourishment of his own ego. Wants to conquer, dominate, and bend the world to his will, to enrich himself without limit for the sake of obtaining power, even if it means hurting and killing people.

Walt is an extremely prideful, egotistical and arrogant man who takes criticism extremely poorly and his pride blinds him to the point that he makes poor and costly decisions despite having high intelligence. Despite his massive ego, he does have genuine insecurities though he almost always refuses to acknowledge or confront them. A notable example of his fragile pride and ego is evident when he and Skyler need to buy a business to launder their drug money, Walt becomes determined to purchase the very same car wash that wounded his pride when Skyler mentions that the owner, Bogdan, insulted his manhood. Walt also refuses to let Bogdan keep his framed dollar on the wall, and out of spite he decides to use that dollar to buy a soda from the vending machine ("Cornered"). Walt's pride, ego and arrogance is what keeps him from accepting any form of financial aid such as Gretchen and Elliot's "charity" (offering to pay for his treatment) and an offer to return to Gray Matter and is further shown by his barely concealed fury and disgust at his son asking for donations through the website SaveWalterWhite.com. Furthermore, he tells his son Walt Jr that he doesn't want to be remembered as a weak, dying man ("Salud"). He later even kills Mike in an ego-driven rage for having insulted him and blaming their failures on his pride, ego and desire to upstage everyone ("Say My Name"). While drunk at Hank and Marie's house, Walt's can't stand listening to Hank (who has ended his involvement with the case) laud Gale's genius. A prideful Walt insists Gale was not a genius, but was rather copying off someone else's work and that this genius could still be at large. This action convinces Hank to re-open the case, which eventually leads him to evidence incriminating Gus ("Shotgun") and Walt himself ("Gliding Over All").

It is evident that Walt is also a complete hypocrite and his beliefs and claimed moral standards rarely conform to his own behavior. His hypocrisy is mainly exemplified by his common excuse and justification that his reasons for becoming a meth manufacturer and kingpin are solely to provide for and protect his family when in reality it is all for his own interest and pure enjoyment, with his family's welfare being barely a second priority and constantly makes decisions that only further endanger his family. Walt also rarely, if ever, admits responsibility for problems that are clearly his own fault and is quick to blame others and find an excuse for said problems. Notable examples of his ignorance in this regard include him bitterly blaming his former colleagues Gretchen and Elliot for ruining his life and stealing his work all the while completely ignoring the fact that he himself chose to leave the business he helped to co-fund, later revealed to be due to feelings of inferiority to Gretchen's family and set himself down pathways to failure. Another noted example is evident when he blames Mike for screwing up and putting the DEA on his own trail while refusing to admit that his killing of Gus did nothing but cause disaster and put the DEA on all of Gus' former associates. Walt's severe ignorance makes him almost the polar opposite of Jesse who actually faces and feels remorse for what he has done and accepts responsibility for it. This is highlighted by Jesse blaming himself for Jane's death (even though Walt is responsible) and the subsequent aircraft disaster caused by her father, Donald while Walt is quick to point out other variables such as a possible radar malfunction and poor technology and overall claiming he blames the government for the disaster rather than himself.

Every time Walt comes up against someone with more power than he does, instead of retreating he systematically destroys them directly or indirectly and takes their place, starting with Krazy-8, then Tuco, Gus, and finally Mike, until only he is left holding the keys to the kingdom. He is shown to possess a kingpin's unbeatable survival skills: sociopathy, cunning, emotional manipulation, meticulousness, and violence – or at least the threat thereof. Bryan Cranston said by the fourth season: "I think Walt's figured out it's better to be a pursuer than the pursued. He's well on his way to badass. Over the course of the series, he’s evolved as a businessman, but he’s turned into a sociopath in both his personal and professional lives. He’s shed basic empathy and has no idea how much his colleagues and wife loathe him."

As Walt delves deeper into the criminal underworld he increasingly sees people as expendable pawns, who he either manipulates to further his interests or eliminates. Early on such as in Season 1, Walt has great difficulty bringing himself to murder, but by the end of Season 3, he barely gives killing a second thought as shown by ordering Jesse to murder Gale to ensure their own survival and later was also capable of poisoning a young child without any remorse at all. Nothing can stand in the way of his growing empire, and being in the position of power numbs his empathy for other human beings. He also comes to find his new status as a drug lord as psychologically rewarding, leading him to become less and less reluctant to resort to criminal acts such as theft, extortion, money laundering, and murder and shows signs of pleasure, enthusiasm and even a sort of depraved indifference in these acts to a degree. Walt's Machiavellian descent into the criminal underworld reveals a surprising level of repressed ambition, rage, resentment, vanity, and an increasing ruthlessness which has alienated him from his family and colleagues.

A natural liar, lies to his family, friends, the world, and to himself.

Even Skyler, who deceived Marie by telling Walter's money came from gambling, said that her talent of lying had come from "the best", referencing Walt. It is also interesting to note that, even though he refuses to admit it, Walt appears on numerous occasions to be itching for the chance to tell his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank that he is Heisenberg, the mild mannered chemistry teacher that everyone's always overlooked and laughed at, who's been the mastermind behind the legendary blue meth all along. This shows to an extent that Walt is more than willing to be exposed and arrested for his crimes and take all the credit and recognition as the mastermind rather than have anyone else, such as Gale, receive any credit for his work.

Despite his evolution in a ruthless, amoral drug kingpin, Walt still refused to ever physically hurt his family, growing angry at Saul's suggestion to kill Hank even after he learned that Walt was Heisenberg and threatened that he would do all in his power to bring Walt to justice. Before Jack killed Hank, Walt begged and bargained for Hank's life with his entire $80,000,000 fortune and was utterly broken when Jack fired the shot. Getting revenge on Jack and his men became one of his driving motivations in the final episode of the series in order to avenge his brother-in-law's death and protect his family from being harmed by the murderous gang. His final actions were also driven by his pride, returning to Albuquerque after seeing his former colleagues discredit him on television. Walt was also greatly against the idea of killing Jesse until it seemed necessary to him, and at the end took a bullet to save Jesse's life during the massacre of Jack, Todd and their crew, leading to Walt's demise as well, going out on his own terms.

In his entire adult life, Walt had been capping his emotions, and he begins to feel more as he embraces the darker side of his personality. The sides of Walt's personality have been described as "sociopath and family man, scientist and killer, rational being and creature of impulse, entrepreneur and a loser." Walt eventually transforms fully into his Heisenberg drug kingpin persona, which makes him confident, strong, authoritative, patient, manipulative, and cruel. As Heisenberg, Walt prefers to die in a fight and leave a legacy (good or bad) instead of giving in. The argument can be made that the cancer was merely a catalyst for Walt (generally family-oriented, employable, and mild-mannered) embracing another side to his personality—the Heisenberg side, the side that is gratified, feared, ruthless, and powerful—that was there all along.

### Character arc

>
> "*Technically, chemistry is the study of matter. But I prefer to see it as the study of change. Just think about this. Electrons. They change their energy levels. Molecules. Molecules change their bonds. Elements. They combine and change into compounds. Well, that's all of life, right? It's the constant, it's the cycle. It's solution, dissolution. Just over and over and over. It is **growth**, then **decay**, then **transformation**. It is fascinating, really.*"
> ―Walter White's chemistry lesson.[src]
>

Walt's chemistry lesson in the Pilot has often been used to sum up the themes of the series and Walt's own character arc: he says, "Technically, chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change” – this change can be thought of as Walt's change from decent chemistry teacher to mighty drug kingpin. Walt also mentions that chemistry is "growth, decay, and transformation.” Throughout his journey, Walt reaches heights then descends into chaos – notably it occurs between Season 3 and 4; from working safely in the super-lab making millions of dollars with a respectable, steady relationship with Gus (**growth**), Walt then ends up in seemingly hopeless situations following his killing of Gus' two dealers and Gale's murder; being constantly watched by Gus' men, eventually being left with little money, facing betrayal by Jesse, Gus threatening to murder his entire family and Walt choosing to flee for his life through Saul's extractor (**decay**), to the triggering of a new type of Heisenberg, a ruthless leader and manipulator that has realized that "it's better to be the pursuer than the pursued", beginning with his secret poisoning of Brock to turn Jesse against Gus and culminating in his brutal assassination of Gus himself by bombing a nursing home after outsmarting him and luring him into a trap with the help of Hector Salamanca (**transformation**).

Walt's transformation — his embracing of the dark and ruthless "Heisenberg" kingpin side of his personality — is a slow process that is advanced every time Walt crosses a line deeper into depravity (e.g. poisoning Brock). At the beginning of the series, it was clear to the viewer when Walt was making a conscious decision to become Heisenberg (wishing to keep his identity secret around other criminals, wearing the trademark black hat and sunglasses, etc.). Towards his family, he remained, for the most part, the same Walt (although his mercurial, erratic behavior in the early seasons does raise some suspicions on the part of Skyler and Walt Jr.) However, as the series progresses, the line between Walt and his Heisenberg persona is increasingly blurred: even in his civilian life, he begins embracing his crueler, more vindictive side. The difference between Walt in the early episodes and Walt in the later episodes is stark, not only in his appearance (such as his shaved head and attire) but in his psychological traits as more, notably his view about causing harm to other human beings.

Is an empire-builder. Friendly and low-key exterior. Takes an active role in managing his business, personally supervising employees and serves customers. Quiet and humble, incredibly cautious about who he does business with. Keeps a very healthy distance from the product he sells to appear almost invisible. Mastermind. Carefully maintains a public profile of propriety. Successful. Plans ahead, has the patience to let his business grow slowly. Hides in plain sight, keeps his enemies close and masquerades as a friend. Drives a modest car.

However, Gus is ruthless and machiavellian in managing his vast drug empire, keeping the entire operation under his icy control. Gus admires professionalism and caution in his colleagues, and is generally calm and calculated. He employs a number of enforcers and has personally killed rivals and associates, making him a dangerous, cold-blooded murderer. In interviews, Giancarlo Esposito said he made the choice to make Gus "graceful". He described him as "someone who is poised to take over the cartel, someone who is poised to manipulate other people into doing what he needs them to do". Gustavo doesn't trust anyone who isn't as cautious as he is, as they are too unpredictable, and he prides himself on being several steps ahead at all times. With that, Gus is controlled, cold, powerful, and menacing. Even someone like Walter White, at its moment, was terrified about what Gus could do to both himself and his family due to having proven it before by killing Victor, one of his closest and most reliable employees, right in front of his eyes without any hesitation.

There is a fair amount of information that is unknown about Gus's past. Gus left Chile in 1986, the same year in which the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front attempted to assassinate Augusto Pinochet. Although there are no existing Chilean records of Gus, there are two instances which demonstrate his possible involvement in the Pinochet government: Hector Salamanca refers to Gus as "Grand Generalissimo" in a flashback, and Don Eladio tells Gus that he is "not in Chile anymore", but spares his life because he knows who Gus really is. A possible interpretation of Don Eladio's line is that they spare Gus because killing him could put them at risk of being subject to retaliation that their association with the cartel cannot protect them from. Gus appears to be quite proud of his Chilean roots, even preparing *paila marina*, a traditional Chilean seafood dish, for both Walt and Jesse. He tells Walt "it's just like my mother used to make it".

Gus has shown to have an obsession in having everything perfectly clean and controlled by himself and does not tolerate when something is not going as he planned it to be. Right after learning about Gale's murder, he went to the superlab, where at that moment Walter and Jesse were restrained as hostages. Before killing Victor, Gus is seen putting on a hazmat suit to avoid getting blood onto his clothes, and after he murdered Victor, Gus took a shower, cleaned his glasses and dressed again. After tricking Don Eladio and the rest of the cartel into drinking poisoned Zafiro Añejo by drinking a shot himself, Gus excuses himself to the toilet and takes the time to neatly fold his jacket, take off his glasses, and place a hand towel on the floor to keep his pants clean before vomitting the tequila. This is further seen in *Better Call Saul*, when Gus was being threatened and scared by the posible return of Lalo Salamanca, and in order to keep himself in calm, Gus cleans up his own house and the kitchen of Los Pollos Hermanos, attempting to leave them perfectly clean. Also, before going to his laundry and facing Lalo, Gus takes off the tie he was wearing to ensure it won't get dirty.

Gus is also a man of honor as he reimburses any damages done to the property of his employees such as their cars when performing duties he requires them to. After Hector Salamanca went to Los Pollos Hermanos and threatened the employees, Gus sincerely apologized to all of them, offering them full pay for their shift, having them to take the rest of the day off, and gave an additional 24 hours of overtime pay. He is even seen with Jesse due to the suffering he was going through because of Brock's condition, offering to Jesse use his influence to give the child the best medical treatment and letting him to return to the lab the next week. While having no problem killing someone, Gus seems to not enjoy doing it and only enjoys killing people that did something to him, like Eladio Vuente or Juan Bolsa. Even in dangerous situations, he keeps his apathetic head. However, he lost his cool several times, such as when he discovered that Hector was going to suicide bomb him and when he fought Lalo in the superlab, repeatedly pulling the trigger on his gun even after running out of bullets and looking terrified.

However, Gus has been shown to genuinely care about people, noticeably Max Arciniega (the other "hermano" of the Los Pollos Hermanos brand name), who Gus took off the streets of Santiago, put through school, cared for and was interested in developing his potential. The humanity of Gus' personality played an integral role in his development, especially the very deep business and romantic relationship that Gus had with Max. The brutal loss of Max at Hector and Eladio's hands is partially what turned Gus into a ruthless villain, who is not above anything when it comes to avenging Max's death, including the murder of children (like Tomás Cantillo) and the gradual killing of Hector's entire family. However, his dedication to avenging Max's death would ultimately be Gustavo's one and ultimate weakness which would lead to his own violent demise and the destruction of his drug empire.

Charismatic, genius-level intellect, narcissistic sense of entitlement. Sadistic, Machiavellian, sociopath, driven by furious rage and hatred, deep-seated anger, maintains great emotional restraint in the face of dramatic situations, demeanor of cool calculation and icy composure. Considers empathy and compassion to be a weakness. Was once a truly caring person. Emotionally and psychologically abusive. Narcissistic. Loves battle. Sardonic wit. Domineering. Does not consider himself evil, viewing himself as a heroic figure. Willing to challenge authority. Tries to justify his actions as being for the good of humanity and the world, despite committing numerous atrocities and acts of genocide. Extraordinarily manipulative, able to bend others to his will with relative ease. very dark, dry, cruel wit. Views no one as his equal, seeing others as tools to be used or obstacles to be demolished. Vindictive. Presents himself in a cultured and sophisticated manner, dresses in expensive suits, speaks in a polite, civilized, and old-fashioned manner.

Valentine was once concerned only about the future of his kind, having originally set out to have the Clave revolutionize its rules and have more Shadowhunters created with the Mortal Cup. Valentine first began to seriously develop his final persona after his father's death by a werewolf and his mother's subsequent death from heartbreak. Blaming the death on the werewolf, his ideals changed from making the Shadowhunters more effective in ridding the world of demons to "cleansing" the world of its demonic influence and corruption, whose "taint" he believed also extended to Downworlders. This extremist-belief eventually even extended to the Clave and the Shadowhunters who associated with Downworlders.

His reasons and actions made him a hypocrite. For one, his new objectives led him to eventually work and ally himself with the same demons that he initially sought to destroy. With his narcissistic nature, he also refused to see any fault in himself, his reasoning, or his actions; and, in some cases, he would shift the blame of his own offenses onto someone else, as he did with Clary, whom he blamed for his wife's betrayal, never accepting or even considering it was him who actually drove her away. In other words, Valentine became the very example of the kind of Shadowhunter he hated and sought to destroy. Additionally, another reason Valentine despised Downworlders so much developed subliminally: he grew to become jealous of the powers they have that Shadowhunters don't, such as their innate speed, immortality, and ability to use magic. It was this jealousy that led to him eventually experimenting on himself by injecting himself with demon and angel blood. Because of these experiments, his ex-wife Jocelyn described him as being as close to a warlock as a Shadowhunter can get.

Goes to extreme lengths to achieve his goals. No one is safe from him, not children, even his own. Experimented on his children. Refers to his losses as sacrifices. Refuses to believe that what he is doing is selfish and wrong. Vanity and lust for power. Neither honorable nor altruistic. Conquest for power and glory, built upon a legacy of blood and bones. Stoic. Tough as nails. Pragmatic. Cunning. Calculating. Ruthless. Cold. Manipulative. Power-hungry. Unfettered. Loved his late wife dearly, the only person he held any sentiment towards. Cruel.

Tywin insists that all he does is for the sake of his family. Tywin's own father Tytos was a nice, generous and caring man, whose bad investments and indecision made House Lannister a laughingstock. As a result, despite admitting to Arya Stark that Tytos was "a good man", Tywin viewed his father's kindness as a source of weakness that nearly destroyed the reputation of House Lannister. Tywin successfully rebuilt his family's fortunes almost singlehandedly, and this along with his total destruction of the rebellious House Reyne caused him to embrace ruthlessness as a principle of keeping one's family in power. This ruthlessness, combined with his shrewd, efficient, cunning, incredibly intelligent, bloodthirsty and power-hungry nature, caused the Mad King to appoint Tywin as his Hand, though Tywin later resigned due to insults by Aerys against his family. Tywin was one of the best-suited Hands in recent history, to his credit; many saw him, not Aerys, as the man who ensured peace and prosperity during the earlier part of the Mad King's reign.

Harsh actions. Unwilling to serve as a caring father figure, all his children are terrified of him. Only sporadically visits his home. Deals out severe punishment for any transgressions his children committed while he was away.

What little relationship Tywin may have had with Tyrion was destroyed when Tywin had his marriage to the commoner Tysha annulled, then forced Tyrion to watch as he had his guards gang-rape the girl. Tywin wanted to force all of his children into marriage-alliances to benefit House Lannister (as Cersei was later married off to King Robert), and he was offended that Tyrion risked such a future marriage alliance for himself by marrying a commoner for love. The hypocrisy in this is that Tywin *himself* married for love when he married his own first cousin Joanna, instead of entering into a marriage-alliance with another more powerful noble family. Over the years, Tywin seemed to develop an outright joy in inflicting petty humiliations on Tyrion, such as "rewarding" him on his sixteenth nameday by putting him in charge of the privies and sewers at Casterly Rock. Yet despite all this, Tywin is fully aware that Tyrion is the most intelligent, efficient, intellectual, sophisticated and politically cunning of all of his children. Though this has driven him to despise Tyrion more, given that Tyrion is his least favorite son as well as his most valuable, Tywin has occasionally recognized Tyrion's incredible intelligence by naming him acting Hand of the King and later Master of Coin, and betrothing him to Sansa Stark, all for the benefit of the family. When Tyrion is accused of murdering Joffrey, Tywin's reaction appears to show that he is not entirely convinced of Tyrion's guilt, knowing that Tyrion is much too smart to commit regicide in such an obvious manner, but rather than attempt to prove his son's innocence, he uses the opportunity to rid himself of Tyrion once and for all, either by execution or sending him to the Night's Watch. Though he seems to prefer the latter so as to avoid being branded a kinslayer, it is later implied that this was also part of a plan to push Jaime into renouncing his Kingsguard vows and taking his place as Tywin's heir in return for Tyrion's life.

Meanwhile, Tywin possesses a very conservative, patrician set of social values, in which women are suited to securing marriage-alliances and little else, not wielding power on their own. Thus in contrast to House Tyrell, in which female members of the family are trained in ruling and court intrigue as much as the men are, Tywin never trained Cersei how to rule. Without instruction from her father, because Tywin always disregarded her as simply a means to an end, Cersei turned into a queen who actually isn't very skilled at the art of ruling but who based her reign on her personal vendettas with Tyrion and Margaery. However, on one occasion Tywin outright stated to her that he distrusted her not because of her gender, but because she was not as smart as she thought herself to be. This assessment appears quite accurate, as Cersei's attempts to increase her power following Tywin's death simply left her more and more isolated and despised by the people of Westeros.

Of his three children Tywin has the least shame and most empathy for Jaime, though not outright respect. Tywin feels disappointed that Jaime wants to continue to be a member of the Kingsguard, as while it is the highest honor a knight can aspire to, it means that Jaime had to swear away his rights to marriage or inheritance, which would leave Tywin's hated son Tyrion as his heir. When Jaime was captured by the Starks, Tywin did absolutely nothing to bring him back. Tywin also attempted to do anything to convince Jaime to be his heir, even going on to promise sparing Tyrion's life, which was though ultimately foiled.

Tywin does have a generally good relationship with his younger brother Kevan, whom he shaped his whole life to serve as his faithful lieutenant. On the whole, however, for a man who claims to value family above all else, Tywin has hypocritically destroyed his relationships with his own children. Indeed, his hypocrisy is proved by him never remarrying: his wife died when he was thirty-two years old, still young enough to be able to remarry, thus further improving the power of his home and having other children, but he never did that, planning instead of forcing his children to do so.

Tywin is also shown to have no regard for his grandson Joffrey, knowing fully well that he is incompetent at ruling the realm. He was shown as having no qualms with putting Joffrey in his place when necessary, normally being cold and blunt with the boy and exerting authority over him when need be. On one occasion when Joffrey defied Tywin about having to walk a long distance to council meetings, Tywin coldly suggested having Joffrey carried there; the second time, when Joffrey heatedly insulted Tywin as a coward, Tywin *sent Joffrey to his chambers*, even suggesting essence of nightshade to help him sleep. Beforehand, Tywin exercised his belief that "any man who must say I am the king is no true king", and that the crown and title of king didn't truly give a man absolute power. At Joffrey's funeral, Tywin was very cold and careless toward his grandson's body, and he openly tells his grandson Tommen that Joffrey was not a good king nor a wise king much to the chagrin of Cersei.

Tywin lacks, or at least overtly lacks, the sadistic and bloodthirsty nature of his grandson Joffrey. Tywin is intelligent enough to weigh political reality against a desire for personal, petty revenge. When Tywin arrived at Lannister-occupied Harrenhal, he put a stop to the pointless torture of captured smallfolk, simply because it would be a more efficient use of resources to put them to work. In contrast, during the Sack of King's Landing he allowed his army to murder, pillage and rape throughout the city, devastating its inhabitants. Underneath his calm exterior, Tywin can be seen to take personal satisfaction in crushing anyone who openly humiliates him (Tyrion, House Reyne of Castamere, Robb Stark, Aerys Targaryen, etc.), though he only seeks this kind of vengeance when it is practical for House Lannister. Tywin treated his plans for the Red Wedding as a necessity of ending the war against the North, and he had the Stark family sword, Ice, melted down because it was made out of irreplaceable Valyrian steel which could be used to make other weapons. Privately, however, he bore a look of satisfaction as he personally threw Ice's wolf-pelt scabbard into a fire, symbolizing his destruction of House Stark in the same way he had destroyed the Reynes when they humiliated his family.

Despite his ruthless and calculating nature, Tywin is shown to have a good side if he is impressed with someone, demonstrated when he treats his young servant and cupbearer (unaware that she is Arya Stark) with respect and kindness when she displays knowledge and the ability to read, speaks openly with her and even allows her to eat his dinner when he is not hungry and treat herself to whatever she likes in the kitchen (though considering an earlier "assassination" attempt on him, Tywin was probably also being cautious about poisoned food), even suggests the possibility of letting her device his battle strategy. He also demonstrates this constructive and caring side with his grandson Tommen, whom he knows will become a much better and wiser king than Joffrey, and shares his knowledge and wisdom concerning the duties and obligations of a king.

Although Tywin's skill at politics and administration cannot be denied, his military record is mixed. During Robert's Rebellion, Tywin participated in none of the battles except his infamous sacking of King's Landing, when it was already clear that Robert Baratheon would win the war. During the Greyjoy Rebellion, Tywin lost his entire fleet to a surprise attack by Euron Greyjoy, and in the War of the Five Kings he badly underestimated Robb Stark and was repeatedly outmaneuvered on the battlefield (though on at least one occasion this was due to an incompetent subordinate). However, Tywin later turned the tables by winning a spectacular victory at the Battle of the Blackwater (thanks in part to his new alliance with House Tyrell), and although his actions at the Red Wedding, the destruction of House Reyne, and the Sack of King's Landing were extremely brutal and heinous, they produced decisive military results. While Tywin might not be much of a field commander, he is certainly a good strategist: he always has the endgame in mind, and always knows how to best inspire fear in his enemies.

While not trusting even his own Small Council—telling Tyrion to execute Varys, Pycelle, or Baelish on "even a whiff of treason"—Tywin is also much more diplomatic than Cersei or Joffrey. While he doesn't trust any of the Great Houses apart from his own, Tywin recognizes it as necessary to make some concessions to House Tyrell and House Martell in order to keep their valuable support. Following his death, however, Cersei spurns the Martells and re-ignites her previous rivalry with Margaery Tyrell, eventually destroying both alliances and undoing Tywin's careful work in securing House Lannister.

Very efficient ruler. Always seeks to promote the interests of his house, even at the expense of the realm. Overly cruel methods, employs extremely brutal warriors. No qualms about willing small children, infants, or whole families. Gives people free reign to commit atrocities while fulfilling his orders. Powerful and respected, but his power is only built on fear.

* While he kept saying that the most important thing is family, also his relationship with his children was based on authority and fear: he always treated them as tools for his plans and he always acted under the assumption that they were meant to do what he wanted because he was their father. In fact, what he actually prioritized was his legacy, so he forced them into political marriages and berated them for being selfish when they refused to accomplish this goal. Even though it was probably true that his legacy's greatness meant his family's greatness, at the end all this was simply what he wanted and not necessarily what his family needed.
* Tywin's power, arrogance and stubbornness made himself to believe that he was more superior than anyone or anything, even the gods, old and new. Committing acts, like the Red Wedding, believing that no consequences would follow with his actions, even disregarding the words "*The northerners will never forget*", never realizing that his hold on the North would be lost and his house would be brought into a dangerous situation by his power-mad daughter.

In the end, his endless prioritizing his legacy over his children ended up destroying his goal and killing him too: after many years of abuse, hate and disrespect, Tyrion killed him and this, thanks to Cersei's foolishness and selfishness, destroyed Cersei herself, Jaime and the rest of the family. All this can be attributed again to Tywin's arrogance, because he never believed that any of his children could truly oppose to him, or even killing him, and also he never truly understood how far Cersei was willing to go for power. Ironically, Olenna's relationship with her granddaughter Margaery showed how Tywin could have been able to relate with his children without being mean, authoritative or cruel; but again, his fiercely conservative nature prevented him from understanding how much a positive relationship with them was important and, especially, useful to control them.

## Background

Leliana was born in Orlais, and though she is culturally Orlesian, her mother was Fereldan and so she considers herself as such. Leliana's mother, Oisine, was a servant of Lady Cecilie Vasseur, an Orlesian noble. One of Leliana's earliest memories is the scent of her mother's linen dress as they held hands on the terrace of an Orlesian villa with a view of the Waking Sea and gardens of sweet orange and lavender. Though Leliana is uncertain if this powerful memory is real or not, she cherishes the image of her Fereldan mother.

Following the Fereldan victory in the Rebellion, Oisine followed Lady Cecilie back to Orlais. When Leliana's mother died, shortly after her fourth birthday, she was raised by Cecilie (though she did not likely legally adopt her), and in her care Leliana learned much about the royal court and Orlesian culture.

Oisine's death cast a pall over Leliana's normally sunny disposition, however, and in an effort to cheer the girl her new guardian gave her whatever she asked for; Leliana only ever wanted books. As a result, she quickly developed an obsessive interest in Orlesian and Fereldan stories, ballads and songs, as well as any tales she could learn from Cecilie's elven servants. Tutors were soon called for by Lady Cecilie to foster Leliana's passion. Leliana often practiced her dancing on the stone terrace of Cecilie's villa on the Waking Sea, as well.

At sixteen, Leliana made her first trip to Val Royeaux, to attend a soiree with Lady Cecilie. There she met and was impressed by Marjolaine, a wealthy widow and patroness of the arts. Marjolaine began calling upon the aging Lady Cecilie shortly after the soiree, who often left Leliana to entertain the dazzling visitor.

Leliana was fascinated by Marjolaine's worldliness and daring, and the two became close friends. On a hunting trip, Marjolaine gave Leliana her first bow. In teaching her how to use it during that trip, Leliana wounded (but did not kill) a hart the hunters were tracking. Too upset to end its suffering, Leliana watched in amazement as Marjolaine efficiently killed the animal.

That same summer, Leliana visited Marjolaine at her Val Royeaux estate, and the widow began to teach her way of the bard: manipulation, subterfuge and combat. Always her teaching was subtle and disguised, easily assumed to be merely a lady's idle amusements.

In Marjolaine's company, Leliana met Tug and Sketch, and traveled with the pair across Thedas. Leliana's enjoyment of the freedom of these days dovetailed Marjolaine's increasing fear of her student's growing skill and potential to strike at her. Consequently, Marjolaine struck first and had the trio framed, arrested and abused.

With the aid of Orlesian Revered Mother Dorothea, Leliana escaped her captors. She and Sketch, as well as a Fereldan named Silas Corthwaite, sought revenge against them and Marjolaine. Upon securing a new, if uncertain life, Leliana found purpose in the Chantry and Dorothea's calm advice.
In memory of Tug, who perished during their arrest, Leliana toasts his memory every year with Antivan plum brandy, pouring some out as well and intoning *"Atrast tunsha, salroka."* Her relationship with Sketch remains rocky due to Leliana's embellishment of the past, though she seeks his aid to translate messages left by Tug in dwarven.

Ultimately, Leliana ended up in the village of Lothering. To atone for her sins and to hide from Marjolaine, who survived the original encounter, Leliana joined the chantry there as a lay sister, becoming intensely religious.

There, her confession of a vision from the Maker, and discovery of an impossible white rose on a dead bush in Lothering, both made her an outcast and spurred Leliana's passion to aid the Warden in the Fifth Blight. No one could shake her determination to stop this evil and bring hope to the world.

After the Blight, Leliana answered a summons from Divine Justinia V, her old friend Dorothea who had now become the head of the Orlesian Chantry. Returning to Val Royeaux, Leliana agreed to become her Left Hand and spymaster. Leliana assumed mastery over a coterie of her own agents, and once again reinvented herself and resumed the role of bard that Marjolaine had trained her for.
In this role, Leliana investigated rumors of mage rebellion in Kirkwall and suspicions of Qunari activity at Chateau Haine. Furthermore, Leliana served Dorothea's will in attempting to quell the Mage-Templar War as well as brewing elven uprising. To this day, even despite the love of her mother Oisine, the nurturing presence of Lady Cecilie and the salvation of Dorothea, Leliana understands that Marjolaine shaped her deeply, in both speech and action. As with Marjolaine, Leliana's enemies continue to move against her, seeking out weaknesses to exploit.
Burned believer. Sinister. Working in the shadows. Avid reader. Trickster. Storyteller. Red hair, pale, slender. Incense.