Voldemort may be the main villain in a book and film series that were created primarily for children, however, he is still one of the most frightening and legendary villains of all time. Voldemort is basically the boogeyman come to life, and although many Harry Potter fans are adults now (or were adults when they first started reading the books or watching the movies) it seems safe to assume that the thought of Voldemort still strikes a tinge of fear into their hearts.
However, despite the fact that Voldemort is one of the greatest villains in fiction history, that doesn't mean that everything about his characterization is flawless or even makes that much sense. Some aspects of Voldemort's behavior and development seems to be utterly incomprehensible, in fact. So here are 10 things about Voldemort as a character that simply do not make any sense.
His Racism
The wizard obsession with blood purity is a cultural issue throughout the entire wizarding community, but the fact that Lord Voldemort of all people is so passionate about not mixing with muggles is pretty bizarre. After all, Tom Riddle Sr. was a muggle.
It's one thing to value magical blood over all else, but the very fact that Tom Riddle Jr. is so powerful should be proof enough that the percentage of wizard blood doesn't determine how powerful a witch or wizard is. And this is something that is demonstrated repeatedly in the Harry Potter series, but Voldemort doesn't seem to care about the obvious facts over his own prejudices.
Why He Wanted To Be The One To Kill Harry
It isn't entirely mystifying that Voldemort wants to be the one to kill Harry Potter himself, however, it is a little odd that he absolutely insists on it. Voldemort is extremely arrogant, and that overconfidence in himself is clearly tested by Harry Potter's continued existence. However, at some point you'd think pragmatism would take precedence over arrogance.
Ironically, Voldemort almost certainly would have won the wizarding war if he had just let someone else kill Harry, because so many of his followers had the chance but never took it because Voldemort specifically commanded them not to. And at the very least, Voldemort could have seen if someone else were actually able to kill Harry at all.
He Didn't Figure Out Harry Was A Horcrux
Albus Dumbledore is undoubtedly a genius and one of the greatest wizards who has ever lived. And although it's hard to admit, the same could be said about Lord Voldemort. So why exactly didn't Voldemort seem to figure out that Harry was a Horcrux, even though Dumbledore himself did?
There really isn't anyone in the world alive who is more of a Horcrux expert than Voldemort is, so why didn't he ever even suspect that Harry may have been a Horcrux? Ironically, if Voldemort had figured that out and not tried to kill Harry he may have survived longer.
How Did He Make Harry A Horcrux?
There are certain elements of Harry's Horcrux-ification that make some sense. It's understandable that Voldemort's soul was incredibly unstable after he had made half a dozen Horcruxes. It's logical that when the killing curse directed at Harry rebounded onto Voldemort that it split his soul again.
But how exactly does one accidentally make a Horcrux, and if it's easy enough that it can be done accidentally, then why doesn't that happen far more often? The process to create a Horcrux is still a mystery but it appears to be fairly complex, so it's pretty strange that Voldemort's soul managed to skip all of the technicalities and make Harry a Horcrux.
Why He Made His Horcruxes So Identifiable
Okay, so this is something that J.K. Rowling has actually explained in canon, and while it does make some sense that someone as haughty as Voldemort would want his Horcruxes to be something very magically valuable and iconic it's still not something that seems totally understandable.
Yes, Lord Voldemort is obsessed with proving himself as a legend in the magical world, but creating his Horcruxes with extremely identifiable magical objects seems to directly contradict what the purpose of a Horcrux is. And even if he wanted to have Horcruxes that were magically powerful, that doesn't necessarily mean that he needed to use things like Marvolo Gaunt's ring or Salazar Slytherin's locket.
He Couldn't Just Shut Up And Kill Harry
It's one thing that Lord Voldemort banned all of his followers from actually killing Harry Potter, but it's quite another that Voldemort had half a dozen opportunities to kill Harry himself but he didn't. And why didn't he, you may ask? Well, because he had a lot of stuff to explain before he did.
Again, it's no surprise that Voldemort's ultimate downfall was his own arrogance, but you'd think after a couple of failed attempts on Harry's life that Voldemort might hold off on the big speeches and just try to kill Harry. Had he done that, he probably would have actually succeeded.
Why He Looked So Ugly
Looks obviously aren't everything, and one thing that most people would agree with Voldemort on is that being alive means a whole lot more than just looking good. However, Voldemort is one of the most powerful wizards who has ever lived, and he's extremely full of himself. Clearly, if he wanted to look like the handsome young man he once was, he could probably do that.
And yet, he stays looking like a noseless albino snake. It certainly makes him look much more like the terrifying villain that he is, but within the inner logic of the story itself, his repulsive look is a lot more difficult to understand.
Why Didn't He Try Straight Up Murder?
This is a question that we could ask about pretty much every character in the Harry Potter series, but it seems especially relevant since Voldemort's ultimate goal throughout the story is to kill someone. And that is, why didn't he just try some more traditional killing methods? Why didn't he just stab Harry? Or shoot him with a gun?
There are literally dozens of different ways too successfully kill someone without using magic, so instead of trying a murder method that had already failed and yielded horrible results for Voldemort, why didn't he try something different that presumably wouldn't once again end with Voldemort accidentally killing himself?
Why Didn't Someone Murder Him?
So in that same vein, why didn't it ever occur to anyone to just try to kill Voldemort using more rudimentary methods as well? Voldemort is undoubtedly powerful enough to heal himself from potentially mortal wounds, but even he couldn't survive something like a gunshot to the head.
Many characters have had the opportunity to get rid of Voldemort in this way, and it's honestly something he probably wouldn't see coming, so it's kind of mystifying that not one person ever tried it before. Granted, it isn't a very magical or dramatic way to round out a story, but it does make a lot of sense.
His Secret Child
So for those who aren't in the know about this, Voldemort actually has a secret child, a girl named Delphini who was born to Bellatrix Lestrange. And to be honest, Bellatrix having Voldemort's child is one of the least surprising things ever, however, the fact that she somehow managed to keep it a secret really doesn't make sense.
Delphini was born not long before Bellatrix and Voldemort were both killed, so how is it that no one noticed that Bellatrix was pregnant before then? She was around people all the time, and she was so attached to Voldemort that any of her absences would have piqued some interest.