Daniel Radcliffe
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19 Videos. 55 Photos. Hero Fiennes Tiffin is an English actor, known for his role as the 11-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle in the sixth installment of the Harry Potter Films, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), and as Hardin Scott in the films After (2019) and After We Collided (2020).
- Actor, Producer
- November 6, 1997
- 3 min
- Overview
- Biography
- Physical description
- Personality and traits
"You see? It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
— Tom Riddle's transformation into Lord Voldemort
Tom Marvolo Riddle (31 December 1926 – 2 May 1998), later known as Lord Voldemort or, alternatively as the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was an English half-blood wizard considered to have been the most powerful and dangerous Dark wizard of all time. He was amongst the greatest wizards to have ever lived, rivalled only by Albus Dumbledore. Descended from Salazar Slytherin on his mother's side through the House of Gaunt, Tom Riddle was conceived whilst his father, Tom Riddle Senior, was under the effects of a love potion supplied by his mother, Merope Gaunt. When the enchantment was lifted, Tom's father abandoned his pregnant wife and returned to Little Hangleton. His mother died within an hour of giving birth to him. Before she died, she stated that her son was to be named after his father (Tom) and maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt. Tom was raised in the Muggle-run Wool's Orphanage.
Tom began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1938 and was immediately sorted into Slytherin house. During this time, Tom discovered his heritage and adopted pure-blood supremacist ideals. Tom opened the Chamber of Secrets and used its monster, the Basilisk, to attack Muggle-born students, resulting in the death of Myrtle Warren. He began his quest to attain immortality between the years of 1943 and 1998, creating his first Horcrux at the age of sixteen. While attending Hogwarts, Tom Riddle was made a prefect in 1942 until his graduation in 1945.
Tom spent several months as a purchasing agent for the Dark artefacts shop Borgin and Burkes before disappearing. Splitting his own spirit into a total of eight fragments, Tom created an unprecedented seven Horcruxes, with one made later in his life, unintentionally and without his knowledge — Harry Potter. Tom re-emerged several decades later having abandoned his 'Muggle' name and becoming the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort, an anagram of his birth name. In the First and Second Wizarding Wars, he commanded a veritable army of wizards and Dark creatures; committed countless murders and atrocities; and eventually succeeded in taking over the British Ministry of Magic.
Voldemort was ripped from his body in 1981 after attempting to kill Harry Potter. Although unable to die, he was unable to regain a permanent and physical body until 1995, thus spending the intervening fourteen years as 'a shell, less than the meanest ghost'. He was finally killed by his own backfired Killing Curse after Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore succeeded in destroying all of his Horcruxes.
Family lineage
"The Gaunts, a very ancient wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins." — Description of the House of Gaunt By Harry Potter's time, Tom's family on his mother Merope's side were the last known members of the House of Gaunt. The Gaunts were an ancient, and formerly wealthy, wizarding family, noted for producing individuals with violent and unstable personalities due to generations of inbreeding. Some notable members of the Gaunt family include: Corvinus Gaunt, Tom's maternal ancestor, and a Parselmouth who hid the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in a girls' restroom at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry;Rionach Gaunt, the mother of Ilvermorny founder Isolt Sayre; and Gormlaith Gaunt, the sister of Rionach; maternal aunt of Sayre; maternal great-aunt of Rionach Steward and Martha Steward; and, it is believed, the 'last of the Irish branch of the Gaunt family'. Because of the Gaunt family's love for grandeur, along with little sensibility at their indulgences, the family gold was gambled away and gone long before the last known heirs of the lineage were born. Likewise, a tendency to 'marry their own cousins' to 'keep their bloodline pure', following the beliefs of their ancestor Salazar Slytherin, caused the heirs to the Gaunt name to suffer the ill-effects of generations of inbreeding and incest. In North America, in what would later become the state of Massachusetts in the United States, the descendants of the Irish branch of the Gaunt family, through the Sayre's line, were thought to have died out sometime in the 17th or 18th century. Rionach Steward, Sayre's Half-blood daughter and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Ilvermorny, was also rumoured to have inherited the ability to speak Parseltongue from her mother. Unwilling to further Slytherin's bloodline, since she viewed him as a Dark wizard, Rionach never married or had children, and she later died without heirs. However, Rionach was unaware that another branch of the Gaunt family was still present, alive, and well, across the ocean in England. It was from this line of Gaunts from which, centuries later, another Half-blood descendant, Tom Marvolo Riddle, would be born. Rionach's sister Martha, unlike her sibling, married a No-maj (Muggle) friend of the nearby Pocumtuc Native American tribe. Born a Squib, without any magical powers, Martha felt ostracised within the growing American wizarding community, despite being the child of an important family. In the end, due to the emotional pain caused by her inability to perform magic, and the stigma of being the only Squib to grow up at Ilvermorny, Martha decided to live her life henceforth as a Muggle. Tom's maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, and his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, claimed to be the last known male, pure-blood descendants of Slytherin by the early 20th century. As such, they regarded themselves as 'royalty' for their ancestry, despite their poverty, squalor, lack of education, and mental and physical disorders from centuries of familial inbreeding. Tom's father, Tom Riddle Senior, was a wealthy Muggle living in the village of Little Hangleton, near the Gaunt shack, who was forced into a relationship with Merope Gaunt through the suspected use of the Imperius Curse or a love potion. After some time, it is speculated by Albus Dumbledore that Merope discontinued her bewitchment of Tom, in the hopes that he had really fallen in love with her, or would at least stay for their child's sake. To Merope's great sorrow, Tom Snr fled from her after he came to his senses and regained his free will and never wanted to see her again.
Early life (1926–1938)
Mrs Cole: "He scares the other children." Albus Dumbledore: "You mean he is a bully?" Mrs Cole: "I think he must be, but it's very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents... Nasty things... Billy Stubbs's rabbit... well, Tom said he didn't do it and I don't see how he could have done, but even so, it didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?" — Mrs Cole informing Albus Dumbledore of Tom Riddle's life at Wool's Orphanage Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on 31 December 1926 at Wool's Orphanage in London. His mother Merope staggered to the door of the orphanage, gave birth to Tom there, and died shortly after. Riddle grew up in the dingy orphanage, completely unaware of his wizarding heritage. Since the Muggle orphanage staff did not know anything about his mother, they did not know about his magical background. Instead, they believed that Merope was a circus worker, as Mrs Cole told Dumbledore shortly before his first meeting with Riddle. It is unknown whether or not the staff relayed this to Riddle before his first encounter with Dumbledore. Despite his ignorance of his mother's true background, Riddle did have some grasp on his abilities beyond that of normal magical children of his same age, and an unusually high degree of control over them. He could move objects with his mind and cause them to float wherever he wished, manipulate animals and creatures as he wished, speak Parseltongue, and use his power to inflict harm on other orphans. After getting into a fight with fellow orphan, Billy Stubbs, he used his powers to hang the boy's rabbit from the rafters. On one occasion, he took two other orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act, likely with his powers, so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatised into silence. Afterwards, he may have told them, in some means, not to tell anyone what happened in the cave. Riddle also stole from other orphans and hid their things in his cupboard like trophies.
Hogwarts years (1938–1945)
Tom Riddle: "Sir, I wondered what you know about…about Horcruxes?" Horace Slughorn: "Project for Defence Against the Dark Arts, is it?" Tom Riddle: "Not exactly, sir, I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it." — Tom Riddle inquiring about Horcruxes Riddle was educated at Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945, and was sorted into Slytherin House, a nod to his ancestor Salazar Slytherin. During summer breaks, he was forced to return to the Muggle orphanage, which he despised and dreaded more than any other place on Earth. Riddle described the way he was seen as 'poor, but brilliant, parent-less, but so brave, a school prefect, a model student'. Due to his exceptional acting abilities and handsome looks, he was able to convince virtually all of the Hogwarts staff and instructors that his kinder façade was his true personality. The sole exception to this was Dumbledore, who, though not necessarily suspicious of Riddle, never forgot about his misdeeds at the orphanage, nor his unsettling behaviour during their first meeting. In turn, Riddle realised that he had been careless in showing Dumbledore his true character upon their first meeting, and never attempted to win him over as he had with his other instructors. In time, he came to fear and despise Dumbledore. Over time, Riddle gathered to himself a gang of Slytherin thugs, a motley composition of 'the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty', most of which would become the first Death Eaters. Riddle claimed they were his friends, and made it appear so in public, but in truth, they amounted to little more than servants, and he cared almost nothing for them. He often manipulated them into committing petty crimes and other misdeeds, but none of these incidents were reliably traced back to the group
"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry...and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's but with slits for nostrils...."
— Description of Voldemort after his rebirth
During his childhood and early adulthood, Tom Marvolo Riddle was tall and handsome, with pale skin, jet black hair, and dark eyes. When Harry saw him in a memory in the Pensieve, he saw that there was no trace of the Gaunt family in his face, and that he was his father in miniature: 'tall for eleven years old, dark-haired and pale'. Riddle's good looks continued to increase as he grew older, and he cunningly used them to charm many of the teachers at Hogwarts. While in Wool's Orphanage, he wore the standard grey tunic as with all the other children, and switched over to the Hogwarts uniform when he attended the school, gaining the Prefect and Head Boy badges when he attained those positions. When he worked in Borgin and Burkes, he wore a simple black suit. Despite his façade of kindness and politeness, during ecstatic moments (i.e. discovering himself as a wizard and gaining confirmation that creating multiple Horcrux is possible) he was capable of a smile that did not enhance his handsomeness, but instead made him look less human.
However, as he became more involved in the Dark Arts, his good looks gradually left him. His features became increasingly waxy and reptilian, his skin became bone-white, and the sclera of his eyes took on a perpetually blood-shot appearance. After he regained his body, his features became even more warped. In his final body, Voldemort was described as having pale white skin, a skeletally thin body, and dark scarlet eyes with cat-like slits for pupils. He had a chalk-white face that resembled a skull, snake-like slits for nostrils, and large hands with unnaturally long fingers like spider's legs.
"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
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.
He was highly intelligent, as evidenced by his top performance at Hogwarts and his tremendous magical achievements, but his interests were narrowly focussed on the usefulness of people, objects, and powers to his goals. His inability to see the larger picture and inattention to events, powers and human traits that were not immediately useful to him was a serious flaw that led to most of his setbacks and ultimately his downfall.
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.
- 2 min
- 696
Dec 7, 2023 · Summary. A licensed therapist analyzes a Tom Riddle flashback scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, pointing out a red flag involving the character hurting animals, which is a sign of psychopathy. In the scene, Riddle is also constantly thinking about ways he can take advantage of others.
- Senior Writer
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Jul 15, 2009 · With Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Dave Legeno, Elarica Johnson. As Harry Potter begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, he discovers an old book marked as "the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.
- (576K)
- Action, Adventure, Family
- David Yates
- 2009-07-15
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter film series .
- $934.5 million
- Nicholas Hooper
- $250 million
Hero Fiennes Tiffin (born 6 November 1997) is a British actor, who portrayed an 11-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle, the younger version of antagonist Lord Voldemort who appears in the sixth instalment of the Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Role in Harry Potter. Fiennes Tiffin made his first film appearance as Spartak in the 2008 drama film Bigga than Ben. He then landed the part of "11-year-old Tom Riddle" in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince out of thousands of young actors who auditioned for the role.
