History Characters / HarryPotterBellatrixLestrange

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!Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7379c4d04a5ad3ca160777ac4fadd90a.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:‘Gold!’ laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand. ‘Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of his – of –’]]
!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter
!!!'''Voiced by''': Rebeca Patiño (Latin American Spanish, ''Order of the Phoenix''-''Deathly Hallows Part I''), Xóchitl Ugarte (Latin American Spanish, ''Deathly Hallows Part II'')
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' | ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' | ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' | ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]''

->''"Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's Harry Potter. He's all bright, and shiny, and new again, just in time for the Dark Lord!"''

Next to Voldemort, Bellatrix is the Death Eaters' head honcho, and she's one mean Death Eating queen. She was one of the few females in the group, as well as among the most dangerous and sadistic of Voldemort's followers. At the end of the First Wizarding War, Bellatrix and her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, his brother Rabastan, and Barty Crouch Jr. tortured Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom to the point of insanity searching for information on Voldemort after his first downfall.

Bellatrix was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for the crime, but escaped in the 1996 mass break-out, along with nine other Death Eaters. She participated in several battles of the Second Wizarding War, making it a particular goal to kill any relatives who were members of the Order of the Phoenix, including her cousin Sirius Black and niece Nymphadora Tonks.
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:A-E]]
* TheAce: She is so powerful that only six months after her escape from Azkaban she defeats Nymphadora, kills Sirius, has Kingsley Shacklebolt writhing on the floor in seconds, and deflects a spell from Dumbledore's Elder Wand casually. She takes out four snatchers at once, not even giving them the time to retaliate. She duels Hermione, Ginny, and Luna at once and is better than all three of them. She is extremely intelligent and is the only person iin the wizarding world to figure out where Snape's loyalties lie solely through deduction, when even Voldemort himself could not. She is also described as being extremely beautiful and retaining much of her great good looks even after more than a decade in Azkaban. J.K. Rowling called her 'the Death Eater par excellence'.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: She's more exuberant, childish, and blatantly insane in the films, whereas in the novels, she is more regal and complex.
* AdaptationalWimp: Quite a case of this in the films, which opt to portray her as more evil than dangerous. In the fifth book, she defeated three of the best fighters in the Order of the Phoenix (Tonks, Sirius and Kingsley) one after another; managed to block an offensive spell by '''Dumbledore''' in her way out; and although she did feel it when Harry hit her with a Cruciatus curse, she immediately got up and kept on fighting. In the film, her only kill is Black, which she actually scores by a lucky shot while he had his back turned to her, and when she and Harry face off, she is instantly left at Harry's mercy.
* AffablyEvil: While not entirely affable, she is a vivacious woman who cares about her sister and loves deeply. According to what she tells Voldemort, she values honesty as well.
* AffectionateNickname: Voldemort calls her Bella even when he is angry with her.
* AgainstTheGrain: She fits the stereotype of a proper Pureblood woman enough but is also repelled by it. She finds it restrictive to just be a prim trophy wife, give birth to and raise proper Pureblood children, and let the men do everything else, and does stray from it. She is a Death Eater, fights in battles, and is above every single man who is a Death Eater in terms of intelligence and ability.
* AlliterativeName: Before she was married, she was Bellatrix Black.
* ArchEnemy:
** Set up as this to Neville Longbottom, particularly in the climax to ''The Order Of The Phoenix''.
** Could also be considered this for her relatives in the Order, namely Sirius and Tonks.
* ArrangedMarriage: With Rodolphus Lestrange and although she loves Voldemort, she gets on well with him as is implied by them always working together. He is described as her loyal husband despite her cheating on him.
* AristocratsAreEvil: She belongs to the greatest Pureblood family of the Sacred 28 and she is a cold-blooded murderer.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Just what is wrong with Bellatrix is never stated, outside of the fact that she's obviously extremely mentally unbalanced. A likely guess according to her personality and actions is that she has Bipolar Disorder but it is never confirmed.
* AnswerCut: Bellatrix is freed from Azkaban. Voldemort is described as maniacal, jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant, and the happiest he had been in fourteen years. Harry asks himself why he was so happy and his question is supposed to be answered but he focuses on Bellatrix before he even reads the headline, which means that Bellatrix was the reason for his happiness.
* AscendedExtra: In the sixth film. While she only appears in a single chapter in the corresponding book, she appears much more often in the film, most notably leading a raid on the Burrow and the party of Death Eaters who infiltrate Hogwarts in the climax.
* BadassBoast: Her line to Harry in book 5 when he challenged her:
-->''"Potter, you cannot win against me! I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant, I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete."''
* BabyTalk: To Harry in the Department of Mysteries:
-->''"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo."''
* BattleCouple: In the books, she's described as fighting alongside her husband Rodolphus in the fifth and seventh books.
* BerserkButton: Never question or insult Voldemort around her. It only took Harry mentioning Voldemort's name and revealing his status as a half-blood to set Bellatrix off in ''Order of the Phoenix''. Defying her authority also seems to be one. When the Snatchers protest her order to give her the Sword of Gryffindor, she immediately attacks all of them and states that she plans on killing them for their defiance.
* BigSisterInstinct: She defends her sister in front of Voldemort and even lets Narcissa curse her.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Voldemort. They are both dark, arrogant, intelligent, powerful, interested in the dark arts, and ambitious. She is very similar to Voldemort and is the only one who ever accepted him for who he is.
* BlitheSpirit: Despite being a villain, she is an optimistic, romantic, and generally vivacious woman.
* BrainyBrunette: She is the most intelligent Death Eater and the only person in the entire Wizarding World who figured out Snape's true intentions solely through deduction. She has black hair
* BrutalHonesty: She is very blunt about her distrust of Snape, even going as far as to call Voldemort mistaken.
* BullyingADragon: Bellatrix Lestrange has a habit of taunting her enemies, especially when she's made things personal for them, such as Neville or Harry, though at least she has more than enough power to get away with it.
* CainAndAbel: Bellatrix makes it very clear that she despises her sister Andromeda, who married the Muggle-born Ted Tonks, and wouldn't think twice about killing her if they ever saw each other again. In the Battle of Hogwarts, [[spoiler: she finally manages to kill her daughter and her own niece, Nymphadora Tonks]].
* CassandraTruth: Bella is the ''only'' Death Eater who openly distrusts Snape, even going so far as to tell her sister, Narcissa, that she believes Voldemort is "mistaken" in trusting him. [[{{Yandere}} Considering Bella's feelings about Voldemort]], her deep mistrust of [[DragonWithAnAgenda Snape]] is pretty damn telling. However, it does say in Book 6 that many of the Death Eaters spoke behind Snape's back, but Bellatrix was probably the only one to confront him. Bellatrix's suspicions were not based on just distrust, the questions she asked him were extremely well thought out and showed her impressive critical thinking skills.
* CharacterExaggeration: Bellatrix is much more obviously deranged and maniacal in the films, and probably even more sadistic. In the books, she's more serious and focused.
* ChewingTheScenery: In the films due to her AdaptationPersonalityChange making her much more of a PsychopathicManchild. Helena Bonham Carter had fun with the role.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Bellatrix Lestrange loves this.
* ColourCodedEyes: Her eyes are dark, as is her soul. She is the only Black to have dark eyes, the same colour as Voldemort's before his transformation.
* CombatSadomasochist:
** Bellatrix, the Death Eater responsible for torturing Neville's parents, appears in person. [[spoiler:She outright critiques Harry's grief-driven attempt at Cruciatus, noting that righteous anger isn't enough to make it work.]]
* ContraltoOfDanger: In the books, Bellatrix is described as having a low voice. ZigZagged in the films; while Helena Bonham Carter's natural voice is fairly low, she occasionally switches into a CreepyHighPitchedVoice when Bellatrix is taunting her opponents.
* CurbStompBattle: Bellatrix defeats Fenrir Greyback and group of Snatchers in seconds during Deathly Hallows, with Harry noting that they had absolutely no chance against her. Harry himself was on the receiving end two books earlier.
* CurbStompCushion: When Albus Dumbledore himself turns his attention towards her, she is able to block his spells long enough to escape (temporarily). Given that Dumbledore is considered by many to be the most powerful wizard alive, the fact that she was able to defend against him at all is impressive indeed.
* DarkActionGirl: Voldemort's best lieutenant.
* DarkMistress: She is the only living being Voldemort cares about and his feelings are confirmed to be romantic since he fathers her daughter.
* DeathByIrony: In ''Order of the Phoenix'', [[spoiler:Sirius taunts her in the middle of their duel [[TooDumbToLive which leads to his death]]]]. In ''Deathly Hallows'', [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive Bella herself would die whilst taunting Molly Weasely in the middle of]] ''[[TooDumbToLive their]]'' [[TooDumbToLive duel]]]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Instead of pretending to be brainwashed like most of the other Death Eaters, she admitted she was loyal to Voldemort and proudly went to Azkaban while boasting of her UndyingLoyalty. However, as Snape points out in ''Half-Blood Prince'', once Voldemort had returned, all Bellatrix had to offer him was tales of her experience in Azkaban. The ones who lied and walked free were able to offer Voldemort things that had tangible use for his plans to takeover the Ministry, such as Lucius Malfoy's influence with Fudge or Snape's 13 years worth of information on Dumbledore.
* TheDragon: To Voldemort after Lucius's fall from grace in ''Order of the Phoenix''. The narration in ''Deathly Hallows'' describes her as Voldemort's "best lieutenant". Played with in an interesting way; Snape most definitely fit this trope after his [[spoiler:mercy killing of Dumbledore, but given his status as a double agent Bellatrix fits this role as far as hierarchy of actual villains goes.]]
* DragonTheirFeet: Bellatrix managed to stay active for some time after Voldemort's first downfall. During this time, she committed her most infamous crime: torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom to insanity.
* TheDreaded: Not to the extent of her boss but she's still considered one of the most dangerous Dark Witches alive for damn good reason. Most of the Death Eaters including several of her own ''relatives'' are afraid of her. Even Narcissa, who she seems close with, immediately backs down when Bellatrix grows dangerously erratic - [[AxCrazy even for her]] - in Malfoy Manor. Beyond her deranged and psychotic behaviour this reputation was earned by torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, something that horrified the entire wizarding world and demonstrated just what Bellatrix is capable of.
* DramaQueen: She is quite capricious, prone to mood swings and has exaggerated emotions.
* EasilyForgiven: Bellatrix makes the same mistakes as Lucius, yet Lucius is punished much more intensely, bearing the marks from his punishment months later whereas Bella is described as looking completely unscathed except for battle. There is no evidence of her being punished physically in the books.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Done to present each character in a way suitable to his or her personality. Her first appearance is in Goblet of Fire, where she is sitting on the chair binding her as if it is a throne and proudly proclaims her unwavering loyalty to Voldemort.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Sure she disowned one of her sisters for marrying a muggleborn but she refuses to rat out Narcissa to Voldemort for going behind his back to ask Snape for help because she doesn't want to betray her. She also lets Narcissa curse her and doesn't even retaliate.
* EveryoneHasStandards: She tells Voldemort that she always speaks the truth.
* EvilAunt: To Tonks. Not only are they on the opposite side of the Wizarding War, Bellatrix ends up murdering her own niece during the Battle of Hogwarts.
* EvilCounterpart:
** To Ginny Weasley.
** Both share some personality traits like a fiery temper, being defensive, recklessness, loyalty, obsessiveness, and passion. Ginny marries the main hero whereas Bellatrix is the lover of the main villain.
** Bellatrix and Ginny have been correlated in the HP books, often in regards to Harry and Voldemort. The most major one was when Bellatrix tried to kill Ginny in the final battle and Voldemort's lover trying to kill Harry's lover does hold a certain symbolism. In OOTP, Bellatrix commanded her fellow Death Eaters to hold Ginny captive to coerce Harry into giving them the prophecy as a battle strategy.
** In Deathly Hallows, before Voldemort sends an Avada Kedavra his way Harry 'inexplicably' thinks of Ginny right after he focuses on Bellatrix panting. ‘None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his – '
** They are both beautiful with great hair (Bellatrix had great hair in the books). Bellatrix and Ginny were both fierce women who were good at fighting. They were all focused on one love interest while ignoring all others. Bellatrix was married and loved not her husband but Voldemort and Ginny fancied Harry ever since she was a child and admitted that she pretended to date other men while waiting for Harry to notice her.
** Ginny and Bellatrix are both, in a way, the only women to truly understand and relate to the their men. Both couples have a 'kindred spirits' kind of relationship.
** They were both the submissive partner in their relationship although it's much more obvious with Bella. Ginny acceps whatever Harry tells her, like when their relationship starts and when it ends. He breaks up with her without telling her anything and she accepts it. He goes hunting Horcruxes with Ron and Hermione and tells her nothing about it and she accepts it. He tells her not to fight in DH although she goes anyway but without confronting him (like Bellatrix going behind Voldemort's back with the Sword of Gryffindor).
** They are both very defensive of the men they love and are prone to aggression and violence and engage in hero worship. They are both sarcastic and often mock others.
** The men are both Half-blood and the women Pureblood.
** They are both 'saved' by the men they love while the men put themselves at risk. Ginny in Chamber of Secrets and Bellatrix when Voldemort saves her from going back to Azkaban in the Department of Mysteries. He risks being attacked when he is breaking the statue pinning her to the Ministry floor right in front of the Ministry workers' eyes, basically inviting them to hurl hexes at him and even risks capture, making himself vulnerable. He is fighting Harry (not literally but he was inside him, in COS Harry met a piece of his soul/memory so in a way he was also inside him) and when the Ministry workers arrived he immediately left Harry's body and save Bellatrix (both women were unable to move then). He reveals himself in the process, something he didn't want to do, and allowed the Ministry workers to start working against him and thwart his plans.
** And to Sirius Black, as well. She's the psychotic, muggle-hating counterpart to Sirius Black, a good man and WhiteSheep who was falsely accused of betraying the Potters.
*** In addition to this both are equally talented, equally devoted to their cause and equally intense. They were both strong, attractive, important people in their respective causes who went to prison and came out the other end scarred and a bit loopy.
* EvilMentor: She trained Draco in the art of Occlumency. Given that he was possibly able to block Snape's attempts at Legilimency, her teachings must've been pretty effective. It's also likely that she taught him how to effectively cast the Unforgivable Curses and other dark spells.
* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: She mentions to Harry that the Cruciatus Curse needs a genuine desire to cause pain and suffering to work, not just righteous anger.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F-L]]
* FantasticRacism: She's one of the truest believers in Voldemort's pure-blood ideology and hates Muggle-born wizards, actively seeking to kill any of her family members connected with Muggle-borns like Ted Tonks. She also seems to despise magical creatures; she's enraged when Dobby -- a house-elf -- attacks her and is disgusted at werewolf Fenrir Greyback's presence, going out of her way to force him to his knees before her in Malfoy Manor when he slights her. She goes even further than the typical level of Death Eater bigotry by openly despising ''half-blood'' wizards as she calls Harry a "filthy half-blood" in the Department of Mysteries and flies into a rage when Harry points out that Voldemort is a half-blood too. (While half-bloods are typically treated as inferior to pure-bloods and erased from pure-blood family trees along with their "blood traitor" parent, other pure blood supremacists haven't really been shown possessing nearly the same amount of scorn toward half-bloods as Bellatrix did).
* FatalFlaw: Her arrogance. Bella loves to not only inflict excruciating pain on others but taunt their loved ones about it. This leads to [[spoiler:her own demise when [[TooDumbToLive she decides that taunting an enraged Mrs. Weasley about the death of her son Fred after nearly killing her daughter Ginny is a good idea]]]].
* FinalBoss: She's the final opponent fought in the video game adaptations of ''Half-Blood Prince''. She's also part of the WolfpackBoss fought at the end of ''Deathly Hallows - Part 1'' alongside the Malfoys.
* {{Flanderization}}: In the books, she only took a faux-childish façade once (in ''Order of Phoenix'') in order to mock Harry, dropped it instantly once he used Cruciatus Curse on her and never took it again. In the movies, however, her entire personality and demeanour seem to be built around it. Even after aforementioned scene with Harry casting Cruciatus Curse, she continues to act extremely childish and goofy (for example, when Death Eaters are setting Hagrid's hut on fire in ''Half-Blood Prince'', she spends that scene literally hopping in place and waving her arms like a clown). As a result, she is definitely less threatening in movies than she is in books.
* {{Foil}}: To Molly Weasley, according to Rowling. [[spoiler:Their battle in ''Deathly Hallows'' was supposed to illustrate the differences between the two women: Bellatrix puts her ideas before the people in her life, whereas caring for and loving others is what is most important to Molly -- and what drives her to kill Bellatrix.]] Narcissa could also be seen as her foil; they share the same cause, but Narcissa's devotion to her husband and son and desire to protect them above all else are what keep her from going as far as her sister does. It's even lampshaded in some scenes where Narcissa is reluctant to let Draco take on certain tasks and Bellatrix can't understand why.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric.
* TheFundamentalist: She is staunchly loyal to Voldemort and holds an unwavering belief in his racist worldview, hating all Muggle-borns, half-bloods and "blood traitors" with passion. Even reminding her that [[BoomerangBigot her master is a half-blood himself]] does not shake her faith in the slightest.
* GangOfBullies: Was part of one with her husband, Severus Snape, Evan Rosier, Wilkes, Avery and Mulciber while they were at Hogwarts which only grew in range when they graduated.
* GeneralFailure: Though she's one of Voldemort's most dangerous lieutenants and a HeroKiller she spectacularly screws up the plan to steal the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries when her initial opposition was six teenagers - something Snape hangs a lampshade over during their argument in ''Half-Blood Prince.''
* HairTriggerTemper: Even by Death Eater standards, it really doesn't take much to set her off.
* HeroKiller: Enjoys torture, and is extremely dangerous, as TheDragon to Voldemort. She kills [[spoiler:Sirius, Dobby, and Tonks]].
** She also was one of the Death Eaters to permanently incapacitate Neville's parents, defeated and injured badass auror Kingsley Shacklebolt relatively quickly, and remains one of the only characters who was able to deflect Dumbledore's spell. Harry also did not stand much of a chance when he attempted to duel her.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Even Fenrir Greyback, a savage werewolf and one of the most feared men in the wizarding world, is afraid of her. After she attacks his group of Snatchers and magically forces him to his knees, he falls into line and visibly seems scared to approach her again.
* HotBlooded: She is ferocious and filled with passion.
* HumiliationConga: After the disastrous Battle of the Department of Mysteries ''Order of the Phoenix''. She doesn't get this nearly as bad as Lucius Malfoy but she nonetheless falls out of favour as TheDragon. She has the fact that she was bested by six teenagers rubbed in her face, is openly mocked at one point by Voldemort in front of the other Death Eaters, and her failure to prevent Harry, Ron and Hermione escaping from Malfoy Manor after she summons the Dark Lord leads to her being confined to Malfoy Manor.
* {{Hypocrite}}: She hates half-bloods but her own lover and father of her child is one.
* InformedAbility: We are told that she is accomplished in Occlumency, and it's implied that she has is sklled in Legilimency too. Despite this she's never shown using either, other than her tutoring Draco in the art offscreen.
* InSeriesNickname: She's called "Bella" by Voldemort and her sister. Even Lucius calls her this at least once.
* InsufferableGenius: She is brilliant and never hesitates to taunt those lesser than her, such as Harry in Order of the Phoenix.
* {{Jerkass}}: She loves not only killing and torturing, but afterwards also taunting others about the deaths of their loved ones. Also, like all the other members of the House of Black, she prioritizes blood-supremacy over things like familial love and the lives of other people who are non-magical.
* KarmicDeath: Bellatrix might have lived a little longer, had she not tried to kill Ginny ''and'' mocked her very pissed-off mother as she jumped to her defense. This doubles as a DeathByIrony, considering that Bellatrix killed Sirius when he underestimated her abilities. Later, Bellatrix is killed when she [[spoiler: underestimates Molly]]. Furthermore, both Sirius and Bellatrix were killed by Stunning spells to the chest. Bellatrix managed to cause Sirius to fall through the archway into the afterlife, while Molly's Stunning spell was so powerful that Rowling confirmed it caused Bellatrix to have a ''fatal heart attack.''
* KickTheDog: She taunts Neville with what she did to his parents when she meets him in the Department of Mysteries.
--> '''Bellatrix''': "Longbottom"? Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy!
* KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:She killed Sirius and Tonks, her own cousin and niece.]]
* KnifeNut: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed.]] She'll use a wand in actual combat, but seems to have developed a taste for using them in torture. She's also not against using them in combat when she doesn't have her wand handy. [[spoiler:Just ask Hermione and poor Dobby.]]
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Bellatrix is quite willing to take on any member of the Order of the Phoenix (and win), but when Albus Dumbledore directs his attention to her she deflects his spells and flees without even bothering to try and fight back.
* LackOfEmpathy: Obviously, considering how quickly and easily she murders and tortures anyone she feels like, including members of her family, but it's shown in a more subtle way in the second chapter of the sixth book, where Bellatrix [[EvilCannotComprehendGood genuinely cannot understand why her sister is terrified instead of "honoured" that Voldemort chose her son Draco to be sent on a suicide mission that he will almost assuredly be killed on.]]
* LadyOfWar: She is sadistic and revels in war, but she sits on chained chairs as if they are thrones.
* LargeHam: Only in the film versions. Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter [[ChewingTheScenery devours the scenery]] during all of her scenes. It's ''delicious''.
* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Bellatrix is the dark-haired female warrior who has a child with a man who is not her husband; Narcissa is the blonde family-oriented woman who loves her traditional family above all.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: How her death is portrayed in the film.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Her love for Voldemort is passionate but incredibly unhealthy and twisted, and eventually consumes her with insanity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M-R]]
* MadLove: Bellatrix is madly obsessed with Voldemort and will do anything for him.
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: The whore to Molly's madonna. Rowling said she wanted to pit two feminine energies against each other, one being Molly's maternal love for her daughter and the other being Bellatrix's sexual and obsessive love for Voldemort.
* MeaningfulEcho: In Half Blood Prince, Bellatrix tells Snape that Voldemort has entrusted her with something he considers most precious, which later turns out to be his Cup horcrux.
* MeaningfulName: ''Bellatrix'' is the feminine form of "warrior" in Latin. It's also the name of a star in the Orion constellation.
* MonsterAndTheMaiden: She has this dynamic with Voldemort and they both work together for pureblood supremacy.
* MoodSwinger: Her emotions are very and intense and nuanced.
* MoralityPet: Apparently her younger sister Narcissa, who is the only person she seems to care about, at least in a non-creepy way. Bellatrix being who she is, however, and given how she [[HeroKiller treats]] relatives who stray from the family tradition, this "caring" likely lasts only as long as Narcissa is loyal to the Dark Lord. Still, she did accompany Narcissa to ask Snape for help behind Voldemort's back (though grudgingly).
* MotorMouth: She talks a lot.
* TheNapoleon: In the films, where she is played by 5'2 Helena Bonham Carter. Averted in the books, where she's described as being visibly taller than a teenaged Harry (see StatuesqueStunner).
* NeverMyFault: She pins all of the blame for the failed battle in the Department of Mysteries on Lucius even though it was her trigger-happiness that derailed the initial plan. She also has a habit of brushing off her failures by emphasizing her unwavering loyalty to Voldemort.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In Deathly Hallows, her [[VillainousBreakdown terrified reaction]] when she sees the Gryffindor's sword helps Harry to realize that one of the Horcruxes is located in her vault in Gringots, resulting not only in that particular horcrux's destruction, but also to the last unknown horcrux being located and destroyed and Voldemort being finally defeated.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The mean one of her sisters, being an unrepentant sadist and pure-blood supremacist.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Rowling modelled Bellatrix on the famous Eva Braun:
** Bellatrix Lestrange's love and devotion to Voldemort is based on Eva Braun who was married to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler.
** Bellatrix was 25 years younger than Voldemort and Eva was 23 years younger than Hitler.
** Bellatrix's maiden name was Black which is the name of a colour in Bellatrix's native language and Braun means brown in Eva's native language, which is also a colour.
** Bellatrix had two sisters, Narcissa was in favour of Voldemort's cause and was in his inner circle while Andromeda was opposed to it and stayed out of politics. Eva also had two sisters, Ilse and Gretl Braun. Ilse was not involved in politics while Gretl was in Hitler's inner social circle.
** Eva met Hitler when she was 17 and Bellatrix joined Voldemort after leaving Hogwarts when she was either 18 or 19, depending on whether she was born after or before September the 1st.
** Eva Braun was kept hidden from the public and while Bellatrix worked for Voldemort, her sexual relationship and child with him were hidden.
** Bellatrix was the closest Voldemort came to caring for a living being and Hitler cared enough to be in a long term relationship with Eva.
** In the end, they both died unnaturally for the men they loved at a very young age, Eva at 33 and Bellatrix at 46.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Shows nothing but utter contempt for Ted Tonks and his family, even though they are in-laws, caring more about blood-status than character or anything else. This also extends to every other WhiteSheep or Muggleborn in the House of Black, including Sirius, her own sister and her niece and nephew-in-law, as, according to her own words in the first chapter of the final book:
--> '''Bellatrix''': "She is no niece of ours, my Lord. We — Narcissa and I — have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."
* OneTrueLove: Despite being married to Rodolphus Lestrange, Voldemort is the love of her life and the father of her child.
* PsychoSupporter: [[BigBad Voldemort's]] most devoted follower.
* PetTheDog: She lets her younger sister curse her and does not retaliate despite being more powerful than her.
* TheQueenpin: She is one of the only two female Death Eaters and according to Rowling, the Death Eater par excellence.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: She has dark hair and eyes and is often compared to the blonde and fair Narcissa.
* RedOniBlueOni: The fanatical, hot-tempered red oni to Snape and Lucius' measured and calculating blue.
* RevengebyProxy: In Order of the Phoenix, she threatens to torture Ginny and Neville so Harry gives her the prophecy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-Y]]
* {{Sadist}}: She enjoys inflicting pain upon the enemies of her Cause.
* SanitySlippage: Fourteen years in Azkaban leaves a few psychological scars, even though she mostly retains her sanity.
* SiblingYinYang: Her devotion to pureblood supremacy led to the falling out between her and Andromeda after she married a muggle-born. She also has this with Narcissa; while Bellatrix is obsessed with Voldemort and the Death Eater philosophy, Narcissa fears Voldemort and would willingly betray him to protect her family.
* SlasherSmile: She sports this several times in the movies, most notably when she's duelling Ginny Weasley.
* SmugSnake: She is disdainful towards not only her enemies but also many of her fellow Death Eaters, including Snape and her brother-in-law Lucius.
* TheSociopath: A sadistic and remorseless torturer who is willing to kill her own family members if they are on the wrong side of the war without hesitation. She is [[AxCrazy incredibly unstable and violent]] and even taunts her victims as well as their loved ones, taking pride in her cruelty. The only connections she has are either undermined by how flimsy they are (as in killing people who go against Voldemort) or further prove how sociopathic she is (her "love" of Voldemort). She's even worse in the films.
* SoftSpokenSadist: In the book versions she can be calm and in control if no less maniacal. It has a very narrow time-span however.
* SpoiledBrat: She and her sisters are heavily implied to be spoiled by their parents.
* StatuesqueStunner: A throwaway line in Book 7 describes her as taller than a 17-year-old Harry, who's probably just about as tall as the average 17-year-old male. Averted in the films as she's played by a 5'2" Helena Bonham-Carter.
* TakenForGranite: Courtesy of Molly in the eighth movie. And then becomes LiterallyShatteredLives less than a second later.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: [[spoiler:She kills Dobby this way, although Bellatrix was aiming for Harry.]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: In the book, she's implied to have been AK'd nonverbally by Molly. In the film, Molly hits her with a couple of curses in rapid succession. One kills her and appears to either turn her to stone or begin to decompose her body on the spot. The second frags her into about a million little chunks. According to Rowling, what killed her was a Stunning Spell vastly overpowered by Molly's rage. Given that Minerva [=McGonagall=], a much older woman, survived at least 5 regular Stunning Spells hitting her, this goes to show the power of the Stunning Spell that hit Bellatrix.
* ThickerThanWater: Inverted. Bellatrix feels that it's her duty to kill the members of her family who are on the wrong side in the war. During the Battle of the Seven Potters in the seventh book she targets her niece Tonks, and [[spoiler:later kills her during the FinalBattle]].
* TortureTechnician: She was sent into Azkaban for ''[[spoiler: torturing Neville Longbottom's parents into insanity]]'' to find out Voldemort's whereabouts, and is noted by Dumbledore to enjoy "[[ColdBloodedTorture playing with her food]]". In fact, the Cruciatus Curse seems to be her signature MO, though she isn't afraid to use more mundane methods of torture, as implied in Deathly Hallows.
* TragicDream: She wants her Cause to succeed and for Voldemort to win but he is destined to be killed by Harry.
* {{Troll}}:
** "What will happen to your children when I've killed you? When Mummy's gone the same way as [[spoiler:Freddie]]?"
** "He lives here? Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot-"
** "You dirty little monkey!"
* UndyingLoyalty: She was one of the few Death Eaters who tried to look for Voldemort after he disappeared, and she proudly went to Azkaban for him, convinced that he will free her.
* UnholyMatrimony: She's married to fellow Death Eater Rodolphus Lestrange. While she doesn't love him and cheats on him with Voldemort, she married him due to shared pure-blood supremacy views and mutual devotion towards Lord Voldemort.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort grabs her and disapparates, revealing himself to the Ministry and practically inviting the Ministry to work against him, risking attack and capture even, and he takes the time to break the statue trapping her while the Ministry workers come even though he could have escaped right before they did, leaving her behind and saving himself. He would have lost nothing because he could have freed her easily soon and he didn't need her for anything as she wasn't assigned anything till the other captured Death Eaters were freed. He even loses the opportunity to have Dumbledore captured and hurts his chances to win the war.
* VillainousCheekbones: Implied; her book appearance mentions that her face is hollowed, gaunt and skull-like.
* VillainousValour: When Bellatrix is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Azkaban, she goes proudly and without any fear. (She expects Voldemort to free her eventually, but spending even a day there is a horrifying experience.) She's also fully willing to engage almost anyone in a duel head on.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: She is very defensive of Voldemort and tries to curse Harry when he reminds her of Voldemort's half-blood status.
* WhipItGood: At one point in the films she has her wand extend a whip from its tip and uses it to duel Scabior.
* WickedWitch: One of the most evil witches in the story (her only competition is Umbridge) and the most traditional example of this archetype with a few twists, such as her ragged appearance being the result of spending over a decade in prison.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: She is constantly described as having the great good looks of the Black family and even after more than a decade in Azkaban she is said to have retained much of her beauty.
* WouldHurtAChild: She'll do this ''gleefully'', as shown when she takes utter delight in torturing 18 year-old Hermione. She also fantasizes of mentally breaking Neville through torture as she did his parents. In the films she personally volunteers to kill Harry. It goes as far as her saying that if she had children she would gladly give their lives in service to Voldemort.
* {{Yandere}}: She's completely obsessed with Voldemort.
[[/folder]]

** To Ginny Weasley. Both share some personality traits like a fiery temper, being defensive, recklessness, loyalty, obsessiveness, and passion. Ginny marries the main hero whereas Bellatrix is the lover of the main villain.

* LadyofWar: She is sadistic and revels in war, but she sits on chained chairs as if they are thrones.

** NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Rowling modelled Bellatrix on the famous Eva Braun:

* * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Rowling modelled Bellatrix on the famous Eva Braun: