History Characters / HarryPotterDeathEaters

* Magnificent Bastard

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 [[spoiler:her cousin Sirius Black and niece Nymphadora Tonks]]. She was [[killed by Molly Weasley]].

* BondVillainStupidity: Tom, the EvilOverlordList is an enumeration of things you are supposed to ''avoid doing'', not a bloody to-do checklist! Especially take a look at the "This cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!" bit of the list. You need some serious help with assessing your strengths and weaknesses in a realistic manner.

* CreepyChild: As a kid, he was a creepy orphan who often tormented the other kids at the orphanage. Two of them even went permanently mute after what he did to them. He went around torturing little kids, killing bunnies, and stealing toys for goodness' sakes! He was in dire need of counseling and anger management -- even moreso as his maniacal adult self.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Repeatedly]].

* LeaveHimToMe: Every time he comes across Harry. Although he's proven himself quite incompetent when it comes to Harry, he MUST be the one to kill Harry Potter. (As he even says in ''DeathlyHallows'' Part One).

** [[spoiler:Or Narcissa.]]
* [[spoiler:LovePotion: The basis of his conception. After it wore off, daddy left. It's a big reason why he doesn't understand love.]] And he has Daddy issues in general, to the point he committed patricide.

* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: His attempt to kill Harry backfired on him and left him bodiless and powerless. And every time he seems to get a good plan, none of them come out successful.

* RevengeBeforeReason: The reason behind his BondVillainStupidity.

* {{Stupicide}}
* StupidEvil: He'll kill anyone who impedes or irritates him in any way at the drop of a hat. ''Anyone''. Even his own men.

* TooDumbToLive: Not literally stupid -- he's supposedly a genius -- but stupidly arrogant and willfully blind.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: 1. Problem. 2. Avada Kedavra. 3. Go To 2.

* EvilIsSexy: In the movies. Mostly averted in the books, although Bellatrix fit this trope in her pre-imprisonment flashback.

* TheDragon

* TheDragon: To Voldemort.

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 [[spoiler:her cousin Sirius Black and niece Nymphadora Tonks]]. She was [[spoiler:the last Death Eater standing during the final battle before being killed by Molly Weasley]].

A Death Eater who was fanatically loyal to Lord Voldemort. 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 [[spoiler:her cousin Sirius Black and niece Nymphadora Tonks]]. She was [[spoiler:the last Death Eater standing during the final battle before being killed by Molly Weasley]].

* BoomerangBigot: One of the goals of the Death Eaters was the elimination of any wizard who wasn't pure-blooded, especially if they were Muggle-born, but Voldemort himself was a half-blood.

* [[spoiler:ChildByRape: His mother drugged his father with a LovePotion. It's implied that this has something to do with his inability to understand love.]]
** [[spoiler:Rather, it's ''symbolic'' of how he is unable to understand love. He came from a loveless union. He mostly turned out the way he did because he grew up feared and bullied by other kids in the orphanage. He knew there was something different about him, and used this to his advantage to scare and manipulate his peers. It is said that if his mother hadn't died, and had raised him with love, he would have turned out differently.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Repeatedly.]]

* [[spoiler:{{Stupicide}}]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Crossed when she, her husband, brother, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Barty Jr.]] subject poor Alice and Frank Longbottom (Neville's parents) to a FateWorseThanDeath -- prolonged torture by the Cruciatus curse until they became insane, unrecognizable vegetables. It's even worse that they did it after Voldemort was gone.

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]]

* [[spoiler:HighHeelFaceTurn]]: Narcissa's is a major example. [[spoiler:When Voldemort casts a Killing Curse on Harry during the Battle Of Hogwarts, he asks Narcissa to check Harry's vital signs. She uses this opportunity, when she sees that he is alive, to covertly ask him if he knows of Draco's well-being. When Harry replies quietly that he is safe, Narcissa betrays the Dark Lord, saying that Harry is dead.]]

* [[spoiler:BloodbathVillainOrigin]]

* LargeHam: HelenaBonhamCarter [[ChewingTheScenery devours the scenery]] during all of her scenes. It's ''delicious''.

Real name Tom Marvolo Riddle. The EvilOverlord of the wizarding world in Britain, he fears no one but Albus Dumbledore. Before his downfall, some ten years before the main plot of the first book, he killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people and gathered a huge band of followers, known as "Death Eaters." He tried to kill one-year old Harry Potter after murdering both of his parents, but failed due to ThePowerOfLove. The rebounding curse hit him instead, but he remained alive due to [[spoiler:the [[SoulJar horcruxes]], which contained parts of his soul]].

* AristocratsAreEvil: His title "Lord Voldemort" is merely an anagram of his real name, but he is the heir of a noble title from his Muggle father's side of the family tree. [[spoiler:And on his mother's side, he's the last descendant of a line that could be considered wizard nobility.]]

* BadBoss: It is very clear that most of his underlings -- including even those who joined Death Eaters to satisfy their sadism -- obey him out of abject terror. As punishment for failure, he is not above sending their children to what he thinks is certain death, even having a fit and killing whoever happens to be nearby. He has a nasty habit of holding onto grudges. If you upset him thirteen years ago, expect him to find and kill you.

* BoomerangBigot: One of the goals of the Death Eaters was the elimination of any wizard who wasn't pure-blooded, specially if they were muggleborn, but Voldemort himself was a half-blood.

** [[spoiler: Rather, it's ''symbolic'' of how he is unable to understand love. He came from a loveless union. He mostly turned out the way he did because he grew up feared and bullied by other kids in the orphanage. He knew there was something different about him, and used this to his advantage to scare and manipulate his peers. It is said that if his mother hadn't died, and had raised him with love, he would have turned out differently.]]

* CreepyChild: As a kid, he was a creepy orphan who often tormented the other kids at the orphanage. Two of them even went permanently mute after what he did to them. He went around torturing little kids, killing bunnies, and stealing toys for goodness sakes! He was in dire need of counseling and anger management and even moreso as his maniacal adult self.

* TheDreaded: Lord Voldemort, AKA "You-Know-Who" and "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." He is even quite fond of using his own name in all his sentences, "DO NOT LIE TO LORD VOLDEMORT" just to get the message that he's high and mighty across.

** He is Dumbledore's match in terms of magical abilities and cunning. [[spoiler:In fact, this goes even further when Dumbledore turned out to have a similar idea of wizards' superiority over muggles during youth.]]
** Voldemort is also Harry's in terms of growing environment and personality. While Harry is born from the loving union between his parents, Voldemort is born from the completely loveless (and magically forced) union of his own parents. Also, Harry's parents, in an ultimate act of love, sacrificed themselves so that Harry may live while Voldemort's father abandoned him and Voldemort's mother died due to despair, leaving her son all alone in the world (which explains Voldemort's inability to understand love). Personality-wise, Harry and Voldemort are courageous and smart; however, while Harry goes out of his way to help his friends, Voldemort uses people for his own ends and throws them away when they are no longer useful.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: Snake eyes, flat face, no nose...in the movies, he has long, rotting fingernails, disgusting teeth, and looks like a corpse.

** On his mother's side, the Gaunt/Slytherin bloodline has been affected by generations, even centuries, of incenstuous inbreeding, which both diluted the magical potential of the family and produced a bunch of batshit insane nutcases. His grandfather and uncle were both terribly messed up and his mother, physically and verbally abused by both of them, had her own serious issues. That Voldemort's father was a Muggle, [[BoomerangBigot ironically enough]], was the reason for his own phenomenal magical potential, but it is heavily implied it was his genes that made him into a psychopath.

* [[spoiler:LovePotion: The basis of his conception. After it wore off, daddy left. It's a big reason why he doesn't understand love.]] And he has Daddy issues in general to the point he commited patricide.
* ManipulativeBastard: His trademark during his younger days, before he became ObviouslyEvil. He was able to charm everyone he met into doing what he wanted, except for [[TheDumbledore Dumbledore]], that is. Just look what happened with [[spoiler: Ginny]] in [[HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]].
* MeaningfulName: "Vol de mort" is approximately French for "flight of death/from death." Alternatively "voleur de mort" would be "thief of death."

* RedEyesTakeWarning: In the books only, the films let Ralph Fiennes keep his blue eyes while playing the character.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: By choosing Harry, he set in motion the chain of events that will bring his downfall.

* SmugSnake: Well [[IncrediblyLamePun ''DUH''!]]
* TheSociopath: Let's see: ConsummateLiar, [[ManipulativeBastard casual manipulation]] of everyone around him, [[TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior a history of childhood cruelty]], [[LackOfEmpathy remorseless violation of the rights of others]], [[EvilCannotComprehendGood and an inability to understand love?]] That's Voldemort all right.
* SoulFragment: [[spoiler:When he tried to kill the one-year old Harry and failed, he accidentally made him into a horcrux, forging a connection between their minds.]]
* SoulJar: The horcruxes in general.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: 1. Problem. 2. Avada Kedavra 3. Go To 2.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: FanFiction is divided as portraying her either as a BrokenBird {{Woobie}} who was forced into a life she didn't want, or as a DepravedBisexual arguably even [[BeyondTheImpossible more sadistic]] that her literary counterpart. And then there's HelenaBonhamCarter's [[PsychopathicManchild Psychopathic Womanchild]] take on the character.

** Especially in the movies where there are more physical similarities between EmmaWatson and HelenaBonhamCarter than the book versions.

* 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. Which doubles as DeathByIrony, considering Bellatrix killed Sirius when he underestimated her abilities. Later, Bellatrix is killed when she [[spoiler:[[UnderestimatingBadassery underestimates]] [[MamaBear Molly]]]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Crossed when she, her husband, brother, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Barty Jr.]] subject poor Alice and Frank Longbottom (Neville's parents) to a FateWorseThanDeath -- prolonged torture by Crucio curse until they became insane, unrecognizable vegetables. It's even worse that they did it after Voldemort was gone.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Placing Tom Riddle's diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron, knowing exacly how powerful it was.]]
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: So very much.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Narcissa and Lucius, whose marriage, from the fans' point of view, may simply have been one of convienience until the opening scene of ''DeathlyHallows''.

* BlondesAreEvil: [[spoiler: Averted during her HeelFaceTurn]]; however, Narcissa is generally snobbish towards others.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler: Harry]], or, at least for the time being...

* [[spoiler: HighHeelFaceTurn]]: Narcissa's is a major example. [[spoiler: When Voldemort casts a Killing Curse on Harry during the Battle Of Hogwarts, he asks Narcissa to check Harry's vital signs. She uses this opportunity, when she sees that he is alive, to covertly ask him if he knows of Draco's well-being. When Harry replies quietly that he is safe, Narcissa betrays the Dark Lord, saying that Harry is dead.]]

* NotSoHarmless: Wormtail, who was considered to be a bit of a dunder and weak not only managed to become a Animagus at the age of 15, a impressive feat no matter if you had help, but he was skilled enough to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix, which counted among its membership incredibly powerful wizards such as Moody and Dumbledore. He was cunning and sly enough to be a spy for the Death Eaters and discreet enough to deflect suspicion from everyone, even Dumbledore. After the death of James and Lily and the fall of Voldemort his escape plan to free himself from Sirius borders on MagnificentBastard, as he loudly accused Sirius of betraying James and Lily for all those around them to hear, created a massive explosion that killed 12 innocents, a blast of destructive power as has yet to be equaled in the series and faked his death by slicing one of his finger and transforming to a rat and escaping to the sewers, leaving a thunderstruck and framed Sirius behind while he spent 13 years hidden away in a wizarding family and free. He was skilled enough to cast the powerful Killing Curse to its full effect with a wand that was not his and he was capable of brew several complicated dark potions that give Voldemort his corporal form once again. All in all, NotSoHarmless is he?

* CompleteMonster: In the movie version definetly. In the book, it is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up to the interpretation.]]

* EvilGenius: He is very intelligent, and it is he who played major part in Voldemort's return.

* KnightTemplar: Ironic, considering how his despised father was one. Nevertheless, Barty, Jr. fits this as well since he seemed to truly believe in the righteousness of the Death Eater cause with his zealotry perhaps equally only by that of Bellatrix Lestrange. In contrast, Death Eaters such as Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew serve Voldemort almost entirely out of self-interest.
* MoralEventHorizon: Despite joining the Death Eaters due to neglectful parenting, there's still the fact that he ''willingly'' took part in Bellatrix's MoralEventHorizon; the Longbottom's incurable insanity is on his head just as much as Bellatrix's.

* PsychoSupporter: In both the book and the movie, but in the movie it was [[EvilIsHammy made more obvious]].
* TragicVillain: His actions aren't at all justifiable, but he's motivated by his daddy issues if that makes it any better.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In Goblet of Fire, Crouch proved himself smarter and more capable than pretty much anyone in the series. He defeated/captured Moody, fooled Dumbledore for an entire year, rigged the Tri-Wizard tournament, and he was a pretty darn good teacher. Seeing the Death Eaters fumble around in the last few books, makes you wonder what would have happened if Voldemort's strongest servant hadn't been killed off.

* BadBoss: Is this to the ministry officials, if his attitude torwards Reg Cattermole is anything to go by.

* {{Foil}}: To Lupin. Lupin is fearful of harming those around him, and is constantly seeking ways to hide or repress his inner wolf. Greyback gleefully embraces the monster within, even when not in that form, and is known for sticking close to his targets so that he can get to them at point blank range when the full moon hits. [[spoiler: Helps that Greyback is the guy that caused Lupin's trouble in the first place.]]

Scabior is a member of the Snatchers, a loose group of mercenaries hired by Voldemort to hunt down those who violate his reign of terror. His particular band of Snatchers captures Harry, Ron and Hermione. After consulting with Fenrir Greyback, Scabior takes the Trio to the house of Malfoy. He wants to keep the Sword of Gryffindor for himself, so when Bellatrix Lestrange tries to take it from him; he resists, and she knocks him out.

* CompleteMonster: Rowling calls him a "raging psychopath" and "pure evil," and he is indeed a nasty piece of work. Voldemort is a ruthless, bigoted mass murderer and child-killing megalomaniac, and an egotistical, emotionally unstable lunatic prone to fits of homicidal outrage. Besides that, he commited patricide, killed his uncle, murdered various innocent people (and had Nagini possess one of them), tried to kill a baby, robs an old man's grave, tortures old men, and various other psychotic rampages of senseless violence. His POV sections from his childhood reveal an amoral, self-centred JerkAss with a smug sense of self-worth and a coldly indifferent attitude to other people. About the only thing to be said in his defense is a bad childhood and particularly warped genetics, with the implication that he really was born bad and had no real choice.

* RevengeBeforeReason: The reason behind his BondVillainStupidity and VillainDecay.

* VillainDecay: YourMileageMayVary. But many argue that he was much scarier as a menace in the shadows who's known for killing people, than he is after his {{backstory}} is revealed and he's shown to be a StupidEvil homicidal maniac, who may do some [[AdolfHitler Hitler]]-esque things to reinforce his status as a CompleteMonster.

* CompleteMonster: Bellatrix is one of the most repulsive {{Complete Monster}}s in the whole series, only rivalled by Umbridge, Greyback, and Voldemort himself.

** [[spoiler:The blast was actually an example of his ''lack'' of talent, or at least reckless desperation. When everyone thought it was Sirius, they assumed it was extraordinary, powerful magic because if it was Sirius, the blast was direct; since it was Pettigrew, who was facing Sirius, what really happened was he panicked and threw around magic with abandon in a bid to escape, killing a dozen people in the process. And the potions he only brewed under Voldemort's direct supervision. Pettigrew is competent, but he is at beast an above-average wizard, compared to the truly powerful ones he associates with in both the good and evil camps.]]

* BlondesAreEvil: Averted during her HeelFaceTurn; however, Narcissa is generally snobbish towards others.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Harry, or, at least for the time being...

* HighHeelFaceTurn: Narcissa's is a major example. When Voldemort casts a Killing Curse on Harry during the Battle Of Hogwarts, he asks Narcissa to check Harry's vital signs. She uses this opportunity, when she sees that he is alive, to covertly ask him if he knows of Draco's well-being. When Harry replies quietly that he is safe, Narcissa betrays the Dark Lord, saying that Harry is dead.

After rising again and seizing power, [[spoiler:he is killed by Harry (and another rebounding curse) in a [[ShowdownAtHighNoon Showdown at Sunrise]].]] Has something of a snake fetish, and can talk to snakes. Furthermore, he's outright insane and creepy. If you haven't noticed, drawing tatooes of skulls vomiting a snake isn't a sign of optimal mental health.

* KarmicDeath: Voldemort's rebirth potion requires "flesh of the servant, willingly given"; Peter cuts off his hand, and Voldemort rewards him with [[ChekhovsGun a silver hand]]. [[spoiler:In ''DeathlyHallows'', the hand strangles Peter when he betrays a tiny impulse of reluctance while attempting to kill Harry, to whom he has a life debt.]]