Harry Potter is just as much the story of its eponymous hero as it is the saga of Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. One of the greatest wizards who ever lived- in terms of power, not deeds- Voldemort dedicated his life to life itself. By life itself, we naturally mean the pursuit of immortality. His desire to never meet his end caused him to create his own Horcruxes, splitting his soul into seven different pieces. At the same time, Voldemort also wanted to wipe out every non-Pureblood wizard out there, an act that would tear the Wizarding World in two for years.

Did it all begin that way, though? This is a question the series actually does strive to answer. As we learn more about Harry, Harry learns more about the man he is fighting to defeat in battle. Tom Riddle’s arc is one of the most dynamic elements of the franchise. As we learn more about the younger Voldemort, we get a glimpse at his family, his upbringing, and the events that made him the dark lord. It’s a journey that makes Voldemort all the more interesting, shining a light on a family we rarely get to see in action.

25 Tom Riddle Senior’s Bones Were Used To Revive Voldemort

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Considering just how much Voldemort hated his father, it’s only fitting that ol’ Tom Riddle Senior’s bones be used to bring the lord of darkness back to his proper body during the course of the series. This is a detail that seems just like a cute connection at first, but it shines so much light on the spite that Voldemort held for his paternal side of the family. He is so odious, that Voldemort is more than comfortable using his father’s bones, desecrating his eternal rest, so that he may rise once again. If that doesn’t sum up Voldemort in one act, nothing does.

24 Voldemort Never Understood His Father

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For as otherworldly horrifying as Voldemort can be, there are certain human elements to his character that pop up every now and again. Perhaps the most humanizing is just how little he seemed to understand his father. Voldemort isn’t sympathetic or empathetic in this sense, but he is scorned.

He never tried. 

So scorned, in fact, that Voldemort refused to inquire anymore about his father’s life. He simply saw a man who had abandoned his mother and chose to take revenge. Voldemort never sought out answers, how could he? This was a man who ostensibly ruined his life. Voldemort grew into quite the monster, but he was, at some point, just a boy who misunderstood the world.

23 Tom Riddle Senior Was Cut From The Movies

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Considering just how long the books are, and how comparatively short the films are, content was always going to be cut during the adaptation process. With that said, it is important to recognize that certain detail should and shouldn’t be cut. In the case of the sixth movie, the major flashback that fleshes out Tom Riddle’s descent into Voldemort probably should stay in.

Unfortunately, Tom Riddle Senior was a casualty, ultimately cut from the final film. As a result, the movies just don’t carry the same impact as the books when it comes to learning about Voldemort. Seeing his father and the relationship between himself and Merope was a huge deal in the books, coloring Tom Riddle Juniors’ upbringing.

22 Voldemort Seemingly Has A Low Opinion Of His Mother

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For a character who basically enacted a revenge plot against his father, Voldemort doesn’t seem to actually care about his mother all too much. Despite being Pureblood, Voldemort scarcely mentions her or seems to care whatsoever that she was a woman who existed. It’s entirely likely that, in falling in love with a muggle, Voldemort naturally disregards her for sullying their Pureblood line. At the same time, Voldemort should be able to recognize that he wouldn’t have been born without this union.

21 Voldemort Never Learns Why His Parents Separated

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Merope’s relationship with Tom Riddle Senior might genuinely be one of the most morbid plots JK Rowling during the course of the series. Completely enamored with Riddle, Merope gave him a love potion and essentially kept him emotionally hostage for years, locking Riddle into a marriage he never wanted to be a part of.

It’s an incredibly dark thread that shows just how doomed Voldemort was from the start. What makes it all the crueler is the fact that Voldemort never learned the truth behind their relationship. It’s very unlikely said revelation would change his perspective on the world around him, but it might have elucidated him to different viewpoints.

20 Voldemort’s Mother Represents A Villain's Spin On The Theme Of Love

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On that note, it’s not by accident in a series the frequently utilizes love as both a concept and a theme that Voldemort’s mother abuses love for her own selfish needs. In this sense, Merope becomes Lily’s antithesis. Where Lily selflessly used love to save her son’s life, Merope selfishly used love to steal away her son’s father’s life, inadvertently destroying Voldemort’s life in the process. It’s only fitting that on a thematic level Voldemort represents a complete rejection of the idea of love.

19 Merope Was Also Cut From The Movies

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While a condensed version of Merope’s plot could work in the films without Tom Riddle Senior, more or less just covering the most important thematic elements so to still comment on Voldemort’s character, she, unfortunately, ended up being a casualty of the cutting room floor along with her lover.

There's no room for flashbacks in a movie adapting a book full of Harry experience flashbacks. 

The lack of Tom Riddle Senior is bad enough since it robs audiences of reflecting on Voldemort’s true horrors, but the lack of his mother, Merope, is even worse. Without Merope, viewers have no frame of reference for who Voldemort is, who he could have been, and how he became the man he did.

18 Voldemort Ruined Morfin’s Life

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We don’t really get to learn too much about Voldemort’s family outside of his mother and father in the books, but we do get a good glimpse at Morfin, Merope’s brother and the man who ultimately took the fall for Voldemort’s revenge against his father. For no reason other than to hide his tracks, Voldemort orchestrated a scenario where, at 16 years of age, he successfully set up a crime scene to indicate Morfin had slain a muggle, landing him a lifetime and Azkaban and robbing him of his life. This fate was so cruel that Dumbledore even lamented how Morfin’s life fell apart for no reason other than his nephew’s desire to sew chaos.

17 Morfin Was ALSO Cut From The Films

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Because apparently the movies weren’t allowed to delve into any of the interesting parts of Voldemort’s backstory, Morfin was also ultimately cut from the sixth film. Of all the Voldemort family members to go, Morfin does make the most sense, but in a film without Tom Riddle Senior or Merope, Morfin’s mini-plot would have made for a nice way of showing the audience what Voldemort was capable of as a teenager. It could have been a short and sweet flashback, but, alas, it was not meant to be.

16 Why Voldemort’s Extended Family May Have Been Omitted

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With so many Voldemort related plots getting cut, and all of them related to his family, let’s try and speculate as to why the movies would choose to eliminate Voldemort’s family members. For starters, on a narrative level, they reiterate what we already know: Voldemort is evil. It doesn’t help that, in terms of plot progression, they don’t really advance the story either.

Gotta keep the focus on the good guys. 

There’s also the fact of the matter that the sixth book was very much building up to the end of Dumbledore’s life, meaning even more time was spent with Dumbledore than usual. As a result, screen time was most likely prioritized with Albus in mind. Which is a shame since Voldemort was needing some extra development by this point too.

15 Merope Could Have Saved Voldemort

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Had Merope survived long enough to actually raise her son, it’s entirely likely Voldemort’s life would have changed for the better. Not only would young Tom Riddle have his mother’s perspective to give him an appreciation of muggles, Tom would have had a healthy upbringing with a mother who loved him.

As Merope did not go to Hogwarts herself, Tom would arrive at the school with no baggage. He would be able to forge his own path, influenced only by the love his mother bore him. Voldemort could have been a Harry-esque figure, yearning to grow and see the world instead of a monster bent on domination.

14 Voldemort And Salazar Slytherin

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At the same time, how we are nurtured can only do so much to suppress our nature. Had Merope survived, Voldemort would still sooner or later come to the realization that he was related to Salazar Slytherin. Impressionable, it’s likely that Tom would have tried to follow Slytherin’s example, becoming a fearsome wizard even with his mother guiding him. While Salazar was at least decent enough to not try to genocide an entire group of people, he wasn’t a particularly good man which can be plainly seen in Voldemort’s character.

13 Bellatrix Is The Closest Thing Voldemort Had To A Real Family

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In the original series, Bellatrix’s devotion for Lord Voldemort is appreciated, but not necessarily reciprocated. He sees her as a valuable asset to the Death Eaters, but doesn’t seem to care about her all too much besides a fleeting admiration. Until The Cursed Child, that is, when it’s revealed that they had a daughter together.

It's hard to imagine Voldemort feeling anything resembling love, let alone lust. 

Delphini’s existence inadvertently makes the relationship between Voldemort and Bellatrix far more meaningful than it once was. Now, it’s clear that Voldemort had some semblance of attraction to her, enough to want a family with her. As a result, Bellatrix goes from a loyal lackey to a lover and a part of the Voldemort family tree.

12 Delphini’s Existence Makes Little Sense

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That said, it really is hard to reconcile the fact that Delphini exists. At no point in the series did Voldemort suggest he was interesting in love, romance, or forging a sensual connection with someone else. For Delphini to exist, we need to accept the fact that Voldemort was not primarily interested in extending his own life.

In having a daughter, Voldemort’s motivations becomes cloudy. What he wanted was literal, eternal life- not life through a child. Voldemort was the most important person in his own life and him having a daughter betrays that theme immensely. It’s hard to care about a new character when they make your main villain’s motivations incomprehensible.

11 Voldemort Would Have Liked Delphini Nonetheless

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Even if Delphini’s presence in the series is totally nonsensical, Voldemort probably would have liked her if he got the chance to know her. Taking strongly after both her mother and her father, Delphini is a ruthless little monster who wants nothing more than to keep Voldemort’s will alive. She’s basically the perfect Death Eater, embodying all their worst traits, but with enough intelligence to actively manipulate her enemies. In a respect, she’s one of the most dangerous antagonists in the entire series. Her father would be proud.

10 Voldemort’s Maternal Side Speaks Parseltongue

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The world would likely have been a very different place if Voldemort didn’t inherit Parseltongue from his mother. A Gaunt trait, Merope spoke Parseltongue along with the rest of her extended family. It’s only fitting then that her son also speak Parseltongue. If Voldemort didn’t have this ability, however, he likely wouldn’t have seen himself as a natural extension of Salazar’s legacy, spurring him towards a very extreme path of darkness. Of course, this is running until the pretense that Tom Riddle could have been anything even remotely resembling a regular wizard.

9 What The Name “Riddle” Represents

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JK Rowling has always been particularly good at giving her characters meaningful names. Tom Riddle is no exception. Easily one of the most mysterious characters in the series, uncovering his true nature is arguably one of the narrative more pressing “riddles.” That said, the real riddle is not so much the mystery, but the process.

A bit on the nose, but it gets the job done. 

Throughout the books, Harry needs to do some legitimate sleuthing at every turn of his journey to better understand Voldemort. This is a conceptual riddle that encompasses the entire series. Even by the very end of the saga, there’s this sense that Tom Riddle hasn’t been fully understood.

8 Voldemort Is Descended From What He Hates Most

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Voldemort has two key motivations throughout the series: his pursuit for immortality and his desire to wipe out all non-Pureblooded wizards in the world. Of the two, the latter is by far the most dangerous, threatening nearly the entire world at large. Interestingly, however, Voldemort would need to wipe out himself.

Voldemort is not Pureblood at all as his father was a muggle. This isn’t an act of ignorance on Voldemort’s part, either. He knows his father is a muggle and has known for most of his life. Like any good villain, Voldemort is a massive hypocrite and is willing to overlook his own “flaws” to enact worldwide genocide.

7 Delphini As The “Ultimate Horcrux”

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In The Cursed Child, Harry explicitly refers to Delphini as the “Ultimate Horcrux.” In this context, Harry is effectively saying that Delphini represents what Voldemort wanted most: life. Afraid of the inevitable, Voldemort dedicated his entire life to finding a way to circumvent death. At the end of it all, he created the Horcruxes which, in a cruel twist of fate, ultimately caused him to lose his life. Delphini represents something much bigger, however. While Voldemort does not himself live on, his presence very much does. Which brings us to our next point...

6 Voldemort’s Legacy Still Lives On

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Given that Harry perceives Delphini as a conceptual “Ultimate Horcrux,” we can assume Harry realizes exactly what Delphini represents: the enduring legacy of Tom Riddle. In creating life, Voldemort has ensured his legacy will carry on through both blood and spirit. More importantly, Delphini actually survives the events of the play. She’s in Azkaban, of course, but villains break out of Azkaban all the time. So long as Delphini lives, so does Voldemort’s will and testament. Harry Potter will never be free.