Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has various memorable quotes throughout the Harry Potter movie saga, but one, in particular, is still one of the best quotes in fantasy. The fantasy genre houses some of the richest and most popular universes across different media, one of them being the wizarding world from the Harry Potter saga. The success of the Harry Potter novel series led to its jump to film, expanding the books’ fanbase and becoming an even bigger cultural phenomenon.
Over the course of eight movies, as the seventh novel was split into two, the Harry Potter saga explored the story of the title young wizard (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and the return and rise of dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who had a personal vendetta against Harry. Voldemort makes his first appearance in the first movie, although not in his own body, and it isn’t until the fourth movie, Goblet of Fire, that Voldemort makes his full comeback.
Throughout his story in the Harry Potter movie saga, and even before his body was fully restored, Voldemort left many memorable quotes – some terrifying and deep, and others that ended up becoming memes. Still, Voldemort left a mark on movie history and in the fantasy genre, becoming one of the best villains of all time, and his best line from the movies still stands as one of the best in the genre.
Lord Voldemort’s Best Harry Potter Line Brings His Journey To A Full Circle
Lord Voldemort had clear goals: to establish pure-blood supremacy, rule over the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and achieve immortality. Voldemort tried to achieve the latter through the creation of different Horcruxes, which made Harry and company’s mission of defeating Voldemort a lot harder, but definitely not impossible. However, given what happened when he killed Harry’s parents, Voldemort added another goal to his list: kill Harry Potter.
After some failed attempts, Voldemort finally got a chance to kill Harry in the final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. During the Battle of Hogwarts, and after Snape’s death, Voldemort sent a message to Harry to surrender, or he would continue to kill all those who stood in his way. Harry, after looking at Snape’s memories and learning that he was an unintentional Horcrux as a piece of Voldemort’s soul was in him, decided to surrender.
When Harry arrived, Voldemort told him, “Harry Potter, the boy who lived… come to die”, after which he cast the Avada Kedrava spell, killing the part of his soul inside Harry. While it’s a simple quote, it made a huge impact, and it’s, to this day, Voldemort’s best and one of his most quoted lines from the entire Harry Potter saga, bringing his journey full circle.
Harry’s survival when Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby is what earned him the title of “The Boy Who Lived”, and in Voldemort’s mind, if he unintentionally gave him that name, he would also be the one to take it away from him. The quote is also a perfect example of Voldemort’s evil, arrogance, and overconfidence, as he was sure he would kill Harry and massively underestimated the young wizard, his power, and his knowledge.
Of course, what makes this line even more memorable is Fiennes’ delivery, with that theatricality that characterizes him and also the perfect amount of arrogance and evil that the character requires.
Lord Voldemort Is Still One Of The Most Terrifying Fantasy Villains
Over a decade has passed since the Harry Potter movie saga ended, and the fantasy genre has seen other great villains since then, but Voldemort stands as one of the most terrifying ones. Unlike many other villains who could have had a chance at redemption at some point or in some way, that was never a possibility for Voldemort.
Voldemort was unable to love and lacked human empathy from birth, and it only got worse when he started creating Horcruxes. These completely shattered his humanity, leaving only his darkest parts, which is why he was so evil, manipulative, had a thirst for power and revenge, and knew no limits when it came to getting what he wanted. Voldemort got dangerously close to achieving immortality, and what would have come after that is a deeply terrifying thought, as he wanted pure-blood supremacy and control over both worlds.
Ultimately, despite not being as invincible as he thought he was, Voldemort is still one of the best, most memorable, and scariest villains in the fantasy genre, which, at the same time, adds to how brave and intelligent Harry Potter and his allies were in their battle against him and the Death Eaters.
- Cast
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Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen
- Character(s)
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Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, Dobby the House Elf, Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black, Ginny Weasley, Voldemort