That said, Voldemort isn’t a cardboard cutout.
He’s fairly layered, with a grim logic to his actions and many rationalizations for his worst deeds.
These come through in his dialogue, with theDark Lord delivering many spooky, striking lines throughout the series.
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The best of them provide a glimpse inside his twisted mind, while also sounding fittingly menacing and memorable.
With this in mind, here are Voldemort’s best quotes, ranked.
10"I can touch you now."
It’s part of the reason that Voldemort fails to kill Harry in the Forbidden Forest.
With Harry’s blood in his body, Voldemort becomesan anchor tethering Harry to life.
It demonstrates how cruel he is, as well.
Instead of granting Snape a swift death, he lets Nagini tear him apart.
It’s tough to watch.
It simply makes his eventual defeat more certain.
8"Only I can live forever."
Voldemort says this during the battle at Hogwarts, delivering the line with chilling confidence.
At this point in the story, it looks as if Voldemort’s victory is assured.
It might even be painless I would not know.
I have never died."
On top of simply being menacing,the line reflects Voldemort’s obsessive fear of death.
He sees dying as the worst thing imaginable; a trait that eventually amounts to his fatal flaw.
7"Voldemort is my past, present, and future."
It also suggests that Voldemort is not capable of change or redemption.
No one can get through to him, no one can make him repent or embrace a new path.
For this reason, Harry and Riddle’s destinies will always be in opposition.
6"Was my father a wizard?"
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When Dumbledore tells him that he is a wizard, Tom’s first instinct is to question his parentage.
This becomes darkly literal whenVoldemort uses the Killing Curseon his own father.
5"You have fought valiantly.
But in vain."
At this point, he believes he has wonHarry is dead, and resistance seems futile.
In other words, he doesn’t see himself as the bad guy.
The line rolls off the tongue, too.
The alliteration is fantastic (even if it sounds a little like something out ofV for Vendetta).
4"Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate."
Once again, the line succeeds in being coldly frightening without being over-the-top.
He frames it as an offer, but there is no real choice; he expects obedience.
At this point, Voldemort believes he has complete control.
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But what he doesn’t realize is that Harrys willingness to face death is what sets him apart.
In the end, this ensures his victory.
The phrasing is vivid and colorful, conjuring up a striking image.
Butit’s also unsettling, hinting at Voldemort’s inhumanity.
His essence is split between the seven Horcruxes, but he himself is soulless.
There are literal ghosts who are more warm and lively than Voldemort.
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The line also emphasizes Voldemort’s obsession with survival at any cost.
Even in his most vulnerable state, he never saw himself as truly defeated.
It also highlights his greatest fearceasing to exist.
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For Voldemort, even an existence of agony and weakness is preferable to death.
This makes him a formidable, relentless adversary.
2"Kill the spare!"
These three words mark one of the mostshocking deaths in the Harry Potter series.
Unlike his more theatrical speeches, this command is abrupt and emotionless.
This is lean, efficient writing, quickly becoming one of the most iconic moments in the film.
Cedric’s killing is a significant pivot point for the whole series.
1"There is no good and evil.
There is only power, and those too weak to seek it."
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Voldemort’s greatest line is this one, a spine-chilling declaration of his moral relativism.
The line is psychologically sophisticated too.
This is realistic; many criminals and tyrants in the real world think this way.
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It’s a scary sentiment, one that brooks no argument and is not amenable to reason.
NEXT:The Best ‘Harry Potter’ Movie Quotes, Ranked
