In the series, Voldemort is the archenemy of Harry Potter, who according to a prophecy has "the power to vanquish the Dark Lord". Almost no witch hoặc wizard dares to speak his name, instead referring to him bởi epithets such as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" hoặc "the Dark Lord". Voldemort's obsession with blood purity signifies his aim to rid the wizarding world of Muggle (non-magical) heritage and to conquer both worlds, Muggle and wizarding, to achieve pure-blood dominance. Through his mother's family, he is the last descendant of wizard Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as The Necromancer from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. In Tolkien's The Silmarillion (published posthumously bởi Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien) he is also revealed to have been the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but bởi far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron."
