Evil Wizard Rant

[Saltheart]

One thing that always bugs me about the Harry Potter universe is that wizards really AREN'T that powerful. I fail to see how Voldemort could be a serious threat to muggle kind. No matter how many times he splits his soul, there is not way he would be able to survive a tactical nuclear strike: all his souls are in one country! It is laughable to compare how much of a bad, bad man this dude is compared to other fantasy villains. Sauron and Melkor practically destroyed all ties between the Valinor and Elves and Men; Lord Foul metaphorically raped the Earth and perverted the Creations' Faith, over and over again; Hell, even the White Witch did more in terms of collateral damage. What did Voldemort do? Rally a bunch of bumbling KKK members in a miniscule society of Wizards. That's about it. Yep. Pretty dangerous, no?

Why does he keep getting outsmarted by a teenager? Why doesn't he just get a pistol and go on a massacre, or why doesn't he simply shoot the boy, for god's sake! Magic in Harry Potter's Wizarding World is very weak compared to modern technology, yet wizards look down upon muggles as if they're a bunch of fools, when it's really the other way around. Seriously, how come wizard are dumb enough to not know how to dress up and blend in with muggles... it's not like Harry tried to put a Wizarding hat like a sock!

If Voldemort were ever revealed to the muggle public, he would be so totally PWNED. One nuke, and there goes his plan. One shot. One military strike. Anything. He really isn't that evil or that dangerous, so why doesn't the ministry of magic simply ask for support of muggles? Why don't they collaborate? Damn, are they all retarded or something?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I've calmed down a bit now. After realizing this today, I realized how silly the plot of the series is.... but I'm still hoping I can find out why doesn't any wizard simply use muggle inventions to end this nonsense.

[keeron_man_boy]

LMFAO HAHAHAHHAHAHA

u do know that these books are for children? and thats whats they are.. books!!

use ur imagination

[Culhwch]

Okay...

Well, I see where you are coming from (though, the tactical nuclear strike is a bit much - I'm not sure the British government would be keen to bomb themselves....) but it is just a book. It all serves the narrative. The bumbling nature of the wizards is part of their charm. The division between muggles and witches and wizards is key in the set-up and throughout the series. It would be a rather short, and an entirely different story, if it was a case of, oops, there's Voldemort, let's call SWAT in to come take him out.... If that's the book you want, get out there and write it. If it does half so well as HP, you'll be laughing.

[ebony heart]

i see your point.......Surroman is SO MUCH BETTER THAN voldomort.

[Crazihors]

you know, it's probably going to end with voldemort being shot or stabbed or something, seeing as though he's probably made sure he can't be killed by magic......and it'll be neville who does it.....or maybe Sauron will drop out of a harrier jump jet and kill him because he's a complete disgrace to evil villains

[Joel007]

Yep, all it takes for a good villian is the immunity to nuclear weapons.

[The Ace]

Originally Posted by Joel007

Yep, all it takes for a good villian is the immunity to nuclear weapons.

Ah, now I know what was in your glowing syringe.

[Joel007]

Fortunately I had Hoopy's help in developing skin with a resistance to several thousand degrees, so the radiation and shockwave were my only problems.

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well for the person who said he wasn't that powerful. Being able to kill someone with a word, change your shape & appearance (polymorph potions) and making someone do your bidding by force (Imperius Curse) sounds pretty damn powerful to me. Add the fact you have a gang of similarly skilled and ruthless individuals to help you makes them very dangerous to anyone. Other wizards are probably the only ones (on a 1-to-1 basis) capable of defending themselves. Yes you could shoot them - if you snuck up on them or caught them off guard but try it when they can see you would not be so easy.

However, the idea of him being constantly thwarted by a child does demean him to Dick Dastardly proportions...

[PTeppic]

If the Ministry of Magic were able to surround, and I literally mean surround, Voldemort with their eight or ten most powerful aurors, he'd be stuffed. He can only kill one or two at once. They only need one of them to hit him with something suitable, even potentially as weak as PS's full body bind curse. However, the character is more likely to try escaping, so they'd have to be fast.

It would also be curious how effective Muggle weapons would be against determined and powerful witches and wizards. They can make things fly, invisible and unplottable. Removing kinetic energy from ballistic weapons, heat and force from explosions and even the blast of a thermonuclear weapon might be easy in comparison...

Why has he won so often against a teenager, apart from the boy being the hero of a kid's book? Overlooking the power of love, the strength of loyalty, love (that of the deceased, partially freed by Prior Incantati), and the aid of (powerful) friends. Do you think JKR is trying to make a message?

[Tabasco]

Originally Posted by PTeppic

Do you think JKR is trying to make a message?

Yeah, something along the lines of, "I have more money than the bloody queen, and come July the separation will increase tenfold."


But on the Voldemort thing, I think the wizards have an uppity view of themselves dating back centuries. I doubt the average wizard would even know to stop a bullet, because the gun is obviously a 'broken wand.' Even Mr. Weasley, who seems to love muggle gadgets, does not understand them. Muggles adapt. Wizards don't. So in their ancient ways, the wizards probably feel that Voldemort is a threat to muggles, when in reality... he's not much of one. Just a different kind of psychopath.

Besides, the PM in the book is kind of daft... a plot device. Let the Minister of Magic try that appearing and disappearing thing with someone like a Tony Blair. He'd appear one day and Jack Straw would grab him in a headlock while Blair was breaking his kneecaps.

[PTeppic]

A bit harsh on JKR? For a kids book series it's reasonably well conceived, internally consistent and pre-planned and finishing the way she said it would all those years ago. It's got kids interested in reading (many adults too) in an age when books were becoming door-stops, even if, through good PR, she's making an absolute fortune out of it. Drat those pesky side-effects...

I'd go back to WintersSorrow's point: he can do things with a word (or in many cases without). Kill, command or disapparate. How are Muggles going to control him unless he happens to appear in the middle of an event that's already supplied with armed personnel. In two seconds he'll vanish to somewhere else. Despite my previous posting, being shot from three sides by Taser would probably be sufficient to bring him down... the problem is keeping him there till the ARVs arrived and deployed.

And I don't know about you, but it's Prescott I'd be worried about... and the armed squad who probably roam around Number 10.

[Lith]

Wherever Voldie's at, I'm guessing it's unplottable, and therefore un-nukable. And yeah, there's the danger of collateral deaths. But as yet Voldie is unknown to Muggles- he seems to be concentrating on ruling the wizards, which I guess is kind of silly. But then we see Voldemort from Harry's viewpoint, and still don't know a lot about him and what else he may have done or be capable of doing.

As for being outwitted by a teenager- the books are for teens. It is a flaw, but not all that horrible. I think that's why I like book 3 the best- it's the only book where Harry doesn't fight Voldemort.

[Commonmind]

As a villain Voldermort is relative to the story; he serves as a perfect antagonist to the characters and the "fictional" world in which they live. The villains throughout literature tend to be this way. While we can compare them outside the realm of their respective novels, trying to stuff them into stories they were not written for is inane and serves no purpose - save being the theme of a humorous conversation. I disagree with almost everything you've touched upon, and I think this has to do with the fact that I read each individual book as an individual experience. I have no trouble believing Voldermort as a villain and I'm not concerned that he doesn't "stack-up" to characters like The Dark One, Sauron or even Raistlin, when comparing the extent of their power.

That being said, if you'd like to read a story with a decidedly powerless villain, pick up Inkheart and give that a whirl; I think you'll find Capricorn that much more ingratiating.

[Rawled Demha]

come on guys, he be a wizard. a powerful wizard. he dont need something basic like a home. he can be constantly on the move, now that hes got a body again.

and i think that normal human weapons wouldnt work either - he has, on his person so to speak, only one seventh of his soul. he cannot die until that seventh is the last seventh. magic can kill him, so long as it kill him seven times over...

and i think hes more than a little peeved at bein thwarted by a bonehead such as hp as well, it does come across in their brief and few encounters.and hp is never really the one that thwarts him, hes always had help in some form or another, often in ways that really do the thwarting.

and in response to the general undertone in this thread, it is no longer a story for children. it was released in 97 when i was a kid, but now im a man and the story has developed into much more mature themes. in my copy of chamber of secrets the end has letters from kids as young as seven appreciating her work...try gettin a standard 7 yr old to read the half blood prince.