Personality
Rowling described Voldemort as "the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years".[4] She elaborated that he is a "raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering", and whose only ambition in life is to become all-powerful and immortal. He is also a sadist who hurts and murders people – especially Muggles – just for pleasure. He has no conscience, feels no remorse, and does not recognise the worth and humanity of anybody except himself.[39] He feels no need for human companionship or friendship, and cannot comprehend love or affection for another. He believes he is superior to everyone around him, to the point that he frequently refers to himself in the third-person as "Lord Voldemort." Rowling also stated that Voldemort is "incredibly power hungry. Racist, really",[40] and that if Voldemort were to look into the Mirror of Erised, he would see "Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That's what he wants."[41]
Rowling also stated that Voldemort's conception by influence of Amortentia — a love potion administered by the witch Merope Gaunt to the Muggle Tom Riddle — is related to his inability to understand love; it is "a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union – but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved him. The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because it shows coercion, and there can’t be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the result of such a union".[24]
Like most archetypical villains, Voldemort's arrogance leads to his downfall. He also suffers from a pathological fear of death, which he regards as a shameful and ignominious human weakness. According to Rowling, his Boggart would be his own corpse.[42] Rowling also said that the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry accepts mortality, and thus Harry is in the end stronger than his nemesis.[24]