Amusingly, that’s probably more true in MoR than in canon, even if our Harry would never phrase it that way (or speak to Ron if he didn’t need to). Here Tom Riddle’s a bored sociopath without any strong connections; the only thing he really cares about is self-preservation, and that’s more adequately assured if he doesn’t pick fights with major wizarding governments or do crazy things like set up alternate versions of himself to spar with. In canon he’s basically just Snake Wizard Hitler, and Hitler had if nothing else the courage of his convictions.
Interestingly, this is kinda one of the reasons this Voldemort impresses me. EY writes that “more than your own life has to be at stake”, but Voldemort was sane enough that caring about his own life was enough to get him thinking and to get him moving.
So much so, he ended up genuinely working to save the world, and indeed ended up doing so, or at least significantly helping (Harry’s Vow). Sociopath or not, the fact that normal people aren’t sufficiently motivated by risk to their own lives is not a strength.
Also, Riddle’s care about his own life didn’t look like a mere animal flinch away from death; he seemed to find meaning in his works towards that goal:
He paused in his Potions work and turned to face Harry fully; there was a look of exultation in the man’s eyes that Harry had never seen there before. “In all the Darkest Arts I could find, in all the interdicted secrets to which Slytherin’s Monster gave me keys, in all the lore remembered among wizardkind, I found only hints and smatterings of what I needed. So I rewove it and remade it, and devised a new ritual based on new principles. I kept that ritual burning in my mind for years, perfecting it in imagination, pondering its meaning and making fine adjustments, waiting for the intention to stabilise. At last I dared to invoke my ritual, an invented sacrificial ritual, based on a principle untested by all known magic. And I lived, and yet live.” The Defense Professor spoke with quiet triumph, as though the act itself was so great that no words could ever do it justice.
Wow, either I got seriously ninjaed there or I wasn’t paying much attention. I was referring to the canon quote near the top of your post, the one about “something worth fighting for”.
I thought your replay came really fast after my previous edit. Maybe I was editing while you were typing your reply.
But I think your comment stands, now that I know what you’re referring to. Yeah, HPMOR sociopath Voldemort had less that he was fighting for, even in comparison to cartoonish canon Racist Hater Voldemort.
ETA: re: “something worth fighting for”
Amusingly, that’s probably more true in MoR than in canon, even if our Harry would never phrase it that way (or speak to Ron if he didn’t need to). Here Tom Riddle’s a bored sociopath without any strong connections; the only thing he really cares about is self-preservation, and that’s more adequately assured if he doesn’t pick fights with major wizarding governments or do crazy things like set up alternate versions of himself to spar with. In canon he’s basically just Snake Wizard Hitler, and Hitler had if nothing else the courage of his convictions.
Interestingly, this is kinda one of the reasons this Voldemort impresses me. EY writes that “more than your own life has to be at stake”, but Voldemort was sane enough that caring about his own life was enough to get him thinking and to get him moving.
So much so, he ended up genuinely working to save the world, and indeed ended up doing so, or at least significantly helping (Harry’s Vow). Sociopath or not, the fact that normal people aren’t sufficiently motivated by risk to their own lives is not a strength.
Also, Riddle’s care about his own life didn’t look like a mere animal flinch away from death; he seemed to find meaning in his works towards that goal:
“that”?
Wow, either I got seriously ninjaed there or I wasn’t paying much attention. I was referring to the canon quote near the top of your post, the one about “something worth fighting for”.
I thought your replay came really fast after my previous edit. Maybe I was editing while you were typing your reply.
But I think your comment stands, now that I know what you’re referring to. Yeah, HPMOR sociopath Voldemort had less that he was fighting for, even in comparison to cartoonish canon Racist Hater Voldemort.