| NOTE: This article only contains information from the Warner Bros. films as Lestrange's novel counterpart is wholly portrayed as a Hate Sink, thus only information from the films are included. |
| “ | I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black! You coming to get me?! | „ |
| ~ Bellatrix taunting Harry Potter. |
| “ | Don't be shy, sweetie. Come over. Now, if this isn't who we think it is, Draco, and we call him, he'll kill us all. We need to be absolutely sure. | „ |
| ~ Bellatrix talking to Draco Malfoy. |
Bellatrix Lestrange is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Wormtail) of the Harry Potter franchise. She is a major antagonist of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the secondary antagonist of every film thereafter.
She is a lethal Death Eater serving as one of Lord Voldemort's most effective servants, participating in murders that set the tone for the films whose charismatic personality, cool displays of dark magic, and hammy performance acting-wise makes her as loathsome as she is wholesome.
She is portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter.
Her Qualities[]
What Makes Her Entertaining?[]
- Her masterful incapacitation of Scabior and his lackeys is very iconic and fun to watch, as is her expertise with dark magic. She is also a hand with Muggle weapons, being able to throw a knife faster than someone could Apparate, which is no mean feat.
- She is well known for being one of the most frightening villains ever to set foot in the wizarding world, being very beautiful and creepy at the same time and passing a very intimidating aura. She also doesn't have any drama or awkward bang-ups about accepting she's evil; she just accepts her innately psychopathic mentality and is pretty honest in general and has never been known to lie about anything. Overall, her "Evil is Cool" vibe makes her a diabolical delight every single time she's on-screen.
- She is very charismatic and has remarkable eloquence and enthusiasm, with her British accent and her evil laugh both being outright epic to listen to.
- Even though she doubts Snape, she drops it pretty quickly and is okay with enlisting his help to protect her cousin.
- She is genuinely concerned when Voldemort gets briefly knocked out from destroying his own Horcrux, and when he cruelly shoves her, it's played for mild sympathy.
- When the Death Eaters run away as Harry has seemingly been resurrected before their eyes, she calls them out on their cowardice and yells for them to come back and stand their ground.
- She seems to have a good relationship with Narcissa and Draco, speaking to them affably and never being shown to mistreat them.
- Unlike Dolores Umbridge, she is courageous, talented, has sincere convictions about her cause, always abstains from doing or saying anything remotely hypocritical, and has a very charming personality that starkly contrasts Umbridge's obnoxious vibe and lack of loyalty to the Ministry of Magic. Additionally, no one enjoys doing awesome cosplay as Umbridge unlike another villainess in the series.
- Overall, unlike her novel counterpart who is a maneating adulturer that tortures children and hates Andromeda for no reason, her film counterpart is designed to make the audience enjoy hating her and yet be entertained by her at the same time.
What Makes Her Detestable?[]
- Ironically, she is loathsome for many of the same reasons why she's interesting. She is a purely malevolent woman who enjoys burning down houses (particularly the Burrow and Rubeus Hagrid's hut) and torturing innocent people (particularly various Order of the Phoenix members) for no reason other than kicks:
- Alongside Barty Crouch Jr., she tortured Neville's parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, to the point of insanity by means of the Cruciatus Curse.
- After meeting Neville she immediately mocks him about it.
- She zaps Harry with a curse when he tries to incapacitate Snape and probably would have subjected him to the Cruciatus Curse if Snape hadn't insisted that he "belongs to the Dark Lord".
- She tortures Hermione, carving the word "mudblood" onto her arm while she helplessly screams in pain.
- Alongside Barty Crouch Jr., she tortured Neville's parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, to the point of insanity by means of the Cruciatus Curse.
- She kills Sirius Black, her own cousin, striking him point-blank with the Killing Curse, and then sadistically taunts Harry about it. She also kills Dobby with a throwing knife, and even if he almost dropped a chandelier on her head and admitted he wanted to seriously injure her, she deserved it for all her despicable acts.
- She tries to volunteer herself for the task of killing Harry Potter, only for Lord Voldemort to insist on doing it himself.
- Whether or not she cares for Lord Voldemort as a person is open to interpretation, especially because she never learned he was half-blood like in the books.
Trivia[]
- Only her film counterpart qualifies as her novel counterpart has no "Evil is Cool" vibes and isn't charismatic or fun to read about. Also, her novel version has several additional hateable traits, like having committed adultery against Rodolphus Lestrange, hating her own sister for no reason, rudely questioning Severus Snape for ten pages, slaughtering a fox for literally no reason whatsoever just before that, and murdering Fred Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks (their corpses are shown in the films, but absolutely nothing suggests her as culprit).
- Cementing her Entertainingly Detestable status, Helena Bonham Carter said Bellatrix was an extremely fun character and that she (Helena) was "milking" every moment she had and went out of her way to make her look fantastic, and also stated that hurting people is her character's only joy and that hence, it was great that Molly Weasley gave her what she deserved for being so malevolent.
External Links[]
- Bellatrix Lestrange on the Villains Wiki
- Her novel counterpart on the Hate Sink Wiki
- Bellatrix Lestrange on the Near Pure Evil Wiki
[]
 Entertainingly Detestable
| ||
|
Both Continuities: Lord Voldemort | Lucius Malfoy Book Only: Mundungus Fletcher Film Only: Argus Filch | Mrs. Norris | Barty Crouch Jr. | Bellatrix Lestrange Other: Merula Snyde | Ismelda Murk | ||