10 Incredible Similarities Between Harry Potter And The Lord Of The Rings
7. The Villains
Every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain, and Voldemort is never far away from the action in Harry Potter. He's established from the very beginning as the principal threat of the franchise, though at the very beginning of The Philosopher's Stone/The Sorcerer's Stone, the Dark Lord is actually a disembodied sentience, clinging to life via the back of Professor Quirrell's head. Sauron in Lord of the Rings is also disembodied; he's also the dark lord of the piece, and doesn't just have the ability to see over the whole world, but can feel Frodo's presence. Similarly, Voldemort can cast projections for Harry to see, forcing pain from him; just as Voldemort appears almost as a ghost, aura or a presence in the early Harry Potter films before settling on a more concrete appearance, Sauron's presence is only felt in the Hobbit through the Necromancer. And just like Voldemort, creatures don't commonly refer to Sauron by his name, due to fear of it. The key difference between the two however is that Sauron is a demigod, and Voldemort is a wizard who believes he's got the power of a demigod. Both are killed by destroying their source of power (the ring/horcruxes), but Voldemort is actually more resonant with Hitler; he believes only in a pure-blooded race, and commits genocide of those he doesn't believe to be worthy. Voldemort's definitely a more relevant villain for a film set in the real world London and the Muggles' surroundings appear in the series but Sauron's the ultimate fantasy villain. That does make a fight rather one-sided unfortunately, though.
