The magical world has given rise to many dangerous magical individuals, but without a doubt one of the most threatening is Gellert Grindelwald. First provoked by its place in the history of magic in Harry Potter series, the dark wizard appeared mainly in Fantastic Beasts franchise. Throughout the spin-off films, he proves to be a tricky opponent for Newt Scamander and his allies, truly pushing them to their limits.
Possessing a set of terrifyingly strong magical abilities, Albus Dumbledore’s former lover is easily one of the most feared beings in this universe. Grindelwald holds a powerful hold over much of the wizarding people in the early 20th century, with his deviously evil quotes managing to attract a number of witches and wizards to his side. He has a knack for saying what other wizards need to hear to make them think they have the same goals, but what he really wants is power and magic users to rule over those who don’t have that ability.
“Your anger, your desire for revenge, is natural.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Revenge is a common theme in fantasy stories, with characters losing loved ones to evil forces. Grindelwald’s crimes demonstrates Grindelwald’s ability to use this understandable human reaction to his own advantage. The wizard’s comments come when he spots a nervous young witch among the aurors who have invaded his rally.
Grindelwald realizes that this woman is clearly in danger and uses her anxiety to his advantage to recruit her to his side. He chooses his words carefully, to fuel this witch’s anger against her fellow Aurors and use it as a weapon. It’s an especially devious quote from one of the franchise’s most evil wizards. It’s also an excellent, succinct example of how he’s able to read people without spending too much time with them. He knows exactly which spots to hit to get them to his side.
“This will be adequate after a thorough cleaning.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
After Grindelwald escapes from custody in the second film, he and his followers look for a house to use as a base. His followers unceremoniously kill the occupants of a house they find. When he enters with them to inspect the house after seeing the coffins being removed from it, this is his response.
Grindelwald doesn’t care about people being killed and removed from property just so he can use it. There is no moral dilemma for him as long as he gets what he wants. Furthermore, he also apparently has no qualms when the people killed include children. This is evident when he and his followers continue walking through the house to find a child. One of the women with him using a spell involving green light when Grindelwald leaves the room indicates that she uses the Avada Kadavra curse on him.
It’s a good indication that Grindelwald and Voldemort, the main villain of Harry Potter franchise, are not that far apart from each other as long as they get the power they want.
“Magic flourishes only in rare souls. It is bestowed upon those destined for higher things.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
During his rally in Paris, Grindelwald spends a few moments of his speech talking about how he doesn’t hate people who were born without magic. He discusses how they are simply different from magical beings, offering several comparisons as examples. He also says this line.
His speech is intended to appeal to those in the magical community who have not agreed to harm those without magic. His entire speech, however, smacks of the “separate but equal” line that explained segregation in the United States of America. For years, the idea was put forward that two different races could coexist in separate areas, utilizing separate doors, different parts of buses, etc., simply because they were different.
This idea, both in real life and in the film, only serves to increase the discord between groups and shows how easy it is to make this discord appear to be imagined.
“Can you smell it? The stench?
Dumbledore’s secrets
To the public, Grindelwald is the face of charisma and leadership. He says and does exactly what they need to hear and see to convince them to come to his side. The audience doesn’t get to see who he really is. Albus Dumbledore did.
The two have a kind of magical encounter in Dumbledore’s secrets. It was after Albus acquired the symbolic blood pact and Grindelwald is moving forward with his followers. Albus chooses a non-magical meeting place so that neither of them are exposed for the meeting, or at least, the audience can assume that the place was chosen by him because Grindelwald said this phrase when meeting him for tea.
Grindelwald drops all pretense of being the good guy, although it’s clear he still thinks he’ll be seen as charming by his former lover. He may love a good cup of Muggle tea, but he goes so far as to say that those who don’t have magic have a stench that separates them as something “other” from him and Dumbledore. It’s a particularly vile way to keep your distance.
“Your pain is your power.”
Dumbledore’s secrets
He is never welcomed, but always kept in a constant state of pain.
When Credence Barebone decides to ally with Gellert Grindelwald, it’s because he wants to know where he comes from and he wants to feel less alone. Grindelwald tells him a lie about the Dumbledore brothers abandoning him when he was born. Albus didn’t even know that Aurelius Dumbledore existed and Aberforth regretted not having known his son his entire life.
However, Aurelius does not get the acceptance or love he wants from Grindelwald. Instead, Grindelwald uses it as yet another magical tool in his arsenal. Even as Aurelius secretly communicates with Aberforth in a magic mirror, he still carries out Grindelwald’s orders, helping to capture a Qilin, keeping the Dumbledore brothers off balance, and using his magic on the street where anyone can see. He is never welcomed, but always kept in a constant state of pain.
As Grindelwald points out, he needs Aurelius to feel pain so he can use his power. It’s a cruel way to keep you in line, but also a cruel way to force someone to live their life.
“Mr. Scamander! Do you think Dumbledore will cry for you?”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Albus Dumbledore is the type of person who believes that the ends justify the means and those closest to him know this.
Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore have a strong personal bond, having previously been romantic partners. Unfortunately, Gellert Grindelwald’s extreme views on wizarding supremacy caused the couple to split, with Albus strongly opposing his partner’s ideas. Grindelwald’s crimes reveals a bitter attitude shown by the wizard towards his former lover, while prodding Newt about his friendship with Dumbledore.
Grindelwald’s harsh words are intended to drive a wedge between Newt – who shares many identical characteristics with Harry Potter – and Albus, making the magizoologist believe that his former teacher cares little about his well-being. Albus Dumbledore is the type of person who believes that the ends justify the means and those closest to him know this. He builds on his knowledge of his ex-boyfriend’s tendency to use people to sow doubt in Newt’s mind, playing with Scamander’s emotions in an especially cruel way.
“Their arrogance is the key to our victory!”
Grindelwald’s crimes
A smug attitude is common for many different types of villains, and Grindelwald demonstrates this undesirable personality trait throughout the story. Fantastic Beasts franchise. He is extremely confident in his beliefs and plans, and to him, everyone else is wrong. Grindelwald’s crimes features one of his raunchiest scenes yet, with the magical individual trying to rally the wizarding population against the No-Majs.
This quote perfectly conveys Grindelwald’s view of non-magical people. He views the No-Majs as inferior due to their lack of spell-casting ability and believes their “victory” will be easy. After all, how could people who don’t have magical abilities stand a chance against Grindelwald and his followers? Grindelwald thinks very little of these people, as he ironically dismisses them as “arrogant” in a line that is wickedly dismissive.
“I wish you were working with me now. Towards a world where we wizards are free to live openly and love freely.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Grindelwald is easily one of the Harry Potter most powerful characters, and one of the main factors behind their extreme power levels is their way with words. Grindelwald’s crimes shows Grindelwald’s manipulative methods during the Paris rally sequence, where the wizard dictator successfully lures Queenie to his side. Even before that, however, he meets Queenie face to face when one of his followers comforts the other woman in Paris.
Grindelwald’s words demonstrate how easily he can enter someone’s mind. The dark wizard plays on Queenie’s love for Jacob, to convince her that his tyrannical goals will allow her to date baker No-Maj more easily. He uses her strong feelings for Jacob as a means of manipulating her against Newt, in a quote that reflects his scheming ways.
The audience, of course, knows that his words are solely for Queenie’s benefit, because he has no intention of allowing No-Maj to marry wizards. He wants to enslave those who cannot use magic or eliminate them completely. He sees no other use for them. He makes this clear to his followers at the beginning of the film. Queenie, however, doesn’t know this.
“A law that directs those under its rule to cower in fear of being discovered! I ask you, Madam President, I ask you all… Who does this law protect? Us? Or them?”
Fantastic Beasts and where to find them
Grindelwald’s disguise proved particularly effective during the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which involves him disguised as Percival Graves. Many had no idea going into the film that the two would be the same. In the film’s final scene, Grindelwald criticizes Madame Picquery for her decision to kill Credence.
Grindelwald uses Credence’s apparent death as a means of influencing the magical folk against the No-Majs, painting him as a tragic figure in light of the community’s strict laws against Muggle interference. Grindelwald’s goal here is to spark a revolution against non-magical individuals, in the hopes that it will end with wizards rulingmaking this an especially evil quote. It’s definitely not hard to see how his words would curry favor with the magical community, working his way into their good graces.
“Aurors, join me in this circle, pledge your eternal loyalty to me or die. Only here will you know freedom, only here will you know yourself.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Any evil wizard requires a team of loyal followers to carry out his dirty work and increase his control over others, and Grindelwald is no different. In Grindelwald’s crimes, the wizard dictator throws a rally in Paris as a way to recruit new magicians to his cause. Upon discovering that Aurors have arrived at his event, he invites them to join him in his fight to establish a new world order. Of course, if they are not genuine, your blue fire magic line will kill them.
This hard line shows how far Grindelwald is prepared to go to achieve his main objective. It’s callous dialogue that represents the wizard’s deranged mindset, as his obsession with ruling the No-Majs leads to his murderous threats. Grindelwald demands loyalty to his cause and expresses his intention to kill those who stand in his way, resulting in one of his most evil quotes.
“Leta Lestrange. Utterly despised among wizards, unloved, mistreated, but brave. Very brave.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Grindelwald’s cruel words reflect his indifferent nature.
Leta Lestrange is a key character throughout Grindelwald’s crimes, with many fans believing that Newt should have become romantically involved with her instead of Tina. Newt’s old school crush had a rough upbringing with her family blaming her for their lack of love for each other and the tragedy and her classmates spreading rumors about her. Grindelwald exploits her feelings about the past during his rally in Paris to encourage her to join his movement.
Grindelwald’s cruel words reflect his indifferent nature. The wizard dictator makes a cutting reference to Leta’s past as he tries to make the witch believe she has no friends. He doesn’t mind putting people down or making them feel worse about themselves if it means they will follow him. Grindelwald emotionally abuses poor Leta Lestrange in what proves to be one of his most vicious comments yet.
“The disapproval of cowards is a compliment to the brave. Your name will be written in glory when wizards rule the world.”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Over the first two Fantastic Beasts films, Grindelwald demonstrates his commitment to his cause no matter what. Grindelwald’s crimes acts as the perfect example of the wizard’s determination, with his plans beginning to truly take shape in Paris. During an initial attempt to capture Credence, Grindelwald shows his appreciation for the Ministry bounty hunter Grimmson’s loyalty to his cause.
Grindelwald believes in establishing a hierarchy where magical people rule over the world’s Muggle population (those he allows to survive) and labels those who oppose these wrong ideals as “cowards”. Anyone who disagrees with him is labeled as such. The element that makes this quote truly malevolent, however, is its glorification of world domination, by declaring how Grimmon’s devotion to such a vile goal will see his name “written in glory.”
“You are ungraspable, Credence. Your mother is dead, this is your reward. I am done with you.”
Fantastic Beasts and where to find them
Grindelwald’s obsession with Credence is the main narrative focus throughout Fantastic Beastswith the second film revealing that Credence is related to the Dumbledore family (although many fans believe this may not be true). The first film sees Grindelwald acting as a mentor to the troubled young man while disguising himself as Percival Graves, before cruelly turning on him for allegedly not having any magical abilities.
Grindelwald seems somewhat unsympathetic towards Credence. Not only does he refer to the struggling young adult as “inaudible,” but he also goes on to call his mother’s death a “reward.” Grindelwald only values people based on how much they can do for him. This dialogue introduces the audience to Grindelwald’s lack of empathy towards those he considers useless, making this one of his most despicable lines.
“This is what we are fighting against! This is the enemy: their arrogance, their lust for power, their barbarity. How long will it be before they turn their weapons against us?”
Grindelwald’s crimes
Grindelwald’s powers seemingly have no limits, with the wizard able to call upon all manner of magical capabilities. One of his most impressive abilities is seen in Grindelwald’s crimes, when he uses his hookah to project a vision of the future. This scene takes place during Grindelwald’s rally in Paris, as he conjures up images of World War II. There are soldiers marching, tanks and even the atomic bomb. The wizards present at the rally are horrified by what he shows them, and even Jacob Kowalski realizes that this means another war is approaching.
Grindelwald’s words accompanying this vision have a negative slant towards the No-Majs. The wizard uses the horrific images of the coming conflict to manipulate the wizarding community against those without magical ability.presenting Muggles as a threat to their society, in a quote motivated by evil intentions. It is an effective demonstration of your power and one of the most terrible methods of hiding your evil in Fantastic Beasts films.
“I was never your enemy.”
Dumbledore’s secrets
At the end of the third film, Grindelwald’s lies are exposed for the leaders of the Wizarding World to see. He was prevented from ascending to the most powerful position in the wizarding world because Aurelius, Newt, and the rest of Dumbledore’s allies banded together to bring the truth to light. Grindelwald, however, does not consider himself wrong, and that is what makes him so dangerous.
He tells Dumbledore, and then the assembled crowd, that he was never their enemy. He believes that wanting to lead the world to war was in the interests of those with magical abilities. He believes his bigoted rhetoric is correct. Grindelwald finds no faults in himself, only in those around him. This is how his evil is conveyed once again. He would rather burn the world down to get what he wanted than allow anyone to prove him right. This makes him a truly evil villain for the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
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In 1926, British magizoologist Newt Scamander travels to New York City on his field research into magical creatures. Here, he finds himself involved in some trouble involving a No-Maj, the local wizarding police, and the Dark Wizard Grindelwald.
- Director
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David Yates
- Release date
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November 18, 2016
- Execution time
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133 minutes
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In the third and final chapter of the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, Grindelwald’s threat grows ever greater. To defeat him, Albus Dumbledore recruits Newt Scamander, along with other talented wizards and witches, to fight Grindelwald and his acolytes before his plans to destroy the non-magical world come to fruition.
- Director
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David Yates
- Release date
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April 8, 2022
- Execution time
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142 minutes