Lord Voldemort was incredibly powerful, but even he couldn’t do everything on his own in the Harry Potter series. As such, Voldemort had an army of Death Eaters. These individuals helped Voldemort in his quest to conquer the magical world and “purify” wizardkind by eliminating Muggles, Muggle-borns, blood traitors, and anyone who stood in their way. Death Eaters had the Dark Mark burned into their left forearms, which Voldemort could use to summon them at any time.
Voldemort had many followers, but not all qualified as Death Eaters. The werewolf Fenrir Greyback served Voldemort but was not a Death Eater, as he did not have a Dark Mark. His status as a werewolf was not aligned with Voldemort’s view on racial superiroity, though that didn’t stop Voldemort from relying on Greyback’s services. Narcissa Malfoy is another example of a prominent follower who wasn’t a Death Eater as she never received a Dark Mark and never officially joined their ranks, unlike her husband and son.
This list will only look at individuals who had the Dark Mark and were officially considered Death Eaters. The strength of each Death Eater is determined by how their actions and abilities helped Voldemort, or in a couple rare cases, those who were powerful enough to conceal essential truths from the Dark Lord himself. Worthlessness is determined by their lack of contribution towards Voldemort and his cause.
It’s time to feel the burn of the Dark Mark as we explore The 15 Strongest (And 10 Most Worthless) Death Eaters In Harry Potter.
Worthless: Lucius Malfoy
Despite being one of Voldemort’s most important Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy had a knack for messing things up for the Dark Lord. When Lucius believed Voldemort was gone forever, he tried to rid himself of the diary Voldemort entrusted to him for safekeeping many years ago. In doing so, Lucius put the diary on a path where it would eventually be destroyed by Harry Potter himself.
Lucius’s actions led to one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes being destroyed, which in the long run made Voldemort more vulnerable. Lucius was also tasked by Voldemort to lead the mission to the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix, in which he failed to secure the prophecy, not to mention got himself and many Death Eaters arrested and taken to Azkaban.
Strongest: Walden Macnair
Walden Macnair might have failed to execute the Hippogriff Buckbeak, but his true value came from the fact that he gave Voldemort some of his greatest allies during the Second Wizarding War. Macnair convinced giants to join Voldemort and the Death Eaters rather than siding with Rubeus Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore.
The Gurg/leader of the giants, Golgomath, was a violent creature who enjoyed taking lives, something that he and Macnair were able to bond over. Through Macnair’s actions, Voldemort and the Death Eaters were able to use giants to attack Muggles and at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Strongest: Travers
Travers made a major error during the Second Wizarding War when he failed to recognize that Hermione Granger was disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange via Polyjuice Potion. His mistake was costly, as Harry placed Travers under the Imperius Curse and used him as part of the plan to break into Gringotts and steal one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes from the Lestrange vault.
In the First Wizarding War, Travers proved himself stronger when he led the mission to take the lives of the entire McKinnon family. Marlene McKinnon was a prominent member of the original Order of the Phoenix. Travers dealt a major blow to the Order by not only slaying one of their members, but also slaying that member’s entire family as well. This wiped out the McKinnon family line and showed that despite their wizarding heritage, Voldemort and his followers would show no mercy for those who opposed them.
Worthless: Gibbon
Gibbon was among the Death Eaters who infiltrated Hogwarts via the Vanishing Cabinet in The Half-Blood Prince. He cast the Dark Mark over the Astronomy Tower, the same place where Severus Snape would take Albus Dumbledore’s life. Gibbon certainly wasn’t among Voldemort’s bravest Death Eaters, as he was afraid to wait for Dumbledore in the Astronomy Tower.
After Snape ended Dumbledore’s life, Gibbon wasn’t too helpful in the fight that followed. Another Death Eater who was there that night – Thorfinn Rowle – sent a Killing Curse towards Remus Lupin, but it hit Gibbon and took his life instead. As such, other than casting the Dark Mark, Gibbon did almost nothing to help the Death Eaters at Hogwarts that night.
Strongest: Alecto Carrow
For almost a whole school year, Alecto Carrow was a key figure in making Hogwarts the dark place Voldemort always wanted it to be. As Professor of Muggle Studies and Deputy Headmistress, she taught students to hate Muggles. Any students who rebelled against her, her brother Amycus, or Severus Snape and their rules were severely punished, often in the form of torture via the Cruciatus Curse.
When Alecto saw for herself that the rumors were true and Harry Potter had infiltrated Hogwarts, she was the one who touched the Dark Mark on her arm, alerting Voldemort of Harry’s location, thereby leading Voldemort to amass his forces and begin the Battle of Hogwarts itself. Her strength was lessened by the fact that she failed to capture Harry and was stunned by Luna Lovegood, which ultimately meant that she failed to maintain her reign of terror over the Hogwarts students.
Strongest: Amycus Carrow
Along with his sister Alecto, Amycus Carrow terrorized the Hogwarts student for nearly a whole school year. The all-important subject Defense Against the Dark Arts just became the Dark Arts through his instruction. Amycus taught students the Unforgivable Curses.
Through the teachings of Amycus, students like Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle – who in the past had been little more than dim-witted lackeys of Draco Malfoy – became legitimate threats. They used the Unforgivable Curses when encountering Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Room of Requirement, making even Draco scared of them. Crabbe also summoned Fiendfyre, an incredibly dangerous curse he learned from Amycus. Crabbe’s Fiendfyre nearly took the lives of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, though it also destroyed Voldemort’s diadem Horcrux, which takes away from Amycus’s overall value to Voldemort.
Worthless: Wilkes
Wilkes served as one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. Sirius Black recalled that Wilkes was among the group of Slytherin students that included Severus Snape, Evan Rosier, Mulciber, and Avery – a group aspiring to grow up and follow Voldemort.
Unlike Snape, Avery, Mulciber, and many of Voldemort’s other Death Eaters, though, Wilkes didn’t survive to fight for Voldemort in the Second Wizarding War. He didn’t even make it to the end of the First Wizarding War. A year before Voldemort was defeated by baby Harry Potter, Wilkes was hunted down and terminated by Aurors while trying to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban.
Strongest: Mulciber
The Imperius Curse was one of the most dangerous and useful weapons used by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. As shown in this picture with an Imperiused Viktor Krum, the Imperius Curse could take any person and manipulate them to commit terrible deeds at the behest of the one who Imperiused them in the first place.
This made Mulciber particularly useful during the First Wizarding War, as he specialized in the Imperius Curse and used it against countless unwitting victims. Igor Karkaroff knew this and tried to turn Mulciber into the Ministry of Magic as leverage. The Ministry had already caught Mulciber and imprisoned him in Azkaban, but years later, Mulciber would break out with his fellow Death Eaters and fight at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Strongest: Evan Rosier
Because of the dangers he posed, Evan Rosier was a high-profile target during the First Wizarding War. The famous and formidable Auror Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody was tasked with finding and arresting Rosier. Moody did find the Death Eater, but Rosier resisted arrest and had the strength to fight back against Moody. Rosier was even able to take off a chunk of Moody’s nose, an impressive feat considering what a powerful opponent Moody could be.
Rosier’s resistance didn’t last, however, as Moody defeated him once and for all. Rosier lost his life, but he’d be forever remembered as the one Death Eater who nearly beat Mad-Eye Moody and took off a chunk of the legendary Auror’s nose.
Worthless: Thorfinn Rowle
Thorfinn Rowle infiltrated Hogwarts via the Vanishing Cabinet that Draco Malfoy repaired, but Rowle wasn’t so helpful that night. A Killing Curse of his that was meant for Remus Lupin ended up hitting and ending the life of a Death Eater named Gibbon instead. Once Snape slayed Albus Dumbledore and the Death Eaters were supposed to be leaving the scene of the crime, Rowle instead opted to burn down Rubeus Hagrid’s hut, only stopping when Snape ordered him to leave the grounds and Disapparate, which was what they were supposed to be doing at that point anyway.
In The Deathly Hallows, Rowle, along with Antonin Dolohov, tracked Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a Muggle cafe in London, but he and Dolohov were defeated by the trio and their memories were modified. Voldemort forced Draco Malfoy to perform the Cruciatus Curse on Rowle to punish his failure.
Strongest: Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew was a coward and had no skill when it came to dueling. That being said, Pettigrew was strong because of the invaluable intelligence he provided Voldemort, and for the integral role he played in helping Voldemort regain a body and rise to power once more. It was Pettigrew who spied on the Order of the Phoenix for Voldemort. Even Albus Dumbledore didn’t realize that Pettigrew was a spy during the First Wizarding War.
As the Potters’ Secret-Keeper, he was the one who told Voldemort where they were hiding. This allowed Voldemort to breach the Fidelius Charm protecting the Potters and take the lives of James and Lily. Years later, it was Pettigrew who sought out Voldemort and took the necessary steps to help the Dark Lord have a body again and become more powerful than ever before.
Strongest: Rodolphus Lestrange
Rodolphus Lestrange was one of Voldemort’s most dedicated Death Eaters. After Voldemort was defeated at the end of the First Wizarding War, Rodolphus was one of the only Death Eaters who refused to accept Voldemort was gone for good. Along with his wife Bellatrix, his brother Rabastan, and Barty Crouch Jr., Rodolphus dared to relentlessly torture respected Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom for information.
Years after the Second Wizarding War ended and Voldemort was truly defeated for good, Rodolphus managed to escape his imprisonment in Azkaban. He found Delphini and told her that she was the child of Voldemort and Bellatrix, thereby setting in motion much of the conflict in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Worthless: Jugson
Not much is known about Jugson, but what fans know isn’t too flattering. Jugson fought alongside his fellow Death Eaters at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He managed to get off some Impediment Jinxes, but shortly after was incapacitated, as Harry hit him with a Full Body-Bind Curse. This made him fairly useless for the rest of the battle.
After the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Jugson was never mentioned again in the Harry Potter series. Like the other Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries that night, he was probably arrested, sent to Azkaban, and part of the breakout at the beginning of The Deathly Hallows, but the fact that he was mentioned again means he likely accomplished nothing of significance as a Death Eater moving forward.
Strongest: Corban Yaxley
Corban Yaxley played a key role in placing the Ministry of Magic under Voldemort’s control. He placed Pius Thicknesse – Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement – under an Imperius Curse. This gave Voldemort and the Death Eaters inside information into the Ministry and helped them stage a fairly smooth transition of power when they ended the life of Minister Rufus Scrimgeour and put the Imperiused Pius Thicknesse in his place.
With the Ministry fallen and under their control, Yaxley took over Thicknesse’s prior position and helped with initiatives like making Harry Potter “Undesirable No. 1” and essentially legalizing hatred and prejudice through the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. However, Yaxley had a difficult time when directly faced with Harry Potter, as he put Yaxley in a Full Body-Bind Curse during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and stunned him at the Ministry.
Strongest: Antonin Dolohov
In addition to torturing many Muggles and others who defied Voldemort, Antonin Dolohov helped brutally end the lives of Fabian and Gideon Prewett during the First Wizarding War. Both powerful wizards, they were original Order of the Phoenix members and brothers to Molly Weasley. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Dolohov once again struck a major blow against the Order of the Phoenix. He slayed Remus Lupin, one of the Order’s most important and loyal members.
Dolohov was strong enough to defeat some of the Order’s most powerful wizards, but he and Thorfinn Rowle failed to capture Harry Potter when they tracked him to London. In fact, Hermione Granger put Dolohov in a Full Body-Bind Curse and then modified his memory of the incident.
Worthless: Crabbe Sr.
Aside from being the father of Vincent Crabbe, the only known accomplishment of Crabbe Sr. seemed to be that he avoided imprisonment in Azkaban after Voldemort vanished. He was smart enough to immediately go to the graveyard when summoned by Voldemort the night the Dark Lord regained his body, but accomplished little else in service to Voldemort after that point.
During the Second Wizarding War, he followed Lucius Malfoy’s orders at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and teamed up with Rabastan Lestrange, but he didn’t end up contributing anything helpful to that fight.
Worthless: Goyle Sr.
Harry Potter saw Goyle Sr. the night Voldemort regained his body and summoned Death Eaters to the graveyard. Goyle’s name was mentioned by Harry when he told Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge about the Death Eaters he saw there that night, though Fudge insisted that this wasn’t proof of what happened as Harry was merely mentioning the names of suspected Death Eaters acquitted thirteen years ago.
Goyle Sr. managed to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban after Voldemort vanished and he was among those who received Voldemort’s forgiveness when returning to the graveyard that night. Despite this, he was not seen again after The Goblet of Fire and only mentioned, not even in any kind of remotely helpful capacity at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries or Battle of Hogwarts, which makes it seem like he did little to help Voldemort or his cause.
Strongest: Augustus Rookwood
Augustus Rookwood was a particularly valuable Death Eater during the First Wizarding War, where he served as a spy within the Ministry of Magic. Rookwood worked as an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries, a position that allowed him to pass invaluable intelligence onto the Dark Lord. Rookwood managed to keep his cover and go undetected for the entirety of the First Wizarding War. He only ended up in Azkaban because Igor Karkaroff ratted him out.
His past at the Department of Mysteries also made him useful during the Second Wizarding War, as he helped Voldemort understand how the prophecy could be secured. Rookwood could also hold his own in a duel as he single-handedly took on Kingsley Shacklebolt at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Worthless: Nott Sr.
Nott Sr. was one of Voldemort’s first Death Eaters. He avoided Azkaban imprisonment after the First Wizarding War, but rejoined Voldemort in the Second Wizarding War. None of these “accomplishments” show strength, though.
Nott’s lack of value was shown during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Hermione Granger stunned Nott early on in the fight and he was injured as shelves of prophecies crashed around him. He became a distraction from the task at hand as some of his fellow Death Eaters tried to help him, but Lucius Malfoy ordered they leave him behind, claiming Voldemort wouldn’t care about Nott’s injuries, especially if helping Nott meant they failed to acquire the prophecy.
Strongest: Regulus Black
Regulus Black’s strength comes not from how he helped Voldemort, but rather from the cunning he used to defy Voldemort. Years before most figured out the truth, Regulus deduced that Voldemort had created a Horcrux. Regulus created a duplicate of the locket Voldemort turned into a Horcrux and was smart enough to come up with a plan to switch it with the real one. He had the resolve to drink the torturous potion necessary to extract the real locket from the basin and replace it with the fake one.
His scheme was so effective that even the powerful likes of Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore were duped. Dumbledore risked his life and even perished before realizing he and Harry retrieved a fake locket. Voldemort didn’t realize until Harry, Ron, and Hermione broke into the Lestrange vault at Gringotts, by which point they’d already destroyed the Horcrux within the real locket.
