✓ | ||
This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being |
“ | I could do you for afters, Dumbledore... | „ |
~ Fenris Greyback to Professor Dumbledore atop the tower implying that he's already eaten someone shortly before. |
“ | Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her? I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger? | „ |
~ Fenris Greyback to Ron Weasley regarding Hermione Granger. |
“ | He doesn't have the stomach--just like his father. Let me kill him in my own way. | „ |
~ Fenris Greyback mocking Draco Malfoy moments before Dumbledore's death. |
Fenrir Greyback is a supporting antagonist in both Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (appearing in both Part 1 and Part 2 of the separate two-parted film adaptation) and as the main antagonist of the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery side quest 'Hallowe'en Feast'.
He is a sadistic Werewolf who serves as a high-ranking member of the Death Eaters. His main goal was to lead and unite every Werewolf in a violent and feral lifestyle, in hope of creating a world of Werewolves by infecting as many people as possible with the curse of lycanthropy. He is also notorious for his unrelenting bloodlust and savagery, and is well known as a particularly violent and cannibalistic serial killer, with implied pedophilic tendencies. He is one of the most feared individuals in the British Wizarding community.
In the films, he was played by the late Dave Legeno.
Personality
“ | Fenrir Greyback is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He considers it as his mission to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible; he wants to create enough werewolves to overcome the wizards. Voldemort has promised him prey in return for his services. Greyback specializes in children... Bite them young, he says, and raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has threatened to unleash him upon people's sons and daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good results. | „ |
~ Remus Lupin describing Fenrir Greyback. |
“ | I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore, not when there are throats to be ripped out... delicious, delicious... | „ |
~ Fenrir Greyback to Albus Dumbledore. |
Regarded as the most savage Werewolf of his time, Fenrir Greyback relished in animalistic cruelty and gained an unhealthy liking for his own wolfish traits, to the point where his human form gained a more savage and wolfish appearance. Fenrir's savagery was next to none, and he would very often position Werewolf attacks with malicious intent. While he was hell-bent on getting revenge against the wizarding-kind for the horrid prejudice against Werewolves, Greyback took this to a whole other level by purposefully infecting others with lycanthropy (especially children) so they would grow to hate the Wizarding World. Fenrir also gained some cannibalistic tendencies even when he wasn't in his Werewolf form, a feat of inhumanity that even managed to disgust Albus Dumbledore.
Greyback was a predator in both animalistic and sexual terms, as he spoke to Hermione Granger with a mix of sexual and cannibalistic undertones. This, combined with his fondness for biting and attacking children, indicated that Fenrir might have had pedophilic interests. According to Dumbledore, Greyback boasted of what he did to his followers, which shows that he has a sense of pride towards his atrocities.
Despite being a ferocious killer who was feared by many, Fenrir Greyback also had a sense of fear when it came to those more powerful than him. This is shown when he cowed away from Severus Snape when the latter arrived to kill Dumbledore. In the video game Hogwarts Mystery, Greyback was ready to maul and kill the protagonist, but fled in fear after catching Dumbledore's scent.
Due to both his heavily stigmatized status as a werewolf as well as his habit of killing and eating people, many of the Death Eaters including Severus Snape and even Lord Voldemort held Greyback with heavy disdain and disgust (though for the Dark Lord this was more out of racism). Greyback was not always happy with this treatment, though while he was never branded an official Death Eater, he had no qualm in serving as a weapon for Lord Voldemort in exchange for victims.
Biography
Backstory
Almost nothing is known about Greyback's past and how he came to be who he is. While he was most certainly bitten and infected with lycanthropy, how he turned into the barbaric and insane monster he would come to be known as remains completely unknown.
Fenrir Greyback was in the First Wizarding War and was a ruthless Werewolf who took no remorse in killing. He was either infected as a youth or during his childhood. Unlike other Werewolves, he showed a delight in transforming, going as far as to express lupine tendencies and aggression in his human form.
During the First Wizarding War, he was convicted of killing Muggle children, and brought before the Ministry for a trial. However, Greyback passed himself off as a homeless Muggle man who claimed to be astonished at being in front of a congregation of Wizards and horrified by the child killings. Given Greyback's stale smell and scruffy appearance, the court almost believed his homeless story, until Lyall Lupin, Remus Lupin's father, who was a court martial at the time, noticed the signs of Lycanthrophy in Greyback's face. He noted the pallor that set in during the full moon (coincidentally, it was going to be a full Moon the following night) and Lyall said how Werewolves were brutal monsters who should all be executed. Lyall was heard by Greyback, who was silently enraged, and by the other ministers, who said Lyall should stick to what he's good at and be rounding up Boggarts instead. Lyall was forced to leave the room, and Greyback was declared innocent and escorted out. The escorting Wizard intended to obliviate Fenrir's memories of the court event, but Fenrir managed to outdo them and escaped with the help of two accomplices.
Greyback plotted revenge against Lyall for his racist comment and, some time later, found the Lupin home and planned to attack his son in retaliation. As the full moon approached, Greyback positioned himself near an almost five-year-old Remus' bedroom. Greyback transformed and burst his way through the boy's bedroom window. While Lyall reached the Werewolf in time to drive him away with a number of powerful spells, the deed was done and Fenrir's revenge had been exacted; Remus was bitten and infected with lycanthropy, dooming him to live on as a Werewolf, much to the regret and sorrow of his father.
Some years after this event, Greyback had remarked about his exacted revenge on Lyall to fellow Werewolves amongst his pack. This chatter was picked up by spies of the Order of the Phoenix, who informed Albus Dumbledore, and allowed the headmaster to track down Remus and his family. Albus would then ensure that Remus could attend Hogwarts with no worry of his affliction or harming others.
Second Wizarding War
During Draco Malfoy's sixth year at Hogwarts, Greyback appeared at Hogwarts thanks to the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, whose other entrance was located at the shop Borgin & Burkes from the Diagon Alley. He was present with the other Death Eaters on the Astronomy Tower when Albus Dumbledore was murdered by Severus Snape and thrown off the tower. During the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, Greyback also also set Hagrid's hut on fire with Bellatrix Lestrange, allowing Snape to defeat Harry Potter and escape victorious.
One year later, Greyback helped the Snatchers, led by Scabior, to catch Harry, Ron and Hermione and brought them to the Malfoy Manor, home of Lucius Malfoy. He, along with Scabior, became furious when the Malfoys tried to hand the trio to Voldemort like they did all the work, but he decided to remain silent for his own good. He was later chased away out of the Manor by Bellatrix, but Bellatrix committed a great error when she did so, because without Greyback, the trio were able to escape with Dobby from the Death Eaters, although Dobby was fatally stabbed. Thus, Greyback was saved from being punished by his master when he arrived.
Following Harry Potter and his friends' infiltration in Hogwarts, Greyback came along the other Death Eaters and Werewolves to participate in what became the Battle of Hogwarts. When student Lavender Brown fell from a balcony, Greyback "sunk his teeth" into her, fatally injuring her. Hermione Granger, however, arrived with Harry and Ron Weasley. Upon seeing what Greyback did, Granger blasted him and Greyback fell out from a window of the Viaduct Courtyard. He hit a marble staircase bannister, and as he attempted to return to his feet he was struck on the head by a crystal ball from Professor Trelawney.
After the battle is interrupted for a while, Greyback retreated with his comrades back to the Forbidden Forest, and was present when Voldemort attempted to kill Harry Potter. When they all return to Hogwarts and eventually resume the battle, Greyback was 'brought down' by Ron and Neville Longbottom in the Great Hall.
Afterwards, if he survived the battle, he was most likely arrested and sent to Azkaban following the end of the war.
In the film version, he is presumably killed after being thrown from a window by Hermione Granger with a blasting curse, as revenge for killing and eating Lavender Brown.
Videos
Trivia
- Ironically, despite being the most savage Werewolf in the Harry Potter franchise, Fenrir Greyback is never seen as a Werewolf in the books or films. His Werewolf form is only seen in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery and even preceding the game's release and updates, was only ever depicted in a canon drawing.
- Greyback was given much less of a presence in the films, only being seldom present with his status as the most infamous werewolf and past attack on Remus Lupin never being mentioned or explored.
- He is a controversial character as it's been noted by the fandom that his portrayal seems to embody negative stereotypes about AIDS victims (according to Rowling werewolves in the series are meant to be an analogy for those with HIV/AIDS), being portrayed as a malicious predator who delights in spreading his condition to innocent people, and specifically targets young children with the goal of indoctrinating them into the werewolf community.
- While nearly all of Greyback's past is unknown, it has been theorized that the more he embraced his werewolf side, becoming a savage and animalistic killer even while not transformed, the more his humanity left him and the less human he became in both a figurative and literal sense. This is similar to Lord Voldemort in his younger years and how he became more inhuman as he continued to kill, sever his soul and create Horcruxes.