Voldemort

[Miss Wings]

Has anyone ever wondered whether or not it was the love potion that made Tom into what he was?

Like being emotionally messed up due to the potion?
It's a daft theory but I've just read it in Helen Stillnight's Immortal fiction.

[physicssquid]

It is a possibility that any child concieved when one of the parents is under the influence of love potions is predisposed to mental problems.
My theory is that there are several reasons for Voldemort to have gone mad:-
1) The love potion - these potions affect the emotions and chemical balance of the brain of the one who has been dosed
2) The bullying at the orphanage and lack of love shown by the adults there - Tom was a victim of a lot of bullying, and a victim is more likely to become a bully or an abuser
3) The inbreeding in his mother''s family - inbreeding can cause several major problems
4) His Horcruxes - splitting the soul undoubtedly has a detrimental effect on the mind, especially given the horrific effect it had on his appearance

I don't know whether any of this is strictly true in Voldemort's case, but these things do add up, and the picture they make isn't exactly pretty.


Edit:
There is also the possibility that the economical and political climate when Tom was born, affected him at least a little. He was born about two years before the Wall Street Crash, and he was growing up in a state-run orphanage, which was probably getting less and less funding due to the Great Depression, which couldn't hve made things any easier. Plus the orphanage was in London, and Tom would have spent summers there after starting Hogwarts, so he could have experienced at least a few air raids, and possibly part of the Blitz, unless the children were evacuated, which would have its own side-effects.

[Kitty279]

Personally, I doubt the potion was much of an issue. It was his father who was dosed, not the mother, so the influence on the unborn baby should have been pretty much non-existent.

Otherwise, I think Physicssquid has summed the reasons up pretty well why Tom might have been so messed up.

[ayrine]

It was always my belief that potion influenced Voldemort either physically when he was a fetus (like some drugs and toxic does, if taken by the father in the "preconception period") and probably messed with his brain's functions or/and emotionally, if it's possible, because he was born from a loveless but also treacherous union.

I was joking sometimes before about forcing the Love Potion's seller to make a sentence as "danger, can cause the conception of Dark Lords" on the phials, like it's done with cigarettes boxes.

The inbreeding indeed must also have had effects, even if his father's probably brought "new blood" into "the family".

And for the most part I agree with physicssquid about the hoxcrux and the war-grand depression life's situation who influenced him.
But I can't imagine Tom being bullied (maybe it's only me), he lack too much of empathy for that (you know, understanding others pain because you have lived it), I think he was more the bully from the start and liked the power he got over the orphans.

The rest is the matter of his choices whose played the biggest role (like 99 percent) in his turning into Lord Voldemort.

[ChickenOrder]

It would have influenced him, but more the knowledge. Knowing that you are a child born out of rape can't be pleasant. If it was Merope who had been dosed, I would have considered if the love potion could have messed with his head, but since it was Riddle Sr...
Tom has more than enough other reasons to have turned out the way he did. I don't see why justification through a love potion making him unable to love is necessary?

1, He grew up without experiencing any love whatsoever his whole life. JK Rowling says so herself in an interview. Unlike her I feel this is exceedingly tragic and it makes me feel bad for Tom.
2, His mother abandoned him. She'd rather die out of unrequited love than live for Tom. Dumbledore says that with magic she could have likely saved herself and I agree. She just gave up due to depression and while she cared enough for Tom to give birth to him and give him a name, she didn't care enough to live for him. 
3, His father abandoned him. I understand that he ran away from Merope who had essentially raped him, but try to see things from Tom's perspective. He always thought that his father would be the one with magic since Merope died like a weakling. He asked Dumbledore after his father, this indicates that he must have had held some hope to one day have at least one parent. He then found out that his father was a Muggle, despised him and his mother, was rich, had abandoned him before he was born, and that there was no good reason he couldn't have had a father to take care of him all his life (Sirius just couldn't be there for Harry because he was in Azkaban), but that from the very beginning it had been hopeless. His father would never love him. That's a very harsh rejection, and I can imagine that the day Tom faced his father was the day he buried all hopes for love and came to reject it completely. He could have had love, a family and lived a good live in wealth and instead he got an orphanage and no love at all, and all because Tom Riddle Sr. was a Muggle and hated magic. While I understand that he wouldn't want to spend another second in Merope's presence, Riddle Sr. should have sucked it up, because little Tom had done no wrong. Not to speak of the welcoming Tom must have had after arriving at Riddle Manor, and that after being attacked by his dear uncle.

[ChickenOrder]

4, He was unable to bond with any adult figure while in his formative years, which studies have shown to cause aggression and social retardation like a decreased ability to empathize. We know this because the matron Mrs. Cole told DD that she found Tom to be a little creeper even as a baby (because of his staring and not crying) and I don't see that woman showing any love to Tom whatsoever. This attitude likely rubbed off on her fellow co-workers (as humans are often mindless sheep and Harry's neighbours demonstrate beautifully) and means that in an orphanage where children often don't get enough attention already and this being in a time where people were not as educated as today, when it comes to failings in child rearing, and orphanages where worse than now, Tom had it the worst and was most likely ignored outside of giving him the bottle and changing his nappies infrequently.

5, Tom is really sensitive about his name and I don't fault him for wanting to change it, though I certainly prefer Tom Marvolo Riddle to Lord Voldemort. It is not very difficult to deduce why he wanted to change his name.

His middle name Marvolo made Mrs. Cole think that Merope was from the circus. Now keep in mind that this is before the second world war and lots of things were worse before it. Gypsies were generally frowned upon in polite company and welcomed nowhere. Then imagine cruel little brats (which most children at that age doubtlessly are, especially in an orphanage) who are jealous of smart, pretty little Tom teasing him about it and calling him names. Later on he finds out that the part of the name he likely hated the most is prove of his Wizarding heritage. I think he would have found it difficult to embrace it. Also it sounds weird and silly in Muggle ears and Tom was raised by Muggles, meaning it must have sounded silly to him, too.

Then his first name Tom. I really don't get why Merope didn't name her son Thomas instead, or Riddle Sr.'s snob parents for that matter. No matter that I personally prefer Tom, for most people (especially rich elitists like Sr.'s parents) Tom would be too ordinary, too undignified. It's like naming your kid Bob. Tom must have hated his ordinary name. He himself was extraordinary, but because of his status as a poor orphan in the time of the Great Depression it was unlikely he would survive to see his 30th birthday. This name must have reminded him of it. And later on when the rich Purebloods turned up their nose at his name, not taking him serious he must have hated it.

His last name Riddle. He has no proof that his mother was married (only her word), and most likely he was teased about that, too. Being a bastard back then was big thing. It is no coincidence that being called a bastard constitutes an insult even if the meaning has changed today. He was likely told by the matron about his mother naming him after his father and must have held some hope that a Tom Riddle would come some day to take him away. When he found out about being a wizard he asked DD after his father, he was sure that his father must have been the one to have magic since his mother died just like any Muggle. Later on he became a Slytherin and was looked down upon for being a Mudblood and likely bullied by Purebloods enraged to have a Mudblood in their midst. Tom found out later that his name's sake hated him and his mother.

It is no wonder he wanted to discard such a name. He didn't want to be Tom Riddle anymore, but someone greater. It would explain why he always talked about Lord Voldemort in the third person, because he was talking about more than just a person, but an ideal. Also the Dark Lord Tom just sounds silly and would have never been taken seriously.