Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter: Who He Is and Who Plays Him

Gellert Grindelwald is a dark wizard who plans a war on the non magical world, and he is credited in four films in all: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). David Yates directed all four. Johnny Depp plays him in the first two Fantastic Beasts films, and Mads Mikkelsen plays him in the third.

The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 credit is the earliest by release date, and it sits further down that film's cast list. That makes Part 1 his first appearance, even though the three Fantastic Beasts films are where his story is told. The credits use three names for him across these films: Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald and Young Grindelwald.

In story terms he belongs to an earlier era than Harry, because the Fantastic Beasts films are set in 1926 and 1927 while the main saga reaches 1995 by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. If you follow the harry potter movies in order by chronology, he is the first major villain you meet, ahead of Harry's first year at Hogwarts. For the rest of the saga's main figures, the harry potter characters index lists each of them, and the harry potter movies hub covers every film.

Grindelwald is credited in four films: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). Across the three Fantastic Beasts films he moves from a hidden presence in New York to an open claimant for leadership of the wizarding world. His Part 1 credit sits further down that film's cast list, so the Fantastic Beasts films are where his arc plays out.

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, set in 1926, a senior security official named Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) accuses Newt Scamander of working with Grindelwald and sentences him and Tina Goldstein to death. Graves has been using Credence Barebone to find the child who carries an Obscurus. Newt then exposes Graves as Grindelwald in disguise, and Grindelwald is arrested.

In The Crimes of Grindelwald, set in 1927, he breaks free during a prisoner transfer from America to Europe and begins gathering followers. He wins Queenie over to his side and holds a rally where he shows a vision of a future war. He then traps the Aurors in a ring of blue fire that only his loyal followers can cross. At the end, at Nurmengard, he hands Credence a wand and a phoenix and hints that Credence's real name is Aurelius Dumbledore.

In The Secrets of Dumbledore, Mikkelsen's Grindelwald has been cleared of his charges in Berlin and can stand for leader of the wizarding world. He kills a stolen qilin, which would choose that leader by bowing, brings it back with a charm so that it bows to him, and wins the election. He then declares war on non magical people. Credence reveals the dead qilin is a fake, and the living qilin bows to Vicencia Santos instead.

Grindelwald is to Albus Dumbledore a former ally and the opponent he cannot fight. In The Secrets of Dumbledore, Dumbledore tells him that he once loved him and backed his vision, and a magical blood pact stops the two from fighting each other directly. Jude Law plays Dumbledore in the second and third films, and Dumbledore builds a small team around Newt Scamander so that others can act where he cannot. His brother Aberforth, played by Richard Coyle, helps shield Credence in the final clash.

The tie to Credence is the most unsettling. Grindelwald first uses him as a tool while in disguise, then offers him a wand and a phoenix at Nurmengard, and later tries to strike him down. Dumbledore tells Credence that he is a Dumbledore by blood, so the two men are contending over the same young man. Grindelwald also wins over Queenie Goldstein in the second film.

What is Grindelwald to Voldemort? They are separate dark wizards from different eras. Grindelwald's films are set in 1926 and 1927 and his quarrel is with Dumbledore, while Voldemort is the enemy of Harry in the main saga.

In the films released so far, Grindelwald ends on the run rather than defeated. At the close of The Secrets of Dumbledore he tries to kill Credence, and Dumbledore and Aberforth protect the young man. The clash of spells breaks the blood pact, Grindelwald loses his claim to power when the living qilin bows to Vicencia Santos, and he flees.

The break of the pact matters because it leaves Dumbledore and Grindelwald free to face each other. The franchise's next project is the HBO television series, covered on the harry potter tv series page, and the new harry potter movie page tracks what comes next.

In my opinion, Grindelwald is at his most effective when the films let him talk rather than duel. The strongest single beat is the unmasking in the first film, where viewers learn that the courteous official hunting Newt was the villain all along, a reveal that rewards a second look at Graves's earlier scenes.

The rally in The Crimes of Grindelwald is my second pick, because the vision of a future war and the ring of blue fire show how he persuades people rather than merely threatens them. It could be argued that this is a different kind of menace from Voldemort, who in the main saga works through fear and hidden pieces of his soul, whereas Grindelwald wants to be chosen.

My third pick is the quiet scene in The Secrets of Dumbledore where Dumbledore admits he once loved him. Mikkelsen, stepping in after Depp, plays the role with more restraint, and in my view that suits a villain who has already won over much of his audience. The Berlin election, with its rigged qilin, is the best set piece for how the story turns his charm into a political threat.