Who is Ominis Gaunt in Hogwarts Legacy? Voldemort's ancestry explained

Ominis Gaunt, one of the Slytherin students in Hogwarts Legacy, is an interesting character who has intrigued several fans of the franchise. Born into a family of dark wizards, Ominis Gaunt continues the rich tradition of Wizarding World dark wizards with evil-sounding names. There’s been a lot of discussion about this particular character, and if he’s connected to the most famous dark wizard, Voldemort.

While he may not be a direct descendant of Tom Riddle/Voldemort, there’s information that suggests the two characters are linked in a fascinating way. What is the connection between Ominis Gaunt, the Gaunt family of dark wizards in Hogwarts Legacy, and the infamous Tom Riddle?

---

Is Ominis Gaunt related to the future Voldemort in Hogwarts Legacy?

In Hogwarts Legacy, Ominis Gaunt comes from a long line of dark wizards and is a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself. Unlike his family, who are keen on using Unforgivable Curses like Crucio on the Muggles (ordinary humans), Ominis doesn’t share their ideals, which led to his family members casting the curses on him as well.

"My family on my father's side are direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin – one of the four founders of Hogwarts. Not something I'm especially proud of, mind you. He was obsessed with blood status. A pure-blood maniac. Unfortunately, most of his descendants do not fall far from that tree."

Born blind, Ominis Gaunt gets around Hogwarts Legacy using a wand that's “almost sentient.” Despite being surrounded by some of the most powerful wizards, no magic was able to save his vision at birth. As a character, he doesn’t follow in the same line of thought as the other dark wizards in his family, which was made clear by in-game dialog.

What is the Tom Riddle connection? Simply being related to Salazar Slytherin should be enough for most players to connect the dots, but there’s more to the story than that.

The name of Voldemort’s mother was revealed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. According to the storyline, Tom Marvolo Riddle’s family name is Gaunt, not Riddle. His mother, Merope Gaunt, was in love with a Muggle, Tom Riddle, and named her son after him.

Merope Gaunt, Voldemort’s mother, was born in 1907, with Voldemort himself being born in 1926. At the time, another key family member who was alive was Marvolo Gaunt, the grandfather of Tom Marvolo Riddle and the father of Merope.

It’s unclear when exactly Ominis was born, although it's potentially somewhere between September 1, 1874, and August 31, 1875. Considering that Marvolo Gaunt was alive before 1890, it’s fair to say that he was likely alive at the same time as Ominis Gaunt in Hogwarts Legacy’s timeline.

With Marvolo Gaunt being a hateful person who was prone to violence, it’s possible that he's one of the Gaunt family members that tortured Ominis for not using Crucio on Muggles around the time of Hogwarts Legacy. Unfortunately, this is merely a conjecture, but it’s not unlikely to assume this would be the case.

So, are Ominis Gaunt and Voldemort connected in Hogwarts Legacy? The two are very clearly in the same family tree, but a direct connection is unlikely. Gaunt is Voldemort’s ancestor, and it’s possible the two are very closely linked. While players may not know what the exact family tree looks like, it’s clear by this data that the two are in the same family of dark wizards.