The Greatest 'Harry Potter' Characters

Ranker Community
Updated October 17, 2025 226.2K views 117 items
Ranked By
36.4Kvoters665.5Kvotes
98reranks
Voting Rules
Only characters from the 'Harry Potter' books and films.

The top Harry Potter characters come from a rich fictional universe crafted on the page and adapted to the screen, giving us some of the best and most famous movie adaptations from books of all time. Since the Harry Potter universe weaves an immense saga, with 75 (75!) main characters in the Harry Potter movies and books, there's little surprise that they comprise many of the most beloved (and hated) characters of all time we've treasured through the years since the series concluded. The continued relevance of the series shows us why Harry Potter took off to begin with and what a profound impact it continues to carry in pop culture.

That said, the question in front of us is "who are the best Harry Potter characters?" and it is a tough one to answer, with a long list of important people from the wizarding world with an array of eclectic magical characteristics to pick from. Ranking the highest rated Harry Potter characters is a major task — are you up for it?

Do you go for the obvious and choose one of the major roles, like Harry the titular hero and arguably the most important in the series, or pay respect to Voldemort, one of the best movie villains of all time? Do you go for one of HP's iconic friends, the brains of Hermione or charm of two of the funniest characters George and Fred? Perhaps some of the interesting, more unknown characters and students throughout the series are those you liked the most. These are the questions we're confronted with when attempting to name the greatest Harry Potter characters ever. 

Since both the Harry Potter books and movies can be taken into account, almost every Harry Potter character is here, so it's up to you to decide if you want to vote for the popular Harry Potter characters as you imagined them or as they were portrayed on screen. Since the books are among the best selling series of all time, there's a good chance you've read them and can compare notes with the movies. 

Your choice is yours, though; nobody's breaking out the Imperius curse so cast your vote for your favorite characters and make vote down the ones you don't like. If there's a supporting Harry Potter character you feel belongs on the list, make sure to add them to this list of the top Harry Potter characters. If you scroll to the bottom, you'll also catch some of the worst, most unpopular characters we love to hate. 

Of course, if you're forgetting some of the names, curious about which Hogwarts houses they were sorted in, or need pictures to jog your memory, you can use the list of full names, descriptions, and images as a reference.

Most divisive: James Potter
Over 36.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Greatest 'Harry Potter' Characters
This list is dynamically ranked based on user voting. The order reflects the consensus of our voters and is not influenced by paid placements or editorial bias.
Ranked by