Character Throwdown: Rodolphus vs. James

Today is the throwdown of the forgotten husbands. On one hand we have Rodolphus Lestrange, the man who had to be clearly insane to marry Bellatrix Black. On the other we have James Potter, who was featured in the books, but always pushed aside in favor of his wife, Lily Evans, and the man who unhealthy obsessed over her, Severus Snape.

Welcome to the second Harry Potter character throwdown: Who's the most forgotten husband: Rodolphus Lestrange or James Potter? You decide!

Rodolphus Lestrange was so forgotten in the series that he wasn't even casted in the movies. Try as I might, I could not find a picture of him. So all we have is this lovely image of Bellatrix from Order of the Phoenix. That's where she became known for her quote, "Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them Potter! You need to really want to cause pain -- to enjoy it -- righteous anger won't hurt me for long."

To marry a woman like that I believe Rodolphus Lestrange would have to be a touch insane himself. This woman, so devoted to the Dark Lord's cause, was as crazy as they came in the novels. She was evil simply because she enjoyed the way it felt. So who could be deemed in a right state of mind if they married this woman? It's not as though she gave him sons. She didn't further the Lestrange name. She might have been happy to donate her sons to the cause should she have had any, but alas, she did not. We hear so little about Rodolphus that we actually have to draw our own conclusions about the man. What did he look like? How did he act? What kind of man was he behind closed doors?

He was mentioned in Half Blood Prince by Slughorn. He was in the memory Harry extracted from the professor, something about him turning in his essay on time. It's also said that he fought in the battle at the Department Of Mysteries. Yet we never got a clear picture of this man. I always envisioned him to be a handsome, quiet man with a propensity for evil we never got to see. He'd had to have been some kind of deranged, otherwise Bellatrix would likely have turned her nose up at him. Unfortunately, my own beliefs cannot be confirmed unless I talk to J.K. Rowling personally. And while I would love to do just that, she seems to be unreachable at the moment. Until I get ahold of her, we'll have to formulate our own opinions about this dear forgotten husband. What was your mental image of Rodolphus Lestrange?

Now James Potter had far more cameos in the movie than Rodolphus, he was even mentioned on multiple occasions, but it was always backseat to Lily Evans. The only time he ever got screen time without the vivacious Gryffindor was when he was pranking Severus Snape, which only made people hate him for being a jerk. He might have been the father of Harry Potter, the character in which the entire series is about, but who remembers him when they come across The Prince's Tale in Deathly Hallows?

Everyone who knew Lily always told Harry that he had his mother's eyes. And what did he have of his father's? According to Snape, his swagger. Excuse me: his strut and his arrogance. That's really all we hear about the qualities of James. He was a prankster during his Hogwarts days, he tortured Snape and then he redeemed himself long enough to win the heart of Miss Evans. It's not much of a love story, it won't win any awards in the near future, but it happened.

Personally, I don't think we give James Potter enough credit. Snape might have stole the show with his undying, unrequited love, but he joined the Death Eaters. He spent the rest of his life trying to protect her son because he made a mistake. But James, James faced the Dark Lord without a wand or a stitch of protection so that Lily could get away with Harry. Somehow we gloss over that when the story comes up though because it's always Snape who gets the credit when it comes down to dying for the woman he loved. He died at the hand of Voldemort as well, but James was the original sacrifice. He knew he didn't stand a chance of survival and he did it anyway. At least Snape had a possible chance of escape, a small chance that he might make it to see the Dark Lord vanquished. The same cannot be said for James.

Is it the character we know nothing about that wins the trophy for most forgotten husband? If that be the case, Rodolphus Lestrange has got this one in the bag considering he wasn't even casted in the movies. Or do we give this one to the husband who was mentioned but forgotten in the name of love from another man? Because poor James Potter just can't seem to rise above Snape's pensive memories and matching patronus.

Time to decide: unknown Lestrange or tossed to the side Potter. Who was the most forgotten husband of the series?

• Most Evil Character: Voldemort vs. Bellatrix