A aparência de Voldemort não teve a ver com perder o corpo - foi o resultado da criação de Horcruxes.
Aqui está uma lembrança que Harry vê em Príncipe Mestiço. Isso mostra a Voldemort, alguns anos depois de deixar a escola, retornar a Hogwarts para se candidatar ao cargo de professora de Defesa Contra as Artes das Trevas.
Harry let out a hastily stifled gasp. Voldemort had entered the room. His features were not those Harry had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron almost two years ago: They were not as snake-like, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle. It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that Harry knew they would become.
Neste ponto, ele criou alguns, mas não todos os Horcuxes. Sua aparência física degrada quando ele cria mais.