Newton Artemis Fido "Newt" Scamander is a character created by J. K. Rowling. He is the protagonist of the Fantastic Beasts film series, a spin-off prequel to the Harry Potter novel and film series. Newt Scamander was only mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as the author of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was used as a textbook for Care of Magical Creatures by Harry Potter and his classmates. In 2001, J.K. Rowling wrote a real version of the fictional textbook under the pseudonym "Newt Scamander". In the film series inspired by the book, Newt Scamander is the main character and is portrayed by Eddie Redmayne. Newt Scamander is an introverted British wizard and magizoologist. His help is often sought by his former professor Albus Dumbledore in the mission to defeat the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Newt ends up playing a vital role in the downfall of Grindelwald, during which Newt meets and falls in love with his future wife Tina Goldstein. Rowling as a producer, as well as scriptwriter, had a much greater involvement in the casting of Fantastic Beasts films than she did in the Harry Potter films. She quickly came to see that Redmayne met with her ideas for the character of Newt as a very British subtle and understated hero figure. Redmayne's portrayal of the character received strong critical reviews in the U.K., but reactions from critics in the U.S. were more mixed as his subtlety of character did not fit the American ideal cast of hero.
Character development Describing Newt as an outsider, Rowling said, "My heroes are always people who feel themselves to be set apart, stigmatised or othered. That's at the heart of most of what I write, and it's certainly at the heart of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt Scamander grows up attached to the magical beasts since childhood and eventually becomes a magizoologist. He feels extremely connected to all his magical creatures and beasts, and always defends them. Presumably, Rowling created the character's name by combining terms related to animals — the nickname "Newt" is the name of a kind of brightly-coloured amphibian with a tail. The first middle name "Artemis" is the name of the Greek goddess of hunting, wilderness, and wild animals. The second middle name "Fido" does literally mean "I trust" in Latin — highlighting the fact that Newt Scamander is in Hufflepuff, the Hogwarts house of loyalty, while the same word in Greek (Φειδώ, φειδώ, Ancient Greek transliteration Pheidṓ, pheidṓ, Modern Greek transliteration Feidó, feidó) means "frugality/lack of excess" — "Fido" is also a common name for a pet dog. The last name "Scamander" refers to the River Scamander of Anatolia from the Iliad. The word itself is alliterative with "salamander" — species very closely related to newts in the class Amphibia — but in the wizarding world are lizard-like fire-dwelling creatures. Harry Potter and Newt Scamander are rather different kinds of protagonists: Harry is a born leader who makes lifelong, unbreakable friendships at Hogwarts; while Newt is an unheroic hero, (but not an antihero), a loner and always thought of himself to be alone because his only close friendship is with Leta Lestrange that ended due to "rocky circumstances". Harry is daring, reckless, and short-tempered at times; while Newt usually remains calm and cool in a crisis. However, Newt and Harry also share similar traits, as they are both brave, humble, loyal, protecting of underdogs, at odds with authority — mainly in the form of the Ministry of Magic — and fighting for what is right. Both Harry and Newt are "chosen" to fight evils: the bold Harry is chosen by his fate and guided by Dumbledore to complete his parents' fight; whereas Dumbledore sees a rather reluctant and bashful Newt just needs a little push to be convinced into just following his own innate instincts to do the right thing and fight Grindelwald. Newt is also somewhat similar to Hermione Granger as both of them are intelligent and deductive — crusaders with "extraordinary luggage".
Character biography
Early life Born in England on 24 February 1897, Newt Scamander developed interest towards magical beasts and creatures from a young age as his mother bred hippogriffs. Sorted into Hufflepuff at Hogwarts at the age of eleven, Newt develops a close friendship with a Slytherin girl named Leta Lestrange, who is in the same year as him and shares both his interest in magical beasts and his inferiority complex due to being an outsider. Newt and Leta explore magical creatures together and enjoy each other's company, gradually falling in love. One of Leta's experiments involving a Jarvey accidentally endangers human life. Newt takes the blame for Leta's actions and is expelled from Hogwarts instead of her. Therefore, Newt turns bitter towards Leta but still remains much in love with her. Albus Dumbledore, Newt's Transfiguration professor at that time, strongly argues on his beloved student's behalf. Newt is still expelled but is allowed to keep his wand because of Dumbledore's influence. Around 1914 to 1918, Newt serves on the Eastern front during the First World War in a confidential Ministry of Magic program involving Ukrainian Ironbelly dragons. However, the program is cancelled as the dragons respond only to Newt, whilst trying to eat all others. Newt later joins the Ministry and receives several promotions there due to his knowledge about magical creatures, eventually becoming a magizoologist. However, Newt's career choice is not appreciated by his family. In 1918, Newt is convinced by Augustus Worme to use his extensive knowledge about magical beasts to write a book on them. Newt begins to travel internationally to conduct research on magical beasts and creatures for his book.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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