He's really sort of the devil. He's completely emotionally detached. He has no empathy. You find that in psychopaths. It's about power with Voldemort. It's an aphrodisiac for him. Power makes him feel alive.
Sometimes I've been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men frightened by their wives or sweeties would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.