In the Harry Potter series, a Death Eater was a follower of Lord Voldemort and member of his 'inner circle'.
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
When Voldemort first rose to power, the Death Eaters were his most trusted allies - in so far as Voldemort trusted anyone. All Death Eaters were marked with the Dark Mark on their forearms. The Dark Mark, Voldemort's sign (a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth) was used to summon the Death Eaters - when Voldemort touched any of the signs, the others would all turn black, and the Death Eaters were expected to apparate next to their Master.
At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, on being returned to full power, Voldemort summons all the original Death Eaters to him. Some of them are dead or imprisoned, while others have betrayed him and are too afraid to return to him. The Death Eaters who did come are mentioned below.
In the course of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a number of prominent Death Eaters manage to escape from Azkaban[?], presumably with help from those on the outside. At the end of this book, Dumbledore recaptures many of them.
- Bellatrix Lestrange[?]
- Lucius Malfoy[?]
- Crabbe
- Goyle
- Avery
- Macnair
- Nott
- Rabastan
- Jugson
- Dolohov
- Rookwood
- Rodolphus
- Mulciber
- Peter Pettigrew[?]
