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.

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.

[5] 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".

[6] 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.

[8] Born in England[9] on 24 February 1897,[10] 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,[9] 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.

[12] Albus Dumbledore, Newt's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at that time, strongly argues on his beloved student's behalf.

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.

Newt later joins the Ministry[13] and receives several promotions there due to his knowledge about magical creatures, eventually becoming a magizoologist.

Newt faces complications from MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) but nonetheless succeeds in rounding up all the escaped creatures with Jacob, Tina and Queenie's help.

A week later, Newt anonymously gifts Jacob some silver Occamy shells to help him sanction a loan and fulfill his dream of opening a bakery.

[18] Newt bids farewell to Tina and promises to deliver a copy of his book to her in person, before he boards a ship to England and leaves.

Due to an international travel ban placed on him by the Ministry, illegally Newt bribes a portkey tout on the Kent coast and arrives directly in Paris with Jacob.

Unexpectedly, Kama collapses due to a parasitical infection and Newt's pet bowtruckle, Pickett, frees the three by picking the lock.

Newt captures a Zouwu, that had escaped earlier from a travelling circus, running rampant across the Parisian streets.

[26] Albus Dumbledore entrusts Newt to form and lead a group to thwart Grindelwald's plans of world domination.

Newt forms a team consisting of his auror brother Theseus, Muggle friend Jacob Kowalski, Ilvermorny Charms professor Eulalie "Lally" Hicks, his assistant Bunty and Yusuf Kama.

[28] Newt, Jacob, Lally and Theseus are all shocked when Grindelwald is acquitted of all charges and is also allowed to stand in the upcoming election as a candidate.

After Theseus is stunned and abducted by Grindelwald's acolytes, Newt infiltrates German prison Erkstag and rescues his brother.

[29] Newt, Theseus, Jacob, Lally, Bunty and Dumbledore reach Bhutan where the election for the new supreme mugwump is held.

As depicted in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Newt Scamander visits Hogwarts in 1993 or 1994 for some unknown reason, thus appearing on the Marauder's Map.

[37] Cultural critic Jonathan McIntosh praised the character, stating that he "performs a refreshingly atypical form of masculinity.

[40] Reviewer from The Guardian enjoyed Newt Scamander's personality and said, "All pigeon-toed angles and stuttering rushes of enthusiasm, [Eddie Redmayne's] great gift to the character is a crippling diffidence.

Helen O'Hara from Empire wrote, "[...] he's so disconnected and withdrawn that he barely shifts facial expression from friendly blankness for the first half hour, when we really need him to guide us around.

Newt's primary dressing-manner also includes his dark brown suit jacket and trousers, burnt-orange waistcoat, ivory-white shirt, small bow tie and calf high leather boots which are weather-beaten and worn from his travels across the world.

He attempts to avoid violence when possible, such as when he consoles the violently disturbed obscurial Credence Barebone by his kind, understanding and sympathetic nature.

[51] He is also able to cast Atmospheric Charms to create separate natural habitats inside the suitcase for the magical beasts to survive.

"Not only does he look as if he lives in 1926, but he has all the elements required to be Newt: he's smart, funny, utterly British, and immensely sympathetic [...]" said David Heyman.

[62] During Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Newt Scamander as a teenager is portrayed by British child artist Joshua Shea.