He's not a bully but he can be seen as arrogant. He'd call this confidence. He believes that taking such titles as Dark Lord are egotistical and ridiculous and he considers himself above that kind of pettiness - he does want to change the world but he doesn't want to be some puppet figurehead. He'd keep people in line and be in control and won't remain hidden but day to day running of things he'd prefer to leave to trusted others (if he'd still been with Dumbledore he would have let him be that kind of 'star' while he worked on other things). He does like to flaunt his power and show it off but he does like to think he's one of the people - if more superior in intellect and more magically skilled.
However, at the point of the infamous duel, he has become disillusioned and disheartened by all the resistance he has been getting and by what he sees as a lack of progress. So he's about ready to surrender to Dumbledore - but more in the way of he needs to take the time out to think everything through and perhaps reconsider his actions. His willingness in his youth to change his plans from 'for the Muggle's own good' to 'for the greater good' on Dumbledore's word, shows, I think, that he can logically adapt and see things from another perspective - if he's shown clearly enough - and if he respects the person saying it. So I'd say he gave little resistance to Dumbledore when confronted but he didn't expect to be abandoned and locked away for so long. In time, though I think he learned to accept this fate. In prison for over fifty years with likely only himself for company, he had a lot of time to think about what led him to this point. Being intelligent he would have only ranted and been angry about this for a short time, or when he was most frustrated. By the time Voldemort comes he knows that he was wrong in the manner of which he approached his idealistic plans but he has had no chance before to openly express this or redeem himself.
There are also no indications that he wishes to kill Muggles - only put them in their ‘proper’ place, with wizards in a more obvious place power, out of hiding.
He may be defensive to be told that he has done anything regarded as evil; be dismissive of the bad things and optimistically grandstand his virtues: his intelligence, his ideals for the betterment of all, his experimentation which he doesn't see as in any way wrong, since he’s always working to free wizards from what he sees as a forced hiding away. One thing he hates is to hide - he likes to be open and generally honest and up front about most things. He's not generally secretive and he'll rarely lie, unless he thinks it's absolutely necessary or will further what he wants out of a situation.
Other:
Please note that, despite some fandom speculation (some of which finds it's wy onto site such as Wiki), my Grindelwald has NOTHING to do with World War II. It is purely coincidental that he was also defeated around the time of the end of that war. He may have used the chaos in the Muggle world at that time to his advantage but he personally had nothing to do with it. Gellert’s philosophy and ideals are not the same as Voldemort’s and he considers Voldemort something of an egotistical fool. If he is compared to Voldemort he will scoff and be quite offended.
Gellert Grindelwald || Harry Potter || Reserved || 5/??
He's not a bully but he can be seen as arrogant. He'd call this confidence. He believes that taking such titles as Dark Lord are egotistical and ridiculous and he considers himself above that kind of pettiness - he does want to change the world but he doesn't want to be some puppet figurehead. He'd keep people in line and be in control and won't remain hidden but day to day running of things he'd prefer to leave to trusted others (if he'd still been with Dumbledore he would have let him be that kind of 'star' while he worked on other things). He does like to flaunt his power and show it off but he does like to think he's one of the people - if more superior in intellect and more magically skilled.
However, at the point of the infamous duel, he has become disillusioned and disheartened by all the resistance he has been getting and by what he sees as a lack of progress. So he's about ready to surrender to Dumbledore - but more in the way of he needs to take the time out to think everything through and perhaps reconsider his actions. His willingness in his youth to change his plans from 'for the Muggle's own good' to 'for the greater good' on Dumbledore's word, shows, I think, that he can logically adapt and see things from another perspective - if he's shown clearly enough - and if he respects the person saying it. So I'd say he gave little resistance to Dumbledore when confronted but he didn't expect to be abandoned and locked away for so long. In time, though I think he learned to accept this fate. In prison for over fifty years with likely only himself for company, he had a lot of time to think about what led him to this point. Being intelligent he would have only ranted and been angry about this for a short time, or when he was most frustrated. By the time Voldemort comes he knows that he was wrong in the manner of which he approached his idealistic plans but he has had no chance before to openly express this or redeem himself.
There are also no indications that he wishes to kill Muggles - only put them in their ‘proper’ place, with wizards in a more obvious place power, out of hiding.
He may be defensive to be told that he has done anything regarded as evil; be dismissive of the bad things and optimistically grandstand his virtues: his intelligence, his ideals for the betterment of all, his experimentation which he doesn't see as in any way wrong, since he’s always working to free wizards from what he sees as a forced hiding away. One thing he hates is to hide - he likes to be open and generally honest and up front about most things. He's not generally secretive and he'll rarely lie, unless he thinks it's absolutely necessary or will further what he wants out of a situation.
Other:
Please note that, despite some fandom speculation (some of which finds it's wy onto site such as Wiki), my Grindelwald has NOTHING to do with World War II. It is purely coincidental that he was also defeated around the time of the end of that war. He may have used the chaos in the Muggle world at that time to his advantage but he personally had nothing to do with it. Gellert’s philosophy and ideals are not the same as Voldemort’s and he considers Voldemort something of an egotistical fool. If he is compared to Voldemort he will scoff and be quite offended.