A Game of Thrones Characters

A great dad and a terrible politician, Eddard Stark is the head of the Stark family, one of the major noble families in the novel. He's the husband of Catelyn Stark and father to Robb, Sansa, Arya,...

Catelyn Stark is Mama Direwolf. She was born Catelyn Tully (rival family alert!) but became a Stark when she married Eddard. Her younger sister is Lysa Arryn and her younger brother is Edmure Tully...

Jon Snow kind of gets the short end of the stick in this book. He is Eddard Stark's illegitimate son, and we may never know who his mother was. (And let's be honest, some people doubt that Eddard i...

DaenerysThe Last DragonDaenerys Targaryen is the youngest survivor of the Targaryen family, the royal family that ruled the Seven Kingdoms until Robert Baratheon and friends kicked them out (by, yo...

Khal Drogo is the leader (khal) of a very big army/tribe (khalasar). He marries Daenerys, makes her happy for a while, and then dies.He's a DudeKhal Drogo is a stud. Yep, that's right. He's never h...

Tyrion Lannister is the misshapen dwarf son of Tywin Lannister and the younger brother to Cersei and Jaime. Tyrion has quite an adventure: he visits the Night's Watch, gets abducted by Catelyn Star...

Bran Stark is the fourth child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark; brother to Robb, Sansa, Arya, and Rickon; and half-brother to Jon Snow. Bran falls (read: is thrown) from a tower and breaks his back, an...

Sansa is the oldest daughter of Eddard and Catelyn Stark; Sansa is younger than Robb Stark but older than Arya, Bran, and Rickon. (She's also younger than Jon Snow, but she makes sure to let everyo...

Arya is the middle child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark; she's younger than Robb and Sansa (and also Eddard's illegitimate child, Jon Snow), but older than Bran and Rickon. Arya gets taken to King's L...

Robb is the oldest son of Eddard and Catelyn Stark; he's about the same age as Jon Snow and older than Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Robb is also good friends with his father's ward, Theon Greyjoy...

Cersei and Jaime Lannister are twins…and lovers. Yeah. They are Tywin Lannister's children and Tyrion's older siblings. Cersei is unhappily married to King Robert Baratheon, which makes her queen...

RobertRobert Baratheon is king of the Seven Kingdoms after the Targaryens are kicked out (which Robert has a little something to do with). He was raised with Eddard Stark (though they haven't seen...

Petyr Baelish is King Robert Baratheon's master of coin. Petyr was actually fostered with the Tullys, so he grew up with Catelyn, Lysa, and Edmure. He apparently had a crush on one or both Tully si...

Varys is the spymaster (coolest title ever) for King Robert, so he gets reports from all over the world. Varys has no family that we know of (usually the family tree of a eunuch is pretty easy to d...

Jorah Mormont is an exile from the Seven Kingdoms for a crime he most definitely did commit. He's Jeor Mormont's son, not that they talk anymore. After he left Westeros, he joined up with Khal Drog...

Sweet name, right? These guys are clearly dude-ish. The Night's Watch is the military order that guards the Seven Kingdoms from whatever is up north. Mostly that means that they maintain this giant...

Talk about betrayal. Mirri Maz Duur is a priest and healer who is taken as servant/slave by Khal Drogo's khalasar. Daenerys tries to protect Mirri, and so, when Drogo needs healing, Mirri volunteer...

SandorSandor Clegane is a warrior who is sworn to protect and serve Joffrey. He does so, but he also starts comforting Sansa when Joffrey turns out to be a total jerk.Scarred for LifeSandor is horr...

The Tully clan doesn't play a major role in this book, but since Catelyn Stark was once Catelyn Tully, we do hear about and get to briefly meet her family. For instance, Catelyn's father Hoster Tul...

TywinTywin is the father of Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion Lannister. He's the head of House Lannister and he's a very hard man (57 Tyrion 7.31). He's noted as being dangerous, violent, and willing to d...

Lisa ArrynLysa Arryn was originally Lysa Tully and get this: she wasn't always crazy. She and Catelyn used to have fun as kids together with Petyr Baelish. But time has not been kind to Lysa, as Ca...

Walder Frey believes that the person who dies with the most sons wins. That's the only possible reason we can think of for why he has so many children, both from his eight wives and all the mistres...

King Robert and later King Joffrey Baratheon both have courts, which means that they have people around them (not "courts" in the sense of trials – though they have that, too). When you read "cou...

The Kingsguard is a group of elite knights who are meant to protect the king of the Seven Kingdoms. Like the Night's Watch, the Kingsguard members are supposed to give up their families and devote...

Since this is pretty much a Stark book – so much of it is told from the POV of the Starks – we get introduced to a lot of their servants. In fact, if you check out the Appendix, most of the Sta...

The Stark bannermen are those noble lords of the north that follow the Starks; in this case, the guys that follow Robb Stark in to battle. They include all of the houses that are listed in the Appe...

When Gregor Clegane raids the Riverlands – well, he's not waving a flag, but we all know it's him – Eddard sends out a group of knights and warriors under the king's own banner (44 Eddard 11)....

The Mountain Clans are tribes of people who live outside of the whole social system of the Seven Kingdoms and usually stay in the mountains near the Vale of Arryn. They are the medieval equivalent...

Clearly, we cannot start this section without referencing Lost. And if you have no idea what we mean, go ahead and watch all six seasons immediately. We'll wait.Okay, you back? Here we go. We don't...

Some of these characters are mentioned in other groups; but just in case this question comes up, here are the characters who appear in the tournament for the Hand of the King (30 Sansa 2 and 31 Edd...

Masha Heddle is a pretty minor character in this book: she's just the owner of the Old Crossroads Inn, just a commoner. So why are we giving her her own entry when we don't pay too much attention t...