History AdaptationalHeroism / GameOfThrones

* Drogon gets this in "The Dance of Dragons" when he plays the BigDamnHero who roasts mostly AssholeVictims to save Dany from the Sons of the Harpy rather than being attracted by the noise and slaughter to gorge on a dead fighter and roast several bystanders until Dany whips him into submission and flies off.

* Varys gets stacked with this. In the books, he's a [[SleazyPolitician sleazy]], [[TheHypocrite hypocritical]] GigglingVillain who preaches [[TrueNeutral neutrality]] and [[TheNeedsOfTheMany the common good]] but is NotSoDifferent from Littlefinger in PlayingBothSides and [[TheChessmaster manipulating everyone]] to serve [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans his own agenda]]. As such, he remorselessly testifies against [[spoiler: Tyrion]] and must be given AnOfferYouCantRefuse before he will help. Then there are his [[WouldHurtAChild little]] [[CreepyChild birds]]... By contrast, the show paints him as a sassy and affable OnlySaneMan and BenevolentBoss with very few KickTheDog moments and a genuine soft spot for Tyrion and the common people.

** Taken to such extremes with Tyrion that he's practically a different character altogether. Tyrion is "[[http://www.sfsite.com/01a/gm95.htm the grayest of the gray]]" in the books, per Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, and partakes in all sorts of horrendous acts including raping slaves and setting loose ravaging barbarians on civilians out of spite, but the show omits or justifies virtually all his less-than-heroic aspects in favour of a more traditional protagonist, who happens to be a DeadpanSnarker on the side. Furthermore, in the books:

* The show's Jorah Mormont is a higher tier of man than his literary counterpart, with his DirtyOldMan lust for Daenerys downplayed into AllLoveIsUnrequited and his ForcefulKiss adapted out. He also seems more ashamed of his dabbling in slavery and begs forgiveness for [[spoiler: his spying]] instead of haughtily insisting that it's all NeverMyFault as he does in the books.

*** In the books, he arranges at least two murders, including having a bard flat-out murdered by Bronn and given to a stew cook in Flea Bottom for threatening to expose Shae, and strangles [[spoiler: Shae]] in a crime of passion as a spiteful act of vengeance for her turning on him during his trial rather than being essentially forced to do it to prevent her from exposing Tywin's death and Shae did the grab the knife first as well, so Tyrion was mainly acting in [[TheDogShotFirst self-defence]].

** Taken to such extremes with Tyrion that he's practically a different character altogether. Tyrion is "[[http://www.sfsite.com/01a/gm95.htm the grayest of the gray]]" in the books, per Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, and partakes in all sorts of horrendous acts including raping slaves and setting loose ravaging barbarians on civilians out of spite, but the show omits or justifies virtually all his less-than-heroic aspects in favour of a more traditional protagonist, who happens to be a DeadpanSnarker on the side.
*** He is almost as egocentrical as his father, openly loves power and authority, and is a bit more concerned with his family's actions from the viewpoint of how it affects their image than the actual morality of those actions. Furthermore, in the books:

** Tyrion is "[[http://www.sfsite.com/01a/gm95.htm the grayest of the gray]]" in the books, per Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, but the show omits or justifies virtually all his less-than-heroic aspects in favour of a more traditional protagonist:
*** In the books, he arranges at least two murders, threatens Tommen with any harm (including rape) done to Cersei's hostage, strangles [[spoiler: Shae]] in a crime of passion rather than [[TheDogShotFirst self-defence]], and callously rapes an Essosi SexSlave rather than chatting politely.
*** Even his lesser transgressions like breaking Marillion's fingers for mocking him, arranging a truce-breaking FalseFlagOperation to free Jaime, and disdainfully answering Thorne's petition to aid the Night's Watch by offering a few shovels (to keep the AnimateDead buried, you see) are all omitted, and Shae's adaptational heroism helps turn him from a deluded (and occasionally [[DomesticAbuse abusive]]) john into a genuine lover.
*** Following his exile from Westeros, Tyrion becomes even darker and crueller than he was previously in the books, and tries to join Daenerys on the condition that he can inflict revenge on his family, especially by raping and murdering Cersei. In the show, he never expresses these desires and actually [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] after joining Daenerys as his adviser. When they actually return to Westeros, Tyrion tries his best to have Daenerys' conquest to be clean as possible and still feels sympathy for his relatives, even though they are now his enemies.

* The history and lore adaptation of ''The Dance of the Dragons'' makes Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's faction more obviously sympathetic and correct than the Greens, with very little attention given to her paranoia, with the issue of her children from her first Velaryon marriage (who were called "Strong" bastards in ''Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories'') not being made an issue for the Greens.

* The history and lore adaptation of ''The Dance of the Dragons'' makes Rhaenyra's faction more obviously sympathetic and correct than the Greens, with very little attention given to her paranoia, with the issue of her children from her first Velaryon marriage (who were called "Strong" bastards in ''Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories'') not being made an issue for the Greens.

* While Viserys' creepiness is still present, his actual attempts to claim Daenerys's maidenhead are absent in the show and never mentioned by her sister. In the books, Ilyrio has to post guards in her room so Viserys doesn't derail years of planning, ruining the alliance with the Dothraki in a single night.

* Take the term with a ''huge'' grain of salt, but long after Joffrey's death the show finally gets around to revealing that unlike in the books, it was Littlefinger rather than Joffrey who arranged the attack on Bran after Jaime pushed him off the tower.

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*"Heroism" is entirely the wrong word, but the show lightens Ramsay's behavior compared to the books (not that this is very hard).

** In the books, Ramsay forcibly marries Donella Hornwood to claim her family's holdings, and then rapes her and locks her in a tower to starve to death. Show Ramsay does no such thing.

* House Lannister. While Cersei or Tywin never exactly make it to 'heroic', Tyrion arguably was there even in the books and Jaime is... Jaime, all of them get somehow polished, or at least made to appear more humane in the show. After all, we get to see them so often that is better if we care about the characters to some degree. To balance it out, Joffrey is made even nastier in the show than he was in the book.

* Catelyn is unpleasant to Jon in the show but doesn't go so far as to declare YouShouldHaveDiedInstead or refuse to let him stay at Winterfell after Ned leaves. She even laments her treatment of Jon as a failing in the show, rather than adamantly opposing Robb's trust in Jon throughout, as in the books. [[labelnote: From the books...]]In the books, some of Catelyn's resentment stems from fears Ned loved and continues to love Jon's mother more than her due to Ned's fierce protectiveness of Jon. She states she would have forgiven Ned a dozen illegitimate kids but resents that Jon is never out of sight as Ned brought Jon home to Winterfell as a baby, had him and his wet nurse take up residence in Winterfell before her arrival with Robb, and raised Jon alongside their trueborn children. Catelyn's resentment also comes from fears that any children Jon may have will pose a threat to the succession rights of her own grandchildren, making her very relieved when Jon joins the Night's Watch because of the Watch's oath to bear no children. When Robb wants to name Jon his heir, Catelyn opposes his decision, telling Robb that while he trusts Jon, she believes his descendants might overthrow Robb's descendants. Catelyn's beliefs against illegitimate children are due to negative Westerosi prejudice against them, referencing only negative cases of illegitimate-born individuals (the Blackfyre rebellion) and dismisses those who were true and loyal (Addam Velaryon, Brynden Rivers).[[/labelnote]]

*** Her love for Jaime is more sincere and she remains committed to him long after his maiming. In the books, her love for him is basically a twisted [[ScrewYourself narcissism]] since she sees him as the embodiment of her desire to be a man, and she quickly turns cold and spiteful after his maiming ruins this illusion so their relationship pretty much ends and his CharacterDevelopment stops him from being her YesMan.

* Sansa's AlphaBitch treatment of Arya is toned down to normal levels of bickering and her unwitting role in [[spoiler: her father's downfall]] is adapted out for reasons of AgeLift, a change [[WordofGod the series' author GRRM himself]] has supported. She's also [[AdaptationalNiceGuy kinder]] to Tyrion (perhaps because of his own AdaptationalHeroism) whereas in the books she was quite cold to him after their wedding. In the books, Sansa likewise heard Lysa Arryn specifically shouting out that she killed Jon Arryn for him (which Sansa doesn't allow herself to believe) and in the show she is never called upon to act as Littlefinger's accomplice in framing a FallGuy for murder as said FallGuy lost his tongue back in Season 1 and hasn't been seen since.
* Catelyn is unpleasant to Jon in the show but doesn't go so far as to declare YouShouldHaveDiedInstead or refuse to let him stay at Winterfell after Ned leaves. She even laments her treatment of Jon as a failing in the show, rather than adamantly opposing Robb's trust in Jon throughout, as in the books. [[labelnote: From the books...]]In the books, Catelyn's resentment stems from fears Ned loved and continues to love Jon's mother more than her due to Ned's fierce protectiveness of Jon. She states she would have forgiven Ned a dozen affairs but resents that Jon is never out of sight as Ned brought Jon home to Winterfell as a baby, had him and his wet nurse take up residence in Winterfell before her arrival with Robb, and raised Jon alongside their trueborn children. Catelyn's resentment also comes from fears that Jon's children will pose a threat to the succession rights of her own grandchildren, making her very relieved when Jon joins the Night's Watch because of the Watch's oath to bear no children.[[/labelnote]]

* Catelyn is unpleasant to Jon in the show but doesn't go so far as to declare YouShouldHaveDiedInstead or refuse to let him stay at Winterfell after Ned leaves. She even laments her treatment of Jon as a failing in the show, rather than adamantly opposing Robb's trust in Jon throughout, as in the books. [[labelnote: From the books...]]In the books, Catelyn fears Ned loved and continues to love Jon's mother more than her due to Ned's fierce protectiveness of Jon. She states she would have forgiven Ned a dozen affairs but resents that Jon is never out of sight as Ned brought his infant illegitimate son home to Winterfell, had him and his wet nurse take up residence in Winterfell before her arrival with Robb, and raised Jon alongside their trueborn children. Catelyn also fears that Jon's children will pose a threat to the succession rights of her own grandchildren, making her very relieved when Jon joins the Night's Watch because of the Watch's oath to bear no children.[[/labelnote]]

* House Lannister. While Cersei or Tywin never exactly make it to 'heroic', Tyrion arguably was there even in the books and Jaime is... Jaime, all of them get somehow polished, or at least made to appear more humane in the show. After all, we get to see them so often that is better if we care about the characters for some degree. To balance it out, Joffrey is made even nastier in the show than he was in the book.

*** Her opinion of Margaery as an [[SocialClimber ambitious]] [[TheVamp vamp]] intent on turning her children against her is completely validated by Margaery's actions in the show, [[TheDogShotFirst justifying]] her retaliation. In the books this is almost entirely her own paranoia since Margaery's motives are a much more open question and her "schemes" include giving Tommen kittens and positive reinforcement and urging him to take an interest in government and public opinion.

* Catelyn is unpleasant to Jon in the show but doesn't go so far as to declare YouShouldHaveDiedInstead or refuse to let him stay at Winterfell after Ned leaves. She even laments her treatment of Jon as a failing in the show, rather than adamantly opposing Robb's trust in Jon throughout, as in the books. A large difference is that her resentfulness of Jon is due to jealousy of his mother over Ned's perceived infidelity. In the books, she explicitly states that she would have forgiven Ned a dozen affairs but his favorable treatment of a bastard child (raising him like their own children together) makes her fear for the safety of her children. There have been historical incidents of bastard lines of a family growing more popular than the true born lines, and the true born children being overthrown and/or killed so the bastard line could "replace" them, including the infamous Blackfyre rebellion. She mentions to Robb that even if he trusts Jon, who's to say that Jon's children wouldn't be the type to come overthrow Robb's descendants? She is very relieved when Jon joins the Night's Watch explicitly because he will swear an oath to bear no children. To summarize, she's very abusive to Jon because his descendants ''might'' later cause problems for her potential grandchildren.

* Catelyn is unpleasant to Jon in the show but doesn't go so far as to declare YouShouldHaveDiedInstead or refuse to let him stay at Winterfell after Ned leaves. She even laments her treatment of Jon as a failing in the show, rather than adamantly opposing Robb's trust in Jon throughout, as in the books.

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* In the books, Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane is not just physically terrifying but also a sadist who enjoys torturing his victims (including forcing them to eat their own cut-off body parts) and initiates the gang-rape of a 13-year old girl. In the TV series, Clegane becomes more of a simple-minded thuggish brute whose love of killing is more animalistic than sadistic. Bpok Gregor is shown to have a decent, if unremarkable command of war tactics, and seems to know what he is doing, while several characters explicitly describe Show Gregor as too stupid to think for himself and merely following Tywin Lannister's orders.

* While he's still insolent, thuggish, and OnlyInItForTheMoney, Bronn is more of an affable PunchClockVillain who genuinely befriends Tyrion, encourages Jaime to defend him, and puts a much more apologetic spin on their parting than in the novels.

* Downplayed with Maester Wolkan. In the books, he was ordered to spy on Stannis Baratheon pretending to be the Karstarks' maester. In the show, he doesn't do any such thing.

* In the novels, Sandor Clegane goes to Sansa's room during the Battle of Blackwater with the apparent intention of raping her, holding her down with a knife at her throat. The show makes their confrontation much less frightening, making Sansa's refusal to escape with him much [[FridgeLogic less understandable]].

* As dark as she becomes in the show, Arya's traumatic experiences in the books leave her even [[SociopathicHero colder]] and more AxCrazy and give her a real cruel streak.

*** Jaime in the books even after the beginning of his RedemptionQuest is quite blunt and jerkish, and after the loss of his hand tries to cultivate a more distant and intimidating demeanour, whereas Jaime in Season 4 barring one or two interactions is often quite nice. The scene where he asks Tywin to spare his brother for instance is quite far apart from Book!Jaime at least in levels of earnestness and sincerity.
*** His interactions with Brienne (with whom he already has a fair bit of ShipTease in the novels) tend to be warmer in the show than in the books, especially later on.

*** Following his exile from Westeros, Tyrion becomes even darker and cruel than he was in the books, and tries to join Daenerys on the condition he can inflict revenge on his family, specially by raping and murdering Cersei. In the show, he never expresses these desiresand actually [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] after joining Daenerys as his adviser. When they actually return to Westeros, Tyrion tries his best to have Daenerys' conquest to be clean as possible and still feels sympathy for his relatives, even though they are now his enemies.