History AdaptationalHeroism / GameOfThrones

** In the books, Joffrey kills peasants with a crossbow, nails antlers on the heads of Stannis's supporters, and tries to convince Tywin to exterminate three Houses. The show version never commits these crimes.

** In Season Seven, this is possibly [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when she threatens to kill Sansa. Book Arya never gets anywhere near threatening family members or friends. [[spoiler:But then it's doubly subverted when it's revealed it was all an act to expose Littlefinger]].

*** She has a much lower body count in the show. In addition to the murder of [[spoiler: Robert's bastard children]] and the attempted murder of [[spoiler: Tyrion]] committed by Joffrey in the show, in the books she also has the High Septon [[VorpalPillow smothered]], guards [[YouHaveFailedMe murdered for incompetence]], is implied to have [[MurderTheHypotenuse drowned]] her friend Melara as a child, and attempts to assassinate Bronn for naming his stepson Tyrion.

** In the books he cheated on Lyanna while they were engaged, and the tryst produced an illegitimate daughter; something which she complained to Ned about — Ned tried to appease her by saying Robert would end such behavior once they actually married; Lyanna was rightfully skeptical. Here he appears to have been faithful to her and only became an unrepentant womanizer only after she died, and he fell into despair. If he did cheat on her it would make her dumping him for Rhaegar more sympathetic...until you remember Rhaegar was already married.

** Jaime Lannister:
*** 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. For the most part, however, Jaime falls under AdaptationalVillainy, as he stays on Cersei's side for much, ''much'' longer than he does in the books.

** In Season Seven, this is possibly [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when she threatens to kill Sansa. Book Arya never gets anywhere near threatening family members or friends. [[spoiler:But then it's doubly subverted when its revealed it was all an act to expose Littlefinger]].

*** She recognizes Joffrey as a monster and grieves about that but tragically cannot help loving him instead of finding him perfect and dismissing [[TheCaligula his cruelty]] as "willfulness" and his [[CruellaToAnimals dissection of a pregnant cat]] as "mischief." To be fair, Joffrey is also nicer to her in the books.

* When Yara finds out that Theon has been imprisoned and tortured in the show, she launches a rescue mission in defiance of her father. In the books, she contemplates the news only momentarily before turning to more pressing matters.

* Varys gets stacked with this. In the books, he's a [[SleazyPolitician sleazy]], [[Hypocrite 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]]. By contrast, the show paints him as a far less sinister sassy and affable OnlySaneMan and BenevolentBoss with very few KickTheDog moments and a genuine soft spot for Tyrion and the common people.

* 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]]. By contrast, the show paints him as a far less sinister sassy and affable OnlySaneMan and BenevolentBoss with very few KickTheDog moments and a genuine soft spot for Tyrion and the common people.

** In particular, he comes to the kingsmoot alone as a dark-horse candidate instead of as TheUsurper who's already seized the throne, and there's no indication he molested his brother Aeron or violently suppressed any dissenters.

** Notably, his story of Tyrion as a baby is drawn almost directly from the books but placed in an empathetic context instead of a derogatory one, and his daughter Obara's OriginStory in "Sons of the Harpy" deftly sidesteps the part where her mother was crying because Oberyn had [[WouldHitAGirl backhanded her]].

** The show omits Loras' main KickTheDog moment of unjustly murdering two fellow Kingsguard in a [[LoveMakesYouCrazy fit of rage]].

*** {{Subverted|Trope}} come the Season 6 finale, when Cersei's remaining [[CryForTheDevil sympathetic]] qualities go out the window and she reveals herself to be just as cruel, ruthless, and destructive as her book counterpart with [[spoiler: the Green Trial, racking up possibly the biggest kill count of major characters since the Red Wedding. Although since the adaptation's overtaken the books at this point, it remains to be seen if her book counterpart (who's already displayed a knack for killing innocents and burning things) catches up.]]

* While he remains a pragmatic realist, the show's Jorah Mormont is a higher tier of man than his literary counterpart, with his DirtyOldMan lust for Daenerys downplayed into AllLoveIsUnrequited, compared to the book with his ForcefulKiss and asking Dany to run away with him only for her to refuse him is adapted out. Dany's AgeUp in the show also makes Jorah's attraction to her seem less creepy. He also seems more ashamed of his dabbling in slavery and finally comes to terms with Ned Stark's banishment and admits that the Lord Paramount was entirely right to punish him for his crimes, which his book counterpart has yet to do so. In a related vein, when the show's Daenarys banishes him from her court because she found out he was originally spying on her for Robert, he begs forgiveness but she refuses to listen compared to the book version of her being willing to forgive him if he apologizes but him refusing to do so because he doesn't believe he did anything wrong. This adds up to a book character who always haughtily insists that it's all NeverMyFault compared to the show version who admits his mistakes.

* While he remains a pragmatic realist, the show's Jorah Mormont is a higher tier of man than his literary counterpart, with his DirtyOldMan lust for Daenerys downplayed into AllLoveIsUnrequited, compared to the book with his ForcefulKiss and asking Dany to run away with him only for her to refuse him is adapted out. He also seems more ashamed of his dabbling in slavery and finally comes to terms with Ned Stark's banishment and admits that the Lord Paramount was entirely right to punish him for his crimes, which his book counterpart has yet to do so. In a related vein, when the show's Daenarys banishes him from her court because she found out he was originally spying on her for Robert, he begs forgiveness but she refuses to listen compared to the book version of her being willing to forgive him if he apologizes but him refusing to do so because he doesn't believe he did anything wrong. This adds up to a book character who always haughtily insists that it's all NeverMyFault compared to the show version who admits his mistakes.

** In Season Seven, this is possibly [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when she threatens to kill Sansa. Book Arya never gets anywhere near threatening family members or friends.

* 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 as long as they were out of sight, but resents that 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 dismissing those who were true and loyal (Addam Velaryon, Brynden Rivers).[[/labelnote]]

* While he remains a pragmatic realist, 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 and asking Dany to run away with him only for her to refuse him is adapted out. He also seems more ashamed of his dabbling in slavery and finally comes to terms with Ned Stark's banishment and admits that the Lord Paramount was entirely right to punish him for his crimes, which his book counterpart has yet to do so. In a related vein, when the show's Daenarys banishes him from her court because she found out he was originally spying on her for Robert, he begs forgiveness but she refuses to listen compared to the book version of her being willing to forgive him if he apologizes but him refusing to do so because he doesn't believe he did anything wrong. This adds up to a book character who always haughtily insists that it's all NeverMyFault than the show version who admits his mistakes.

* While he remains a pragmatic realist, 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 and asking Dany to run away with him only for her to refuse him is adapted out. He also seems more ashamed of his dabbling in slavery and finally comes to terms with Ned Stark's banishment and admits that the Lord Paramount was entirely right to punish him for his crimes, which his book counterpart has yet to do so and when the show's Daenarys banishes him from her court because she found out he was originally spying on her for Robert, he begs forgiveness but she refuses to listen instead of her being willing to forgive him if he apologizes but him refusing because he doesn't believe he did anything wrong and haughtily insisting that it's all NeverMyFault as in the books.

*** 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.

* Renly is changed from a brash, frivolous, and entitled SleazyPolitician and [[AtLeastIAdmitIt unabashed]] [[TheUsurper usurper]] into a thoughtful WisePrince who rebels out of a genuine sense that his intellect, kindness and charisma means that he's best for the job. He also supplants Stannis as the BlackSheep by being a [[AfraidOfBlood squeamish]] NonActionGuy who's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dqgWX66fY very educated]]" rather than a boisterous BookDumb jock. His KickTheDog moments of mocking Shireen and Brienne are omitted or turned into [[AdoptTheDog genuine respect]], his proposal to Catelyn is much more conciliatory than the join-or-die ultimatum of the books, and his hostile mockery and "cheerful way of grieving" for Stannis are downplayed or replaced with sad resignation.

* Renly is changed from a brash, frivolous, and entitled SleazyPolitician and [[AtLeastIAdmitIt unabashed]] [[TheUsurper usurper]] into a thoughtful WisePrince who rebels out of a genuine sense he's best for the job.
** He also supplants Stannis as the BlackSheep by being a [[AfraidOfBlood squeamish]] NonActionGuy who's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dqgWX66fY very educated]]" rather than a boisterous BookDumb jock.
** His KickTheDog moments of mocking Shireen and Brienne are omitted or turned into [[AdoptTheDog genuine respect]], his proposal to Catelyn is much more conciliatory than the join-or-die ultimatum of the books, and his hostile mockery and "cheerful way of grieving" for Stannis are downplayed or replaced with sad resignation.

* Robert was very liberal with his MaritalRapeLicense (complete with some drunken sadism) in the books, but the show never goes into this.

* In the books, Daario is an arrogant and shallow BloodKnight who attracts Dany solely with his looks and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad-boy attitude]]. In the show, Daario is much more thoughtful, earnest and personable.