History AdaptationalVillainy / GameOfThrones

** He's also far more committed to his DestructiveRomance with Cersei, notably turning his BreakingSpeech to Edmure from a ToThePain gambit to save thousands and ([[ExactWords sort of]]) keep his oath into a spiel about how LoveMakesYouEvil. Worse still, he remains loyal to Cersei and aids her in her conquests even ''after'' she definitively crosses the MoralEventHorizon (by enacting part of the very crime Jaime was [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis previously so proud of stopping]], no less) in stark contrast to the books where he burns her requests for aid while she's imprisoned by the Faith after realizing how [[ToxicFriendInfluence toxic]] she is to him and how [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen dangerous]] she is to everyone else.
* Tywin is a huge jerk in the books as well, but his treatment of Tyrion is made even more petty and unwarranted by Tyrion's adaptational heroism, which omits or downplays many of the negative traits that Tywin is in some ways [[JerkassHasAPoint right to criticize]], such as Tyrion's tendency to disregard ThickerThanWater, which Tywin loathes since family is everything in his eyes, and his vulnerability to manipulation because he DesperatelyCravesAffection.

* The Iron Bank is said to have taken a major financial hit thanks to the disruption of the slave trade, enough to convince them to back Cersei out of spite. In the books they ''very definitively'' don't deal in slaves, don't deal with people who deal in slaves, and don't do business with or in cities where slavery is legal. Bravos would run them out of town and/or riot if they did. Just to make it confusing this had actually been mentioned in one of the "History and Lore" DVD extras, which are generally taken as show canon.

** He callously executes [[spoiler: Mance Rayder]] for defiance in "The Wars to Come" rather than doing it against his better judgement because his status as a DangerousDeserter who attacked the whole realm demands it.

** This starts when he delivers the infamous line, "The things I do for love," dismissively rather than resentfully.
** It is continued when he kills his young cousin Alton Lannister, who idolised him, to facilitate his own escape, which incidentally makes him a kinslayer (a taboo even violators of SacredHospitality balk at in the novels).
** Worst of all, the lack of vocal consent from Cersei in "Breaker of Chains" in front of Joffrey's corpse turns a consensual sex scene from the novels into one that many viewers regard as rape, or is at best grudging. The context change doesn't help either: in the books, Jaime has only just returned to King's Landing after spending most of the war a prisoner and losing his hand and son and is so starved for intimacy that he ignores Cersei's initial protestations. In the show, he's been around for a few weeks, making his actions a lot less seemingly impulsive.
** Plus, he's far more committed to his DestructiveRomance with Cersei, notably turning his BreakingSpeech to Edmure from a ToThePain gambit to save thousands and ([[ExactWords sort of]]) keep his oath into a spiel about how LoveMakesYouEvil, and especially the fact that he continues supporting Cersei even ''after'' she crosses the MoralEventHorizon (by enacting part of the very crime Jaime was [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis previously so proud of stopping]], no less) in stark contrast to the book version, who by now has realized how [[ToxicFriendInfluence toxic]] Cersei is to him and how dangerous she is to everyone else.

** Plus, he's far more committed to his DestructiveRomance with Cersei, notably turning his BreakingSpeech to Edmure from a ToThePain gambit to save thousands and ([[ExactWords sort of]]) keep his oath into a spiel about how LoveMakesYouEvil.
** The mere fact that he is still blindly supporting Cersei's descisions despite all the harm they have brought is in stark contrast to the book version, who by now has realized how Cersei keeps screwing him and other people over.

* Jaime gets several extra KickTheDog moments, starting when he delivers the infamous line, "The things I do for love," dismissively rather than resentfully, and continued when he kills a kinsman to facilitate his own escape (a taboo even violators of SacredHospitality balk at in the novels).
** Worst of all, the lack of vocal consent from Cersei in "Breaker of Chains" turns a consensual sex scene from the novels into one that many viewers regard as rape.

** Come the Season 6 finale, Cersei's AdaptationalHeroism is completely gone when she blows up a large majority of the nobles in King's Landing (including Margaery Tyrell and most her family) during The Green Trial, something the showrunners claim to have come up with on their own. For all of Book Cersei's many, many, MANY faults, not even she has come close to what is the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb on her own city to kill a bunch of people with no attention whatsoever paid to the massive collateral damage.

** She is the one to tell on the Tyrells' plan to marry Sansa off to the heir of Highgarden (Willas in the books and Loras in the show) in the show and then gloats when Tywin decides to marry Sansa to Tyrion instead, to their both misery. The reveal that Cersei herself is going to be married to Loras for her trouble comes off like a well-deserved kick of karma on her face. In the books she had nothing to do with that scheme, Tyrion agreed to marry Sansa out of his free will, Cersei came off as a genuine victim when her father decided to marry her off without her consent and it was ''Tyrion'' who gloated on his sister's misery, not the other way around.

** The fact that Dragonstone was primarily depicted as a dim, cramped, {{Mordor}}-esque place under Stannis but is [[{{EstablishingShot}} re-established]] as a gleaming, soaring, Minas Tirith-esque place when Daenerys takes up residence in "Dragonstone" also gives Dany a stark FisherKing vibe at Stannis' expense.

* Tywin's treatment of Tyrion is made even more petty and unwarranted by Tyrion's adaptational heroism, which omits or downplays many of the negative traits that Tywin is in some ways [[JerkassHasAPoint right to criticize]], such as Tyrion's tendency to disregard ThickerThanWater, which Tywin loathes since family is everything in his eyes, and his vulnerability to manipulation because he DesperatelyCravesAffection.

* Tywin's treatment of Tyrion is made even more petty and unwarranted by Tyrion's adaptational heroism, which omits or downplays many of the negative traits that Tywin is in some ways [[JerkassHasAPoint right to criticize]], such as Tyrion's tendency to disregard ThickerThanWater and his vulnerability to manipulation because he DesperatelyCravesAffection.

* Smalljon Umber combines this trope alongside SparedByTheAdaptation. In the books, he dies in the Red Wedding while trying to save Robb's life. In the show, he isn't present at the Red Wedding and thus survives and later becomes an ally of {{sadist}} [[BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton]] (although he doesn't like him as a person, but allies with him for pragmatic reasons) and worst of all, he hands Rickon Stark over to Ramsay, which ultimately leads to Rickon's death.

** He's much less reluctant to practice HumanSacrifice, needing only one victim of the leech curse to be wholly convinced to sacrifice his nephew even though the expected benefit is much more ambiguous than the ''dragon'' promised in the novels. Likewise, the men he burns simply for refusing his religious commandment in "The Lion and the Rose" were traitors who conspired to sell him out and [[PapaWolf surrender his daughter]] in the books.

** He callously executes [[spoiler: Mance Rayder]] for defiance in "The Wars to Come" rather than against his better judgement because his status as a DangerousDeserter who attacked the whole realm demands it.

* Joffrey is a horrific, power-crazed psychopath in the books as well, but the show makes him worse by giving him two of Cersei's KickTheDog moments and a taste for sexualized violence that's at best an [[AgeLift age-based]] extrapolation of his sadistic streak, culminating in him coldly murdering a [[NominalImportance named character]] just to see how it feels.

* Melisandre is considerably more callous in the show, since she does not offer Cressen a chance to back out of poisoning them both, taunts Davos over [[spoiler: his son's death]] instead of expressing regret, and expresses no empathy for those who suffer the pain of a sacrifice. She also lacks her (admittedly few) PetTheDog moments like helping to protect Devan Seaworth and Alys Karstark, and the omission of Abel the Bard removes perhaps her greatest PetTheDog moment in favour of more HumanSacrifice.

* While probably just as evil, live-action Littlefinger is a ''lot'' less [[AffablyEvil affable]] than his literary counterpart. In the books he owes his success to seeming like a harmless, witty {{Trickster}} rather than the show's ObviouslyEvil DevilInPlainSight who openly feuds with TheSpymaster. Similarly, though he's certainly responsible for making Jeyne Poole a SexSlave, brothels are only one of his many investments and he isn't involved in anything quite so vile as regularly serving up prostitutes to necrophiliacs and serial killers in the books. The show also omits more sympathetic moments from his past like when Lysa {{Date Rape}}d him in the guise of her sister, fueling his misconception that Catelyn loved him.

* Jaime gets several extra KickTheDog moments, starting when he delivers the infamous line, "The things I do for love," dismissively rather than resentfully, and continued when he kills a kinsman to facilitate his own escape (a taboo even violators of SacredHospitality balk at in the novels). Worst of all, the lack of vocal consent from Cersei in "Breaker of Chains" turns a consensual sex scene from the novels into one many viewers regard as rape. Plus, he's far more committed to his DestructiveRomance with Cersei, notably turning his BreakingSpeech to Edmure from a ToThePain gambit to save thousands and ([[ExactWords sort of]]) keep his oath into a spiel about how LoveMakesYouEvil.

* Theon's FaceHeelTurn is somewhat blackened by his closer relationship with Robb, whom he even pledges fealty to in "Fire and Blood". In the books, he's more distant and his turn has a stronger TheDogBitesBack justification born of a decade with Ice hanging over him like the SwordOfDamocles. Furthermore, he betrays Sansa's escape plan in Season 5, something he never does despite equivalent levels of BrainwashedAndCrazy in the books, where he's actually the ''only'' person to help Ramsay's bride for her true self rather than the aristocrat she's pretending to be.
* The Thenns and their ''magnar'' Styr are ''more'' traditionally civilized than other wildlings in the books, characterized by their bronze technology, settled lifestyle, and greater respect for authority. In the show, they are portrayed as scarred-up, gleefully sadistic cannibals who disgust even other merciless raiders.

** The Faith Militant is much more savagely puritanical in the show, using extreme violence against taverns, brothels, and homosexuals of all classes rather than enforcing legitimate laws against murder and adultery upon an aristocracy who consider themselves [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections above the law]]. Their motivations are also downplayed from [[ShellShockedVeteran shell-shocked survivors]] seeking justice, security, and fulfillment through religion after the apocalyptic devastation shown firsthand in the books to a few perfunctory lines before they don ObviouslyEvil [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver robes]], [[ChainedByFashion chains]], and [[GoodScarsEvilScars scarification]] and start terrorizing the city.

* The Night's Watch mutineers in "Mother's Mercy" are motivated solely by xenophobia instead of their more multi-faceted reasons from the books, particularly Jon's secret interference at Winterfell and his decision to attack the Boltons after Jon receives a threatening letter signed by Ramsay Bolton, which they justifiably see as a breach of their vows (though Jon makes the case that since ItsPersonal he has the right to defend himself and confront the threat). Furthermore, they [[IShallTauntYou taunt him]] with a "traitor" sign and only Olly seems upset, rather than them ''all'' expressing remorse because they believe their hands have been forced. [[spoiler: Alliser Thorne]] in particular is also far away and completely uninvolved in the coup in the novels.

* In the first book, Robert confides that the only reason he doesn't sail away to Essos to become a mercenary is because he knows that Joffrey is a monster who should not be on the throne; despite his multiple failings, his misery is driven by the fact that he's martyring himself to keep a tenuous peace while his wife manipulates "their" son into destroying it. In the show, he comes across as much more of a drunk toddler, railing constantly about the things he can't have and shirking his responsibilities at every turn solely because of petulance. Also, due to Cersei's Adaptational Heroism, the abuse in their marriage of convenience comes across as more one-sided, while in the books, Cersei is portrayed as cruel and vindictive from the get-go, such as when Robert suggests bringing his beloved bastard daughter Mya Stone to court and Cersei implies she'll have the girl killed (it's also implied this wouldn't be the first time she's done away with one of Robert's bastard children).

A lot of characters in the show are [[AdaptationalVillainy more villainous]] than their book counterparts:

* Arya in the show is quite revenge driven, to the point she will leave everything she is doing at the moment to cross a name of her list, not to mention she seems very empty when she does anything. In the books, the opposite happens, Arya is very willing to start a new life away from her tragedy. She wants to befriend as many people as possible, live a simple life, listen to the stories they want to share and is very empathetic to what they go through.

* The Thenns and their ''magnar'' Styr are ''more'' traditionally civilized than other wildlings in the books, characterized by their bronze technology, settled lifestyle, and greater respect for authority. The Thenns also have lords. In the show, they are portrayed as scarred up, gleefully sadistic cannibals who disgust even other merciless raiders.

* Arya in the show is quite revenge driven, to the point she will leave everything she is doing at the moment to cross a name of her list, not to mention she seems very empty when she does anything. In the books, the opposite happens, Arya is very willing to start a new life away from her tragedy. She wants to befriend as many people as possible, live a simple life, listen to the stories they want to share and it is very empathetic to what they go through.

* Smalljon Umber combines this trope alongside SparedByAdaptation. In the books, he dies in the Red Wedding while trying to save Robb's life. In the show, he isn't present at the Red Wedding and thus survives and later becomes an ally of {{sadist}} [[BastardBastard Ramsay Bolton]] (although he doesn't like him as a person, but allies with him for pragmatic reasons) and worst of all, he hands Rickon Stark over to Ramsay, which ultimately leads to Rickon's death.

** In the books, it's left slightly ambiguous whether Mirri Maz Duur sabotaged Drogo's wound, since he later goes back to his traditional remedies. This is omitted from the show, though both versions are explicit that Mirri wanted him dead.
** In the books, [[spoiler: Xaro]] wants only to marry Dany so he can legally assume control of one of her dragons and simply withdraws his patronage when denied, forcing Dany to flee the city. In the show, he allies with the warlocks to assassinate the rest of the oligarchy, proclaim himself king, imprison Dany, and steal all three dragons.
** In the books, [[spoiler: Doreah]] is simply a dutiful servant who dies of illness CrossingTheDesert. The show gives her a more selfish personality and a fascination with dragons (who can fly where they please and kill those in their way), eventually leading to an abrupt FaceHeelTurn, and in a deleted scene she [[KickTheDog kicks the dog]] by personally [[spoiler: strangling Irri]].
** Stannis gets a lot of this, despite being far from a paragon in the novels:
*** He's fully aware and dismissive of his part in [[spoiler: Renly's death]] since he dispatches Melisandre personally, whereas in the books his involvement is more ambiguous and he finds the thought [[OutDamnedSpot greatly disturbing]], is tormented by BadDreams afterward, and expounds on his grief and regret far beyond the single dismissive line used in the show. This also isn't helped by the victim's AdaptationalHeroism.
*** He [[WouldHitAGirl nearly strangles]] Melisandre in "Valar Morghulis", whereas in the books he is never physically violent towards women or anyone else.
*** He's much less reluctant to practice HumanSacrifice, needing only one victim of the leech curse to be wholly convinced to sacrifice his nephew even though the expected benefit is much more ambiguous than the ''dragon'' promised in the novels. Likewise, the men he burns simply for refusing his religious commandment in "The Lion and the Rose" were traitors who conspired to sell him out and [[PapaWolf surrender his daughter]] in the books.
*** He's obsessed with fathering a son in earlier seasons, something he shows much less concern for in the books where his reluctance to bed with Selyse is a source of much snark (meaning he isn't trying very hard) and he generally mentions possible sons only as a caveat to his insistence that Shireen is his heir.
*** His offer to name Renly as his heir ''until a son is born to me" is played as FalseReassurance given his tone and Melisandre's PsychoticSmirk, while in the books it's a legitimate (if begrudging) attempt at conciliation.
*** He only relents from executing Davos and answers the call of the Night's Watch when Melisandre abruptly changes her mind on these issues, whereas in the books he makes these decisions himself after Davos appeals to his sense of duty to the realm. Even after this, he frequently threatens Davos like a BadBoss in the show, while in the books Davos is his OnlyFriend and held in the highest regard.
*** He callously executes [[spoiler: Mance Rayder]] for defiance in "The Wars to Come" rather than against his better judgement because his status as a DangerousDeserter who attacked the whole realm demands it.
*** He burns [[spoiler: his only child, Shireen,]] alive in "The Dance of Dragons" to end the blizzard afflicting his army. While the burning may indeed happen in future novels, at the equivalent point in the books he refuses to burn anyone (not even captives or unbelievers) except as punishment for cannibalism and dispatches Ser Justin Massey with specific instructions to [[spoiler: press Shireen's claim to the throne]] should he die in the coming battle.
** Melisandre is considerably more callous in the show, since she does not offer Cressen a chance to back out of poisoning them both, taunts Davos over [[spoiler: his son's death]] instead of expressing regret, and expresses no empathy for those who suffer the pain of a sacrifice. She also lacks her (admittedly few) PetTheDog moments like helping to protect Devan Seaworth and Alys Karstark, and the omission of Abel the Bard removes perhaps her greatest PetTheDog moment in favour of more HumanSacrifice.
** Joffrey is a horrific, power-crazed psychopath in the books as well, but the show makes him worse by giving him two of Cersei's KickTheDog moments and a taste for sexualized violence that's at best an [[AgeLift age-based]] extrapolation of his sadistic streak, culminating in him coldly murdering a [[NominalImportance named character]] just to see how it feels.
** While probably just as evil, live-action Littlefinger is a ''lot'' less [[AffablyEvil affable]] than his literary counterpart. In the books he owes his success to seeming like a harmless, witty {{Trickster}} rather than the show's ObviouslyEvil DevilInPlainSight who openly feuds with TheSpymaster. Similarly, though he's certainly responsible for making Jeyne Poole a SexSlave, brothels are only one of his many investments and he isn't involved in anything quite so vile as regularly serving up prostitutes to necrophiliacs and serial killers in the books. The show also omits more sympathetic moments from his past like when Lysa {{Date Rape}}d him in the guise of her sister, fueling his misconception that Catelyn loved him.
** Rast is little more than a BarbaricBully who must be convinced to leave Sam alone in the books but a prominent mutineer who actively wants Sam dead, literally stabs [[spoiler: Lord Commander Mormont]] InTheBack, and reluctantly commits [[WouldHurtAChild infant]] [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]] in the show.
** In the books, Khal Drogo recognizes Daenerys' apprehension on their wedding night and gently coaxes her with foreplay until she consents. In the show, it's a straight-up exertion of his MaritalRapeLicense.
** Jaime gets several extra KickTheDog moments, starting when he delivers the infamous line, "The things I do for love," dismissively rather than resentfully, and continued when he kills a kinsman to facilitate his own escape (a taboo even violators of SacredHospitality balk at in the novels). Worst of all, the lack of vocal consent from Cersei in "Breaker of Chains" turns a consensual sex scene from the novels into one many viewers regard as rape. Plus, he's far more committed to his DestructiveRomance with Cersei, notably turning his BreakingSpeech to Edmure from a ToThePain gambit to save thousands and ([[ExactWords sort of]]) keep his oath into a spiel about how LoveMakesYouEvil.
** Tywin's treatment of Tyrion is made even more petty and unwarranted by Tyrion's adaptational heroism, which omits or downplays many of the negative traits that Tywin is in some ways [[JerkassHasAPoint right to criticize]], such as Tyrion's tendency to disregard ThickerThanWater and his vulnerability to manipulation because he DesperatelyCravesAffection.
** Theon's FaceHeelTurn is somewhat blackened by his closer relationship with Robb, whom he even pledges fealty to in "Fire and Blood". In the books, he's more distant and his turn has a stronger TheDogBitesBack justification born of a decade with Ice hanging over him like the SwordOfDamocles. Furthermore, he betrays Sansa's escape plan in Season 5, something he never does despite equivalent levels of BrainwashedAndCrazy in the books, where he's actually the ''only'' person to help Ramsay's bride for her true self rather than the aristocrat she's pretending to be.
** The Thenns and their ''magnar'' Styr are ''more'' traditionally civilized than other wildlings in the books, characterized by their bronze technology, settled lifestyle, and greater respect for authority. The Thenns also have lords. In the show, they are portrayed as scarred up, gleefully sadistic cannibals who disgust even other merciless raiders.
** Tormund Giantsbane is less jovial and more brutal than his book counterpart, most of which stems from his initial characterization as a CompositeCharacter with [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Styr]] in Season 3.
** The show turns Pycelle from a doddering but dutiful counsellor with UndyingLoyalty to House Lannister into a vindictive DirtyOldMan who [[ObfuscatingStupidity only pretends]] to be senile.
** Selyse is a haughty and narrow-minded GrandeDame whose complete faith in the Lord of Light leads her to urge radical action in the books, but the show emphasizes her fanaticism to the level of a MadWomanInTheAttic who keeps her stillborns in PeopleJars and despises her own daughter as sinful rather than barely mentioning her stillbirths and verging on MyBelovedSmother in her protection of Shireen.
** Balon Greyjoy is unequivocally nasty to Theon in the show, where in the books, he's fairly impressed that Theon stands up to him and gives him eight ships instead of just one (making his mission less [[YouGetMeCoffee embarrassingly unimportant]]).[[note]]In the books, Dagmer tells Theon outright that the only one who feels sidelined is Theon.[[/note]] The show also declines to establish that as lord of perhaps the most misogynist region of Westeros, Balon is ''extraordinarily'' comfortable with the idea of his daughter succeeding him.
** Dagmer in the show is a PoisonousFriend and TheCorrupter who urges Theon toward darker and darker deeds before betraying him when those actions come home to roost. In the books, those actions belong to another character and Dagmer appears only once as an HonoraryUncle and one of the few people in the world to treat Theon kindly.
** Though they do become very {{Knight Templar}}ish in the books, the Brotherhood Without Banners doesn't sell out innocents as they do in the show.
** Lysa Arryn's actions remain the same as the books, but her only motives seem to be general mental instability and [[ClingyJealousGirl pleasing Littlefinger]], leaving her less sympathetic. In the books, her [[MyBelovedSmother over-protectiveness]] stems from multiple stillbirths and miscarriages, and it's this trait [[spoiler: Littlefinger]] exploits to manipulate her.
** Ellaria Sand is the exact ''opposite'' of her literary counterpart. In the books, she's a refreshingly [[NiceGirl compassionate]] OnlySaneWoman who advocates breaking the CycleOfRevenge with TurnTheOtherCheek, but the show casts her as a CrusadingWidow WarHawk who wants to take RevengeByProxy by killing or sending Myrcella home [[FingerInTheMail one finger at a time]].
** The Sand Snakes want vengeance just as badly in the books but never mean Myrcella any harm. Nymeria comes closest by wanting to [[WouldHurtAChild murder Tommen]] (among others) while Tyene actually proposes they ''crown'' Myrcella and Trystane and reassert Dorne's independence. In the show, they have an AxCrazy fixation on murdering all Lannisters and ultimately take it UpToEleven when they [[spoiler: massacre Doran and Trystane]] for not supporting their plans, all in the name of "avenging" Oberyn. For reference, in the books the notion that even ''[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]]'' might try to [[spoiler: kill Trystane]] is enough to shock and appall them.
** The whole Dornish populace as of "The Red Woman". In the books, the Dornish are very personally attached to their nobility (hence Oberyn's popularity) and the worst they do is pelt Doran's litter in their clamour for a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. The palace guards in particular are explicitly described as loyal Dornishmen who follow Hotah's command. In the show the guards stand impassive as [[spoiler: Doran and Hotah are murdered]] and whole country apparently falls into line behind Ellaria and the Sand Snakes.
** Members of the Faith of the Seven:
*** The Faith Militant is much more savagely puritanical in the show, using extreme violence against taverns, brothels, and homosexuals of all classes rather than enforcing legitimate laws against murder and adultery upon an aristocracy who consider themselves [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections above the law]]. Their motivations are also downplayed from [[ShellShockedVeteran shell-shocked survivors]] seeking justice, security, and fulfillment through religion after the apocalyptic devastation shown firsthand in the books to a few perfunctory lines before they don ObviouslyEvil [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver robes]], [[ChainedByFashion chains]], and [[GoodScarsEvilScars scarification]] and start terrorizing the city.
*** Lancel is a particular case since he becomes the point man of the Faith's violent crackdown instead of the humble, pious, and infirm boy who is constantly [[TheAtoner fasting, praying, and begging forgiveness]] in the novels.
*** Even without its overzealous militants, the Faith of the Seven lacks nearly all of its genuinely kind and beneficent members from the books like Septon Chayle, Septon Meribald, the Elder Brother, and the [[NoNameGiven dwarf sparrow]]. Even the old High Septon is made into a lecherous DirtyOldMan rather than just a kindly old YesMan. The only exception, Septon Ray, is a SuicidalPacifist who's quickly StuffedIntoTheFridge by zealots of another faith (who use their benediction as an ImpliedDeathThreat) to prompt another character to decide ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer.
** The Night's Watch mutineers in "Mother's Mercy" are motivated solely by xenophobia instead of their more multi-faceted reasons from the books, particularly Jon's secret interference at Winterfell and his decision to attack the Boltons after Jon receives a threatening letter signed by Ramsay Bolton, which they justifiably see as a breach of their vows (though Jon makes the case that since ItsPersonal he has the right to defend himself and confront the threat). Furthermore, they [[IShallTauntYou taunt him]] with a "traitor" sign and only Olly seems upset, rather than them ''all'' expressing remorse because they believe their hands have been forced. [[spoiler: Alliser Thorne]] in particular is also far away and completely uninvolved in the coup in the novels.
** Lem Lemoncloak is the brutal but loyal BigGuy of the Brotherhood Without Banners in the books, while the man who wears his [[IconicItem iconic cloak]] in the show is a renegade who gets hanged by the rest for slaughtering peaceful peasants.
** Edmure orders the Blackfish seized and handed over to the Freys as part of his capitulation in "No One". In the books, he risks being thrown into a skin-tight oubliette to rot by surrendering the castle only ''after'' helping his uncle escape since, "You required me to surrender [[ExactWords my castle]], [[LoopholeAbuse not my uncle]]."
** In the first book, Robert confides that the only reason he doesn't sail away to Essos to become a mercenary is because he knows that Joffrey is a monster who should not be on the throne; despite his multiple failings, his misery is driven by the fact that he's martyring himself to keep a tenuous peace while his wife manipulates "their" son into destroying it. In the show, he comes across as much more of a drunk toddler, railing constantly about the things he can't have and shirking his responsibilities at every turn solely because of petulance. Also, due to Cersei's Adaptational Heroism, the abuse in their marriage of convenience comes across as more one-sided, while in the books, Cersei is portrayed as cruel and vindictive from the get-go, such as when Robert suggests bringing his beloved bastard daughter Mya Stone to court and Cersei implies she'll have the girl killed (it's also implied this wouldn't be the first time she's done away with one of Robert's bastard children).