History AdaptationalVillainy / GameOfThrones

* Tywin is a huge jerk in the books as well, but his treatment of Tyrion is made even pettier 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.

* While in the books, Euron is generally despicable, perhaps the one decent thing about him is that he has a soft spot for the deformed and disabled, surrounding himself with dwarfs, giants, cripples, mutes, and freaks, if only to make himself seem more intimidating by their presence. Here, he heavily insinuates that Tyrion should have been killed at birth for being a dwarf.

* The Night's Watch assassins in "Mother's Mercy" have less motivation in the books. In both books and series, Jon works to save the wildlings, which is very unpopular with some of his officers. However, in the books he also starts involving himself in the affairs of the realm, compromising the Watch's millennia-long stance on neutrality. The assassins are greatly conflicted by the deed, weeping as they do so, while in the show they are angry and vindictive. * Alliser Thorne is not present for the assassination in the books, as he is far away on an assignment. In the show, he's the ringleader.

* 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.

* A zig-zagged example with Shae. In the books, it's implied that she was always manipulating Tyrion as her MealTicket, and ultimately turns against him simply as a matter of pragmatism. When Tyrion happens upon her after the fact, she tries to talk her way out of it, but her words betray the facade. In the show, she develops affection for Sansa and genuinely falls in love with Tyrion, but her turn against him is motivated by revenge for [[ScornedWoman being spurned]]. When Tyrion finds her, she immediately tries to attack him. So ultimately she becomes both more sympathetic and more vindictive.

** 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 that's 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.

** 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 in the show instead of their more multi-faceted reasons from the books. In the books, Jon likewise works to save the wildlings, which some of his officers ''really'' don't like, but Jon ''also'' ends up involving himself in the affairs of the realm as a result of ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight -- compromising the Watch's stance on neutrality. As described by the [[https://meereeneseblot.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/others-wars-part-iv-people-wanting-help/ Meereenese blot essays]], Jon's Achille's heel as a leader of a traditional and neutral system is his hero's instinct to save innocents in danger and fix injustices -- which ends up posing potential risks to the Watch because it compromises the Watch's neutrality. Meanwhile, Bowen Marsh and the other mutineers view Jon is breaking his oaths as they fear the help he has given Stannis will invite the Iron Throne's wrath against them and they strongly disagree with Jon's efforts to ally with and save the wildlings. When Jon announces his intention to march south and confront Ramsay Bolton after receiving Ramsay's threatening letter to him, thereby publicly breaking his neutrality as Lord Commander, the mutineers act to assassinate him. Bowen Marsh is crying as he stabs Jon, visibly upset as he feels he has no choice. In the books, the situation is a difficult one while in the show, it is made more clear-cut between right and wrong.
-->'''George R. R. Martin''': Were they mistakes (by Jon)? I guess they were mistakes in some ways since they led to him losing control of part of his group. But it might have been wise and necessary decisions in terms of protecting the realm and dealing with the threat of the White Walkers. I’m a huge student of history, and all through history there’s always this question of what’s the right decision. You look back with the benefit of hindsight at a battle that was lost and say, ‘The losing general was such an idiot.’ Was Napoleon a genius for all the battles he won? Or an idiot for losing at Waterloo? Partly I’m reacting to a lot of the fantasy that has come before this. Ruling is difficult whether you’re a Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch or the King of England. These are hard decisions and each have consequences. We’re looking at Jon trying to take control of Night’s Watch and deal with the wildlings and the threat beyond The Wall.
** Furthermore, the mutineers [[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]] is not present for the mutiny in the books as he is far away on an assignment. In the show, he's the ringleader.

* Ramsay Bolton is just as sadistic and evil a character in the books as in the show, but Show Ramsay is much more competent. Book Ramsay is a poor swordsman, lacks any substantial military command experience, is not politically savvy (he hasn't yet realised that most of those who he believes to be men loyal to him are in fact his father's agents), and is easily provoked into making mistakes. In the books, it is clearly Roose rather than Ramsay who serves as the main villain in the North. Show Ramsay, by contrast, is portrayed as a great general who easily politically outmaneuvers his father to become the main Northern antagonist.
* Cersei Lannister:
** In the books, her hatred of Tyrion is in part because of a prophecy that her younger brother will be the cause of her downfall, although she was cruel to the baby Tyrion before receiving said prophecy and it's clear she was also following daddy's example in seeing her younger brother as a little monster. The show removes that part of the prophecy and instead implies that Cersei blames Tyrion for the death of their mother.
** Cersei's motivation for empowering the High Sparrow also changes in the show. In the book, she makes him the High Septon in order to have the protection of the Faith Militant (and to have him cancel a substantial debt that doesn't exist in the show). She didn't try to have them to target the Tyrells until after she became suspicious that they were in cahoots with Tyrion. In the show, she empowers the High Sparrow and his followers solely to get back at Margaery.
** 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 both their 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.
** Come the Season 6 finale, she blows up a 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 Cersei's many, ''many'' faults in the novels, not even she has come close to bombing on her own city with no attention whatsoever paid to the massive collateral damage.

* In the books, Shae tries to apologize and cries while she tells Tyrion that the Queen made her lie in the trial, but she ends up saying the wrong thing and Tyrion kills her. In the series, she goes straight to the knife in an attempt to kill Tyrion, without any kind of conversation.

* The smallfolk of King's Landing get this to some extent. In the show, they are shown cheering Euron Greyjoy and celebrate the arrival of traitors while Euron and Jaime give WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons speeches. The novels make it clear that the smallfolk despise the Lannisters, that they refused to attend Tywin's funeral -- as they remember he ordered the Sack of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion -- and that many of them even put on anti-Lannister puppet shows, and that Cersei maintains her authority by tyrannically attacking them and that "the mob" are not as easily swayed. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Or maybe, they all want a quick end to the destructive wars they have been witnessing as long as Robert's Rebellion.]]

* 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.

** The Ironborn raiders under Theon's command in general. While they don't hesitate to show their disagreement with his orders, the book raiders remain loyal to Theon. He even offers them the opportunity to leave, and they choose to stay and die fighting with him anyway. Their show counterparts, by contrast, are happy to betray Theon to avoid capture or death.
* Arthur Dayne doesn't give Eddard a "sad smile" before the fight and arguably fights dishonourably. In the books, Arthur was a KnightInShiningArmor and its hard to imagine him fighting against any single-sword wielder with dual swords, even against multiple opponents since he was especially strict about chivalric fairness such as offering the outlaw known as the Smiling Knight time to get a new sword after breaking the previous one during their famous duel. There also no mention in the show that he urged King Aerys to improve the rights of the Kingswood smallfolk.

** He is unequivocally nasty to Theon in the show, whereas in the books, though he still insults him and plans to disinherit him in favor of his daughter, he's fairly impressed that Theon stands up to him, saying "Well, at the least you are no craven" and gives him a mission that is actually strategically valuable with eight ships instead of just one and far more soldiers (making his mission less of an [[YouGetMeCoffee embarrassingly unimportant]] task to get him out of the way).[[note]]In the books, Dagmer tells Theon outright that the only one who feels sidelined is Theon.[[/note]] Furthermore, he doesn't completely ignore Theon's return to Pyke and sends his uncle Aeron to greet him, and his refusal to negotiate and save Theon from Ramsay is entirely original to the show — Book!Balon never actually finds out if Theon survived the Bolton attack on Winterfell.

* Arthur Dayne doesn't give Eddard a "sad smile" before the fight and arguably fights dishonourably. Book!Arthur was a KnightInShiningArmor and its hard to imagine him fighting against any single-sword wielder with dual swords, even against multiple opponents since he was especially strict about chivalric fairness such as offering the outlaw known as the Smiling Knight time to get a new sword after breaking the previous one during their famous duel. There also no mention in the show that he urged King Aerys to improve the rights of the Kingswood smallfolk.

* Roose Bolton. Not that Book!Roose isn't evil, but at least he clearly hates Ramsay for murdering Domeric. In the show, since Domeric is AdaptedOut, Roose is somewhat more sympathetic with Ramsay and tolerates his sadism much more.

* Book!Dany often shows a softer side that is sometimes missing from the show, the most notable being the absence of her horrified despair when Viserys draws steel in Vaes Dothrak, knowing that her brother has sentenced himself to death and the lack of how she pleads for a reconciliation. In the moments she reminisces on her recently-departed sibling on the show, it is without a hint of fondness and is instead dripping with scorn or derision. In the books, she acknowledges his effect on her formative years and how he loved, educated and protected her until the stresses of responsibility for his little sister, coupled with the humiliation of exile snapped his sanity in twain, which she forgives him for. She also has at least a couple of innocent Meereenese nobles executed at random on the grounds of "justice", either with crucifixion or dragon-fire, while when the city submits in the books, Dany lets the nobility choose who they will hand over to her to pay for the child slaves being nailed to posts.
* While Book!Euron is generally despicable, perhaps the one decent thing about him is that he has a soft spot for the deformed and disabled, surrounding himself with dwarfs, giants, cripples, mutes, and freaks, if only to make himself seem more intimidating by their presence. Here, he heavily insinuates that Tyrion should have been killed at birth for being a dwarf.

* 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.

** This starts in the very first episode when he delivers the infamous line, "The things I do for love," dismissively rather than resentfully.

** Robb in the show is shown as a much more selfish character than his book counterpart, marrying Talisa/Jeyne out of love instead of preserving honour. Book!Robb at least felt guilt over breaking his pact to the Freys, which he seemed to feel shameless about in the show. Even his bannerman acknowledged this incredibly self-centred act.

* In the books, Arya's descent into murder is more gradual, with her first kill, Polliver, done in the heat of the moment to defend Sandor Clegane; Arya's murder of Polliver in the show has her taking a dark pleasure in the Ironic Echo she gives him before slowly stabbing him in the throat, and afterwards she's quite satisfied with herself. In the books, her list of names is a list of people that she hates and wishes were dead, thinking of it as a prayer for their deaths. In the show, Arya explicitly wants to personally kill everyone on her list someday.

* 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.

* 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 sacrifice.
** She also lacks her (admittedly few) PetTheDog moments like helping to protect Devan Seaworth and Alys Karstark. The omission of Abel the Bard removes perhaps her greatest PetTheDog moment in favour of more HumanSacrifice.

* 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.

* The smallfolk of King's Landing also get this to some extent. In the show, they are shown cheering Euron Greyjoy and celebrate the arrival of traitors while Euron and Jaime give WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons speeches. The novels make it clear that the smallfolk despise the Lannisters, that they refused to attend Tywin's funeral -- as they remember he ordered the Sack of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion -- and that many of them even put on anti-Lannister puppet shows, and that Cersei maintains her authority by tyrannically attacking them and that "the mob" are not as easily swayed. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Or maybe, they all want a quick end to the destructive wars they have been witnessing as long as Robert's Rebellion.]]

** Due to his AgeLift, he noticeably comes across as much more of a jerkass than his book counterpart. For example, his KickTheDog moment of reminding Theon he's not a Stark is not present in the books. Furthermore, he is also much brasher, more arrogant and more hot-headed than the insecure boy in the books.

** Due to his AgeLift, he noticeably comes across as much more of a jerkass than his book counterpart. For example, his KickTheDog moment of reminding Theon he's not a Stark is not present in the books. Furthermore, he is also much brasher and more hot-headed than the insecure boy in the books.

** Due to his AgeLift, he also comes across as much more of a jerkass than his book counterpart. For example, his KickTheDog moment of reminding Theon he's not a Stark is not present in the books.

* While Meryn Trant is an unpleasant person in the books, his pedophilia is original to the show. His characterisation in the show is also more in line with Boros Blount of the books.

** 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. And even when he ''does'' finally leave Cersei in the show after she reveals she's not willing fight against the White Walkers, as soon as the dead are defeated he goes running back to Cersei even after finding out she sent Bronn to kill him.

** 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. It is revealed that Jaime was working with Cersei in a misguided vision that Cersei truly means peace in the realm after eliminating all the enemies who may hinder her, and promptly leaves her side [[spoiler: when Cersei reveals she will see the realm burn rather than fight for it.]]

* Arthur Dayne doesn't give Eddard a "sad smile" before the fight. He was also a KnightInShiningArmor and its hard to imagine Book!Arthur fighting against any single-sword wielder with dual swords, even against multiple opponents since he was especially strict about chivalric fairness. For example, during his famed duel with the outlaw known as the Smiling Knight, Ser Arthur gave the Smiling Knight time to get a new sword after breaking the previous one. In addition, there is no mention in the show that he urged King Aerys to improve the rights of the Kingswood smallfolk.
* 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.

* In the books the Freys partially gave Catelyn a MercyKill during the Red Wedding as she goes insane at Robb's death and starts clawing her face. The Freys were intending to keep her hostage but instead kill her. Here, they just kill her after Robb's death.
* In the books, it's not Janos Slynt who kills baby Barra but his subordinate Allar Deem. He was, however, fully complicit in the atrocity so he was still very much a villain. His love for his children is also Adapted Out.

* 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.

** 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 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. [[spoiler:Or at least, he ''thinks'' he [[DeathByAdaptation executed Mance in the books]].]]

* 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.

* 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.

** He is unequivocally nasty to Theon in the show, whereas in the books, though he still insults him and plans to disinherit him in favor of his daughter, he's fairly impressed that Theon stands up to him, saying "Well, at the least you are no craven" and gives him a mission that is actually strategically valuable with eight ships instead of just one and far more soldiers (making his mission less of an [[YouGetMeCoffee embarrassingly unimportant]] task to get him out of the way).[[note]]In the books, Dagmer tells Theon outright that the only one who feels sidelined is Theon.[[/note]] Furthermore he doesn't completely ignore Theon's return to Pyke and sends his uncle Aeron to greet him, and his refusal to negotiate and save Theon from Ramsay is entirely original to the show — Book!Balon never actually finds out if Theon survived the Bolton attack on Winterfell.

* 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.

*** 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.

-->'''George R. R. Martin''': Were they mistakes (by Jon)? I guess they were mistakes in some ways since they led to him losing control of part of his group. But it might have been wise and necessary decisions in terms of protecting the realm and dealing with the threat of the White Walkers. I’m a huge student of history, and all through history there’s always this question of what’s the right decision. You look back with benefit of hindsight at a battle that was lost and say, ‘The losing general was such an idiot.’ Was Napoleon a genius for all the battles he won? Or an idiot for losing at Waterloo? Partly I’m reacting to a lot of the fantasy that has come before this. Ruling is difficult whether you’re a Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch or the King of England. These are hard decisions and each have consequences. We’re looking at Jon trying to take control of Night’s Watch and deal with the wildlings and the threat beyond The Wall.

** [[spoiler: Alliser Thorne]] is not present for the mutiny in the books as he is far away on an assignment. In the show he's the ringleader.

* While Aeron Greyjoy's book counterpart was hardly a heroic character, he utterly despised Euron and fought tooth and nail to oppose his claim, deciding to FaceDeathWithDignity when his defiance leads to him being executed as a HumanSacrifice. Here, he seems perfectly happy to accept him as the new king, and doesn't lift a finger to stop his attempt to murder Yara and Theon, though he doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic about it.

* While Aeron Greyjoy's book counterpart was hardly a heroic character, he utterly despised Euron and fought tooth and nail to oppose his claim. Here, he seems perfectly happy to accept him as the new king, and doesn't lift a finger to stop his attempt to murder Yara and Theon, though he doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic about it.

** Due to his AgeLift, he also comes across as much more of a [[Jerkass Jerkass]] than his book counterpart. For example, his KickTheDog moment of reminding Theon he's not a Stark is not present in the books.