History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireHouseTargaryen

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: He was bitter and abusive, but [[spoiler:after his death]], Daenerys named [[spoiler:one of her dragons after him]], and she admits that if it wasn't for Viserys, she never would have survived on her own living on the run from Robert's (nonexistent) assassins.

* LeanAndMean: He is described as being thin and gaunt looking in appearance, most likely due to a life of running from Robert's assassins, as well as having to live off the charity of others. This probably didn't help his temperament, due to his immense pride.

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: He was bitter and abusive, but [[spoiler:after his death]], Daenerys named [[spoiler:one of her dragons after him]], and she admits that if it wasn't for Viserys, she never would have survived on her own living on the run from Robert's assassins.

* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Had one negotiated for him between his guardian Willem Darry and Prince Oberyn Martell, with the Sealord of Braavos as a witness, pledging Viserys to wed Oberyn's niece Princess Arianne Martell in exchange for Dorne's aid in retaking the Iron Throne. Viserys lived and died without knowing about it, however; Danerys and Barristan Selmy conclude he was kept ignorant for fear that, had he known a beautiful Dornish princess was waiting for him, Viserys would have gone to Sunspear as soon as he was old enough to marry and brought Robert's fury down on himself and House Martell]].

* BigBrotherBully: He physically, verbally, and sexually abused his little sister Daenerys for years, [[InsaneTrollLogic justifying it by blaming her for the downfall of the Targaryens, when she wasn't even alive during most of Robert's Rebellion.]] Failing that, he'd hurt her for doing anything he deemed un-Targaryen, like wanting to sail a ship.

* BigBrotherMentor: Inverted. He has had tremendous influence in Daenerys' actions, but she mostly wants to do the exact opposite of what Viserys would do. [[spoiler:According to her prophetic dream at ADWD, by doing so she has been pussyfooting what she's been destined to do.]]
%% * BreakTheHaughty:

* FreeRangeChildren: A total deconstruction. Viserys was eight when he and his baby sister were sent into exile and just a few years older when their protector, Ser Willem Darry, died and left them on their own. Viserys had to raise his sister, try to win back the throne, and look after an entire dynasty's worth of inheritance and expectations before he was in his teens. This ''greatly'' contributed to his madness and cruelty toward Daenerys, leaving him a bitter and broken man by his early twenties. Worse, he was in an alien environment and faced growing further away from his roots as time went on, however hard he tried (and failed) to cling onto them. {{Jerkass}} though he is, you do have to feel for him a little bit.
* FreudianExcuse: Part of how he turned out is due to this. He was raised as a prince, and when that was ripped from him in a rebellion he probably didn't fully understand (which his [[BigBrotherWorship brother]] was a catalyst of, no less), he was forced to support his infant sister mostly by himself at the age of ''eight'' (well, ''maybe'' nine) in a world that he had been utterly unprepared to deal with because his father's efforts to protect him effectively isolated him from the outside world. Dany notes that when they were younger he was more of a caring brother to her, but the humiliations he had to undergo to support the two of them took their toll on him. She remembers that the last straw was being forced to sell off their mother's crown, after which all remaining kindness in him was gone.

* HumiliationConga: His entire life from Robert's Rebellion onward is one. When he was eight years old, he lost most of his immediate family, his House's kingdom and was left alone with his infant sister. They wandered the free cities and sold all their possessions just to survive. The last straw for him was when he had to sell his mother's crown. When he was with the Dothraki, Daenerys had his horse taken away when he tried to hit her. To the Dothraki, a man who doesn't ride is no man, and they named him "The Sorefoot King". Khal Drogo then has him ride in a cart, an even worse insult from the Dothraki, as carts are for old men, very young children, and cripples. [[spoiler:All this culminated with him finally getting his "golden crown" as mentioned above.]]

* InNameOnly: A rare instance of this trope occurring in-universe and being applied to a character. Viserys ''insists'' that he is the rightful king of Westeros, and styles himself Viserys III Targaryen. Some characters, like Illyrio and Ser Jorah humor him by calling him "Your Grace," while everyone else who has even heard of him simply calls him "the Beggar King".

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:"I am the dragon, the ''dragon'', and I will be ''crowned!''" Khal Drogo responds by giving him a crown of hot melted gold.]]

* NonActionBigBad: Talks a big game in the beginning, telling everyone that he's going to personally kill [[LivingLegend Robert Baratheon and Jaime Lannister]]. Viserys is no warrior, has never killed anyone, only ever seems capable of harming submissive young women, and starts ordering stronger men to do that for him when the women get a little less submissive, only to be ignored by those men. [[DirtyCoward He also freaks out as soon as he himself is hurt or in danger.]]

* PrincessInRags: He was raised as an extremely sheltered prince, but was then forced to go on the run in a foreign country with his baby sister at the age of eight after his family's dynasty collapsed during Robert's Rebellion. It's safe to say this didn't do wonders for his mental health, and he continues to act like [[RoyalBrat an entitled prince]] when he's anything but.

* SmugSnake: Contemptuous to everyone, with an over-inflated sense of his own abilities, and ends up dead due to his own stupidity and hubris.

** Also, [[spoiler:to Illyrio Mopatis, as the Golden Company's initial instruction from him was to join Viserys and the Dothraki horde before the kingling got himself killed by his own brother-in-law for having a big, big mouth; his death, and later Dany's ebbing in Slaver's Bay cause the Golden Company to finally tell Illyrio to go screw himself and his plans, and cross the Narrow Sea with Aegon without Illyrio's Dragon Queen]].
* SpareToTheThrone: The very reason he was so sheltered by Aerys. He was kept away in Dragonstone because Aerys didn't trust Rhaegar, and as Second Prince, Viserys would have been given priority over Rhaegar had the latter proven himself treacherous as Aerys thought.
* StartOfDarkness: Daenerys describes Viserys being forced to sell their mother's crown as the incident that extinguished his last bit of kindness; from them on he was only cruel and abusive to her.
* StupidEvil: Viserys was so focused on being the king he thought he should be that he never learned any humility in his situation and tried to assert his power by bullying anyone he didn't think would fight back- which usually meant his little sister. He kept doing this even when Daenerys had married Khal Drogo and was thus the one with ''real'' power while Viserys was her tagalong. His refusal to acknowledge that he should even be polite to his "inferiors" led him to a ''very'' nasty death.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Many of his choices, decisions and follies have had major impacts nobody could have foreseen at the time. Not least, treating and exhibiting Daenerys the way he did as they were growing up together both limited her and pushed her to become who she ultimately turned out to be. And, caused major Essosi power-players to totally misread the "doormat" sister. He had just wanted a compliant Queen Consort who wouldn't say boo to a goose (and who would certainly not know enough about their history or ruling to question him). What he ended up producing was vastly different. Both he and she have been spanners in a lot of plans because he was both unpredictable and untrustworthy in the places he went to and the people he sought help from.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Downplayed. According to Barristan he was already showing signs of his dad's instability as a child, but according to Daenerys he did genuinely care for her, but the hardships they went through wore away at his compassionate side and by the time he had to sell his mother's crown, it was all gone.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Has the white hair of the Targaryens, and is a physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive asshat.

** The Faceless Men, as shown when there were tensions between Jaehaerys Targaryen and the Sealord of Braavos over three dragon eggs that were stolen by Elissa Farman which she sold in Braavos. When Jaehaerys threatened Braavos with dragonfire, the Sealord admitted that he couldn't stop the dragons but said that he would hire the Faceless Men to kill the Targaryens as a response if this happened. This caused Jaehaerys to back down and to becomemore conciliating in his negociations with the Sealord, though he still subtly threatened him of the consequences should the dragons hatch.

* MysticalWhiteHair: While white hair naturally exists in this universe as a mark of Valyrian heritage, it's very rare in Westeros. The fact that Targaryens are one of the few families (others being the Daynes and the Velaryons) that have them only contribute to their rare beauty. It helps that it's only stayed in their line for so long due to deliberate inbreeding and restricting the official outcrossing mainly to the the Velaryons and the Martells (who have it as a ''very'' rare recessive trait as a result of a Targaryen marrying into the line).

* UnknownRival: Viserys likes to imagine that he's the TheHero to Robert's BigBad, but he belongs squarely in this trope. While Robert did want Viserys dead, he regarded him as an annoying loose end rather than a serious threat, and was much more concerned with the possibility of Daenerys having children.

* DoesNotLikeSpam: He hates the horsemeat and fermented mare's milk that the Dothraki subsist on.

** Vis-: '''[[OvershadowedByAwesome Overshadowed]].''' Targaryens with "Vis-" as a prefix tend to find themselves in the shadows of their siblings or other relatives. Queen Visenya was the lesser loved sister-wife of King Aegon I, Prince Viserys was killed by Maegor at fifteen with his younger brother Jaehaerys becoming king instead, Princess Viserra's only accomplishment of note was dying in a drunken carriage race, King Viserys I came after Jaehaerys the Conciliator and set the stage for the Dance of the Dragons, and King Viserys II was a King's Hand to his brother and nephews for much longer than he was a king. And, of course, Viserys III gets crowned with molten gold for pissing off Khal Drogo, with his sister being the one to hatch three dragons and conquer the slavers' cities.

* IdealIllnessImmunity: Viserys claimed that Targaryens had this, and Dany believes him enough to personally attend to the ill in Meereen with no fear of infection. Of course, several historical Targs are stated to have died from disease, so maybe it doesn't extend to all of them (evidently, it's only a few of them can hatch dragon eggs, after all). And, of course, this clearly does not extend to ''mental'' illnesses.

* InadequateInheritor: Viserys is a far cry from the noble lineage of dragon kings. Viserys is cruel, impatient, belligerent, entitled, martially deficient, has piss-poor decision-making and thinks himself peerless, hardly the kind of man who would contest Robert Baratheon's throne. There's little surprise when [[spoiler:Khal Drogo just kills him when he takes it too far]].

* HumiliationConga: When he was eight years old, he lost most of his immediate family, his House's kingdom and was left alone with his infant sister. They wandered the free cities and sold all their possessions just to survive. The last straw for him was when he had to sell his mother's crown. When he was with the Dothraki, Daenerys had his horse taken away when he tried to hit her. To the Dothraki a man who doesn't ride is no man, and they named him "The Sorefoot King". Khal Drogo then had him ride in the cart, an even worse insult from the Dothraki, as carts are for old men, very young children, and cripples. [[spoiler:All this culminated with him finally getting his "golden crown" as mentioned above.]]

** A broader list including more questionable cases includes:
*** Maegor and Jeyne Westerling's stillborn: "a legless and armless creature possessed of both male and female genitalia." This doesn't sound particularly draconic unless you know that there is no human intersex condition that results in more than one set of genitals, but dragons are speculated to be hermaphrodites. The lack of limbs may echo the dragon ancestor, the firewyrm.
*** Alys Harroway's stillborn son: "the boy a monster, with twisted limbs, a huge head, and no eyes." This one is weird because he is believed ''not'' to have been sired by Maegor, but the lack of eyes mirrors the stories of some other dragon babies.
*** Laena and Daemon's youngest: "the babe was twisted and malformed, and died within the hour."

--> '''Rhaegar''': ''"When this battle’s done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but... well, [[ForWantOfANail it does no good to speak of roads not taken]]. [[TemptingFate We shall talk when I return]]."''

* DraconicHumanoid: The Targaryens have been known to have stillborn babies with dragon features. The Targaryens boast that they are "the blood of the dragon," and this may suggest some literal DragonAncestry. This intuitively seems like some recessive, inbred dragon trait -- except many of the cases are outbred, half-Targaryen babies.

*** Maegor and Elinor Costayne's stillborn: "a malformed and stillborn child, an eyeless boy born with rudimentary wings."

*** Alys Harroway's stillborn: "the boy a monster, with twisted limbs, a huge head, and no eyes." This one is weird because he is believed ''not'' to have been sired by Maegor, but the lack of eyes mirrors the stories of some other dragon babies.

*** Dany and Drogo's stillborn son Rhaego:

* BodyHorror: Some of the Targaryen women (like Daenerys and Rhaenyra) or women married to Targaryens (like Maegor's wives [[note]]Though they were poisoned by his third wife Tyanna[[/note]]) who had miscarriages or stillbirths had babies who tended to look like hideous human-dragon hybrids (complete with scales and/or leathery wings, tails, and some even being eyeless). Whether this is due to the extreme inbreeding in the family, the Targaryen affinity to dragons, or a combination of both is unknown.
** The main Targaryen kingly line were at the very least physically sound save for a few exceptions, like Queen Naerys, wife of King Aegon IV The Unworthy, who was noticeably feeble and delicate, and her only surviving son Daeron II. Their soundness of mind is a different matter.
%% Hair of Gold does not just refer to blonde hair. Don't add it.

* DraconicHumanoid: The Targaryens have been known to have stillborn babies with dragon features. The Targaryens boast that they are "the blood of the dragon," and this may suggest some literal DragonAncestry. These stories come from {{Unreliable Expositor}}s: maesters and Mirri Maz Duur -- but these two sources are completely unrelated and wouldn't have known about each other. The fact that they corroborate each other is makes both seem pretty believable. A conservative list of just the stillborns ''explicitly'' said to have dragon features includes:
** Maegor and Elinor's stillborn: "a malformed and stillborn child, an eyeless boy born with rudimentary wings."
** Rhaenyra and Daemon's stillborn daughter Visenya: "twisted and malformed, with a hole in her chest where her heart should have been and a stubby, scaled tail."
** Dany and Drogo's stillborn son Rhaego:
--->'''Mirri Maz Duur:''' Monstrous. Twisted. I pulled him out myself. He was scaled like a lizard. Blind, with leather wings, like the wings of a bat.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Apparently, bearing a stillborn half-dragon child is something that just happens to Targaryen women (and maybe even to women who have been sleeping with a Targaryen, even if the child isn't his) from time to time. Not to mention the ability to bond with dragons, have prophetic dreams, or the inhuman good looks.

* DraconicHumanoid: The Targaryens have been known to have stillborn babies with dragon features. The Targaryens boast that they are "the blood of the dragon," and this might suggest it's literally true. These stories come from {{Unreliable Expositor}}s: maesters and Mirri Maz Duur -- but these two sources are completely unrelated and wouldn't have known about each other. The fact that they corroborate each other is makes both seem pretty believable. A conservative list of just the stillborns ''explicitly'' said to have dragon features includes:

* OurElvesAreDifferent: [[InhumanlyBeautifulRace Unnaturally beautiful?]] Coming from a mythical land now lost? Affinity with magic? Check, check, and check. Add pointy ears and they're the closest thing Westeros has to a typical race of epic fantasy High Elves.

* HiddenDepths: Credit where credit is due, he managed to survive in a hostile world for over a decade while simultaneously raising his sister. Much of what Daenerys knows about her heritage and her identity was due to Viserys' teachings. He most likely [[ChekhovsGift taught her to speak Valyrian]]. He was notably able to avoid Robert's assassins for several years and charmed a number of wealthy patrons into taking him and his sister in. On the whole, Daenerys is alive because of him. In spite of this, he was neither loving, truly caring nor entirely sincere with her.

* InNameOnly: A rare instance of this trope occurring in-universe and being applied to a character. Viserys ''insists'' that he is the rightful king of Westeros, and styles himself Viserys III Targaryen. Some characters, like Illyrio and Ser Jorah humor him by calling him "Your Grace," while everyone else ([[{{Unperson}} who has even heard of him]]) simply calls him "the Beggar King".

* TraumaCongaLine: His childhood was essentially a progression of things getting worse and worse for him. His father was overthrown, he had to flee Westeros with his little sister, sell off their treasured possessions to survive, and turned to begging when those were all gone.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Downplayed. According to Barristan he was already showing signs of his dad's instability as a child, but according to Daenarys he did genuinely care for her, but the hardships they went through wore away at his compassionate side and by the time he had to sell his mother's crown, it was all gone.

%% * StupidEvil: See [[spoiler:TooDumbToLive]] below for details.

* TragicVillain: He's a ''major'' asshat, however: at the age of eight or so, everything he knew in life was ripped away from him, in addition to undergoing a PromotionToParent for his little sister. After that, years of living on the run from possible assassination, plus having to swallow his pride at every turn just to live, while probably coping (or failing to cope) with what must been something like PTSD on top of any other inborn issues that only got worse thanks to time and neglect? He also inherited his father's mental instabilities, [[MiddleChildSyndrome and compared to his]] [[TheWisePrince older brother Rhaegar]] ([[TheAce who was repeatedly noted to be awesome at anything he did]]), Viserys comes off as quite unimpressive. He was essentially screwed from ''birth''.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: According to Daenerys. According to Barristan, however, he showed signs of his father's instability even at an early age.

* {{Omniglot}}: He's fluent in the Common Tongue, High Valyrian, four dialects of Valyrian, and the trade language used by sailors.

** Ironically enough, to Tyrion. Like him, he plays the (relatively) NobleTopEnforcer for a mad king, is a BadassBookworm and pretty skilled at everything he does (though in Rhaegar's case, it's more an InformedAttribute since when push comes to pull, he fucks things up; while we actually ''see'' that Tyrion GetsShitDone). Unlike Tyrion, Rhaegar is handsome, desired, universally beloved, and a great fighter.

* PosthumousCharacter: He died years before the series began.
* PosthumousSibling: He was killed in war before his youngest sibling, Daenerys, was born. Daenerys only knows of him through stories from people who knew him, like their brother Viserys.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: He had many children with Rhaella, but all but three of them were either stillborn or died as babies. Of the three that made it past the cradle, Rhaegar also predeceased him.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Many of her babies were stillborn or died in the cradle. Her son Rhaegar and two grandchildren Aegon and Rhaenys also died before her [[spoiler: unless you believe Aegon is still alive]].

* AncestralWeapon: The greatest is Aegon the Conqueror's sword ''Blackfyre'', traditionally given to the heir to the Iron Throne. It was lost after the Blackfyre Rebellion, is generally thought to be in the hands of the Golden Company mercenaries. Another is ''Dark Sister'', the sword wielded by Visenya Targaryen and by Bloodraven. As Bloodraven was sent to The Wall by King Aegon V, its current whereabouts are unknown.