History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireJaimeLannister

** Gets played with and deconstructed in ''A Feast of Crows'', as a look at both Jaime’s and Cersei’s perspective reveal that Jaime never really entertains the thought of being a woman like Cersei, and subscribes to the belief only insofar as it justifies and fuels his attraction for his twin sister; while Cersei is a FemaleMysoginist, who is extremely jealous and resentful of not being born a man like Jaime.

** He even misjudges his ''own'' character, telling his aunt Genna that the family will be alright even after [[spoiler:Tywin's death]] because he's here to fill [[spoiler:his father's]] shoes. Genna has to set him straight that, at heart, Jaime [[spoiler:takes after his three uncles but has almost ''nothing'' in common with his cold, ruthless, ambitious father, with Tywin's true son being the cunning and manipulative Tyrion]].

* {{Twincest}}: ExaggeratedTrope. Jaime and Cersei have a lifelong SecretRelationship that dates back to [[PuppyLove childhood]], carried through to adulthood, and is a marriage in all but name. The most interesting thing about their relationship is the personal mythology they've constructed around it, making it more than a marriage, almost a religion. They see themselves as a single person in two bodies. Jaime is convinced that "If I were a woman, I would be Cersei," and Cersei likewise thinks, "If I were a man, I'd be Jaime." They trace their bond back to before birth. Their little pseudo-religion even has a prophesy: that they'll die together just as they were born together.

** While still TrappedInVillainy, he visits the Westerlings and learns that Jeyne was an UnwittingPawn in the Red Wedding. Jaime feels really sorry for the girl he sees, having torn her clothes as a sign of mourning and still holding Robb's crown. He offers his condolences, [[WorthyOpponent expresses his admiration of Robb's courage and guile on the battlefield]], he'll arrange a good marriage for her, and says she has more dignity than her parents do. Jeyne, obviously, doesn't appreciate this and her parents only accept it for pragmatic reasons since no one will marry the widow of a rebel king. He also pledges, while negotiating terms of surrender with Tytos Blackwood, to obligate the Freys to return Lucas Blackwood's body so his father can [[DueToTheDead give Lucas a proper burial]].

* AllTakeAndNoGive: His relationship with Cersei is characterised by this, of the mutual variety. Leaving aside Cersei for her own page, Jaime's love for Cersei is in large part not love for her at all, but love for the idea of her and the mythology he projects onto the both of them. Jaime sees Cersei, such as knowing she will dislike the dimished resemblance between them after his time at war, but he notably never tries to ''understand'' her, such as wondering ''why'' Cersei needs to live vicariously through him. Jaime overall tended to surrender to Cersei's will so as to cope with his intense loneliness and isolation, but when he does try to enact his own will, such as by attacking Eddard Stark or proposing he and Cersei marry openly, he does so recklessly and blindly to the risks that swamp them and their children, risks that he himself helped to create. When his wildly impossible fantasies are flat out rejected by Cersei, [[ItsAllAboutMa he laments what ''he'' lost]] ("I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister won this war."); then when Tyrion informs him of Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy, the idealisation of Cersei appears to be flipping to demonisation. This all or nothing, black and white nature of their relationship may in all likelihood doom them both, if prophecies are considered.

** This can also play into his commitment to being a more noble knight, as throughout his campaign to mop up the Riverland rebels, his attempts to get them to surrender without further bloodshed is motivated, less by concern for needless bloodshed, and more so he doesn’t break his personal vow to Catelyn Tully not to take up arms against her family or the Riverlands.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: His relationship with Cersei is characterised by this, of the mutual variety. Leaving aside Cersei for her own page, Jaime's love for Cersei is in large part not love for her at all, but love for the idea of her and the mythology he projects onto the both of them. Jaime sees Cersei, such as knowing she will dislike the dimished resemblance between them after his time at war, but he notably never tries to ''understand'' her, such as wondering ''why'' Cersei needs to live vicariously through him. Jaime overall tended to surrender to Cersei's will so as to cope with his intense loneliness and isolation, but when he does try to enact his own will, such as by attacking Eddard Stark or proposing he and Cersei marry openly, he does so recklessly and blindly to the risks that swamp them and their children, risks that he himself helped to create. When his wildly impossible fantasies are flat out rejected by Cersei, he laments what ''he'' lost ("I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister won this war."); then when Tyrion informs him of Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy, the idealisation of Cersei appears to be flipping to demonisation. This all or nothing, black and white nature of their relationship may in all likelihood doom them both, if prophecies are considered.

* GuileHero: After he swears an oath not to take up arms against House Tully and [[spoiler: he loses his hand]], he's forced to become one, and actually does a pretty good job of it. Unfortunately, doing so has required him to threaten to KickTheDog several times, and everybody believes his threats because he's [[TheOathBreaker the Kingslayer]] and has no honor.

* ItsAllAboutMe: "There are no men like me. There's only me." Though this may be changing since the loss of his swordhand and promotion to Lord Commander, as his new interest in the White Book's histories implies.

* CheaterGetsCheatedOn: Jaime's justification for his affair with his sister is that he and Cersei were soulmates only kept apart by the taboo against incest and her unhappy ArrangedMarriage. So, when he learned that Cersei had been secretly sleeping with other men while he was imprisoned during the war, he's completely devastated. [[spoiler: This betrayal is why he ignores her plea for help when she's put on trial by the Faith]].

-->''"That boy had wanted to be [[KnightInShiningArmor Ser Arthur Dayne]], but someplace along the way he had become the [[SlasherSmile Smiling Knight]] instead."''

* TwinDesynch: After the time spent apart while Jaime's captive during the war, he and Cersei both change, in contrasting ways. This is alarming to the pair of them, since they've spent a lifetime cultivating the quasi-religious doctrine that they're one person in two bodies. Ironically, though, even as they grow apart, it's in oddly parallel ways. Each is nursing a profound loss: Jaime's loss of a hand, and Cersei's loss of a son. Each wants their twin to see and acknowledge this loss to a greater extent than they are. Each has the same proposed remedy for their twin's loss: a replacement. Cersei has a prosthetic hand made for Jaime, and Jaime proposes he and Cersei have another son. A cool prosthetic and a new baby can both be something great in it's own right, but neither can ''ever'' replace what was lost. Both are keenly aware of that in terms of what's being offered ''to them'', but oblivious when it comes to what they're offering the other.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Jaime's role as protector is at the heart of his relationship with both his siblings. Being their protector is a huge part of his personal identity, and when he looses his hand and can't be that for them (or at least, not to the extent he was before) that shakes him to the bone.

* BrokenPedestal: As a young boy, he adored the traditions of chivalry and looked forward to being part of Aerys' Kingsguard. Then he found out that Aerys made him a Knight solely to spite his father and that being part of the Kingsguard involved standing guard while the King murders and rapes with impunity; it's no surprise that he became so cynical so fast.

** Merrett Frey is offhandedly mentioned as having been a bully in his squire years, but despite undeinable physical strength his attempt to bully Jaime was... a bad idea.

* {{Narcissist}}: Downplayed. But before his CharacterDevelopment, and while not at the same level of his father and sister, Jaime was definitively a very arrogant, proud selfish and self-absorbed individual who viewed and treated others who aren't Lannisters with contempt, and keeps acting smug to others. His belief in his fighting skills, and Lannisters' superiority over others also made him feel that he was above consequences, causing him to be particularly reckless to be angry and bitter at Ned Stark, Catelyn, Brienne and others for daring to judge "the lion". It's only after the loss of his sword hand, largely caused by his own arrogance, Brienne’s influence and him starting to actually question his actions that he start to grow out of it.

* UngratefulBastard: When Robert's Rebellion was over, Barristan, Ned and Stannis wanted Jaime dead or to take the black. Robert pardoned him and Jaime helped Cersei pass off false heirs to the throne in return.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite having hurt and planned to hurt children himself, Jaime was truly horrified by the murders of Elia Martell and her children by his father's bannermen and having.nlt been able to protect them is one of his greatest regrets. During "A Feast For Crows" he is also baffled by Cersei's paranoia and increasingly foolish and self-damaging actions, and is repulsed by her as he gradually sees her true nature.

* BullyingADragon: Merrett Frey is offhandedly mentioned as having been a bully in his squire years, but despite undeinable physical strength his attempt to bully Jaime was... a bad idea.

* FatalFlaw: Setup but subverted. Jaime's is initially characterised through his prowess and name making him essentially invincible, with Jaime relishing in it and any and all consequences be damned. [[BreakTheHaughty That is, the arakh...]]

* AntiHero / AntiVillain: A central tension of his character. Jaime is initially presented by the story's narrators--90% of whom, it should be pointed out, are on the other side of the CivilWar from him--as rather villainous; and he absolutely WouldHurtAChild in the first book while threatening to do so in the fourth book. It is in the third book that CharacterDevelopment sets in, and we find out that he thinks [[IDidWhatIHadToDo He Did What He Had To Do]] and in fact had meaningful altruistic reasons for some of his actions... not to mention plenty of emotional baggage beneath the [[ThenLetMeBeEvil cocky and amoral demeanor]] he adopted. Tired of the constant disdain he has gained as "TheKingslayer" and influenced by Brienne, Jaime reconsiders what has become of his life and honor, and wants to become a hero worthy of the Kingsguard. However, his obsessive resent of Cersei takes root after Tyrion's "Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy" reveal, and then there is the fact he is the prime suspect for the valonqar; altogether, which way Jaime will go is key to the issues raised by his character. As he observes in the White Book, it's whatever he chooses...

* AntiHero / AntiVillain: A central tension of his character. Jaime is initially presented by the story's narrators--90% of whom, it should be pointed out, are on the other side of the CivilWar from him--as rather villainous; and he absolutely WouldHurtAChild in the first book while threatening to do so in the fourth book. It is in the third book that CharacterDevelopment sets in, and we find out that he thinks [[IDidWhatIHadToDo He Did What He Had To Do]] and in fact had meaningful altruistic reasons for his some of his actions... not to mention plenty of emotional baggage beneath the [[ThenLetMeBeEvil cocky and amoral demeanor]] he adopted. Tired of the constant disdain he has gained as "TheKingslayer" and influenced by Brienne, Jaime reconsiders what has become of his life and honor, and wants to become a hero worthy of the Kingsguard. However, his obsessive resent of Cersei takes root after Tyrion's "Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy" reveal, and then there is the fact he is the prime suspect for the valonqar; altogether, which way Jaime will go is key to the issues raised by his character. As he observes in the White Book, it's whatever he chooses...

* AntiHero / AntiVillain: A central tension of his character. Jaime is initially presented by the story's narrators--90% of whom, it should be pointed out, are on the other side of the CivilWar from him--as rather villainous; and he absolutely WouldHurtAChild in the first book while threatening to do so in the fourth book. It is in the third book that CharacterDevelopment sets in, and we find out that he thinks [[IDidWhatIHadToDo He Did What He Had To Do]] and in fact had meaningful altruistic reasons for his some of his actions... not to mention plenty of emotional baggage beneath the [[ThenLetMeBeEvil cocky and amoral demeanor]] he adopted. Tired of the constant disdain he has gained as "TheKingslayer" and influenced by Brienne, Jaime reconsiders what has become of his life and honor, and wants to become a hero worthy of the Kingsguard. However... his obsessive resent of Cersei takes root after Tyrion's "Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy" reveal, and then there is the fact he is the prime suspect for the valonqar... altogether, which way Jaime will go is key to the issues raised by his character. As he observes in the White Book, it's whatever he chooses...

* AllTakeAndNoGive: His relationship with Cersei is characterised by this, of the mutual variety. Leaving aside Cersei for her own page, Jaime's love for Cersei is in large part not love for her at all, but love for the idea of her and the mythology he projects onto the both of them. Jaime sees Cersei, such as knowing she will dislike the dimished resemblance between them after his time at war, but he notably never tries to ''understand'' her, such as wondering ''why'' Cersei needs to live vicariously through him. Jaime overall tended to surrender to Cersei's will so as to cope with his intense loneliness and isolation, but when he does try to enact his own will, he does so recklessly and blindly to the risks that swamp them and their children, ridks he himself helped to create. When his wildly impossible fantasies are flat out rejected by Cersei, he laments what ''he'' lost ("I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister won this war."); then when Tyrion informs him of Lancel and Osmund and Moonboy, the idealisation of Cersei appears to be flipping to demonisation. This all or nothing, black and white nature of their relationship may in all likelihood doom them both, if prophecies are considered.