History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireJonSnow

* AChildShallLeadThem: He becomes the 998th Commander of the Night's Watch after [[spoiler:Mormont's death]], despite being only sixteen to seventeen years old (although, by Westerosi standards, that already makes him an adult). He is hardly the youngest Lord Commander though.

* AWolfInSheepsClothing: During his time when he infiltrated the Free Folk for the Night's Watch, Jon, who represents the direwolf, is literally wearing a sheepskin cloak.

* HeroesWantRedheads: He becomes attracted to the "kissed by fire" spearwife, Ygritte, who has a [[WildHair nest of wild red curls]].

* SuperStrength: It's not given that much focus, but Jon mysteriously shows it as something of an extra gear that he taps into every now and then. Though his reaction to his strength is much more conservative when he ''easily'' wrenches an 8-feet long spear with a severed head impaled at the top from frozen ground like nothing (while four grown men struggle to remove the remaining two spears); or when he single-handedly wrestles his all-muscle direwolf (who's currently the size of the largest pony) into the armory. In a fit of rage after Alliser Throne and Janos Slynt [[RelativeButton mock and insult Jon's father]] for too long, Jon lifts a grown-ass man like Alliser by the throat clean off his feet and nearly throttles him in the process -- all while Jon is recovering from being shot in the leg with an arrow and is sleep deprived after commanding the defense of the Wall. Keep in mind that his right hand is severely burned.

** The Order of the Night's Watch itself comes as a considerable disappointment to Jon, after years of aspiring to become a ranger like Benjen, just to join and discover that the Watch itself is now mostly a glorified penal colony. It takes him quite a while to adapt, and becomes somewhat of a RebuiltPedestal once the Wildlings begin to campaign in force and in particular the Others and their abominations start to show themselves, reaffirming that the Watch and the Wall genuinely are the only things standing between the North and the dark.

* HonorBeforeReason: When Jon swears himself to the Night's Watch, he's tempted to leave several times (to join Robb, to join the Wildlings with Ygritte), but remains true to his oath. And once he becomes Lord Commander, his resolve and dedication becomes unshakeable. Stannis offers to legitimise him and declare him Lord of Winterfell, with the beautiful wildling princess Val as his wife, but he flatly refuses to even consider betraying his duty.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When he comes to the Wall, Stannis offers to legitimise Jon as a Stark, free him from the Night's Watch, and make him Lord of Winterfell to help bring the North under his control, putting him in a position to do something to avenge his slain family, as well as marry him to Val the beautiful Wildling princess (and unlike most men, Jon knows enough about Wildlings to actually grasp what he'd need to do in order to be able to ''keep'' Val as his wife), bringing with her the possibility of him having children of his own blood one day. At the time, Jon is stood down from duty and facing the possibility of execution as a turncoat to the Watch if the new Lord Commander is someone unsympathetic to him. All he has to do is kneel before Stannis, swear his loyalty to him, and burn the Weirwoods of Winterfell as a sign of devotion to the Lord of Light, and he will gain ''literally everything he'd ever dared dream of having in his life''. But in the end, [[HonorBeforeReason he cannot break his oath again or betray his father's gods]] and he resolves to turn the king down, even before he ends up unexpectedly winning the election to become Lord Commander of the Watch.

* ByronicHero: Jon Snow is characterized as intelligent, intuitive, brooding, sullen and comely. His entire existence revolves around his bastard status and not knowing who his mother is. He is often conflicted and has a sharp tongue. He is also possible the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, himself another Byronic hero.

* ByronicHero: Jon Snow is characterized as intelligent, intuitive, brooding, sullen and comely. His entire existence revolves around his bastard status and not knowing who his mother is. He is often conflicted and has a sharp tongue. He is also possible the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, himself another byronic hero.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Stannis summons him to talk, Jon argues that Stannis is the only person who answered the Night's Watch call for help. Jon answers in the line of ''...Well, it was about damn time someone did!'' Stannis cannot help but smile at Jon's [[JustForPun Stark]] boldness.

* RedOniBlueOni: Though Jon and his half-brother, Robb, share a very close relationship, their very first description serves to put Jon in ''[[JustForPun stark]]'' contrast with Robb:

Lonely and lovely and lethal, Jon Snow reflected, and I might have had her. Her, and Winterfell, and my lord father's name. Instead he had chosen a black cloak and a wall of ice. Instead he had chosen honor. A bastard's sort of honor.

** Jon [[spoiler:executes Janos Slynt for repeated insubordination after trying to give Janos multiple opportunities to accept the order. [[KickTheSonOfABitch He doesn't feel too bad about this one, though, and neither does anyone else,]] especially since Slynt helped execute his father on the steps of Baelor's Sept.]]

* TheHero: Of the Night's Watch storyline. More generally, out of the many main characters in the DeconstructorFleet that is ASOIAF, Jon is probably the closest thing there is to a conventional fantasy hero, as confirmed by GRRM himself.

** With [[RedOniBlueOni Robb]]. Of all Stark siblings, Jon has the closest relationships with Robb and Arya. Where Robb is broad, strong, and fast, Jon is lean, quick, and graceful. Where Robb is gregarious and outgoing, Jon is more solemn and introverted. Robb is the trueborn heir to Winterfell while Jon is a lord's illegitimate son. Nonetheless, these contrasts do not stop Robb and Jon from being very close as brothers.

* ToughLeaderFacade: Male example naturally. Once he becomes Lord Commander, he feels it's necessary to adopt a reserved personality and put the good of the Watch first. This doesn't go over well with all of his friends there, some of whom think it's a case of AcquiredSituationalNarcissism. For Jon, he adopts this trope to follow his father's lessons in leadership to him and in his efforts to more effectively fulfill his duty.

* UnexpectedSuccessor: In ''A Storm of Swords'', [[spoiler:Robb legitimizes Jon and makes him his successor as King in the North should Robb die childless, as Robb believes the reports that Bran and Rickon were killed by Theon, thinks that Arya was likely dead because there had been no word of her since Ned's arrest, and does not want Winterfell to go to the Lannisters through Sansa's forced marriage to Tyrion. However, the whereabouts of this document and whatever became of it are currently unknown, and Jon does not even know it exists. Remains to be seen if Jon will ever become king and there's the sticky issue that in truth, Bran, Rickon and Arya are very much alive. The legitimization would still stand even if Jon didn't become king or even leave the Night's Watch, however.%%[[spoiler:Additionally, if we consider the [[EpilepticTrees theories]] about his parents being Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, this could lead to interesting things for his future...]]

* TheStoic: A trait inherited from Ned. Jon is very introverted and quiet, but he is a friendly and caring boy. Once he becomes Lord Commander, he plays his stoicism up even more than usual, remembering his father's lessons to him and Robb in leadership, and feels that [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask it's how someone in his position should behave.]]

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Male example naturally. Once he becomes Lord Commander, he feels it's necessary to adopt a reserved personality and put the good of the Watch first. This doesn't go over well with all of his friends there, some of whom think it's a case of AcquiredSituationalNarcissism. For Jon, he adopts this trope to follow his father's lessons in leadership to him and in his efforts to more effectively fulfill his duty.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: As Lord Commander.

** The Order of the Night's Watch itself comes as a considerable disappointment to Jon, after years of aspiring to become a ranger like Benjen, just to join and discover that the Watch itself is now mostly a glorified penal colony. It takes him quite a while to adapt.

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When he comes to the Wall, Stannis offers to legitimise Jon as a Stark, free him from Night's Watch, and make him Lord of Winterfell to help bring the North under his control, putting him in a position to do something to avenge his slain family, as well as marry him to Val the beautiful Wildling princess (and unlike most men, Jon knows enough about Wildlings to actually grasp what he'd need to do in order to be able to ''keep'' Val as his wife), bringing with her the possibility of him having children of his own blood one day. At the time, Jon is stood down from duty and facing the possibility of execution as a turncoat to the Watch if the new Lord Commander is someone unsympathetic to him. All he has to do is kneel before Stannis, swear his loyalty to him, and burn the Weirwoods of Winterfell as a sign of devotion to the Lord of Light, and he will gain ''literally everything he'd ever dared dream of having in his life''. But in the end, [[HonorBeforeReason he cannot break his oath again or betray his father's gods]] and he resolves to turn the king down, even before he ends up unexpectedly winning the election to become Lord Commander of the Watch.

* CoolPet: Like the other Stark kids, he has a direwolf, but [[NobleWolf Ghost]] is a cool albino who grows to be the biggest and the most dangerous of the pack.

-->If the tales coming up the kingsroad could be believed, the King’s Hand had been murdered by his dwarf son whilst sitting on a privy. Jon had known Tyrion Lannister, briefly. He took my hand and named me friend. It was hard to believe the little man had it in him to murder his own sire, but the fact of Lord Tywin’s demise seemed to be beyond doubt.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Despite his prior inexperience, Jon proves to be quite a skilled lover with Ygritte, even instictively giving her cunnilingus when many men in the setting aren't that considerate.

* BastardAngst: Jon grew up as a bit of an outsider among his legitimate family, especially by [[AffairBlameTheBastard sort-of stepmom]] Catelyn. Partly because of his bitterness about this, for lack of better career options, and to follow his dream of becoming a First Ranger, he joins the Night's Watch in order to make a name for himself and earn his own honor. On the other side, Jon has had a far better upbringing than most in Westeros considering, especially compared to other bastard-born children (see Gendry, Falia Flowers, or Mya Stone): his father openly acknowledges and raises Jon himself in a castle alongside his trueborn offspring; gives Jon a proper highborn education; mentors him with Robb in leadership; and Jon experiences mutual love with his father, siblings, and uncle. Therefore, there are those who look at Jon's angst as a {{Wangst}}, which Jon eventually acknowledges himself. [[spoiler:Part of Jon's character arc is recognizing his privileged upbringing. Later, he turns down legitimization and the chance to inherit Winterfell out of loyalty to his father's gods in ASOS]].[[invoked]]

* BreakTheHaughty: He has grown up resentful of being a high lord's bastard and thus always being in the shadow of the trueborn children, so he's not used to thinking of himself as privileged, and he is initially arrogant about his skill at arms compared to the other recruits. Part of Jon’s character development in the Night’s Watch is realizing how much better he had it than most of them due to his privileged upbringing and education in his father's castle. Though Jon initially looks down on the lowborn recruits, he befriends them shortly after and helps them once he realizes the reason for their relative incompetence is because most of them had never held a real weapon before while Jon has been trained under a master-at-arms in a castle since he was old enough to hold a sword.

* UnexpectedSuccessor: In ''A Storm of Swords'', [[spoiler:Robb legitimized Jon and made him his successor as King in the North should Robb die childless, as Robb believed the reports that Bran and Rickon were killed by Theon, thought that Arya was likely dead because there had been no word of her since Ned's arrest, and did not want Winterfell to go to the Lannisters due to Sansa's forced marriage to Tyrion. However, the whereabouts of this document and whatever came of it are currently unknown. Remains to be seen if Jon will ever become king and there's the sticky issue that in truth, Bran, Rickon and Arya are very much alive. The legitimization would still stand even if Jon didn't become king or even leave the Night's Watch, however.%%[[spoiler:Additionally, if we consider the [[EpilepticTrees theories]] about his parents being Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, this could lead to interesting things for his future...]]

* BastardAngst: Jon grew up as a bit of an outsider among his legitimate family, especially by [[AffairBlameTheBastard sort-of stepmom]] Catelyn. Partly because of his bitterness about this, for lack of better career options, and to follow his dream of becoming a First Ranger, he joins the Night's Watch in order to make a name for himself and earn his own honor. On the other side, Jon has had a far better upbringing than most in Westeros considering, especially compared to other bastard-born children (see Gendry, Falia Flowers, or Mya Stone): his father openly acknowledges and raises Jon himself in a castle alongside his trueborn offspring; gives Jon a proper highborn education; mentors him with Robb in leadership; and Jon experiences mutual love with his father, siblings, and uncle. Therefore, there are those who look at Jon's angst as a {{Wangst}}, which Jon eventually acknowledges himself. [[spoiler:Part of Jon's character arc is recognizing his privileged upbringing. Later, he turns down legitimization and the chance to inherit Winterfell out of loyalty to his father's gods in ASOS]].

** Poetically, the surname 'Snow' has ominous connotations, possibly appropriate since WordOfGod states Jon will become a "grayer" character in upcoming books.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Shortly after joining the watch Jon gets accosted by four other recruits but ends up delivering them a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown with realtive ease. This earns him a dressing down for Donal Noye [[WhatTheHellHero who calls him out on his superiority complex to other bastards being the cause of the tension.]] While Jon at first tries to refute this, Donal hammers it home even further by pointing out that for all of Jon's complex about being a bastard child, he still grew up with a far more privileged upbringing than the majority of the Watch recruits, and his continuing acting the way he does will only alienate him more.

** Out of all of Ned's kids, it's Ned's bastard son who happens to look the most like him and indeed embodies his values the most. Tyrion comments that Jon has more of the North in him than any of his siblings, yet Jon was born in the South (unlike all the other Stark kids, except for Robb). This might also be impacted by Catelyn having no part in his raising, unlike his true-born siblings, who Catelyn raises to also have Tully influences from her side of the family in addition to their Northern influences, and thus, they were raised under both the Faith of the Seven and the Old Gods. Meanwhile, Ned is Jon's only parent and raises Jon himself -- as a result, Jon has a purely Northern upbringing and follows his father's faith, the Old Gods. %%[[spoiler:Tyrion also thinks to himself that Jon's mother must have had very little influence on his features, when it's quite likely that his biological parents were Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and thus he in fact inherited the Stark look from his mother, not his father.]]

*** Both are bastard sons of powerful northern houses. Jon, however, was raised in a loving household by his father at his father's home castle, while Ramsay was left to his peasant mother and ignored for the most part. And while they both disliked their illegitimate status, Jon was able to acknowledge he wasn't a legal Stark (see the discovery of the direwolves) and eventually accepted it; Ramsay's primary berserk button is being reminded of it. [[HeroicBastard Jon is honorable, heroic and strives to do the right thing]] while [[BastardBastard Ramsay is pretty much the direct opposite of that]]. Finally, while Jon turned down his chance at legitimization out of a sense of duty, Ramsay jumped at becoming a Bolton and likes to pretend he was never anything but that.
*** Their relationships with their families are also direct contrasts to each other. Jon loves and is loved by his father, Ned, who raises Jon alongside his trueborn siblings as his son and part of the family. Ramsay's father, Roose, treats Ramsay very poorly, disinherits him, and only acknowledges Ramsay once he realizes he has no other choice for an heir. Jon loves his half-brothers and sisters and even turns down becoming a Stark partly in consideration of their rights while Ramsay very likely poisoned his half-brother to lay claim to his, and Roose suspects he will do the same to any newborns Walda Bolton will bear as well.
*** While Jon is described as an excellent swordsman, Ramsay was trained by someone who was not trained himself, and "[[TheBerserker wields a sword like a butcher's knife]]".
*** Finally, Jon has [[BondCreature Ghost]], the male albino direwolf as his companion. Ramsay keeps a growing pack of female hounds named after women he has raped, killed, and skinned, which he claims he has specifically trained to kill direwolves.

** Ramsay Bolton is his EvilCounterpart and ShadowArchetype, and perhaps his greatest foil:
*** Both are bastard sons of powerful northern houses. Jon, however, was raised in a loving household by his father at his father's home castle, while Ramsay was left to his peasant mother and ignored for the most part. And while they both disliked their illegitimate status, Jon was able to acknowledge he wasn't a legal Stark (see the discovery of the direwolves) and eventually accepted it; Ramsay's primary berserk button is being reminded of it. [[HeroicBastard Jon is honorable, heroic and strives to do the right thing]] while [[BastardBastard Ramsay is pretty much the direct opposite of that]]. Finally, while Jon turned down his chance at legitimization out of a sense of duty, Ramsay jumped at becoming a Bolton and likes to pretend he was never anything but that.
*** Their relationships with their families are also direct contrasts to each other. Jon loves and is loved by his father, Ned, who raises Jon alongside his trueborn siblings as his son and part of the family. Ramsay's father, Roose, treats Ramsay very poorly, disinherits him, and only acknowledges Ramsay once he realizes he has no other choice for an heir. Jon loves his half-brothers and sisters and even turns down becoming a Stark partly in consideration of their rights while Ramsay very likely poisoned his half-brother to lay claim to his, and Roose suspects he will do the same to any newborns Walda Bolton will bear as well.
*** While Jon is described as an excellent swordsman, Ramsay was trained by someone who was not trained himself, and "[[TheBerserker wields a sword like a butcher's knife]]".
*** Finally, Jon has [[BondCreature Ghost]], the male albino direwolf as his companion. Ramsay keeps a growing pack of female hounds named after women he has raped, killed, and skinned, which he claims he has specifically trained to kill direwolves.

** ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' sets up Jon and Daenerys to foil each other. Both are [[AChildShallLeadThem very young leaders]] suffering from TheChainsOfCommanding who resort to wear [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask a cold mask of authority]], both are driven by their care for others and have an urge to save people, and both have members of House Mormont (a father and son, no less) that play an important role in their respective character arcs. Let's not even start speaking about[[spoiler:their possible kinship and being the most likely candidates for the role of TheChosenOne]]. Also, they fill the title "''A Song of Ice and Fire''" with Daenerys being the first DragonRider after centuries and a Targaryen (fire), while Jon fights in the [[GrimUpNorth far north]] a ZombieApocalypse of frozen beings and also has Stark blood (ice).
** To Gendry, since they are both [[HeroicBastard bastard sons]], they both look like their fathers (who are best friends), Jon doesn't have a clue about who his mother may be, just as Gendry doesn't about his father. They also have a close brotherly relationship with Arya, who may have seen Gendry as a ReplacementGoldfish for her half-brother Jon. Jon joined the Night's Watch for the sake of honour and duty, Gendry joined the Brotherhood without banners for the sake of honour and duty. However, Jon is an acknowledged illegitimate son of a lord who grows up in privileged circumstances, raised by his father in a castle, while Gendry is an unacknowledged illegitimate son of a king who grows up working as a blacksmith’s apprentice after his mother dies. %%[[spoiler:Even more ironic if Jon is Rhaegar Targaryen's son as Robert (Gendry's father) and Rhaegar were [[ArchEnemy archenemies]] but yet, Robert and Rhaegar managed to father sons around the same age with several similarities -- namely being the hidden sons of royalty.]]

** To Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard. Both are Lord Commanders of brotherhoods, which they joined at a young age for the sake of honour and duty as the WideEyedIdealist, and both came from highborn upbringings. During their respective journeys, they are left disappointed when they find out that the once-noble brotherhood they joined was no longer as great as they expected and both face adversity for being "oathbreakers" (Jaime is regarded as a "kingslayer" by the whole of Westeros for having to kill the Mad King. Jon is viewed as an "oathbreaker" by some members of the Night's Watch when he was forced kill Qhorin Halfhand and because of his time with and sympathy for the wildlings), when they both did it for the sake of staying true to their vows, doing the right thing, and protecting people.
** He is also one to Robert "Sweetrobin" Arryn as opposite spectra within a family circle. Sweetrobin is a highborn mama's boy who is babied by his mother, is a single child to a father who couldn't raise him thanks to workplace pressure, is stunted for his age and is spoiled to a fault; Jon is a highborn bastard son who never knew his mother and was shunned by his step-mother, is a child from a large number of siblings, was raised by a doting father who made a point of giving him a hands-on noble education, is quick and graceful for his age, and is honorable to a fault.
** To Waymar Royce as recruit’s of the Night’s Watch. Waymar is the legitimate son of Yohn Royce, who is the vassal of the Arryn’s the Lord Paramount of the Vale and Jon is the bastard son of Eddard Stark, Lord Paramount of the North where the Night’s watch is located and their house has the reputation of being friend of the Night’s Watch. Waymar joins because there is little chance of inheritance, being the third son. Meanwhile, Jon joins due to his being a bastard and to earn his own honour, "a bastard's honor". Waymar is given a superior rank to men of the Night’s watch despite being a foreigner in the region the Watch is in by Jeor Mormont so as not to offend his father. Jon Snow is not given any favors despite his family’s close ties to the Night’s Watch and having an uncle as a ranking officer in the organization. When he is given rank, he receives the unglamorous job as the steward to the Lord Commander. Waymar retains his arrogance and is mocked by his fellow Watchmen, while Jon Snow lets go of his arrogance with his fellow recruits and eventually befriends thems to the point were they prevent Jon from deserting to avenge his [[spoiler:father’s death.]] Waymar is killed at the beginning of the first book, while Jon is one of the most prominent characters in the series.

* NeutralNoLonger: [[spoiler: When Jon becomes Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, the escalating threat of the Others and the chaotic political situation in the North test his oath of neutrality in many ways. The Night's Watch is sworn to take no part in the wars and politics of the Seven Kingdoms, yet Snow gives aid to his ally Stannis Baratheon against the Boltons (at first the Watch is in no position to refuse Stannis and his army after he defeats Mance Rayder's host for them, but Jon continues to provide crucial information to Stannis afterwards). For thousands of years the Watch has protected the North from wildlings, but Lord Snow allows thousands of free folk through the Wall to settle in the Gift and attempts to organize a ranging to Hardhome to rescue more people because the Watch is desperately short on manpower and every wildling abandoned to die increases the strength of the army of the [[GreaterScopeVillain Others]]. Further complicating matters, many wildlings swear oaths to Jon personally according to their traditions of following individuals rather than titles or law, which worries some brothers in the Watch. Jon even ends up protecting a distant relative from her scheming uncle, imprisons the man, and arranges a marriage pact between Alys Karstark and the Magnar of Thenn - all traditional prerogatives of a lord of the North rather than the Lord Commander. These controversial actions make Jon many enemies, but Jon had legitimate reasons to believe that his choices were ultimately necessary for the strategic benefit of the Night's Watch and acts within the bounds of his role as Lord Commander. That is, until Jon receives a letter which falsely claims that Stannis is dead - at which point he forswears neutrality and announces he will ride south to take Winterfell from the Boltons. Jon does not order the Night's Watch to come with him, but he asks for voluntary help and the free folk agree to join Jon - appearing to confirm the worst fears of Jon's detractors that he was planning to raise a wildling army and seize power for himself - and Jon is stabbed by his own black brothers ''"for the Watch."'']]

* NeutralNoLonger: [[spoiler: When Jon becomes Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, the escalating threat of the Others and the chaotic political situation in the North test his oath of neutrality in many ways. The Night's Watch is sworn to take no part in the wars and politics of the Seven Kingdoms, yet Snow gives aid to his ally Stannis Baratheon against the Boltons (at first the Watch is in no position to refuse Stannis and his army after he defeats Mance Rayder's host for them, but Jon continues to provide crucial information to Stannis afterwards). For thousands of years the Watch has protected the North from the wildlings, but Lord Snow allows thousands of free folk through the Wall to settle in the Gift and attempts to organize a ranging to Hardhome to rescue more because the Watch is desperately short on manpower and each wildling abandoned to die increases the strength of the army of the [[GreaterScopeVillain Others]]. Further complicating matters, many wildlings swear oaths to Jon personally according to their traditions of following individuals rather than titles or law, which worries some brothers in the Watch. Jon even ends up protecting a distant relative from her scheming uncle, imprisons the man, and arranges a marriage pact between Alys Karstark and the Magnar of Thenn - all traditional prerogatives of a lord of the North rather than the Lord Commander. These actions make Jon many enemies, but Jon had legitimate reasons to believe that his choices were ultimately necessary for the long-term strategic benefit of the Night's Watch and acts within the bounds of his role as Lord Commander. That is, until Jon receives the a letter which falsely claims that Stannis is dead - at which point he forswears neutrality and announces he will ride south to take Winterfell from the Boltons. Jon does not order the Night's Watch to break their oaths along with him, but the free folk agree to join Jon in his fight - appearing to confirm the worst fears of Jon's detractors that he was planning to raise a wildling army and seize power for himself - and Jon is stabbed by his own officers ''"for the Watch."'']]