History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireNedStark

* {{Foil}}: Jaime Lannister. Ned believes in doing the right thing, is honorable and is known for [[HonorBeforeReason these qualities]], but will compromise this in some instances to do the right thing -- however, he’s more discreet. Jaime very publicly gets his hands dirty all the time when he does the right thing, earning him an unsavory reputation that damages his self-esteem, even though he claims he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

* ForcedToWatch: It's indicated that Ned always made his sons (except Rickon, who was too young at the time) watch him execute criminals to toughen them up at a certain age. From his perspective, when they become Stark lords, ''they'' would have to execute prisoners too. Two of his sons, Robb Stark and Jon Snow, do execute traitors in their ranks later on, so it certainly helped.

* ThePeterPrinciple: Ned is a brilliant Lord Paramount of the North, perfectly understanding the regional dimensions, traditions, and the unique ideas of justice that work in the North, but that doesn't quite translate into being a Hand of the King for the Seven Kingdoms, a fact which he is himself aware of and tries his best to overcome but fails:

** He feels that his sister was too "wilful" and Arya is the same and this will bring problems for the latter. Even though he indulges Arya by having her train in the Braavosi manner, he sees this as a passing fancy and hobby that he doesn't take seriously, hoping that eventually Arya will outgrow it and have an ArrangedMarriage like other noble women. This makes him [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero a product of his time and place in Westerosi customs]] not far away from the nobility's values. However, he is being very fair for his time in allowing this, and in a conversation with Arya, it's implied that parental worries is in play - per Ned, both Lyanna and the infamously impulsive Brandon died because they were ruled by [[HotBlooded "the wolf's blood"]], implying that Lyanna did at least initially run away with Rhaegar willingly. Arya is often noted as Lyanna reborn. The conclusions aren't hard to draw.

** As long as no one knows the truth of Joffrey's paternity, Ned will always be the traitor who tried to deny the throne to his friend Robert's son. However, many people in King's Landing believe the accusations to Cersei, and the North still loves him and is rooting for his family. Meanwhile, in Renly's camp, no one seems to buy Ned's false confession, at least when Catelyn is present.

-->''And with him stood the great lords her brother had named the Usurper's dogs, cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart, and the golden Lannisters, father and son, so rich, so powerful, so treacherous.''

* TurnInYourBadge: When he quit as Hand. His resignation wasn't accepted, of course.

* HeroesWantRedheads: HappilyMarried to the auburn-haired Catelyn Tully. Catelyn thinks to herself how much Ned loved her hair [[spoiler: right before she died]].

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Warning Cersei that he found out her secret so she could take her children and leave [[spoiler:results in his imprisonment]].

* PapaWolf: Not only a pun; a clear example is his anger when his daughter isn't brought before him first after Joffrey ends up mauled. It even makes him forget he's speaking to his King. Not that the King minds.

* BrokenPedestal: He experiences this to King Robert Baratheon several times in the course of the story. In the backstory, it's when Robert condones Tywin's slaughter of Rhaegar Targaryen's children, and later, Robert's indolence as a King. Ned is disappointed by Robert's continued whoring, despite his responsibilities, and more or less concurs with Robert that the latter's real merit is "[[DamnedByFaintPraise better than Aerys]]".

** Ironically, the one remaining legacy of Ned Stark's tenure as Hand comes as a cascading effect from the one time he is shown sitting the Throne in rulership. With Gregor Clegane marauding anon in the Riverlands, Ned attaints him as disturbing the King's Peace and charges Beric Dondarrion and other lords to intervene under the banner of the king, a host that Tywin would have to attack and be labelled as treason. Proclaiming Gregor Clegane a traitor itself puts Tywin in the catch 22 of either discarding his most prized knight to the King's Justice, who may pitentially squeal, or defending Gregor and thus defending treason and making it his own; though Tywin ultimately escapes these outcomes after Ned's fall, Beric Dondarrion's party eventually leads to the formation of the Brotherhood Without Banners [[spoiler:which is one of the staunchest enemies to Lannister rule in the Riverlands, and is currently being led, fittingly enough, by his reanimated wife]].

* PyrrhicVictory: Ned became a hero who overthrew a hated king but he lost almost all his family. The friend he made king never wanted the throne and seriously considered abdicating, making him and everyone who helped him feel their sacrifices were for nothing.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Ned is an extremely devout worshiper of the quasi-druidic Gods of the First Men and the Children of the Forest known as the Old Gods. That said he is fairly tolerant. When Catelyn, a Southron woman who follows the Faith, arrived in Winterfell, he built a sept for her, and their children were raised in both religions.

** Many characters think Ned loved Ashara Dayne, and that she was Jon's mother. However, Ned never has a single thought about Ashara Dayne in his internal narration.

** Seems to be a pattern in his life. Robert's Rebellion cost him more than he earned, went through it hoping to avenge his father and brother, and rescue his sister...but as soon as he finds her she died.

** Also in his backstory during Robert's Rebellion he had an huge argument with Robert for the [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath gratuitous violence]] used against Rhaegar's family and went off to fight the LastStand of Targaryen loyalists and find his sister. Only her death could reconcile him with Robert.

** Ned was also appalled by the brutal murders of Elia Martell and her children by Rhaegar, and that Robert condoned the children's deaths as "dragonspawn". [[WeUsedToBeFriends It caused a falling out between the two]] that was only reconciled by their shared grief over Lyanna's death.
* TragicHero: [[spoiler: Doing the right thing the right way gets Ned killed and invites disaster to The North.]]

** Despite what Jon says, he is actually not one of Maester Aemon's 1 in 10,000 to choose duty over love. When threatened with death if he does not declare Joffrey the rightful heir Ned is unconcerned. It is only the threat to Sansa that makes him capitulate. He chooses to disgrace himself and lie before the world that he is a traitor for the lives of his daughters.

* WouldNotHurtAChild: After seeing the savagery by which the [[DeadGuyOnDisplay Targaryen children]] were killed during Robert's Rebellion, Ned does not want to see [[HistoryRepeats history repeat itself]]. He protests Robert demanding Daenerys Targaryen's death, even if her claim to the throne is greater than Robert's. Unfortunately, this is one part of Ned's undoing. Robert's brother Renly offers to raise up many swords to help him arrest Cersei, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen in the middle of the night, but Ned refuses to traumatize three young children like that. [[spoiler: [[{{Irony}} One of those children later has him executed.]] ]]
* YouKilledMyFather: Eddard's father Rickard and his brother Brandon were both executed by Aerys II Targaryen; they were shortly followed by nearly all of Brandon's noble entourage, and eventually ''their'' fathers as well, leading to Eddard, Jon Arryn and Robert raising their banners in revolt. While their rebellion is a success, he doesn't get to take direct vengeance, as Aerys was killed by Jaime Lannister during the Sack of King's Landing.

* OddFriendship: It doesn't ''get'' any stranger than [[GrimUpNorth grim]], [[TheStoic stoic]], [[HonorBeforeReason duty-bound]] Ned Stark with [[BoisterousBruiser hard-partying]], [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] [[ReallyGetsAround playboy]] Robert Baratheon. Yet, the two were fostered together and developed a brotherly relationship during their youth. Though this trope is [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] when they become men grown and high lords with responsibilities and commitments to their people and the realm. Their... well, [[JustForPun stark]] differences in personality lead to a considerable amount of friction when they finally meet up again, though they're still quite clearly devoted to each other underneath it all.

** Ironically, the one remaining legacy of Ned Stark's tenure as Hand comes from him using his office but in an accidental way. Jaime Lannister's attack on him and Jory in the streets of King's Landing, prevented Ned from personally intervening and arresting Gregor Clegane in the Riverlands, an attack that Tywin planned as an ambush hoping to bait Ned to intervene personally, capture and hold him hostage. Instead, Ned's injury leads him to charge Beric Dondarrion and other lords to intervene under the banner of King Robert Baratheon, a host that Tywin would have to attack and risk treason. This eventually leads to the formation of the Brotherhood Without Banners [[spoiler:which is currently being led, fittingly enough, by his reanimated wife]].

* FatalFlaw: Ned's adamant refusal to "play the Game of Thrones" while still attempting to insert himself into the center the political turmoil surrounding King's Landing ultimately does more harm than good for him. [[spoiler: With Robert on his deathbed and having named Ned the Protector of the Realm, Ned gets ''urged'' to use this situation to make a power grab for himself but Ned refuses. Littlefinger outright tells him the smarter decision would be to keep the secret of Joffrey's parentage to himself and use it as leverage to make peace with Lannisters since Ned's alternative, putting Stannis on the throne, will surely lead to a civil war. Ned being a slave to his honor is ultimately what leads to his death and ensuing War of Five Kings.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Expected all the backroom players to back off when he proclaimed Stannis Baratheon as the true king.

* OddFriendship: It doesn't ''get'' any stranger than [[GrimUpNorth grim]], [[TheStoic stoic]], [[HonorBeforeReason duty-bound]] Ned Stark with [[BoisterousBruiser hard-partying]], [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] [[AnythingThatMoves playboy]] Robert Baratheon. Yet, the two were fostered together and developed a brotherly relationship during their youth. Though this trope is [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] when they become men grown and high lords with responsibilities and commitments to their people and the realm. Their... well, [[JustForPun stark]] differences in personality lead to a considerable amount of friction when they finally meet up again, though they're still quite clearly devoted to each other underneath it all.

* HurtingHero: Ned struggles with the authority given to him, first as Lord of Winterfell, and then as Hand of the King. During the latter, he is especially wary of how his high position will put his daughters in danger.

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* ThePromise: He made promises to his sister Lyanna and keeps them until his death. What he promised is still a source of {{Wild Mass Guessing}} and {{Epileptic Trees}}
* PunchClockVillain: How he is seen by guys like Jorah Mormont. He wanders The North beheading people without listening to why they did it. Ned himself never enjoys his duty but does it anyway and to him it's NothingPersonal.

* SecondLove: Catelyn really loved (and was originally betrothed to) his eldest brother.
** And Ned himself had Ashara Dayne, who several characters think is Jon's mother. Ned would probably had married Ashara if it was up to him, but Brandon's death and Robert's rebellion lead to him marrying Catelyn. Having to kill Ashara's brother certainly did not help and may have caused her suicide.

* {{Foil}}:
** Jaime Lannister. Ned believes in doing the right thing, is honorable and is known for [[HonorBeforeReason these qualities]], but will compromise this in some instances to do the right thing -- however, he’s more discreet. Jaime very publicly gets his hands dirty all the time when he does the right thing, earning him an unsavory reputation that damages his self-esteem, even though he claims he doesn't care what anyone thinks.
** Tywin Lannister. Both of them are powerful, competent, and highly respected lords with a lot of sway in Kings Landing, but their methodologies are almost complete opposites. Eddard rules with respect and justice, Tywin rules through fear and realpolitik. Eddard leads by example, Tywin delegates. Both men value their families, but where Eddard loves all his children unconditionally, Tywin approaches paternal duties as a cold necessity. They also both place a high value on honor, but whereas for Eddard that means always doing the right thing, Tywin is more concerned with his [[SlaveToPR reputation]].
** Stannis Baratheon. Both are second sons with a strong sense of duty, both helped Robert greatly during his rebellion, both rule grim and harsh areas of Westeros. Both try to clean up the corruption in the realm. However, Stannis knows that being brutal is necessary, which enables him to survive longer. Ned is liked by Robert like a brother, while Robert doesn't get on with his actual brothers and is on especially bad terms with Stannis. Ned's accomplishments in the Rebellion are admired, Stannis doesn't get appreciated for his less glamorous role. Robert names Ned as Hand instead of Stannis, a title Ned didn't want, while Stannis resented not being considered for the position for all the help he had given Robert. Both are considered traitors by the majority of the realm but are, in reality, among the most moral and principled characters in a CrapsackWorld.
** Roose Bolton. Ned loves his bastard son Jon Snow, openly acknowledges him as his child, and raises Jon in his home castle as part of the family alongside his trueborn children, giving Jon a highborn upbringing. Roose, on the other hand, treats his bastard son Ramsay very poorly, leaves Ramsay to his peasant mother, and only gives her money to keep Ramsay ''away'' from his home castle, refusing to acknowledge him until he has no other choice. Both Ned and Roose strongly follow the old ways of the First Men. For Ned, that means prioritizing the well-being of his subjects; for Roose, that means [[DroitDuSeigneur raping lowborn women]] on the basis of archaic, outlawed traditions. They also both married a woman from the Riverlands as part of a wartime alliance and ended up happy in those marriages.
** Cregan Stark. Like his distant descendant Ned, he's a Stark who loyally came south to serve his monarch. [[spoiler:In his time at King's Landing, Cregan managed to succeed at everything that Ned failed -- namely, ensuring a smooth succession for his ruler's heir after her death, cleaning out most of the more corrupt elements of the royal court, and ultimately returning home to Winterfell with his head still attached]].
** Rhaegar Targaryen. Like Eddard, Rhaegar was almost universally loved [[spoiler: and their supporters are resorting to frankly insane measures to restore their children to their rightful place as rulers of the realm]].
** Lucerys Velaryon. Both were killed [[ForTheEvulz out of spite]] by a [[AxCrazy particularly psychotic]] [[RoyalBrat member]] of the royal family (Aemond Targaryen and Joffrey Baratheon), when leaving them alive as diplomatic leverage would have been the more pragmatic course of action, [[ThisMeansWar causing an extremely fragile political situation to degenerate into civil war]] when their family (Robb Stark and Rhaenyra Targaryen) declared their loved one's death [[ThisIsUnforgivable an unforgivable act]], destroying the plans the Hand of the King (Tywin Lannister and Otto Hightower) had to try and negotiate a peaceful resolution.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Varys [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lays into Ned]] that his HonorBeforeReason attitude makes him just as guilty as the other High Lords that Ned likes to hold in contempt. [[spoiler: Varys rants that Ned values his personal honor over the wellbeing of the common-man and didn't pay any consideration how many lives would get caught in the crossfire in a war just because Ned would prefer Stannis sitting on a throne rather than the Lannisters keeping control]]. Though given later reveals, one could argue Varys ''might'' have been projecting.

** Subverted in the fact he was clearly aware Roose Bolton was a nasty piece of work and didn't fall for his VillainWithGoodPublicity front. He also recognises fairly early on that [[TreacherousAdvisor Grand Maester Pycelle]] is [[ProfessionalButtKiss a Lannister stooge]].

** Subverted in the fact he was clearly aware Roose Bolton was a nasty piece of work and didn't fall for his VillainWithGoodPublicity front.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Varys [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lays into Ned]] that his HonorBeforeReason attitude makes him just as guilty as the other High Lords that Ned likes to hold in contempt. [[spoiler: Varys rants that Ned values his personal honor over the wellbeing of the common-man and didn't pay any consideration how many lives would get caught in the crossfire in a war just because Ned would prefer Stannis sitting on a throne rather than the Lannisters keeping control]].

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Ned dies knowing he just invited a war that would destroy his family.]]

** He feels that his sister was too "wilful" and Arya is the same and this will bring problems for the latter. Even though he indulges Arya by having her train in the Braavosi manner, he sees this as a passing fancy and hobby that he doesn't take seriously, hoping that eventually Arya will outgrow it and have an ArrangedMarriage like other noble women. This makes him [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero a product of his time and place in Westerosi customs]] not far away from the nobility's values. However, he is being very fair for his time in allowing this, and in a conversation with Arya, it's implied that AdultFear is in play - per Ned, both Lyanna and the infamously impulsive Brandon died because they were ruled by [[HotBlooded "the wolf's blood"]], implying that Lyanna did at least initially run away with Rhaegar willingly. Arya is often noted as Lyanna reborn. The conclusions aren't hard to draw.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Beheading is pretty mundane in this series, but there is a strong overtone of AdultFear in place when Ned is executed in front of his daughters.]]

* IcyGrayEyes: A Stark family trait, although only Arya and Jon inherited it from him. His gray eyes help emphasize his cold and stoic personality, and contribute to his rather unintentional DeathGlare.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: According to the app “A World of Ice and Fire”, Ned suggested the betrothal between Robert and Lyanna. Given what is stated about Lyanna’s personality and Robert’s behavior before and after being married, the marriage would have likely ended very badly.

* BadassBeard: Like most northerners, Ned sports a beard.