History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireTheFaithOfTheSeven

* MamaBear: Explicitly stated as one of the attributes of the Mother. It is said that she can be as fierce as the Warrior when her children are in danger.

* MamaBear: Explicitly stated as one of the attributes of the Mother.

* LightIsGood: She is said to carry a lantern in one hand. Worshippers who pray to the Crone for wisdom ask her to guide them along the right path with her holy light.

* TheBlacksmith: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Smith]]. He's also the god of workers and artisans in general. One Septon mentions that he has a separate aspect for each craft when he offers thanks to the Cobbler.

* RefusalOfTheCall: Jaehaerys briefly considers appointing him the High Septon's successor at one point. Barth is savvy enough to know that this is a bad decision, and spends half the night saying as much to the king.

* WorkingClassHero: The son of a blacksmith who became a librarian at the Red Keep, his brilliance was recognized by Jaehaerys, his lifelong friend.

* LeaveYourQuestTest: Tries to convince Brienne to give up her quest to find Sansa Stark and return to her father in Tarth.

* TheHeart: This faith is more sympathetic compared to the others, with repentance and forgiveness being a large part of its doctrine. The Mother is also TheHeart of the Faith's pantheon, being depicted as a goddess of kindness and mercy in addition to childbirth and family; however, they are no strangers to their own brutalities. Give them arms again and... yikes.

** Though they are supposed to be impartial, [[spoiler:the Faith sided with Robert Baratheon during the Battle of the Bells, named as such because the septons of the Stoney Sept rang the bells to alert the rebels of the presence of Targaryen forces under the command of Jon Connington. The Targaryen loss at this battle was the turning point of the war.]]

** The highest level of the Faith of the Seven is this more often than not. The first High Septon in the novels was blatantly in the pocket of the Lannisters, immensely overweight and went out bedecked in rich clothing and jewels to ride through a city that was on the verge of starvation. The angry smallfolk rioted and ripped the man to pieces. The next High Septon was not corrupt beyond being in the pocket of the corrupt nobility, though Cersei had him killed because she believed he was under Tyrion's thumb. This is averted with the next man chosen due to public pressure, who is a lowborn reformer who is quite the ascetic KnightTemplar, utterly devoted to the ideals of the Faith, and proves impossible to sway, bribe or control.

** The main body of the Faith of the Seven is this more often than not. The first High Septon in the novels was blatantly in the pocket of the Lannisters, immensely overweight and went out bedecked in rich clothing and jewels to ride through a city that was on the verge of starvation. The angry smallfolk rioted and ripped the man to pieces. The next High Septon was not corrupt beyond being in the pocket of the corrupt nobility, though Cersei had him killed because she believed he was under Tyrion's thumb. This is averted with the next man chosen due to public pressure, who is a lowborn reformer who is quite the ascetic KnightTemplar, utterly devoted to the ideals of the Faith, and proves impossible to sway, bribe or control.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The High Sparrow is a hardcore, Seven-loving fundamentalist who doesn't like other religions or people who follow them, judging by how he calls R'hllor a "red demon." But even he is disgusted by the execution of Ned Stark, a Northener who worshiped the old gods, on the steps of Baelor's Sept.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Subverted. Though he went from a wandering holy man to toppling the Lannister-controlled regime [[note]]succeeding where Robb Stark and the Baratheon brothers had failed[[/note]], he's not a villain in the books.

* GoodIsNotDumb: 'Good' may be only by the loose interpretation common to Westeros, but he is a WellIntentionedExtremist and most ''definitely'' not stupid. Cersei pays horribly for underestimating him and allowing his power base to grow.

* EveryoneHatesHades: Generally the case with the Stranger, as he's seen as an analog to TheGrimReaper in most cases.

* TwoFaced: Some of the descriptions of the iconography of the Stranger show that it is sometimes portrayed this way.

* AmbiguousGender: The Stranger, in contrast to how the other six gods are portrayed as three men and three women. This is also likely meant to highlight how eerily mysterious the Stranger is.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Faith of the Seven strongly resembles medieval Catholic Christianity. Politically they resemble the Avignon Papacy, since as a Church they are entirely dependent on the Crown and are appointed de facto by the Iron Throne, which resembles that infamous period of Church corruption where the French Crown moved the Papacy to France from the Vatican. It could also mirror Orthodox churches (as they are much the same theologically with Catholicism) that were historically controlled by the state in many cases, along with the Anglicans. On a more literal note, the Faith uses crystals in its ceremonies and its headgear (the High Septon traditionally wore a crystal crown) on account of the fact that crystals serve as a prism through which the seven colours of the rainbow are formed.

!! Septas Unella, Moelle, and Scolera

[[folder:Tropes related to The Faith of the Seven]]
[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naerys.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:295:'''Top''': [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseTargaryenAncestors Queen Naerys Targaryen]] holding the holy book ''The Seven Pointed Star''; '''bottom''': a Bearded Priest of Norvos sporting a tattoo of the Double-Edged Axe symbol of his religion, which may share a common origin to the Faith]]

* AmbiguousGender: The Stranger, in contrast to how the other six gods are portrayed as three men and three women. This is also likely meant to highlight how eerily mysterious the Stranger is.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Brown for Begging Brothers and Gray for Silent Sisters. Some septas wear white and blue though it's unknown what the colors mean, and they wear a belt-like accessory made of seven threads in the seven colors of the rainbow.
* CoolCrown: The High Septon wears a crown of crystals and spun gold that's nearly a foot tall. However, when the High Sparrow comes into power, he sells it along with the Most Devout's other finery to buy food for the poor.
* CorruptChurch: Averted and played straight on different occasions.
** The main body of the Faith of the Seven is this more often than not. The first High Septon in the novels was blatantly in the pocket of the Lannisters, immensely overweight and went out bedecked in rich clothing and jewels to ride through a city that was on the verge of starvation. The angry smallfolk rioted and ripped the man to pieces. The next High Septon was not corrupt beyond being in the pocket of the corrupt nobility, though Cersei had him killed because she believed he was under Tyrion's thumb. This is averted with the next man chosen due to public pressure, who is a lowborn reformer who is quite the ascetic KnightTemplar, utterly devoted to the ideals of the Faith, and proves impossible to sway, bribe or control.
** Though they are supposed to be impartial, [[spoiler:the Faith sided with Robert Baratheon during the Battle of the Bells, named as such because the septons of the Stoney Sept rang the bells to alert the rebels of the presence of Targaryen forces under the command of Jon Connington. The Targaryen loss at this battle was the turning point of the war.]]
** The Faith was also partial against the Targaryen Kings, as their existence undermined their authority; the Faith gave divine right to Westeros to the Andals and its conquest was an altogether religious pursuit, and indeed ''the whole reason the Andals left Essos''. The incredible power of the invading Valyrian Dragonlords skewed the vision that the Faith had for its people and forced them to bend the knee to the Targaryens for fear of extermination. As such, the Faith was always at odds with the Targaryens and came to clash in the early dynasty against kings Aenys I and Maegor I; [[spoiler:the Faith also might have had a hand in the extermination of the dragons during the Dance of the Dragons civil war, as there were serious religious overtones to the manner on which the dragons were killed in the Storming of the Dragonpit at King's Landing]].
* CrystalDragonJesus: The Faith of the Seven strongly resembles medieval Catholic Christianity. Politically they resemble the Avignon Papacy, since as a Church they are entirely dependent on the Crown and are appointed de facto by the Iron Throne, which resembles that infamous period of Church corruption where the French Crown moved the Papacy to France from the Vatican. It could also mirror Orthodox churches (as they are much the same theologically with Catholicism) that were historically controlled by the state in many cases, along with the Anglicans. On a more literal note, the Faith uses crystals in its ceremonies and its headgear (the High Septon traditionally wore a crystal crown) on account of the fact that crystals serve as a prism through which the seven colours of the rainbow are formed.

* EveryoneHasStandards: PaedophilePriest Septon Utt is an ''ex''-Septon for this very reason. [[spoiler: The Faith are also outraged by the execution of Ned Stark on the steps of the Sept of Baelor, considering it [[ThisIsUnforgivable an outrageous and unforgivable act of sacrilege]] that profaned holy ground with blood. Plenty of the Faith's more vocal membership are also disgusted by the Red Wedding, despite most of the massacre's victims being worshippers of the Old Gods, asserting that the Red Wedding's perpetrators are [[ThisIsUnforgivable damned]] in the eyes of the gods for such an outrageous violation of SacredHospitality]].

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Faith closely mirrors the Medieval/Renaissance expansion of Catholicism, replacing a Trinity with Seven aspects of one god.

* TheHeart: This faith is more sympathetic compared to the others, with repentance and forgiveness being a large part of its doctrine. The Mother is also TheHeart of the Faith's pantheon, being depicted as a goddess of kindness and mercy in addition to childbirth and family; however, they are no strangers to their own brutalities. Give them arms again and... yikes.
* HighPriest: The Faith is lead by the High Septon, who is similar to the Pope in Roman Catholicism, and a council called the Most Devout (similar to the College of Cardinals), who choose new High Septons.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: The Maiden is meant to embody the ideal noble girl. During the Maiden Day, only virgin women may enter a sept for the respective celebration.
%%* TheIngenue: The Maiden.
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Warrior is meant to embody the ideals of knighthood and is prayed to for courage and success in battle.
* LastLousyPoint:
** The Faith could not take a foothold in the North or the Stormlands due to the respective and devastating war losses of the Andal warlords Argos Sevenstar and Drox the Corpsemaker; they also were unable to establish parishes in the Iron Islands due to the poignancy of the Drowned God's religion (which turned many Andals away from the Faith of the Seven). Though they eventually dominated the dogma in the South, the North and the Iron Islands remained faithful to their own gods.
** Though they became the foremost religion in Westeros, they were unable to create a theocracy like the one in Norvos.
** The Targaryen Kings of Valyrian origin undermined the Andals' self-proclaimed divine right to the land of Westeros, which is an aspect promoted by the Faith and the entire reason the Andals left Essos; predictably, the Targaryens and the Faith did not always see eye-to-eye.

* MaidenMotherAndCrone: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Maiden, the Mother and the Crone]], the three female aspects of god.
* MamaBear: Explicitly stated as one of the attributes of the Mother.
* MasculineFeminineAndrogyneTrio: The Faith of the Seven is comprised of three masculine figures (the Warrior, the Father, and the Smith), three feminine figures (the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone), and the Stranger, a mysterious figure who is neither male or female and sometimes depicted as nonhuman. This androgyny is because they represent death and the unknown.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Unlike all the other major religions, no aspect of the Seven has been shown to be supernatural as of yet. There is only one incident that is questionable, where Davos Seaworth hears the voice of the Mother while stuck on a rock in Blackwater Bay after Stannis' abortive attempt to take King's Landing. Of course, he's delirious from thirst and exposure at the time...
** There is a also a small, similar case with Catelyn Stark when she's praying at a local sept during her time serving as an envoy to Renly. As she looks at the depictions of each of the Seven, she sees the faces of people she knows in each, including one or two taking roles that she has no reason to know would be associated with those people, most notably seeing Arya's face in the statue of the Warrior. Since Cat had no knowledge of Ned getting Arya fencing lessons or Jon giving her Needle, there was no reason to associate the two, and she's surprised when she sees it, so perhaps it was meant to be a minor divine vision.
** Maester Pylos at one point mentions a Septon Murmison whose "prayers worked miracles", but he made a terrible Hand of the King.
** Another priest, Septon Barth, was a commoner and son of a blacksmith who served as Hand of the King to Jaehaerys I for forty years and was a serious scholar of dragon lore and suspicious knowledge, to the point that King Baelor I ordered many of his writings burnt.
** The Faith believes the Andals learned metalworking from the Smith himself. They actually learned it from the Rhoynar people.
** The High Septon at the time of the War of Conquest sequestered himself in the Starry Sept to determine the course that Oldtown would take in the eve of Aegon Targaryen's eventual coming. He determined through prophecy that Oldtown must never raise in arms against the Targaryens, lest the city would be destroyed. As such, the Hightowers bent the knee to Aegon. [[spoiler:Due to the ambiguity of the prophecy, the Hightowers never rose against any Targaryen king again, nor did they participate in Robert's Rebellion. They were even hesitant in participating in any war since the ruin that the Dance of the Dragons brought to them.]]
* MissionFromGod: The Andal invasion of Westeros, during which Andal warriors carved the Seven-pointed star upon their chests, believing it was their divine destiny to found kingdoms in Westeros.
* MeaningfulName: "Sept", the root word used to describe several aspects of the Faith's organization (sept, septon, septa, septries), is the French word for seven.
* NonindicativeName: The god of the Faith are frequently referred to as "the New Gods", despite having been the dominant religion for millennia. It's only in relation to the Old Gods of the North, who have been there even longer.
* NoNameGiven: All of the High Septons give up their names on assuming office, and are thus referred to only by their title formally. Nicknames are used to distinguish them informally, such as "the fat one".
* NunsAreSpooky: The Silent Sisters are sworn to chastity and silence, are symbolically wed to the god of Death, and go around taking care of the remains of the dead. It's seen as a noble and respectable calling... but people stay well out of their way whenever possible and go around spreading rumors and gossip about them such as "their woman parts are cold".
* ThePatriarch: The Father is the leader of their pantheon.
* PhysicalGod: The Faith believes the Seven appeared in human form in Andalos, in Essos, which inspired the Andals to invade Westeros. It may be a darker version of the Christ story.
* ProperLady: The Mother is pretty much the God of this trope.
* RainbowMotif: They tend to put rainbows on things because a rainbow has seven colors, they also use crystals in their ceremonies because light filtered through a crystal prism refracts to form the seven colors.
* RuleOfSeven: Since they have seven gods, ''everything'' related to them comes in sevens and seven is considered an auspicious number overall.

* SacredHospitality: Held in great esteem by the Seven. The High Septons, old and new, were appalled by the Red Wedding and the serious breach of tradition, especially remarkable since the victims of that massacre, the Starks, were renowned worshipers of the Old Gods, a competing religious tradition.
* SigilSpam: The seven-pointed star of the Faith is everywhere.

* TarotMotifs: A few, which is not all that surprising, given the themes in both Medieval Catholicism and the tarot.
** A stylized star within a circle? Are we talking the Faith's symbol, or the suit of Penticles of many a Rider-Waite-Smith cloned deck?
** The Crone is usually depicted very much like a female version of The Hermit major arcanum from most tarot decks, lantern included. Which, incidentally, makes her roughly the same approximate match for Old Father Time and the virtue of Prudence, as well.
** You don't have to squint much to see the Mother as The Empress and the Father as the Emperor.
** The Star (Hope) in a lot of classic decks has more than a passing resemblance to the Maiden's depictions. Well, or the Sun. It depends on the deck.
** No prizes for guessing who looks like Death... And, incidentally, seems to be linked to the unknown, portals and change, as well.
** The Smith is not as easy to link, but the Magician is a probable bet. Or, the King of Wands.
** The Warrior changes, depending on who views him in-world and even when they do: he probably didn't start out as the knight most view him as. Which fits the tarot: there's not a single "Warrior" card, but several. The Chariot is for generals, warlords, conquerors and those who uphold that might makes right with pride. The Knights of the suits reflect a lot of fighters. Cups for those who fight through conviction, emotion and faith, both [[KnightInShiningArmor upstanding]] and... [[BloodKnight not]] -- what the Faith Militant should be. Coins for those who fight for material gain, information exchange and knowledge: both the [[PrivateMilitaryContractors upsides]] and the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder down ones]]. Wands for those for whom defending themselves and others is a job of work that doesn't necessarily pay off except through hard graft: normal Janes and Joes, hedgeknights and the Poor Fellows. Swords for those who fight for truth, justice and the rule of law: [[KnightTemplar even if they go overboard]]. Trial by combat is a major theme linked to the Warrior and integral to the Faith, after all.
* ThousandYearReign: The only thing most closely resembling a united monarchy in Westeros for a thousand years until the Targaryens. Though even then, many Kings and rulers struggled against their power. The Targaryens managed to make them DemotedToDragon and even shifted their headquarters from Oldtown to King's Landing.
* TheThreeFacesOfAdam: Counterparts to the MaidenMotherAndCrone, The Warrior is The Hunter, The Father is The Lord, and The Smith is The Prophet. The connection isn't quite as exact as the female members, however, and the Father and Smith each have aspects of both The Lord and The Prophet.
* TongueTrauma: Subverted by the Silent Sisters. It is believed by many that it is custom for their tongues to be cut out but Septon Meribald reveals that this is a mere rumor. In truth, they simply take on a vow of silence. Nevertheless, rumors of the mutilation persist, specially when women are forced to join the order.

* WarGod: The Warrior, though given the time period he's depicted as more of a KnightInShiningArmour than most examples of the trope.

* TheFundamentalist: Mixed with a bit of racism toward the north. He describes the northern supporters of Rhaenyra as "shaggy savages", and claims (without proof or corroboration) that Prince Jacaerys spent his time at Winterfell mainly trying to get Cregan Stark to change faiths.

* PutOnABus: After Unwin Peake took over as Hand of the King, Eustace was dismissed from the Red Keep in favour of Septon Bernard, leaving King's Landing to take up residence at Stoney Sept.

A septon who served at King's Landing during the regency of Jaehaerys I Targaryen.

* FatBastard: Surprisingly fat for a supposed pious man, to the extent he left King's Landing on a palanquin. Compare that to his immediate replacement, Barth, who legend says passed him on entering the city on nothing but a humble donkey.

* YouAreFat: On the receiving end from the normally pretty diplomatic Jaehaerys, who directly pointed out his rotundity. Likewise, when Jae became king, and gave Mattheus the boot, one of his court snarked they should probably get three other Septons in to replace him, "to balance the scales".

* ThisCannotBe: Alfyn's probably the most shocked out of anyone in Westeros when he learns that he's been chosen as High Septon.

-->'''Barth''': It has been three days since the princess perished, and I have not slept. I do not know that I shall ever sleep again. The Mother is merciful, I have always believed, and the Father Above judges each man justly...but there was no mercy and no justice in what befell our poor princess. How could the gods be so blind or so uncaring as to permit such horror? Or is it possible that there are other deities in this universe, monstrous evil gods such as the priests of Red R'hllor preach against, against whose malice the kings of men and the gods of men are naught but flies?

* {{Foil}}: To his eventual successor, Septon Barth. Both of them were men of the Faith who would serve as the second-in-command to the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. One of them would be celebrated as among the best to have ever served as Hand. [[spoiler:The other is Murmison.]]

* {{Foil}}: To Archmaester Marwyn ''the Mage''. They are both interested in the study of magic and they are shut down by their peers. They are eccentrics within their respective orders and are greatly influential people behind closed doors much in spite of their peers' derision.

* {{Foil}}: To the first High Septon in the story, who was known to enjoy the comforts of his office, wearing fine robes and (judging by how fat he was in a time of famine) eating rich meals. ''AFFC'' also deliberately contrasts his desire to aid the poor with Cersei's disgust for them.
** Also to Septon Meribald. Both were humble, truly pious men who wandered from village to village preaching in the lowest order of the Faith, but Meribald is a warm, friendly and kindhearted man who is an ex-soldier and reformed himself from a past as a DirtyOldMonk, while the High Septon is a cold, hard, and unrelenting man and a misogynist to boot. It is difficult to imagine the High Septon having the empathy and human insights of Meribald, and impossible to imagine Meribald undertaking the KnightTemplar actions of the High Septon.

* {{Foil}}:
** In contrast to Brienne who chose to be a knight and still has her romantic idealism, he never chose the role.
** Like Randyll Tarly, he tries to convince Brienne to stop trying to find Sansa and go home to Tarth. But while Tarly does so [[StayInTheKitchen because of his disdain for Brienne being a knight]], the Elder Brother is sincerely concerned for her well-being, especially with the current state of war-torn Westeros.
--->'''Elder Brother:''' You have a home, which is more than many can say in these dark days. You have a noble father who must surely love you. Consider his grief if you should never return. Perhaps they will bring your sword and shield to him, after you have fallen. Perhaps he will even hang them in his hall and look on them with pride...but if you were to ask him, I know he would tell you that he would sooner have a living daughter than a shattered shield.

* SelectiveObliviousness: He clearly doesn’t believe Cersei when she says the rumors of her incestuous relationship with Jaime are lies, but accepts her claim that her children are Robert’s, even though they’re very obviously not. He likely does this because declaring Tommen illegitimate would mean he’d have to declare Stannis, a R’hllor worshipper willing to burn statues of the Seven, the realm’s rightful king.


SelectiveObliviousness: He clearly doesn’t believe Cersei when she says the rumors of her incestuous relationship with Jaime are lies, but accepts her claim that her children are Robert’s, even though they’re very obviously not. He likely does this because declaring Tommen illegitimate would mean he’d have to declare Stannis, a R’hllor worshipper willing to burn statues of the Seven, the realm’s rightful king.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The High Sparrow is a hardcore fundamentalist who doesn't like other religions (judging by how he calls R'hllor a "red demon"), but [[spoiler:even he is appalled by the execution of Ned Stark, a Northener who worshiped the old gods, on the steps of Baelor's Sept]].