History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireTheGoldenCompany

* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: His mother's family sigil was a horse, his father's was a dragon, and his personal one was a horse with dragon wings.

* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: His mother's family sigil was a horse, his father's was a dragon, and his own coat of arms was a horse with dragon wings.

* HeteronormativeCrusader: Many historians believe that the reason he didn't support the Second Blackfyre Rebellion was because Daemon II was gay. Not that [[TheDitz Daemon]] had much else going for him admittedly.

* HeteronormativeCrusader: Many historians believe that the reason he didn't support the Second Blackfyre Rebellion was because Daemon II was gay.

* {{Foil}}: To the Orphans of the Greenblood, who are descendants of the Rhoynish. They both were stormed out of their native land, they staunchly refuse to give up their ancestral customs and they long to return once again. Whereas the Golden Company has a martial approach to their return, the Orphans had to adapt to the river Greenblood while avoiding assimilation... and have been at it for a millennium.

* {{Foil}}:
** Oh, boy! ... To Bloodraven, his polar opposite and arch-enemy. Both the legitimized bastards of a Targaryen King; one from a mother from an Seven-worshipping house and one from a Old Gods-worshipping house (both houses which have been at each other's throats for what could be millennia); one a master warrior while the other a master longbowman, spy, strategist and given to wars of attrition; one loyal to their Targaryen brother king, while the other loyal to the Blackfyre rebel; one preferred by the woman that they both loved while the other one is scorned; one getting increasingly more powerful while the other slowly withers away; [[spoiler:one is still alive while the other has been long deceased]]. In every case, Bittersteel had a disadvantage to Bloodraven.
** You can compare him to Lord Beric, the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners. Both of them suffered defeats and had to rally TheRemnant of their former supporters to a new cause. Bittersteel created the Golden Company, a mercenary outfit in Essos of the highest calibre founded with the hope of eventually returning to Westeros, claim vengeance and reclaim lost lands. Beric created the Brotherhood, an outlaw organization that actually carries out the King's Justice (bringing war criminals and rapists to justice, providing relief and care to the smallfolk) with all its members forsaking their lands, titles and stations so as to serve as LaResistance in the Riverlands until justice is done.
** To Ser Criston Cole of the Kingsguard. They took part in instigating the two greatest civil wars the Targaryen Kings had to suffer and their lives ended in a rather pathetic manner.
*** During the same period, to Prince Aemond Targaryen, who served as co-Dragon with Ser Criston to Aegon II. Both angry people and lifetime jerks, Aemond differed from Bittersteel in the fact that he did not fight out of pretensions or with a set goal, but rather to wreak havoc; he even sat on the Iron Throne himself but surrendered to Aegon without any qualms.

!Golden Company
-->''"Our word is good as gold."''
---> --'''Motto of the Golden Company'''

!!In General

-->''"You will pardon me if I do not rise. Our march was wearisome, and my toes are prone to blisters. It is a curse."''

!!Griff
!!![[spoiler:Lord Jon Connington]]

!!Haldon
!!!The Halfmaester

-->''"A book can be as dangerous as a sword in the right hands."''

!!Septa Lemore

-->''"The Mother and the Father made us in their image, Hugor. We should glory in our bodies, for they are the work of gods."''

* TheChick: By design.

* MysteriousPast: Tyrion notes she does not act like a Septa, and that she has stretch marks on her stomach that indicate she had a child at some point. This has led to EpilepticTrees by fans that she might be a previously mentioned historical character [[spoiler:such as a NotQuiteDead Ashara Dayne. Even though Ashara Dayne had the classic lilac eyes of Daynes. Another (and more likely) candidate is that she's the mother of Tyene Sand, who was a septa. An even more remote, off-the-wall possibility is that she might be Lyanna Stark herself.]]
* NaughtyNuns: Bathes naked in the river every morning and isn't put out in the slightest by the lustful interest of a DepravedDwarf.

!!Ser Rolly Duckfield
!!!Duck

!!Lysono Maar
-->''"In cyvasse, it is true, the dragon is mightier than the elephant. On the battlefield, give me elephants I can see and touch and send against my foes, not dragons made of words and wishes."''

!!Ser Franklyn Flowers
!!!The Bastard of Cider Hall, the Brown Apple

-->''"So long as I can kill some Fossoways I'm for it."''

!!Tristan Rivers

!!Mark Mandrake

!!Balaq
!!!Black Balaq

!! John Mudd
!!! Young John Mudd

-->''"He died defeated and alone. What is he smiling for?"''

* {{Determinator}}: Half-Targaryen, half-Bracken, all-legitimized-bastard-WarriorPrince and, therefore, thrice stubborn. Came back hitting after every licking, and even had his skull plated and preserved to keep trying to be vindicated via the Golden Company post-mortem. Deconstructed, though: this well-known trait was actively used [[GradualGrinder against him]]. Family fights between stubborn bastards who don't know how to quit = nobody fully gets what they want. And ''everybody'' suffers.

* AmbiguousAllegiance: [[spoiler:To Aegon Targaryen in ''ADWD'' and what it implies concerning his status; considering the fact that they spent a great deal of time trying to undermine the Targaryens to crown the Blackfyres in their stead casts a large enough shadow of a doubt as of the legitimacy of Aegon himself. Their allegiance to him can't help but carry strong overtones of him actually being a Blackfyre brand of Dragon in disguise.]]

* BadassBeard: He has a shaggy beard.

%%* BadassBeard: How he's depicted according to WordOfGod.

* BadassBeard: How he's depicted according to WordOfGod.

* IncestIsRelative: His wife, Calla, was also his niece. [[OldFlame Shiera]] was his half-sister. If you ever doubted his Targaryen blood, let it end now.

* OurFounder: See the oath of the Golden Company.

* PosthumousCharacter: In the main series.

* {{Determinator}}: Half-Targaryen, remember? Came back hitting after every licking, and even had his skull plated and preserved to keep trying to be vindicated via the Golden Company post-mortem. Deconstructed, though: this well-known trait was actively used [[GradualGrinder against him]]. Family fights between stubborn bastards who don't know how to quit = nobody fully gets what they want. And ''everybody'' suffers.

* BadassArmy: Not only due to their discipline and experience, but because they're a proper "combined arms" company -- with infantry, archers, knights, engineers, and mounted elements all trained to fight as a single unit -- and, have training to work with navy when available (see their various campaigns with pirates/ Ironborn elements). This avoids the CripplingOverSpecialization of other [[BadassArmy Badass Armies]] like the Unsullied or a [[ProudWarriorRace Dothraki]] ''[[TheHorde khalasar]]''.

* BlingOfWar: The members of the company, particularly the officers, keep their worldly wealth upon their person: jeweled swords, inlaid armour, heavy torcs, and fine silks. Officers also wear golden arm rings, one for each year of service. By Westerosi standards, this is exceptionally blingy for battle, although useful in ID-ing veterans either in combat or afterwards: wearing your potential ransom also speeds things up and ensures either a quick death for looting purposes or good treatment as a prisoner. By Essossi standards, the company aesthetic leans more towards "tastefully restrained and downright practical for all occasions". Which says an awful lot about Essos.

* WomanInWhite: Naughty Septa she may be, but she still wears the white of one not devoted to the Stranger.

* BlingOfWar: The members of the company, particularly the officers, keep their worldly wealth upon their person: jeweled swords, inlaid armour, heavy torcs, and fine silks. Officers also wear golden arm rings, one for each year of service. By Westerosi standards, this is exceptionally blingy for battle, although useful in ID-ing veterans up close in battle. By Essossi standards, it leans more towards "tastefully restrained and downright practical for all occasions". Which says a lot about Essos.

* BlingOfWar: The members of the company, particularly the officers, keep their worldly wealth upon their person: jeweled swords, inlaid armour, heavy torcs, and fine silks. Officers also wear golden arm rings, one for each year of service.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Though it's compromised of exiles from different wars in Westerosi history, most of the early Golden Company was composed of people that Bloodraven forced to flee. The more effective Bloodraven became in his office, [[CreateYourOwnVillain the more exiled lords and knights joined the ranks of Bittersteel's sellsword company]], earning the Targaryens and Westeros five decades of wars.

* DirtyCoward: Griff is astounded that he was elected to be Captain-General of the company, being reluctant to take any risks and engage in battle. However, that may just be his own desire for immediate action overruling Harry's more cautious nature.

* DamnedByFaintPraise: Griff has faint praise for him, and fears that Young Griff will soon have seven such men as his [[spoiler:Kingsguard]], "each more blindingly adequate than the last."

* ConsummateProfessional: Their professionalism in both (relatively) ethical business practice and organisational structure basically makes them ''the'' consummate professionals of the whole sellsword business model. Successful ones, too: they're not lacking in resources which are constantly funneled into technical upgrades, training, and tweaks, not just overt bling. They are the professional army by which others on two continents (be they standing, conscripted, or mercenary) are measured. And, those others are often found wanting.

[[folder: Harry Strickland]]

[[folder: Griff]]

[[folder: Haldon]]

[[folder: Septa Lemore]]

[[folder: Ser Rolly Duckfield]]

[[folder: Lysono Maar]]

[[folder: Ser Franklyn Flowers]]

[[folder: Tristan Rivers]]

[[folder: The Peake Brothers]]

[[folder: Marq Mandrake]]

[[folder: Balaq]]

[[folder: John Mudd]]

[[folder: Ser Aegor Rivers]]

[[folder: Myles Toyne]]

* BadassArmy: Not only due to their discipline and experience, but because they're a proper "combined arms" company -- with infantry, archers, knights, engineers, and mounted elements all trained to fight as a single unit. This avoids the CripplingOverSpecialization of other [[BadassArmy Badass Armies]] like the Unsullied or a [[ProudWarriorRace Dothraki]] ''[[TheHorde khalasar]]''.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: So, he (a legitimized, exiled Targaryen prince... even without the surname, lest we forget) and Calla Blackfyre (exiled, rebel princess: ditto) were married decades before he died. Were they happy? Any kids? Grandkids? Boys? Dunno: could be important, though... [[spoiler: If anybody in Westeros wants to doubt Aegon's identity and/or legitimacy, the mere ''possibility'' of his coming from Bittersteel's line of maybe-Blackfyres is certainly a specific place they can point to to cast aspersions from, particularly as he's got the Golden Company behind him.]]