History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireTheKingsguard

* PunchClockVillain: Often, under terrible kings.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Every single one of them has to struggle with this at some point. Although... "Good" might be stretching it in this series: more like "Lawful Or Kitchen Sink, Orange-Violent".

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: While they're supposed to be KnightsInShiningArmour, they are often forced to be [[PunchClockVillain glorified thugs]] when serving under bad kings, and even someofthe shiniest ones have broken a few of their vows with the very best of intentions.

* IGaveMyWord: Some are better at keeping it (either the letter or the spirit) than others. All hit problems related to it at some point.

* JustFollowingOrders: A problem and conflict for all Kingsguard with a shred of conscience.

* BadassCrew: Ideally, the members of the Kingsguard are the ''absolute best'' knights in all of Westeros, both martially and morally. In practice, this hasn't been true nearly as often as many kings wished it were.

* ClosestThingWeGot: WordOfGod once explained that while the Kingsguard is supposed to be made up of the greatest knights in Westeros, the greatest knights rarely jump at the chance to take the strict vows that come with the white cloak, especially if they come from nobility. This means that the majority of Kingsguard members are whatever above average fighters are willing to take the oath rather than the greatest heroes of the realm.[[invoked]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: These men are supposed to embody the KnightInShiningArmor ideals, but only occasionally truly manage to do that. The rest of the time, they are often forced to be [[PunchClockVillain glorified thugs]] when serving under less than noble kings, and even the shiniest ones have broken a few of their vows with the very best of intentions.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Though they haven't fallen quite as hard as [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the modern Night's Watch]] in the eyes of Westeros, the Kingsguard went from "respected brotherhood of unfailingly brave, loyal KnightsInShiningArmor" to "some guys who can fight adequately on a good day, do whatever their king says without question, and not much else". Robert's/Joffrey's Kingsguard includes cowardly brutes, girl-beaters and sellswords who work only for the highest bidder.

An institution from Westeros, the Kingsguard exists to guard the king and other members of the royal family, as well as anyone else close enough to the king for him to extend them their protection. They were founded by Aegon the Conqueror at the insistence of Queen Visenya, who modeled their vows on those of the Night's Watch, and consist of seven knights who swear themselves to bachelorhood, celibacy and duty, serve for life, and wear pure white when on duty. Members of the Kingsguard, by virtue of ''being'' members, are considered the ''de facto'' finest knights in the realm, and all of them are at least {{Master Swordsm|an}}en; whether they are [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights In Shining Armor]] is another question. Although started by the Targaryen dynasty, it has since become seen as an essential part of Westerosi culture, and the rebel Baratheon dynasty retained it after deposing the Targaryens; likewise, several rival claimants for the Iron Throne, most notably Renly Baratheon and Daenerys Targaryen, have established their own versions of the Kingsguard as a way of building legitimacy.

An institution from Westeros, the Kingsguard exists to guard the king and other members of the royal family, as well as anyone else close enough to the king. They were founded by Aegon the Conqueror at the insistence of Queen Visenya, who modeled their vows on those of the Night's Watch, and consist of seven knights who swear themselves to bachelorhood, celibacy and duty, serve for life, and wear pure white when on duty. Members of the Kingsguard, by virtue of ''being'' members, are considered the ''de facto'' finest knights in the realm, and all of them are at least {{Master Swordsm|an}}en; whether they are [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights In Shining Armor]] is another question. Although started by the Targaryen dynasty, it has since become seen as an essential part of Westerosi culture, and the rebel Baratheon dynasty retained it after deposing the Targaryens; likewise, several rival claimants for the Iron Throne, most notably Renly Baratheon and Daenerys Targaryen, have established their own versions of the Kingsguard as a way of building legitimacy.

An institution from Westeros, the Kingsguard exists to guard the king, and anyone close to him. They were founded by Aegon the Conqueror (at Queen Visenya's insistence) and consists of seven knights who swear themselves to bachelorhood, celibacy and duty, serve for life, and wear pure white when on-duty. Members of the Kingsguard, by virtue of ''being'' members, are considered the ''de facto'' finest knights in the realm, and all of them are at least {{Master Swordsm|an}}en; whether they are [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights In Shining Armor]] is another question. Although started by the Targaryen dynasty, it has since become seen as an essential part of Westerosi culture, and the rebel Baratheon dynasty retained it after deposing the Targaryens; Likewise, several rival claimants for the Iron Throne, most notably Renly Baratheon and Daenerys Targaryen, have established their own versions of the Kingsguard as a way of building legitimacy.

* ClosestThingWeGot: WordOfGod once explained that while the Kingsguard is supposed to be made up of the greatest knights in Westeros, the greatest knights rarely jump at the chance to take the strict vows that come with the white cloak, especially if they come from nobility. This means that the majority of Kingsguard members are whatever above average fighters that are willing to take the oath rather than the greatest heroes of the realm.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: These men are supposed to embody the KnightInShiningArmor ideals, but only rarely truly manage to do that. The rest of the time, they are often forced to be [[PunchClockVillain glorified thugs]], and even the shiniest ones have broken a few of their vows with the very best of intentions.

** Likewise, the Iron Islands aren't represented in the Kingsguard mostly because of their disdain of the mainland's customs and their own secessionist ideals. (Like the north, they also have no truck with knighthood for religious reasons, following the Drowned God instead of the Seven--and then of course knights, who are first and foremost mounted warriors, aren't very much use on raiding longships.)

* {{Foil}}:
** With the Brotherhood of the Night's Watch. Members of both forswear lands, titles and family, and consider themselves to be brothers in a family. Their respective sigils are pure white and pure black. One wears white and are protecting the King and located at the center; the other wears black and defends an outpost far away from the capital, from threats that are distant and invisible. As per ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', Queen Visenya modeled their oaths and commitment on the Night's Watch. Whereas the Kingsguard defends a single individual/office/institution, the Night's Watch are sworn to defend the Realms of Men. This is quite by Martin's design; he wanted the men in black to be criminal scum but doing noble work, while the knights in shining white armor were, while still knights, complicit if not participating in a brutal dictatorship. Possibly continuing the color theming, the Maesters of the Citadel are another sworn brotherhood who give up lands, titles, and family (at least in theory), and serve not a specific family but are assigned to a specific ''castle''. They dress in ''grey''.
** Also, to the City Watch in King's Landing. Whereas the Kingsguard is the Secret Service, the City Watch would be the police/traffic wardens. The City Watch is a lower office than the Kingsguard, but they have strength in numbers where the Kingsguard don't. Members of both are also identified by the distinctively-colored cloaks they wear: White for the Kingsguard, gold for the City Watch. During the reigns of Kings Robert and Joffrey, the Kingsguard slowly became more susceptible to the political rifts and corruption that characterize the City Watch.

* {{Foil}}: Arys and Samwell Tarly are the only POV characters from the Reach. They both joined groups that require lifetime service and both broke their oath of celibacy.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Though they haven't fallen quite as hard as [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the modern Night's Watch]] in the eyes of Westeros, the Kingsguard went from "respected brotherhood of unfailingly brave, loyal KnightsInShiningArmor" to "some guys who can fight adequately on a good day, do whatever their king says without question, and nothing else". Robert's/Joffrey's Kingsguard includes cowardly brutes, girl-beaters and sellswords who work only for the highest bidder.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Though they haven't fallen quite as hard as [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the modern Night's Watch]] in the eyes of Westeros, the Kingsguard went from "respected brotherhood of unfailingly brave, loyal KnightsInShiningArmor" to "guys who can fight adequately, will do whatever their king says without question, and nothing else". Robert's/Joffrey's Kingsguard includes cowardly brutes, girl-beaters and sellswords who work only for the highest bidder.

* TheBusCameBack: When some of the focus shifts to Dorne in a ''A Feast for Crows'', Arys becomes a POV character and plays a key role in the events that occur there.

** To Myrcella Baratheon, whom he is charged to protect while she is in Dorne. Its a purely platonic example since Arys views her as a surrogate daughter and [[spoiler:throws his life to protect her]].

* PutOnABus: When sent to Dorne to guard Myrcella in ''A Clash of Kings''.
* ReplacementGoldfish: He was named to the Kingsguard to replace an as-yet unidentified predecessor.

* BeardOfEvil: Has a grey beard.

* UnwittingPawn: One of many to Cersei.

* FailureKnight: To Renly.

-->'''Cersei Lannister''': Do we have Ser Loras to thank for this triumph?
-->'''Aurane Waters''': Some will say so, Your Grace.
-->'''Cersei''': Some? Not you?
-->'''Aurane''': I never saw a braver knight, but he turned what could have been a bloodless victory into a slaughter. A thousand men are dead, or near enough to make no matter.

* PaperThinDisguise: Heavily played with. The disguise in question is an ''unbelievably'' thick suit of armour, for starters. It's heavier than even [[spoiler:the now-deceased]] Gregor Clegane's infamously cumbersome rig [[spoiler:was]]... [[spoiler:on a man just as massive. Who doesn't talk. Or remove his helmet. Ever. Hmmm.]] That's OK for most people, though -- it can't possibly be him, [[spoiler:since that guy died horribly enough for the whole keep to hear. As far as King's Landing is concerned, dead that can walk is still very much just a myth.]]

* BackFromTheDead: It is heavily hinted that he is an undead Ser Gregor Clegane, who employed in Qyburn's experiments to create an undefeatable champion for Cersei. Ser Robert is eight feet tall and has conveniently taken a vow of silence until all of King Tommen's enemies are dead.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Loras is arrogant and hotheaded, but he's also a brave, honorable knight, devoted to his family, and extremely protective of his sister Margaery.

* JuniorCounterpart: Jaime notes that Loras is pretty much himself in his earlier years: extremely attractive, a combat prodigy, obsessed with glory, and utterly full of himself. Incidentally, they both have a secret lover society would never approve - [[BrotherSisterIncest Cersei]] for Jaime, [[YaoiGuys Renly]] for Loras.

* DecoyProtagonist: Prologue characters aside, this is the first time in the series a POV character fails to get even two chapters before being killed off (discounting the prologues).

* UnwittingPawn: He's subtly manipulated into joining the Kingsguard as part of Littlefinger's plan to [[spoiler:assassinate Joffrey. Loras' sister Margaery is about to be married to Joffrey, and if Joffrey ever hurt her (which he probably will sooner or later, considering his treatment of Sansa), Loras would probably kill him in a fit of rage without thinking twice. To "help" Olenna prevent this from happening, Littlefinger recruits her into his plan to fatally poison Joffrey at his own wedding feast.]]

* NotSoDifferent:
** The main difference between a legendary Kingsguard and a bad one are his skill, otherwise they are willing to bend chivalry when their king rapes his wife or stand there when people die horribly because of their politic allegiance.
** Despite being foils to the Night's Watch, both have fallen far from the paragons of honor they once were. In the present day, the Night's Watch is an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores, while most of the Kingsguard are competent fighters but severely lacking in loyalty, chivalry, or anything else that makes a KnightInShiningArmor.

* UnwittingPawn: He's subtly manipulated into joining the Kingsguard as part of Littlefinger's plan to [[spoiler:assassinate Joffrey. Loras' sister Margaery is about to be married to Joffrey, and if Joffrey ever hurt her, Loras would probably kill him without thinking twice. To "help" Olenna prevent this from happening, Littlefinger recruits her into his plan to fatally poison Joffrey at his own wedding feast.]]

* UnwittingPawn: He's subtly manipulated into joining the Kingsguard as part of Littlefinger's plan to [[spoiler:assassinate Joffrey. Loras' sister Margaery is about to be married to Joffrey, who is (all things considered) very likely to do something that provokes the hot-tempered Loras into killing him, in order to protect his sister. To "help" Olenna prevent this from happening, Littlefinger recruits her into his plan to fatally poison Joffrey at his own wedding feast.]]

* FamousLastWords: Towards [[spoiler:Aero Hotah after being ordered to surrender]].
-->'''Ser Arys:''' [[spoiler:You will not take her whilst I still draw breath.]]

* DirtyCoward: During the riot in King's Landing, he refuses to go find Sansa and bring her to safety, making a lame excuse that his white cloak might enrage the mob. Later, he is ordered to guard Prince Tommen by Cersei but immediately gives the boy up to Tyrion's forces when they ambush his own. He is temporarily stripped of rank, before being reinstated eventually. The only reason he probably isn't executed was that Tyrion would never hurt his nephew, and the Kingsguard needed a new member after the desertion of Sandor Clegane. Jaime eventually makes him Tommen's food taster to repay the man for his disgrace.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Loras never quite got past [[spoiler:Renly's demise]] and it shows.