History Characters / GameOfThronesHouseStark

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Okay, her love affair with Rhaegar was totally consensual, but it doesn't change the fact that he was already married to Elia Martell, who by all accounts was totally devoted to him and had two children by him -- or that Lyanna seemed perfectly okay with him emotionally abusing her... while also disrupting fragile family alliances and getting married in Elia's ancestral homeland. Or that if she's aware of how her eldest brother Brandon went to King's Landing to look for her, only to be held hostage and brutally killed by the Mad King, along with her father.]]
** On the other hand, [[spoiler: Lyanna was quite young during this period (in the books she's only sixteen when she dies). So she may not have been intentionally malicious so much as she was [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb young, naive]] and [[SmittenTeenageGirl head-over-heels]] [[LoveMakesYouDumb in love]]]].

** Jon is executed at the Wall, obviously without any of his family. Interestingly, he gets reunited with Sansa two episodes after his resurrection.

* TheReveal: She is Jon's real mother.

* FatalFlaw: Her love for her children drives her to do incredibly irrational things (such as kidnapping Tyrion and releasing Jaime). Her release of Jaime, in particular, is one of the major factors that leads to the death of herself and Robb.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Dies after Robb and she also believes Bran and Rickon are dead.

* TragicHero: Despite her efforts to see her children safe, Catelyn spends her final days knowing Sansa is a captive of the enemy, Arya is missing, and believing Bran and Rickon are apparently dead. When her firstborn son is murdered right in front of her, she gives up all hope.

* TheSmartGirl: She is an adept healer.

* MyOwnPrivateIDo: [[spoiler:She absconded to Dorne with her lover Rhaegar Targaryen and married him in a private ceremony before their son Jon's birth and prior to Rhaegar leaving to fight Robert Baratheon at the Trident. Rhaegar was granted an annulment of his first marriage to Elia Martell by the High Septon before he and Lyanna were wed to make it legal.]]

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Talisa is a kind and intelligent woman, a skilled medic and a loving wife to Robb, but she's generally seen and remembered by people as a "foreign whore" who seduced their king and [[YokoOhNo lost them the war]]. Although Robb and Talisa's marriage was a [[LoveRuinsTheRealm pretty terrible idea]] in hindsight and definitely contributed to Robb's downfall, Talisa is viewed with a lot more vitriol than she deserves.

* ImperilledInPregnancy: She attends the Red Wedding while pregnant. It does ''not'' end well for her.

* NeverFoundTheBody: We never find out what the Freys did to her body after the Red Wedding (though given [[DishonorTheDead what they did]] to Robb and Catelyn, it probably wasn't pleasant).

* ForeignFanService: She's from Volantis, one of the Free Cities.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: The surviving Starks and their supporters are quite apathetic about her gruesome death, only wanting to avenge the deaths of Robb, Catelyn, and the other Northern Lords killed at the Red Wedding. The one time a Northern Lord mentions her posthumously, she's referred to as a "foreign whore". Justified by the surviving Starks, though, as they don't even know who she is. [[spoiler:Averted in Season 7, as Arya included her as a member of her family when she mentions the Frey's list of crimes during the Red Wedding, even with the fact that she and Talissa actually never meet.]]
* GoodIsNotDumb: She, along with Catelyn and Edmure, insist that Lord Karstark should be imprisoned for the duration of the war as insurance against the Karstarks' loyalty. This despite having just seen the ''recently murdered corpses of the Lannister boys she tended to.''

* TheHighQueen: After marrying Robb, she becomes TheHighQueen in the North.

* IconicSequelCharacter: She did not appear in the series until Season 2.

* {{Irony}}: Despite being the Queen in the North, she points out to Robb that she doesn't know where Winterfell is.
* LatinLover: Robb's LoveInterest from Essos, specifically Volantis. BonusPoints for her actress being half-Spanish.

* ModestRoyalty: Compare her manner of dressing to that of Margaery.
* NiceGirl: An all-around pleasant, if snarky, person who has a ''very low'' opinion of warfare, because of how it causes nothing but misery as she points out to Robb during their first meeting. Her altruistic need to help others is one of the reasons why Robb falls for her.

* TrueCompanions: With [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon]].
** Specifically [[{{BandOfBrothers}} Ned-Robert]] in the previous generation; and [[{{FireForgedFriends}} Arya-Gendry]] in the current set (with bonus points for managing it without even knowing he's Baratheon). Catelyn also invokes the Stark-Baratheon bond when brokering an alliance with Renly.
-->'''Catelyn:''' ''[to Renly]'' Our houses have always been close.
** When the two meet each other in Season 7, Gendry and Jon quickly strike up a bond with Gendry in particular [[spoiler:taking their excursion over the Wall to capture a Wight]] as a grand adventure and clearly hoping to emulate their fathers' adventures, much to Davos' annoyance.

* AdaptationalSPeciesChange: As a result of being a CompositeCharacter (see below), this version of Benjen becomes a wight.

* UndignifiedDeath: Life has not been very kind to them that they leave it harshly. Their deaths were so brutal that it came to a point where some of it disgusted [[EvenEvilHasStandards even some of their enemies]].
** Lord Rickard and Brandon's infamous {{Cruel and Unusual Death}}s (see their respective entries) which disgusted several characters long after it happened.

'''Jaime Lannister:''' (To Ned) Nobody deserves to die like that.

** Robb, Catelyn, and Talissa's is as infamous as Lord Rickard and Brandon above, if not more. To specify, Robb's corpse was beheaded and has his direwolf's head sewn on it. Catelyn was stripped naked and thrown in a river, denied of her family's tradition of VikingFuneral. Talissa was repeatedly stabbed in the womb, while pregnant.

** Lord Rickard and Brandon were executed in King's Landing while Ned was on the Eyrie, Benjen at Winterfell, and Lyanna captive at Dorne.

* TraumaCongaLine: Ned is arrested, stripped of his lands and titles, forced to falsely confess treason and conspiracy to take the Iron Throne for himself, sentenced to death after being promised he would be spared if he confessed and finally beheaded with his own sword -- the same he used himself to kill criminals, no less -- in front of the mob, with his head put and left to rot on a pike.

* YourCheatingHeart: His wife Catelyn died believing that Ned Stark betrayed his vows to her and fathered Jon Snow out of wedlock, when it turns out that he did no such thing.

* HeroicBSOD: Has a pretty serious one after Robb reveals to her, at the same time, that her father has died, and that Winterfell was burned, the inhabitants slaughtered, and that Bran and Rickon are missing. And when Robb dies before her eyes she loses it completely.

Eddard Stark's younger brother and First Ranger of the Night's Watch. He is uncle to Robb, Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. Benjen went missing on a ranging north of the Wall, prompting an expedition to investigate his fate. It is later discovered he engaged the White Walkers and was saved by the Children of the Forest, who transformed him into a pseudo-wight being. In this form Benjen aids Bran and Meera Reed in their travels in the north.

* BigDamnHeroes: Saves Bran and Meera from wights in Season 6. [[spoiler: And Jon, also from Wights, in Season 7.]]

* NeverFoundTheBody: His horse returned riderless and two of his comrades corpses are found -- [[OurZombiesAreDifferent reanimated]] by White Walkers. While he is officially only missing in action, his comrades-in-arms are not optimistic and he is 'presumed dead'. He returns in Season 6, alive and kicking, so to speak.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Or more precisely, a noble born Night's Watch First Ranger who is also essentially a zombie with his mind, personality, morals and memories still intact.

** Talisa's page-bound alter-ego doesn't get much characterization in the books (see the entry for "CanonForeigner" for details). Replacing her called for a character who could legitimately be around Robb for the entire season, so the show runners abandoned the more realistic prospect of a lesser lord's daughter in favour of a more active field nurse.

* CanonForeigner: She replaces the character of Jeyne Westerling from the novels. [[labelnote:From the books...]]Robb meets her after StormingTheCastle she lives in. Whilst there, he receives word of Winterfell's capture and the "deaths" of his younger brothers at the hands of Theon Greyjoy. This plus the FlorenceNightingaleEffect results in SexForSolace. The next morning, Robb feels compelled by HonorBeforeReason to make an honest woman of her, resulting in a ShotgunWedding. All this happens off-page, as Robb only appears in one chapter of the second book; he then arrives in the third book with his new wife and in-laws in tow.[[/labelnote]]

* ForgottenFallenFriend: The surviving Starks and their supporters are quite apathetic about her gruesome death, only wanting to avenge the deaths of Robb, Catelyn and the other Northern Lords killed at the Red Wedding. The one time a Northern Lord mentions her posthumously, she's referred to as a "foreign whore". Justified by the surviving Starks, though, as they don't even know who she is. [[spoiler:Averted in Season 7, as Arya included her as a member of her family when she mentions the Frey's list of crimes during the Red Wedding, even with the fact that she and Talissa actually never meet.]]

* HospitalHottie: A medieval version (she uses a rusty saw onscreen, and mentions turpentine, fennel root and willow bark). Robb is clearly impressed by her and seems instantly attracted.

* InnocentBigot: In her back story. She never questioned living as a member of the nobility in a slave culture until a slave committed a hanging offence in order to save her brother.

* IgnoredExpert: A flashback in Season 6 shows that she actually saw a potential for Hodor (then known as Wylis) to become a warrior [[TheBigGuy due to his size]], and suggested for him to be Benjen's training partner after Ned departs to be Jon Arryn's squire. Old Nan, who was Wylis's guardian, politely brushed off her then little lords' suggestions, citing social status.

** It is also clear from Bran's flashback in the Season 6 finale, that Jon Snow got most of his looks from her, especially his dark hair and eyes, which certainly made it easier for Ned to pass him off as his illegitmate son. The actress (Aisling Franciosi) also looks a fair bit like Creator/MaisieWilliams (Arya), who in the books is said to be Lyanna's spitting image.

* PrisonerExchange: ''Tries'' to pull one off with the Lannisters -- Jaime for her daughters -- but it doesn't go over too well. Still, due to Brienne's absolute loyalty, she's still trying to retrieve Sansa and Arya.

* ShippingTorpedo: Catelyn displays visible disapproval of her son Robb's starting relationship with field nurse Talisa Maegyr due to his existing betrothal. And hell, she's right...

* TragicHero: Despite her efforts to see her children safe, she spends her final days knowing Sansa is a captive of the enemy, Arya is missing, and believing Bran and Rickon are apparently dead. When her firstborn son is killed right in front of her, she gives up all hope.

* UnwittingPawn: Baelish's manipulations hit her the hardest, as her impulsive reactions to an assassination attempt against Brann with a dagger that belonged to Tyrion and her credulity to an engineered letter sent by Lysa Arryn are two of the major reasons why her house sparks the war with the Lannisters.

* WickedStepmother: While not abusive, she makes pretty clear to Jon Snow that she doesn't want him around. Different from the usual stepmother scenario in that Jon is her husband Ned's son who Ned conceived with another woman while married to Catelyn, so she's got some reason to be unhappy about his presence.[[labelnote:From the books...]]At the beginning of the first book, another reason for Catelyn's dislike of Jon is mentioned: she is at least slightly worried that he might have sons who would eventually contest her own grandchildren for the right to Winterfell, and thus strongly supports Jon's desire to join the Night's Watch, which would prevent this from happening. She fears Ned might have loved Jon's mother more than her -- remembering how Ned was adamant that he raise Jon at Winterfell himself alongside the children she had with him -- and this might be part of the reason why Ned loves Jon so. When she tries to ask about Jon's mother, Ned's reaction actually frightened her so much that she decided to drop the subject and wouldn't take her unhappiness about it out on him. In the third book, when she reflects on how fiercely protective Ned was of Jon, she again wonders about Jon's mother, wondering if Jon's mother prays for him just as she prays for Robb but resigns herself to never knowing who Jon's mother was.[[/labelnote]] She comes to regret her dislike of Jon, an innocent child, after all the tragedy that befalls her and believes it was karmic retribution for [[BargainWithHeaven betraying the promise]] she made to love him.
** In the Season 6 finale, it's revealed that Catelyn wasn't so much Jon's wicked stepmother as his wicked aunt. Lyanna Stark is Jon's mother and Ned is Jon's uncle. After Lyanna dies following childbirth, Ned adopts his nephew Jon, raises him as his own, and passes Jon off as his own illegitimate child to protect Jon from Robert Baratheon's wrath. Catelyn may have acted very different if she'd known Jon was her nephew instead of the child her husband conceived with another woman as a result of infidelity.

-->'''Tyrion:''' I admired her... she wanted to have me executed but I admired her. She was a strong woman and she was fierce when it came to protecting her children.

* BeingGoodSucks: In Westeros, the decent way rarely is the efficient or happy way. Doing the right thing has its tolls. Deconstructed in Season 4. Even after their downfall the Starks still command HundredPercentAdorationRating among many of their former vassals and allies, all of whom would not hesitate a second to help any of the surviving Stark children, and when Stannis demands the capitulation of the northern noble Houses early in Season 5, their answer is exemplified by a ''ten year old'' girl's answer: "Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is Stark." Then season 6 comes around and this trope once again shows the price of good intentions, as most of the Northern houses turn their backs on the Starks.

** Lord Rickard and Brandon were executed in King's Landing while Ned was on the Eyrie, Benjen at Winterfell and Lyanna captive at Dorne.

** Ned is executed with only his daughters present. The others are either at Winterfell (Bran and Rickon), at the Wall (Jon) or beyond (Benjen), or marching towards King's Landing (Robb and Catelyn). And of course, Ned died before fulfilling his final promise to Jon to tell him about his mother when they meet again.

** Jon, due to his status as a bastard son raised in a castle, was a societal outsider. By the end of season 6, he becomes a charismatic leader the whole North and the Wildlings are ready to follow.

** When the two meet each other in season 7 Gendry and Jon quickly strike up a bond with Gendry in particular [[spoiler:taking their excursion over the Wall to capture a Wight]] as a grand adventure and clearly hoping to emulate their fathers adventures much to Davos' annoyance.

'''Jaime Lannister:''' (To Ned) Nobody deserve to die like that.

** Robb, Catelyn and Talissa's is as infamous as Lord Rickard and Brandon above, if not more. To specify, Robb's corpse was beheaded and has his direwolf's head sewn on it. Catelyn was stripped naked and thrown in a river, denied of her family's tradition of VikingFuneral. Talissa was repeatedly stabbed in the womb, while pregnant.

* BigDamnHeroes: Saves Bran and Meera from wights in Season 6. [[spoiler: And Jon, also from Wights, in season 7.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: OK, her love affair with Rhaegar was totally consensual, but it doesn't change the fact that he was already married to Elia Martell, who by all accounts was totally devoted to him and had two children by him -- or that Lyanna seemed perfectly okay with him emotionally abusing her... Disrupting fragile family alliances and getting married in Elia's ancestral homeland. Or that if she's aware of how her eldest brother Brandon went to King's Landing to look for her, only to be held hostage and brutally killed by the Mad King, along with her father.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Her fling with Rhaegar was consensual. But she somehow believed that running away with an already married man, the crown prince no less, who had two kids, when she was already bethroded to another powerful lord could possibly end happily. Instead it led to a civil war that killed her father and eldest brother because her former finance believed she was kidnapped.]]

** Ned comments that Arya takes after her in both appearance and personality. The flashbacks of Lyanna, which show her as a spirited tomboy wearing boy's clothing, befriending small folk and literally riding circles around her brothers backs this up.

* LoveRuinsTheRealm: [[spoiler:Her love for Rhaegar caused a lot of problems which resulted to deaths of her father and oldest brother and a civil war]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: A lot of lives could have been spared if she had made it clear that Rheagar did not kidnap and rape her, but that she went with him willingly.]]

* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Played with. While she's been mentioned several times in the show, she only physically appear via flashback during the second episode of Season 6.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: She had one of the largest influences in the plot: her kidnapping led to the death of Ned's father and brother and Robert's Rebellion, her death turned Robert Baratheon into a depressed man whose disdain for ruling caused no short end to problems and casts a constant shadow in his marriage to Cersei. And most of all, she is mother to Jon Snow, an incredibly important character.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Everyone believed she was kidnapped by Rhaegar. [[spoiler: Turns out Lyanna and Rhaegar were in love and eloped. The belief that she was kidnapped lead to Robert's Rebellion, during which her father and one of her brothers were killed by the Mad King.]]

** Played with. He opposes any sort of physical harm, but he inadvertently causes a lot of the emotional pain. He takes Theon as hostage and keeps his distance in case he ever has to execute him, which contributes to Theon eventually [[joining Balon's second rebellion.]] He employs Septa Mordane and allows her to deride Arya as inferior to Sansa, and sees her sword-fighting as just a hobby and never actually takes the time to find out just why his youngest daughter opposes the idea of being a lady. He raises Jon Snow alongside his true born children, which contextually is a huge insult to Catelyn, and doesn't trust his wife with the truth, even when she's praying that Jon dies as a child. He doesn't explain to Sansa why they have to leave King's Landing, and expects her to be the good girl she always has been, not realising just how deeply she feels for Joffrey and ignoring her feelings even when she outright tells him.
*** He also has Theon carry his sword, Ice, to executions ever since he was a child, and has Theon watch him [[murder an effectively-innocent man in the first episode]].

* NiceGuy: Although distant, Ned is amiable enough, AFatherToHisMen and loves his family unconditionally, especially so when compared to the likes of other lords such as Roose Bolton or Tywin Lannister. He was so nice that he even tried to protect Cersei's children, despite them being incest born and their family being enemies to the Starks. Ned is easily one of the most honorable characters in the series.

* DarkIsNotEvil: House Stark characters typically dress themselves in black, navy blue, and grey, and have a [[SavageWOlf savage wolf]] as their sigil, but they are nowhere near evil. In contrast to House Lannister who dress in gold and red and have a [[KingOfTheBeasts noble lion]] as their sigil. But [[LightIsNotGood are not good people.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: So much trouble could've been avoided if she had just bothered to tell Robert that she really never loved him or inform her family about it.]]

* DarkSecret: Ned had one in what is perhaps the irony of the century. His bastard son Jon Snow is really the [[spoiler:trueborn]] son of Ned's sister Lyanna and ''Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen,'' making Jon [[spoiler:the true heir to House Targaryen and The Iron Throne.]]

* DarkSecret: Ned had one in what is perhaps the irony of the century. His bastard son Jon Snow is really [[spoiler: the trueborn son of Ned's sister Lyanna and ''Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen,'' making Jon the true heir to House Targaryen and The Iron Throne.]]

* BigBraToFill: Catelyn in the books is described as voluptuous. Michelle Fairley is modestly endowed.

* InformedAttractiveness: Characters ''constantly'' refer to Lyanna as beautiful, though they are pretty biased, particularly Robert.

* MadeOfIron: This House is ridiculously hard to take down. Not only is it thousands of years old (indeed, it is the oldes Great House in Westeros), but they always seems to bounce back from horrible adversity and loss.

* DarkSecret: Ned had one in what is perhaps the irony of the century. His bastard son Jon Snow is really the trueborn son of Ned's sister Lyanna and ''Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen,'' making Jon the true heir to House Targaryen and The Iron Throne.