History Characters / GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste

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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qotho.png]]

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! Lhazar

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! The Dothraki

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[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[HiddenDepths Maybe I told the Great Stallion to go fuck himself and came back here to wait for you.]]"'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/JasonMomoa

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Qotho_3151.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"This must not be."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Dar Salim

->'''Played By:''' N/A

->'''Played By:''' N/A

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[[caption-width-right:350:''"A khal who takes orders from a foreign whore is no khal."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Ivailo Dimitrov

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00000_000001_copie4_copie2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"It is forbidden to lie with a Khal's widow."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Joe Naufahu

->'''Played By''': Staz Nair

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mirri_Maz_Duur_9989.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Why don't you take a look at [[EmptyShell your Khal]]? Then you will see exactly what life is worth, when all the rest is gone."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Mia Soteriou

!!!For the main character index, see [[AC:[[Characters/GameOfThrones here]]]]

* TokenEvilTeammate: To Dany's forces, since they're most keen on RapePillageAndBurn, though the Dornish (at the very minimum the Sand Snakes) could also qualify.

(Diogo cuts his throat and pulls his tongue out)

(Drogo pulls his tongue out)

* ModestRoyalty: The Dothraki as a whole don't have a great deal of attraction to luxury and shiny objects, which is understandable given that they're a nomadic people and so have to restrict themselves to what they can carry with them. Drogo for instance has trouble understanding the importance and value of the Iron Throne, as for him the only seat he needs is the horse's saddle. Indeed, the Dothraki had absolutely zero interest in invading Westeros, being quite content with the plunder and tribute they had in Essos, until King Robert Baratheon and his assassin tried to kill Daenerys, pissing them off.
* NoOSHACompliance: Not that health and safety regulations exist really exist, but having all their important buildings in Vaes Dothrak be made of straw and mud, lit with huge flaming braziers, ''and'' lacking ways to put a blaze out wuickly is a tremendously stupid idea. For what it's worth, it's also a bad idea to have a large hall with only one exit.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Despite Daenerys being visibly distraught on their wedding night, Khal Drogo still takes his MaritalRapeLicense. This contrasts from the novels where Drogo shows his HiddenDepths by soothing and caressing Daenerys until she's in the proper mood, while trying to convey (though with a lot of difficulty due to the language barrier) that he won't force himself upon her if she doesn't want to sleep with him. Instead this is used for Daenerys's CharacterDevelopment as she takes control of her marriage by learning the erotic arts.

** In contrast to Viserys's frothing rage, he is perfectly calm and composed when he kills Viserys for threatening Dany's life.

* BloodMagic: Employs this to save Drogo's life, at Daenerys's request.

* EvilAllAlong: PlayedWith. She hates the Dothraki, and had a hand in the catatonia of Khal Drogo and the death of Daenerys's unborn son. Of course, this is a group that just wiped out her community to enslave them.

* ScrewDestiny: She wants to avert the prophecy of The Stallion Who Mounts The World, aka Daenerys's unborn son Rhaego, having seen first-hand the destruction wrought by a Dothraki horselord who isn't prophesied to be the worst ever. She succeeds by [[MagicalAbortion murdering Rhaego in Daenerys's womb.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: Despite Daenerys being visibly distraught on their wedding night, Khal Drogo still takes his MaritalRapeLicense. This contrasts from the novels where Drogo shows his HiddenDepths by soothing and caressing Daenerys until she's in the proper mood, while trying to convey (though with a lot of difficulty due to the language barrier) that he won't force himself upon her if she doesn't want to sleep with him. Instead this is used for Daenerys' CharacterDevelopment as she takes control of her marriage by learning the erotic arts.

** In contrast to Viserys' frothing rage, he is perfectly calm and composed when he kills Viserys for threatening Dany's life.

* BloodMagic: Employs this to save Drogo's life, at Daenerys' request.

* EvilAllAlong: PlayedWith. She Hates the Dothraki, and had a hand in the catatonia of Khal Drogo and the death of Daenerys' unborn son. Of course, this is a group that just wiped out her community to enslave them.

* ScrewDestiny: She wants to avert the prophecy of The Stallion Who Mounts The World, aka Daenerys' unborn son Rhaego, having seen first-hand the destruction wrought by a Dothraki horselord who isn't prophesied to be the worst ever. She succeeds by [[MagicalAbortion murdering Rhaego in Daenerys' womb.]]

* AntiVillain: As long as you don't piss him off or question his rule, he's a NobleDemon ReasonableAuthorityFigure… in charge of a tribe that practices, among other things, rape and slavery, and he considers this perfectly acceptable.

* RapunzelHair: {{Justified|Trope}}. Dothraki only cut their braids when they are defeated, and Drogo has never been defeated.

* RealMenWearPink: Or in this case lots of [[GuyLiner eye makeup]]. Also, as Jason Momoa put it on the comentary:

* LanguageEqualsThought: There are over 10 words for "horse" in Dothraki, but they don't have a word for "boat" because they have no presence at sea whatsoever, nor do they have a word for "thank you". They also have no word for "throne" because their khals lead the roaming khalassars themselves, they don't rule from a throne in a castle somewhere.

* LanguageEqualsThought: There are over 10 words for "horse" in Dothraki, but they don't have a word for "boat" because they have no presence at sea whatsoever. They also have no word for "throne" because their khals lead the roaming khalassars themselves, they don't rule from a throne in a castle somewhere.

* HorseArcher: The Dothraki learn to use bows from horseback at 4.

* RapePillageAndBurn: What their interactions with other races usually boils down to. The Dothraki fight amongst themselves for what they want on an individual basis, but they readily band together to plunder and pillage the other peoples of Essos for loot, slaves and simple amusement.

* ScreamingWarrior: Dothraki screech while going into battle. There is a good reason why they are referred as a horde of "screamers".

* BarbarianTribe: This is the Dothraki's Hat in a nutshell -- and definitely ''not'' the NobleSavage kind. They're a culture of horse-riding nomads who glorify fighting for its own sake and who prey on the less-warlike people around them, which fits them into the DarkerAndEdgier LowFantasy world they live in. Viserys only arranged for Daenerys to wed Khal Drogo because he hoped to exploit that warlike nature for his own end, essentially recruiting Drogo's khalassar as a mercenary army.

** BeardOfBarbarism: Many have long beards to match.

* DemotedToExtra: The Dothraki feature less in Dany's storyline in Season 2. By Season 3, they are just part of the background. Then they come back very prominently in the Season 5 finale, setting up their return in Season 6.

* HordesFromTheEast: They're essentially expies of the Mongols, or rather the stereotypes of them in medieval fantasy; they're a people of wild, undisciplined, war-like horse-riding nomads who are known for their bloodthirstiness, their equestrianism, and their archery, and who hail from the eastern regions of the world. In fact, the Dothraki depiction on the show is actually ''toned down'' from their depiction in the books in terms of overt Mongolian traits, for rather obvious reasons.

* TribalFacePaint: Blue (Woad), like the one used by the Celts in real life.

* TheDreaded: Dothraki Bloodriders are considered this by most Essosi. Jorah bragging about his defeat of Qotho gets him enough street cred to qualify for the reopened fighting pits. Robert Baratheon himself believes that only 40,000 Dothraki were enough to topple Westeros if they ever crossed the Narrow Sea.

* NoWomansLand: Downplayed compared to some examples, in that it's shown that Dothraki can genuinely love their mates and show them tenderness, but women are little better than the slaves, and will be raped by whoever wants them until one man decides he wishes to keep them. And even then, a woman is only safe so long as her "husband" is strong enough to scare off or kill any man who tries to steal her from him. Slave women have it even worse. Even though the dosh khaleen is respected for its leadership role, the women in it are still forced to live as prisoners in a gilded cage, forbidden from ever leaving Vaes Dothrak and sworn to celibacy, whether they want to or not. After Daenerys unites them into a single khalassar under her command, she does her best to stamp this kind of thinking out.

[[folder:Ko Qhono]]

See [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I's Court]].

* GlobalIgnorance: Given that the Dothraki never cross the oceans, they have very little awareness of lands beyond continental Essos itself--they're only vaguely aware of Westeros, know little of its language or customs, and have never considered raiding it, taking the viewpoint that if they can't get to it, there's no reason to give a damn about it.
** The most frequent example is how they refer to Ser Jorah Mormont as "Jorah the Andal" because he's from Westeros. Mormont is an ethnic Northman, without a drop of Andal blood in him, and not only are the Northmen and Andals culturally and racially distinct, they are historical enemies.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Of the nomadic steppe peoples of Eurasia like Huns, Mongols, Turks, etc, with some elements of Native American (particularly the Comanche) thrown in for flavor. The show tones down the more overt Mongolian depiction of the books, however, which might come as too stereotypical and offensive on screen.
** Their language in the show was thought up to be a combination of Turkish, Russian and Arabic.
* FragileSpeedster: Well, "fragile", but the Dothraki are entirely based around light unarmored cavalry making lightning-fast maneuvers (their warriors using both scythe-like ''arakh'' swords and doubling as mounted archers). Jorah and Rakharo have a discussion about this: Jorah admits that Westerosi fighting styles favoring heavy armor will slow a warrior down, but they'll keep him alive. Similarly, Dothraki weapons are geared towards speed, so while the ''arakh'' is very good at quickly killing lightly armed infantry from horseback, it isn't heavy enough to penetrate heavy steel plate armor. Jorah demonstrates this later in Season 1, when he kills Qotho by letting him strike him in his armored side, without serious injury, allowing him to pin Qotho's ''arakh'' under his arm, so Jorah could move in for a killing blow. It comes down to individual skill though--also in Season 1, we saw Bronn rely on speed to kill the armored Ser Vardis.
** King Robert himself assessed that while it is true that the Dothraki aren't good at fighting armored knights or using siege weapons against castles, their fighting style can just adapt around this - he takes the prospect of them landing in Westeros as a very serious threat. He points out that they don't need to take castles, just quickly move around the countryside slaughtering poorly defended villages. If they run into armored knights, they're fast enough to withdraw and redeploy somewhere else.
** Such as it is, the Dothraki do go up against armoured Westerosi soldiers in the seventh series - man-on-man, they are portrayed as the superior warriors in terms of raw strength and skill.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: The Dothraki characters are played by actors of all kinds of ethnicities. In universe, they're meant to be the ;pca; equivalent to Central Asian peoples, who are in fact relatively fair skinned in real life.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: The Dothraki characters are played by actors of all kinds of ethnicities.

** A side effect of this is that, as much as their warrior prowess is acknowledged and respected, other cultures in the setting also hold the Dothraki in contempt. As the page quote highlights, just because the Dothraki are good at it doesn't change the fact that they're essentially an entire nation of bandits, who survive through preying on other people and exploiting their labor, rather than making things for themselves.

* CannotCrossRunningWater: A variation. The Dothraki have no ships and harbor a superstitious distrust of the sea, which they call "poison water"--they mistrust any water that a horse won't drink. When Daenerys gets her small khalassar in a ship for the first time ever [[VomitIndiscretionShot they don't take it well.]] They ''will'' cross smaller bodies of freshwater such as rivers and such so those aren't a barrier to them, but they understandably and infamously have no presence at sea--it's what has kept them from spreading to Westeros for centuries.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The Dothraki follow only the strongest among them.

* BornInTheSaddle: When a Khal can't ride, he is no longer Khal.
* CannotCrossRunningWater: The Dothraki have no ships and mistrust the sea, which they call "poison water"--they mistrust any water that a horse won't drink. When Daenerys gets her small khalassar in a ship for the first time ever [[VomitIndiscretionShot they don't take it well.]] They ''will'' cross smaller bodies of freshwater such as rivers and such so those aren't a barrier to them, but they infamously have no presence at sea--it's what has kept them from spreading to Westeros for centuries.

* GlobalIgnorance: Given that the Dothraki never cross the oceans, they have very little interest in lands beyond continental Essos itself--they're only vaguely aware of Westeros, know little of its language or customs, and have never considered raiding it.

* ModestRoyalty: The Dothraki as a whole don't have a great deal of attraction to luxury and shiny objects. Drogo for instance has trouble understanding the importance and value of the Iron Throne, as for him the only seat he needs is the horse's saddle. Indeed, the Dothraki had absolutely zero interest in invading Westeros until King Robert Baratheon and his assassin tried to kill Daenerys, pissing them off.

* ProudWarriorRace: The Dothraki treat fighting as the true purpose of life; their whole culture is built around the idea that laboring for what one wants is dishonorable, and one should instead take what you want by force.

* RapePillageAndBurn: What their culture can be summed in.

%%* BadassBeard

%%* BadassBeard

%%* DemotedToExtra

%%* BadassBeard

%%* DemotedToExtra

%%* DragonAscendant
%%* TheGhost

* KillItWithFire: Courtesy of Daenerys.

* RoyalHarem: Not as precisly as the trope implies, but they actually play a role similar to the real life Ottoman Harem where women served as advisors despite being confined in one section of the Palace.

* AmbiguouslyBrown

* BarbarianTribe: This is the Dothraki's Hat in a nutshell. As many non-Dothraki characters point out, Dothraki culture boils down to a combination of a love for horse-riding and MightMakesRight: they create little, if anything, of their own, instead stealing what they need from other civilizations or enslaving people to do the work for them.

* HordesFromTheEast: They're essentially expies of the Mongols; they're wild, undisciplined, war-like horse-riding nomads who are known for their bloodthirstiness, their equestrianism, and their archery.

* SmallNameBigEgo: A variation; the Dothraki are rightly feared as some of the most terrifying warriors in the world, and certainly consider themselves the greatest people of them all. And yet, as non-Dothraki have noted, their "culture" has nothing to it beyond constant bloodshed and butchery. They build nothing, they grow nothing, they make nothing, they rule nothing; they simply kill other people and steal the things that those people have made. When you boil it down to its essence, they're nothing but an entire culture of bandits.

%%* BarbarianTribe

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: While women can never politically lead a ''khalasar'' in Dothraki culture, they value strength, and have a general RapePillageandBurn warrior culture, the widows of former ''khals'' make up the ''dosh khaleen'' (literally, "council of crones") back in their capital city. These crones are basically their religious leaders, commanding great respect even from the ''khals''. Drogo himself must submit his new marriage to their inspection.

%%* HordesFromTheEast

* NoWomansLand: Dany's khalassar is an attempt to change this.
%%* ProudWarriorRace

->''"Your people can't fight."''

* AscendedExtra: Used to be a nameless Dothraki ko from Moro's khalassar before he got upgraded to one of Daenerys' generals.
* CanonForeigner: He has no book counterpart and was created solely for the show.
* CoDragons: He used to be one of Khal Moro's bloodriders before Daenerys killed him. He is now one of his Dothraki leaders alongside her other generals.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Tells Tyrion that his people (the Lannisters) are weak... Except you know, they are fighting against a Dothraki horde and ''a dragon''. Not a fair strategy.
* SmugSnake: Sneers at Tyrion's face about Lannister's men weakness.

[[folder:The Dosh Khaleen]]

The council of Khaleesi widows who are confined to their own temple and serve as wise women and advisors to the Khalasar.
----
* RoyalHarem: Not as precisly as the trope implies, but they actually play a role similar to the real life Ottoman Harem where women served as advisors despite being confined in one section of the Palace.
* WidowWoman: They are all widows of dead Khals, regardless of how old they were when they married or when their Khals died. No remarriage is allowed or recognized. However, the Dothraki treat the widows with respect, protection and honor, which as the old widow notes to Daenerys still gives their life some meaning, which Dany notes is not as bad as it is in other places.
[[/folder]]