History Characters / GameOfThronesTheKingsguard

* UndyingLoyalty: If Ian Beattie's comments on his character are to be believed, if Meryn Trant would have one meaningful redeeming quality, blind loyalty to Cersei would be it.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: In Season 5 he's given the ignominious assignment of serving as Mace Tyrell's bodyguard during his trip to Braavos.

** In actuality, he was protecting the newborn Jon Snow. Ned Stark was close friends with Robert Baratheon, who would have demanded his death. [[ForWantOfANail One can only imagine what would have happened if Arthur Dayne assumed Ned was out there not for blood, but purely out of his concern for his sister, and told him what was actually happening.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Hightower believes that TheUsurper, not Prince Rhaegar, would lie beneath the ground had they been by his side.

* AssholeVictim: An amoral Lannister goon, no one is going to miss him.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The other Kingsguard aren’t particularly fond of him. Notably, Jaime Lannister and Sandor Clegane have mockingly ridiculed him for being incredibly incompetent.

* PraetorianGuard: For Joffrey.

* DualWielding: Unlike his book counterpart who only wielded the greatsword [[CoolSword Dawn]], in the show he wielded two swords in his fight with Ned Stark and his companions. This is, contary to general belief, a highly impractical means to swordfighting, providing little advantage beyond psychological effect, but Ser Arthur Dayne's ambidextrous skill with two longswords and his incredible deadliness conveys his great gifts as as swordsman and his OneManArmy reputation.
** In a behind the scenes featurette, the stunt coordinators for the fight scene said they came up with the idea for Arthur to dual wield when outnumbered (Dawn and a secondary sword), explicitly NOT as RuleOfCool, but to quickly establish with limited screentime that he is a master swordsman. The books had time to give narration explaining he was the best swordsman in living memory (better than Jaime, or Barristan) but TV can't give big info-dumps like that. They were fully aware that dual-wielding is more difficult, but did it on purpose to evidence how skilled he is.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:All of them are killed in Season 8's "The Bells"; two are crushed by rubble and the remaining five are slain by The Hound, including Gregor Clegane]].

!!Criston Cole "The Kingmaker"

Kingsguard to King Jaehaerys I.
----
* GeneralFailure: Zig-Zagged: He was a pretty good ''tactician'' on the battlefield, but as a ''strategist'' he pursued a reckless offensive that left the capital city poorly defended. Nonetheless he was the smart one compared to Aemond - which is saying something.
* HotBlooded: He was quick to violence and didn't know much else of military strategy aside from AttackAttackAttack. This was what got him killed.
* TheOathBreaker: For siding with Aegon II rather than Rhaenyra who was her father's heir.

** The modern Kingsguard (under Robert and Joffrey) wears gilded armor with a crown emblem (albeit with white cloaks--a nod to the books), perhaps as a sign of the influence of the Lannisters.

** Finally, [[spoiler:come the ascent of Bran Stark the Three-Eyed Raven to the Throne, the final Kingsguard under Brienne wears bronze segmented armor with [[AnimalMotifs a stylized three-eyed raven]] embossed on the chestplate. Curiously, it also evokes significant similarity to the armor she wore as Kingsguard to her previous fallen lord, Renly Baratheon]].

* CostumeEvolution: As a group instead of as an individual; Bran's flashbacks show Kingsguard members wearing predominantly silver armor with the Targaryen dragon on the chest, befitting their old KnightInShiningArmor status. The modern Kingsguard wears gilded armor with a crown emblem, perhaps as a sign of the influence of the Lannisters. In Season 6, they change their armor again to depict the seven-pointed star of the Faith around a crown, once Tommen comes under the influence of the High Sparrow. Under Cersei's new regime, their armor is changed once again, becoming almost entirely [[EvilMakeOver pitch black]].

** It was revealed that he had good reason to. Rhaegar's two other children, along with his wife, had been brutally murdered by the rebel forces fighting for Robert Baratheon, who would approve the three murders. Rhaegar's third child by Lyanna, Aegon Targaryen (known as Jon Snow), was also a threat to Robert's rule. Dayne had every reason to believe that Ned and his men would tell Robert about Aegon, and Robert would have the boy killed. Even though Ned was Lyanna's sister, he was also Robert's second-in-command and they could not take the risk.

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesJonSnow Jon Snow]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesSansaStark Sansa Stark]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesAryaStark Arya Stark]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesRamsayBolton Ramsay Bolton]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesCerseiLannister Cersei Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesJaimeLannister Jaime Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesTyrionLannister Tyrion Lannister]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesStannisBaratheon Stannis Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTheonGreyjoy Theon Greyjoy]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesPetyrBaelish Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesMargaeryTyrell Margaery Tyrell]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheOrderOfTheMaesters The Order of the Maesters]] | '''The Kingsguard''' | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

* DirtyCoward: He doesn't dare to speak when Tyrion tells Bronn to kill Meryn if he says another word. Later, his loyalty to Joffrey provides a convenient excuse to not leave the castle walls in order to save Sansa during a city riot. In Season 5 he's perfectly happy to beat little girls but he's reduced to a crying coward when Arya Stark stabs him in the eyes and cuts his throat.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: The other Kingsguard aren’t particularly fond of him. Notably, Jaime and Sandor mockingly ridicule him for being incredibly incompetent.