History Characters / HouseOfTheDragonAlicentHightower

** In "Driftmark", she brings up Laenor being suspiciously absent while Aemond and his "sons" were fighting. Understandable considering that she was trying to deflect Viserys's attention away from Aemond having called the Strong boys bastards. Her making a jape about Laenor's sexuality immediately after that? Not so much.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Alicent calls Otto on his manipulations and vicarious ambition in 1.09.

* AgeLift: Alicent is 9 years older than Rhaenyra in the books. Here, she's roughly the same age (as for the actresses, Creator/EmilyCarey is 3 years younger than Creator/MillyAlcock).

!!Dowager Queen Alicent Targaryen, née Hightower

** [[DrivenByEnvy Envy]], Alicent is deeply jealous of her old friend Rhaenyra's freedoms and tendency to do whatever she wants because her father won't step in to stop her. This leads her to be susceptible to the manipulations of [[ManipulativeBastard her father Otto]], who feeds her jealously until it transforms into a paranoia that Rhaenyra will wipe her and her family out, even though Rhaenyra has no intention of doing anything like that...well [[SelfFulfillingProphecy she's pushed to the brink as a result of Alicent and her family's actions.]]

* FlowerMotif: She is compared by Larys to the malvales flowers in the Godswood, a foreign plant that should have difficulty growing in King's Landing yet is able to find its roots and take bloom all the same.
* FreudianExcuse: Alicent has become bitter and paranoid (not wholly without good reason). However, she began as a sweet, loyal, and dutiful noblewoman before both of those traits were pressed upon her. Her father ordered her to wed the king, which Alicent felt duty-bound to obey. She endured an unhappy marriage with Viserys. Then right after this, her father -- sent away because she took Rhaenyra's side on her being a maiden -- blames her for this and emphasises how if not completely trustworthy Rhaenya would murder her children, that sole friend was proven to have broken her trust and lied to her about having sex with Ser Criston Cole, rendering Alicent feeling utterly alone and isolated, left only with her paranoia and resentment. The saddest part is the fact that most of Alicent's problems can easily be traced back to the manipulations of [[TheCorrupter her own father Otto]], which she actually doesn't blame for her situation, blindly preferring to project her grief against Viserys, Rhaenyra, and the princess's children.

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonBlacks Blacks]] ([[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonDaemonTargaryen Daemon Targaryen]]) | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonGreens Greens]] ('''Alicent Hightower''') | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonHousesOfWesteros Houses of Westeros]] ([[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] [[[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonViserysTargaryen Viserys Targaryen]]] | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonHouseVelaryon House Velaryon]]) | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonOthers Others]] | [[Characters/HouseOfTheDragonDragons Dragons]] ]]]]-]

* TheOphelia: A scene from the trailer for the second season invokes this with Alicent. In that scene, she wears a beautiful simple white gown, her hair disheveled, looking serenely at an unknown body of water.

'''Alicent'': [[ArmorPiercingResponse How could I know? I wanted whatever you impressed upon me to want.]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor And now the debt comes due. A debt you were happy enough to pay.]]

** As the second Queen Consort to Viserys I (himself based on Henry I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy), Alicent's position is analogous to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeliza_of_Louvain Adeliza of Louvain]]. However, Queen Adeliza's relationship with her stepdaughter Empress Matilda (the basis for Rhaenyra) was far more amicable and supportive (far better than [[WeUsedToBeFriends young Alicent and Rhaenyra's strained friendship]])--even to the point of supporting her bid for the throne during the Anarchy. This was likely because she did not succeed in bearing children for Henry I. Alicent, as portrayed in both this show and in ''Literature/FireAndBlood'', can be read as the CorruptedCharacterCopy of what [[ForWantOfANail might have happened if she did]].

** Adult Alicent is a somewhat more ruthless version of Margaery Tyrell (Margaery actually was a Hightower on her mother's side, though this went unmentioned in the original TV series). Like Margaery (or her grandmother Olenna) she's a skilled social manipulator, more focused on PragmaticVillainy through diplomacy, and isn't a "villain" but a political actor in a world of GreyAndGrayMorality.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Played with. Despite not being physically attracted to Viserys (and being grossed out whenever they have sex), she clearly cares deeply for him -- she becomes irritated at the servants who are unable to bathe him without hurting him and decides to bathe Viserys herself. Even when they are alone, she tenderly kisses and strokes him, despite Viserys being so drugged that he doesn't realize who she is. She is distraught when he dies, and is adamant that no harm come to Rhaenyra because Viserys would not have wanted her killed.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: DownplayedTrope. [[spoiler:Viserys tells her that Aegon should be king, and she takes his words at face value, despite there being factors that warrant some skepticism. She knows Viserys espousing Aegon as heir would be a huge and uncharacteristic about-face change for him. She knows that he was dying and not in his right mind at the time. But his words are advantageous to her, and she doesn't scrutinize them.]]

* CourtlyLove: Alicent and Criston's romantic relationship is only [[ShipTease teased at]], but [[ImpliedTrope elements of this trope]] are at play in their dynamic. It's also a {{Reconstruction}}. How can divorcing sexuality from desire be emotionally satisfying for the people involved? Well, if they're both sexually damaged people, such a relationship might actually be a good fit for them. Before becoming Alicent's sworn sword, Criston previously served Rhaenyra, who ''did'' pull him into her bed, endangering his life for the sake of her own sexual gratification. Meanwhile, Alicent's past sexual experiences involved two different versions of men imposing their unwanted sexuality upon her while she desperately wished she were anywhere else (the first being [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland unwanted marital sex]] with the much older and ailing Viserys, and then later a grudging [[spoiler:SexForServices setup with Larys]]). With that in mind, it makes sense that Alicent would see Criston not imposing his sexuality on her as respectful if not romantic even, and Criston would be relieved that Alicent doesn't ask him to break his vows and risk his life by being with her.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: She's one for ToughLove and MotherMakesYouKing -- she's using the former to try and mold her son Aegon so that he can become king, and wants to invoke the latter by pointing out that [[HeirClubForMen Aegon is Viserys' eldest son]], with both actions being motivated by a desire to ensure that her children will never have to worry about Rhaenyra's wrath. The problems with this are as follows:

* DrivenByEnvy: A tragic and sympathetic example. Alicent is bitterly jealous and resentful of the comparative freedom that Rhaenyra enjoys. As the favorite daughter of a pushover king, Rhaenyra is allowed privileges that are basically unheard of in their world -- namely being made her father's heir and being permitted to take lovers. Meanwhile, Alicent had a less nice, much more controlling father, and while the Hightowers ''are'' a powerful and influential family, they don't have the weight of the monarchy and dragons behind them. Alicent has had to play by the rules of Westeros's patriarchal society and spent her teenage years and early twenties [[BabyFactory pumping out babies]]. She's spent a lifetime doing ''everything'' right according to that handbook of proper conduct for a Westerosi woman, and yet it ''still'' hasn't yielded the promised results. Being the Queen is supposed to mean having the King's favor and protection, yet Aemond's EyeScream incident is a proof-of-concept of a long-held fear of hers: that Viserys will ''never'' levy that in defense of her and their brood. Seeing once again Rhaenyra and her children [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections get away with almost literal murder thanks to Viserys' favoritism]], this turns into an explosion of the hatred and envy that Alicent constantly feels. Creator/OliviaCooke additionally confirmed another layer of Alicent's resentfulness: Whereas, despite her best efforts, each of Alicent's children has turned out a different type of difficult, Rhaenyra's sons, up until the eye incident, are nothing but pleasant and carefree.
-->'''Alicent:''' What have I done but what was expected of me? Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law. While you flout all to do as you please.

* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler:On Viserys' deathbead, Alicent mistakenly thinks that the king changed his mind and wants Prince Aegon to succeed him; thing is, Viserys thought he was talking to Rhaenyra, and he was referring to Aegon The Conqueror's prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised. This prompts her to make her son Aegon usurp the throne.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Minimized as she is not so evil, just only an antagonist with understandable reasons for Rhaenyra's claim to the throne. Alicent dotes on and cares about Viserys, though that might have changed into slight contempt after Viserys refused to act after Aemond lost his eye. She deeply loves her children, even if she sometimes feels she has to discipline and yell at Aegon for being an immature and irresponsible [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] and BigBrotherBully. Helaena is mysterious, strange, prophetic and obsessed with bugs but her mother still tries to make an effort to be there for her. This is cemented when in a moment where the entire Greens faction faces seeming certain death against Rhaenys, Alicent's last words and actions are attempting to protect Helaena and Aegon, even calmly and silently attempting to shield Aegon with her own body.

** She's disturbed to find out that her father [[spoiler:and the Small Council had been planning on having Aegon usurp Rhaenyra even before Alicent had told them it was, what she believed to have been, her husband's dying wish. She also refuses to go along with her father's plan to have Rhaenyra and her family killed without giving them the chance to bend the knee first]].

* FallenHero: Alicent was once a kind, dutiful and loyal daughter and friend. However, a combination of her anxiety, her unhappy marriage to an older man, her abusive manipulative father, and Rhaenyra lying to her about losing her virginity with a Kingsguard, corrupted her into becoming a bitter, paranoid AntiVillain.

* TheFashionista: As might be expected from a queen's closet after her marriage to Viserys, Alicent boasts a collection of gorgeous gowns and jewelry that could easily rival those of the noble female characters of the mother series (Cersei, Sansa, Daenerys and Margaery).

* FreudianExcuse: Alicent has become bitter and paranoid (not wholly without good reason). However, she began as a sweet, loyal, and dutiful noblewoman before both of those traits were pressed upon her. Her father ordered her to wed the king, which Alicent felt duty bound to obey. She endured an unhappy marriage with Viserys. Then right after this, her father -- sent away because she took Rhaenyra’s side on her being a maiden -- blames her for this and emphasises how if not completely trustworthy Rhaenya would murder her children, that sole friend was proven to have broken her trust and lied to her about having sex with Ser Criston Cole, rendering Alicent feeling utterly alone and isolated, left only with her paranoia and resentment. The saddest part is the fact that most of Alicent's problems can easily be traced back to the manipulations of [[TheCorrupter her own father Otto]], which she actually doesn't blame for her situation, blindly preferring to project her grief against Viserys, Rhaenyra and the princess' children.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Alicent began in her early life as TheHighQueen but a combination of her unhappy marriage, FreudianExcuse, AbusiveParent Otto and losing her friendship with Rhaenyra slowly corrupted and twisted her into becoming bitter, paranoid, ruthless, resentful and cruel. This is cemented when she attempts to personally cut out her stepgrandson's eye in full view of the royal court, after failing to get her husband to do it.
** Best exemplified by her summons immediately after Rhaenyra gave birth to Joffrey, perhaps knowing that Rhaenyra's pride would compel her to endure a humiliating walk to her chambers instead of handing off the newborn to a servant as would be expected. This is to inspect the newborn, suspected correctly by the Queen to be a bastard. This veers into being a DeconstructedTrope in that while Queen Alicent may be relentlessly catty, the matter at heart of her suspicions about her stepdaughter are merited.

** Subverted in the genuine compassion she shows Dyana, the young serving girl Aegon raped, when others on this trope like Cersei would sooner have had the girl killed to silence her.
* GoodGirlGoneBad: In the beginning, teenage Alicent is a sweet, dutiful and anxious girl who is close friends with Rhaenyra, yet also obedient to her ambitious father (who is more than willing to use her as a political pawn). After being forced to marry the ''much'' older Viserys (who is Rhaenyra's father) and giving birth to her first son in her teens (which only worsens her relationship with Rhaenyra due to HeirClubForMen), Alicent becomes increasingly cold and hardened. A series of scandals and tragedies surrounding Rhaenyra completely severs Alicent's trust in her and by adulthood Alicent is a bitter, scheming woman consumed with paranoia and not above taking petty potshots regarding her stepdaughter. Alicent is increasingly obsessed with placing her own son on the throne (regardless of his wishes) believing it necessary for his survival at first -- and then when she starts to come around from this, a miscommunication makes her believe he is a prophesised chosen one who must be on the throne for that.
* GoodStepmother: Played with. Alicent was once loyal, friendly and dutiful towards her stepdaughter, Rhaenyra, defending and vouching for her even when Rhaenyra rebuffed her. Even then, though, Alicent could ''never'' be a mother-figure to Rhaenyra due to their preexisting relationship as peers. Due to her terrible marriage to Viserys, and Rhaenyra lying to her on her dead mother, Alicent and Rhaenyra slowly became bitter rivals and Alicent herself became a WickedStepmother--a role which she actually ''can'' fill as a peer.
* GreenAndMean: Alicent definitively switches to the color green. In-Universe, it represents a war invocation of House Hightower. In episode "Princess and the Queen" and "Driftmark" she becomes bitter and hateful to Rhaenyra and her children.

** After marrying King Viserys, Alicent continues to have a generous and gentle heart. This begins to be deconstructed, however, in that being forced to become queen means she is far more LonelyAtTheTop now--not to mention the inequality in her marriage with Viserys ([[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland especially when it comes to sex]]) begins to weigh down on her as a woman.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Preaches decency and virtue yet protects Criston from both high treason by deflowering the heir to the throne and also his murder of Joffrey Lonmouth, so she can use him as a potential ally against Rhaenyra and Daemon, whom she fears will massacre her sons. Not to mention weaponize his chauvinistic resentment. She is horrified but ultimately unwilling to execute Larys Strong for burning his own brother and father alive, (not to mention scores of others in Harrenhal); so she's also party to conspiracy, arson, kin-slaying and mass-murder -- and will look the other way as long as she has another sword in her back pocket. She is willing to disown and cut ties with her own son due to committing rape, but still goes through with keeping the rape victim silent due to DeliberateValuesDissonance and the fact they are on the brink of war with Rhaenyra. She appears to have a strong distaste for lying, yet kept her relationship with Viserys a secret for months. Subverted in that Alicent clearly had no choice and was forced to do so by her AbusiveParent Otto.
** Very complicated example with [[spoiler: the reveal of her showing her feet to Larys for him to masterbate to for years, in exchange for information. Complicated as this is with a lot of coercion (Larys having proven willing to murder his entire family to get what he wants is not someone that can be refused without great risk) and clear disgust. Made all the more so by how Larys has been both isolating her from everyone else (it’s he who reveals about Rhaenyra’s tea after all) as well as making her more dependent on him since she was young, giving off a heavy grooming impression than any deliberate cognitive dissonance.]]

** As cold and unyielding as Alicent is after the time skip, she ''does'' have a point when it comes to Rhaenyra's children, as all of them are clearly fathered by her lover [[spoiler: Harwin Strong]] instead of her husband and King Consort Laenor. If word got out about it, it ''would'' be detrimental to the reputation of their family, not just Rhaenyra's side, and would call Rhaenyra's children's claim to the throne into question since they're technically bastards. Lyonel Strong's comments also make clear that this kind of fraud is ''high treason'' in Westeros, and would get Rhaenyra and her children disinherited and exiled at the very least if Viserys actually committed to punishing them like anyone else in the same situation.
** She refuses Rhaenyra's olive branch to arrange a marriage between Jaecerys and her daughter Haelaena, which puts a damper on any hopes of reconciling the would-be Black and Green factions. While it may come off as unreasonable in Rhaenyra and [[SelectiveObliviousness Viserys's eyes]] for Alicent to reject the offer, from Alicent's perspective, she has nothing to gain from it. The first is that marrying Haelaena would not only bolster Jaecerys's claim to the Iron Throne but also give the Blacks a valuable political hostage. And given that Jaecerys's bastard status is practically an OpenSecret to everyone, being married to him would only damage Haelaena's image by association.

* LadyInWaiting: She serves as this in all but name to Princess Rhaenyra; she's one of her closest companions, accompanies her to formal events and hangs out with her in private, assists in her studies and helps her dress for the ceremony where the princess is declared Viserys' heir. Alicent herself is highborn and her father is the king's top advisor, though she's not as high-ranking as Rhaenyra. This obviously complicates things when Viserys subsequently decides to marry her and make her queen--which now means she outranks Rhaenyra as her stepmother.

* MamaBear: Otto tries to convince her to embrace this trait in episode 5 pointing out that, [[HeirClubForMen with the realm's aversion for a female ruler]], Rhaenyra will likely have to kill her children to secure the throne, saying that she can either take a stand or trust in her friend's mercy. After finding out that Rhaenyra lied about having lost her maidenhood, Alicent loses all trust in her friend and more or less declares war against her by wearing a green dress at her weeding feast and puts her full support on her son's claim. [[spoiler:She becomes absolutely furious when Lucerys (son of Rhaenyra) cuts the eye of her third child, Aemond, and Viserys refuses to punish both him and her stepdaughter for the umpteenth time, to the point that, blinded by anger, she personally decides to punish them by herself.]]

* MaritalRapeLicense: Dutifully pays marital debt, [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland dissociating]].

** With Aegon, she's harshest. How do you raise a child when there's a Sisyphean task -- molding him into a decent heir while he lacks both aptitude and ambition -- at the center of your relationship? This colors everything between them. Alicent is always frustrated with Aegon for not being what the family needs him to be. On his end, perpetually falling short in her eyes makes him resent her. By his early teen years, Aegon's already an alcoholic RoyalBrat, and by young adulthood, he's started [[spoiler:raping young servants]]. But whatever her problems with him, Alicent ultimately tries to shield Aegon from dragonfire in the face of death, proving that she loves him fiercely.

** Alicent's [[ParentalFavoritism favorite]] seems to be [[MommasBoy Aemond]]. For once there's no major hurtle at the heart of their relationship. Aemond is TheDutifulSon and he's down for hugs. Alicent tries to comfort him when he's bullied and his sadness over his lack of a dragon, even though she has trouble fully connecting with him on the topic as she's afraid of dragons herself. [[spoiler:When Aemond is maimed and Viserys refuses to punish Lucerys in any way, Alicent goes MamaBear RageBreakingPoint. In the end, only the words of her son urging her to let it go calm her down enough to stop other attempts.]] As a young adult Aemond is the only one of her kids working to protect their family--probably both a cause and an effect of his close bond with his mother.
* MissingMom: Her mother died when she was young, causing Alicent to latch onto her father. When her father sends her into the King's chamber to "bond" with him, she tries smalltalk with Viserys about how painful it was for her to lose her mother. She also tries to comfort Rhaenyra with her own experiences of grieving for her mother after Aemma dies.

* MyBelovedSmother: Alicent is very paranoiac about the safety of her children, especially Aegon for being her first son (making him Rhaenyra's direct rival in her claim to succession to the throne) and Aemond for being the most vulnerable and sensitive of them as a child, and pushed her to become very controlling. These toxic traits were cultivated by her father before departing for Oldtown. She feels her children live in Rhaenyra's shadow and their fate will be decided by her, fearing that Rhaenyra may kill them if she takes the throne. She was used as a political pawn by her father, and she ended seeing her own children as political pawns for House Targaryen, ironically, arranging a betrothal between brother and sister.

* NiceGal: During her youth, Alicent was kind, loyal and defended her best friend Rhaenyra at every turn. However, due to her FreudianExcuse and unhappy marriage, Alicent gradually loses this part of her personality.
* NiceToTheWaiter: Even as the years cause her to become more resentful and cynical about her shattered friendship with Rhaenyra and her marriage to Viserys, Alicent is portrayed as moderately kind or at least polite to her servants. Not only that, unlike most of the nobles, she sees and treats them sincerely as people with feelings and emotions and as such is able to empathize not only with Dyana by taking her word for it (regarding the allegations of rape suffered by the hand of none other than the son of Alicent, Aegon) but later, even if she paid abundantly and made the girl drink the the moon tea by told her not to tell anyone about it, later we see her going to scold Aegon fiercely for what he did to the poor girl.
** She holds Ser Criston in high regard, a lower class man and a racial minority who had to claw his way to the respected position he now holds.

** As the second Queen Consort to Viserys I (himself based on Henry I of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy), Alicent's position is analogous to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeliza_of_Louvain Adeliza of Louvain]]. However, Queen Adeliza's relationship to her stepdaughter Empress Matilda (the basis for Rhaenyra) was far more amicable and supportive (far better than [[WeUsedToBeFriends young Alicent and Rhaenyra's strained friendship]])--even to the point of supporting her bid for the throne during the Anarchy. This was likely because she did not succeed in bearing children for Henry I. Alicent, as portrayed in both this show and in ''Literature/FireAndBlood'', can be read as the CorruptedCharacterCopy of what [[ForWantOfANail might have happened if she did]].

* TheParanoiac: Her father's last words before he left and the discovery that Rhaenyra doesn't mind lying to her shamelessly, even when Alicent clearly demonstrates that she is on her side leads the later to become extremely worried that Rhaenyra, after Viserys' death, would truly be capable of killing all of Alicent's sons to prevent them from hindering her rise, although before Aemond's accident Rhaenyra herself never shows any signs of hostility towards them.

* ProperLady: What distinguishes her from Rhaenyra since childhood. Alicent is much more obedient, respectful and devoted to the patriarchal society of Westeros (thanks to her much more rigid family upbringing than that of the princess) and as a result she shows herself to be much more regal and well-mannered in her relationships with others.

* RageBreakingPoint: [[spoiler:As if she wasn't already pushed over the edge when her son lost an eye, when Viserys denied her the chance to take revenge on Lucerys for it, ''and'' when Rhaenyra calls for Aemond to be sharply questioned, Alicent briefly has this when Rhaenyra (who is physically holding her back from hurting both her and her sons with a dagger) mocks her for taking off her mask with this act of primal fury, to which Alicent responds by causing a deep slash on her right arm before retreating from her. Even Otto was shocked ide of his daughter.]]

** Most obviously, they first bond in the immediate aftermath of both being burned and discarded by Rhaenyra. They each liked Rhaenyra, thought of her as a friend -- but that was always kind of a romanticized view of things. She was the royal princess; they were her lady-in-waiting and guard. They served at her pleasure. And then Rhaenyra got cross at them for basically ''being of their social class'' -- for not having the kind of privilege and options that would allow them to turn down a request from a king, or be protected from the treason that breaking Kingsgaurd vows is.

* CourtlyLove: Alicent and Criston's relationship is only a ShipTease, but this is an ImpliedTrope in it. It's also a {{Reconstruction}}. How can divorcing sexuality from desire be emotionally satisfying for the people involved? Well, if they're both sexually damaged people, such a relationship might actually be a good fit for them. Before becoming Alicent's sworn sword, Criston served a Rhaenyra, who ''did'' pull him into her bed -- endangering his life for the sake of her own sexual gratification. Meanwhile, Alicent's past sexual experiences are two different versions of men imposing their unwanted sexuality upon her while she desperately wished she were anywhere else. The first, [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland unwanted marital sex]] with the much-older and ailing Viserys, and then later a grudging [[spoiler:SexForServices setup with Larys]]. With that background, it makes sense that Alicent would see Criston not imposing his sexuality on her as respectful, even romantic, and Criston would be relieved that Alicent doesn't ask him to break his vows and risk his life by being with her.

* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler:On Viserys deathbead, Alicent mistakenly thinks that the king changed his mind and wants Prince Aegon to succeed him; thing is, Viserys thought he was talking to Rhaenyra, and he was referring to Aegon The Conqueror's prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised. This prompts her to make her son Aegon usurp the throne.]]

* KickTheDog: After the 10-year timeskip, a very frustrated Alicent no longer has problems flaunting in an almost malicious and petty way her hostility towards those who despise, even only in the sixth episode:

* NiceGal: During her youth, Alicent was kind, loyal and defended her best friend Rhaenyra at every turn. However due to her FreudianExcuse and unhappy marriage, Alicent gradually loses this part of her personality.