History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / ASongOfIceAndFire

** Robert Baratheon only excelled in battle and he went into decline when he became king. [[spoiler:He eventually dies killing a boar for being too out of shape and drunk to fight.]]

* TheManBehindTheMan: Cersei tries to be this when Joffrey is on the throne, but she has very little control over Joffrey's cruelty, which sparks the War of Five Kings. As much as she tries to do this, she falls flat to people like Tywin, who has experience with these matters, and Margaery Tyrell, who knows how to please people and win their trust.

*** Ser Alliser Thorne subjects the recruits of the Night's Watch to TrainingFromHell, ostensibly because he needs them stronger when they become full members of the Watch. Jon's thoughts, coupled with other details about Thorne, reveal that this isn't helping them improve in any way, and seeks to be more focused on him venting his hatred over being forced to join the Watch after Aerys lost Robert's Rebellion. In particular, he goes out of his way to encourage the rest of the recruits to bully Jon (which would have eventually progressed toward murderous levels) because Jon is the bastard son of Ned Stark, who helped win the rebellion.

* RebelPrince: Prince Daemon Targaryen was disliked for his lack of manners and consorting with unsavory persons so much that he sparked a civil war because his influence on Queen Rhaenyra was undesirable.

* SecretKeeper: Sometimes withholding important information in dangerous to you and your loved ones, because misunderstandings can be avoided. Doran Martell could have avoided the plot in ''AFFC'' had he trusted his daughter with more information.

** Even if you keep general decency and pragmatism despite long suffering around amoral allies, this doesn't shield you from consequences. Indeed, your general competence in aiding the villains may in fact mark you for death [spoiler: as Kevan Lannister finds out]].

* PatrioticFervor: Robb Stark's rebellion was largely spurred on by the Northern Lords giving into Jigonism and seeing War as an opportunity for the North to succeed and become their own indepedent Nation again. Torrhen Stark being remembered as "[[EmbarrassingNickname The King who Knelt]]" is looked as something of a dark spot in Northern history, as Torrhen opted to submit to Aegon's authority rather than risk bloodshed. The Northern Lords resent having to submit to the Iron Throne, regardless if its a Lannister or a Baratheon that sits on the throne, on the basis that they do know share Northern customs nor worship the same gods. The North's staunch refusal at the prospect of peace talks with King's Landing, or form an alliance with either Stannis or Renly Baratheon ultimates comes back to being a major factor in their own defeat.

* GoodParents: Treating your kids decently isn't inherently a ''bad'' thing, but in a CrapsackWorld like Westoros and beyond, it will leave the kids unprepared for how to survive without ToughLove or a firm hand to balance them out.
** Ned Stark treated all of his children with equal patience and love, even his bastard son, Jon Snow. However, he also shields them a bit from how unfair the world is, leaving them with unfortunate cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality. His lack of ToughLove also enables [[WrongGenreSavvy false mindsets]] or [[WideEyedIdealist naive views]]. Had he [[BrutalHonesty explained harsh truths]] regarding the Night's Watch, [[spoiler: Cersei's incestual affair with her brother]], or just how the rest of Westeros was filled with cruelty and mistreatment, perhaps Jon, Sansa, or Arya wouldn't have been caught flat-footed. Jon would have been more wary from the beginning when he joined the Night's Watch and perhaps Arya would have had her HotBlooded nature tempered a little and avoided a bit of suffering along the way. Had he not enabled Bran's love for climbing against the wishes of [[ProperlyParanoid Catelyn]], Bran would not have been crippled and nearly killed [[spoiler: after catching Jaime and Cersei having sex in one of the empty towers at Wintefell and Jaime pushed him out the window in response.]]
** Brienne of Tarth's father allowed her to train under a swordsmaster and even permitted her to challenge potential suitors for her hand in combat, knowing she would win. Unfortunately, Brienne is left a WideEyedIdealist despite her self-esteem on her rather masculine body and expects others to treat her fairly initially.

*** Ser Alliser Thorne subjects the recruits of the Night's Watch to TrainingFromHell, ostensibly because he needs them stronger when they become full members of the Watch. Jon's thoughts, coupled with other details about Thorne, reveal that this isn't helping them improve in any way, and seeks to be more focused on him venting his hatred over being forced to join the Watch after Aerys lost Robert's Rebellion. In particular, he goes out of his way to eoncoirsgr the rest of the recruits to bully Jon (which would have eventually progressed toward murderous levels) because Jon is the badgers son of Ned Stark, who helped win the rebellion.

* HonorBeforeReason: Ned Stark is a straight example of this trope and someone who always prefers the honorable decision and will never commit a dishonorable act or tactic even as his enemies do. In most fantasy stories this would make him the hero who overcomes the odds. [[spoiler: Here it ends ups being his downfall that ultimately gets him killed. Being honorable when you go up against people who won't do the same is just going to be a major disadvantage.]]

** Rhaegar is remembered either as a kidnapper and rapist, or as the greatest, most beautiful and most chivalrous man in the realm, depends on who you ask. The truth it probably somewhere in between.

* TheDreaded: People like [[BastardBastard Ramsay Snow/Bolton]]. He is feared throughout the North for his brutality, such as flaying people alive. However, his father Lord Roose Bolton knows that it means the North despises the Boltons and would love to see them overthrown. It's getting to the point that he's starting to see him more as an outright [[TheMillstone hindrance than a help]], especially as Ramsay doesn't have any real ruling skills outside of spreading terror.

One of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' selling points is that its characters are a more complex take on the standard archetypes than those you find in other fantasy books. '''Be warned, for the night is dark and full of SPOILERS.'''

** Robert Baratheon, in his youth, was the archetypal Fairy Tale hero: strong, handsome, charismatic, determined to save the DamselInDistress and overthrow a mad tyrant. He got the StandardHeroReward: he became king, married the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, and enjoyed HundredPercentAdorationRating. Then he grew up and found out that VictoryIsBoring and his marriage was a failure. Over a decade later, he cannot come to terms with the events of his rebellion because he was entirely unsuited to be king. He has degenerated physically and morally like the king he overthrew by the time the story begins.

** The Dothraki are probably the purest example of this idea in practice, but they can only get away with being such because their common prey are too weak and divided to ever successfully oppose them. By contrast, their cousins of spirit, the Ironborn, are nowhere near effective because Westeros is far too united to ever take them seriously as a threat: only during a civil war are the Ironborn ably to claim in any way being proud warriors. In short, a ProudWarriorRace can only exist when they have a recurrent enemy they can consistently win against and plunder from: even then, their societies are incredibly fraught with instability because the AsskickingEqualsAuthority way of leadership means that leaders can be questioned or challenged if believed to be weak.

* ProudMerchantRaceGuy:
** Contrast to Westeros, much of the Free Cities of Essos operate as merchant oligarchies, and look down contemptuosly on Westerosi society, with Varys, a Lyseni, and Littlefinger, whose grandfather was of Braavos, being somewhat frustrated by Westerosi obsessions with honour, bloodlines and martial prowess. This contempt of Westerosi values has made the Free Cities comparatively rich, but it has also made them phenomenally corrupt to a degree that it interferes with the Cities ability to function: While wealthy, the Cities are constantly divided against each other, because the values of oath keeping and martial prowess, seemingly looked down upon, are what give each Westerosi lord the ability to field strong warriors who can be trusted most of the time not to turn their blades upon their liege lords, and while Aegon the Conqueror could defeat the former Kings with dragonfire, it was ultimately his reliance on their oaths and loyalty that allowed the Seven Kingdoms to coalesce into one empire under the Targaryens. In Essos, customs such as guest right hold less weight, but while this may make Essos comparatively pragmatic, it also make deceit and treachery much more common since they are less likely to be admonished or punished for it.

* DarthVaderClone: Both Sandor and Gregor Clegane can be considered this, in that they illustrate just how ''miserable'' someone in Vader's position would be, and how maladapted a person like this would be outside of the battlefield.

** Ser Arthur Dayne, regarded as the greatest swordsman in Westeros and the epitome of chivalry, finally dies holding Lyanna Stark hostage, intending to kill her brother who came to rescue her, long after the war was over. In short, Arthur had become the very villain that Knights of his character and quality are supposed to defeat in battle, and this came out of his own UndyingLoyalty to Prince Rhaeghar. [[spoiler: But who knows, maybe he had good reasons to do so. Still, this is ''not'' what KISA are supposed to do. ]]