History Literature / ASongOfIceAndFire

* MonsterClown: Shagwell of the Bloody Mummers wears motley and pretends to be a jester, though he is really an AxCrazy sellsword.

# ''A Game of Thrones''
# ''A Clash of Kings''
# ''A Storm of Swords''
# ''A Feast for Crows''
# ''A Dance with Dragons''

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating:
** House Frey is utterly despised by other noble houses for not only [[spoiler:backstabbing the Starks and Tullys]], but also violating the cardinal rule of hospitality in Westerosi culture. The only crime higher than kingslaying, the septons say, is kinslaying, but guest right seems to be held by many to be above even that.
** When Cersei and Joffrey take the Iron Throne, both of them become extremely unpopular. Joffrey is hated due to his petty cruelty and lack of concern for his subjects, and Cersei quickly alienates herself due to her inability to consolidate her power.

** He warns Cersei to leave King's Landing, [[spoiler: but if he tells Robert, Robert will kill her and her children, pissing off one of the most dangerous swordsmen in Westeros, who, by the way, has already killed one king. Her father also happens to be the richest man in the kingdom with a huge army at his disposal, who wouldn't be too happy about it either. The King's got no money to finance a war, either. Telling the King will start a war that will most likely tear Westeros apart and destroy both the houses of Stark and Baratheon. ]]

** He doesn't back Renly's [[spoiler: bid for the throne, but Renly's a diplomat with no combat experience in a situation that WILL require winning a war. Sure enough Renly does nothing but divide the forces against the Lannisters. He also does not have a right to be king at the time, and you can't kick Jeoffrey off the throne because he's not the rightful king and replace him with someone else who isn't the rightful king. ]]

* TragicFlaw: Everyone has one.

* CultureClash: Part of Jon Snow's frustration with the members of Stannis' court who remain at the Wall is their complete refusal to understand that wildling society does not function like Westerosi society, particularly where it comes to inherited nobility (a wildling chief is a chief because he has proven himself to be mighty, not because his father was chief, and being ''related'' to a relative of a great chief means nothing at all)

** The Red God R'hllor (aka "The Lord of Light") is similar in many ways to Zoroastrianism, with a strong dualism between the Lord of Light and the Nameless Other of Darkness, apocalyptic theology, and religious practice that is strongly intertwined with the use and symbiology of fire.

* ValuesDissonance: Part of Jon Snow's frustration with the members of Stannis' court who remain at the Wall is their complete refusal to understand that wildling society does not function like Westerosi society, particularly where it comes to inherited nobility (a wildling chief is a chief because he has proven himself to be mighty, not because his father was chief, and being ''related'' to a relative of a great chief means nothing at all)

* ArcNumber: Seven. Seven books, the Seven Kingdoms, the Faith of the Seven, [[PraetorianGuard the Kingsguard and Renly Baratheon's Rainbow Guard]], and many others. Contrast with the RuleOfThree motif running through Daenarys' story.

** "Winter is Coming," the grim and enigmatic words of House Stark. It's noted that the Stark motto is unusual for being a warning rather than a boast.

-> [[spoiler: [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel "You've got to learn your]] ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel name!]]''"]]

** Unsurprisingly, being a bunch of assassins, the Faceless Men are adept in the use of poisons. One of them, referred to the as the Waif, specializes in them. (While an adult woman, she looks like a child as a result of spending all of her time surrounded by dangerous substances.)

** Oberyn Martel is also very knowledgeable about poisons, and his daughter Tyrene Sand is likewise, having learned from him.
** Unsurprisingly, being a bunch of assassins, the Faceless Men are adept in the use of poisons. One of them, referred to the as the Waif, specializes in them (While an adult woman, she looks like a child as a result of spending all of her time surrounded by dangerous substances).

** Several characters have names that are references to folklore and mythology: ''Janos'' Slynt turns out to be two-faced; ''Lancel'' Lannister is (one of several people) having an affair with the queen; while Cersei is taken from the root word for cherries, it is a homophone of the temptress [[TheOdyssey Circe]]; Hodor was a disabled (blind) character in NorseMythology, who was guided by Loki (perhaps a metaphor for how the Hodor in this series is guided by Bran)

* TheMourningAfter: Tywin is forever hardened after wife Joanna's death, to such an insane extent that he never smiles. Hoster Tully is also never quite the same. Robert, one of the most epic cases, goes so far as to get hammered and then call Cersei "Lyanna" on their wedding night. And then there's Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, whose fixation on Catelyn since she was a girl leads to outright [[ReplacementGoldfish creepy consequences]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: Subverted. The maegi Mirri Maz Duur [[spoiler: magically kills Daenarys Stormborn's unborn son in utero, both for revenge against the father and because the unborn child is prophesied to be the Stallion That Mounts the World, an unstoppable city-smashing warlord. While it doesn't exactly turn out well for Mirri in the end, she DOES successfully prevent the boy from being born and fulfilling whatever his Super Special Destiny was supposed to be.]]

* NobodyPoops: Averted. Defecation is mentioned quite frequently. In ''Storm of Swords'', Strong Belwas shames the Yunkai champion Oznak zo Pahl by shitting in the direction of his city and wiping himself with the dead Oznak's cloak. And [[spoiler: Tywin Lannister]] is assassinated when he's on the privy, [[spoiler: proving that he ''doesn't'' shit gold]].

* CrypticBackgroundReference: Abound

* IHaveNoSon: Tywin disowns Tyrion after [[spoiler:he's implicated in Joffrey's murder.]] And Jaime after [[spoiler:He refuses to quit the kingsguard.]]

** In ''A Game of Thrones'', Ned sees [[DomesticAbuse Robert slap Cersei hard in the face]] and Cercei replies that she will wear the bruise as a badge of honor. Later in the novel, Cersei slaps him, and he sarcastically repeats her badge of honor comment.

* KnightTemplar: Stannis Baratheon is a rigid and merciless man who never compromises on anything. He has an even ''bigger'' KnightTemplar advisor, the priestess/sorceress Melisandre, who wants to burn all false gods in preparation for the last battle against evil. The rise of the ChurchMilitant of the Swords and the Stars provides even more opportunities for the trope. FInally, the Brotherhood Without Banners have gone from Robin Hood Expys (admittedly, with a zombie for a leader) to this under Lady Stoneheart aka [[spoiler: Catelyn]]

** Cersei Lannister, while a horrible leader, has protecting her children as her strongest motivation. Catelyn Stark gains a darker shade with this trope as well. Ironically, their protective instincts only serve to make things worse. Cersei screws up everything she touches. While Catelyn is full of good advice, her [[spoiler:kidnapping of Tyrion (who was innocent) due to suspicion that he tried to murder Bran]], led to a Lannister* retaliation and was one of the major catalysts, that created the perfect storm, for the War of the Five Kings.

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Tyrion]] put up with constant abuse and ridicule by his family, and stayed loyal to them, but finally snapped after [[spoiler: Jeoffry constantly abused him, Cersei kept treating him like shit and undermining him when he tried to help her run the kingdom, his father was willing to have him executed, and finally, discovering that Jaime and his father had lied about his wife being a whore.]] He killed his father and now he's trying to join their enemies.

** Jon Snow fakes a switch over to the wildlings under the instance of Quorin Halfhand. He even thinks of becoming a real defector until the wildlings come into conflict with the Watch.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Dothraki are based on the Mongols, Alans, Huns, Thracians and Amerindians. The Free Cities are loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having a oligarchical form of democracy. The Slaver Cities - Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen reminiscent of ancient middle-eastern Empires. The regions of Westeros are the North (Scotland, especially beyond the Wall), the Iron Islands (Viking Scandinavia), the Riverlands (North France/Brittany), the Vale (Alps), the Westerlands (England), the Stormlands (North Spain), the Reach (South France/Provence), and Dorne (Moorish Spain). The continent as a whole has many similarities to Britain, including waves of conquering cultures and a wall up in the cold north to keep out barbarians. Meanwhile, the rarely-mentioned southern continent Sothoryos is roughly analogous to Africa during this time period.

* FlamingSword: There are three different varieties: Thoros buys cheap swords and coats them in flammable oil for battles and melees. Stannis Baratheon's Lightbringer is a magical sword that appears to be on fire, but the fire sheds no heat. Beric Dondarrion makes a real flaming sword with his own blood and the magical power of R'hllor.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Hallyne the Pyromancer,an alchemist, tells Tyrion that their increased efficiency at creating wildfire is because their spells are more effective, and not seen since the days of the last dragons, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the relationship between dragons and magic in the world.

* NoodleIncident: A number of incidents are referred to early on, with clues popping up over the course of the series. Examples include the tragedy at Summerhall, the Doom of Valyria, and the events at the "tower of joy."

** The Ghiscari call themselves "The Sons of the Harpy," after the heraldic harpy of old Ghis. [[spoiler:The villanous LaResistance[=/=]TheRemnant formed against Daenerys' government in Meereen is known as the Sons of the Harpy and its rumored leader who may or not be Hazdor zo Loraq is known as The Harpy]]

* DarkISNotEvil: The Night's Watch. The Faceless Men are arguably an example of this (their white-and-black outfits indicate a tendency to think of themselves as both dark and light), as a shadowy group of death-worshipping assassins who provide euthanasia to those who wish for death and kill those who have driven others to pray for their death.

** A non lying example is found with Ser Rolly Duckworth, one of Griff's men in ''A Dance With Dragons''. Like other low born characters who receive knighthoods (e.g. Davos and Bronn), he wasn't born with a surname, and made up/acquired one upon being knighted. In Rolly's case, while being knighted in a field, he noticed some ducks nearby.

* LineOfSightName: In ''A Storm of Swords'', Jaime questions Ser Osmund Kettleblack on who knighted him, and Osmund responds "Ser Robert... Stone". Jaime wonders to himself if this was a real person (presumably a bastard sellsword made good) or whether Osmund made him up, combining the name of the deceased king with a glance at the castle wall.

* NotRareOverThere: In ''A Storm of Swords'', Daenarys tries to buy off a mercenary company and offers a casket of wine as a goodwill gift. The mercenary captain complains that this is not enough and demands a whole wagon of caskets instead, to which Daenarys obliges. The captain wasn't aware that Daenarys *did* just loot an entire city famous for (among other things) its wine.

** Janos Slynt, who seems to feel that his powerful "friends" will see to it that he's never harmed. [[spoiler:Even if they were inclined to save him, they're leagues away.]]

* RavensAndCrows: Ravens serve as messenger birds throughout Westeros, often delivering bad news. This leads to the commonly-repeated expression, "dark wings, dark words." Jeor Mormont's old pet raven can also speak a few words, which often seem ominously prophetic. The Maesters of the Citadel also breed special white ravens who are only released to signify the official changing of seasons; one shows up at the end of "A Dance With Dragons" to show that winter has, in fact, come.

* LineOfSightName: In ''A Storm of Swords'', Jaime questions Ser Osmund Kettleblack on who knighted him, and Osmund responds "Ser Robert... Stone". Jaime wonders to himself if this was a real person (presumably a bastard sellsword made good) or whether Osmund made him up, combining the name of the deceased king with a glance at the castle wall. The same name is now being used for [[spoiler: Qyburn's zombie construct]]

** Runaways from the Night's Watch, who are summarily executed.
** As [[spoiler: Janos Slynt]] learns, this is also the penalty for refusing to obey orders from a commanding officer
** Jon is accused of being an Oath Breaker, which he technically is, though he did it under orders... it's a bit complicated.

* OffWithHisHead: Happens quite a few times (the first proper chapter features Eddard Stark beheading a deserter from the Night's Watch), most notably to [[spoiler:Eddard Stark himself]] at the end of book one.
** And in book five, [[spoiler: Janos Slynt]], who was partially responsible for the above's death, gets the same treatment

** The flux, also figuratively called "the pale mare," is an acute and virulent disease that is virtually identical to dysentery, going so far as to sharing its medieval name, "the flux." It's so awful that it may or may not [[spoiler: rob the Yunkai of their victory over Mereen, given that it's spreading like wildfire through their camp at the end of "A Dance With Dragons"]]
** Greyscale is a chronic, disfiguring disease that causes numb grey lesions to spread across the body, making the victim appear to be turning to stone. Victims in an advanced state are called "stone men" and live together in isolated colonies. Its symptoms share similarities with leprosy and smallpox. Val the "wildling princess" views the fact that Queen Selyse has allowed her daughter Shireen to live instead of killing her as an example of dangerous insanity.
** It is noted of both diseases that getting them almost always results in even the most dedicated companions abandoning you unceremoniously, hence why [[spoiler: Jon Connington]] is hiding that he has greyscale.

* RavensAndCrows: Ravens serve as messenger birds throughout Westeros, often delivering bad news. This leads to the commonly-repeated expression, "dark wings, dark words." Jeor Mormont's old pet raven can also speak a few words, which often seem ominously prophetic.