| 1 | !!!This is a listing of members of House Targaryen that appear in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. |
| 2 | !!!For the main character index, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFire here]]]] |
| 3 | !!!For the main Crownlands entry, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCrownlandsHouses here]]]] |
| 4 | |
| 5 | !House Targaryen of King's Landing [[note]]Formerly House Targaryen of Dragonstone[[/note]] |
| 6 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/got_-_house_targaryen_01_4699.png]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | -->"''Fire And Blood''" |
| 9 | ---> --'''Targaryen House Words''' |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The former ruling house of the Seven Kingdoms from the capital city of King's Landing. Also known as the Dragon Kings, because they used to ride dragons and had a strange bond with them. Under the historical leadership of Aegon the Conqueror, they unified Westeros with their dragons as weapons and ruled there for 300 years. They often married [[BrotherSisterIncest brother to sister]] and other intra-house close relations throughout their rule for several reasons: keeping their dragon blood and magic as pure as possible, retaining their elite and beautiful looks, and reminding the Faith of the Seven that the royal house was above the dominant religion of Westeros. Their rule ended when Robert Baratheon overthrew Aerys II Targaryen and his surviving children fled into exile in the Free Cities. Their sigil is a three-headed dragon. All reigns dated after the arrival of Aegon I in Westeros. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | House Targaryen are [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireValyrians Valyrian]] in origin, having originated as one of the lesser Dragonlord families in the now-destroyed peninsula. Due to prophetic foretelling, the household and their dragons were able to survive the Doom by leaving Valyria before it fell and settling on the Blackwater Bay island of Dragonstone a few generations before the Conquest. As a result, the Targaryens are the only lineage of Dragonlords that survived the Doom; while a few other minor families survived alongside them, the only dragons to linger after the fall of Valyria were the three belonging to House Targaryen. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | This entry includes the members of House Targaryen contemporary to and surrounding the events of ''[=ASoIaF=]''. See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseTargaryenAncestors this character page]] for the many ancestral members of House Targaryen. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBlackfyre this one]] for their antagonistic primary cadet branch, House Blackfyre. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Tropes related to House Targaryen]] |
| 22 | * TheAce: When a Targaryen is good at something, they're ''really'' good at it. This family boasts having some of the finest warriors, politicians, and scholars in the history of Westeros. |
| 23 | ** Of course, this also leads to examples of the BrokenAce. Even if you are good at a lot of things, there will be some things beyond you (like, taking Dorne easily, for one). That, or all the sheer expectation heaped on you from an early age might help curdle your very ability to perform when you ''have'' to get it right. |
| 24 | * TheAlcoholic: A common problem. ''Somebody'' is bound to reach for the drink as a solution to their woes every generation or so. Notable examples include Aegon II, Daeron the Drunkard, and Viserys the Beggar King. Princesses Saera and Viserra, both daughters of Jaehaerys I, were also known to be overly fond of the bottle, which led to the latter's death. |
| 25 | * AncestralWeapon: The greatest is Aegon the Conqueror's sword ''Blackfyre'', traditionally given to the heir to the Iron Throne. It was lost after the Blackfyre Rebellion, is generally thought to be in the hands of the Golden Company mercenaries. Another is ''Dark Sister'', the sword wielded by Visenya Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen and Bloodraven. As Bloodraven was sent to The Wall by King Aegon V, its current whereabouts are unknown. |
| 26 | * AnimalMotifs: Dragons, of course, representing power, ferocity, magic, and mysticism. |
| 27 | ** In particular, the sigil of House Targaryen was likely inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_dragon Zmey Gorynych]], the three-headed dragon of Slavic mythology. |
| 28 | * AmbiguouslyHuman: The Valyrians have most of the trope trappings of [[OurElvesAreDifferent High Elves in a fantasy series]]. They're a race of [[CantArgueWithElves pretentious]], [[InhumanlyBeautifulRace inhumanly beautiful]], [[MysticalWhiteHair white-haired]] [[TechnicolorEyes purple-eyed]] [[PeopleOfHairColor people]]. They seem to be imbued with magic, from their bond with dragons to occasional prophetic dreams. Multiple reports of stillborn babies with dragon features (see DraconicHumanoid listing) may suggest some literal DragonAncestry. |
| 29 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: The Targaryens ruled for centuries for one big reason: Dragons. They had them, the other houses didn't and no one was dumb enough to try and topple them so long as the dragons were around. |
| 30 | * AxCrazy: For family members who got a big ol' dose of the Targaryen madness, it often came with a fondness for using torture, murder, and incineration against their enemies or just anyone who annoyed them. The worst offenders were Maegor I and Aerys II. |
| 31 | * TheBeautifulElite: Most Targaryens are physically attractive or at least striking-looking with their metallic hair and purple eyes and they were the most elite family in Westeros. They held the throne for generations, they started out the current dynasty as the only dragon riders left in the world, and even after their dragons died out, they were still in possession of dragon eggs which are extremely valuable, as well as ancestral weapons made of the highly sought after Valyrian steel, and some members still have the ability to predict the future in their dreams. |
| 32 | * BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: The three daughters of King Aegon III -- Rhaena the feminine [[TakingTheVeil septa]], Elaena the clever [[GoodWithNumbers financier]], and Daena the headstrong WarriorPrincess. |
| 33 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The conquest of Dorne started by Aegon the Conqueror and finished by Daeron the Good would cost the Targaryens dearly (i.e, a rebellion and rival family still scheming to conquer Westeros). |
| 34 | * BigScrewedUpFamily: Their house dates back to old Valyria, and in part due to centuries of practicing incest, more than a few members end up unhinged. However, a greater part probably has to do with having a [[{{Jerkass}} massive entitlement]]/[[CantArgueWithElves superiority complex]] that tends to get passed along as an inherited attitude even without having dragons to back it up with any more. |
| 35 | * BodyHorror: See DraconicHumanoid. |
| 36 | * BrotherSisterIncest: The family custom is to marry brother to sister whenever possible to keep the bloodline pure. Though marriages between siblings seem to have been mostly a concern / requirement for the heir, specifically; younger sons and daughters frequently married outside the bloodline to make and maintain alliances like everyone else, though a fair few still married within it. The Targaryens also frequently married their [[KissingCousins first cousins]], which isn't unusual among other noble families in the Seven Kingdoms, either. The occasional uncle-niece pairing has occurred, too. Only twice of any import, though, and only if you also count Bittersteel and his wife. Furthermore, when siblings or cousins named Targaryen aren't available, their go-to is to mingle with House Velaryon, another Valyrian-descended house (who, because of this, will usually also be their first or second cousins). |
| 37 | * BroughtDownToNormal: The Targaryens were still formidable without their dragons, though they found it harder to intimidate and force their vassals to make reforms. |
| 38 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Of Westerosi nobility. They are weird, colorful, self-destructive, and have a laundry list of weird stuff happening to them, and their family roster reads like both a RoguesGallery and a RagtagBunchOfMisfits, ''at the same time'', and yet they boast the most prodigious dynastic accomplishment of any noble family in the history of Westeros, building the biggest roads, the most populous city, and passing more legal and institutional reforms in 300 years than anyone else in thousands. |
| 39 | * TheCaligula: You had the likes of Aegon the Unworthy and Maegor the Cruel, who are occasionally invoked as cautionary tales, and Aerys II who started with promise before slowly sliding into villainy. Likewise, even the "good" kings are implied to have had their own brand of crazy. Baelor the Blessed was a religious fanatic. Viserys I cut out the tongues of people who insulted his family (though this hardly seems insane given the standards of this society). The bookish Aerys I and the InternalReformist Aegon V's dream of hatching dragons proved detrimental to their reigns. |
| 40 | * CantArgueWithElves: This attitude turns up most prominently in members who take the Dragon motif to extremes. When it does crop up, it's one of the warning signs that the individual you are dealing with might be a little nutso. |
| 41 | * TheClan: Oh, yes. Like most Westerosi Great Houses. But, like almost everything, Targaryens do it the hard and the more complex way. |
| 42 | * ClothingReflectsPersonality: The Targaryens accrued many crowns over the course of their reign over the Seven Kingdoms, and which one a king chose to wear usually reflected their personality - Or else, [[InvokedTrope what they wanted their personality to]] ''[[InvokedTrope appear]]'' [[InvokedTrope to be.]] |
| 43 | ** [[TheConqueror Aegon the Conqueror]], [[AxCrazy Maegor the Cruel]], [[TheUsurper Aegon II]], and [[YoungConqueror Daeron the Young Dragon]] wore a circlet of Valyrian steel - A material mostly used in weapons rather than jewelry, appropriate for martially-inclined or just brutally violent kings. |
| 44 | ** [[ExtremeDoormat King Aenys]] wore a gold crown with the faces of the Seven Gods. It symbolizes that he is the Gods' ChosenOne, or the Faith's PuppetKing. |
| 45 | ** [[TheGoodKing Jaehaerys the Conciliator]] and [[BigFun Viserys I]] wore a gold circlet decorated with seven gems representing each of the seven kingdoms, appropriate for peacemakers who preferred to reconcile the Targaryens with their Westerosi subjects rather than rule through military might alone. Rhaenyra also chose to wear this crown, but was heavily hobbled by the CivilWar she had to wage to even get to the throne--and ultimately died in the pursuit of it. |
| 46 | ** [[BrokenBird Aegon III]], [[HyperCompetentSidekick Viserys II]], and [[InternalReformist Aegon the Unlikely]] wore a simple, unadorned gold circlet, as all were ModestRoyalty. |
| 47 | ** [[StupidEvil Aegon the Unworthy]] and [[TheCaligula Aerys the Mad]] wore an enormous, opulent red-gold crown with dragon heads for points, reflecting their extreme arrogance and decadence. [[SuperiorSuccessor Daeron the Good]], who also wore this crown but was unlike the former two kings in almost every way, only wore it as a response to rumours that he wasn't actually Aegon the Unworthy's son. [[{{Bookworm}} Aerys I]], who also wore this crown, spent all of his reign devoted to his scholarly pursuits, uncaring of his duties as king. |
| 48 | ** Maekar the Anvil and [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Jaehaerys II]] wore a crown of gold adorned with simple iron spikes, recognising kingship as a duty more than a privilege, in addition to a similar martial theme to that of the Conqueror's Crown. |
| 49 | ** Dany's crown is a three-headed dragon wrought from a variety of expensive materials, symbolizing how her authority is derived from her highly multicultural advisors and armies...and her dragons, of course. She finds it [[TheChainsOfCommanding heavy and uncomfortable,]] but [[TheDeterminator refuses to relinquish it.]] |
| 50 | * ColorCodedCharacters: Members often have silver-blond hair and unusual purple eyes. |
| 51 | * CoolCrown: The Dragon Kings have worn their fair share from the iconic Valyrian Steel circlet of Aegon the Conqueror, the simple gold band of Aegon III, to Baelor's crown of flowers, to the evil-looking pointy iron crown of Maekar. |
| 52 | * CrazyIsCool: In-universe. The hallmark of being a Targaryen is not fully obeying "the Rules" and finding the crazy [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] to shove into the awesome sauce. Failing that, they're just supposed to try being awesome ''or'' crazy, either one. A widely perceived "meh is for mediocre" means questions about legitimacy start getting asked. |
| 53 | * CultureBlind: Despite being descendant from Valyrian nobility, the Targaryens were just as ignorant as everyone else when it came to Valyrian history, culture, and magic, with the only surviving traditions being dragon riding and incest. Likewise, while most nobles know the entire history of their family, which can often stretch back for thousands of years, the Targaryens knew almost nothing about their ancestors before the Doom of Valyria. This is odd because it means that the early Targaryens did not bring any type of historical documents with them when they fled Old Valyria, they never made any attempt to write it down themselves, and they never verbally passed down the information to their children. |
| 54 | ** On the other hand, the Targaryens twice suffered internal wars that reduced the family to only children and young teens (Maegor the Cruel vs Jaehaerys I, the Dance of Dragons), followed by Baelor I's BookBurning tendencies and finally the Tragedy of Summerhall that left ''maybe'' five members alive, at most. It's entirely possible the earlier generations knew a lot more than the current members. |
| 55 | ** ''Fire and Blood'' declares that the Targaryens weren't a particularly noteworthy House within Valyria. They were just the only ones that saw the Doom coming and fled beforehand. It's possible they did little worth boasting until Valyria was gone and had little reason to preserve details about how their great house of kings was actually relatively unimportant until they were the only ones left with dragons. |
| 56 | * CultureClash: The family's culture and values still clash with rest of Westeros, as they share some traits with people you'd find in Valyrian-influenced Essos. This Essos-like culture might explain the repeated interaction with House Martell and House Velaryon beyond just InTheBlood. [[TheMistress Paramours]] (and the resulting bastards) are fairly well accepted within the family as a feature (if not to the extent of in Dornish culture). Most are, if not [[CunningLinguist bilingual]], then something close to it, as High Valyrian, both spoken and written, is used as a family tongue, not just as a language of learning, but of songs, legends, and stories not always shared with their Kingdom at large (Maegor, for one, seems to be viewed rather differently in his family's oral history than in that recorded in the Citadel's written records, even by Daenerys' time period). That meaning, of course, being able to understand many related languages at a pinch. Although the Targaryens were originally markedly less patrilineally-based in the early days, there are still shades of acceptance of assertive women rather easier than in the rest of Westerosi society (although that has eroded ''a lot'' over the years, so it's not saying ''much''). Even the incest has cultural roots. While they could give up the practice of polygamy to placate the Faith, ''that'' was non-negotiable. The family is also not as close to the Valyrian ideal as it once was, either. As well as losing their dragons, their old gods, and pretty much all of the lore surrounding them both, most of the modern members of the main line wouldn't tolerate the idea of slavery, for example. They are of Essos... and Westeros, too. And that has led to problems and solutions in both places. |
| 57 | * DeathOfAChild: Some Targaryen princelings were young children when they died gruesome and/or violent deaths. Aerea (13) was infected by parasitic fire-wyrms and burned up from the inside out, Jaehaerys (6) was beheaded, Maelor (2) was torn apart by a mob, Jaehaera (10) threw herself ([[NeverSuicide or fell]]) from a high window onto a spiked fence, Rhaenys (a toddler) was stabbed more than fifty times, and Aegon VI (a baby) had his head smashed against a wall. Less violently, there is also the matter of the many cases of stillborn Targaryen babies with draconic features, as well as the death of Daenerys (6) from the Shivers plague. |
| 58 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: After the debacle of King Daeron I's invasion of Dorne, peace between the Targaryens and the Martells was sealed with a marriage. There was suddenly Dornishmen in line for the Iron Throne. This, among many things, helped spark the Blackfyre Rebellions |
| 59 | * DividedWeFall: Maegor vs anybody not of Visenya's line... and vs the Faith (including his remaining Kingsguard); The Greens vs The Blacks; The Blackfyre Rebellion, and (possibly) [[spoiler:between Daenerys and Aegon VI -- however they're actually related]]. |
| 60 | * DraconicHumanoid: The Targaryens have been known to have stillborn babies with dragon features. The Targaryens boast that they are "the blood of the dragon," and this may suggest some literal DragonAncestry. This intuitively seems like some recessive, inbred dragon trait -- except many of the cases are outbred, half-Targaryen babies. The common traits are wings and lack of eyes. |
| 61 | ** A conservative list of just the stillborns ''explicitly'' said to have dragon features includes: |
| 62 | *** Maegor and Elinor Costayne's stillborn son: "a malformed and stillborn child, an eyeless boy born with rudimentary wings." |
| 63 | *** Rhaenyra and Daemon's stillborn daughter Visenya: "twisted and malformed, with a hole in her chest where her heart should have been and a stubby, scaled tail." This comes from UnreliableExpositor Mushroom, but enough stories like this and they start to corroborate each other. |
| 64 | *** Dany and Drogo's stillborn son Rhaego. Mirri Maz Duur is an UnreliableExpositor, but it echoes a Targaryen pattern she wouldn't have known about, making it seem true. |
| 65 | ---->'''Mirri Maz Duur:''' Monstrous. Twisted. I pulled him out myself. He was scaled like a lizard. Blind, with leather wings, like the wings of a bat. |
| 66 | ** A list of questionable cases includes: |
| 67 | *** Maegor and Jeyne Westerling's stillborn: "a legless and armless creature possessed of both male and female genitalia." This doesn't sound particularly draconic unless you know that there is no human intersex condition that results in more than one set of genitals, but dragons are speculated to be hermaphrodites. The lack of limbs may echo the dragon ancestor, the firewyrm. The lack of eyes commonly seen in other dragon stillbirths is another firewyrm trait. |
| 68 | *** Alys Harroway's stillborn son: "the boy a monster, with twisted limbs, a huge head, and no eyes." This is relatively minor, compared to the others, but the lack of eyes mirrors the stories of some other dragon babies. This is also one of a set of three ill-fated pregnancies in Maegor's attempt for an heir, and thus should be considered alongside the other two. |
| 69 | * DragonRider: The earlier Targaryens, before the dragons became extinct. Dany is growing into this. |
| 70 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: Targaryens called their psychic dreams "dragon dreams". Although most traits of the Targaryens (metallic hair and purple eyes, high tolerance for heat, affinity with dragons) were common in Old Valyria, the ability to dream the future seems to have been unique to the Targaryen family and was the reason they escaped the destruction of Valyria, through the first known example Daenys the Dreamer, daughter of Aenar the Exile. Justified with the modern Targaryen bloodline, as Aegon the Conqueror was Daenys' great-grandson, so all the Targaryens of King's Landing are descended from her and thus any of them could inherit this gift (though some of them would consider it [[BlessedWithSuck a curse]]). |
| 71 | * ElementalMotifs: Fire. They are descended from DragonRider conquerors, their house seal is a three-headed dragon, and they kept dragons until certain events wiped them out. Given their penchant for inbreeding, the volatility of fire also fits them as Targaryens are said to either be great or mad. Aerys II was known as the "Mad King" and nearly burnt King's Landing to the ground; his daughter Daenerys later hatches three dragons of her own in fire. |
| 72 | * TheEmpire: Westeros under Targaryen rule is both a subversion and deconstruction of the typical fantasy empire ruled over by a sorcerous overlord bent on dominating the world (or at least his own little corner of it). Aegon the Conqueror [[FromNobodyToNightmare showed up essentially out of nowhere]] [[DragonRider with three dragons in tow]] and [[TheConqueror cut a swathe of destruction across Westeros]] while leading his armies under [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver black and red banners]], but once he settled down to rule from his Iron Throne, he proved to be a rather fair and far-sighted ruler. His successors ranged all over the morality and ability scales, and the potential for EvilOverlord-style abuse was always there, but the two who most closely fit the Evil Overlord archetype (Maegor the Cruel and Aerys the Mad) also proved to be two of the most ineffectual kings, and both met unsavory ends when the political realities of ruling a kingdom took their toll. There were some very effective Kings who brought in eras of relative peace, such as Jaehaerys. |
| 73 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Not even the most vile of the Targaryens have ever practiced direct parent-child or grandparent-grandchild incest, or even considered the possibility of such. |
| 74 | * TheExile: Twice! Once from Valyria (they were the original lords of Dragonstone, now Stannis' seat), and then again from Westeros. |
| 75 | * FantasticScience: The Targaryens are surprisingly healthy and ''physically sound'' even after hundreds (if not thousands) of years of inbreeding, suggesting that there is a magical, unnatural aspect to their genetics. The norm is almost constant, save from a handful of individuals who have had deformities and feeble physiques; their state of mind is an entirely different aspect. |
| 76 | * FireIceDuo: With House Stark, obviously. The dragon riders, hailing from a now LethalLavaLand, whose words are "Fire and blood". On the other side, the Stark's, rulers of the northern half of the kingdom, whose ancestor build a Wall of ice and are generally tied with harsh winters. |
| 77 | * FeudingFamilies: |
| 78 | ** For most of its history, it had this with the Martells, their ArchEnemy who resisted them longest and inflicted the most humiliating defeats on House Targaryen, which led to Daeron I killed in Dorne, but a marriage alliance ended it. |
| 79 | ** For most of their history, they had good relations with the Baratheons, but that fractured when Prince Duncan broke a marriage alliance with Lyonel Baratheon's daughter. A relationship that did heal under Jaehaerys II and Aerys II (both of whom befriended Lyonel's son and grandson) but that ended when Aerys II, the Mad King, for no sane reason called for Robert's head alongside Ned's, simply because he was engaged to Lyanna Stark and co-ward with Ned. Indeed, Aerys II somehow managed to trigger a feud with three families (Stark, Baratheon, Lannister) at the same time, and had things went longer, would have undoubtedly pissed off the Martells (since he said his own granddaughter "smelt Dornish" and he blackmailed them into fighting for the Iron Throne by holding Elia Martell and her children hostage at the Red Keep). |
| 80 | ** And of course there are in-family feuds, between Maegor the Cruel and Jaehaerys I, the Blacks (Rhaenyra) and the Greens (Aegon II), Aegon IV and Daeron II, and of course the decades long feud between House Targaryen and the Cadet Branch of legitimized bastards, House Blackfyre. |
| 81 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 82 | ** Definitely the Fire to the Starks' Ice. |
| 83 | ** Targaryens are of Valyrian descent. Martells are Rhoynish descent. Both are in Westeros, even if their cultures are closer to the Essosi one. |
| 84 | ** Rich, screwed-up, full of pride, often cruel, and usually considered good-looking? House Lannister says hi. |
| 85 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: House Targaryen of Valyria were just one of countless minor houses in their original land. With the doom wiping all the other houses out, they grew from said minor noble house to conquerors of an entire continent and establishers of a centuries long dynasty. |
| 86 | * GenerationalMagicDecline: Originally, the Targaryens had an apogee of dragons and dragonriders by the time of the Dance of the Dragons, after which only a handful survived. Aegon III was then surprisingly unsuccessful in his efforts to both breed and raise new Targaryen dragons, leading to their total extinction during his reign. Since then no one has been able to successfully hatch a dragon for several generations... until Daenerys comes along and hatches three of them. |
| 87 | * GoingNative: Later Targaryens have tried phasing out their polygamous and incestuous practices with varying degrees of success. |
| 88 | * GovernmentInExile: Illyrio claimed as much and that the Targaryens still had friends in Westeros, even after having basically lost direct supporters in Essos over time. If he meant Varys, well... the one-man-subversive-governmental-cabal, [[MetaphoricallyTrue sure]]. [[spoiler: He could have been referring to much of Dorne: they seem to have had something going on between them all.]] |
| 89 | * HereditarySuicide: There's been at least four separate instances of suicidal Targaryens. The first was Gael, the youngest daughter of Jaehaerys I, who drowned herself after giving birth to a stillborn son. The second and third were Queen Helaena and her daughter, Queen Jaehaera, both of whom threw themselves from Maegor's Holdfast into the moat (unless you go with the unproven rumor they were pushed). Both had suffered depression and mental instability after going through severe trauma, possibly stemming from the same event: they both witnessed the murder of Jaehaerys, Helaena's eldest son and Jaehaera's twin brother. The fourth was Aelora, a granddaughter of Daeron II, who killed herself after being assaulted during a ball. |
| 90 | * HereditaryTwinhood: House Targaryen has had multiple cases of twins throughout the generations. If the propensity for twins has a genetic component, then the multiple cases of twins may be influenced by the Targaryens' RoyalInbreeding. |
| 91 | ** Prince Aegon Targaryen (son of King Aenys) and his sister-wife Princess Rhaena had twin daughters, Princess Aerea and Princess Rhaella, who were identical in looks but [[PolarOppositeTwins opposites in personality]]. Aerea and Rhaella both died without issue, although other members of the family (descended from Aenys' other children) continued to produce twins. |
| 92 | ** Prince Daemon Targaryen and Lady Laena Velaryon (the latter of whom was related to the Targaryens through her mother) had twin daughters, Lady Baela and Lady Rhaena, who looked identical as children, but became easier to tell apart as teenagers due to their differing personalities reflecting their appearances. Daemon's nephew King Aegon II and niece Queen Helaena had fraternal twins, Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera. Jaehaera was [[TroubledChild severely traumatized]] after witnessing her [[AngstySurvivingTwin twin brother's murder]]. Princess Elaena Targaryen, daughter of King Aegon III (who was Prince Daemon's son and Aegon II's nephew)[[note]]Aegon was [[TangledFamilyTree technically Daemon's great-nephew too]], as Aegon's mother Rhaenyra was Daemon's niece; Aegon II's father was Aegon III's grandfather[[/note]] had bastard twins, Jon Waters and Jeyne Waters, with her lover Alyn Velaryon. |
| 93 | ** King Aegon IV (grandson of Daemon) fathered two sets of twins; the only one who is named is Princess Daenerys (not the Mother of Dragons – who was named after her), although her brother was stillborn. Daemon Blackfyre, the bastard son of Aegon IV and Aegon III's daughter Princess Daena, had twin sons, Aegon Blackfyre and Aemon Blackfyre. Daemon Blackfyre's last known descendant, Maelys, was said to be a twin, but according to rumor ate his twin in the womb. Prince Rhaegel Targaryen, son of King Daeron II and Queen Myriah Martell and great-grandson of Aegon IV, had Prince Aelor and Princess Aelora with Lady Alys Arryn; the twins were [[{{Twincest}} wed to each other]], although Aelora went mad with grief after [[AccidentalMurder accidentally killing]] [[AngstySurvivingTwin Aelor]]. |
| 94 | * HesBack: 15 years after their post-Robert's Rebellion exile from Westeros, House Targaryen's last scion, Queen Daenerys I, is poised to reclaim the Iron Throne with a mighty army and three dragons in tow. |
| 95 | * HisOwnWorstEnemy: The most devastating and deadly wars in the history of the Targaryen reign, happened when Targaryens fought each other, or [[CreateYourOwnVillain made their own enemies]]. |
| 96 | ** This includes Maegor the Cruel being toppled down by a pan-Westeros alliance between House Tully, the Faith Militant, and Jaehaerys I, the Dance of the Dragons, and the Blackfyre Rebellion. And those are the occasions when Targaryens fought each other. |
| 97 | ** Even the good Targaryens, whether it's Aegon V or Prince Rhaegar, ended up being undone because of their actions, or their attempts, to act heroically. While Bloodraven, the bastard who was loyal to his family, was such a zealot at doing so, that he ultimately brought infamy and had to be shipped to the Wall to save face. |
| 98 | ** Daenerys in ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' has a long interior CharacterDevelopment about being afraid of going mad or worried about the power her dragons and her control over them could unleash. Ultimately, she decides "Dragons plant no trees". |
| 99 | * HistoryRepeats: Targaryens with the same or similar names tend to have one particular trait in common, though it's by no means a hard rule. |
| 100 | ** Aegon: We have three possibilities for this one. |
| 101 | *** '''[[SketchySuccessor Inadequate]].''' Every crowned Aegon after the first one has failed to live up to the standard the Conqueror set. Aegon II was a lazy, gluttonous womanizer, Aegon III was depressed and mopey, and Aegon IV was a horribly incompetent king and a FatBastard who slept with hundreds of women and caused a massive SuccessionCrisis for the lulz by legitimizing all his bastards on his deathbed. Aegon V tried harder to be a good king, bless him, but his pro-smallfolk reforms were quickly reversed by Tywin Lannister after his death. [[spoiler:Varys and the Golden Company are setting up Aegon VI to be the perfect prince and the founder of a new Targaryen dynasty, but what he's actually going to accomplish is still up to chance.]] |
| 102 | *** Or alternately, '''[[UnexpectedSuccessor Unexpected]],''' as ''every'' crowned Aegon wasn't expected to actually become king -- Aegon I obviously invaded Westeros and through various means ended up ruling six of the seven kingdoms, Aegon II was born ''after'' his half-sister Rhaenyra had already officially been declared their father's heir, Aegon III was the fourth of Rhaenyra's sons, Aegon IV was Viserys II's firstborn son but came after both his father and his cousins in the succession, and Aegon V was the fourth son ''of a fourth son'', meaning he was literally called 'Aegon the Unlikely'. [[spoiler:As for Aegon VI, everyone in Westeros understandably thought he was ''dead,'' so no one was anticipating that he would claim his family's throne.]] |
| 103 | *** Or maybe just straight up '''[[CosmicPlaything Cursed]]'''. Every member of the family beside the Conqueror himself either died in the cradle (Aegon, son of Jaehaerys I; Aegon, son of Baelon; Aegon, son of Rhaegar) or suffered later in his life: Aegon the Uncrowned was usurped and killed by Maegor the Cruel; Aegon II was severely burned by Rhaenys, becoming a cripple dependent on painkillers and eventually poisoned; Aegon III the Unlucky was traumatised young and never really recovered; Aegon IV spent his last years morbidly obese, plagued by [=STDs=] and possibly parasitical infections; and Aegon V died in the Summerhall with most of his family. Arguably, we could even add Aegon I who lost his beloved wife and wasn't able to even recover her body for the funeral. |
| 104 | ** Vis-: '''[[OvershadowedByAwesome Overshadowed]].''' Targaryens with "Vis-" as a prefix tend to find themselves in the shadows of their siblings or other relatives. Queen Visenya was the lesser loved sister-wife of King Aegon I, Prince Viserys was killed by Maegor at fifteen with his younger brother Jaehaerys becoming king instead, Princess Viserra's only accomplishment of note was dying in a drunken carriage race, King Viserys I came after Jaehaerys the Conciliator and set the stage for the Dance of the Dragons, and King Viserys II was a King's Hand to his brother and nephews for much longer than he was a king. And, of course, Viserys III is barely remembered next to his famous brother Rhaegar and gets crowned with molten gold for pissing off Khal Drogo, with his sister being the one to hatch three dragons and conquer the slavers' cities. |
| 105 | ** Bae-: '''[[UniversallyBelovedLeader Beloved]].''' Baelon, son of King Jaehaerys I, was known as "Baelon the Brave" and "the Spring Prince", Baela and her twin Rhaena were the darlings of King's Landing, King Baelor I was loved for his kindness towards the smallfolk, and Baelor Breakspear was TheAce as a warrior and his father's Hand, winning respect from many. |
| 106 | ** Rhae-: '''[[BornUnlucky Unlucky]].''' Queen Rhaenys was the first of her siblings to die, Rhaena was widowed three times and her young daughter died a horrible death, Princess Rhaenys was passed over in the Great Council of 101 AC and burnt to a crisp by Aegon II and Aemond One-Eye, Rhaenyra fought a bitter civil war against half her family trying to claim her father's crown and got eaten by her half-brother's dragon, Queen Rhaella was forced to marry a brother who never wanted her and later lost her kingdom and died in childbirth, Prince Rhaegar died at the Trident before he could become king, and his daughter Rhaenys was violently murdered when she was just a toddler. |
| 107 | ** Aemon: '''[[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Dutiful]].''' Although there hasn't yet been a King Aemon, every Prince Aemon has been a kind and selfless man who did his duty to the realm and loved his family deeply. Aemon, son of Jaehaerys I, was a great knight who was very close to his brother Baelon, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight was renowned for his chivalry and died defending his brother, and Maester Aemon loved his brother so much he joined the Night's Watch so no supporters could use him to challenge Aegon V's right to hold the crown. |
| 108 | ** Daenerys: '''[[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman Beautiful]].''' Every Daenerys has been said to be the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Daenerys, daughter of Jaehaerys I, Daenerys, sister of Daeron II, and Daenerys, the Mother of Dragons. |
| 109 | ** Mae-: '''[[TheDreaded Merciless]].''' Kings with this prefix are fierce, harsh, brutal, and not much loved. Maegor the Cruel became the most hated king in Westerosi history for the slaughters he committed, and although Maekar was much more reasonable (albeit stern, judgmental, and unforgiving), he was still called a kinslayer by many for accidentally killing his brother Baelor Breakspear. Maelys Blackfyre, though not a true Targaryen, was called "Maelys the Monstrous", and was also infamously brutal, winning command of the Golden Company by ripping off his cousin's head with his bare hands. Inverted in the case of little Maelor, who, instead of doling out brutal deaths, ''received'' one by being torn apart by a mob at the age of two. |
| 110 | ** Daemon: '''[[AmbitionIsEvil Ambitious]].''' Prince Daemon Targaryen wanted more than anything to be a king, fighting hard in the Dance of the Dragons for him and his wife's right to claim the Iron Throne. Daemon Blackfyre (and his son and grandson after him, Daemons II and III) would follow in his footsteps, trying to wrest the crown from his trueborn brother Daeron. |
| 111 | * HotBlooded: As a general rule, Targaryens are extremely passionate and high-tempered, regardless of their individual baseline sanity levels. |
| 112 | * IdealIllnessImmunity: |
| 113 | ** Viserys claimed that Targaryens had this, and Dany believes him enough to personally attend to the ill in Meereen with no fear of infection. Of course, several historical Targs are stated to have died from disease, so maybe it doesn't extend to all of them (evidently, it's only a few of them can hatch dragon eggs, after all). And, of course, this clearly does not extend to ''mental'' illnesses. |
| 114 | ** Historically Jahaerys and Alysanne insisted on the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, a belief that justified Targaryen incest by claiming Targaryens were different from other humans in a number of ways, including immunity to disease. They were proven wrong on that with the deaths of several of their children by disease. |
| 115 | * InTheBlood: Though there are two sides to this coin. It is said that some Targaryens shine with the family greatness, while others are stark raving mad. The vast majority actually are, despite popular belief, simply middling ones who somehow tend to get forgotten by most for existing as neither particularly great, nor utterly bonkers. They usually get to live with massive confidence issues worrying about when/if one or both of those shoes is going to drop on them, though. |
| 116 | ** Though they mostly relied on incest for practical purposes, there are members of the family whose preference tended to incest regardless. Aegon V was engaged to a sister when he was young, even when the family had veered against the practice at that point (he later denounced it); his own son Jaehaerys married his sister much against Aegon's wishes. |
| 117 | * ItsOkayIfItsYou: After marrying his sister, Jaehaerys I created the Doctrine of Exceptionalism to avoid the issues his father and older brother faced from the Faith of the Seven. The Doctrine states that the Father made Valyrians different than the Andals, using their unique physical traits and ability to tame dragons as proof, and that this makes them exempt from being judged by the Faith for their incestuous practices. |
| 118 | * KingBobTheNth: Aegon is the most popular Targaryen name. Jaehaerys, Viserys, and Daeron come a close second. |
| 119 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: Despite their arrogance and even when they had dragons there were a few things that even the Targaryens feared and would prefer to avoid: |
| 120 | ** The Faceless Men, as shown when there were tensions between Jaehaerys Targaryen and the Sealord of Braavos over three dragon eggs that were stolen by Elissa Farman which she sold in Braavos. When Jaehaerys threatened Braavos with dragonfire, the Sealord admitted that he couldn't stop the dragons but said that he would hire the Faceless Men to kill the Targaryens as a response if this happened. This caused Jaehaerys to back down and to become more conciliating in his negotiations with the Sealord, though he still subtly threatened him with the consequences of what will happen should the dragons hatch. |
| 121 | ** Valyria, which the Targaryens have avoided to go ever since their departure to Dragonstone. After Aera Targaryen and Balerion the Black returned to King's Landing in a very bad state, with Balerion being badly wounded and Aera terminally ill with horrific worm-like creatures in her body; Jaehaerys, after concluding with Septon Barth that Balerion had taken Aera to his birthplace, made an edict forbidding everyone in the realm from ever going to Valyria and any ship suspected from having sailed here to land in any port or harbor in the Seven Kingdoms. |
| 122 | * LastOfHisKind: They are the last extant line of Valyrian dragonlords; however, they are not the last Valyrians ''per se''. |
| 123 | * TheMadnessPlace: Both Targaryens and Blackfyres might as well have changed their names to "House Madness Place" and quit the feud before it went nuclear. What fuels the special? That might very well be various forms of episodic, high-functioning, trance- or dream-like madness with resulting access to alternative thought-patterns. This can even be present in the brilliant Targaryens, which could explain why the wheels fall off so much on those who can't keep their grips on their entries and exits into and from their individual forms of this as they go along. The general belief about Targaryens is that it's hard to tell the difference between the great and the mad ones since madness and greatness are so close to each other. |
| 124 | * TheMagnificent: "The Dragon" is the greatest nickname for a Targaryen. Aegon I, Daeron I the Young Dragon, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and Daenerys the "Mother of Dragons" deservedly carry this moniker. Subverted by Aegon III the Dragonbane and Prince Viserys who called himself The Dragon but whom Jorah Mormont described as being "less than the shadow of a snake". |
| 125 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: On the one hand, "Targaryen madness" might stem from the [[DreamingOfThingsToCome semi-prophetic dragon dreams]] they get. On the other, it might simply be the result of congenital conditions getting amplified through constant inbreeding. In any case, the victims are not exactly helped by the fact that Targaryens are essentially taught from birth that they're members of a superior class of people. |
| 126 | ** Their capacity to bind and hatch dragons might have had to do with their incestuous practices. Their bloodline might have diluted by adding the Velaryons and the Arryns to the mix, although the Velaryons were also a Valyrian House and said Arryn had a Targaryen mother. As is stated by Maester Gyldayn, the dragon's link to the Targaryens was a given by the time of the Dance of the Dragons and the link to other dragonriders was hit-or-miss, so the secret to hatch and bind might had been lost even as early as that or even earlier. |
| 127 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 128 | ** "Rhaen" is a common female Targaryen name prefix. It also sounds like the Latin "Rein", which means queen. |
| 129 | ** "Vis" sounds a lot like "Vice" meaning placeholder. Targaryens named Viserys and Visenya tend to be overshadowed by someone greater. |
| 130 | * TheMissingFaction: Though by no means the last Valyrian survivors, House Targaryen were conspicuously the last extant Valyrian dragonlords. Whatever other dragonlords that survived the Doom died and disappeared shortly thereafter, leaving the Targaryens on their own. This has overtones of TheProphecy and even hints of foul play, but any defining circumstances surrounding the Doom went up in flames and are lost in time. |
| 131 | * MysticalWhiteHair: While white hair naturally exists in this universe as a mark of Valyrian heritage, it's very rare in Westeros. The fact that Targaryens are one of the few families (others being the Daynes and the Velaryons) that have them only contribute to their rare beauty. It helps that it's only stayed in their line for so long due to deliberate inbreeding and restricting the official outcrossing mainly to the Velaryons and the Martells (who have it as a ''very'' rare recessive trait as a result of a Targaryen marrying into the line). |
| 132 | ** It should be noted that not a single Targaryen of different colored hair has ever claimed the throne. The two who came close met with quirky fates. Baelor Breakspear, son of Daeron II and Myriah Martell had dark hair ([[spoiler:he died in a tourney in an accident]]) and then Prince Duncan Targaryen, black-haired eldest son of Aegon V and Betha Blackwood chose to AbdicateTheThrone to marry the commoner Jenny of Oldstones, clearing the way for the more traditional Jaehaerys II. |
| 133 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 134 | ** Like the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, the Valyrian Targaryens ruled a land they have no real cultural or ethnic claim to, nor relation with. Both have a long-running practice of wedding siblings to each other. The last Ptolemaic ruler was Cleopatra, who ditching the brother she was supposed to marry and co-rule with, and went abroad to Rome to get support and power to enable her to reign. Hmmm, which Targaryen queen is doing a similar thing now... |
| 135 | ** They are also similar to the semi-legendary Tarquinius family, the ancient kings of early Rome, down to similar-sounding names. Both were overthrown in reaction to a tyrannical King's son's actions with a noblewoman (in the case of Sextus Tarquinus he raped her, in Rhaegar's case it is.... unclear whether Lyanna consented). The Tarquins were, like the Targaryens, not native to the place they ruled, being Etruscans. |
| 136 | ** Their overall inspiration is UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet, the longest ruling dynasty of England, from which Targaryen derives its name (Plan''tagenets''), while its dragon motif echoes their famous nickname (the "devil's brood"). |
| 137 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: Before the Doom of Valyria, the Targaryens were one family of dragon riders among many, and not even a particularly powerful or noteworthy one. Afterward, however, they became the ''only'' dragon riders of note left in the world, allowing Aegon the Conqueror to make his conquests virtually unopposed by any rival. |
| 138 | * NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: The Targaryens were thought to be immune to disease that killed normal men, until Princess Daenerys, daughter of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, was killed by the Shivers plague. |
| 139 | * OppositesAttract: {{Invoked}} by the obvious "ice and fire" theme. House Targaryen shares a connection with House Stark that remains unfulfilled. The Starks are the ice to the Targaryen fire, and there is an implied power to be had from this union in the same degree that there's a connection between the Free Men and the Valyrians. The most significant connection between the latter two races of men comes with the birth of Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, a tremendously powerful and influential individual that came from the union of House Targaryen (Valyrians) and House Blackwood (First Men). |
| 140 | ** The first time the Targaryen-Stark connection came close to fruition was through the "Pact of Ice and Fire", a deal to marry a Targaryen princess with a Stark boy, which fell through due to the high casualties of the Targaryen Royal Family during the Dance of the Dragons. |
| 141 | ** The other time has been the rather [[LoveRuinsTheRealm infamous liaison]] between Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, whatever the nature of their relationship was ( [[AbductionIsLove kidnapping]] or [[{{Elopement}} elopement]] ) and their union [[spoiler:[[EpilepticTrees has been speculated for years]] to have led to the conception of a son, Jon Snow]]. |
| 142 | * OurElvesAreDifferent: [[InhumanlyBeautifulRace Unnaturally beautiful?]] Coming from a mythical land now lost? Affinity with magic? [[MysticalWhiteHair White-haired]] and [[TechnicolorEyes purple-eyed]]? Check, check, and check. Add pointy ears and they're the closest thing Westeros has to a typical race of standard fantasy High Elves. |
| 143 | * PeopleOfHairColor: The Targaryens almost always have silver hair, which is traditionally one of their main identifying traits; although past generations (when the gene pool was larger and there was some intermarriage with other families) did have the occasional light brunette. |
| 144 | * ThePowerOfBlood: Invoked. It's implied to be the key to their dragon hatching and binding, and one of the possible reasons why they kept incestuous relationships as to not lose this ability. They eventually did lose it with no reason, but after hundreds of years of failed attempts, Daenerys Targaryen was just as inexplicably able to hatch dragon eggs. |
| 145 | * PlayingWithFire: Several Targaryens have used burning alive as a method to dispatch their enemies, the earlier ones used their dragons, whilst Aerys II had a thing for wildfire. Although the idea that the Targaryens are immune to fire themselves is a fallacy, they do have a high tolerance for heat; at least two Targaryens, Daenerys and Egg, are stated to enjoy scalding hot baths. |
| 146 | * PlotTriggeringDeath: Most of the story wouldn't have turned out this way if Rhaegar didn't die. |
| 147 | * {{Pride}}: Their defining personality characteristic as a family, and for many their FatalFlaw, is an ''immense'' pride in the fact that they are the last survivors of the Valyrian dragon riders. Even long after they lose the dragons that their reign was originally founded upon, they still often act like they're above the laws of gods and men. Various Targaryens' inability to swallow their pride has often led directly to their deaths, ruined the lives of many others caught in the fallout, and eventually cost them the Iron Throne itself. |
| 148 | * RagTagBunchOfMisfits: The current Targaryens are this out of necessity. |
| 149 | ** Daenerys Targaryen's group has consisted of an exiled knight from The North, Dothraki loyalists, a legendary Kingsguard, a Meereenese pit fighter, an intuitive child slave from Astapor, a flamboyant Tyroshi sellsword, an army of eunuch soldiers and several mercenary companies, as well as droves of devoted followers after her anti-slavery revolution in Slaver's Bay. And should Daenerys live through the rest of the books, she will likely gather many more to her cause. |
| 150 | ** [[spoiler:The alleged Aegon Targaryen VI's group consists of an exiled Stormlands lord, a former student at the Citadel who never officially became a maester, a mysterious Westerosi septa, a lowborn hedge knight, and the Blackfyres' Golden Company from Essos (which is itself a Rag-Tag Bunch Of Misfits with Blackfyre leanings and loyalties from its founding days). Ragtag? Doesn't do it justice.]] |
| 151 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Their house colors are red and black, representing the color of the scales of Balerion the Black Dread as well as their potential for great passion and total darkness. |
| 152 | * TheRemnant: Of the Valyrian dragonlords. And the Remnant of Remnants for the modern ones. |
| 153 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: Aerys may have been quite right about somebody actively moving against specifically him, but more generally the entire family, in a complex and convoluted plot that he thought only he could see, if Maester Marwyn is correct that there is a Citadel bloc actively working against magic and dragons. Shame Aerys never worked out the sheer enormity of any likely threat. Or the fact that neither Tywin nor Rhaegar were directly involved in it -- at first (his actions kind of made them have to take steps to counter the worst of his moves as he jumped off the slope). Nor the many others his paranoia pointed him at. He should have paid more attention to Oldtown and those connected to it. Including Maester Pycelle. Makes you ask questions about some of the so-called mad, unexplained actions other Targaryens have taken against the Faith, the Citadel, the Hightowers, and Oldtown over the years. They might not have been as without cause as they look on the surface -- and, keep in mind who recorded that they were nuts. |
| 154 | * RoyalInbreeding: Often between brother and sister, but if that could not be arranged, they married cousins. In fact, in three hundred years there were only ''ten'' cases of sibling marriage. There were also a few uncle/niece and aunt/nephew couples. |
| 155 | ** As per ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', incest was slowly discouraged in-between. Aegon the Unworthy's marriage to his sister Naerys was the last case of royal incest until Jaehaerys II revived it nearly a hundred years later. In-between Targaryens married Dornish families, the Martells (Daeron II married Mariah Martell), and the Daynes (Maekar I married Dyanna Dayne), while Aegon V married Betha Blackwood from the Riverlands. Aerion did marry a first cousin but this is not considered incestuous in Westeros. Aegon V was especially keen on ending incest for good and was supremely disappointed at his son's actions, while Jaehaerys II later forced his own children Aerys and Rhaella to marry against their wishes. |
| 156 | * RoyallyScrewedUp: The trouble with Targaryen princes is that it isn't always clear if (or, more importantly, ''when'') a potential king will become TheCaligula, since "madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin". They can start out as charismatic little [[TheAce Aces]], to trade all that in for [[AxCrazy Axes]] down the line. The line has produced many able warriors, statesmen, and scholars as well as a rogue's gallery of tyrants and psychopaths. Some Targaryens begin quite noble and lose their grip on sanity as they age, such as King Aerys II -- by the end of his reign, he was known as King Aerys the Mad, and in the end his excesses sparked a revolt that toppled the dynasty. Sometimes this madness is either caused or exacerbated [[DrivenToMadness by outside influences and circumstances]], but other times, there's simply no other excuse besides the rampant inbreeding. |
| 157 | ** By the way, if we have to take a look at the family tree, there aren't so many maniacs as one would think: |
| 158 | -->• Aegon I -- Perfectly normal,\ |
| 159 | • his son Aenys I -- Fairly normal, if a bit WeakWilled,\ |
| 160 | • his half-brother Maegor I -- Psychopathic murderer,\ |
| 161 | • his nephew Jaehaerys I -- Best king Westeros ever had,\ |
| 162 | • his grandson Viserys I -- Aside from not clearing up his line of succession quite normal,\ |
| 163 | • his son Aegon II -- Paranoid and WeakWilled,\ |
| 164 | • his half-sister Rhaenyra I -- Started out well, but Aegon II usurping her throne, multiple betrayals, and the loss of her sons turned her paranoid and ruthless,\ |
| 165 | • her son Aegon III -- Depression, but stemming from watching his mother be devoured by a dragon rather than genetics,\ |
| 166 | • his son Daeron I -- Became king far too young but not actually crazy,\ |
| 167 | • his brother Baelor I -- Religious fanatic but nonetheless loved,\ |
| 168 | • his uncle Viserys II -- Kept his nephews from imploding the realm during their reigns, but died before he could finish the job as king himself,\ |
| 169 | • his son Aegon IV -- Corrupt, selfish, hedonistic, and a complete asshole, but not strictly ''insane'',\ |
| 170 | • his son Daeron II -- Second best king Westeros ever had,\ |
| 171 | • his son Aerys I -- Obsessed with books to the exclusion of all else, including having children,\ |
| 172 | • his brother Maekar I -- As stern, harsh, and unyielding as his great-great-grandson Stannis and even more unpopular but again not crazy,\ |
| 173 | • his son Aegon V -- Sane aside from maybe the Summerhall incident and well-known for his kindness to the smallfolk,\ |
| 174 | • his son Jaehaerys II -- Often considered weak due to his poor health and short reign but thought well of by anyone who actually knew him,\ |
| 175 | • and his son Aerys II -- Psychopathic pyromaniac. |
| 176 | ** That's only three crazy kings, two borderline crazy kings, one borderline crazy ''queen'', and one horribly incompetent one out of the seventeen monarchs. If you want to count the Targaryens who never became kings, only Rhaegal (brother of Aerys I and Maekar), Aerion (brother of Aegon V), and maybe Viserys (brother of Daenerys) were crazy. When you put it like that, it seems less like a Targaryen trait and more like random chance. Though it has to be remembered that the Targaryen's weren't always consistent about inbreeding, partly because they didn't always have siblings and cousins to pair off. But sometimes a Targaryen's potential madness can be explained by factors outside of incest (such as Maegor). |
| 177 | * RoyaltySuperpower: Well, the whole RoyalBlood thing's not without some compensation: to hope to control dragons and benefit from a link to fire magic in general, you need the blood of old Valyria. Some seem to inherit the various aspects of it more than others. Some seem to suffer for it, too. |
| 178 | * RuleOfThree: Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters, [[ArcWords the dragon's three heads]], Baelor the Blessed imprisoning his three sisters in the Maidenvault, the three times Maester Aemon's vows to the Order and the Night's Watch were tested, the three Kingsguard knights who guarded the Tower of Joy, the three mounts Dany must ride, the three betrayals she will suffer and finally, [[spoiler: The three eyed crow]]. |
| 179 | * RulingFamilyMassacre: |
| 180 | ** They were nearly wiped out during Robert's Rebellion. Rhaegar was killed in battle by Robert Baratheon. Aerys, Elia, and Rhaegar's children were killed by the Lannisters during the Sack of King's Landing. Rhaella and Viserys were the only survivors, but Rhaella soon died giving birth to Daenerys. |
| 181 | ** During the War of Conquest, Aegon inflicted this on House Hoare (burned alive in their castle Harrenhal) and House Gardner (burned alive on the Field of Fire). |
| 182 | * TheScottishTrope: All of the Aegons who followed the Conqueror met horrific ends. Frankly, it's a wonder that no one has stopped to ponder the possibility that the name might be cursed. Needless to say, this does not bode well for Young Griff. |
| 183 | ** Having "rhae" as a prominent component of your name also seems to be inviting the world to kick you, yet it remains popular. |
| 184 | * ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: They were able to retain their tradition of incest in the face of disapproving Westerosi by virtue of being the ruling family. |
| 185 | * SigilSpam: Targaryen dragons were on everything. The towers of Dragonstone castle were even shaped like dragons which contributed to its fearsome yet bizarre appearance. |
| 186 | * SpareToTheThrone: Several instances, but in particular there's an odd little pattern that arises when you look at all the different Aegons. No king named Aegon after the first one began their life as the heir apparent.[[note]]The two that came the closest were Aegon II and Aegon IV. Aegon II was his father Viserys I's oldest surviving son, but Viserys had declared Aegon's older sister Rhaenyra to be the legal heir years before, which meant his right to the throne [[SuccessionCrisis was contested]]. Aegon IV was Viserys II's oldest son and heir, but was born during Aegon III's reign; had Daeron or Baelor had any sons of their own, they would have come before Viserys and Aegon in the succession.[[/note]] The only two princes named Aegon that had clear shots at the Iron Throne -- the oldest sons of King Aenys and Crown Prince Rhaegar -- both met sticky ends at the hands of usurpers before they ever had a chance to be crowned. [[spoiler:Whether the current claimant to Aegon VI's identity ends up reinforcing the pattern or breaking it hinges on both his actual identity and his ability to get himself recognized and crowned as the rightful, lawful, unchallenged King.]] |
| 187 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: They all tend to look fairly similar due to the frequent inbreeding. |
| 188 | * SuccessionCrisis: Several times. While the Dance was the most famous example, a mini-crisis already took place when Maegor usurped the throne from Aenys' heir after Aenys' death. This took place a mere ''five'' years after the Dragon himself passed away. |
| 189 | * TooCleverByHalf: Targaryens are expected to be daring and ambitious as a matter of course, and most of the more infamous ones tend to be at least intelligent enough to get themselves into some real trouble with their ambitions. This probably contributes at least somewhat to the "coin flip of the gods" phenomenon; whether it's truly InTheBlood is an interesting little chicken-and-egg dilemma. |
| 190 | * TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: In official proclamations or when a King is introduced. To wit: (Insert name) Targaryen, the Nth of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. |
| 191 | * UncannyFamilyResemblance: They have a strong tendency to look very alike. Sure, some will get compared more to, say, a grandparent or aunt/uncle than to either parent, but, in reality, even the ones who somehow ''don't'' get hit with the classic hair-and-eyes will still have more than a few other features in common with those who do. Short and stocky with barrel chests, for example, isn't very Targaryen; trim, long-limbed mediums and above need only apply (unless you either starve or glutton yourself regularly, that is). It's all the inbreeding. |
| 192 | * TheUnreveal: |
| 193 | ** While it's known why the Targaryens were spared from the Doom of Valyria, it hasn't been revealed why other Valyrian dragonlords didn't; even the scattered few that survived did so for a considerably short time. |
| 194 | ** Having participated in a war to extinguish the imperial pretensions of Volantis, Aegon the Conqueror turned his sights toward Westeros. It's not known why he did this in the first place or why he refrained from pursuing conquests in Essos, though participating in said war gives some credence on the respect he had towards the system that the Free Cities achieved after the Doom and the potential that the multiple kingdoms in Westeros were wasting due to relatively petty skirmishes, leading to his unification efforts. |
| 195 | ** It's not entirely clear why the Targaryen dragon cache died out or why they were unsuccessful in hatching new dragons after the mass casualties of the Dance of the Dragons. |
| 196 | ** In the same measure, it hasn't been revealed (yet) why, among all people and multiple attempts, Daenerys Targaryen was able to hatch her dragon eggs after hundreds of years. |
| 197 | * TheUsurper: The family took the rule of Westeros by defeating the majority of the ruling kings already in Westeros. The surviving members of the family consider the Baratheons to be usurpers for doing [[{{Hypocrite}} the same thing.]] Not to mention their particularly bad habit of usurping ''each other'', which led to multiple mass casualty events in the family. |
| 198 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: The dynasty of the dragonlords began with one Baratheon as the first Targaryen king's Hand and purported bastard half-brother, and ended with another Baratheon overthrowing a mad Targaryen tyrant. |
| 199 | * WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs: The Targaryens are incestuous dragon-riding conquerors with a gift for self-destruction and mental illness. But, that is only a fraction of their legacy. |
| 200 | ** They unified the disparate cultures of Westeros into a single realm, codified most laws across said realm and put an initially dragon-enforced muzzle on much rampaging interfaith, intercultural, and inter-House prejudices at the downright acceptable price of the occasional SuccessionCrisis rather than constantly reigniting Wall-to-Dorne wars; they abolished the abhorrent practice of DroitDuSeigneur; they built King's Landing and the Kingsroad to facilitate and monitor trade and communication routes; they founded the Kingsguard as symbol for meritocracy as well as a symbol of unity; they disarmed the Faith Militant and put the Faith of the Seven on a leash by separating Faith (Oldtown; the ex-political capital and current cultural capital of most of the Andel parts of the Kingdom) and State (King's Landing; the political capital of ''all'' of the combined Kingdom, Andel, First Man and Ironborn, thank you very much) so religious fanaticism wouldn't end up in genocides; and, last, but not least, they put a damper on Ironborn raids on the Western shores by securing, connecting, and facilitating the funding for naval ports across the Kingdom (the Iron Bank generally rather enjoyed the relative predictability and dependability of the Targaryens vs the mess before and after them). Not all bad, huh? |
| 201 | ** The likes of Aegon V even instituted reforms that gave smallfolk rights. Tywin Lannister, largely has his [[WrittenByTheWinners "reputation" among]] [[AristocratsAreEvil nobles for deleting these same reforms]]. Since the toppling of the Targaryens, one can see Westeros stagnating or proceeding in a reactionary direction. The Rebellion and the SuccessionCrisis that followed either want to keep the status quo but with a new dynasty (the Lannisters) [[MeetTheNewBoss becoming the new Targaryens]], or in the case of Robb Stark restore pre-Targaryen titles, while Cersei has managed to revive the Faith Militant. Seen in this light, [[spoiler:one can't blame Varys for wanting to bring the Targaryens back to Westeros via his "perfect prince"]]. |
| 202 | ** Stannis Baratheon, a descendant of Aegon the Conqueror, is unique among the Rebellion and the Five Kings for appreciating the Targaryens role in Westerosi history and for showing the same reformist bent. |
| 203 | -->'''Stannis Baratheon:''' This talk of Seven Kingdoms is a folly. Aegon saw that three hundred years ago when he stood where we are standing. They painted this table at his command. Rivers and bays they painted, hills and mountains, castles and cities and market towns, lakes and swamps and forests... but no borders. It is all one. One realm, for one king to rule alone. |
| 204 | -->'''Ser Davos Seaworth:''' One King means peace. |
| 205 | * WhiteHairBlackHeart: ''Some'' of their members, most recently Aerys the Mad. Of course, it has magical connotations, too. |
| 206 | * XtremeKoolLetterz: The Targaryens historically have lots of Y's and AE's in their names. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | !!!Court of Aerys II |
| 210 | |
| 211 | [[folder:Aerys II]] |
| 212 | !!King Aerys Targaryen, the Second of His Name; r. 262-283 |
| 213 | !!!The Mad King, Aerys the Mad, King Scab |
| 214 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/095dcd0e34bfa20869a34562de162c70.png]] |
| 215 | -->''"The traitors want my city ... but I’ll give them naught but ashes. Let Robert be king over charred bones and cooked meat."'' |
| 216 | |
| 217 | The king of Westeros during Robert's Rebellion, and the last Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne. Son of Jaehaerys II and his sister-wife Shaera, he was forcibly married by Jaehaerys to his own sister Rhaella, with whom he had three (surviving) children: Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys. He was known as "Aerys the Mad" behind his back due to becoming increasingly insane in the latter years of his rule. Though served ably by Tywin Lannister as Hand of the King, Aerys nonetheless managed to destabilize his own kingdom, eventually leading to Robert's Rebellion and his own death. |
| 218 | |
| 219 | Aerys was by all accounts sane during the early years of his reign, his later mental illness likely a consequence of generations of Targaryen inbreeding. He wore the elaborate dragon-emblazoned crown of Aegon IV. |
| 220 | ---- |
| 221 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: He was ''the'' most hated of all the Targaryen kings in recent memory. By the end of his reign, all the high lords either hated him enough to take him down, or did as little as possible to support the Targaryens while waiting to see if ''Rhaegar'' would prevail. The only other king to be as unpopular as him was Maegor "the Cruel", who could get away with his unpopularity thanks to having dragons. [[PlayedWith That said]], during Gregor Clegane's rampage through the crownlands, Arya forgets herself and asks an elderly prisoner to elaborate when he claims to miss the "old king", assuming it to be Robert. It's Aerys, "gods grace him", whom the old man claims would never have stood for the Mountain's atrocities. At the very least, it seems that, apart from palace servants, the smallfolk suffered at Aerys' hands far less than the highborn did, since they were less likely to be directly in the path of his predilection for human bonfires. |
| 222 | * AbhorrentAdmirer: To Joanna Lannister. He never stopped hitting on her and making lewd jokes in her presence, and even took advantage of the traditional bedding ceremony[[note]]as part of the wedding female guests undress the groom while male guests undress the bride[[/note]] to feel her up in Tywin's presence ''at his own wedding''. One time, he upset Joanna so much that Tywin turned in his badge, only for Aerys to make an apology. |
| 223 | * ArchnemesisDad: As a result of his [[SanitySlippage paranoia]], he grew envious of his overtly popular [[TheAce heir]] and antagonized him in every possible way. This, with his terrible skill at ruling and increasingly uncontrollable madness may have something to do with his [[CreateYourOwnVillain son's rumored planning of deposing him]]. |
| 224 | * AristocratsAreEvil: The very embodiment. However, it is debatable how culpable he is for his actions given his fragile grip on reality and increasingly deranged delusions. Certainly in his later actions. |
| 225 | * AxCrazy: This guy basically oozed crazy. Apart from having people burned alive for his amusement, he was extremely paranoid and inconstant; he suspected everyone of trying to kill him and could [[MoodSwinger rapidly switch emotions three or more times in the space of a few sentences]]. |
| 226 | * AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Even as a young man, keeping Aerys focused on one thing at a time was somewhat of an uphill struggle. Which helps explain why Aerys could get along with Tywin back then. [[{{Foil}} Prince Airy Dandelion Fluff rather needed somebody like Ser Laser-Focused Seriousness in his life]]. The good news was that any hare-brained scheme was likely to be forgotten (or quietly shunted to one side and ''then'' forgotten) just as quickly as the latest fad to hit King's Landing's markets. Certainly by the time Duskendale came around, however, Aerys' ''relatively'' harmless inconsistency had converted itself into full-blown (and incredibly dangerous) AxCrazy, instead. |
| 227 | * AwfulWeddedLife: His marriage to Rhaella, which neither of them wanted in the first place, was loveless and fraught with tension, cheating, and domestic abuse. |
| 228 | * BadBoss: On a good day, he'd just find a way to ''dramatically'' complicate your work life. On a bad... well... [[KillItWithFire you'd die warm, at least]]. |
| 229 | * BaitTheDog: Despite their unhappy marriage, after Rhaella suffered a string of stillbirths and miscarriages, Aerys did his best to try and comfort his wife in her grief... until he became convinced the children had all died because they weren't his, and had Rhaella watched at all times so he could be certain she wasn't cheating on him. |
| 230 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He wanted someone to help put an end to Robert's Rebellion. Tywin Lannister did just that... in a way. |
| 231 | * BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Aerys' descent into Mad King territory began after the Defiance Of Duskendale, when he was held prisoner and tortured for six months by Lord Denys Darklyn. When he was rescued by Barristan Selmy, any shred of sanity or compassion he had was long gone. |
| 232 | * BringMyBrownPants: Jaime remembers how Aerys soiled himself when he realized what Jaime was about to do to him. OhCrap indeed. |
| 233 | * BrotherSisterIncest: He reluctantly married his sister Rhaella, as per Targaryen tradition. |
| 234 | * TheButcher: He was quite fond of having people maimed or put to death, often in [[{{Sadist}} excessive fashions]] -- burning was his favorite standby, but he was perfectly happy to get creative if the occasion called for it. [[spoiler:Jaime Lannister reveals that Aerys planned to burn King's Landing rather than allow Robert to take the city after Robert defeated Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, which is the reason Jaime decided to kill Aerys.]] |
| 235 | * TheCaligula: He was called "''King Aerys the Mad''", or just "''the Mad King''", among other things. As a young King, he was an essentially harmless version, coming up with impractical but grandiloquent plans, calling himself Aerys the Wise, extorting sexual favors and being a sleaze. He then went full AxCrazy after the Defiance of Duskendale, and became a capricious, cruel, and unstable tyrant. |
| 236 | * CreateYourOwnVillain: To be perfectly truthful, almost[[note]]to be fair to Aerys, the Defiance of Duskendale happened solely because Lord Denys Darklyn didn't want to keep paying taxes, as Duskendale's wealth was dwindling as King's Landing grew, and it was Tywin rather than Aerys who refused him, leading to his ill-fated abduction of Aerys[[/note]] nobody ever fought against Aerys without a laundry list of honestly acquired grievances racked up over months or years, despite his protestations of their treason being either unfounded or nefarious in nature: |
| 237 | ** "TheUsurper and his dogs", as Aerys's children, [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Viserys and Dany]], call Robert, Ned and Jon Arryn, never once opposed the Targaryen family, even after Rhaegar had kidnapped Lyanna and Aerys killed Elbert Arryn (Jon's nephew and heir) and other companions of Brandon Stark. It took Aerys cruelly murdering Rickard and Brandon, and then calling for Ned and Robert's innocent heads, for them to decide that ThisMeansWar. |
| 238 | ** Tywin Lannister served Aerys for twenty years, withstood the constant humiliation of Aerys creeping on his wife and indulging in petty insults, and even stood silent as Aerys insultingly called him "a servant" and denied a match between Rhaegar and Cersei in favor of Elia Martell. Then Aerys nominated Jaime Lannister to the Kingsguard, denying him his preferred heir and making Jaime a potential hostage. When the rebellion was underway, Aerys II still had [[EntitledBastard the nerve]] to hold out for Tywin to come to his aid. Instead Tywin came forth to enact a KingmakerScenario in favor of Robert. |
| 239 | * DamnedByFaintPraise: The nicest thing that Barristan Selmy can think to say about him is "He could be very harsh to those he thought his enemies," which is the nice way of saying he was a mad tyrant who burned people alive for shits and giggles. |
| 240 | * DeadGuyJunior: He was likely named after his great-granduncle Aerys I. |
| 241 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: He's one for the classic fantasy EvilOverlord: |
| 242 | ** There's his penchant for invoking CruelAndUnusualDeath and KickTheDog, being a BadBoss who ignores good advice, his grandiose impractical schemes, being an OrcusOnHisThrone and a NonActionBigBad who tended to invoke YouHaveFailedMe to his underlings and try and force people to help him by invoking IHaveYourWife (Jaime for Tywin, and Elia and her children for the Martells). He ticks nearly all the things to avoid in the EvilOverlord list and he pays for making those mistakes. Aside from PsychosForHire like his pyromancers, no one will willingly serve him, so he has very few competent supporters who can win his war for him and zero public support. When he decides to burn King's Landing to the ground, his bodyguard, who was having doubts about his vocation to start with, in large part due to being privy to Aerys' various depravities, decides that he'll be TheKingslayer instead. Likewise, the former HypercompetentSidekick Tywin who he kept abusing and humiliating throughout his tenure decides he'd rather be TheStarscream and parley his actions for a plum position in the new government. |
| 243 | ** Likewise, he's also one for the BigBad. In Robert's Rebellion, Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark and Jon Arryn were the three heroes, the good guys in a relatively more straightforward conflict than the later wars in Westeros. Unlike other fantasy stories, there's no final battle and he dies ignominiously by being HoistByHisOwnPetard. Once the heroes win, they have to deal with the fact that Aerys was the last king of a nearly 300-year-old dynasty and trying to put someone new in that place, creating new alliances and making the new dynasty legitimately acceptable to people in a power vacuum is pretty hard. It turns out that a BigBad doesn't really serve as a ConflictKiller for other social and political issues, or at least not in the long run. |
| 244 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: |
| 245 | ** According to ''A World of Ice and Fire'', he appointed Jaime to the Kingsguard as an insult to Tywin by denying him his preferred heir. It only occurred to Aerys after he had sworn Jaime in that this means the favorite son of a man he hates is going to be at his side, heavily armed, for the rest of his life. He reportedly spent much of the night after he named Jaime a Kingsguard panicking. |
| 246 | ** After Duskendale, Aerys refused to leave the walls of the Red Keep. The only time he did was for the Tourney at Harrenhal, which he suspected had been set up only to drum up support for Rhaegar, his own son, to overthrow him. From the writing of "The World of Ice and Fire", the writings of Grand Maester Pycelle suggest he hoped his presence there would frighten the "conspirators" and thought his presence at the tourney would win back the love of his people. Unfortunately, by this point Aerys was thin and gaunt due to his fear of poisoning, his hair and beard were long, tangled and unwashed, his nails long (up to nine inches) and yellow, and he went from silent to joyful to weeping to furious in seconds, showing everyone how far he had fallen. |
| 247 | * DirtyCoward: Despite indulging in SuicidalOverconfidence as a younger man, Aerys is most known as a craven little worm, petrified by enemies both real and (mostly) imagined. It was only when he was surrounded by his guards and secure in the Red Keep that he acted tough. The second Jaime turned on him, he shit himself and tried to run away. |
| 248 | * DomesticAbuse: He regularly beat his sister-wife Rhaella. |
| 249 | * ElementalMotifs: Fire, of the "indiscriminately destructive raging inferno" kind. As his sanity slid further down the toilet, Aerys became obsessed with fire and burning people alive as punishment, to the point where he could only become aroused after watching someone burn to death. Near the end of Robert's Rebellion, he planned to burn all of King's Landing in a blaze of wildfire, believing he would transform into a dragon with the power to incinerate his enemies. |
| 250 | * EntitledBastard: |
| 251 | ** After spending years mistreating, insulting, and humiliating Tywin, Aerys still somehow expected him to remain loyal and come to his aid during Robert's Rebellion. Tywin, to the say the least, took a [[TheDogBitesBack different approach]]. |
| 252 | ** He also ordered Jon Arryn to execute and bring him the heads of his wards Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark, whom Jon loved as his sons and which would have been a violation of guest rights, right after having executed Erbert Arryn, Jon's nephew and heir, without any pretense of a trial just because he was a companion of Brandon Stark. Unsurprisingly Jon responded by calling his banner and rebelling instead. |
| 253 | * EvilFormerFriend: To Tywin Lannister, before the series started. Yeah, Tywin was the relative ''good'' guy in that situation... yikes. Indeed, as per ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', his passive-aggressive abuse of Tywin's friendship and service makes you wonder why Tywin didn't try to kill him years before. |
| 254 | * EvilIsPetty: |
| 255 | ** Spent twenty years of his reign inflicting petty insults, slights and humilations on Tywin just to vent out his jealousy, despite Tywin having been his ChildhoodFriend and ruling his kingdom for him. He even went as far as to publicly humiliate Joanna, deny a marriage between Rhaegar and Cersei, saying that a king doesn't marry a servant, and robbing Tywin of his heir by making Jaime a member of the Kingsguard just to spite him. |
| 256 | ** When he realized the rebels might succeed in overthrowing him, Aerys was prepared to obliterate the entire capital city of King's Landing -- and scorch who knows how much of the surrounding lands -- with wildfire, just to spite Robert Baratheon. He planned this without any concern for the lives of his own grandchildren still in the capital or the future of his surviving heir, Viserys. |
| 257 | * FaithHeelTurn: After the death of his infant son Jaehaerys, following a fortnight of fasting, prayer and consulting with the High Septon, Aerys put aside his womanising ways and swore to be a faithful husband to his wife Rhaella. |
| 258 | * FleetingPassionateHobbies: A hallmark of his early reign. He would devise grandiose and impractical schemes to showcase the might of the Iron Throne, then quickly grow bored of them and move on to his next big idea. |
| 259 | * TheGoodKing: Played with. In ''A Clash of Kings'', Arya overhears a peasant complaining about the injustices of Gregor Clegane against the smallfolk and argues that the "Old King" would not have abided by such treatment. She asks him if he's referring to Robert; he's actually referring to Aerys, so yeah... there's still people in Westeros that think that Aerys was a good king, only as far as safety was concerned. To Aerys II's credit, he did expand rights to the residents of the Kingswood (on Ser Arthur Dayne's appeal), so it might be that this one peasant remembers that one PetTheDog moment. The nobility of course consider Aerys one of the worst Targaryen kings of all time, if not the worst, and thanks to Jaime's secrecy, [[spoiler:the Mad King's final act of cruelty, destroying all of King's Landing and taking them with him, remains unknown to the public]]. |
| 260 | * GreenEyedMonster: He was eventually insanely jealous of his childhood friend and Hand Tywin Lannister and his son Rhaegar Targaryen. |
| 261 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: One reason why SanityHasAdvantages: |
| 262 | ** He surrounded himself with flatterers and schemers rather than people who could win him wars, and when those flatterers failed, he empowered actual psychopaths like the Pyromancers. He also inexplicably never latched on the fact that Grand Maester Pycelle was a Tywin lackey and kept him in court, and likewise let Varys the Spider whisper into his ear. |
| 263 | ** He also had a bad habit of making impulsive paranoid decisions like appointing Jaime into the Kingsguard to undermine Tywin and then regretting [[DidntThinkThisThrough after he realized]] he put a Lannister with a sword by his side 24[=/=]7. Perhaps his biggest misjudgment is his belief that somehow, after years of insulting and humiliating and undermining Tywin, when he was standing outside the gates of King's Landing with an army, that he was actually on-the-level and come to bail him out. |
| 264 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 265 | ** Aerys was publicly and shamelessly unfaithful to his wife Rhaella, and openly wooed Joanna Lannister and Rhaella's other Lady attendants. Yet after Rhaella had many miscarriages, he accused her of infidelity and had her locked up with two septas watching over her in her bed to make sure of her fidelity. |
| 266 | ** When Tywin proposed a marriage betrothal between Rhaegar and Cersei, Aerys laughed at him and told him that servants' daughters can't marry the son of a king. That's rich coming from the man who lusted after and wooed Joanna Lannister, and was so frustrated that he couldn't marry her. |
| 267 | * IHaveYourWife: Appointed Jaime Lannister to the Kingsguard and always kept him close so he could be used as a hostage to keep Lord Tywin in line, as well as forcibly taking Jaime out of the line of succession. He also forbade Rhaegar's wife and kids from fleeing to Dragonstone to ensure that Dorne would support them against the rebels. This backfired horribly, because it meant Elia and her children were still at King's Landing when the city was sacked. They were found and promptly murdered by Gregor Clegane. |
| 268 | * IWasQuiteALooker: He was quite handsome in his youth. With his paranoid diet and refusal to trim his hair or nails, this did not last. |
| 269 | * InSeriesNickname: He was known as both "the Mad King" (due to being TheCaligula) and "King Scab" (due to constantly cutting himself on the Iron Throne). |
| 270 | * InTheBack: Subverted. Despite popular rumor that Jamie Lannister stabbed him in the back, he actually died from a SlashedThroat. Presumably the [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolism]] of a BodyguardBetrayal being in the back was too good to pass up. |
| 271 | * JerkassHasAPoint: |
| 272 | ** If one takes the backstory of the Targaryen family into account, and how one of the causes of the Dance of the Dragons was Viserys I marrying Alicent Hightower, Aerys' refusal to consider marrying Rhaegar to Cersei does make some sense besides humiliating Tywin; he remembers what happened the last time the Hand's family married into the royal family. |
| 273 | ** Aerys [[NeverMyFault never admitted any responsibility]] for turning people against him with his psychotic paranoia, treating all their "treasons" as unfounded -- but the inciting incident for his madness, the Defiance of Duskendale, was exactly one such baseless treason, where a lord who didn't want to pay taxes (and had been refused by Aery's Hand Tywin) imprisoned, humiliated, and threatened to execute him for months. The problem was that Aerys apparently began regarding ''all'' defiances of him as being akin to Lord Darklyn's Defiance. |
| 274 | ** He accused Tywin of having arranged for Duskendale in an attempt to murder him. While not proven, Tywin refused to negotiate with Aerys' captors, planned to attack the city, and after he was warned it might result in Aerys' death Tywin openly said they had a perfectly good replacement in Rhaegar. All in all it suggests there might have been a case where Aerys was actually right about someone close to him planning to betray him. |
| 275 | * KarmicDeath: Feared sharp objects and only allowed the Kingsguard to carry weapons. He was killed by a Kingsguard, after ordering said Kingsguard to kill his own father -- kinslaying being the only sin in Westerosi society worse than ''kin'''g'''slaying''. |
| 276 | * KickTheDog: |
| 277 | ** When Joanna Lannister returned to court for the first time since giving birth to Jaime and Cersei, Aerys asked her if nursing twins had ruined her breasts. Apparently Joanna was so upset and humiliated by this, the furious Tywin [[TakeThisJobAndShoveIt tried to resign as Hand of the King]], only for Aerys to give a grovelling apology. |
| 278 | ** When Tywin proposed that his daughter Cersei be betrothed to Aerys' son Rhaegar, Aerys just laughed and said that Tywin was his most able servant, but no servant's daughter was fit to marry a royal prince. |
| 279 | ** After Joanna died giving birth to Tyrion, Aerys opined that the gods had done so to teach Tywin some humility at last; the [[TheLostLenore grieving]] Tywin [[ThisIsUnforgivable never forgave Aerys]] when those words reached him at Casterly Rock. |
| 280 | ** He also complained that baby Rhaenys (his own granddaughter!) "smelled Dornish", in front of her mother Elia and the entire court. |
| 281 | ** After his son Jaehaerys died in infancy, Aerys first had his wet nurse [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]], then decided his mistress had poisoned the boy and had not just her, but her entire family tortured and then executed. |
| 282 | ** His treatment of his wife Rhaella was a long line of abuse and humiliations that turned into a permanent nightmare for her. After having humiliated her with his public unfaithfulness and wooing of her lady attendants, amongst them Joanna Lannister, Aerys then had the gall to accuse Rhaella of infidelity and lock her up in Maegor's Holdfast with two septas sharing her bed every night to make sure she remained true to her vows. And after Duskendale he refused to sleep with her unless he had burned a man alive, and when he did it was only to savagely beat and rape her |
| 283 | * KillTheCreditor: According to ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', when the Iron Bank of Braavos pressed Aerys II about royal debts racked up under his father, he instead tried to build a massive war fleet "''to bring the Titan[[note]]the landmark of Braavos[[/note]] to his knees''"... thankfully Tywin simply [[MundaneSolution paid the debt for Aerys II out of his own pocket.]] |
| 284 | * LargeHam: As a young King, he kept coming up with grandiose impossible plans, such as building a second Wall in the North and an underground canal in Dorne, and took to calling himself Aerys the Great and Aerys the Wise. |
| 285 | * LastOfHisKind: He was the last reigning Targaryen King. Though he may not be the last reigning Targaryen if his daughter Daenerys has anything to say about it... |
| 286 | * LeanAndMean: In his later years, he ate very little and became thin as a stick because of his fear of being poisoned, a notable contrast to his equally mad ancestor [[FatBastard Aegon IV.]] |
| 287 | * MadnessMakeover: As he gradually slipped into insanity, he reached a point where he would allow no blades in his presence save the swords of the Kingsguard. This resulted in him growing long, filthy fingernails and a scraggly WizardBeard. |
| 288 | * MoodSwinger: At the Tourney of Harrenhal, the lords and knights were disturbed by Aerys' bouts of hysterical laughter, long silences, sudden rages and constant weeping, one after another. |
| 289 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 290 | ** To [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi the French King Charles VI the Mad]] who was initially seen as a good and wise King but eventually became mentally ill. Charles VI was famously paranoid, believed he was made of glass, would randomly attack and kill pageboys and knights, and in the infamous ''Bal des Ardents'', aka "the Ball of the Burning Men", he and several other young nobles disguised themselves as [[WildMan wood savages]] as a lark, using costumes made of linen, flax and inflammable resin, which accidentally caught fire[[note]]the attendants rushed to protect the King and four people died in the process; Charles himself was saved when his fifteen-year-old aunt threw her skirt over him to protect him from the flames[[/note]]. |
| 291 | ** His general eccentricity, long hair and nails, and constant paranoia are quite similar to the legends surrounding the later life of billionaire Creator/HowardHughes who refused to allow anyone except a trusted few in his company and was deeply hypochondriac. Like Hughes, Aerys II was an active youthful playboy filled with a passion for impractical schemes[[note]]Similar to Hughes' Spruce Goose and his disastrous management of Creator/RKOPictures[[/note]] who eventually became a paranoid hermit. |
| 292 | * NonActionBigBad: While he did apparently fight in the War of Ninepenny Kings when he was still a prince, this is what Aerys was as king. The one time he tried to personally exert his authority, he was captured and held for ransom. The result of which left him a hysterical basket-case for the rest of his life, constantly in fear of betrayal and death. |
| 293 | * ObnoxiousInLaws: Somehow he decided he didn't like his son's family, despite having agreed the match himself (he favoured Elia Martell over Cersei Lannister just to spite Tywin). He not only purposely missed Rhaegar's wedding to slight him, but even refused to embrace his newborn granddaughter saying [[KickTheDog she smelled Dornish]]. Also during the war, he refused to let Elia and her children leave the capital city in order to [[IHaveYourWife keep the Dornishmen at his side]], despite her son being his direct heir after Rhaegar and very much the case for the royal family to leave for somewhere safer. |
| 294 | * TheOneThatGotAway: According to Ser Barristan in ''[=ADwD=]'', there was a woman Aerys would rather have married instead of his sister Rhaella: [[spoiler:Joanna Lannister, who wed Lord Tywin and became the joy of his life]]. |
| 295 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: As his madness and paranoia worsened, Aerys increasingly confined himself within the walls of the Red Keep. He spent the entirety of Robert's Rebellion in King's Landing. |
| 296 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: He had many children with Rhaella, but eight of them were miscarried, stillborn or died as babies. Of the three that made it past the cradle, Rhaegar also predeceased him. |
| 297 | * PapaWolf: As Brandon Stark found out, to his sorrow. While Aerys may have been distrustful of his son Rhaegar, he still clearly loved his son and his distrust didn't stop him from having Brandon arrested and executed for publicly declaring his intention to kill the Crown Prince. |
| 298 | ** ''The World of Ice and Fire'' revealed he was overprotective to the point of paranoia of his younger son, Viserys (due to Viserys being the first surviving child born after a long series of miscarriages, stillbirths and deaths in infancy). |
| 299 | * TheParanoiac: His life is a long argument against paranoid overreactions. His paranoia made him fearful, sadistic and suspicious when dealing with others even in everyday settings, since he believed (either rightly or wrongly) that plots against his rule were playing out ''everywhere'' around him. He ended up becoming so unmanageable and oppressive to be around as he lashed out in his fear, that [[CreateYourOwnVillain eventually people actually started plotting against for him]] for absolute, rock-hard definite -- if only to prevent him from trying to undermine or kill them with his own schemes, digs and plots. |
| 300 | ** The only blades allowed in his presence were the swords of the Kingsguard. Aerys refused to be shaved or have his fingernails trimmed, so his hair and beard grew wild and tangled, while his fingernails practically turned into claws. |
| 301 | ** After losing so many children in the womb or cradle, Aerys smothered Viserys to the extreme. He even had food tasters suckle the wet nurse's breasts to make sure they weren't poisoned. |
| 302 | * ParentalFavoritism: Aerys II was jealous of his eldest son Rhaegar and lavished attention on his other son, the similarly unstable Viserys, while trolling Rhaegar in turn. This very jealousy might have been what eventually pushed Rhaegar into making moves to remove his father from power (possibly even with Tywin's aid), since Aerys' actions weren't exactly stable for the realm. |
| 303 | * ThePigPen: In his later years, he became so afraid of blades that he refused to cut his hair or his fingernails. As a result, his hair and beard grew filthy and matted, while his nails turned into nine-inch yellow claws. |
| 304 | * PetTheDog: While not fond of his wife, he did try to comfort Rhaella initially over miscarrying their children... [[BaitAndSwitch until it happened so many times Aerys became convinced she was cheating on him]]. |
| 305 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Hated the Dornish and insulted his baby granddaughter Rhaenys for "smelling" like one. |
| 306 | * PosthumousCharacter: He died 14 years before the series' beginning. |
| 307 | * PredecessorVillain: Before there was Joffrey (who is referred to by Tyrion as Aerys the Third) there was Mad King Aerys. |
| 308 | * PyroManiac: This guy ''loved'' fire. [[spoiler:Jaime speculated Aerys believed that, if his plan of burning down King's Landing with [[GreekFire wildfire]] was carried out, he would not die in the inferno but [[OneWingedAngel transform into a dragon]] and crush Robert Baratheon and his followers.]] |
| 309 | * RacistGrandpa: Refused to touch his infant granddaughter, Rhaenys, when Rhaegar brought her to court because she "smell[ed] Dornish". |
| 310 | * ReallyGetsAround: In his early reign, he was a shameless skirt-chaser, earning comparisons with Aegon the Unworthy. After his wife Rhaella had many miscarriages and stillbirths over the years, and three of their children died in infancy, he turned to the Faith and became a faithful husband to Rhaella. Unfortunately, this devotion soon warped into a [[DomesticAbuse depraved and malignant obsession]]. |
| 311 | * ReplacementGoldfish: As he and Tywin became more estranged, he turned to his other childhood friend, Steffon Baratheon for support. He asked Steffon to find a bride for Rhaegar in the Free Cities. After his tragic death by shipwreck, Aerys blamed Tywin for this action and became even more fearful of Tywin's intentions. That said, old friendships didn't refrain Aerys from ordering the death of Steffon's oldest son Robert, simply because he was associated with the Starks. |
| 312 | * TheResenter: He increasingly resented Tywin, as Tywin was the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, being a better leader and statesman that he could ever hope to be, and being jealous that Tywin married and had a happy relationship with Joanna Lannister after whom he lusted while he had to marry his sister Rhaella that he didn't love. This only worsened with age and his growing insanity. |
| 313 | * RichBitch: Became this as he aged. Aerys refused Tywin's proposal that Rhaegar marry Cersei because the daughter of a servant is an unfit bride for the crown prince. Though since this is [[InsaneTrollLogic Aerys]], his idea of "servant" is the wealthiest man in Westeros, someone who paid the Crown's debts to the all-powerful Iron Bank of Braavos and the man who's been running his economy like a well-oiled engine. |
| 314 | * SanityHasAdvantages: He had ''some'' sense of self-preservation as a young man and seemed at least somewhat aware of how to act as a king and avoided pissing off enemies and was smart enough to listen to good advice. This all went bye-bye as his mental state declined, turning him into a raving loon that everyone was going to turn on at some point. |
| 315 | * SanitySlippage: He is described as having been "a charming and generous man" in his younger days, and he seemed genuinely determined to repent after the death of Jaehaerys. It might've been one of the last times Aerys possessed some kind of self-awareness. Unfortunately, the time he spent as a hostage of Lord Darklyn was apparently ''so traumatizing'' that (coupled with the breakdown of his most important relationships) his eccentricities devolved into full-blown AxCrazy. |
| 316 | * SelfFulfillingProphecy: Not a ''prophecy'' per se, but Aerys became increasingly fearful of assassination plots after the Defiance of Duskendale, suspecting everyone of being out to get him. This fear of being killed only contributed to his growing insanity. As his madness grew, so did his cruelty. Eventually, as a result of this, nearly the entire realm wanted him dead. In the end, he was murdered by one of his own Kingsguard, the only ones he allowed to carry weapons in his presence. |
| 317 | * StartOfDarkness: The Defiance of Duskendale, which he caused by [[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself ignoring his advisors]]. The debacle convinced him to ''keep'' ignoring them. It was also the first time he set an enemy to the flame in revenge, something he'd turn into a favorite method of torture. |
| 318 | * TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:He wanted to burn down the entire city of King's Landing with [[GreekFire wildfire]] just to spite Robert.]] |
| 319 | * TooDumbToLive: Well, "too ''mad'' to live" might be more accurate. He insisted on keeping Jaime Lannister, the son of his enemy, at his side to keep his father in check. He thought he would be safer. That did ''not'' end well. |
| 320 | ** Ordered [[PapaWolf Jon Arryn]] to hand over Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon for execution. Yeah, Aerys, threatening the lords of three Great Houses in one go is [[SarcasmMode such a great idea]]. |
| 321 | ** Tywin offered to wed his daughter Cersei to Rhaegar, which would have made Aerys' rule rock solid with the Lannisters backing him. Instead, Aerys ridiculed the idea and made his son married Elia Martel (whom he doesn't even like) just to spite Tywin. As the result, the Lannisters sat out of most of Robert's Rebellion, only stepping in at the end to betray Targaryens and prove their loyalty to the new king. |
| 322 | * UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness: His slide into villainy saw a similar decline in hygiene standards, meaning he basically never bathed or changed his clothes and smelled absolutely ''awful''. |
| 323 | * UndignifiedDeath: Perished, in the words of his killer, "[[VillainousBreakdown squealing like a pig]] [[BringMyBrownPants and smelling like a privy]]", his corpse left sprawled and bleeding out at the foot of the Iron Throne. |
| 324 | -->'''Jaime Lannister's thoughts''': So easy. A king should die harder than this. |
| 325 | * UngratefulBastard: His more competent Hand of the King, Tywin, ran his kingdom like a well-oiled machine for him for 20 years. Aerys thanked him by [[AbhorrentAdmirer repeatedly hitting on Tywin's wife Joanna,]] refusing to let Tywin's daughter Cersei marry his own son Rhaegar, and denying Tywin his preferred heir Jaime by appointing him to the Kingsguard, preventing him from marrying or inheriting any lands. |
| 326 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Of his own doom; Steffon Baratheon and his wife Cassana Estermont died in a shipwreck when they were returning from a trip to the Free Cities to bring a suitable wife for Prince Rhaegar under Aerys' orders. This led to the fostering of their orphaned son and heir Robert at the Eyrie under the tutelage of Lord Jon Arryn alongside Ned Stark, forming the rebellious bloc that would eventually bring Aerys down. |
| 327 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Alchemists' Guild loved him because he funded their creation of wildfire, while his son Viserys thought of him as a hero and the true king of Westeros. |
| 328 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: Was initially good friends with Tywin Lannister, right before his SanitySlippage caused his jealousy to get out of control. |
| 329 | * WhiteHairBlackHeart: A classic example. Some of his favorite activities included burning his own people alive. |
| 330 | * WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He developed a phobia of blades after the Defiance of Duskendale, only allowing the swords of his Kingsguard in his presence and refusing to cut his nails or hair. |
| 331 | * YankTheDogsChain: The birth of his son Jaehaerys seemed to snap him out of his madness and he became [[HopeSpot much happier,]] much like in his youth. Then Jaehaerys died half a year later and it was back to crazy town for Ol' Aerys. |
| 332 | * YoungerThanHeLooks: Described by Martin as being around forty, but looking much older when he died. He was only 39 when Jaime Lannister stabbed him in the back. Due to his white hair, gauntness and unkempt appearance, he looked like he was in his 70's. |
| 333 | [[/folder]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | [[folder:Queen Rhaella Targaryen]] |
| 336 | !!Queen Rhaella Targaryen |
| 337 | %%Please do not add fanart or images from the TV series. Only add images from canon sources. |
| 338 | |
| 339 | Daughter of Jaehaerys II and his sister-wife Shaera. Sister-wife to Aerys II, and the mother to his three (surviving) children Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. She was pregnant at the time of the Rebellion. Before the Sack of King's Landing and Aerys' subsequent death, she and Viserys were spirited away to Dragonstone, where she eventually died giving birth to Daenerys. |
| 340 | ---- |
| 341 | * [[AbsurdlyYouthfulFather Absurdly Youthful Mother]]: Gave birth to Rhaegar when she was 13 or 14. |
| 342 | * ArrangedMarriage: To her brother Aerys. Their marriage is described by Ser Barristan Selmy as "loveless". Also doubles as UnwantedSpouse, since neither of them were happy with the arrangement. |
| 343 | * AwfulWeddedLife: Forced to marry Aerys, who didn't want her (and she didn't want him, either). He went from openly cheating on her and sleeping with her handmaids to having a change of heart and becoming completely faithful to her...and then raping her savagely every night. |
| 344 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Married to her brother Aerys as mentioned above, to their mutual reluctance. |
| 345 | * DeathByChildbirth: Rhaella died giving birth to Daenerys during a storm on Dragonstone; hence the name "Daenerys Stormborn". |
| 346 | * DomesticAbuse: Was on the receiving end of this, according to Jaime. Aerys would pay her visits every so often -- usually after burning someone to death -- to savagely beat and rape her to the point where it looked as though she had been savaged by an animal. |
| 347 | * TheFettered: Rhaella is described as putting duty and honor first, even over her own personal wishes. |
| 348 | * GoodParents: She is described as a good mother to Viserys, trying to shield him from his father's insanity. |
| 349 | * LawOfInverseFertility: Her firstborn child, Rhaegar, was carried to term and born healthy, but her attempts to have a second child resulted in three miscarriages, two stillbirths, and three sons who died in infancy. Her second surviving child, Viserys, was eventually born 17 years after Rhaegar. And, of course, she conceived Daenerys when already far past the point of trying for another child. |
| 350 | * MistakenForCheating: Aerys became convinced all the miscarriages and stillbirths Rhaella suffered was because she was cheating on him but "the gods would not suffer a bastard to sit on the Iron Throne". Any night he wasn't [[MaritalRapeLicense taking his rights]] of his wife, he ordered two Septas in her room at all times to make sure Rhaella wasn't seeing other men. |
| 351 | * MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: One of the reasons Ser Jaime Lannister lost all respect for the institution of the Kingsguard was having to see Queen Rhaella be savaged and raped by King Aerys while his sworn brothers and Lord Commander stood idly. Adding to the marring, the execution of Rickard and Brandon Stark brought Jaime ever closer to the edge, finally drawing a line and killing Aerys to prevent his genocidal city-burning plot from taking place. |
| 352 | * NiceGirl: From what we know about her, she seems to be a kind woman and a caring mother. When Elia presented her with baby Rhaenys, she embraced her granddaughter warmly (unlike Aerys, who just made racist comments). |
| 353 | * TheOneThatGotAway: To Ser Bonifer Hasty, apparently. He crowned her Queen of Love and Beauty at a tourney, and according to Ser Barristan he had a passionate but ultimately doomed relationship with her. |
| 354 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: No less than eight of her babies were miscarried, stillborn or died in the cradle. Her son Rhaegar and two grandchildren Aegon and Rhaenys also died before her [[spoiler: unless you believe Aegon is still alive]]. |
| 355 | * PosthumousCharacter: She has been deceased for years by the time ''A Game of Thrones'' begins. |
| 356 | * SomeoneToRememberHimBy: She was pregnant with Daenerys when Aerys died. |
| 357 | * StarCrossedLovers: She was in love with landed Knight Ser Bonifer Hasty, who crowned her Queen of Love and Beauty at a tourney, but a marriage between them was, of course, unlikely and she eventually went through her ArrangedMarriage with her brother, while he became a knight devoted to the Faith. |
| 358 | * UnwantedSpouse: To her [[BrotherSisterIncest brother]] Aerys, who would rather have more gladly married her lady-in-waiting, Joanna Lannister. The feeling was very mutual. |
| 359 | * UptownGirl: To Ser Bonifer Hasty. As Barristan Selmy said, a landed Knight is no fit consort for a Princess. |
| 360 | [[/folder]] |
| 361 | |
| 362 | [[folder:Prince Rhaegar Targaryen]] |
| 363 | !!Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, The Prince of Dragonstone |
| 364 | !!!The Last Dragon, The Silver Prince |
| 365 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/27289d4ec6eb126808a7d23a742e3331.png]] |
| 366 | -->''"Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name."'' |
| 367 | |
| 368 | Rhaegar was the eldest child of Aerys II and Rhaella and his father's heir. He is a PosthumousCharacter, and everything the readers know about him is filtered through SecondHandStorytelling. Characters like Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Barristan Selmy, and his sister Daenerys Targaryen (who never met him) speak well of him while Robert Baratheon considers him an ArchEnemy, due to Rhaegar's (supposed) kidnapping and rape of his betrothed Lyanna Stark. |
| 369 | ---- |
| 370 | * AmbiguousSituation: Very deliberately. Most of the series viewpoint characters weren't even born yet while he was alive, and most that were had limited to no interaction with him. |
| 371 | * TenMinuteRetirement: He was nowhere to be found during the early days of Robert's Rebellion, but he eventually returned to take charge of the royal forces and [[BackForTheDead fatally]] face off with Robert Baratheon at the Trident. |
| 372 | * AbductionIsLove: Officially, Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna against her will, but some characters say he loved her and there are hints she went willingly. [[EpilepticTrees Welcome to Hearsayville]]. Not that it excuses his breaking of the feudal pact either way. |
| 373 | * TheAce: He was well-respected and handsome, and he excelled at anything he put his mind to. Barristan Selmy calls him "able." |
| 374 | * AloofOlderBrother: To Viserys, who was born when Rhaegar was seventeen, because of that and Rhaegar's distant personality, not to mention that Aerys was paranoid of Rhaegar and coddled Viserys. Viserys never reached his level in talents, wits, or combat skills, and furthermore he was [[RoyallyScrewedUp troubled since childhood]]. |
| 375 | * AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In-Universe. What happened with Lyanna Stark is ambiguous, and accounts differ from character to character, ranging from villainy to romanticism to plain stupidity. Readers know that Rhaegar's path was driven by a [[BecauseDestinySaysSo prophecy]], but how that comes together is still uncertain. |
| 376 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Rhaegar believed he was meant to be a great hero, which drove him to become one of the best warriors in Westeros. Despite all of his skills and gallantry, he was soundly defeated and killed in single combat by Robert Baratheon. |
| 377 | * AntagonisticOffspring: Background material says that the relationship between father and son grew increasingly bitter, as the king became more [[SanitySlippage paranoid]] and [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of the competence and influence of his Hand [[EvilChancellor Tywin Lannister]] and the popularity of [[TheWisePrince his own son]]. Aerys had not left the Red Keep for four years after the Defiance of Duskendale, but he left to attend the tournament at Harrenhal because Varys told him that Rhaegar had arranged it to make alliances to overthrow him. In Rhaegar's last conversation with Jaime Lannister before the fateful Battle of the Trident, there are hints that Rhaegar really ''did'' plan to overthrow Aerys, or at least [[AbdicateTheThrone force his retirement from active ruling]]. Given [[TheCaligula his father's madness]], one might wish that he'd manned up and done so earlier, something which Rhaegar implied that he was thinking the same thing. |
| 378 | ---> '''Rhaegar''': ''When the battle's done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but ... well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return.'' |
| 379 | * ArchEnemy: To Robert Baratheon. Rhaegar [[CockFight disappeared with his betrothed]], and [[ItsPersonal she died]]. |
| 380 | * ArrangedMarriage: To Elia Martell. They seem to have gotten along well before he met Lyanna Stark. |
| 381 | * BadassBookworm: Rhaegar was more interested in scholarly pursuits until something made him decide that he must be a warrior. As a child, he started reading so early that men commented that his mother must have swallowed some books and a candle while he was in her womb. |
| 382 | * BecauseDestinySaysSo: He had no interest in knightly training growing up, preferring to play the harp and study as a scholar, until he read '''something''' that made him show up at the training yard and tell the master-at-arms, ''"I shall require a sword and mail. It seems I must become a warrior."'' |
| 383 | ** The prophecy about [[TheChosenOne The Prince Who Was Promised]] haunted him his entire life. He first believed he would fulfill the prophecy, but he changed his mind and decided his son Aegon would. Oh, and the dragon must have [[TheChosenMany three heads]]. [[spoiler:This might be why he eloped with Lyanna Stark, since his wife could not give him a third child]]; see TheRashomon. |
| 384 | * BigGood: He was almost universally loved before whatever happened with Lyanna (after which opinions were divided). [[spoiler:Targaryen supporters want to put Prince Aegon on the Throne because he is Rhaegar's son and ''not'' because he is Aerys's grandson]]. |
| 385 | * BirthDeathJuxtaposition: He was born during the Tragedy of Summerhall, the freak fire where King Aegon V, Prince Duncan, Ser Duncan the Tall, and many others lost their lives. The shadow of this tragedy haunted him for his whole life and he ended up dying in the Trident river with his body, and the rubies in his armor, falling into the water (and the area being called Ruby Ford). |
| 386 | * BlackKnight: He wore black armor. |
| 387 | * BlingOfWar: The Targaryen coat of arms on his armor was made of rubies. |
| 388 | * ByronicHero: He was born under inauspicious circumstances, which he often dwelt upon; he was well-liked but introspective and introverted, he had an... interesting romantic history, and [[ElegantClassicalMusician he played the harp]]. 'Nuff said (Administrivia/TropesAreTools!). Also, the true purpose of his actions is still shrouded in mystery, in-universe and out. |
| 389 | * ClashingCousins: His ArchEnemy Robert Baratheon also happened to be his second cousin. |
| 390 | * DeadGuyJunior: "Rhae" is a common prefix in Targaryen names (his mother's name was "Rhaella", for instance). Daenerys later named her son "Rhaego" and one of her dragons "Rhaegal" after her dead brother. Ser Rhaegar Frey was named after him when Rhaegar was still alive, but the name is still jarring (not least because Rhaegar Frey is a smug sack of crap with none of his namesake's better qualities). The Freys have a habit of naming their excessively large brood in honor of whoever's in power at the moment, so ironically Rhaegar Frey is the father of one of the two Robert Freys. |
| 391 | * {{Determinator}}: He had no interest in martial training as a youth until he read ''something'' that convinced him he needed to become a warrior. So he did. |
| 392 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Possibly, and invoked in-universe. It's certainly what most Westerosi believe is the reason for the noble Rhaegar to act so thoughtlessly in naming Lyanna Stark his Queen of Love and Beauty at the tourney at Harrenhal in front of his own wife and to later run away with/kidnap Lyanna. His last conversation with Jaime Lannister implies that he was involved in a conspiracy to peacefully depose the Mad King, but was distracted with whatever his intentions were with Lyanna. Not only that, his absence deprived the country of his military leadership while the rebellion was still in its infancy, so King Aerys was forced to rely on ineffectual or inexperienced Hands. |
| 393 | * DownfallBySex: Rhaegar had everything in check for being the next great king after Aegon V [[spoiler: (and was seemingly set to depose his mentally unstable father to become so)]]...but (allegedly) he met Lyanna Stark and everything fell apart. No one is sure of what happened between them, but it did bring his downfall along with woes for everyone else. |
| 394 | * DyingMomentOfAwesome: As Robert himself notes, the duel on the Trident between them was dream stuff for poets, singer and folk tales. According to lore, they fought to the death for the woman they both loved until only one of them stood alive. The rubies from Rhaegar's armor fell into the river, which was renamed the Ruby Ford after that fateful duel. |
| 395 | * ElegantClassicalMusician: He played the harp so beautifully that he could reduce tough women like Cersei Lannister and Lyanna Stark to tears. |
| 396 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: Well, [[spoiler:Jon Connington did...]] |
| 397 | * FireIceDuo: His pairing up with Lyanna Stark. Fire is strongly associated with the Targaryens (dragons), while ice with the Starks (wolves). While the nature of their relationship hasn't been revealed yet, it is worth thinking that when alive Rhaegar sought to fulfill a prophecy named "[[TitleDrop the song of ice and fire]]". |
| 398 | * FlowersOfRomance: The first hint of his interest in Lyanna Stark was crowning her Queen of Love and Beauty with a crown of winter roses, the traditional flower of the North. Ned Stark recalls that there was plenty of roses in Lyanna's chamber at the Tower of Joy. Blue roses are still the symbol of their fateful liaison. |
| 399 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 400 | ** Eddard Stark. Like Eddard, Rhaegar was almost universally loved and [[spoiler: their supporters are resorting to frankly insane measures to restore their children to their rightful place as rulers of the realm]]. |
| 401 | ** [[{{Archenemy}} Robert Baratheon]]. Both [[WarriorPrince Warrior Princes]] but in a NobleMaleRoguishMale dynamic. Robert is a larger than life BoisterousBruiser ProudWarriorRaceGuy with no love for music save for bawdy songs, Rhaegar was a more thoughtful EmoTeen WarriorPoet who made women weep with his harp. Also, Rhaegar carried a [[HeroesPreferSwords sword]], Robert a huge [[CarryABigStick warhammer]]. |
| 402 | ** Ironically enough, to Tyrion. Like him, he plays the (relatively) NobleTopEnforcer for a mad king, is a BadassBookworm and pretty skilled at everything he does (though in Rhaegar's case, it's more an InformedAttribute since when push comes to pull, he fucks things up; while we actually ''see'' that Tyrion gets shit done). Unlike Tyrion, Rhaegar is handsome, desired, universally beloved, and a great fighter. |
| 403 | * HeroesPreferSwords: He used a sword against Robert Baratheon during the Battle of the Trident, but it's arguable whether he could be called a hero. It didn't end well for him. |
| 404 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: His best and oldest friend was Ser Arthur Dayne, who (according to Barristan Selmy) he trusted more than anyone and who he left guarding Lyanna when he went to fight Robert Baratheon. |
| 405 | * HonorBeforeReason: In the words of Ser Jorah Mormont: “Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.” |
| 406 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: Rhaegar had all the promise of being TheGoodKing, but he died before he could fulfill his potential, and his choices caused a great deal of turmoil for the realm. |
| 407 | * IdiotBall: While he probably couldn't predict that his father was going to kill Rickard and Brandon Stark, he should have realized that kidnapping and/or spiriting away Lyanna Stark, daughter of one lord paramount and betrothed to another, was ''never'' going to end well, whatever the circumstances. To say nothing of the fact that he publicly humiliated his wife (sister to the Prince of Dorne, the closest ally of the Iron Throne) and left her, his children, younger brother, and his pregnant mother at the mercy of his mad father. |
| 408 | ** He crossed the Trident, even though Robert was on the offensive, when he could have waited for Robert to come to him and had the advantage of having his army on dry land with the high ground. This resulted in his death. |
| 409 | ** Insisted on fighting a battle although his army was made up of raw recruits and he had no experience as a commander, whereas his opponent had a veteran army and had won several battles. |
| 410 | * IfWeGetThroughThis: His conversation with Jaime before he marched to the Trident: |
| 411 | --> '''Rhaegar''': ''"When this battle’s done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but... well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. [[TemptingFate We shall talk when I return]]."'' |
| 412 | * InformedAbility: Many considered him the Westerosi chivalry ideal, but he failed to show either the social dignity or the military aptitude necessary when the time came. Along with knighting a monster like Gregor Clegane and not looking at all into the kind of man he was. Also, while known as a great WarriorPrince, his only real battle (read outside a tourney where killing the heir of the throne looks bad) ended with his death. Though to be fair, he managed to wound Robert (a peerless warrior fighting at his peak) significantly enough that Ned left him behind to heal, and whatever else Robert says about him, he never calls Rhaegar a poor fighter. |
| 413 | * InheritanceMurder: His father suspected him of plotting this. Aerys left the Red Keep for the first time in years to attend the Harrenhal tourney because he believed Rhaegar was plotting with other high lords to get rid of him. It's heavily implied that this time Aerys was ''right''. |
| 414 | * KickTheDog: Barristan says their marriage was amicable, but Rhaegar embarrassed and shamed Elia after he noticed Lyanna Stark, first by snubbing his wife in front of thousands of people to crown Lyanna as Queen of Love and Beauty at the Harrenhal tourney and then by running off with her. |
| 415 | * KnightInShiningArmor: Deconstructed. His aforementioned qualities and flaws aside, his skills at the knightly arts were less than helpful when he faced BloodKnight Robert Baratheon and his ''huge'' warhammer. Quoth Ser Jorah: |
| 416 | ---> '''Ser Jorah Mormont''': ''He lost the battle, he lost the war, he lost the kingdom, and he lost his life. His blood swirled downriver with the rubies from his breastplate, and Robert the Usurper rode over his corpse to steal the Iron Throne. Rhaegar fought valiantly. Rhaegar fought nobly. Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.'' |
| 417 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: Cersei and pretty much everyone who knew him considered him to be ''very'' attractive. Even Jaime Lannister is said to have looked ''plain'' next to him. Jaime recalls he used to wear his silver hair long. |
| 418 | * TheLostLenore: A rare [[spoiler:LGBT]] male example. [[spoiler: His friend Jon Connington harbored romantic feelings for him and blames himself for Rhaegar's death, and he plans to restore Rhaegar's son to the throne in his honor.]] |
| 419 | * LoveRuinsTheRealm: His apparent kidnapping of Lyanna triggered a civil war that ended with him and every member of his family but two dead, and this led to decades of stagnation and further strife that continually hark back to the direct consequences of that event. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Whoops?]] |
| 420 | * MadDictatorsHandsomeSon: King Aerys was not always [[IWasQuiteALooker ugly]] or [[SanitySlippage mad]], but Rhaegar is in the collective imagination (don't mind [[{{Archenemy}} Robert Baratheon]]) as the Mad King's handsome and noble son who'd have made a great king. |
| 421 | * MagneticHero: Robert's victory ensured a HistoricalVillainUpgrade treatment, but many different characters were and are loyal to him, seemingly past the point of reason. [[TheRashomon It's part of what makes his true legacy so mind-screwing]]. |
| 422 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: To Edward the Black Prince. Both are seen as the ultimate embodiment of medieval chivalry and subject to a great deal of romanticism in life and after death, and they are regarded as the ultimate Great-King-That-Never-Was, at least by supporters. |
| 423 | ** He also has elements of the Trojan princes Paris and Hector from ''Literature/TheIliad''. Like Paris, his abduction of a woman promised to another started a war. Like Hector, he was loved and admired by everyone who knew him, was slain on the battlefield by the [[ItsPersonal vengeful]] leader of the enemy forces, and his death precedes the ruin of his family and their dynasty. |
| 424 | ** In the vein of Paris, he has similarities to Sir Lancelot of the Arthurian legends, including his renown for chivalry and his LoveRuinsTheRealm act. |
| 425 | * NobleTopEnforcer: He seems to have been a (mostly) nice guy himself, but Rhaegar fought to keep his cruel and paranoid father on the Iron Throne during Robert's Rebellion. However, Rhaegar was neither ignorant of -- nor comfortable with -- Aerys's madness and may have been planning to curb his father's power before things went south. |
| 426 | * OpenSecret: Played with. His reasons for kidnapping Lyanna are cause for speculation, but there was no effort whatsoever to conceal the fact that he'd run away with her. It is unknown whether he didn't care or he thought it ''[[BecauseDestinySaysSo had to happen]]'' regardless of the consequences. |
| 427 | * OutOfCharacterMoment: Little is known about Rhaegar's motivation for running off with Lyanna, but the fact that Rhaegar is held at such high esteem among friend and foe (save Robert) alike raises questions about both Rhaegar and the "official" story. |
| 428 | * PlotTriggeringDeath: Most of the events in the saga turned out this way because Rhaegar died. |
| 429 | * PosthumousCharacter: He died years before the series began, killed in war before his youngest sibling, Daenerys, was born. She only knows of him through stories from people who knew him, like their brother Viserys. |
| 430 | * PresentAbsence: He's been dead since before the series began, but his actions and legacy have cast a long shadow over the present day. Out of so many characters, he's the one who provides the TitleDrop and [[spoiler: major hints about the prophecy of the [[TheChosenOne Prince That Was Promised]].]] |
| 431 | * PrinceCharming: PlayedWith. He was the king's oldest son, considered the most handsome man in Westeros as well as being chivalrous and intelligent, but a PrinceCharming wouldn't abduct a noblewoman (even if he loves her), an act which led to a CivilWar. |
| 432 | * TheQuietOne: He was known to be very reserved, and he spent little time with the other kids as a child. |
| 433 | * TheRashomon: No one in-universe (or out) is sure why he did what he did and what ''exactly'' he did. Accounts differ: |
| 434 | ** Robert Baratheon claims that he kidnapped and raped Lyanna. This is the most common story in Westeros, probably because singing another version would probably result in arrest (or worse) for treason. |
| 435 | ** Barristan Selmy thinks that he eloped with Lyanna out of sincere love. |
| 436 | ** Viserys thought he was unhappy in his marriage and found solace and pleasure in another woman. |
| 437 | * ReluctantWarrior: By all accounts, he looked as though he was going to be more of a singer, reader, and poet than any of his ancestors ever were. But then, one day he read ''something''[[note]]Theorized to be the moment he believed ''he'' was to become The Prince Who Was Promised/Azor Ahai[[/note]] that lit a fire in him, and turned up in the training yard the next day demanding, with an air of resignation if the person sharing this information with Daenerys is to be believed, that the Master-at-Arms educate him in the use of a sword. He kept his edge, participating in tournaments and the like, but always resorted to diplomacy when possible before he would do battle. |
| 438 | * TheRival: To Robert Baratheon, after stealing away his betrothed. |
| 439 | * SecondHandStorytelling: We only ever hear about Rhaegar through other characters, some of whom have glowing memories of him and some who don't. |
| 440 | * SuperiorSuccessor: People believe [[TheWisePrince he]] would have been this to [[TheCaligula his father]], which may or may not be true. Well, he probably would've been better than ''Aerys,'' but that just meant he didn't get kicks from setting men on fire. |
| 441 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Daenerys almost confuses him with Viserys during a vision in the House of the Undying, but Rhaegar was taller, fitter, and more handsome. |
| 442 | * TeenGenius: He was extremely intelligent, to the point where he was impressing the maesters at a very young age. |
| 443 | * TheOneThatGotAway: He would have been betrothed to a young Cersei, but Aerys refused the match just to spite Tywin, telling Tywin that he is his most "able servant" and "a man does not marry his heir to his servant’s daughter." Even decades later, Cersei thinks that she still would rather have married Rhaegar than Robert. |
| 444 | -->'''Cersei:''' Father found no better man [than Rhaegar]. Instead he gave me Robert, and Maggy’s curse bloomed like some poisonous flower. If she had only married Rhaegar as the gods intended, he would never have looked twice at the wolf girl. Rhaegar would be our king today and I would be his queen, the mother of his sons. |
| 445 | * TogetherInDeath: With Lyanna. Robert says of him and Lyanna: "Rhaegar won, damn him. I killed him, Ned, I drove the spike right through that black armor into his black heart, and he died at my feet. They made up songs about it. Yet somehow he still won. He has Lyanna now, and I have ''[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen her]]''." |
| 446 | * TheUnchosenOne: Rhaegar believed he was "The Prince who was Promised" until he realized this destiny belonged to his son Aegon, or [[TheChosenMany his children as a whole]], since he claimed that "the dragon must have three heads". |
| 447 | * UniversallyBelovedLeader: He was beloved by common and highborn people alike before the incident with Lyanna Stark, and Targaryen loyalists still adore him. |
| 448 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His foolish abduction of Lyanna Stark set the ball rolling on a chain of events that ultimately brought about both of their deaths and the fall of the Targaryens from power. The aftershocks are still making themselves felt by the time of the books. |
| 449 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: His supporters (and some of his enemies) continue to think well of him even after he allegedly kidnapped and raped Lyanna. |
| 450 | * WarriorPoet: Emphasis on the "poet". |
| 451 | * WarriorPrince: He was a prince who was a fine warrior... but not as good as Robert Baratheon. |
| 452 | %%* TheWisePrince: So his supporters say. |
| 453 | [[/folder]] |
| 454 | |
| 455 | [[folder:Princess Rhaenys Targaryen]] |
| 456 | !!Princess Rhaenys Targaryen |
| 457 | |
| 458 | Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's daughter with his wife Princess Elia Martell, Rhaenys was Aegon's older sister (and so Viserys' and Daenerys' niece). Her gender and Dornish coloring were held in disdain by her grandather Aerys, who wanted a grandson to carry on the family name. She was killed during the Sack of King's Landing along with her grandfather, mother and brother. |
| 459 | ---- |
| 460 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: She was hiding under her father's bed during the Sack when Amory Lorch dragged her out and stabbed her ''half a hundred times'', because she'd kicked him and wouldn't stop screaming. It's noted that even ''Tywin Lannister'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards was shocked at how brutal her death was,]] but used it to prove his loyalty to Robert all the same. |
| 461 | * DaddysGirl: Implied: ''"[Amory] found her hiding under her father's bed, as if she believed Rhaegar could still protect her."'' Rhaegar had been dead for about two weeks by that point and the capitol had already known of his death, so Rhaenys was either deep in denial/inability to understand death like little Rickon Stark after her or believed her father's ghost would keep her safe. [[CrapsackWorld It didn't save her either way.]] |
| 462 | * DeathOfAChild: She was three years old at the time of her death. To cement the new regime's position, ''something'' needed to be done with the heirs of the Targaryen dynasty, yet all the rebels balked at actually killing innocent children... Enter the notoriously cold-blooded Lord Tywin Lannister. The brutal murders of Rhaenys and her little brother were seen as especially shocking and vile of the atrocities committed at the Sack, but Robert Baratheon was relieved he would not have to dirty his hands and dismissed their deaths as "dragonspawn". Years later, one of the rebel leaders Lord Ned Stark (who saw the bodies first-hand) still holds a grudge, believing the Lannisters should be brought to justice for their actions in the Sack and directly leading him to reject the idea of Tywin being entrusted with the care of Ned's young nephew Robert Arryn. |
| 463 | * FamilyThemeNaming: Like many other girls in her family, she was named for the original Rhaenys Targaryen. It's implied by the vision Dany saw of Rhaegar with Elia and her discussion of it with Jorah that Rhaenys and her Aegon were named after Aegon the Conqueror and his more beloved sister-wife as two of the three prophesized "heads of the dragon" with the expectation of a younger sister, a Visenya, to complete the set. However, a Visenya never came and the rest of the family was murdered during the Sack, [[spoiler:with Rhaenys' Aegon either surviving to adolescence without her under a false identity, or he really was murdered that night with her and the Young Griff Aegon is an impostor]]. |
| 464 | * HeirClubForMen: Younger brother Aegon was generally seen as the heir behind Rhaegar, not his older sister Rhaenys, made notable from their father having the closest ties to Dorne since King Daeron II: his wife and the mother of his kids was a Dornish princess whose mother had ruled Dorne, his best friend (and the most loyal member of his Kingsguard) was a Dornishman, his wife's uncle/daughter's great-uncle was another Dornish Kingsguard member, and his brothers by marriage, his daughter's uncles, included the ruling Prince of Dorne. Rhaenys and Aegon's own cousin Arianne was also Doran's heir to Dorne ahead of younger brother Quentyn. Despite this, no mention is made of any debate within Dorne or the royal court on whether Rhaenys' claim should come before Aegon's, and the only mention of brewing conflict with succession and potential second Dance of the Dragons Maester Pycelle feared was between Aerys and Rhaegar specifically, indicating Rhaenys' family opted to not press her claim. Of course, considering [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Aerys]] was openly racist towards the Dornish, even his own grandchildren, and quickly disinherited them to put his younger son ahead of them as heirs once Rhaegar was out of the picture, it may be that as with Aegon IV and his son Daeron II, Rhaegar's position as heir with his unpredictable, petty father was too precarious for any to dare voice support for Rhaenys' claim. |
| 465 | * KindheartedCatLover: Had a black cat named Balerion, after Balerion the Black Dread, whom she was fond of and played with in the Red Keep. |
| 466 | * LittleGirlsKickShins: Amory Lorch's excuse for stabbing her over and over (and over...) again was that she'd kicked him. |
| 467 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: She inherited her mother's Dornish look, with black hair and eyes, to her grandfather's displeasure. |
| 468 | * TearsOfFear: Rumour has it, she cried when dragged out from under her father's bed. |
| 469 | * UnbalancedByRivalsKid: Surprisingly averted with the normally AxCrazy and [[EvilIsPetty vindictive]] Cersei Lannister, who nursed a soft spot for Prince Rhaegar and expected to marry him before his ArrangedMarriage to Elia Martell. Her POV in ''A Feast for Crows'' has her sentimentally refer to "Rhaegar's little girl" and muse that, ''"She would have been my daughter, if the Mad King had not played his cruel jape on Father."'' Now the memory of ''Rhaenys' mother Elia'' on the other hand? [[SpeakIllOfTheDead Good ole Cersei comes back out swingin'!]] |
| 470 | [[/folder]] |
| 471 | |
| 472 | [[folder:Balerion]] |
| 473 | !!Balerion |
| 474 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2022_10_16_at_124246_pm.png]] |
| 475 | -->''"That's the real king of this castle right there, older than sin and twice as mean."'' |
| 476 | -->--a gold cloak to Arya Stark |
| 477 | |
| 478 | A black cat that once belonged to Princess Rhaenys, who still roams the halls of the Red Keep. |
| 479 | ---- |
| 480 | * CatsAreMean: He's filthy, foul-tempered and prone to hissing and clawing at anyone within reach. Although you probably wouldn't be the most pleasant fellow either if your owner had been murdered. |
| 481 | * DeathbringerTheAdorable: Rhaenys named her kitten after the biggest and most fearsome Targaryen dragon of all. |
| 482 | -->'''Varys''': I always wondered what happened to him. Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door. |
| 483 | * EarNotch: One of his ears has been chewed off. |
| 484 | * EnemyEatsYourLunch: Once at a feast, he hopped up on the table and snatched a roast quail right out of Tywin's fingers, which made Robert howl with laughter. |
| 485 | * ItCanThink: While he hasn't been confirmed to be anything more than a normal cat (yet), he seems to have a grudge against the Lannisters. He steals a roast quail out of Tywin's fingers, claws Joffrey's hand, and menacingly stares at Tommen from outside his window. |
| 486 | * YouRemindMeOfX: When Arya is observing cats in Braavos, one of them is a black tom with a chewed ear that reminds her of Balerion. |
| 487 | [[/folder]] |
| 488 | |
| 489 | [[folder:Prince Aegon Targaryen]] |
| 490 | !!Prince Aegon Targaryen |
| 491 | !!!Young Griff |
| 492 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aegon_targaryen_ffg_8013.jpg]] |
| 493 | -->''"I am the only dragon you need."'' |
| 494 | |
| 495 | Aegon was the son and second child of the late Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and his wife Elia of Dorne (and thus Viserys' and Daenerys' nephew). Had he lived to adulthood, he would have ruled as King Aegon, the Sixth of His Name, but he was killed along with his grandfather, mother and sister during the Sack of King's Landing. |
| 496 | |
| 497 | ... or so most of Westeros believes. He was actually switched with a commonborn child prior to the battle, smuggled across the Narrow Sea, and brought up in Pentos by Lord Jon Connington as his son, "Young Griff". Groomed to become a king who actually puts the people first for a change, Aegon is preparing an attempt to retake Westeros -- with or without help from his aunt Daenerys and his Martell kin -- with the military support of [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheGoldenCompany The Golden Company]]'s mercenaries. |
| 498 | %% |
| 499 | %% |
| 500 | %%Keep theories and speculation in WMG and off character pages. |
| 501 | %% |
| 502 | %% |
| 503 | ---- |
| 504 | * TheAce: Attempted Invocation. His protectors went to great lengths to mold him into the ideal king. Not only was he trained in arms, history, arithmetic, languages, geometry, and law, he was taught practical skills like fishing, mending clothes, and providing first aid. He was raised among the smallfolk in hopes that it would teach him to empathize with them and learn humility, so that he would be a benevolent and conscientious ruler. He doesn't ever [[InformedAbility display this much-lauded humility,]] but he is a decent fighter, quick-witted, and knowledgeable when it comes to history and languages. |
| 505 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: His crack about Old Volantis and its failed attempt at conquering Essos manages to make a [[TheEeyore severely depressed Tyrion]] laugh. |
| 506 | -->''"If you want to conquer the world, you best have dragons."'' |
| 507 | * ChekhovMIA: Both in-universe and WordOfGod: When Varys mentions Doran Martell in the second book, he states that the prince "still mourns Elia and her sweet ''babe''." When asked about the Sack of King's Landing, GRRM only definitively stated that Rhaenys was killed. |
| 508 | * TheChosenOne: If he is "The Prince who was Promised", which his supporters certainly believed. |
| 509 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Had his head bashed against a wall by the Mountain. (Except that, according to Varys, that wasn't actually Aegon.) |
| 510 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Invoked. His dyed blue hair draws out the blue in his eyes, as purple eyes might give the game away. |
| 511 | * DeathFakedForYou: Varys had Aegon switched with a peasant baby so the realm would believe he had died. |
| 512 | * DidNotThinkThisThrough: As Tyrion sarcastically points out while wearing his best CaptainObvious dress uniform, this so-called "plan" to just show up at Daenerys' court, introduce himself, and then demand that she marry him... was unlikely to ever succeed. |
| 513 | -->'''Tyrion''': How do you suppose this queen will react when you turn up with your begging bowl in hand and say, "Good morrow to you, Auntie. I am your nephew, Aegon, returned from the dead. I’ve been hiding on a poleboat all my life, but now I’ve washed the blue dye from my hair and I’d like a dragon, please...and oh, did I mention, my claim to the Iron Throne is stronger than your own?" |
| 514 | * DyeOrDie: His Targaryen-silver hair has been dyed blue to keep his heritage a secret until his guardians are ready to reveal him to the world. His cover story is that his deceased mother was from Tyrosh (a Free City famous for its cultural tradition of brightly colored hair dyes) and he dyes his hair in memory of her. |
| 515 | * EntitledToHaveYou: Although he hasn't actually met Daenerys, he expects that she'll want to be his consort and is surprised by the idea that she might refuse him. |
| 516 | * HeirClubForMen: His general assumption, along with that of the Golden Company, is that he will be king with Daenerys as his HotConsort. Tyrion pitilessly mocks him for this presumption, noting that the obvious flaws should have been a bit more self-evident. Why would Dany, a certified YoungConqueror and Targaryen in her own right ''and'' with three dragons proving her blood, ever choose to play second fiddle to a kid who just popped into existence? |
| 517 | * HiddenBackupPrince: Raised in Essos by Jon Connington, seemingly at Varys's instruction. However, it's unlikely Jon needed much arm-twisting. |
| 518 | * LostOrphanedRoyalty: Claims to be Rhaegar's son, raised in Essos after his family perished during Robert's Rebellion. Deconstructed: while a humble upbringing is often considered a bonus in fantasy stories because it will allow royalty to emphasize with their subjects, Aegon shows what a massive handicap it can be. He lacks the necessary experience and training to play the "game of thrones" effectively and is easily manipulated. |
| 519 | * MosesInTheBulrushes: Spirited away from King's Landing by Varys before Lannister forces sacked it and raised by his father's friend. |
| 520 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 521 | ** His [[spoiler:landing of the Golden Company on the Stormlands]] with the backing of Dorne under the Dragon banner echoes the arrival of Henry Tudor in England (his banner was a Red Welsh Dragon) who likewise spent much of his reign on a continent separated by sea from his native homeland and most of his supporters were fellow exiles FightingForAHomeland, as well as mercenaries and Welsh (the closest FantasyCounterpartCulture to Dorne, if Westeros is to be equated with Britain). Like Henry Tudor, Aegon is also young and not an experienced military commander, thus he relies on a very close subordinate to handle the martial side of things. |
| 522 | ** On the whole, he echoes many historical pretenders claiming to be missing and dead Princes who somehow survived massacres and purges. Examples include [[UsefulNotes/TsarTsarAutocrats Pseudo-Demetrius I]] of Russia, and from the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses itself: Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, both of whom claimed to be the lost and presumed dead "Princes in the Tower" challenging Henry Tudor's claim to the throne. |
| 523 | ** His purported manner of death - a royal infant brained against a wall during a regime change - recalls that of [[UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} Emperor Caligula's]] daughter Drusilla, who was murdered shortly after her father's assassination. |
| 524 | * {{Omniglot}}: His guardians have trained him in several tongues, as befits a prince's education. He's fluent in the Common Tongue, High Valyrian, four dialects of Valyrian, and the trade language used by sailors. |
| 525 | * PrettyBoy: Tyrion calls him a "beardless boy" but describes his good looks at length, even despite his blue hair. |
| 526 | * RedHerring: {{Invoked}}. In Arianne's sample chapter for ''The Winds of Winter'' the Martell camp wonders about his legitimacy, as he shows up in Essos with only the Golden Company's word for it and the Martells[[note]]who would almost certainly have helped hide him given the chance[[/note]] being none the wiser about his survival. |
| 527 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Despite receiving all the standard education for a prince, Aegon's also been brought up as a relatively ordinary boy, learning the skills a commoner needs to survive, such as treating wounds and cooking. Varys thinks this will be good preparation for being a king who will do everything to help his people; whether he's right remains to be seen. He also insists on leading the upcoming attack on Storm's End from the front, which could very easily prove a foolish idea, as his purported ancestor Daeron I proved. |
| 528 | * ShelteredAristocrat: Despite being more educated than most of Westeros, Tyrion notes that Aegon doesn't really know how people work and has little actual experience when it comes to the cut-and-thrust of politics. You'd have to agree with Tyrion: King's Landing would eat him alive as he is now, much as it did with Sansa Stark. |
| 529 | -->'''Tyrion's thoughts:''' The perfect prince but still half a boy for all that, with little and less experience of the world and all its woes. |
| 530 | * SpannerInTheWorks: Daenerys has been working towards her RightfulQueenReturns plan for multiple books by the time the audience learns that a boy claiming to be her nephew (with a stronger claim to the throne than she does) is still alive and plotting the same thing. |
| 531 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Either real or fake, he looks a lot like Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys by description (when he doesn't have his hair dyed blue, that is). |
| 532 | * SwitchedAtBirth: Varys allegedly switched him with a lowborn baby to save his life. |
| 533 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: According to Illyrio, he's fond of candied ginger. |
| 534 | * TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Invoked. Tyrion notices that he's way too handsome to be Griff's "son". |
| 535 | * UnwittingPawn: To Tyrion, who manages to convince him to stop waiting for Daenerys and prove his own mettle by invading Westeros on his own. |
| 536 | * WalkingSpoiler: Real or fake, his very existence throws an entirely new wrench in the already-convoluted SuccessionCrisis. |
| 537 | * WhatBeautifulEyes: When discussing his PrettyBoy looks, Tyrion handily admits that Aegon has beautiful eyes. |
| 538 | * YoungConqueror: Now that he's got the Golden Company backing him up, Aegon's moving to conquer the Stormlands. In a [[http://www.georgerrmartin.com/excerpt-from-the-winds-of-winter/ preview chapter]] for ''The Winds of Winter'', Aegon and the Golden Company have taken Storm's End. Whether he took it by force of arms or the castle surrendered is still unknown, but it is hard to imagine the garrison that Stannis Baratheon left behind giving in very easily when they are holding one of the strongest castles in the realm. If Aegon took the castle by force then he is the first attacker to do so, ever. |
| 539 | * YouRemindMeOfX: His spoiled attitude and short temper remind Tyrion somewhat of Joffrey, though thankfully he's shown no signs of sadism and so far his temper has been limited to stereotypical teenage outbursts rather than anything malevolent. |
| 540 | [[/folder]] |
| 541 | |
| 542 | !!!Court of Prince Viserys |
| 543 | |
| 544 | [[folder:Prince Viserys Targaryen]] |
| 545 | !!Prince Viserys Targaryen |
| 546 | !!!King Viserys III Targaryen, The Dragon, The Beggar King, The Cart King, The Sorefoot King |
| 547 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viserys.jpg]] |
| 548 | -->''"You don't want to wake The Dragon, do you?"'' |
| 549 | |
| 550 | Styling himself King Viserys, the Third of His Name. The second born and eldest surviving son of Aerys II and Rhaella. Exiled prince of House Targaryen and the older brother of Daenerys, who lives with her in hiding at the beginning of the series. Unlike Dany, he lived as a prince in his childhood and knew his family, but was still very young when he lost everything overnight. A young man with serious mental problems, Viserys has made it his goal in life to return to Westeros and take back the throne. Too bad he foams at the mouth, regularly pinches his sister's boobs and refers to himself as "the dragon". |
| 551 | ---- |
| 552 | * AlasPoorVillain: Surprisingly, since he's such an utter nightmare to deal with for the majority of AGOT (bear in mind, this is before Joffrey showed his true colors). [[spoiler:After he drunkenly threatened Daenerys' unborn child and she tells him that Khal Drogo will give him the "golden crown" he's always wanted, Dany notes the complete change in Viserys' behavior. He loses any trace of hostility and becomes almost childlike with joy and relief that he will finally get to go home and fulfill his destiny. Then right after, when he pitifully begs Dany for his life as Drogo crowns him with molten gold.]] |
| 553 | * TheAlcoholic: Turned to drink more and more in response to everything he went through over the years. [[spoiler:This eventually caused his death.]] |
| 554 | -->'''Daenerys:''' They fed him wine and promises, but they starved his soul. |
| 555 | * AllMenArePerverts: At Vaes Dothrak, he shows particular interest in a statue of a woman with six breasts and a ferret's head. |
| 556 | * ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Had one negotiated for him between his guardian Willem Darry and Prince Oberyn Martell, with the Sealord of Braavos as a witness, pledging Viserys to wed Oberyn's niece Princess Arianne Martell in exchange for Dorne's aid in retaking the Iron Throne. Viserys lived and died without knowing about it, however; Daenerys and Barristan Selmy conclude he was kept ignorant for fear that, had he known a beautiful Dornish princess was waiting for him, Viserys would have gone to Sunspear as soon as he was old enough to marry and brought Robert's fury down on himself and House Martell]]. |
| 557 | * AttemptedRape: According to narration in ''A Dance with Dragons'', he tried this on Daenerys the night before her wedding. Fortunately Illyrio was clever enough to have put guards at her door. |
| 558 | * AuthorityInNameOnly: Invoked. He styles himself King Viserys III Targaryen, though he doesn't have the education, the training in arms, or even the support necessary to lay such claim. Keep in mind, he ''has'' the name (and this is the reason him and Dany have a price on their heads), but he's severely lacking in everything else that comes with it. |
| 559 | * BerserkButton: The slightest hint of disrespect for his authority will cause Viserys to explode into rage. |
| 560 | * BigBrotherBully: He physically, verbally and sexually abused his little sister Daenerys for years, [[InsaneTrollLogic justifying it by blaming her for the downfall of the Targaryens, when she wasn't even alive during most of Robert's Rebellion.]] Failing that, he'd hurt her for doing anything he deemed un-Targaryen, like wanting to sail a ship. |
| 561 | * BigBadWannabe: Viserys aspires to be menacing and fearsome. Most people just think he's pathetic. |
| 562 | * BigBrotherMentor: Inverted. He has had a tremendous influence in Daenerys' actions, but she mostly wants to do the exact opposite of what Viserys would do. [[spoiler:According to her prophetic dream at ADWD, by doing so she has been pussyfooting what she's been destined to do.]] On the other hand, he ''did'' teach her important information she would need later, [[spoiler:about how to feed her dragons]]. |
| 563 | * BullyingADragon: No pun intended. Threatening your [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership hulking barbarian warlord]] brother-in-law's wife and unborn son? ''Bad idea.'' |
| 564 | * CulturalPosturing: Constantly disparages the Dothraki and their culture. [[DirtyCoward In a language most of them do not speak, of course.]] |
| 565 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Repeatedly annoying the Dothraki with 'I will be crowned' leads them to 'crown' him with molten gold. Ouch.]] |
| 566 | * DamnedByFaintPraise: At one point, Jorah asks Daenerys if she would really want to see Viserys on the Iron Throne. |
| 567 | -->'''Daenerys''': He would not be a very good king, would he?\ |
| 568 | '''Jorah''': There have been worse...but not many. |
| 569 | * DespairEventHorizon: According to Daenerys, when Viserys had to sell their mother's crown, all joy was gone from him, leaving only rage. |
| 570 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Viserys would be a poster child for the trope: |
| 571 | ** He gave away his most prized possession, Daenerys, to the leader of a horde of warriors that value strength in combat and arms, all while expecting to become their leader in spite of lacking both; |
| 572 | ** He continues to see Daenerys as ''his'' item, threatening her at every possible opportunity he has in spite of her becoming an extremely important person to her Khal husband and to his horde; |
| 573 | ** Daenerys tries to make a conscious effort to integrate Viserys into the people he's supposed to be leading, only for him to staunchly refuse, as he considers them filthy savages, while still expecting respect and obedience from them; |
| 574 | ** His final threat, for which he has to pay dearly, is threatening a pregnant Daenerys with cutting Drogo's unborn child in front of him and his Khalasar. This becomes the last offense Drogo takes from him, killing Viserys once and for all. |
| 575 | * DisownedSibling: Daenerys' narration describes Viserys as "the man who was once her brother" from the point that he threatens to cut out her baby if Drogo doesn't live up the deal to field him an army to his [[spoiler: execution by molten gold]]. |
| 576 | * DoesNotLikeSpam: He hates the taste of the horsemeat and fermented mare's milk that the Dothraki subsist on. |
| 577 | * EarlyPersonalitySigns: Though his [[TraumaCongaLine traumatic]] [[FreudianExcuse childhood]] may partly explain why he ended up going mad, Barristan notes that as a little boy, prior to Robert's Rebellion, Viserys showed signs of being just like his AxCrazy father. |
| 578 | * EmbarrassingNickname: After Dany punishes him by taking his horse and forcing him to walk back to the khalasar, the Dothraki mockingly call him ''Khal Rhae Mar,'' the Sorefoot King, as a man who does not ride a horse is considered the lowest of the low. Later Khal Drogo offers him a cart to ride in, but this is actually another insult and earns him the name ''Khal Rhaggat,'' the Cart King. Among the Dothraki, carts are only for eunuchs, cripples, heavily pregnant women, the very young, and the very old. |
| 579 | * TheExile: The Targaryens were deposed and Prince Viserys and Princess Daenerys wound up being hosted by various patrons in Essos. He is ''not'' happy to admit how far their family has fallen, and clings to their glory days. |
| 580 | * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Was very attached to his mother. Daenerys recalls that all the joy went out of him when he was forced to sell their mother's crown for food. |
| 581 | * EvenEvilCanBeLoved: He was bitter and abusive, Daenerys comes to lose a great deal of respect from him in the first book as she realizes he is a pathetic man who'd be a terrible king, and ultimately [[spoiler:Daenerys does not intervene to save him when he verbally assaults her, threatens her unborn child, and then pleads for her to help him]]. It's made clear she understands how foolish, abusive, and UnfitForGreatness he is. At the same time, her feelings on him are greatly mixed because of their shared past and how he UsedToBeASweetKid who was her sole caretaker and protector after Ser Willem Darry died: when informed late in the first book of the [[spoiler:lordship King Robert offered to anyone who killed her and Viserys, she says Robert owes Drogo a lordship, then bursts into tears. In an earlier draft of the books, GRRM had planned for Daenerys to even kill Drogo herself to avenge Viserys. At the start of the second book, she names two of her dragons after both her brothers, acknowledging, "Viserys was cruel and easily frightened, [[ThickerThanWater yet he was my brother still]]. His dragon will do what he could not." In ''A Dance with Dragons'', she has a DeadPersonConversation with what appears to be Viserys' ghost where he berates and guilt-trips her for having never mourned him after all he did for her, with Daenerys answering sadly that she loved him "once."]] |
| 582 | * EvilIsPetty: [[GreenEyedMonster Very, very petty]]. You know your schemes aren't big when you're plotting and, most importantly, failing to steal your sister's wedding gifts (and virginity) because others saw you coming a mile off without even squinting hard. |
| 583 | * FishOutOfWater: He's so out-of-touch with Dothraki society (and perhaps society in general) that he doesn't even realize he's being insulted when they offer him a cart to ride in, as among the Dothraki only the elderly, infirm, very young and pregnant don't ride a horse. |
| 584 | * FreeRangeChildren: A total deconstruction. Viserys was eight when he and his baby sister were sent into exile and just a few years older when their protector, Ser Willem Darry, died and left them on their own. Viserys had to raise his sister, try to win back the throne and look after an entire dynasty's worth of inheritance and expectations before he was in his teens. This ''greatly'' contributed to his madness and cruelty toward Daenerys, leaving him a bitter and broken man by his early twenties. Worse, he was in an alien environment and faced growing further away from his roots as time went on, however hard he tried (and failed) to cling onto them. {{Jerkass}} though he is, you do have to feel for him a little bit. |
| 585 | * FreudianExcuse: Part of how he turned out is due to this. He was raised as a prince by an AxCrazy father who isolated him and likely exposed Viserys to the idea that unknown enemies were conspiring to kill him. Then his home was ripped from him in a rebellion he probably didn't fully understand (which his [[BigBrotherWorship brother]] was a catalyst of, no less), said brother was killed, his father was [[BodyguardBetrayal betrayed and killed by a Kingsguard knight]] Viserys would have [[EtTuBrute personally known as one of his family's sworn protectors]], his [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas beloved]] mother died giving birth to his sister, and in the aftershock of this the remnants of his father's men were conspiring to hand the helpless 8-year-old Viserys and his newborn sister over to the enemy who would have killed them. They were saved by one of their father's men, Ser Willem Darry, and got to lived in peace for a time in Braavos, but when Ser Willem died, they were kicked out of their home without any money, possessions, or wealth to their name, and the 13-year-old Viserys was forced to protect, feed, and raise his five-year-old sister entirely by himself. He had to continually resort to begging for food and shelter from wealthy patrons who treated the surviving Targaryens as little more than amusing curiosities, but always lost interest and forced them out. Dany notes that when they were younger he was more of a caring brother to her, but the humiliations he had to undergo to support the two of them took their toll on him. She remembers that the last straw was being forced to sell off their mother's crown, after which all remaining kindness in him was gone. |
| 586 | * GenerationXerox: He beat his father on the speed-run playthrough and couldn't get the resources to enjoy playing with the green liquid fire, but their SanitySlippage otherwise shares many features and the increasingly abusive, loveless relationship he has with little sister Daenerys (who he once expected to marry due to being his only sister) echoes the increasingly unhappy and abusive ArrangedMarriage Aerys had with ''his'' sister Rhaella (who were forced to marry by ''their'' father). Also, Aerion Brightflame; meet an exiled, jerkish distant nephew, and one ''very'' familiar with AlcoholInducedIdiocy, too... |
| 587 | * HiddenDepths: Credit where credit is due, he managed to survive in a hostile world for over a decade while simultaneously raising his sister. Much of what Daenerys knows about her heritage and her identity was due to Viserys' teachings. He most likely [[ChekhovsGift taught her to speak Valyrian]]. He was able to convince a number of wealthy patrons into taking him and his sister in. On the whole, Daenerys is alive because of him. In spite of this, he was neither loving, truly caring nor entirely sincere with her. |
| 588 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: One of his many flaws. Even early in the story Dany knows Illyrio is untrustworthy, doubts his claims of people in Westeros supporting Viserys, and wonders why Illyrio is helping Viserys. Viserys completely buys Illyrio's lies about Westeros and thinks Illyrio just wants his favor when he's king. [[spoiler:We learn much later Illyrio was just using him as a distraction for Illyrio's own candidate]]. He later strikes Dany and is utterly shocked that Khal Drogo's men take offense to Khal Drogo's wife being hurt. Even after Dany starts standing up to him he still doesn't get that she isn't going to do what he wants and with her marriage to Drogo she's much more powerful than he is. Ultimately, while admittedly drunk, he threatens the life of Dany and her unborn child if Drogo doesn't do what he wants [[spoiler:and doesn't realize until it's far too late that when Drogo promises him a "crown" it ''doesn't'' mean a royal one]]. |
| 589 | * HumiliationConga: His entire life from Robert's Rebellion onward is one. When he was eight years old, he lost most of his immediate family, his House's kingdom and was left alone with his infant sister. They wandered the free cities and sold all their possessions just to survive. The last straw for him was when he had to sell his mother's crown. When he was with the Dothraki, Daenerys had his horse taken away when he tried to hit her. To the Dothraki, a man who doesn't ride is no man, and they named him "The Sorefoot King". Khal Drogo then has him ride in a cart, an even worse insult from the Dothraki, as carts are for old men, very young children and cripples. [[spoiler:All this culminated with him finally getting his "golden crown" as mentioned above.]] |
| 590 | * ImpoverishedPatrician: Despite coming from a line of kings and believing himself to be the true king of Westeros, Viserys is reduced to begging in order to survive. Unlike [[ModestRoyalty his sister]], he is extremely haughty and acts like he is still royalty. |
| 591 | * ImproperlyParanoid: He spent years and money moving from place to place with Daenerys, convinced Robert's assassins were after them. We learn that while Robert had considered it, he was talked out of it by Jon Arryn and no effort was made until after Daenerys was married to Drogo. It's possible that growing up with Mad King Aerys as his father, the seeds of paranoia were planted early on (as by the time Viserys was born, Aerys was ''convinced'' his previous child Prince Jaehaerys had been murdered, and went overboard trying to keep Viserys alive, with Aerys unlikely the type of parent to keep his beliefs of potential treachery and attempted murder afoot from wee Viserys' impressionable young ears) and then blossomed after the exile, especially after traumatic betrayals House Targaryen then ''did'' suffer during the Rebellion: dear old Dad betrayed and murdered by that two-faced traitor Jaime Lannister, the gruesome fates suffered by Rhaegar's family in the Sack of King's Landing when the gates to the city were opened, the Dragonstone garrison plotting to sell little Viserys and his newborn baby sister to approaching Baratheon forces even knowing it'd spell their deaths and with Viserys having no way to stop them... |
| 592 | * InadequateInheritor: Viserys is a far cry from the noble lineage of dragon kings. Cruel, impatient, belligerent, entitled, martially deficient, has piss-poor decision-making skills and thinks himself peerless, hardly the kind of man who would contest Robert Baratheon's throne. There's little surprise when [[spoiler:Khal Drogo just kills him when he takes it too far]]. |
| 593 | -->'''Jorah''': "Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake." |
| 594 | * InsaneTrollLogic: He believed that Daenerys is to blame for Rhaegar kidnapping Lyanna Stark, reasoning that if she had been born sooner then he would have married her and would have never looked at any other woman. He cruelly beat Daenerys after she pointed out that, [[{{Hypocrite}} by that same logic]], he should have been born a girl and married Rhaegar himself. |
| 595 | * InNameOnly: A rare instance of this trope occurring in-universe and being applied to a character. Viserys ''insists'' that he is the rightful king of Westeros and styles himself Viserys III Targaryen. Some characters, like Illyrio and Ser Jorah humor him by calling him "Your Grace," while everyone else who has even heard of him simply calls him "the Beggar King". |
| 596 | * IncestantAdmirer: [[spoiler:Viserys' ghost]] confirms he has [[WifeHusbandry always planned]] on one day marrying his younger sister and having "pure-blooded" children with her, and after all he feels he's sacrificed to take care of her, he feels completely entitled to doing whatever he wants with Daenerys, molesting and making inappropriate remarks about her with not a trace of shame or remorse. And when he was forced to [[ArrangedMarriage let Daenerys and Drogo marry]] to get the army he'd craved, he was ''still'' planning on sneaking into her room to take her virginity before the wedding and risking blowing up the whole plan for the sake of his pride and lust. Although willing to marry Viserys [[RoyalInbreeding per Targaryen custom for the sake of keeping the blood of the dragon "pure"]] and mentioning in her narration that she'd grown up expecting it, his sexual abuse and other cruelties have clearly taken a heavy mental toll on Daenerys, who is (initially) a meek and fearful 13-year-old cowed into submission by him. However, by present day he is keen on selling her off to be Drogo's bride instead so he can conquer Westeros, and Daenerys is far more horrified by the idea of her having to marry Drogo than he is, with Viserys berating her to please Drogo so the ArrangedMarriage will work; Viserys even gives an infamous speech about [[KickTheDog his willingness to have her raped by the entire khalasar as long as Viserys gets what he wants out of it]]. [[spoiler:Little did he know, there were plans drafted for him to marry Princess Arianne Martell instead and get his army that way courtesy of her father; as Daenerys reflects on this, she speculates that he would have dumped her and jumped at the opportunity with Arianne with little qualm. Pity nobody saw fit to tell him.]] |
| 597 | * ItRunsInTheFamily: The other reason for how he turned out. Barristan recalls that even as a young boy he showed some signs of his father's instability. |
| 598 | * {{Jerkass}}: He is cruel to his sister and anyone else he is capable of abusing. |
| 599 | * KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:"I am the dragon, the ''dragon'' and I will be ''crowned!''" Khal Drogo responds by giving him a crown of hot melted gold.]] |
| 600 | * KickTheDog: In almost every scene he appears in, he sexually assaults his sister. |
| 601 | * LastOfHisKind: Upon Rhaegar's death at the Trident, Viserys effectively became both the last Crown Prince of House Targaryen and the Prince of Dragonstone. This served him very little purpose at the time, as his father would be shortly killed by Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, ending the Targaryen claim to the Iron Throne right then and there. It wouldn't be a long time before his mother died giving birth to Daenerys and they both had to be scampered to Essos by Ser Willem Darry. This aspect defined his entire will to live, as Viserys would spend the rest of his life trying to uphold that claim to no avail. |
| 602 | * LeanAndMean: He is described as being thin and gaunt looking in appearance, most likely due to a life of running from assassins he was convinced were after him, as well as having to live off the charity of others. This probably didn't help his temperament, due to his immense pride. |
| 603 | * LikeFatherLikeSon: Barristan Selmy expresses that Viserys was very much like Aerys precisely in the ways that Rhaegar wasn't, which, along with the age gap, also explains why [[SiblingYinYang Rhaegar and Viserys]] don't ever seem to share much similarity as brothers... besides their classic Targaryen features, that is. |
| 604 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: Had he had any idea of [[spoiler: Ser Willem Darry's and Prince Doran Martell's plan to marry him to Doran's smoking hot daughter when the Targaryens invaded Westeros,]] he might have settled the fuck down enough to manage to not [[spoiler: get himself brutally slain by the Dothraki.]] Then again, [[StupidEvil knowing Viserys,]] maybe not. Daenerys even states that had Viserys known there was a [[spoiler:Dornish princess for him to marry, he would have gone to Dorne as soon as he was old enough to wed, regardless of the consequences, and brought Robert's wrath down on his head and House Martell]]. |
| 605 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: To James Francis Edward Stuart, "the Old Pretender", living in exile after his father was killed (though James' father James II was merely forced into exile), and styling himself as King. He also has a great deal of similarity in personality to James' eldest son Charles Edward Stuart, "the Young Pretender" (more popularly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie"), who despite his romantic reputation in poetry, was an alcoholic, obsessed with reclaiming his birthright and abusive to his lovers. |
| 606 | * NonActionBigBad: Talks a big game in the beginning, telling everyone that he's going to personally kill [[LivingLegend Robert Baratheon and Jaime Lannister]]. Viserys is no warrior, has never killed anyone, only ever seems capable of harming submissive young women and starts ordering stronger men to do that for him when the women get a little less submissive, only to be ignored by those men. [[DirtyCoward He also freaks out as soon as he himself is hurt or in danger.]] |
| 607 | * PaperTiger: Or "Paper Dragon" as it were. For all his incredible haughtiness and temper, Viserys rarely does anything beyond scream and shout when he feels he's been disrespected and will almost always back down when challenged. |
| 608 | * PassedOverInheritance: By rights, he is the heir to the Iron Throne after the death of Aerys, Rhaegar and the latter's offspring, not that the plot accommodates this. |
| 609 | * PrincessInRags: He was raised as an extremely sheltered prince, but was then forced to go on the run in a foreign country with his baby sister at the age of eight after his family's dynasty collapsed during Robert's Rebellion. It's safe to say this didn't do wonders for his mental health and he continues to act like [[RoyalBrat an entitled prince]] when he's anything but. |
| 610 | * PromotionToParent: After the death of their entire family, he raised his little sister Daenerys as a ParentalSubstitute. Too bad he was an [[AbusiveParents abusive]] one. Took after his own daddy there: even though his mother did her best to shelter him from the worst of Aerys' moods, it's clear he still learned how from him. |
| 611 | * PsychopathicManchild: Huge emphasis on the "psychopathic". If he wasn't so much the "child" and less the "man", though, he'd have a chance at seriously scary, rather than just sadly pathetic. |
| 612 | * ARealManIsAKiller: Subverted. Vowed to kill Robert himself, though he's never killed anyone. |
| 613 | * RoyalBrat: He acts like this all the time, calling himself King and The Dragon. However he has no kingdom, actual followers, and what little wealth he had was lost or sold just to survive. |
| 614 | * ShelteredAristocrat: ''A World of Ice and Fire'' reveals that Viserys' early upbringing took place in an extremely sheltered environment due to his father's extreme over-protectiveness. Even if his issues were truly InTheBlood, being effectively isolated from society at an early age certainly didn't help him learn to cope. In story, [[spoiler: Barristan tells Dany]] that Viserys was even kept unaware of how batshit insane his father was thanks to Rhaella, with Viserys believing that it was simply [[CassandraTruth propaganda and slander spread by Robert.]] |
| 615 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Not really a "small name" since he ''is'' the prince and one of only two survivors of a once extremely powerful dynasty that made Westeros what it is but Viserys carries himself like he's already back in King's Landing and commanding a vast army and kingdom rather than just trying to survive day to day with people who regard less with reverence and respect than open contempt. |
| 616 | * SmugSnake: Contemptuous to everyone, with an over-inflated sense of his own abilities and ends up dead due to his own stupidity and hubris. |
| 617 | * SpannerInTheWorks: |
| 618 | ** [[spoiler:To Doran Martell's plan to help him regain King's Landing. Had he not been TooDumbToLive, he would have had the army he desperately wanted.]] |
| 619 | ** Also, [[spoiler:to Illyrio Mopatis, as the Golden Company's initial instruction from him was to join Viserys and the Dothraki horde before the kingling got himself killed by his own brother-in-law for having a big, big mouth; his death and later Dany's ebbing in Slaver's Bay cause the Golden Company to finally tell Illyrio to go screw himself and his plans and cross the Narrow Sea with Aegon without Illyrio's Dragon Queen]]. |
| 620 | * SpareToTheThrone: The very reason he was so sheltered by Aerys. He was kept away in Dragonstone because Aerys didn't trust Rhaegar and as Second Prince, Viserys would have been given priority over Rhaegar had the latter proven himself treacherous as Aerys thought. |
| 621 | * StartOfDarkness: Daenerys describes Viserys being forced to sell their mother's crown as the incident that extinguished his last bit of kindness; from then on he was only ever cruel and abusive to her. |
| 622 | * StupidEvil: Viserys was so focused on being the king he thought he should be, that he never learned any humility in his situation and tried to assert his power by bullying anyone he didn't think would fight back- which usually meant his little sister. He kept doing this even when Daenerys had married Khal Drogo and was thus the one with ''real'' power while Viserys was her tagalong. His refusal to acknowledge that he should even be polite to his "inferiors" led him to a ''very'' nasty death. |
| 623 | * TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Viserys shows up at a banquet in Vaes Dothrak (the Dothraki holy city) wearing a sword, which is forbidden. Then, he not only threatens Dany's life but also to cut her unborn son out of her. Yeah, he's drunk and frustrated, but threatening the wife of a barbarian warlord while you're surrounded by 5,000 of his followers isn't too bright. He thinks himself safe since the Dothraki are forbidden from shedding blood while in the sacred city, but Drogo melts down his own belt of gold medallions and dumps it on Viserys' head [[ExactWords without spilling a single drop of blood]].]] |
| 624 | * TragicVillain: He's a ''major'' asshat, however: at the age of eight or so, everything he knew in life was ripped away from him, in addition to undergoing a PromotionToParent for his little sister. After that, years of living on the run from possible assassination, plus having to swallow his pride at every turn just to live, while probably coping (or failing to cope) with what must been something like PTSD on top of any other inborn issues that only got worse thanks to time and neglect? He also inherited his father's mental instabilities, [[MiddleChildSyndrome and compared to his]] [[TheWisePrince older brother Rhaegar]] ([[TheAce who was repeatedly noted to be awesome at anything he did]]), Viserys comes off as quite unimpressive. He was essentially screwed from ''birth'', and so comes across just as pathetic as hateable. |
| 625 | * TraumaCongaLine: His childhood was essentially a progression of things getting worse and worse for him. His father was overthrown, his mother died in childbirth, he had to flee Westeros with his little sister, the man who raised him died of sickness and the servants kicked them out, he became paranoid and sold off his family treasues to stay on the move, and turned to begging when those were all gone. |
| 626 | * TurnOutLikeHisFather: Went batshit insane and [[spoiler:got himself killed just like his father]]. |
| 627 | -->'''Illyrio:''' Viserys was Mad Aerys' son, just so. |
| 628 | * UnknownRival: Viserys likes to imagine that he's the TheHero to Robert's BigBad, but he belongs squarely in this trope. While Robert did want Viserys dead, he regarded him as an annoying loose end rather than a serious threat and was much more concerned with the possibility of Daenerys having children. |
| 629 | * UnreliableNarrator: Viserys constantly talks about hired knives being sent after him from a young age, even saying to Illyrio that Robert had TRIED to have him dealt with in the past. However, from Ned's own discussions with Robert, Robert was convinced (albeit grudgingly) to leave the remaining Targaryens alone in their exile by Jon Arryn, suggesting that these attempts were only Viserys's paranoia. Robert only ends up placing a bounty on their heads when Daenerys is revealed to be pregnant. |
| 630 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Many of his choices, decisions and follies have had major impacts nobody could have foreseen at the time. Not least, treating and exhibiting Daenerys the way he did as they were growing up together both limited her and pushed her to become who she ultimately turned out to be. And caused major Essosi power-players to totally misread the "doormat" sister. He had just wanted a compliant Queen Consort who wouldn't say boo to a goose (and who would certainly not know enough about their history or ruling to question him). What he ended up producing was vastly different. Both he and she have been spanners in a lot of plans because he was both unpredictable and untrustworthy in the places he went to and the people he sought help from. |
| 631 | * UsedToBeASweetKid: Downplayed. According to Barristan, he was already showing signs of his dad's instability as a child. According to Daenerys however, he was a genuinely kind and caring brother to her when they were children, but the hardships they went through wore away at his compassionate side and by the time he had to sell his mother's crown, it was all gone. |
| 632 | * ValuesDissonance: An in-Universe example. The way Viserys acts and the warlike traditions of the Dothraki don't mesh very well. Less "the dragon commands!" and more "please, Khal Drogo" would have been wise. |
| 633 | * WhatTheHellHero: A vision of Viserys tells Daenerys that she never bothered to mourn him even when he spent most of his life protecting her, and that if she never did, no one else would. He also expresses that he was robbed of what he bargained her for, meaning his conquering army, and that by doing so, he also lost ''her'' to Drogo. |
| 634 | * WhiteHairBlackHeart: Has the white hair of the Targaryens and is a physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive asshat. |
| 635 | * WifeHusbandry: Got PromotedToParent at age 13 when their last guardian died and care of his five-year-old baby sister fell squarely on his shoulders. Before Illyrio Mopatis hit on the idea of arranging Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo to give Viserys the manpower to retake Westeros, it's implied that Viserys was waiting for her to be old enough to marry [[BrotherSisterIncest him]] instead. By the time the books start, when Daenerys is now the 13-year-old and Viserys is now 21, their relationship has become a nightmarish case of DomesticAbuse with Viserys treating her with sneering contempt, physically abusing her, and making it clear he doesn't give a damn about her feelings. |
| 636 | * YouCantGoHomeAgain: Though he wants to return to Westeros to claim the Seven Kingdoms, he lives in exile in the Free Cities of Essos with his sister. |
| 637 | [[/folder]] |
| 638 | |
| 639 | [[folder:Daenerys I*]] |
| 640 | !!Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the First of Her Name; r. 298 |
| 641 | -->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]]. |
| 642 | [[/folder]] |
| 643 | |
| 644 | !!!Other Targaryens |
| 645 | |
| 646 | [[folder:Maester Aemon Targaryen]] |
| 647 | -->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheNightsWatch the Night's Watch character page]]. |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 |
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FollowingContext Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireHouseTargaryen
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