Line #21 Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireLordOfLight


1	[-This is a listing of R'hllor, his religion, and and individuals associated with him, in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.-]
2	!!!For the main character index, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFire here]]]]
3	!!!For the main Deities and Religions entry, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireDeitiesAndReligions here]]]]
4
5	!!R'hllor
6	!!!The Red God, Lord of Light, Heart of Fire, God of Flame and Shadow
7	->''"The brightest flame casts the darkest shadows."''
8
9	He is also known as the "Lord of Light", "The Red God, "Heart of Fire" and the "God of Flame and Shadow". R'hllor is a popular deity in Essos, but relatively obscure in Westeros, with the notable exceptions of Stannis' court and the Brotherhood Without Banners. R'hllor is believed to be opposed by a deity known as The Great Other, who is the opposite of R'hllor in all respects. Ritual prayers include beseeching the Lord of Light to bring the dawn; the devout do this every night.
10
11	While R'hllor is introduced later in the series and seems like a foreign import in comparison to the Seven, it should be noted that every red priest or priestess depicted "on-screen" has been shown to work supernatural feats, something no septa or septon has been seen to equal. That being said, the Faith of the Seven is opposed to magic as a whole, so it isn't surprising they wouldn't try to use it.
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:R'hllor]]
16	* ActivistFundamentalistAntics: People who worship the Old Gods, the Seven, or some other deity tolerate each other and accept the existence of those other deities to varying degrees -- they don't necessarily ''like'' each other, but they don't generally crusade against one another. The worshippers of R'hllor believe that all other deities are minions of their equivalent of Satan, which tends to cause some friction.
17	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: A major theme, at least one Melisandre espouses. In view of his worshippers, R'hllor is the only good, while the Great Other and all other religions are evil and considered false faiths.
18	* BreedingCult: Melisandre's shadow babies. It is unknown if other red priestesses have the same ability or if male red priests may impregnate women with them. This ability may have stemmed from Melisandre being a shadowbinder, not from her red priestess training.
19	%%* TheChosenOne: Azor Ahai.
20	* ChurchMilitant: The Fiery Hand, [[SlaveMooks slave soldiers]] protecting the Red Temple in Volantis. Like the other Slaves of R'hllor in Volantis they also have the facial flame tattoos.
21	* CrystalDragonJesus: Has a lot in common with Zoroastrianism, due to the whole "LightIsGood vs. DarkIsEvil" dynamic with R'hllor and the Great Other. Zorostrianism also places a great emphasis on sacred and purifying fire, to the point of veneration, and preaches the equality of the sexes and the holiness of sexual activity. The dualism of the religion has more in common with the heretical Christian sect of Catharism which, unlike Zoroastrianism, regards the two gods as equal, opposite forces in constant struggle. Unlike Catharism, which regarded matter and sex as abominable, R'hllor's faith advocates for sexual activity. Like Catharism, they have a strong belief that there is only one "proper" deity and another evil entity diametrically opposed to that deity. Any other faiths are snuffed out where they can be ('Catharism' even means "the belief of the pure ones"). So far, it's working out better for the Lord of Light than it did for the Cathars, who were wiped out during the Albigensian Crusade.
22	* EqualOpportunityEvil: Their religious intolerance to other faiths and fondness for HumanSacrifice goes hand in hand with their gender-equality in the priesthood, their sex-positive attitudes and in the case of Volantis, their commitment to abolitionism and support for Dany's crusade.
23	* EvilVsEvil: From what we’ve seen, the Red Priests generally aren't nice people, but they hate slavery and are fighting against it quite fiercely. And the Others are the BigBad of the Red Faith, so there’s that.
24	* EvilVersusOblivion: So what if the God of Flame is evil? Winter is coming.
25	* GenderIsNoObject: The red faith is one of the few religions seen that has both men and women serving on parity as priests, treats women as equals with men in other respects, and even has a female "[[HighPriest Pope]]".
26	* GodOfDarkness: Worshippers of R'hllor consider him to also be the god of the shadows cast by fire, light, and the sun, contrasting them with the shapeless darkness of the Great Other.
27	* GodOfFire: R'hllor is a god of fire, and worshipped mainly around bonfires and through burned sacrifices.
28	* GodOfLight. He seems to have actual power, occasionally bringing people back to life, and giving some of his followers the ability to ignite their weapons.
29	%%* GoodIsNotNice: If He is good that is.
30	* JerkAssGods: R'hllor is believed to appreciate human sacrifices, and his followers need little provocation to start burning non-believers.
31	* KillItWithFire: Unsurprisingly, this is a means that R'hllor's worshippers use to punish nonbelievers/honor their deity.
32	* LightIsNotGood: He is the god of light opposed to darkness (albeit not shadows) and certainly seen by his followers as good and just, but almost everyone else sees him as a sinister force at best. There is an underlying implication that the light extreme R'hllor represents is as awful as the darkness of the Others.
33	* LoveGoddess: R'hllor also is a fertility deity. And unlike The Faith of The Seven, R'hllor doesn't seem to have any hang-ups about sexual purity or virginity, either of men or women.
34	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The fact that "Holy R'hllors" (as Tor reviewer Leigh Butler called them) can perform supernatural feats, in a world where magic is real and the Faith of the Seven are explicitly anti-magic, may not signify anything. But the faith of R'hllor (presumably) started a continent away, and tells stories of a GodOfFire who will oppose an "Other," AnIcePerson. Have The Others ever been seen on Essos? Or is this religion on to something?
35	* ReligionIsMagic: R'hllor's devout followers have shown magical abilities to bring people back from the dead, predict the future (with varying degrees of success), cast illusionary glamours to disguise other people, and survive without food or water for extended periods.
36	* TheSacredDarkness: R'hllor is associated with shadow, which, at least in this religion, is explicitly different from darkness (which is instead linked to the Great Other). Shadow is generated by light, while there are no shadows in darkness.
37	* SacredFlames: R'hllor is strongly associated with fire, and his priests can use flame to perform supernatural feats such as looking into the future.
38	* {{Seers}}: The priests and priestesses in service to R'hllor seem to be gifted with pyromancy (in the classical sense, i.e., they try to see the future through patterns in flames). How accurate they are, however, tends to vary.
39	* SlaveBrand: Those who are purchased by the Temple of R'hllor at Volantis are known as "Slaves of R'hllor", and have tattooed flames on their cheeks and foreheads.
40	* VirginSacrifice: One possible interpretation of Melisandre's statement, "The Lord of Light cherishes the innocent. There is no sacrifice more precious." Having your virginity intact is by no means a strict requirement to be a sacrifice, however--R'hllor's followers will happily burn anything and everything they can if it pleases their god.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	!!! Prominent red priests
44
45	[[folder:Melisandre*]]
46	!!Melisandre
47	!!!The Red Woman, The Red Priestess, Lady Red, Melony
48	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/melisandre_asoiaf_calendar_7913.png]]
49	->''"R'hllor, give us light, for the night is dark and full of terrors."''
50
51	A red-clad sorceress and Shadowbinder from the mysterious land of Asshai, Melisandre is an adviser to Stannis Baratheon and his wife. She is a priestess of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and while various organizations claim (with varying degrees of probable truth) to use "spells", (such as the Faceless Men, pyromancers and certain armorers,) she is one of the few indisputably magical characters in the entire series, apart from other worshippers of R'hllor, and (depending on how you define "magic") the skinchangers like Bran, and greenseers like Jojen Reed. Melisandre preaches a message of tolerance and peace... by having people burned alive for the greater good. Her goal is to prepare the world for the War for the Dawn to save humanity from the threat of the Others.
52	----
53	* AffablyEvil: She is very polite. She also takes offense to very little, including murder attempts.
54	* AmbiguouslyHuman: She straddles the line between this and HumanoidAbomination. She doesn't really need to eat and hopes that, one day, she won't need to sleep at all. She needs to remind herself to eat and cover up properly in cold weather as to not freak others out. Poison doesn't work on her. Her hair and eye colour are not natural hues of red, and her height is also off for most women (or even many men). She's older than she looks. There's the BloodMagic she does. Then, there's the fact that very few people in-world are actually ''comfortable'' in her presence for reasons they can't put their fingers on. Yeah. Her own [=POV=] in ''A Dance With Dragons'', however, does confirm that she has genuine religious beliefs, feels vulnerable and uncertain about some of her visions, and has a DarkAndTroubledPast as a former slave.
55	* AntiHero: She's either an UnscrupulousHero or a [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Anti-Villain]], depending on whose point of view you're arguing from. Even those who will grudgingly accept her as a force for good are creeped out either by her methods or by... [[CreepyGood everything else]]. Even if regarded as a sinister figure, a glimpse at her motivations shows that, at the very least, ''she'' believes she's doing the right thing.
56	* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: She has red hair and red eyes, and dresses all in red. Fittingly, she's a priestess of a fire god, although it is unknown if this is her "true" appearance. Additionally, she's the only Red Priest mentioned to have red hair.
57	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: She has a strong sense of moral absolutism, and views people through a strict good-or-evil binary. It's part of why she and Stannis get along so well.
58	-->'''Melisandre:''' An onion that is half black with rot is a rotten onion. Men are good or they are evil.
59	* BloodMagic: One of Melisandre's specialties, and it often takes the form of human sacrifices. She can do some blood magic without killing her source, like when she used leeches to draw some of Edric Storm's blood.
60	* {{Bookworm}}: She loves reading.
61	* BorrowedCatchphrase: In ''A Dance With Dragons'', she uses Ygritte's "You know nothing, Jon Snow", which she must have learned of through supernatural means. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Or it's a creepy but meaningless coincidence.]]
62	* CantArgueWithElves: Skeptics like Maester Creesen, Davos, and Jon Snow try to write off her visions and prophecies and challenge her intuition and wisdom, but Melisandre keeps vindicating herself. By the end of ''A Dance With Dragons'', Jon begins taking some aspects of her visions seriously, but he still strongly disagrees with her other methods.
63	* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Implied. Even though she considers [[MonsterClown Patchface]] a dangerous creature, she hasn't had him sacrificed even though she could easily do so, implying she's sparing him for some other purpose.
64	* CassandraTruth: Few people believe her visions before they come true.
65	* ContraltoOfStrength: Melisandre’s voice is quite deep and she is possibly the most dangerous of Stannis’ circle.
66	* CourtMage: She has quite deliberately set herself up as this. It's no accident she approached Stannis via his wife.
67	* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Since her hair is a strange shade of red (explicitly differentiated from an ordinary redhead), the matching eyes are more than a little unsettling.
68	* DarkAndTroubledPast: She still has nightmares of being sold on the block. And there are hints that it probably doesn't end there. Especially given what is learned about the general treatment of slaves in Essos.
69	* TheDragon: "Right-hand woman" is practically her self-written job-description.
70	* DarkMessiah: Possibly. Melisandre sees visions from her God through the flames, though this God is not exactly straightforward with her or she has trouble interpreting the messages; as such, she is leaning towards being [[TheProphecy a prophet]] rather than a Messiah. Then again, if conveying the messages involves the immolation of infidels, the "Dark" part is fully covered.
71	* {{Determinator}}: No matter what it takes or how steep the price she and others have to pay, she fully intends to work out what R'hllor's will is and carry it out. And nothing will stop her. This also seems to be a trait that she admires in others, thinking well of Davos even when he tries to kill her because he's doing it out of loyalty and determination and because he thinks it's the right thing to do.
72	* TheDreaded: Melisandre is the most feared of Stannis' followers and he uses her reputation to his advantage.
73	* ElementalHairColors: It's pretty obvious she's associated with fire just from the description of her hair.
74	* EvilIsBurningHot: Evokes this more than a little, even though the R'hllor religion is all about heat and flame representing good. [[EvilVersusEvil Naturally]], the opposing side fits EvilIsDeathlyCold like a glove.
75	* EvilChancellor: Most people believe her to be this, as she urged Stannis to have [[spoiler:his young nephew sacrificed]], although the truth is--like most of the series--more gray than that. After [[spoiler:Davos Seaworth spirits Edric away]], she tells him that he has only delayed [[spoiler: Edric's]] death and possibly doomed many others. That doesn't make human sacrifice any less horrific, but she does have a point. And [[AStormIsComing winter is coming]].
76	-->'''Melisandre''': [[spoiler:Do you think you've saved this boy, Onion Knight? When the long night falls, Edric Storm shall die with the rest, wherever he is hidden. Your own sons as well. Darkness and cold will cover the earth. You meddle in matters you do not understand.]]
77	* EvilRedhead: {{Zigzagg\|ingTrope}}ed. This trope is certainly present with her, but it's not played straight. It's hard to say she's ''evil'', exactly. She ''is'' extremely ruthless, but she's in the morally grey area of the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' universe.
78	%%* FetusTerrible: The "shadow babies".
79	* FieryRedhead: Inverted. She is cold and calculating, and on the rare occasions when she is genuinely surprised her composure barely flickers.
80	* FieryStoic: She uses fire magic, and typically shows a composed, serene demeanor.
81	* ForgetsToEat: R'hllor sustains her, so she doesn't actually need to eat, but she tries to remember to anyway so she doesn't freak anyone out.
82	* FromNobodyToNightmare: She was a slave as a child, yet rose to became a ''very'' powerful priestess and sorceress, and is advisor to one of the most powerful men in Westeros.
83	* TheFundamentalist: Oh my, yes. Perhaps the biggest one in the books, and even though she's not the only character with these traits, she stands out.
84	* HeroicWannabe: Certainly wants to be a good person, but her value of "good" is different than others.
85	* HotWitch: Literally hotter to the touch than ordinary people, and she's also beautiful and not at all averse to flirting with or openly propositioning men with a strong life-force (like Davos) she can use to make her LivingShadow assassin babies.
86	* ImpliedLoveInterest: To Stannis, though "love" might be going too far. They are implied to be sleeping together, at the very least.
87	* TheInsomniac: In ''A Dance With Dragons'', it's revealed that Melisandre doesn't sleep much, often just an hour a night, as she is afraid of nightmares.
88	* KillItWithFire: Kills an [[AnimalEyeSpy eagle]] with her flames during the battle at the Wall.
89	* KnightTemplar: Her aims are admirable, and she's one of the pitifully few individuals willing to do anything about the threat of the Others. Her means, however, are completely ruthless.
90	* LadyOfBlackMagic: She's always calm and composed, but as part of a low-magic setting she's usually limited to soothsaying, illusion and giving birth to deadly {{Living Shadow}}s. Given that she's one of a handful of people to show outright supernatural abilities at ''all'', however, that says something. Her powers increase near the Wall, apparently allowing her to take out an eagle with a fireball.
91	* LadyInRed: Melisandre is an object of desire for many characters who note her unnatural beauty; she garbs herself completely in red as the trope states, yet her sexual exploits are not stated proper in the books, although it's implied that she does have a sexual relationship with Stannis.
92	* TheLawOfPowerProportionateToEffort: Melisandre is one of the few people with substantial knowledge about various forms of magic, and she has gained the reputation of being a dangerous and formidable LadyOfBlackMagic. This is partially because she makes the magic look easier to use than it actually is, using various forms of tricks and items to make the act of casting easier, or produce an effect which looks far more impressive than it actually is.
93	* LickedByTheDog: In ''A Dance With Dragons'', Ghost is immediately taken with her, although it's implied that something unnatural is going on to cause that reaction. This is especially jarring since, with his mental connection to Jon Snow, one would expect Ghost to share Jon's unease of her, so the fact that Ghost took to her disconcerts him.
94	* LieToTheBeholder: Melisandre is able to cast these glamours on people, specifically [[spoiler:Mance Rayder]]. It's noted to be very difficult magic, and the more they challenge people's {{Weirdness Censor}}s, the it is harder to keep up, so wearing the person's IconicItem or IconicOutfit helps the disguise.
95	* LightIsNotGood: Sometimes played straight, sometimes not. Melisandre insists that R'hllor is good and has humanity's best interest at heart, but her religious extremism and terrifying [[LivingShadow "children"]] put those assertions in doubt. She's not good (despite what she thinks of herself) but not evil either. As she tells Davos:
96	-->'''Melisandre''': There are no shadows in the dark. Shadows are the servants of light, the children of fire. The brightest flame casts the darkest shadows.
97	* LivingShadow: Her "children". When Davos questions whether shadow powers are appropriate given her [[LightIsGood beliefs]], she replies that they are, since you can't have shadows without light.
98	* MadeASlave: {{Implied\|Trope}} - her chapters mention that she still has nightmares of being sold in a slave market, but never indicate that she was born into slavery.
99	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: She complicates things by using slight-of-hand, stagecraft and plain old chemistry to "boost" whatever it is she does. Even surviving Cressen's attempted poisoning could be written off as "somebody who knows her antidotes and takes them every day," and it would also fit her other MO of using powders and liquids to both colour and produce flames from nothing, King's Landing Alchemist-style -- except for the fact that her magic ruby glowed. However... she does also do quite a lot of things you need to ask questions about (throwing a fireball goes a little beyond "really good at chemistry for a Medieval-style setting"). And she certainly knows things she really shouldn't, especially if she were only using the raven postal service. According to her viewpoint chapter her genuine magic is also a mix of real divine power and blood magic, and yet other abilities (like not needing to eat) may be from being a shadowbinder rather than a red priestess. She's gone considerably out of her way to keep anyone from knowing this, and even she isn't always sure where the lines are.
100	* MeaningfulName: "Melisandre" is [[MyNaymeIs very similar to]] "Melisande", a French name meaning (among other things) strength and determination.
101	* MeaningfulRename: As a young slave girl, her name was Melony.
102	* MilitaryMage: As Stannis Baratheon's CourtMage, Melisandre uses her ability to see visions in fire to counsel him on military strategy, telling him that if he marches on King's Landing his brother Renly will defeat him, but if he attacks Renly at Storm's End he will be victorious. [[spoiler:Both are true thanks to ProphecyTwist.]] She herself plays a major role in the battle at the Wall, where she [[spoiler:lights the wildling's AnimalEyeSpy scout on fire and causing the skinchanger inside it to go mad with pain and lose control of his other animals, sending a shadowcat, three wolves, and a ''polar bear'' rampaging through wildling lines just before Stannis' army crashes down on them.]]
103	* MyBloodRunsHot: She's noted to have an unnaturally high body temperature, implicitly due to the flames of R'hllor.
104	* MyNaymeIs: "Melisandre" evokes the obscure French name Melisande (the medieval form of Millicent).
105	* MysteriousBacker: Definitely. Her motivations become more clear in ''A Dance With Dragons''.
106	* MysteriousPast: She came into the service of R'hllor when she was sold as a young slave girl to a red temple. Nothing is known of how she learned her magics, how she got to Asshai, or anything else.
107	* TheNeedless: She doesn't need to eat, sustaining herself with the magic of R'hllor, but consumes food to keep up appearances.
108	* NoSocialSkills: Downplayed. She's certainly courteous, but she has difficulty holding a conversation without sliding into religious rhetoric and her idea of seducing someone is straight up propositioning them and hoping for the best. This makes her very blunt and makes it very difficult for her to convince people of what she wants them to believe. Luckily for her Stannis considers straightforward BrutalHonesty to be a positive trait.
109	* NothingUpMySleeve: She keeps powders in the hidden pockets of her sleeves to aid in her sorceries.
110	* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: Her POV in ''A Dance With Dragons'' confirms this is the case. The visions that she sees in the fires will always come true, but her personal feelings (i.e. her trying to manipulate events to Stannis's advantage) sometimes cause her to mistake their meaning. Also, ignoring the matter of interpreting the visions, even receiving them is not consistent; she can miss things she is not actively looking for, which is why she fails to see [[spoiler: Davos taking Edric Storm beyond her reach]], and even when she is actively looking for something the visions might show her something completely unrelated.
111	** There's a line in ''A Dance With Dragons'', possibly a ShoutOut to fans who believe in the Jon Snow is Azor Ahai theory:
112	--->'''Melisandre''': I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow.
113	** Also in ''A Dance With Dragons'', it's shown that Moqorro, Victarion Greyjoy's captured R'hllor priest, is a noticeably more accurate and straightforward clairvoyant.
114	* OddNameOut: Has the distinction of being one of only two POV characters not from Westeros (the other being Areo Hotah). She's also one of the few POV characters without a last name (the others are prologue-only).
115	* OlderThanTheyLook: Has practiced the art of watching the flames for "years beyond count" and yet appears to be no older than around 30.
116	* OutWithABang: When propositioning Davos to help her make some shadow babies, Melisandre implies that it would be the best sex ever, but it's also made clear that sex with Melisandre draws the life out of the other participant (it's heavily implied that this is why Stannis looks so haggard and prematurely aged after having created two shadows with her, to the point where she dares not try to make a third).
117	* PetTheDog: Melisandre has a surprising number of kind moments, which makes it harder to pinpoint if she's really good or evil.
118	** In ''A Dance with Dragons'', [[spoiler:she has Devan Seaworth remain at the Wall so Davos won't lose another son]].
119	** She attempts to save Maester Cressen even after he tries to poison her. It's possible she also tried to prevent his failed murder-suicide (well, the murder part anyway) attempt in the first place by first excluding him from the banquet where he tries to assassinate her and then, when he attends anyway, trying to embarrass and insult him to the point that he leaves.
120	** She insists that Davos be treated gently after he tries to assassinate her, visits him in prison, and expresses understanding for his motivation in trying to kill her. Later, she personally convinces Stannis to release him.
121	** She saves [[spoiler:Mance Rayder]] and tries to save [[spoiler:Jon Snow]] despite having little reason for the first and none (that she knows of) for the second.
122	** She's one of the few people in the books who treats Selyse with anything resembling kindness and respect.
123	** She is kind to Sam and honestly praises him for killing an Other.
124	** When Davos accuses her of being involved with Renly's death, Stannis goes so far as to defend her and point out she was the one who convinced him to at least ''try'' to negotiate with him.
125	* PowerStereotypeFlip: Melisandre is a witch with an [[PlayingWithFire affinity for fire magic]], however she is stoic and calculating rather than HotBlooded.
126	* PragmaticVillainy: While she mistrusts Davos because he refuses to worship R'hllor, she realizes that his loyalty to Stannis cannot be doubted and so doesn't move against him. At times she seems to genuinely like him.
127	* PropheticFallacy: Her visions are always true, but her interpretation of them isn't always accurate (for example, the girl she saw riding to Castle Black for refuge that she assumed was Arya Stark was actually Alys Karstark). Unfortunately, to maintain her image she acts like she's infallible until proven otherwise and even then handwaves it.
128	* ProtectionFromTheElements: She claims that the light of R'hllor keeps her warm no matter the weather, even in the frigid land near the Wall. People near her can actually feel the supernatural heat.
129	* RedOniBlueOni: Very ironically, she is the Blue to both of Davos and Stannis's Reds.
130	* RedEyesTakeWarning: She is ''not'' to be trifled with. And you get plenty of warning with those peepers.
131	* ShoutOut: According to WordOfGod, Melisandre has a few similarities to Gandalf from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
132	* StatuesqueStunner: She's quite beautiful and taller than most men. However, when her height is noted it is not as a positive trait, and is one of the reasons why other characters find her unsettling.
133	* TheStoic: She shows little reaction to most things and internalizes most of her fears, presenting a very stoic exterior.
134	* SympatheticPOV: It is in her POV chapter where we learn of her DarkAndTroubledPast, as well as her soft spot for Davos. We also learn that she has a soft spot for Davos' young son, Devan, who she is deliberately trying to keep safe for Davos' sake.
135	* UndyingLoyalty: To the Lord of Light, her cause, and possibly to Stannis.
136	* WellIntentionedExtremist: She will do anything to advance her god's cause, since she believes it's humanity's only hope of surviving the winter to come. She gives the following typical defense to Jon Snow when he expresses skepticism of her visions:
137	-->'''Jon Snow:''' Dalla told me something once. Val's sister, Mance Rayder's wife. She said that sorcery was a sword without a hilt. There is no safe way to grasp it.\
138	'''Melisandre:''' A wise woman. A sword without a hilt is still a sword, though, and a sword is a fine thing to have when foes are all about.
139	* WorthyOpponent: How she views Davos. Well, at the start, and maybe not that much: initially, he was an obstacle she tried getting rid of. Then she realised his worth to Stannis and recognised that his obstruction wasn't outright malicious in any way, shape, or form, nor was it self-serving. Their relationship has mellowed into... a very odd one, as a result. Both continue to butt heads, but she actually comes across as ''liking'' him, for all she considers him misguided. With Davos, however: different story. It's unlikely he'll forget or forgive the Shadow Babies or her attemped sacrifice of Edric Storm any time soon.
140	* WouldHurtAChild: She wants to sacrifice Edric Storm, Robert's young bastard son, believing that his kingsblood will allow her to wake dragons from stone. Davos scotches that plan by shipping Edric off to Lys. Later, Jon switches Mance's son (the "Prince-Beyond-the-Wall") and Craster's son, sending the former away with Sam and Gilly to prevent Melisandre from trying anything funny.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Benerro]]
144	!!Benerro
145	!!!Flame of Truth, Light of Wisdom, First Servant of the Lord of Light, Slave of R'hllor
146	->''Haldon Halfmaester has spoken of using the red priest to Young Griff's advantage, Tyrion recalled. Now that he had seen and heard the man himself, that struck him as a very bad idea. He hoped Griff had better sense. Some allies are more dangerous than enemies.''
147	-->-- '''Tyrion Lannister's''' thoughts
148
149	A HighPriest of R'hllor, he resides at the Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis.
150	----
151	* HighPriest: He's the highest-ranked of the priests in Volantis. How that relates in comparison across the whole of Essos is unknown, but it seems to give him enough clout to meddle in the affairs of other places.
152	* IHaveManyNames: Among them being Flame of Truth, Light of Wisdom, First Servant of the Lord of Light, and Slave of R'hllor.
153	* MeaningfulName: Possibly a play on ''beniiro'', Japanese for "crimson".
154	* MinorMajorCharacter: Despite having sent off three big players in the plot (Melisandre, Thoros of Myr, and Moqorro) on major missions that affect several storylines and being a major religious and political force in Essos, he is only seen in person once from a distance while giving a sermon.
155	* OnlyOneName: That we know of. Like Melisandre's, though, it's probably not the one he had as a child.
156	* TurbulentPriest: He openly and enthusiastically supports Daenerys Targaryen, believing she is Azor Ahai reborn. This troubles the triarchs of Volantis because Daenerys is known to want to end slavery and they fear Benerro's sermons will incite a slave rebellion. Unfortunately for them, the city watch, the Tiger Cloaks, are ardent worshipers of the red god and are unlikely to go against their high priest.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Moqorro]]
160	!!Moqorro
161	!!!The Black Flame
162	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moqorro_ffg_7528.png]]
163	->''"Your Drowned God is a demon, he is no more than a thrall of the Other, the dark god whose name must not be spoken."''
164	-->--'''Moqorro''' to '''Victarion Greyjoy'''
165
166	Another red priest in service to R'hllor, Moqorro was sent by the religion's HighPriest to serve as an adviser to Daenerys Targaryen. However, his ship is wrecked by a storm and he was lost overboard. He is then rescued by Victarion Greyjoy and his crew.
167	----
168	* AffablyEvil: [[FreakyFashionMildMind In contrast to his fearsome appearance]], he's a polite, even pleasant guy and quite erudite... he also advocates burning people alive as human sacrifices.
169	* AmbiguouslyHuman: There's just something... rather more than normal about him. He's got a subtly-wrong shade of black going on, rather than a dodgy red. Being rather massive is a little easier for him to get away with thanks to being both male and standing next to another man-mountain like Victarion to take the edge off. However, he is still a little bit too loomingly big both in size and general attitude. Even for a bloke.
170	* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: He is a priest of a fire god, with pitch-black skin that makes him look as if he's been roasted in flame.
171	* TheCassandra: He warns Victarion that he is being manipulated, but is ignored. Mind you, depending on why he warned him, it could be seen as a sort of SarcasticConfession, as well as a warning about (probably) Euron.
172	* CunningLinguist: He's comfortable with languages from Essos and isn't half bad communicating with anybody from Westeros. Which... raises the suspicion that, as with Melisandre, he could be OlderThanHeLooks just to have had time to get ''that'' good with them all.
173	* TheDragon: He quickly becomes one to Victarion, who was in need of one after Euron made Nute the Barber Lord of Oakenshield, thus weakening his brother's position.
174	* DragonWithAnAgenda: It is clear that helping Victarion get Daenerys for himself is not Moqorro's goal.
175	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Well, yes. If pyromancy counts as "dreaming".
176	* ExactWords: He talks a lot of the "great destiny" awaiting Victarion, who's [[DumbMuscle not smart]] enough to ask exactly what he means by this. He tones this double-speak right down around Tyrion (probably because twirling your verbal mustache around a certified [[DeadpanSnarker Snarker]] and [[KarmicTrickster Trickster]] would be a [[IdiotBall Very Bad Idea]]), settling for something approaching only slightly mystically twisty BrutalHonesty or HonestyIsTheBestPolicy.
177	* EthnicMagician: Well, kind of. Nobody in-world or out actually knows what his ethnicity is, as he doesn't match known descriptions. He definitely does the mojo thing, though.
178	* EvilWearsBlack: In an attempt to make Moqorro more palpable to this men, Victarion has him switch his red robes to black ones in the Greyjoy colors. It utterly fails and scares the Ironborn even more than before.
179	%%* TheFundamentalist: Seems to be a common Red Priest(ess) trait.
180	* GeniusBruiser: He's over six feet tall and has a rock hard stomach, but has also learned to speak the Common Tongue of Westeros fluently with almost no accent, and is a talented linguist of the Valyrian language. Not to mention his magical skills. All in all, this points to him being just like Melisandre in another way, as well: OlderThanTheyLook.
181	* HealItWithFire: After Victarion's arm is injured, Moqorro not only heals it with fire magic, but also makes it inhumanly strong.
182	* HypercompetentSidekick: He takes on this role in respect to [[DumbMuscle Victarion]].
183	* InSeriesNickname: The Ironborn raiders call him the Black Flame due to being unable to pronounce his name.
184	* MundaneUtility: He uses his prophetic abilities to predict the weather, which, while less spectacular than Melisandre's efforts to see specific future events in the flames, is much more accurate. And for someone trying to sail an entire pirate fleet through autumn storms, a lot more practical.
185	* PsychoSupporter: He becomes one to Victarion. Just like Melisandre does to Stannis, his advice often involves suggestions to burn people.
186	* ReligionIsMagic: As a priest of R'hllor, he has powers similar to Melisandre. He can see the future in flames, and he survives for several days floating in the open ocean clinging to flotsam, with no food or water, after the ship he was on was destroyed in a storm.
187	* ScaryBlackMan: Due to a combination of being tall and bulky and having creepy magical abilities, the Ironborn he meets up with are quite frightened of him. However, it's not certain if he's black -- racially that is, not color-wise. His skin is described as not being like that of a Summer Islander, but a pure, charcoal black that doesn't match that of any known race in the books, and is likely unnatural.
188	* TheUnpronounceable: The Iron Islanders aboard Victarion's ship are unable to pronounce his name, so they simply call him the "Black Flame".
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Thoros]]
192	See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners character page]].
193	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireLordOfLight