For the main character index, see here
- "Other knights serve the lords who keep them, of from whom they hold their lands, but we serve where we will, for men whose causes we believe in."—Ser Arlan
A hedge knight is a wandering knight without a master, many are quite poor. Hedge knights travel the length and breadth of Westeros looking for gainful employment.
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General
- Child Soldier: Many hedge knights are former squires, who are expected to go into battle alongside their masters at a young age.
- Elite Mook: Though they are mercenaries all the same, hedge knights are better than simple sellswords in that they have superior equipment. This is greatly emphasized in the novellas, with both Dunk and Ser Kyle no longer considering themselves knights once they've lost their expensive armors.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to the fact that a robber knight is just a hedge knight on a bad day, even heroic hedge knights like Dunk and Kyle the Cat are generally distrusted by smallfolks and nobles alike. This is best seen in the third novella, where Dunk is shooed away from an inn because the innkeeper distrusts hedge knights and later receives death threat from a band of nobles for simply being near their way.
- Hired Guns: Though all landless knights fight for pay to an extent, hedge knights are distinguished from household knights in that they are only hired for short-term contracts and must always be on the lookout for new employment.
- Knight Errant: This is the romanticized view of the profession; a knight that is beholden to no specific lord and acts only according to the vows of chivalry. That's where the name comes from, as these knights tend to sleep under hedges (or trees, or roofs if they can afford it) rather than in a castle. Some live up to this ideal, others don't. In practice, they actually resemble medieval freelancers — individual mercenary knights who fought for nobles willing to pay the most (a "free lance").
- Walking the Earth: Comes with the territory, unless they sign up with a proper mercenary band.
- Working-Class Hero: Since they don't ally with a specific noble, they generally make a living for themselves in tourneys or melees. For this reason, they're usually looked down upon as no different than run-of-the-mill sellswords, especially by the more "proper" knights.
Hedge Knights present in A Song of Ice and Fire
Ser Hugh
Ser Hugh of the Vale
Former squire of Jon Arryn, Ser Hugh was knighted after the death of his lord. He remained in King's Landing to win fame and fortune in tourneys instead of returning to the Vale.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Refused to speak with Jory Cassel on account of him being just a guard captain and tells him that if Lord Eddard Stark wants questions asked of him that then Ned would have to come to do it himself. Never mind the fact that Jory is both older and more experienced than him (and a minor noble to boot) while Hugh was just made a knight because his lord died. Also never mind that Jory is not a knight simply because the North generally doesn't recognize the institution of knighthood.
- Armor Is Useless: He finds out the hard way that even serviceable, well-made Bling of War means nothing if your opponent has become very good at killing people wearing plate like it over years, regardless. And, since you're not even using it properly, sonny, he can exploit that dangerous vulnerability to look credibly accidental with little trouble, to boot.
- The Con: Ned Stark suspects foul play when it's pointed out to him that Jon Arryn's squire was knighted upon the lord's death, so he intends to interrogate the young knight. Ser Hugh is surreptitiously killed by Gregor Clegane at the Hand's Tourney, making Ned suspect that the Lannisters killed him to keep him quiet. Later, Tyrion learns upon interrogating Pycelle that Ser Hugh might have slipped the poison to Lord Jon. It's finally revealed that Lysa Arryn poisoned her husband Lord Jon, opening the question as to whether Ser Hugh was indeed killed intentionally or Clegane just felt like killing him that day and the loose gorget gave him an excuse.
- Due to the Dead: Ser Barristan Selmy decides to stand vigil over Hugh's body after his death because there is nobody else in King's Landing to do so.
- Good All Along: Turns out he's totally innocent of Jon Arryn's murder.
- Knighting: He was knighted by King Robert in Jon Arryn's memory.
- Promoted to Scapegoat: He wasn't knighted because of his merits, rather than just paying tribute to his late lord, apparently. This, and the fact that he did not accompany Lady Arryn back to the Eyrie makes Ned Stark suspect that he was knighted because of some foul play by the Lannisters involving the untimely death of Jon Arryn; Tyrion, Pycelle and Varys also subscribe to this idea.
- Red Herring: Varys suggestion that Hugh could have had something to do with Jon's poisoning is false. It was all Lysa Arryn at the behest of Littlefinger. Hugh could still have been ordered killed by Cersei due to her worry over Jon's knowledge of her and Jaime's incest, but his death could easily also have been simply down to the bad luck of facing Ser Gregor on a particularly bloodthirsty (or bored) day while his still-very-novel armor was improperly fastened.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Seems to think that being a newly-made knight makes him more important than the guard captain of the Hand of the King.
- It also killed him: his shiny new armour to go with his shiny new knighthood meant he didn't stop to think twice about heading towards the lists when his opponent was the vastly more experienced Gregor Clegane. The smarter noob move would have been to eat crow and suffer an "asthma attack", "cholicy horse" or something when spotting who he was up against.
- The Squire: Served as Jon's squire for several years, making him privy to much information about the realm and Jon's personal life. Ironically the lack of his own squire is what seals his doom, as he has to fasten his gorget himself and so is unable to do it properly.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He is talked about a bit before being first seen jousting Ser Gregor, which did not go well for him.
Ser Creighton Longbough
Ser Creighton Longbough
- "I have the honour to be Ser Creighton, of whom the singers sing … you will have heard of my deeds on the Blackwater, mayhaps."
A hedge knight who travels with Ser Illifer the Penniless. He encounters Brienne of Tarth during her search for Sansa Stark. His coat of arms is a green field with a brown chief.
- Knight Errant: It's not much of a pension plan, but it's the result of years being in the game and the vagaries of life.
- Miles Gloriosus: He is quite happy to tell you about how he slew Ser Herbert Bolling and fought valiantly against the "Knight of the Red Chicken" at the Battle of the Blackwater, but never provides actual proof of his deeds. Nobody recognizes who the seven hells these people are, either; most likely, other hedge knights.
- Nice Guy: Despite his boasting, he is a rather pleasant individual.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Played for Laughs.
- Those Two Guys: With Ser Illifer. They're of an age and know each other well. It shows.
Ser Illifer
Ser Illifer the Penniless
A hedge knight who travels with Ser Creighton Longbough. His coat-of-arms is a gold and ermine gyronny pattern.
- Knight Errant: His name says it all, with regard to reasons.
- Old Soldier: He is around 60 years old.
- Those Two Guys: With Ser Creighton. Their dynamic suggests they've been this way for a while.
The Knight of the Laughing Tree
The Knight of the Laughing Tree was a mystery knight who fought at the Tourney at Harrenhal. He defended the honor of Howland Reed by challenging and defeating three knights whose squires had bullied him, demanding that they chastise the squires in order to ransom back their horses and armor.
The Knight of the Laughing Tree is so-called because of the blazon on his shield, a smiling heart tree. His true identity remains unknown.
- Baritone of Strength: His voice is described as "booming" and is responsible for unhorsing three knights at the Tourney at Harrenhal.
- Bit Character: In the greater scheme of things, the Knight's exploit goes unremembered by most Westerosi.
- Bully Hunter: Competed just to teach not to mess with a crannogman. This supports the theory that the knight would be either Howland Reed or one of the Starks, as no one else is mentioned knowing about the bullying Howland received from the squires.
- But Now I Must Go: Was never seen or heard from again.
- The Faceless: The Knight's identity had never been revealed.
- Glass Slipper: The knight mysteriously disappears as the king declares him his enemy and sends the Dragon Prince (aka Rhaegar Targaryen) to find him. He could find only his shield. Though it's possible that the prince covered up "his" identity and lied...
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Described as below-average in height and unhorsed three knights at the tourney.
- Samus Is a Girl: If it really was Lyanna Stark.
- Shrouded in Myth: Possibly the Knight was Howland Reed or one of the Starks.
- The Spook: There is almost nothing known about this mystery knight, but there are many theories circulating around his identity.
Hedge Knights present in Tales of Dunk and Egg
Ser Dunk*
Ser Duncan the Tall, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard
"Dunk the lunk, thick as a castle wall."
A seven-foot-tall hedge knight who lived many years before the events of A Game of Thrones, eventually becoming Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Ser Duncan is the POV character of the Tales of Dunk and Egg.
- Born Lucky: It's astonishing how often things just go right for Dunk, even though he exhibits a level of Honor Before Reason that would make even Ned Stark blush. Notably, during the Ashford Tourney, after being forced to find six other knights to help him prove his innocence in a trial by seven, Dunk manages to get five knights overnight simply because his opponent is such a jerk that everyone has a score to settle with him. Then, as it turns out, Dunk is prophesied to kill a Targaryen during the trial, so one of his Targaryen opponents just agrees to throw the fight so he wouldn't end up being Dunk's victim. On the day of the trial, one of Dunk's knights betray him, so his team is forced to knight a squire to replace him. The problem is, Dunk is strongly implied to have faked his knighthood, so he doesn't actually know how to conduct the knighting ceremony. Just as he's about to be exposed as a fraud, he's summoned by the tourney master, giving him an excuse to make one of his companions do the ceremony instead. However, even with the squire joining him, his team is still short a member, forcing him to futilely ask for a volunteer among the spectators. Just as when all hope seems lost, none other than the crown prince of the Seven Kingdoms himself steps in to join his side, giving his team a tremendous advantage as the Kingsguards on the other team wouldn't even dare touch a hair on this guy's head. During the trial itself, Dunk is quickly unhorsed and thrown to the ground because he's not a real knight and doesn't know how to fight properly. Fortunately for him, his opponent makes the stupid mistake of dismounting and approaching him to personally deal the killing blow, allowing Dunk to wrestle him to the ground and use his superior streetfighting ability (the one thing he's good at) to beat the guy into submission, thus winning the trial and proving his innocence.
- Brains and Brawn: His relationship with Egg, Dunk being the brawn and Egg the brains.
- Character Catchphrase: He has several.
- Threatening to give Egg a clout on the ear.
- Oak and iron guard me well, or else I'm dead and damned to hell.
- Dunk the lunk. Thick as a castle wall.
- Chick Magnet: He attracts men and women alike wherever he goes, with the implication many of them are hoping Bigger Is Better in Bed. His good heart and status as a true knight is what endears Tanselle and Rohanne to him.
- Cannot Talk to Women: He's incredibly awkward around women, as shown by his interactions with Tanselle Too-Tall and Rohanne Webber.
- Character Shield: Whatever GRRM has in store for Duncan in his Tales of Dunk and Egg we already know he'll survive to become Lord Commander of the Kingsguard... and eventually die along with Aegon V at the Tragedy at Summerhall.
- Celibate Hero: Less by choice and more by circumstance. Most noble ladies would never deem to lower themselves to being with a hedge knight, and, by the time he's of a high enough status as a member of the Kingsguard, he is sworn to celibacy — and unlike other knights of the Kingsguard, Duncan is the sort to rigidly stick to his oath.
Word of God states that he did leave descendants and at least one of them has appeared in the book series already, claiming he'd given "a pretty strong hint" as to who it was.
Later Martin flat out confirmed that Brienne of Tarth is descended from Duncan. - Combat Pragmatist: During his trial of seven against Prince Aerion he realizes that in a tourney "Ser Duncan the Tall" wouldn't stand a chance. In fact his skills with a lance and sword nearly get him killed. But it's the Prince who doesn't stand a chance against Dunk when things degrade into a brawl. "Dunk of Flea Bottom", a man who'd spent his childhood fighting just to survive another day, unceremoniously hands Aerion his ass.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: He serves as this to pretty much the entirety of A Song of Ice and Fire's cast. Instead of multiple rotating POVs, Dunk is the only POV character. Whereas all of them are highborn, many of them raised as nobles in luxurious conditions, and with the finest education and training for the skill-sets they were expected to have, Dunk is a commoner, grew up homeless in the Wretched Hive of Flea Bottom, and is totally uneducated because of his humble beginnings and Incompletely Trained as a knight to boot thanks to the death of his master. Whereas ASOIAF characters are involved in the game of throne, retaliating against other Houses for slights, and reaching people of great importance and influence, Dunk is concerned with considerably smaller-scale matters, like maybe getting hired by some minor lord to get lodgings or winning just one or two jousts in a tourney to make some money for a bit of decent food for the night, armor, or clothes. His brushing up against major political figures and events is accidental, and he has zero interest in using his princely squire to make any plays.
- Covert Pervert: Being a dorky Knight in Shining Armor, most wouldn't expect this guy to have his share of dirty thoughts. Notably, while passed out drunk at the Whitehalls feast, he's implied to have a very sweet dream involving both Rohanne and Tanselle. Later, during the bedding ceremony (a Westerosi custom where the bride is stripped naked and carried to the bridal bed by the guests), Dunk has a raging hard-on the entire time and is quite glad that everyone is too fixated on the bride to notice it.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Dunk is good at personal combat, but terrible at other knightly skills like jousting. While this makes him a perfectly serviceable sellsword, he's unable to supplement his income by attending jousting tournaments (which is where all the money's at, considering that a successful tourney knight can be just as rich as any lord).
- Determinator: When Dunk gets a bee in his bonnet, he doesn't stop doing what he's doing for anything short of major catastrophe. And, even then, it's iffy. Egg occasionally wishes to strangle him for this trait thanks to being rather more pragmatic with aspects of his morality (not that Egg is always one to talk about being bull-headed).
- Did Not Get the Girl: Applies to both The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword.
- Dumb Is Good: Duncan is not actually dumb. He is, however, completely uneducated when compared to the majority of those around him (mostly educated nobles). He's also one of the most moral characters in the series. He's a Fish out of Water most of the time. But, because of that, he can trip even the most sophisticated Manipulative Bastard up with his rather different moral perspective.
- The Fool: He's not stupid, but in his three stories (at the time of this writing), he somewhat stumbles into important events and, chiefly thanks to good luck, sheer audacity and coming from unexpected angles, comes out of them relatively successfully (at least, by Martin standards — expect some degree of Bitter Sweet Ending to hit).
- Foregone Conclusion: Duncan eventually becomes Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and one of the most legendary knights of the realm. He also dies tragically during an attempt to hatch dragons.
- Gentle Giant: He was quite a vicious little shit as a child, but serving as a squire to Arlan of Pennytree curbed his nasty side.
- Good Counterpart: To Gregor Clegane, and Sandor to a lesser extent. All three are gigantic men, though Dunk is a clear example of a Gentle Giant who only uses his great strength when absolutely necessary, while Gregor takes every opportunity to abuse his physical power. And while Sandor refuses knighthood because his monstrous brother was knighted, Dunk is implied to have lied about being knighted and acts and behaves the way knights should.
- Hard Head: He's hit square between the eyes by the full force of an iron lance driven by a galloping horse. The maester is actually astonished that his head is still attached to his shoulder afterward, and it only takes four hours for Dunk to regain consciousness with no permanent damage.
- Healing Factor: Downplayed. He's definitely not Wolverine, because he can take days or weeks to recover from major beatdowns, and collects scars as he goes. Yet, at the same time, he has this habit of bouncing back from things that'd easily permanently cripple most ordinary Joes. And, he lasts until Summerhall with this... quirk. Nobody is ever likely to pull a Good Thing You Can Heal on him, but it's not escaped some.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Egg, his squire turned king. In Tale of Dunk and Egg, Dunk is gruff with him at times and they bicker like brothers, but they stick by each other through thick and thin and would never betray each other. Canonically, Dunk later becomes part of Aegon's Kingsguard, meaning he gave up the opportunity to marry in exchange for the honor of a white cloak and protecting Aegon and his family for the rest of his days.
- Honor Before Reason: Several instances have Dunk putting himself in harm's way because he believes it's the right thing to do. A notable example is when he came to the rescue of a puppeteer woman being assaulted by Prince Aerion Targaryen, breaking one of his teeth in the process. Whilst it was his duty as a knight, this action is essentially suicidal. At best he'd lose the hand that struck royalty (and a foot since he kicked him too) and at worst simply be executed. Fortunately Egg is able to help save him from this fate. It also helps that that the prince he struck wasn't particularly loved by the rest of the royal family.
- Humble Hero: Very much. Dunk actively ducks praise, given the chance to. Or, just won't believe he got it when he does. One is left having to imagine the epic tussle it must have taken Aegon to get him to finally accept the fact he was really being made the actual Lord Commander of the godsdamned Kingsguard.
- Knight Errant: Hedge knight: roads, hedges, trees, ditches... and taverns (when/if he can afford them) are his thing — particularly at the start of his career. Good deeds done and damsels rescued? Occasionally happened, yes. But, not entirely thanks to going out to do any of it (and, often by total accident and against his better judgement and sense of self-preservation).
- Knight in Shining Armor: One of the few in the series (although they were much more common in his era as opposed to the novels set in "the present").
- Large and in Charge: He was around seven feet tall and eventually became Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
- Made of Iron: Oh, he can (and does) get seriously hurt. However, he continually makes his opponents reconsider the wisdom in fighting him simply by how long he can keep going with obvious, multiple injuries that'd have them curling into balls if their roles were reversed. In The Mystery Knight, a knight is paid to kill Dunk by hitting him square in the head during a joust. All that does is put him out of commission for four hours. He then spends the rest of the story as if nothing is wrong.
- My Greatest Failure: He forever regrets that three men, including Crown Prince Baelor Targaryen, died defending him in the Trial by Seven.
- Never Learned to Read: As he grew up as a street orphan and spent his teenage years wandering around as a penilless knight's squire, Duncan never learned to read or write.
- Odd Friendship: The hedge knight originally from Flea Bottom and the Targaryen princeling — you can't really get an odder relationship. They might occasionally exasperate each other to the point of steam jutting out of various ears (particularly Dunk's), but they really do rub along and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. As Egg points out, they are both from King's Landing... in the rest of the Kingdom, that's actually something in common.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Between the second and third novella, Dunk fended off a band of Ironborn pirates while travelling in the Reach. We don't get the exact detail of what happened, but it's implied that the event impressed Egg so much that he considers Dunk unrivalled with a sword and a battle-axe.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: An interesting variation. Egg assumes that Dunk is short for Duncan but Dunk himself considers this and notes that he's been called Dunk for so long he's not sure if it was a shorter version of an older, more elegant name. Nonetheless he decides to style himself "Ser Duncan the Tall" when he enters his name in the Ashford Tourney and the rest is history.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: His sobriquet is seen as humorous in one story because it comes across as one of these. Typically, knights have sobriquets that indicate a personal quality (i.e. Barristan the Bold, Garlan the Gallant), and so Dunk's chosen one implies that his height is the most notable thing about him. Then again, at seven damn feet tall it is the first thing everyone notices about him.
- Papa Wolf: For Egg, his charge. When there's any real danger, Dunk's first thought is always getting Egg someplace safe and then killing anyone who might think to go after him. Black Tom Heddle found this out the hard way.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: During The Mystery Knight, Dunk enters a tourney incognito as the Gallows Knight to avoid being recognized as the guy who caused Baelor's death. Nobody is fooled for a second because no one else is as tall as him. Even his enemy isn't fooled and makes an attempt on his life all the same.
- Posthumous Character: He's been dead for about forty years in A Song of Ice and Fire, but is the POV character of the prequel series Tales of Dunk and Egg and their adventures together are still ongoing.
- Self-Proclaimed Knight: While he had the virtues a knight is supposed to have, ironically Dunk is heavily implied to have never been knighted by his mentor, Ser Arlan; a fact indicated by the fact that Dunk acts in conspiciously nervous ways or uses double talk whenever the issue of his knighthood comes up.
- Tempting Fate: After surviving the Trial by Seven without killing anyone, Dunk let out a sigh of relief that the prophecy of him slaying a Targaryen didn't come to pass. Cue Baelor coming to see him and removing his helmet, which killed him on the spot because it was the only thing holding his skull together. Dunk had inadvertently killed him by causing the trial, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
- Together in Death: In a platonic version of the trope, he and King Aegon V (a.k.a. his former squire "Egg") perish together in the Tragedy at Summerhall.
- Took a Level in Badass: Goes from the bumbling brute we know in The Hedge Knight who has to resort to a good old fashion beatdown to win to the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard who personally kills the Blackfyre pretender Daemon III and defeats the goddamn Laughing Storm in single combat
- Unskilled, but Strong: The main reason why Duncan gets as far as he does, despite being incompletely trained and lacking in true combat experience at the start of the series, is that he can throw his immense frame around to overpower anyone.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He tries this on Ser Eustace Osgrey during The Sworn Sword after he finds out he's a traitor. Dunk gets an earful about the transitory nature of treason and the all-too subjective nature of history.
- Working-Class Hero: He's one of the straighter examples of this trope in this series. He was a street kid at Flea Bottom who became a hedge knight and eventually rose to the become Lord Commander of Aegon V's Kingsguard.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: A rather heartwarming example. Ser Duncan is surprised so many people showed up to watch him die at Prince Aerion's hands during the trial of seven. Thinking himself an upstart that the mob wants to see get his just desserts, he soon discovers to his shock that the crowds have come to cheer him on. He's actually the heroic underdog. When he asks why ("What am I to them?") he's informed that he's a knight who remembered his vows.
Ser Arlan
Ser Arlan of Pennytree
"Another day done, and who knows what the morrow will bring us, eh, Dunk?"
Ser Arlan of Pennytree was a hedge knight born in the village of Pennytree in the riverlands. He was the master of Dunk, the later Ser Duncan the Tall
Arlan's coat-of-arms was a winged chalice, silver on brown.
- Hero of Another Story: He was proud to have broken lances against Baelor Breakspear in the Storm's End tourney. He also fought at Redgrass Field.
- Humble Hero: He was content with his life as a common hedge knight and taught Dunk to be the same.
- Knight in Shining Armor: He taught Dunk to be a "true knight", that is a knight who always defend the innocent and holds true to his word whatever the cost, and Dunk remembers him as such. In typical ASOIAF fashion, his armor was only shiny in the metaphorical sense.
- Master-Apprentice Chain: He taught Duncan the Tall how to be a true knight and Duncan taught it to Egg, leading to one of the few kings of Westeros who actually gave a damn about helping the smallfolk.
- Parental Substitute: Since Dunk's mother and father both died when he was young, Arlan was the closest thing he had to a parent. After Arlan's death, Dunk still remembers the lessons he taught him about proper behavior and being a true knight.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Arlan's death causes Dunk to take his place at the Ashford tourney.
- Posthumous Character: He died of a chill on the road leading to the tourney at Ashford Meadow.
- Walking the Earth: Arlan would work for one lord for a short time, then another. Dunk can't even remember half the keeps and castles he's lived in while being Arlan's squire.
Ser Bennis
Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield
A hedge knight in service to House Osgrey.
- Color-Coded Eyes: His green eyes represent the untrustworthy aspect of this eye color.
- Did Not Think This Through: Well, probably more like is too far in denial to think things through, but when Bennis suggests various different things that Eustace and his men can do to defend against Lady Weber's forces, Dunk points at the flaws in each and how they could easily be countered.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When ransacking the tower, he only ties up Sam Stoops rather than kill him.
- It's All About Me: A robber knight who ultimately only truly cares about himself and is perfectly willing to get others killed in a doomed attempt at fighting Lady Weber just to save his own hide.
- Jerkass: A greedy, unpleasant, untrustworthy man.
- Karma Houdini: He doesn't get any comeuppance for betraying and abandoning Ser Eustace, as far as we can tell as of The Sworn Sword, since he's never mentioned again afterwards.
- The Oathbreaker: Deserts Lord Eustace and robs his tower.
- Only in It for the Money: And he breaks his oath to Lord Eustace because of it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The moment he is left alone at Standfast he loots the tower and flees.
- Smarter Than You Look: He's quick to guess the real cause of the river drying up and tries to find excuses not to investigate, knowing that if it is in fact due to Lady Weber building a dam (which it is), then it will force a confrontation between Weber and Ser Eustace that Ser Eustace cannot possibly win.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Despite Dunk and Lord Eustance standing by him against Lady Webber, he abandons and robs them.
Ser Glendon Flowers
Ser Glendon Flowers
The Knight of Pussywillows
Supposed bastard son of Ser Quentyn Ball and a camp follower. He became a knight to follow in his father's footsteps. He meets Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg at the Whitewalls Tourney in 212 AC.
- The Ace: Despite growing up inside a brothel and having been a knight for only half a year, Glendon is able to defeat scores of older and more seasoned knights during the Whitehalls tourney. This alone puts him several leagues above Duncan in terms of skills, as the latter has been a knight for several years and still can't joust for the life of him. The fact that he's so good actually becomes a plot point, as the Blackfyre conspirators fear that he will easily defeat Daemon II and humiliate him, culminating in them capturing and torturing him to remove him from the tourney. Even after that, Glendon's still able to deliver Daemon II a humiliating defeat in the ensuing trial by combat.
- Broken Pedestal: He was still loyal to the Blackfyres, but the events of the Whitewalls Tourney turned him against them.Ser Glendon: My father died for him. I would have been his man, and gladly. I would have fought for him, killed for him, died for him, but I could not lose for him.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Ser Glendon humbles several opponents during the Whitewalls tourney, and hoped he'd gain their respect through his combat prowess, but none of them are willing to acknowledge him, with one lord even breaking his own armor that Glendon had fairly won before handing it over, rather than buy it back intact from Ser Glendon later as is common practice at westerosi tourneys.
- Embarrassing Nickname: He is mocked as the "Knight of the Pussywillows" after the brothel he grew up at and since he got his knighthood from Ser Morgan Dunstable in exchange for his sister's virginity.
- Fingore: He loses three fingernails to Black Tom Heddle's torture.
- Heroic Bastard: Was treated like crap by those he was loyal to partly because of his status as a bastard, yet refused to turn on them or give up on his own integrity. Comes across as more principled than a few legitimate knights, as a result.
- Honor Before Reason: He refuses to throw his joust against Ser John the Fiddler, despite being offered a place in Lord Gormon Peake's garrison and then being threatened.
- Knight in Shining Armor: He can be a little on the sullen side, but Ser Glendon does uphold the principals of chivalry and honor a knight is supposed to.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: The story of him being Quentyn Ball's son circulated only after his mother, Penny Jenny, died. Add to that the fact that she slept with several other men the night before the Battle of the Redgrass Field; Ball was by far the most famous, so he's naturally the one she claimed to have fathered her son.
- Son of a Whore: Brought up in a brothel, actually.
- The Tooth Hurts: He loses a few teeth and several more are cracked when Black Tom "questions" him about the stolen dragon egg.
Ser Kyle the Cat
Ser Kyle the Cat
The Cat of Misty Moor
An aged hedge knight with a treasonous tongue seeking employment during the Whitehalls tourney.
- Didn't Think This Through: His entire plan to enter Lord Caswell's employ involves losing to him intentionally during a joust to flatter him, then reminding him that he once worked for his family. As it turns out, Caswell doesn't remember Kyle at all since they only met when he was three, and since Kyle has just lost to a very drunk Caswell, the latter refuses to hire someone so inept. To make the matter worse, since Westerosi customs dictate that the loser of a joust must forfeit the equipment they used to the winner, Kyle has to surrender all of his belongings to Caswell.
- Lovable Coward: He gets nervous when Glendon Flowers unsheathes his sword in response to him calling the Blackfyres traitors. Keep in mind that Glendon is easily 3 decades his junior and has been a knight for not even six months, while Kyle is a veteran of the Blackfyre rebellion and many battles before that. When the chips are down, however, he doesn't hesitate to back Dunk up when the latter demands a trial by combat for Glendon.
- Nice Guy: There is not one bit of malice in this dude. He does lambast the Throne, but you get the feeling that he's doing this out of concern for the people, seeing as how everyone is suffering under the current Targaryen regime.
- Old Soldier: He's a man in his middling years, and this probably figures into his desire to enter some lord's service to have some more permanent employment.
- Uncertain Doom: He spills a lot of treasonous thoughts next to Maynard Plumm, who's Bloodraven's spy in the best-case scenario and Bloodraven himself in the worst. We never see him again after Dunk and Egg get interrogated by Bloodraven.
Ser Uthor Underleaf
Ser Uthor Underleaf
The Snail
- "I follow tourneys from afar as faithfully as the maesters follow stars."
Ser Uthor Underleaf, sometimes called the Snail for his personal emblem, was a tourney knight during the reign of Aerys I Targaryen.
- Always Second Best: He invokes this. He intentionally does well but never wins tournaments, as he makes much more money from betting on himself in these contests and ransoming the arms and armor of his opponents than he would from the winning prizes of tournament champions, and the only way he can get the odds he needs for those lucrative bets is by making sure he never becomes well known in jousting circles.
- Animal Motif: Like his sigil, the snail, Uthor "hid in his shell", enjoying comfort while keeping a low profile.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Aside from disliking the low amount he was paid, this is part of the reason why he doesn't kill Dunk like he's paid to. Dunk is a mediocre jouster but looks like a very imposing knight, so a lot of easily duped bettors are sure to bet on him during tourneys. By non-lethally defeating Dunk and holding his possessions hostage, Uthor hopes to rope Dunk into a match-fixing scheme wherein Dunk will intentionally lose to Uthor during tourneys, thus guaranteeing him a huge income from betting on himself against the odds. This is far more profitable than simply killing Dunk for a one-off sum.
- Combat Pragmatist: At jousting tournaments Uthor would bribe the master of the games so that he would face the opponents he preferred — big men, older champions past their prime, and "village heroes" — where the odds would be appear to be against him (or sentimental bettors would bet against him for less than logical reasons), and thus he could make piles of money due to those odds.
- Consummate Professional: Uthor has made jousting his full-time career, he's about as skilled a jouster as there is and he knows every jouster of note and all the goings on in notable tournaments throughout the Seven Kingdoms. On the dark side, he also knows every in and out of the unsavory side of the sport, such as how to bribe his way into getting the matchups he wants, fleecing local bettors and gamblers during his matches, fixing and throwing matches, etc.
- Subverted when it comes to him being hired to kill Dunk. The payment is too low for his liking and he has nothing against Dunk, so he deliberately strikes in a way that it gives Dunk at least a chance of surviving. Indeed, Ser Uthor seems relieved that Dunk lived and came through their match with no permanent (apparent) harm.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a generally unpleasant guy and takes a job to be a hired killer without much caring whether his mark lives or dies, but he does warn Dunk (after failing to kill him), that someone is trying to arrange for Dunk's death. He also advises Dunk to leave with him to avoid further assassination attempts, as he knows Dunk has no shortage of enemies due to his role in Prince Baelor's death.
- Secretly Wealthy: His pavilion is modest from the outside, but is extremely lavish inside.
- Underestimating Badassery: Invoked by him. The more people think he's a pushover, the more they will bet against him and the more money he will earn once he wins the joust. It's for this reason that he chooses a snail as his sigil instead of something more warlike and impressive, and bribes game masters to always put him up against more imposing foes.
Historical Hedge Knights
Ser Willam Stafford
Ser Willam Stafford
The Drunken Knight, the Keg o' Ale
A knight who lived during the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen. He was one of the many participants of the so-called War for the White Cloaks, a massive tournament to fill in the vacancies at the Kingsguard. While he failed to obtain a spot, he became very popular among the smallfolk.
- The Alcoholic: He always appeared wasted.
- Drunken Master: He was so drunk he could barely stand, much less fight, but he somehow did.
- Stout Strength: Described as stout and big bellied, and he must have been decent enough to defeat sober opponents.
- Working-Class Hero: A favorite among the smallfolk.
Ser Tom
Ser Tom the Strummer
The Bard of Flea Button
A knight and bard who lived during the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen. He participated in the War for the White Cloaks, the massive tournament to fill the vacancies of the Kingsguard. While he failed to win a white cloak, he became popular among the smallfolk for taunting his opponents with ribald songs. When Jaehaerys came of age, he had the City Watch of King's Landing comb Flea Bottom to find the Strummer, so the king could make him the court singer.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He was a bard who taunted his opponents before each combat.
- The Bard: A bard and a knight.
- Working-Class Hero: A favorite champion among the common folk.
Ser Qarl Correy
Ser Qarl Correy
Ser Qarl Correy was a household knight in service to House Velaryon at High Tide.
- Ambiguously Gay: Or Ambiguously Bi. Qarl was rumored to have been a lover of Laenor Velaryon, with Qarl replacing the murdered Joffrey Lonmouth as Laenor's "favorite". Mushroom further claims that at times Qarl and Laenor let Laenor's wife the Princess Rhaenyra watch and even join them when they had sex, but it is Mushroom, who was well known for spicing up his account with anything shocking or scandalous, so one would be hard-pressed to tell if there's any kernel of truth to this particular rumor.
- Karma Houdini: Betrayed House Velaryon and murdered his lover, then apparently hopped a ship and got away clean with it. Laenor's father Lord Corlys Velaryon offered a large reward for anyone who could bring him to Qarl to exact vengeance, but nothing came of it. Of course, as Qarl was never seen again, it's equally likely that right after killing Laenor, he was repaid in kind with his throat slashed and his body dumped overboard to never be found so he wouldn't rat out a certain rogue prince.
- Money Dumb: Qarl had expensive tastes (which lends a certain... element to his relationship with the well-off Laenor) and a tendency to burn through money quicker than fire through straw, with a gambling problem on top of that. Gyldayn figures this would add support to the "paid to murder Laenor" theory. Gotta recoup those gambling loses somehow...
- Shrouded in Myth: No one knows why he killed Laenor. Septon Eustace claims Qarl's reason for murdering Laenor was that Laenor was starting to look for a much younger man, and Qarl took it poorly. Mushroom believes Daemon Targaryen paid Qarl to kill Laenor so Daemon could marry Laenor's wife Rhaenyra, then promptly disposed of Qarl after.
Ser Perkin
Ser Perkin the Flea
A hedge knight living in King's Landing during the Dance of the Dragons. During the riots against Rhaenyra's rule, he crowned his squire Trystane Truefyre. He occupied the Red Keep after Rhaenyra fled King's Landing. He joined the court of Aegon II when he returned to the capital, but later helped the conspiracy to poison the King.
- The Man Behind the Man: After installing Trystane, he began to issue edicts on his behalf.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Used the King's Landing riots to become king of the capital in all but name, and then turned on his squire Trystane by leading his men in arresting him on behalf of Lord Borros Baratheon when he arrived to secure the capital for Aegon II.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: When Alfred Broome approached Maegor's Holdfast and demanded him to step aside in the name of the king, Perkin calmly placed a hand on his shoulder before saying "We have a new king now", and then shoved Broome to his death in the spikes below.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: After Lord Cregan Stark arrested the conspirators in the murder of Aegon II, many of the accused chose to take the black and join the Night's Watch, led by Ser Perkin.
- Shout-Out: He has the first name of Perkin Warbeck, a famous pretender who claimed to be the rightful king of England, though he makes the claim of his squire rather than himself.
- Turncoat: He switched sides often during the end stages of the Dance, going from the power behind "King" Trystane Truefyre, to a ally of Aegon II who removed Trystane from power and secured King's Landing for Aegon II. Then he helped the conspiracy to overthrow Aegon II and end the Dance of the Dragons by murdering Ser Alfred Broome before he could cut Aegon III's ear.
Ser Trystane Truefyre
Ser Trystane Truefyre
Trystane Fyre
The squire of Ser Perkin the Flea, he was briefly installed as king in the Red Keep in chaos following Rhaenyra fleeing King's Landing. Ser Perkin claimed Trystane was the natural son of King Viserys I.
- Alliterative Name: Trystane Truefyre.
- Deathbed Promotion: As he was about to be executed for falsely declaring himself king, his last request was to be knighted before his death. King Aegon II granted it, and Ser Marston Waters dubbed him "Ser Trystane Fyre" (as "Truefyre" was considered too presumptuous) before he was beheaded by Ser Alfred Broome.
- Face Death with Dignity: While at first he was defiant, when he realized Perkin had sold him out, he calmly accepted his death and only asked to be knighted before dying.
- The Good King: Downplayed. Trystane cancels unpopular taxes, forgives all debts and gives the poor permission to hunt in the woods. However, 1) His kingship is illegitimate and short-lived, 2) He may just be parroting the words of Perkin the Flea, and 3) All of those edicts may just be short-term by ploys to win support (especially if they come from Perkin).
- Last Request: He asked to be knighted before his execution, which Aegon II granted him, albeit under the name Ser Trystane Fyre ("Truefyre" was considered too presumptuous).
- Most Definitely Not a Villain: With a name like Truefyre, how could he possibly be a pretender?
- Pet the Dog: Before being put to death, he had one request: to be knighted. Aegon II granted this request before having Trystane executed.
- Off with His Head!: Decapitated by Alfred Broome using Blackfyre.
- Puppet King: To Ser Perkin
- The Squire: To Ser Perkin the Flea.
