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This is a listing of members of House Clegane who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.

For the main character index, see here

For the main Westerlands entry, see here

House Clegane of Clegane's Keep

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A relatively new knightly house created by Lord Tytos Lannister after his kennelmaster lost a leg and three dogs saving him from a lioness. In reward, the kennelmaster was granted a keep and his son taken as a squire. Two generations later, House Clegane gives Lord Tywin Lannister two of his best and most ferocious killers: the brothers Gregor and Sandor Clegane. Their sigil is three dogs on a golden field. Sandor and Gregor are the only living members at the beginning of the series; it is strongly implied that Gregor killed the rest of the family, his father and sister at the very least.


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    House Clegane 
  • Addled Addict: Both remaining Cleganes abuse chemical substances (booze for Sandor, opium for Gregor) as an attempt to cope both physically and mentally with their godsawful situations. Note "attempt" — it's really not working for either of them, and repeatedly causes them problems. Sandor actually improves a bit emotionally when he finds it difficult to reliably stay drunk while kicking about the Riverlands. He repeatedly fixes that, though, when the chance to fall off the wagon comes up. This see-saw, boom-and-bust approach to self-medication impacts him negatively physically, however.
  • Animal Motifs: Dogs, for their savagery and killing prowess.
  • Arch-Enemy: To each other. The brothers despise each other completely and they both have an intense desire to kill each other. Gregor loves killing and torturing anyone he can get his hands on, but he has a special hatred for his little brother. His men know better than to kill Sandor because Gregor wants him all for himself. Sandor’s greatest desire in life is to kill his brother for burning his face when they were kids. Though there is some ambiguity when it comes to Sandor and Gregor as, early in "A Game of Thrones", Ned thinks to himself that when Gregor attacks Loras Tyrell and Sandor gets in the way, while Gregor rains blows on everywhere he can reach of Sandor's armour and helm, Sandor never once sends a cut at Gregors unprotected face.
  • Badass Family: The only two surviving members of House Clegane at the start of book one consist of the eight foot tall and freakishly strong Ser Gregor Clegane, and the not quite as large or strong but far more sympathetic Sandor Clegane. Their grandfather himself was also pretty badass for such a minor character, being a kennelmaster who bodily put himself in the path of a lioness to save his liege lord, with only his dogs to defend himself.
  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: For House Lannister. Which tells you just how dirty the work can get.
  • The Berserker: They are well-known for their unmatched ferocity in battle.
  • Bling of War: Nope. Cleganes generally go for quality and utility over bling — the closest they come to it is Sandor's snarling hound helm and the stone fist punching out the top of Gregor's helm, and both helmets still place practicality first, even if they are sculpted (in melee fights, it can be of some help when your allies know who you are, as well as when your enemies' knees turn to water dreading that you are coming for them as you do). Additionally, by action and word, both Gregor and Sandor make their opinions on the topic of overly fancy, useless armor very, very clear.
    • Played completely straight when Gregor is transformed into Ser Robert Strong, receiving an expensive and pristine white suit of armor emblematic of the Faith of the Seven. Yup, he's screaming inside.
  • Blood Knight: They are the bloodiest you are likely to find in this entire series, even if one of them despises knights.
  • The Brute: Both Cleganes are used in this capacity by the Lannisters against their foes.
  • Cain and Abel: Oh, my, but do the Clegane brothers want to kill each other. It's more like Cain+ and Cain-lite: the original "Abel" (Sandor) wants to turn Cain in order to get back at Cain+ (Gregor) and turn him into an Abel for multiple family murders and one attempted one.
  • Conditioned to Accept Horror: Both Sandor and Gregor were specifically trained to be attack dogs for House Lannister. It worked. Perhaps too well: neither are what you'd call well-adjusted individuals — and, both manage to complicate Lannister plots in their own ways thanks to their background. Also, the goal in gaining titles is to try to pass them to your legitimate offspring... Which neither brother have got, care of their social issues.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: They are incredibly effective murder machines like few others. However, their Training from Hell, quite literally Spartan, childhood left both Clegane brothers functionally incapable of behaving normally outside a warzone. To the point that neither of them have legitimate children to pass the family titles or holdings on to.
  • The Determinator: In terms of combat and survival, Gregor and Sandor rarely lose. Even when the odds are against them and they should be half-dead, they still fight their way to victory. Not that it does them much good.
  • Death of a Child: The Clegane boys have an unnamed sister who died young. Well, considering her oldest brother's a psychotic, eight foot tall Serial Killer...you put two and two together.
  • Dumb Muscle: The two brothers are often generalized by the rest of Westeros as two imbecilic monsters who are totally irredeemable. They're half-right. And, even then... Gregor can be very canny in a fight, so underestimating his tactical ability is generally a Very Bad Idea. You really don't have to be in Mensa to know how to fight cleverly — training your instincts works.
  • Dysfunction Junction: So very dysfunctional. With a mix of enough battlefield trauma for a squad of PTSD suffers, personality "quirks", horrendous childhoods, terrible working conditions and so much more, you strain to find the word "family" hidden in their relationships with other Cleganes. Or, "relationship" regarding their interactions with most other people, even.
  • Family Theme Naming: The Clegane brothers' names end with the same two letters.
  • Faster Than They Look: Both Gregor and Sandor are faster than men of their size and build have any right to be, and as a result Bronn and Jaime have noted that it makes them lethal opponents. The Red Viper finds this out first hand at the cost of his life.
  • Hate Sink: Due to the brothers' reputations as Elite Mooks who have ruined countless lives and Westerosi people's tendencies to condemn whole families for the actions of individual members, House Clegane has become this.
    • It is not entirely warranted, since Gregor is the extraordinarily savage member who has killed (in the case of his father and sister) or corrupted (in the case of his brother, Sandor) every decent member of his family. The original Clegane also lost a leg to save the life of Lord Tytos Lannister from a lioness, so he couldn't have been all bad though. Interestingly, Gregor is this for Sandor. It's strongly implied Sandor needs Gregor around so he can have something to focus his life around and hatred upon.
  • Jerkass: Neither of the Cleganes we meet could ever be mistaken for nice guys. The Mountain is an inhuman, raging homicidal maniac, and The Hound is a quarrelsome, mean-spirited outcast.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Expect things to get deadly serious whenever The Mountain or the Hound show up. Especially The Mountain.
  • Large and in Charge: Have become warriors and commanders of some prominence on the side of the Lannisters. At near eight feet tall, Ser Gregor is the biggest man in Westeros (and possibly the entire world), and his younger brother Sandor, while not near his size, is still around 6'7".
  • Lightning Bruiser: Both Sandor and Gregor.
  • Made of Iron: The two Cleganes in-universe are very tough and very hard to kill.
  • Nouveau Riche: The founder of the family went from kennelmaster to knight just two generations ago. Not bad.
  • Pet Rat: House Lannister uses the Cleganes to do that which is dirtier and more violent than even they wish to be too directly associated with. And, that says a lot. They even get to carry the can, lucky devils.
  • Professional Killers: They serve no other purpose than killing, Sandor makes numerous speeches that it is what knights are at the core and Gregor shows it. They are regularly used by the Lannister to kill specific target such as butcher's son and heir to the throne.
  • Red Baron: Gregor Clegane is called "The Mountain" or "The Mountain That Rides." His brother Sandor is called "The Hound."
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: Their sigil evokes this. And they serve in this capacity to House Lannister.
  • Strong and Skilled: Beyond the incredible strength that both of them possess, they are each among the most skilled fighters on the entire continent. Anyone who thinks otherwise does so at their own risk.

    Ser Gregor Clegane 

Ser Gregor Clegane

The Mountain that Rides, The Mountain

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"Elia of Dorne. I killed her screaming whelp. Then I raped her. Then I smashed her fucking head in. Like this." *CRUNCH*

Called "The Mountain That Rides," Ser Gregor Clegane is the biggest man in Westeros. Apart from his freakish size, he is feared for his cruelty and unstoppable force on the battlefield. His most infamous deed was smashing the baby Aegon's head apart against a wall and then raping his mother Princess Elia with the infant's brains still covering him before killing her. As the older brother to Sandor Clegane, he's responsible not only for Sandor's horrific burn scars, but also for the murder of their little sister and miserable childhood that made the Hound such a brutal and cynical man. He is a monster even among others, and his overlord Tywin Lannister often uses him as a scourge and enforcer to spread terror.


  • Artistic License – Biology: From a biological standpoint, someone like Gregor should make for a terrible warrior. His insanely large size should render him far more susceptible to crippling injuries. What's more, he seems to shrug off most physical attacks and it's implied he would have recovered from his fight with Oberyn Martell, despite being repeatedly stabbed in the joints, if he hadn't been poisoned. Also, if he really does have some extreme case of gigantism then he should suffer from decreased sex drive or outright impotence, but there's rarely a time when he isn't in the mood to rape and kill whatever poor woman who's unfortunate enough to be around him. In other words, this is another reason why Gregor is a monster, since, like most monsters, someone as terrifying as him shouldn't exist.
  • Asshole Victim: His fate at the hands of Oberyn Martell was absolutely horrific, but considering who Gregor is, it's not like he didn't earn it and then some.
    Doran Martell: If ever a man deserved to die screaming, it was Gregor Clegane.
  • Autocannibalism: What he does to Vargo Hoat. Gregor entertains himself by cutting off his victim's limbs and feeding them to him.
  • Ax-Crazy: Highly unstable with a violent temper, Gregor is prone to flying into murderous rages at the slightest provocation. For example, in his second appearance, he is unhorsed by Ser Loras Tyrell in a joust, and after getting up he immediately grabs his sword, beheads his own horse, and then attacks Ser Loras.
  • Back from the Dead: It is heavily hinted that he is the newest member of the Kingsguard, "Ser Robert Strong". Who is eight feet tall and has conveniently taken a vow of silence until all of King Tommen's enemies are dead.
  • Badass Boast: His almost last words, before his final fight, and he makes good on them too.
    Oberyn: Have they told you who I am?
    Gregor: Some dead man.
  • Bad Boss: He killed one of his own men for snoring too loudly. This tidbit is rather telling as well:
  • Beard of Evil: The few times his face is seen a beard is mentioned.
  • Berserk Button: He can find just about any reason to kill people, but he's primarily set off when he is either antagonized or annoyed. Which is why his duel with Oberyn Martell is so frustrating for him, on top of the fact that he can't land a single hit on the guy.
  • The Berserker: Although he uses heavy armor his approach in battle is this.
  • Big Brother Bully: Oh yeah. When he was twelve, he shoved his little brother Sandor's face into a fire for playing with his toys, causing his lifelong facial scars. The family also had an unnamed younger sister who Gregor is rumored to have murdered (technically nothing is confirmed, but we definitely wouldn't put it past him).
  • Big "SHUT UP!": During his duel with Oberyn Martell he's rather swiftly reduced to screaming at him to shut up.
  • Black Knight: A sodding big and very effective one, too. And, black in a number of ways, to boot.
  • Blood Knight: Subverted - he may appear this way at first glance, but he only really likes the "hurting" and "killing" parts of combat as opposed to any actual challenge. While a true Blood Knight would relish the opportunity to test his prowess against Worthy Opponents, Gregor is happiest killing unarmed civilians who don't fight back, and he only gets annoyed at strong fighters for not dying fast enough.
  • The Bluebeard: Is known to have married at least two times and both wives have died under "mysterious circumstances". Other women are also said to mysteriously disappear around his keep when he is there. It's not exactly hard to figure out what is going on, given Gregor's track record when out "foraging".
  • Body Horror: Courtesy of Oberyn Martell and Qyburn.
  • The Brute: He does nothing but fight for the Lannisters because he's just that good at it.
  • The Bully: While his brother enjoys the fight in itself, Gregor only cares for fighting so he gets to hurt and kill other people. He mainly goes after people who can't defend themselves against him, and those who can only make him angrier than he already is. Unlike most bullies though he's no Dirty Coward, which just makes him more dangerous.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Doesn't remember his victim when Oberyn Martell accuses him of murdering his sister. Given Gregor's propensity for murder and rape, falling into this trope would be understandable, except that it's rather unlikely, since the woman in question was Princess Elia of Dorne, the wife of the former heir to all of Westeros, and her husband was the one who knighted him.
    • Subverted, he actually does remember killing Elia. He was just taunting Oberyn before killing him.
  • Cain and Abel: Gregor and Sandor. The fact that Sandor, a murderer and (attempted) rapist (maybe) who could easily qualify as the Big Bad or The Dragon at least in almost any other story, is the Abel of this relationship tells you something about just how bad Gregor is. He's also suspected of murdering his sister.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: He's quite fond of this, sometimes because he wants information, but as often as not because he just enjoys hurting people.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Inflicts many of these on his victims.
    • Gregor's poisoning at the hands of The Red Viper. The venom had eaten a hole in his side the size of a fist and his constant screams of agony kept the entire Red Keep awake. Qyburn surmises it was a poison likely enhanced by magic to prolong the victim's suffering. After days of lingering in pure agony Gregor was then handed over to Qyburn, who brutally experimented on him until he finally expired.
  • Decapitation Presentation: His skull is sent to Dorne as proof that the killer of Elia and Oberyn is dead. Considering it's strongly implied he's Back from the Dead, it's ambiguous whether it was really his skull or if he's currently without a head.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Giant Mook: As a result of his gigantism, he suffers constant pain and migraines.
  • Dramatic Irony: Prince Rhaegar knighted the man who ended up killing his wife and son.
  • The Dreaded: Lampshaded by Lord Tywin. "No knight is more feared by our enemies."
  • Dumb Muscle: He doesn't talk too much so the reader doesn't get to see this but Jamie's POV has him thinking of Gregor as quite unintelligent. See Stupid Evil as well. At one point, he flat out blurts out his most notorious crime to countless onlookers. Granted, given he'd been impaled by his victim's brother, he likely wasn't in the most stable frame of mind. Even on a good day he is downing milk of the poppy to lessen his migraines, which impairs his mental faculties. He lacks any self control except at the most basic levels of Pragmatic Villainy.
    • However Gregor is actually far from plain stupid. He’s an immensely skilled fighter with a decent grasp at battle tactics, a capable commander on the battlefield, and he is an incredibly skilled torturer. He’s just so freakishly big and strong and is feared by everyone that he doesn’t have to bother with being smart. But if he decides to use his brain… well Godspeed to anyone in his way.
  • Evil Is Bigger: He's quite probably the biggest man in Westeros, and possibly the entire world, and one of the most depraved. A lot bigger than his Anti-Villain brother, who himself is a huge man by normal standards.
  • Evil Is Petty: The fact that a 12-year-old Gregor stuck his little brother's face in a burning brazier for playing with one of his toys should tell you just about everything you need to know.
  • Evil Versus Evil: His campaign against the Brave Companions.
  • Eviler than Thou: He's bad enough that a face-off against Smug Snake Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martell leaves the guy who has a snake theme and likes to use poisoned weapons looking like a Lovable Sex Maniac in comparison.
  • Feel No Pain: He doesn't feel blows the way a normal man does, probably because of his ridiculously thick armor as well as all the poppy milk he drinks.
  • For the Evulz: Gregor takes a sick pleasure in the rape, torture and slaughter of innocents, with looting as an afterthought. This is called "foraging" in polite conversation.
  • Freudian Excuse: Suffers constant painful migraines as a result of what may be gigantism or acromegaly - and in the latter case, he may have a brain tumor. Brain tumors pressing on the pituitary gland are one of the most common causes of gigantism in Real Life. While it doesn't excuse his actions, it does go to explain why he's such a violent psychopath—it's the closest outlet he has for his migraines. His father covering up didn't help.
  • Frontline General: From what we have seen, Gregor prefers a more hands-on approach to warfare and since he is a full plated giant who can destroy a line with one swing it is the best approach for him. During the Battle of the Green Fork, he is given command of the vanguard. He is the first to reach the enemy lines.
    "Any man runs, I'll cut him down myself," he was roaring when he caught sight of Tyrion. "Imp! Take the left. Hold the river, if you can!"
  • Functional Addict: He appears to be addicted to Milk of the Poppy (basically opium) which he takes to deal with his constant migraines. It doesn't impair his abilities to any visible degree. It doesn't even seem to work.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Gregor has serious anger issues, likely stemming from his endless headaches.
  • Hate Sink: For Sandor and the Martells as he’s a disgusting knight who has committed some pretty grievous crimes against them. He’s pretty awful from the readers’ perspective as well.
  • Head Crushing: He kills Oberyn Martell by punching through his face and beforehand he killed Elia of Dorne the same way, as well as dashing her son Prince Aegon's head against a wall as well.
  • Hidden Depths: He is much more intelligent than what The Brute trope encompasses. He is not only tremendous on one-to-one combat, he is a capable front-line commander. Gregor also displays frightening savvy in his sadism: when he desires to, he can be ridiculously talented at inflicting pain on others.
  • Hero Killer: Whenever he shows up, things get serious. He's a vicious warrior and many who cross him will end up dead or on the run.
  • Horrifying the Horror: Even Tywin, a lord famed for his ruthlessness, goes uncharacteristically silent when sitting next to Gregor.
    Lord Tywin Lannister turned his face to study Ser Gregor. Tyrion saw a glimmer of gold as the light shone off his father's pupils, but he could not have said whether the look was one of approval or disgust. Lord Tywin was oft quiet in council, preferring to listen before he spoke, a habit Tyrion himself tried to emulate. Yet this silence was uncharacteristic even for him, and his wine was untouched.
  • I Lied: When having prisoners tortured to death for information, one woman volunteers to be tortured on the condition that her daughter be spared. The next day, Gregor has the daughter tortured too, just to make sure the woman didn't leave anything out.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A variation. Oberyn Martell uses an infantry spear against him and impales him many times, but that is technically not what finishes him off, despite the spear driven right through the breastplate. The poison from the end of the lance is what does it, and it's a very long and drawn out process. It might even have been possible that without the poison or prior, weakening injuries, he might have won the fight and survived, even without Oberyn's arrogance.
  • Implacable Man: For years he is infamous for being Tywin's indestructible knight who can kill anyone. However, Gregor ends up being Hoist by His Own Petard when he is critically wounded and poisoned in a duel with Oberyn Martell, suffering unimaginable agony for weeks due to his physical resilience keeping him from dying. The trope seems to be played completely straight now that he is implied to be Qyburn's monstrous super-knight, Ser Robert Strong.
  • Immune to Drugs: It is mentioned that he regularly took Milk of the Poppy to deal with migraine headaches, which made it less effective when Qyburn was treating him after he got poisoned by Oberyn Martell.
  • It's All About Me: Gregor cares about himself and his acts of cruelty and...that's about it. His brother, father, wives, his own men, the Kings he serves under. None of them matter in the slightest to him.
  • Jerkass: A volatile, angry sadistic knight and Ungrateful Bastard to his father. There's really nothing about him to like.
  • Karmic Death: His slow and horrific death at the hands of Oberyn Martell's poisoned spear was a fitting end for a monster who had done nothing but spread unspeakable misery, fear and death his entire life.
    Doran Martell: If ever a man deserved to die screaming, it was Gregor Clegane.
  • Kick the Dog: For Gregor, kicking dogs comes as naturally as breathing.
    • While in a bad mood after losing the Hand's tourney, he and his men gang-rape an innkeeper's 13-year-old daughter, kill her brother for trying to defend his sister, and then when they're done, he demands back some of the money he paid her father because "she wasn't worth a silver."
    • At Harrenhal, he punches Pia in the face and knocks out half her teeth for speaking when he wanted quiet.
    • After a mother volunteers to be tortured for information in order to save her daughter, he has the daughter tortured the next day just to make sure her mother didn't leave any details out.
  • Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Gregor is established as a nasty customer early on by Sandor revealing he tried to kill him as a child by shoving him in the fireplace, just because Sandor played with his toy that Gregor himself didn't even care for. It's also implied he killed his sister and father.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: Gregor has to visibly restrain himself from attacking Robert Baratheon and his armed guards after the king ordered him to cease his attempt to kill Loras and Sandor during the Hand's tourney but he's ultimately smart enough to just storm off in a huff.
  • Lack of Empathy: As you may have guessed from his love of murder, rape, torture and wanton cruelty in general, Gregor doesn't have much regard for other people. Even his own brother and father mean nothing to him.
  • Losing Your Head: By all appearances happened to him posthumously, as his skull was gifted to the Martells as an apology for Elia and Oberyn. It is also implied to be the reason, why Ser Robert Strong (who is strongly implied to be Gregor's reanimated corpse) wears a face-hiding helmet and has taken a vow of silence; it is to prevent people from discovering that he has no head, and, of course, having no head makes it rather difficult to speak.
  • Made of Iron: Due to a combination of factors. His incredible size and strength make him naturally resistant to injury, and Bronn notes that he doesn't seem to feel blows like a normal man does, due to perhaps being in constant pain already (migraine headaches possibly resulting from his immense size), and constantly downing Milk of the Poppy to dull his pain. More than that, he wears the thickest, heaviest set of full plate mail in the series, with extra layers of chainmail and boiled leather below that. All these factors make Ser Gregor remarkably difficult to injure.
  • Mighty Glacier: Fits somewhere between this and Lightning Bruiser. Bronn comments that Gregor was "never fast", but admits he is faster than someone his size ought to be, and with his One-Hit Kill abilities, extreme speed is considered unnecessary for him.
  • Mutual Kill: Him vs. Oberyn Martell. Oberyn possibly gets the better half of it, dying more or less instantly, while Gregor's death takes a while and is excruciating the entire time.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A man called "The Mountain That Rides" is unlikely to be a peaceful man.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: His imposing appearance, solitary lifestyle and Would Hurt a Child tendencies are reminding of French knight Gilles de Rais.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Has gained quite an infamous reputation for delivering these to his enemies. One punch from him can disfigure someone for life and two is a kill.
  • Not So Stoic: When his Hair-Trigger Temper is set off. Then you get a glimpse of why he is the most feared knight in Westeros.
  • Offing the Annoyance: According to his brother, he killed one of his own men for snoring too loudly. When he is infuriated by his difficult fight with the extremely mobile Oberyn Martell, he accidentally cuts the arm from a stableboy who gets in the way, and, when the boy screams, he attacks him in fury, slashing at him while yelling at him to shut up as he murders him. Later, in a possibly non-lethal but still horrifying example, on the way back from a lost tournament he's annoyed by the owner of an alehouse, who first fawns over having a knight at his establishment and then complains about Ser Gregor's men mistreating his thirteen-year-old daughter. His response is to lead his men in gang-raping said thirteen-year-old daughter. And in another non lethal example, he breaks the nose and knocks out half the teeth of Pretty Pia while in Harrenhal for no reason other than she spoke when he wanted quiet.
  • One-Handed Zweihänder: Gregor is an eight-foot slab of muscle and can easily swing a sword meant to be used in two hands by a normal-sized man with one hand, which frees him up to carry a shield in the other.
  • One-Hit Kill: You can attempt to fight him by outmaneuvering him, but if he gets one hit in... yeah, you're not going to recover from it.
  • One-Man Army: Best shown during the battle of the Green Fork at the end of A Game of Thrones. With a group of other knights, Clegane powers straight through the spears and crashes directly into the Karstark heavy infantry, probably killing four or five at least. Then, he rises completely unscathed while the other knights are dead or retreating, and then begins to wield his BFS with a single hand, smashing every enemy in the vicinity into oblivion with contemptuous ease.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Nobody is actually fooled for a minute when a mysteriously anonymous, eight-ish foot knight rampages anywhere. No amount of carefully generic helmet disguises who is under it.
  • Patricide: Heavily implied to have killed his father in a Hunting "Accident".
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: He murders Vargo Hoat by chopping off bits of him and making him eat them, little by little, bandaging the wounds to keep him alive longer. Gregor is far from a better person—he might even be worse—but it's still satisfying to read about.
  • Pet the Dog: He spares the life of the cook who helped him and his men capture Harrenhal. Even Gregor can show gratitude every now and then. Who'd have thought?
    • Maybe Gregor has enough experience of the Tickler & Raff the Sweetling's cooking to decide that letting a trained cook live to serve him...for now was Pragmatic Villainy?
  • Power Fist: His helmet is peaked by a fist punching toward the sky.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: He's... not good at sharing his toys, and overall acts like a schoolyard bully.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Him vs Oberyn. While he technically wins by crushing Oberyn's head in, he ends up horribly poisoned and either slowly dies or likely Came Back Wrong as Ser Robert Strong. That, and he reveals what he did to Elia Martell and her babe, which would've likely gotten the Lannisters to off him to appease Dorne had he survived.
  • The Quiet One: He's barely said anything in-book but his character is well-established through his atrocities.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Obviously.
  • Red Baron: The Mountain That Rides.
  • Sadist: Pretty obviously one, considering his habits.
  • Scary Impractical Armor: Subverted for the most part — his armor is described as dull, plain, utilitarian steel lacking in any decoration or adornment... but the sheer size and weight of it, combined with the reputation of the man wearing it, make his appearance far more terrifying for those facing him than even the pointiest Spikes of Villainy could hope to be. Played straight, however, during the trial by combat; he wears so many layers of armor that, while he does indeed prove incredibly hard to injure, his skin is not gonna be able to breathe through all that clobber — in direct sunlight, too. Hence, Oberyn's Hit-and-Run Tactics tires Gregor faster, even if the Red Viper has to continuously move and precision aim for the joints and few openings.
  • Screaming Warrior: "He doesn't use words, he just roars like an animal, Tyrion thought."
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Despite his constant atrocities, no one, not even a member of a Great House like Oberyn, is able to lay a finger on him because Tywin has his back. It takes him foolishly admitting his crime in front of the entire realm for Tywin to starts throwing him under the bus.
  • Serial Killer: His implied murder of his father, his younger sister and his two wives. And members of his household. And numerous peasants. And many, many others. It's strongly implied he does this when not at war.
    • If not stopped, he would have probably killed his younger brother, who got off with "just" half his face being burned.
  • Serial Rapist: His penchant for raping women is what he's most known and reviled for.
  • Sibling Murder: He is strongly implied to have murdered his and Sandor's younger sister.
  • Smarter Than You Look: While Gregor is Ax-Crazy and Stupid Evil in general, Tyrion notes with dismay that he is actually capable of fighting tactically when he wants, most notably when the sun breaks through the clouds in his duel with Oberyn and Gregor immediately moves to put the sun behind him and thus blind Oberyn. It doesn't work due to Oberyn's mirror-polished shield reflecting the light back into his face, but at least he made the effort.
  • The Sociopath: A very chilling example. Frequently rapes, tortures, and brutally murders people (including his own family) as casually as taking a piss, sometimes over petty slights that other characters can see in his eyes mean nothing to him as he's doing it. (Except when his Hair-Trigger Temper sets off.) Even in this series, where even the “good guys” border on A Lighter Shade of Black at times, Gregor is among the worst of the worst.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: He only fights for Tywin because it gives him more opportunities to hurt people. In fact, it's implied he is a Serial Killer when he's not waging war; when he's at home many members of his household tend to go missing. In war, he also tends to surround himself with other soldiers of this type.
  • The Stoic: Is normally very quiet, and seems almost incapable of expressing, or even feeling human emotion. Except during battle where he feels wrath.
  • Strong and Skilled: Somewhat averted. While he isn't exactly Unskilled, but Strong, unlike his brother he's never said to be a particularly gifted swordsman - he's just both incredibly strong and borderline impervious to any damage, so it doesn't really matter: he's more or less indomitable either way. But before his fight with Oberyn, he's mostly cleaving his way through countless mooks an civilians and we never see him going toe to toe with an actual Master Swordsman - and the moment he does, he loses.
    • He is, however, extremely skilled with a lance, at least according to his brother. When he spots that Ser Hugh of the Vale has a weak spot on his neck, he drives his lance exactly there and kills the man on the spot.
  • Stupid Evil: One of Gregor's problems. He's a capable commander in the field owing to his viciousness, but when it comes to taking prisoners of value he fails to do so, often killing them instead of taking them as hostages. This is brought up a few times by both friend and foe... though, not to his face.
  • Super-Strength: He's undoubtedly the most physically powerful human in the series, that doesn't rely on some form of magic. He can cave in a man's skull with a punch, wield a six foot long greatsword in one hand as though it were a dagger, and use it to cut men in plate mail in half. He's even broken pike lines on foot. The only people who may come close are people he's never met: Victarion Greyjoy (who has had his strength enhanced with magic) and Greatjon Umber.
    • Should be noted that though very strong none of them has demonstrated feats to put them in Gregor's league.
  • Taking You with Me: Gregor kills Oberyn before succumbing to poison shortly after.
  • Teens Are Monsters: When he was only seventeen, he murdered the infant Prince Aegon, then raped and murdered Aegon's mother Princess Elia.
  • Til Murder Do Us Part: He had two wives who both died mysteriously. Read the rest of the tropes under his folder, and then draw your own conclusions.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: If nothing else, the fact that at the age of 12 he casually stuck his younger brother's head into a burning oven (for stealing a toy he didn't even want) and probably would have killed him had several adults not heard Sandor screaming and wrenched Gregor off him, probably should have tipped his father off to the fact that something was seriously wrong with him.
  • Ungrateful Bastard:
    • As Sandor points out, Gregor had the great honor of being knighted by Rhaegar Targaryen. This still didn't stop him from later on brutally murdering Rhaegar's wife (whom he also raped) and son.
    • His father favored him over Sandor because he thought Gregor's fighting proficiency would make him a great knight, and actively covered up his maiming of Sandor and other disturbing behavior so as not to hurt his chances. Gregor thanked his father for this preferential treatment by murdering him in a Hunting "Accident" so he could inherit the Clegane lands and money.
    • Sandor recalls that when a woodcarver came to the Cleganes' keep, he sent Gregor a painted wooden knight as part of his tribute. But as Sandor put it, Gregor was already a squire and the toy was nothing to him.
    • Averted with that cook who aided him in his capture of Harrenhal. See Pet the Dog.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: He doesn't have much of a fighting style, tending to simply swing his sword around wildly and charge at opponents. This becomes particularly noticeable in his fight with Oberyn Martell where Oberyn is a far more skilled and agile fighter who can run rings around Gregor. But he's so terrifyingly strong that he doesn't really need to know how to do anything beyond the basics.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Why Sandor detests the concepts of knighthood, honor and vows. Gregor was given a knighthood despite his Ax-Crazy Sociopathic Soldier tendencies. While rumors circulate of his atrocities in and out of war, since those just make him a more effective killer for the Lannisters, it makes him that much more untouchable.
  • Why Won't You Die?: As previously mentioned, Gregor isn't so much a warrior as he is a state-sanctioned Serial Killer, and his attitude towards Oberyn Martell is less "At last, a worthy challenger!", and more "Stand still so I can murder you!".
  • World's Strongest Man: GRRM states he is "the true giant of the series". Among other examples, he wields a gigantic two-handed greatsword one-handed, and at one point is noted as waving it around "like it was a dagger." Jaime clarifies it further when he lists the strongest men he knows, and states that "the Mountain's strength is like nothing human."
  • Would Hit a Girl: More like: would kill a girl's children, then rape her, then smash her fucking head in, like this.
  • Would Hurt a Child: One of the things he's famous for is smashing the infant prince's head against the wall when storming King's Landing. That's arguably not even the worst thing he did that day.
  • You Didn't Ask: According to Tywin he murdered Elia not on his order but because he saw her. Tywin said he didn't even mention Elia.
  • Your Head Asplode: As soon as Oberyn comes too close, Gregor trips him with an Offhand Back Hand, lifts him up above himself with one hand and proceeds to cave in his skull by punching through his face. The crowd was suitably horrified at the display of ultraviolence.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Averted; Lord Tywin considers Tyrion's proposal to hand over Gregor in exchange for an alliance with Dorne, but concludes that his role as The Dreaded makes him too useful to get rid of. At least until Gregor kills Oberyn Martell during their duel, leaving Tywin with no choice but to execute him to smooth over relations with Dorne. At least, he would have if Oberyn hadn't poisoned Gregor during their duel. As it was, Tywin tried and failed to have Gregor healed only so he could be killed at a proper execution.

    Sandor Clegane 

Sandor Clegane

The Hound

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ae93a88d7299dc9cd82622d68d2f2d07.jpg
"Here's a brave man, baring steel on an unarmed captive. Untie me, why don't you? We'll see how brave you are then."

Called "The Hound," Sandor is the younger brother of Ser Gregor Clegane and the fiercely loyal bodyguard of Prince Joffrey. He is a badass but hideously scarred warrior with a brutally cynical attitude, and he hates his brother Gregor more than anything else. Built up in the first chapters as an unquestioningly obedient and sadistic enforcer of the Lannisters, he evolves into a very complex character. As of the end of the second book, he has ceased to work for Lannisters and has gone "rabid," wandering with no particular motive or allegiance. Despite his ugliness and callous behavior, he has deeply sympathetic traits. He currently has Unresolved Sexual Tension with Sansa.


  • The Alcoholic: In the first book, his second major appearance has his drunkenly leering at Sansa as he tells her how he was burned, and he even admits he drank too much wine. He later drinks himself stupid during the battle of the Blackwater after he witnesses the wildfire, and abandons his post. When he comes across Arya later, anytime they find themselves in a location where there is wine, he ends up getting drunk. It ends up getting him mortally wounded when he gets into a fight with some of his brother's men, and he's too drunk to fight properly.
  • Animal Motifs: The most explicit in the series; he's the Hound. It informs his helmet, his shield, and his nature.
  • Anti-Villain: He's done horrible things in his lifetime of service to the Lannisters, but unlike his brother he has the decency to acknowledge how horrible they are, and beneath his tough, jaded exterior he seems to feel some small measure of guilt over them. Furthermore, he absolutely loathes sadism done purely for its own sake.
  • Appropriated Appellation: Sandor is nicknamed "the Hound" and is often likened to a mad dog. Sandor gladly accepts this, and his helm is shaped like the head of a snarling dog. The sigil of House Clegane is three dogs on a yellow field, as his grandfather and his hunting dogs saved off his lord, and was knighted for it. It's also worth noting that "cynic", his main defining character trait, derives from the Greek word for "dog".
  • At Least I Admit It: Being a Professional Killer, that is.
    Sandor: What do you think a knight is for, girl? You think it's all taking favors from ladies and looking fine in gold plate? Knights are for killing. I killed my first man at twelve. I've lost count of how many I've killed since then... they're all meat, and I'm the butcher. Let them [knights] have their lands and their gods and their gold. Let them have their sers.
    Sansa: (later) You're awful.
    Sandor: I'm honest. It's the world that's awful.
  • The Atoner: If the gravedigger Brienne sees at the monastery is in fact him, he may be going in this direction as part of a possible Heel–Faith Turn. Beware all ye the power of the Morality Pet when branded "Stark" on the package.
  • Badass and Child Duo: Sandor and Arya.
  • Badass Boast:
    • "Here's a brave man, baring steel on an unarmed captive. Untie me, why don't you? We'll see how brave you are then."
    • Also, "This cave may be dark, but I'm the terror here."
  • Beast and Beauty: Sandor is a hideously scarred, hulking terror of a man, while Sansa is very pretty and growing to be one of Westeros' most beautiful women.
  • Berserk Button: He has a few distinct triggers, yes. In order, we have... 1) Don't call him ser or suggest in any other way (however oblique) that he's a knight with ideals. 2) Don't suggest he's at all like his brother. 3) Don't suggest the world is a nice or ordered place (heaven help you if you mention songs). 4) Don't hand him water when he wants wine or otherwise get between him and a drink. The good news is that you'll mostly only wind up with a rant, rather than losing a limb.
  • Better with Non-Human Company: Hates and is feared by most people, but he's openly affectionate with his horse, Stranger, and is the only person able to semi-tame the animal. This may be because animals aren't capable of the hypocrisy or corruption he despises in men.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Gets a couple moments, a bit ironically considering his abhorrence of heroics. The first comes with his rescue of Loras Tyrell from Gregor; the second, his rescue of Sansa during the bread riots.
    • Don't forget how he saved Arya's life at the Red Wedding, despite herself.
  • Black Knight: Like Gregor, he wears black armor, but he fulfills the more honorable version of this trope in contrast to his Sociopathic Soldier brother. Despite refusing to be a knight and despising all of its pageantry, he proves to be significantly more honorable than some of the actual knights in Westeros.
  • Blood Knight: He invokes this himself by the way he describes fighting and his life. But, as it turns out, there's more to it — he really isn't the Blood Knight he was brought up to be, but a Knight in Sour Armor, instead. As in, "making grapefruit, lemon and aloe vera (hold the sugar) smoothies look sweet" levels of sour.
  • Bodyguard Crush: Seems to be reciprocal. Sandor obviously lusts after Sansa and displays apparent genuine affection for the "pretty little bird" in his tender actions towards her. Meanwhile Sansa is developing affection for him in turn.
  • Broken Pedestal: As a boy, Sandor was a lot like Sansa, believing in tales of knightly heroics and happy endings. And it's implied that he once looked up to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who in his time was the picture of chivalry. Needless to say, this all went down the drain when Rhaegar personally knighted Sandor's hated brother, Gregor, despite Gregor being nothing but an effective killer.
  • Brutal Honesty: About the Crapsack World. Comes with complimentary Lampshade Hanging and some blunt Captain Obvious moments. For when the obvious is escaping those who really should notice what is going down, but are choosing not to.
  • Cain and Abel: Gregor and Sandor. Even though Sandor is the more ugly one, Gregor is definitely the more evil one.
  • Child Soldier: Martin mentions in one of his So Spake Martin entries that Sandor was a member of Tywin Lannister's host during the Sack of King's Landing. Given the calculations on Gregor's age and the mention that the Hound killed his first man at 12, he likely committed his first kill during the Sack.
  • Cool Helmet: His most distinctive piece of equipment is a helmet shaped like a snarling dog. It's eventually stolen by the outlaw Rorge, which leads to Sandor getting blamed for several atrocities he didn't commit.
  • The Cynic: Yup. Why go for Mangsting over life, the universe and everything, when you can hit the sulfuric acid that is cynicism instead? In fact, Sandor very much approaches cynicism from a Straw Nihilist perspective for most of the books. However, he may have changed to something a little less bleak, if he is the gravedigger: still, most people would probably put money on him still being some form of cynic, though.
  • Cynical Mentor: To Arya, briefly.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: Gregor murdering their baby sister and burning half of Sandor's face off made the Hound a very cynical, violent man. Rhaegar Targaryen knighting Gregor soured Sandor on the whole idea of knighthood, hence why he never became a knight.
  • Death Equals Redemption: Of the Unexplained Recovery variety, maybe. It's too early to tell, but clues on the Quiet Isle indicate that his Near-Death Experience has set him up for some serious Character Development and that he's the limping gravedigger of the monastery. For one, he's living in a religious order when he previously disdained all gods, and there are definite parallels to be drawn between his situation and the Elder Brother's story about his own near-death moral awakening. The overall indication is that Sandor's on the path to becoming a more moral, less bloodthirsty person. Also fits with the lyrics of the hymn Sansa sang him in the second book and her prayer that the Mother find a way to soothe the fury in his soul.
  • Don't Call Me "Sir": Doesn't technically have the rank anyway, but he functions as a knight in everything but name, and as such, other knights and courtiers often address him as "ser". He hates it. Direct use of the trope name occurs when Sansa makes this mistake and he snaps, "Don't call me Ser." A result of his thuggish psycho brother being knighted — by Rhaegar Targaryen no less, regarded as the personification of a Knight in Shining Armor.
  • The Dreaded: Although not as dreaded as Gregor, it's noticeable that few people choose to take Sandor on or get seriously in his grill unless they're pretty sure he's handicapped or incapacitated in some way. There're good reasons for that, since his abilities and deeds are notorious. Raff the Sweetling bluntly admits that Sandor is nobody to be tangled with lightly.
    Raff: We're bad, m'lord, but you'd need to be mad to face the Hound.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He is not his brother and refuses point blank to sink that low (he'll kill, he'll pillage, he gets conflicted about rape and you have to outright force him to burn anything — but, he very clearly won't go as far as Gregor does doing any of it, ever — and only really does what he does because it's his job to and he doesn't know how else to be). He outright despises a world which finds ways to remunerate and justify what that brute does — or what he does. Which shows that he does, indeed, have standards. Even when he breaks 'em, being what he is.
  • Emotional Bruiser: In public he's very much The Stoic. In private...
  • Fatal Flaw: Alcoholism. He ends up being too drunk fight in A Storm of Swords, resulting in him sustaining mortal wounds.
  • Foil: To Jaime Lannister. Both are great warriors, both wear animal shaped helmets and both are disillusioned by knighthood's lack of chivalry. (The difference being that, with his devil-may-care attitude, Ser Jaime doesn't mind buying into that hypocrisy, while the Hound absolutely refuses to be knighted.)
  • Freudian Excuse: Most of his can be summed up in one word: Gregor. His brother is his yardstick for what not to be and his target of hatred for what he's done — to the point he finds it hard to define himself when he finds out Gregor is dead.
  • Genius Bruiser: He's seen mostly as a brutal enforcer and not thought of as anything more but he's also an excellent tracker, hence his nickname, and skilled battle strategist as well as being very capable of surviving in Westeros on his own which requires some smarts.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Half his face is horribly burned, which makes him even more threatening.
  • Heroes Love Dogs: He has several he uses for hunting, since they're also both his house emblem and his own Red Baron. It's the reason he doesn't mind Joffrey calling him "dog" but grows angry when called "ser"; he respects his dogs more than he does knights.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: "Heroic" is stretching it, but his Brutal Honesty extends to himself. He freely admits to the fact that fire scares him shitless, that he's a nasty killer, and that his facial scar is hideous. In fact, he's outright annoyed when Sansa tries to be polite and ignore the latter.
  • Hey, You!: He is the personal bodyguard of Joffrey, who addresses him rather rudely as "dog."
  • Hidden Depths: The 6'7 brutal warrior and bodyguard with hideous facial scars and a gruff demeanor...is also a deeply troubled man with strict standards and a capacity for heroism as well as a philosophical outlook on his own existence and is capable of considerable introspection and compassion, especially for those who show him kindness. Those who get to know him like Sansa are taken aback at how different he is compared to how he appears.
  • Inferred Survival: The general consensus among fans; see Left for Dead below.
  • Insistent Terminology: Repeatedly points out that he is not a knight. This is likely due to his brother gaining a knighthood at an early age, simply for being a murderous thug with a sword. Those who make the mistake of addressing him as such are quickly corrected, be it through foul-mouthed annoyance or violence.
  • Jade-Colored Glasses: Oh, boy, does he sport a pair. And, is quite willing to try tinting other people's lenses. Particularly, but not exclusively, Sansa's.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Zig Zagged, averaging about to a Jerkass Psycho for Hire with standards and Morality Pets.
  • Kick the Dog: "He ran. But not very fast."
  • Last of His Kind: If Sandor is the limping gravedigger at Quiet Isle, then he's the sole surviving Clegane.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: His level of morality vacillates throughout the series, but during his more admirable moments he serves as this. However, he always is consistently (and bluntly) sour: no contest.
  • Left for Dead: A wound on Sandor's thigh festers, and he ends up too ill to stand. Instead of killing him as he begs, Arya just walks away. While others have taken his distinctive helmet and get in Brienne's way — she kills the outlaw Rorge who is disguised as "the Hound" — she also notes a large man with a limp digging graves at the monastery of Quiet Isle...
  • Legacy Character: Rorge steals his helm off his grave and begins committing atrocities while wearing it. Since nobody knows Sandor is dead everybody blames him for the razing of the Saltpans, although the people who actually knew them note that it isn't at all like him. After Rorge is killed Lem takes to wearing the helm, becoming the third Hound. Neither man actually tried to assume his identity: good helmets are just hard to come by.
  • A Lighter Shade of Black: Sandor is a brutal warrior and not a pleasant person by almost every standard, but he does have a number of standards, sympathetic qualities and is implied to have a degree of remorse for his crimes. This is enough to almost make him look like a saint next to his virtually soulless older brother.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Jaime notes that what makes the Hound so dangerous is not only his immense strength and brutality, but the fact that he is far quicker than a man his size has any right to be.
  • Living Legend: He has a fearsome reputation in-universe. It helps that he's one of exactly four people to ever defeat the series' other Living Legend, Jaime.
  • Lovable Rogue: Well, no; Sandor is many jerkass things and Flynning definitely ain't his thing. Yet, at the same time, there's more yes here than can be easily ignored. Sandor is definitely a rogue with little respect for the status quo — he's a dab hand at pillaging, willingly breaks the rules that don't suit his personal sense of fair play when they cross over his limits, he moves about to where none expect him to be with his charges, he ducks the fuzz (when not too drunk), he kills when words won't work and he calls any stuck-up spades a spade to their faces with observations so blunt, they cause emotional damage. Yet, he's not lovable, charming nor even unselfishly naughty by any traditional yardstick of the trope. In this series, however, that is his genuine charm (for the reader — other characters don't see it); the openly smooth, generous and dashing charmers other characters can't help but like are generally far less sympathetic and lovable in practice than Sandor turns out to be. His is a brand of walking anti-charisma, self-loathing and issues that still somehow manages to put itself out for a very small few and also does a lot of the plot-work we've come to expect of this archetype while sticking two fingers up at it whenever a would-be Robin Hood crosses his path. It's... quite compelling.
  • Master Swordsman: He's one of the best swordsmen in Westeros, just ranking under Jaime Lannister and Barristan Selmy. He utterly humiliates Gregor in a duel, being the only character able to block his swings, and he does all of this without even tying to kill Gregor.
  • Might Makes Right: Part of his cynical worldview.
    The Hound: If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different.
  • Moody Mount: His horse is a massive, bad-tempered black stallion named Stranger who will readily kick or bite anyone who isn't his master. It's hard to imagine a better fit for him.
  • Morality Pet: His human ones are Sansa and Arya Stark. On a more literal level, he admits to having a fondness for his dogs, and loves his horse Stranger.
  • Mythical Motifs: Sandor shares a lot of symbolic similarities to the hero of Celtic mythology, Cuchulain. Both are massive warriors that have dog motifs, and even Cuchulain's name means "Culann's dog". Sandor wearing a dog-helm into battle is akin to Cuchulain transforming into a monstrous hound whenever enraged. Their "deaths" are also similar, with both dying after sustaining mortal wounds and being left at the mercy of a vengeful female figure (Arya in Sandor's case, and the Morrigan in Cuchulain's).
  • Near-Rape Experience: The perpetrator. He gets so far as pinning Sansa down on the bed, knife at her throat. Later he admits, "I took the song, she never gave it. I meant to take her, too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf." Morbid as his dying confession is, it is clear that he is actually not bad enough to go through with the rape. He actually starts crying both during the near-rape and later when confessing, suggesting at least some degree of guilt. His account of the experience also differs from Sansa's, and either one or both of them may be an unreliable narrator.
  • Noble Demon: He's a savage warrior who revels in killing, but lacks the deliberate cruelty and sadism of his older brother, and his interactions with Sansa and Arya Stark shows a gentler side to him. Heck: he might be a battered "Professional Murderer" in Sour Armour, but... for those girls? He almost polishes it. In his own weird take on that: just... don't tell him he does it.
  • Not Worth Killing: Invoked against him by Arya when his wound from the fight at the inn leaves him feverish and dying. For all his talk about being honest about how cruel the world is, that doesn't justify the horrible things he's done and he ultimately doesn't deserve the gift of mercy.
  • Parental Substitute: Cersei believes this was what Joffrey was looking for in Sandor, since Robert wasn't so involved with him.
  • Percussive Therapy: After Robb and Catelyn Stark are killed at the Red Wedding, he's pissed that he doesn't have anyone to ransom Arya to, and takes out his frustrations on pieces of wood, "...hacking savagely at the tree or the deadfall or the broken limb until they had twenty times as much kindling as they'd needed".
  • Pet the Dog: Several moments. Most notable are preventing Sansa from killing herself when she considers it, rescuing Sansa from the rioting mob, saving Arya from certain death at the Red Wedding, attempting to build a fire when Arya is sick despite his intense fear of fire, and actually crying while he threatens Sansa (and when he recalls threatening Sansa).
    • He also seems on the way to approach Catelyn's death in a more gentle way, after seeing Arya's denial, but she cuts him short after a wolf dream.
      Sandor: This thing about your mother...
      Arya: It doesn't matter. I know she's dead. I saw her in a dream.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: He does what he's paid for and nothing more. He couldn't give less of a shit about higher ideals or loyalty to anyone but the people who pay him.
  • Quit Your Whining: In his own way. After Arya witnesses the horrors of the Red Wedding, he keeps her from sinking completely into the Despair Event Horizon by waking her up every morning (not gently) and making her feed their horses.
  • Rage Helm: His helmet is forged in the shape of a snarling dog.
  • Red Baron: He's called "the Hound" in reference to both his family's coat of arms and his savage, unquestioning obedience.
  • Red Herring: Sandor's early appearances imply that he will be a major villain in the story, which his appearance accentuates. While he does become important, he actually ends up being A Lighter Shade of Black of the Lannister side, and is a grey character overall. The villainous role that his early scenes foreshadow ends up going to his evil brother, Gregor.
  • Rule of Three: The Clegane sigil features three black dogs on a field of gold. While this represents three hunting dogs that died protecting Lord Tytos Lannister from a lioness and earned the Cleganes their lands, it becomes Fridge Brilliance later on when two other violent warriors, Rorge and Lem Lemoncloak, don the hound's head helm in addition to the helm's owner, Sandor. It's been noted in universe that the helm represents a bloody legacy that seems to continue with each person who wears it. As of AFFC there have now been three Hounds.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Deserts the Kingsguard during the Battle of the Blackwater.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: To his brother. While Sandor is a killer and makes no bones about it, he has strict standards he won't go against and is capable of compassion, kindness and surprising introspection, hating both himself for what he does and the world for rewarding him for it and wishing he lived in a world of folk songs where knights really were heroic and men like him didn't need to exist. This stands in sharp contrast to Gregor who has absolutely no boundaries he won't cross, revels in all the vile things he does and is completely without any mercy, kindness or concern for anyone but himself.
  • Stalker with a Crush: He shows up an uncomfortable high number of times near Sansa, either to guard her or taunt her.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: He spends half of A Clash of Kings doing this, mostly to Sansa, and once to Tyrion.
  • Straw Nihilist: Has a very cynical view of the world and considers concepts like honor and law pointless, as those concepts are decided by battle in the end.
  • Strong and Skilled: He's incredibly strong, able to toss and lift grown men around like they're nothing, and an extremely skilled swordsman and combatant.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: King Robert admits on his deathbed he was glad someone else told Sandor that Ned had sent forces out after his brother for this very reason. It was never confirmed, but the Hound indicated on several occasions that he was keen on the idea.
    • However the one time Sandor has the perfect excuse and opportunity (when Gregor goes Ax-Crazy on the Knight of the Flowers) he doesn't take it. For a possible reason, see Hate Sink.
  • Tsundere: A rare, Western and male example. Of the emotionally screwed-up variety. He's no stranger to his frustration and rage. Nor of lashing out and killing or maiming with it. But, that he could still find it in him to care about specific others? Pretty much knocked some very carefully built-up denial out from under him. Even though he could no more express how to care healthily than fly (neither Sansa nor Arya left unscathed by his worry over them — for all they both would have wound up in far worse places without him).
  • Two-Faced: Subverted; most characters assume his disfigured face is indicative of him being a monster, but while he's far from heroic he's not nearly as bad as his (unmarked) brother Gregor.
  • Uncatty Resemblance: With Stranger.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Relatively speaking compared to his brother, that is. While Sandor is very strong by any standard, he's not nearly as much as his brother but makes up for it with far superior swordsmanship and fighting skills, allowing him to survive fighting him.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: A bunch of heroic Robin Hood-alikes capture him and accuse everyone associated with the Lannisters of being murdering scumbags. He calls them out on their hypocrisy, "Not so different now, are we?" He does shut up when Arya brings up him executing Mycah however.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Afraid of fire ever since his brother burned his face. This is the impetus for his dereliction during the Battle of the Blackwater.

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