This is a listing of members of House Seaworth who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Stormlands entry, see here
House Seaworth of Cape Wrath
Created after Robert's Rebellion, House Seaworth is a knightly house in the Stormlands. Its seat is a small keep on Cape Wraith, in the south of the Storm Lands. The House consists of Davos and his wife Marya, along with their seven sons: Dale, Allard, Matthos, Maric, Devan, Stannis and Steffon. Its sigil is a ship with an onion sail on a grey background.
As of A Storm of Swords, House Seaworth is now a noble house after Ser Davos was made Lord of the Rainwood.
Tropes related to House Seaworth:
- Alliterative Name: Stannis and Steffon, Davos' two youngest sons who happen to be named after his liege lord (Stannis) and his liege lord's father (Steffon).
- The Captain: Davos and his two eldest sons command ships in Stannis' fleet. Davos captains the Black Betha, Dale captains the Wraith and Allard captains Lady Marya.
- Character Death: Dale, Allard, Matthos and Maric are all killed in the Battle of Blackwater Bay.
- Dead Guy Junior: Davos named his youngest son after the late Lord Steffon Baratheon.
- The Ghost: Stannis and Steffon, Davos's sixth and seventh sons who have spent the series with their mom at Davos's keep.
- Mauve Shirt: Davos' four oldest sons are this as they're given fairly limited characterization and are killed off at the end of the second book.
- Mook Lieutenant: Maric, Davos's fourth son and Oarmaster on the Fury, who dies at the Battle of the Blackwater.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: Davos named his second-youngest son after Stannis Baratheon, a man he greatly admires.
- Number Two: Matthos is first-mate on his father's ship, Black Betha.
- Nouveau Riche: How the rest of Stannis's bannermen see House Seaworth. Even Davos's sons are a bit ashamed of their lowly beginnings and question why their father chose their sigil to have an onion on it.
- You Are in Command Now: Seems House Seaworth will now rule over the Rainwood and the noble houses seated there.
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Ser Davos Seaworth*
Ser Davos Seaworth, Lord of the Rainwood, Admiral of the Narrow Sea, Hand of the King
The Onion Knight, The Onion Lord, Davos Shorthand, Ser Onion
"It was just, what he did to me. I had flouted the king's laws all my life. He has earned my loyalty."
A smuggler turned knight turned Admiral, Lord, and Hand of the King, sponsored by Stannis Baratheon. He turned straight by smuggling food into Stannis's besieged castle, earning him a knighthood for his service. Stannis also demanded that he lose the first joint off the fingers of his left hand to balance out his life of crime. He is often called "the Onion Knight," somewhat disparagingly, because he earned his knighthood with crates of onions. Despite his past, he is a loyal and honorable man, and a devout follower of the Seven. He mistrusts the sorceress Melisandre, seeking to counter her influence over Stannis.
- Action Dad: Fights alongside his sons in the War of the Five Kings.
- Appropriated Appellation: Adopted the sigil of ship with an onion on a black sail.
- Arrested for Heroism: He saved Stannis and his men by delivering them supplies while they were starving, however, Stannis's code of honor demanded that Davos pay for his crimes as a smuggler. Stannis knighted Davos for his heroism, but also cut the first finger joints off his left hand. Davos seems to respect Stannis' sense of justice, and not only willingly accepts the punishment (but only if Stannis wields the cleaver himself which Stannis does), and he is entirely loyal to Stannis thereafter.
- Big "NO!": He unleashes one during the Battle of the Blackwater when he realizes what Tyrion has done with the wildfire trap.
- Book Dumb: Coming from one of the poorest districts of King's Landing, Davos never had any education but still has quite a keen mind, is very observant, and provides astute advice to Stannis. He eventually does learn to read, which enhances his advisory capabilities.
- Brutal Honesty: He never sweetens his words, even in situations where it would benefit him. This blunt honesty is actually why Stannis values him over all the yes-men in his court.
- The Chains of Commanding: Stannis' promotions always comes with a reminder that Davos should never be complacent. They are not more rewards but rather more duties.
- Classical Anti-Hero: Davos has the makings of true greatness but he often doubts his own abilities.
- The Confidant: He is the only person who Stannis is ever willing to show even a little self-doubt in front of.
- The Conscience: Tries to act as one to Stannis, whether Stannis wants him to or not.
- The Consigliere: Stannis trusts Davos more than any other man because of his integrity and honesty. It's why Stannis makes him Hand of the King after Lord Alester Florent fails in the position.
- Conspicuous Gloves: He wears gloves to help hide his maimed hand.
- Creepy Souvenir: With a twist — the phalanges that he wears in a bag hanging from his neck are his own.
- Death Faked for You: Wyman Manderly staged his execution in order to appease the Lannisters and get his son Wylis returned to him safely. And also so he can track down Rickon Stark.
- Didn't Think This Through: He tries to kill Melisandre. Who can see into the future. He ends up in jail.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: When thrown into Manderly's dungeon, Davos is always polite to the Torture Technician in the hope that — if ordered to execute Davos — the torturer will cut off his head before mutilating the rest of his body.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Is told off for this by his sons, given that his fellow knights look down on him.Allard: If you don't remember it, Father, why should they?
- Everyone Has Standards: Even though Robb Stark was an opponent of Stannis, Davos is appalled when he hears word of the Red Wedding and how the bodies of Robb and Catelyn Stark were desecrated by the Freys. He's also outraged when Jared Frey tries to justify the atrocity at the Merman's Court.
- Father Neptune: He has seven children, as well as being an ex-smuggler and active Admiral (of the Narrow Sea, as it happens).
- Fingore: The first joints of the fingers on his left hand were taken by Stannis as punishment for Davos's smuggling. He keeps the bones in a pouch around his neck as a good luck charm until he lost them on the Blackwater.
- First-Person Smartass: Like many of the more outwardly-polite POV characters (such as Jon Snow), Davos is seriously pulling his punches.
- Foil: To Melisandre. Mel is a religious fanatic who is devoted to Red Rh'llor, the Lord of Light, a god that is foreign to Westeros. Davos prays to the seven gods of the Andals, which is the dominant religion in most of Westeros. Mel also firmly believes in Black-and-White Morality, while Davos thinks most men can't be so easily categorized.
- Friend to All Children: He might not go out of his way to be around children, but he deals with them as he does with others: honestly and straightforwardly. Even better, he approaches them as people, rather than exotic or inferior creatures — like a lot of the people around Stannis seem to do. This tends to go down rather well in contrast, for some reason. His sons seem to be happy enough with him as a father (well, aside from the whole Flea Bottom thing), and Shireen and Edric like him.
- The Good Chancellor: Stannis makes him his Hand, since he is an Honest Advisor and not a Yes-Man.
- Happily Married: Davos doesn't see much of his wife, but he thinks of her with fondness and is happy that his knighthood has supplied her and their children with a future.
- Though he's admitted to cheating on her occasionally, but bitterly regrets it.
- The Heart: To Stannis Baratheon, as weird as that might sound. Davos is the only man that can make Stannis reason and reconsider where not even Melisandre, Selyse or even his bannermen can even come close.
- Heroic BSoD: Losing it a bit after the Battle of Blackwater, becoming extremely depressed, becoming convinced the Mother saved him to kill Melisandre, and taking unnecessary risks with his life. He recovers relatively quickly.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: After the Blackwater, his narration is full of comments how he is weak, tired, and unfit for his role as Hand of the King especially since it is usually a role for lords and he feels out of his depth.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Stannis.
- Hidden Depths: For all his insistence that he is a bluff and simple smuggler, he shows surprising acumen when it comes to political dealings. When Alester Florent confesses to him in Dragonstone's dungeons that he tried to wheel and deal a peace bargain with the Lannisters, offering terms that on the surface are extremely favorable to Stannis, Davos almost immediately thinks of all the many reasons why the deal's terms would work against him. Likewise, his Establishing Character Moment comes when Stannis asks his advice on assaulting an island stronghold under his control after its lord surrendered to King's Landing. It's lightly defended, full of booty, and would send a message that surrender is not an option, so why not? Of all his lords and commanders, Davos is the only one who sees that the island is lightly defended because all its defenders are dead or imprisoned after fighting for Stannis and that the only message attacking it would send is that those other lords could be next, making it much less likely that they would keep faith. This shows that Davos not only speaks only the truth to his king, but is very good at reading people and seeing straight to the heart of any dilemma.
- Honest Advisor: Why Stannis respects him so much: he never minces words, and always gives his honest moral and strategic opinions. This is why Stannis makes him Hand of the King over all the Yes Men vying for the position.
- I Am What I Am: To Stannis Baratheon:Davos: There is much I do not understand, I have never pretended elsewise. I know the seas and rivers, the shapes of the coast, where the rocks and shoals lie. I know hidden coves where a boat can land unseen and I know a king protects his people or he is no king at all.
- Iconic Item: His bag of fingerbones that he wears on a cord around his neck, which he considers lucky since those bones are what bought him a title, lands, a keep and a better future for himself and his sons. He loses the bag in the battle at Blackwater Bay, but still has a habit of touching the spot where they used to be.
- Ideal Hero: In this Crapsack World, Davos is a shining example of a heroic character with his rescue of Edric.
- I Owe You My Life: Not just to Stannis for not killing him, but because Stannis gave his family a future.
- I Regret Nothing: Has a moment of this when he's writing what he thinks will be his final letters to his wife and sons before being put to death by Wyman Manderly.Davos: I did not do so ill. I rose up from Flea Bottom to be a King's Hand, and I learned to read and write.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: In a verbal sparring match with Lord Borrell; after saying he's been called many things, Borrell lists some of them off: "Rebel. Traitor. Turncloak." Davos shrugs off the first two, but bristles at being called a turncloak, as his loyalty has always been to Stannis, not the Iron Throne.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Fully aware of just how cruel the world is, Davos never stops fighting to put Stannis on the Iron Throne because he believes him to be the one man who could justly rule Westeros and stop as many wrongs as possible.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Stays in one while being held for execution by Wyman Manderly. To his surprise, his jailers bring him rich food and minor requests such as paper, quills, books, and wood for his fire. This is because Wyman actually has no intention of executing him, and is in fact willing to listen to him and declare for Stannis, with one catch: first, Davos has to find and bring back Rickon Stark. From Skagos.
- Morality Pet: To Stannis.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: He has a kind of religious experience after the Battle of Blackwater, where he imagines the Mother (one of the Seven) talking to him.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Subverted. He's not too keen on smuggling Melisandre to Storm's End but does it anyway. Nevertheless he has Edric Storm smuggled out of Dragonstone to save him from being burned alive as a sacrifice for R'hllor.
- Never Learned to Read: Until A Storm of Swords where he begins taking lessons to.
- Nice Guy: To an impressive degree. When Stannis's former Hand Alester Florent is thrown into the dungeon for treason, Davos tries to defend the man and point out his good intentions so Stannis wouldn't kill him. It doesn't work.
- Non-Action Guy: Davos is not a warrior, and feels absurd whenever he is made to dress up in sword and armor like Stannis's other knights, as he does not know how to use them and would be much more useful on a ship.
- Partially subverted since he has taken part in his share of desperate fighting on ship decks during his long career as a smuggler. However unlike people born in the noble class, he has no formal training as a heavy armored knight and is far too sensible to go into a naval action wearing full armor.
- The Nondescript: Repeatedly mentioned to have very common features, average height, etc. Helped with his smuggling and Wyman Manderly faking his death.
- Odd Friendship: With Stannis.
- Only Sane Man: He becomes this when the rest of Dragonstone is swept up in Melisandre's religious madness.
- Becomes slightly less sane in A Storm of Swords after his family died, trying to murder Melisandre for the death of his sons, which she did not and could not have had any part in. He bounces back from that, though, and is back to his old self halfway through the book. He also tends to ignore and dismiss Stannis's faults in certain situations, which blinds him to the truth at points. He's still the most sane man on Dragonstone, though.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His four eldest sons all died in the Battle of Blackwater, something that caused him no small amount of grief. He spends a lot of time ruminating on why the gods would take four strong young men and spare their old father.
- Rags to Riches: Born in Flea Bottom, elevated to landed knight and ended up Hand of the King. And Lord of the Rainwood. And Admiral of the Narrow Sea.
- Real Men Love Jesus: Davos is a believer in the Faith of the Seven, and holds on to them despite the Rhillorist leanings of Stannis, Melisandre and others in their retinue.
- Reformed Criminal: From smuggler to knight, and then lord, Admiral of Stannis's fleet, and King's Hand.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to both Stannis and Melisandre. The latter is somewhat ironic as Davos is represented by water and Mel is represented by fire, but Davos is definitely Red to her Blue in personality.
- Rousing Speech: Davos delivers a very passionate one for Stannis Baratheon's cause in A Dance With Dragons."Death," he heard himself say, "there will be death, aye. Your lordship lost a son at the Red Wedding. I lost four upon the Blackwater. And why? Because the Lannisters stole the throne. Go to King's Landing and look on Tommen with your own eyes, if you doubt me. A blind man could see it. What does Stannis offer you? Vengeance. Vengeance for my sons and yours, for your husbands and your fathers and your brothers. Vengeance for your murdered lord, your murdered king, your butchered princes. Vengeance!"
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Ned Stark. A trusted right-hand man to a Baratheon king, relied upon for his loyalty and honest counsel. One of the most noble and heroic characters of the series, but his honor tends to get him in trouble.
- Tragic Hero: The deaths of his four oldest sons during the Battle of the Blackwater. Davos might be one himself, as there are rumors of his death in A Feast For Crows. Thankfully, it turns out that the rumors are greatly exaggerated.
- Undying Loyalty: He is not Stannis's most trusted adviser for nothing. He has lost four sons to Stannis's cause, and is quite prepared to die himself if Stannis would benefit by it.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Not him, but he's had to dish this out a number of times for Stannis (and, has even tried to do so with Melisandre without much luck). He's the only one allowed to get away with it, and all.
- Working-Class Hero: He started as a smuggler and then became a Lord and Hand of Stannis. Despite his criminal past and commoner background, he's one of the most honourable characters and a smarter than most of the idiotic Queen's men who look down on him.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Ish. He draws a distinction between earned discipline and outright abuse — and won't stand for what he sees as the latter. Heck, deliberately going out of your way to hurt or kill kids unnecessarily, let alone unlawfully, is what really pisses him the most, as he went against Stannis to prevent it, knowing the possible consequences to "betraying" his king to uphold morality. Cutting down a young squire in the middle of battle, hanging a young thief (or offering them the Wall) or clipping flippant behaviour across the ear gets his Knight in Sour Armor acceptance that such things happen when those are normal results for what the child has been found doing: burning an innocent kid alive simply for the Blood Magic and expediency's sake? That's way, way too much.
Marya Seaworth
Lady Marya Seaworth
Davos's wife.
- The Ghost: Lives at Davos' keep while he serves Stannis at Dragonstone.
- Girl Next Door / Plain Jane: The thing Davos likes about her: she's not a stunner, but that doesn't matter when he considers the rest of the package. Stannis might be his load-stone, but she's his rock.
- My Girl Back Home: Stays home at Cape Wraith with her youngest sons. While Davos admits to having slept with other women while he's away, he regrets it and still thinks of her fondly.
Allard Seaworth
Allard Seaworth
"The Others take our onion... and that flaming heart. It was an ill thing to burn the Seven."
Davos' second son. Captain of the Lady Marya.
- The Captain: Of the Lady Marya.
- The Casanova: Davos mentions that he has "a girl" in Oldtown, King's Landing, and Braavos, who will mourn for him after his death.
- Character Death: Dies in the Battle of Blackwater Bay.
- Glory Seeker: He was excited that he and his family's ships were positioned on the starboard side in the second line of the fleet attacking King's Landing, since that would put them in the middle of the action and give them all a chance to prove their valor.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Davos considers Allard the rashest of his sons and thinks he would have ended up dead or on the Wall as a smuggler had Davos not become a knight in service to Stannis.
- Mauve Shirt: He gets the most development of Davos' four oldest sons, but that does not save him on the Blackwater.
- Pride: He tends to forget that his family was lowborn and tries to convince his father to act more knightly to gain the nobles respect.
Devan Seaworth
Devan Seaworth
"I will pray for them at the nightfires, and you as well, Father, so you may walk in the Light of the Lord until the end of your days."
Davos' fifth son and squire to King Stannis. Now heir to House Seaworth after his four older brothers died.
- Cheerful Child: He seems to be doing alright considering all the turmoil his family has gone through.
- Child Soldier: As part of his duties as a squire, he is being trained to fight. According to Davos, the master-at-arms of Dragonstone thinks Devan has a lot of promise with a sword and lance. He also accompanied Stannis during the Battle of the Blackwater, and never left his side during the battle.
- Morality Pet: To Melisandre. She keeps him at the Wall instead of campaigning with Stannis in the North because she thinks Davos has lost enough children and does not want Devan to die as well.
- Precocious Crush: Develops one on Melisandre, of all people. She thinks it is rather amusing.
- The Squire: He is one of Stannis' two current squires, although he is often assigned to assist Melisandre.
- Unexpected Successor: As his four older brothers are all dead, this leaves Devan as his father's heir.
