This is a listing of characters from Westeros that appear in A Song of Ice and Fire that are not affiliated with an organization that has its own page or a major House.
For the main character index, see here
For tropes related to the Westerosi Culture as a whole see the Ethnic Groups character page
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King's Landing
The Gold Cloaks
In General
The City Watch of King's Landing
A standing military force tasked with the defense of the City of King's Landing, the enforcement of laws and the security of the city. Unlike household guards, the members of the City Watch are hired and may belong to any level of society. They officially seem to fall under the authority of the Master of Laws. However... it doesn't always play out that way in practice, simply going on the history of the body. At the start of the series the City Watch is headed by Janos Slynt.
- Bling of War: The golden cloaks that give them their nickname were introduced by Prince Daemon Targaryen when he headed the organization. Although, "decent quality, serviceable, yellow woollen cloaks" aren't all that blingy in a series dripping in totally pimped-out helms, armour, ludicrously expensive enamels and cloth of gold. Yet, they are definitely a sartorial step up from the "bring your own cobbled-together equipment" most militia have to settle for.
- Dirty Cop: Since they are a hired force instead of taking vows, most of them are loyal to whoever pays their salaries.
- In-Series Nickname: Goldcloaks, due to their golden-dyed cloaks.
- Meaningful Name: It seems that the Rogue Prince had a punny sense of humour. By giving them serviceable, cheap-as-chips golden yellow cloaks, he basically highlighted which direction they generally move in and why, all under the cover of pomp and ceremony: gold o'clock because Social Climber.
- Private Military Contractors: Yes-no. They illustrate the often murky divide between a private and public police force, while occasionally throwing being a politically militarized organisation into the mix — worse, all too often paid for by a specific individual within government, rather than a supervised, publicly accountable group beholden to the citizens of the city. Ergo, they have repeatedly acted as a company of specialist sellswords, without being classified as such. From Daemon Targaryen to Brynden Rivers to Petyr Baelish, they can turn into an armed political force, given the right bribes and assurances.
- Punch-Clock Hero: What they mostly function as. Their day-to-day bread and butter is keeping what passes for the peace in King's Landing so that the place can keep ticking along — for a salary (and whatever under the table deals won't get them in trouble). And, they do do that rather vital job, whatever else they get up to on the side.
Humfrey Waters
A bastard of the Crownlands and captain of the Dragon Gate.
- The Captain: He's the leader of the Dragon Gate, and later of the whole City Watch.
- The Ghost: He's only mentioned, and never appears on-page in person.
- Replacement Goldfish: Replaces Ser Osfryd Kettleblack as commander after the latter is removed following Cersei's imprisonment and Kevan Lannister's ascension to Regent.
Allar Deem
A member of the City Watch loyal to Janos Slynt.
- Blind Obedience: Slynt mentions that he carries orders without question.
- The Brute: His turning up to altercations is reputed to turn messy.
- The Dreaded: The people of King's Landing fear him.
- The Ghost: He's only mentioned, and never appears on-page in person.
- Psycho for Hire: The reason behind why his reputation is a dismal one.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Tyrion has him sent to the Wall along with the five others candidates put forth by Slynt to replace him. Tyrion also implies that he should be thrown overboard during the voyage north. The fact that he's not mentioned in any of Slynt's appearances in the Wall indicate Tyrion's orders were carried out and Deem now "sleep with the fishes".
- Would Hit a Girl: He kills baby Barra's mother, a whore, when she tries to protect her child.
- Would Hurt a Child: He's the one that kills baby Barra, a bastard of King Robert.
Former Commanders
Prince Daemon Targaryen
- See the Court of Rhaenyra I character page.
Janos Slynt
- See the The Night's Watch character page.
Ser Jacelyn Bywater
Ser Addam Marbrand
Ser Osfryd Kettleblack
Singers
Symon Silver Tongue
"I shall sing the night of King Joffrey’s wedding. Should it happen that I am called to court, why, I will want to offer the king my very best compositions, songs I have sung a thousand times that are certain to please. If I should find myself singing in some dreary winesink, though... well, that would be an apt occasion to try my new song. For hands of gold are always cold, but a woman’s hands are warm."
An ambitious singer that befriends Shae and tries to exact benefits from Tyrion.
- Ambition Is Evil: Symon initially benefits from his friendship with Shae, becoming part of the Stokeworth household, but then he overreaches and tries to blackmail Tyrion with a song about his affair with Shae to get into the singers contest of Joffrey's wedding. Tyrion decides it's enough and has Bronn kill him to protect Shae from Cersei and Tywin.
- Bullying a Dragon: He tries to blackmail Tyrion for better career prospects and ends up being served to hungry peasants in a bowl o' brown.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Shae's assessment of his singing ability is "better than some, not so good as others."
- Human Resources: His body ends up in a pot shop that accepts all kinds of meat.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Tyrion hears the singers Symon was so boastful that he could easily beat he has to concede that his specific criticisms of them had been spot-on.
- Meaningful Name: Inverted Trope. Though a creative singer, his "silver tongue" - a common nickname for clever speakers and orators - is not as silver as to get Tyrion to trust him and ends up getting killed for his "For hands of gold are always cold, but a woman's hands are warm" song.
- My Nayme Is: Symon, instead of Simon.
- Smug Snake: He thinks far too highly of his own ability to play the game. It ends up getting him killed because he truly sucked at correctly assessing the weight class of his targets.
- Too Dumb to Live: As Tyrion puts it, a smarter man should've at least pretended not to recognize Tyrion on their first meeting. Demerits for trying to flat out blackmail Tyrion and then thinking nothing is amiss when Tyrion tells Symon that Tyrion's own hired killer will go to facilitate details.
- Wandering Minstrel: One who discovers that putting your foot in your mouth can be hazardous for your health...
Wat, the Blue Bard
A handsome young singer in the service of House Tyrell who's said to be a great favourite of Margaery Tyrell.
- Break the Cutie: A seemingly nice and harmless character who ends up going through hell (and it's not over yet...)
- Bring Me My Brown Pants: He pisses himself at least three times in the black cells.
- Driven to Madness: According to Kevan Lannister, the torture Qyburn and the High Sparrow's underlings inflicted on the Blue Bard has driven him insane.
- Eye Scream: It's implied Qyburn gouges one of his eyes out.
- False Reassurance: Cersei claims after he's confessed to adultery and Margaery has lost her head, she'll spare the bard's life and just send him to the Night's Watch. Assuming he's not executed on the same scaffold as Margaery for treason, knowing Cersei's MO, it's far more likely she'd have him killed as a loose end...
- Frame-Up: Cersei has him tortured into claiming he committed adultery with Margaery so she can have the latter arrested and executed for treason.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: He dies his hair blue in the fashion of Tyrosh. Cersei is amused to learn (as she discovers it from seeing his pubic hair when he's stripped for torture) that his actual hair colour is brown.
- Mutilation Interrogation: Qyburn cuts one of his nipples off when the Blue Bard insists he's innocent.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: The Blue Bard resembles Mark Smeaton, a lowborn musician at the court of Henry VIII who was tortured into confessing and identifying several other men at court as being lovers of Anne Boleyn so Henry could have her executed for treason (in the same way Cersei is trying to frame Margaery for the same to get her executed).
- Shameful Strip: Down in the black cells, Qyburn cuts his clothes off with a razor, then starts cutting bits of him...
- Token Heroic Orc: Occupation example; most professional singers in the series, like Marillion and Symon, are opprotunistic, slimy bastards who are portrayed as deserving of the bad things that befall them. Wat, at least from what we know, is a sweet guy doing his job who gets roped into an awful situation he doesn't deserve at all.
- 2 + Torture = 5: Qyburn tortures him into claiming he comitted adultery with Margaery. Even after he's handed over to the Faith, who torture him further, he keeps saying the same story.
- Beforehand, when out of desperation, the Blue Bard gives a list of names purported to be lovers of Margaery Tyrell to stop the interrogation, Qyburn and Cersei have to torture him some more to make him drop the names of Loras Tyrell and the Redwyne twins, since anyone who knows Loras won't believe it, and Cersei can't afford to alienate Paxter Redwyne by executing his sons for treason because she needs his fleet to deal with the ironborn rampaging along the western coast.
- You Remind Me of X: Cersei hates him on sight because the shape and colour of his eyes are the same as Robert Baratheon's.
Citizens
Tobho Mott
"My work is costly, and I make no apologies for that, my lord. You will not find craftsmanship equal to mine anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you."
A master armorer in King's Landing from Qohor. He is the master of Gendry and is able to forge weapons of Valyrian steel.
- The Ace: He is acknowledged as the best smith in King's Landing.
- Badass Boast: Makes several about his skill as a smith. Given his reputation and the skill of smiths from Qohor, he is likely not exaggerating.Tobho (to Eddard Stark): I could fashion a direwolf helm so real that children will run from you in the street.
- The Blacksmith: The best one in King's Landing, and maybe all of Westeros. His store on the Street of Steel is larger than any other smithy as well.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: While his benefactor pays him dearly for his silence in regards to Gendry's history, it doesn't take much more than Ned asking nicely for him to spill the beans.
- Having said that, any cover story he could've invented would've automatically counted as incredibly obvious Implausible Deniability, especially given the fact that the Lord Paramount asking the questions was 1) a personal friend of Robert's going way back, 2) who getting caught lying to could get Mott a death sentence and that 3) said Lord Paramount could definitely see the truth behind Gendry's birth as the proof was standing right in front of him. Almost swinging Dad's hammer just to prevent any ambiguity, too. In the face of all that, Mott still refuses to flat-out say who Gendry's father is; only that someone paid him to take him on as an apprentice and hide him.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Gendry came into his apprenticeship via an unknown benefactor who paid for the craft. Though otherwise unremarkable, Mott noted Gendry for his strength and craftsmanship. He later saved Gendry's life from the Lannisters and the Gold Cloaks after the last two Hands of the King die after inquiring about the boy; it is not known who warned him and when was he warned.note Unbeknownst, Gendry thought that he probably grew tired of him when he surrendered him to the Night's Watch. Considering that Gendry is a very talented blacksmith in the works, it must have been costly for Mott.
- Like a Son to Me: While Gendry is a talented blacksmith who probably brought a lot of money into his shop, Mott seems to genuinely care for the boy. He makes a performance of promising to discipline Gendry when he fears his apprentice has offended the Hand of the King. He refuses to flat out say who Gendry is, only that "he his my apprentice." Finally, he surrenders his talented apprentice to the Night's Watch since it's necessary to save his life.
- The Mentor: To Gendry; Mott does acknowledge that Gendry is an extremely talented pupil and is the first to praise his craftsmanship at his bull head helm.
- Secret-Keeper: He knows Gendry is one of King Robert's bastards, and does his best to protect him and hide his identity.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: One of the few master blacksmiths in the world who can craft Valyrian steel weapons. Tywin Lannister has him repurpose "Ice", the Stark family greatsword into two Lannister longswords - Widow's Wail and Oathkeeper.
Hot Pie
"I truly didn't kick no one to death, Arry. I just sold my Mommy's pies."
Hot Pie is an orphan baker's boy of King's Landing, collected by Yoren and bound for the Wall with Arya Stark. He is described as plump with straw-colored hair.
- The Bully: Initially to Arya, but he soon becomes afraid of her and later forms a quasi-friendship with him.
- Fat Idiot: Described as being plump and is definitely not the smartest kid in Westeros.
- The Everyman: While his companions are a Princess on the run who already has training in arms and the secret son of the king who is astonishingly strong for his age, Hot Pie is just a normal kid with no special skills, status or character traits to help him survive. Except, he's the one who can easily find work that needs no special equipment: he's an OK apprentice baker with some oven and pastry skills. Bread needs work.
- Hidden Depths: Turns out to have a lovely singing voice and the ability to carry a tune. Who knew?
- The Load: Really does not contribute anything to the trio of himself, Arya, and Gendry besides being able to steal some food from the kitchen during the escape from Harrenhall. The others are aware of this, with Gendry at one point suggesting to Arya that they leave him (and Lommy and Weasel) behind, although Arya refuses.
- Miles Gloriosus: He talks a big game at first, but after getting his ass kicked by Arya all his bluster fades.
- Non-Action Guy: Has absolutely no skill in battle whatsoever.
- Put on a Bus: Becomes a baker's apprentice at the Inn of the Kneeling Man.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After it becomes clear that mostly of his bullying is to cover his own fear and insecurity, Hot Pie becomes increasingly nicer and more friendly with Arya.
Lommy Greenhands
"If they come back, I say we yield."
Lommy Greenhands was a dyer's apprentice turned thief recruited for the Night’s Watch in King’s Landing.
- Alas, Poor Jerkass: He didn't have much in the way of redeeming qualities; but at the end of the day he was an orphan boy trying to survive and didn't deserve to be callously murdered. Despite not having liked him much, Arya goes out of her way to avenge him and remembers him as a friend.
- Annoying Laugh: His laugh sounds like a donkey's bray.
- The Bully: Starts out as one towards Arya like Hot Pie. However, they become friends after a short while. Is somewhat of a bully towards Weasel afterward; he is the one to start calling her "Weasel" because according to Lommy, she "looks like one."
- Character Death: He's speared in the throat by Raff the Sweetling because he couldn't walk and had to be carried. Raff laughs at the idea of carrying him afterwards.
- Dirty Coward: His go-to suggestion is always to yield to whatever may be threatening them. In the end it does him no good as he gets killed by Raff the Sweetling despite having yielded beforehand. Somewhat sympathetic, as he's a kid with no combat training up against armed soldiers.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's pretty useless and, unlike Hot Pie, doesn't really Take A Level In Kindness. Regardless, Arya still sees him as a friend.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Courtesy of Raff the Sweetling.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: His previously-mentioned tendency to yield to any opponent.
- The Load: He can't fight and his leg is hurt badly when the recruits are attacked by Ser Armory Lorch. The latter is why Raff the Sweetling kills him.
- Non-Action Guy: Frequently suggests surrendering when faced with dangerous people.
The Antler Men
A group of rich traders and merchants loyal to House Baratheon plotting against King Joffrey and to support Stannis.
- Abnormal Ammo: During the Battle of the Blackwater, they are flung from the great trebuchets called the Three Whores.
- Animal Motifs: Stags. When captured, antlers are nailed to their heads.
- The Conspiracy: They had armed several hundred men and planned to seize the Old Gate when Stannis brought his siege and open the gate for him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Tyrion later regrets letting Joffrey execute the lot of them when he discovers how much money they owed the crown, as trying to get the coin out of their heirs is likely to be a waste of time.
- Failure Is the Only Option: They stood no chance against Varys and his little birds.
- Hero Antagonist: They wanted to surrender the city to Stannis, who is Robert's rightful heir, and put an end to the corrupt reign of Joffrey. However, Tyrion and Varys put an end to their plans before they began.
- Meaningful Name: Demonstrating their loyalty to House Baratheon. Becomes an in-universe Harsher in Hindsight, when antlers are nailed to their heads.
Sellswords
Bronn
Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, Lord Protector of Stokeworth
"I sell my sword, I don't give it away. I'm not your bloody brother."
A skilled mercenary and canny opportunist who first entered the series as a thug hired by Catelyn Stark to arrest Tyrion and take him to his execution. Bronn soon swaps loyalties and becomes Tyrion's paid enforcer and assassin for the first three books of the series; once his star rises even higher, he leaves Tyrion behind. Five books in (out of seven), Bronn is thus far the only character other than Littlefinger to end each book in a better position than he started.
- Affably Evil: He may be on the clock, but that's no reason to be unreasonable or abrasive unless he's being paid to be exactly that. Decent work ethic, sense of humor and social skills, that man.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to the likes of Allar Deem. When Tyrion questions Bronn if he would kill a baby without question, Bronn retorts that, no, he wouldn't; he would ask first about how much he would be getting paid to.
- Ascended Extra: Comes out of the woodwork during the first book.
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Invoked and rather well subverted. Bronn will happily crack jokes, make observations, drink with and get into the head of the boss and his co-workers, at the very least. However, there's always a wall beyond which he just won't go, and that's made plain. It's just that we have yet to see anything much of what's on the other side, as we've only ever seen his work face, even when he seems to be boozing it up. Lollys might be a hint to something else. Or not.
- Black Eyes of Amorality: Bronn's eyes are jet black, and he's one of the most ruthlessly amoral characters around, a fact that the series constantly calls attention to.
- Combat Pragmatist: Bronn fights completely without chivalry, often gaining the advantage on knights who expect him to fight in the style of jousts and melees. Oh, and he will use anything as weapons. Including the armor and horse you brought with you.
- Consummate Professional: He'll do anything within his capabilities as long as the price is enough to offset the difficulty and/or social stigma.
- Corrupted Character Copy: A black-haired and surprisingly capable rogue who begins working for a pint-sized character of great practical wisdom before the Power of Friendship kicks in, and whose arc ends with the rogue married and raising a child that isn't biologically his? Unfortunately, unlike Madmartigan, Bronn drops his support of Tyrion once it becomes obvious that continuing is suicide.
- Crazy-Prepared: Tyrion comes across him watching some knights practicing their swordwork, so he can pick out flaws in case he ever has to fight them in future.
- Defector from Decadence: Well, it's either this, or Screw This, I'm Outta Here. King's Landing with Cersei in charge is nothing but bad news for just about anybody with even some ethical standards (or any common sense whatsoever), but especially for somebody with as many ties to Tyrion as he's known for having. Hence, you may now most likely find him in or around Castle Stokeworth and its environs. With plenty of excuses to stay there for the foreseeable.
- Deadpan Snarker: He can give as good as he gets... from Tyrion or anybody else. Now, that says something.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Defied. When Tyrion tries to talk Bronn out of accepting Cersei's bribe to marry Lollys Stokeworth by saying that she's been Defiled Forever and carrying another man's child, Bronn casually replies that he'll just let her pop the kid out and put another one in her. He later treats Lollys' kid like his own son, even though the child isn't biologically his.
- The Dragon: To Tyrion, since his trial at the Eyrie, but specially throughout A Clash of Kings. It lasts until Tyrion's fall from power and Bronn's rise to knighthood.
- Enlightened Self-Interest: A very Westerosi take on it, but... yes. He is all for looking after his own hide and defending his gains without getting flattened by those at the top of the pyramid using almost any means and anybody available to do so, but he won't go beyond his own set of rules to do it. And, those rules seem to include "random, pointless dickery towards just about anybody (especially helpless puppies) gets returned with interest in time: so, try to find ways not to do it". Of course, carefully measured dickery at just as very carefully selected targets who are well known for their own dickery is probably going to be a great deal safer if you can pull it off to get something, so worth a gamble... But, this is Westeros: his attitude is near Nobel Prize-winning leaps forward in ethical reasoning.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Understated, but Bronn is quietly appalled when Tyrion reveals to him what his father did to Tyrion's first wife. It might be the only time in the series where Bronn has explicitly displayed a sense of empathy.Bronn: Thirteen or thirty or three, I would have killed the man who did that to me.
- He also does not testify against the falsely accused Tyrion on Cersei or Tywin's behalf, when doing so could have easily made him more money.
- Understated, but Bronn is quietly appalled when Tyrion reveals to him what his father did to Tyrion's first wife. It might be the only time in the series where Bronn has explicitly displayed a sense of empathy.
- Hidden Depths: Bronn takes this trope and plays hard with it. He's not simply the low-born, hired thug in serviceable armor he looks like at first blush, being very Street Smart, aware about what kind of world he's in and capable of Cutting the Knot to solve problems to the point where holding the Smart Ball doesn't look out of place when he gets it, as, for all he's no bookworm, he's not thick. Yet, he is also exactly the kind of man he tells you he is.
- Hired Guns: He's a professional mercenary, selling his services to whoever has the coin to pay him.
- Honesty Is the Best Policy: This is practically his second mantra — after all, a Westerosi sellsword who doesn't fess up upfront when needed or who cannot live up to his word... generally doesn't live for very long. Expect it to come with flavors of Brutal Honesty and a complimentary side of sardonic wit. (Bronn has a very good point: most of the sellswords we get to meet or hear of with careers made of Blatant Lies and Chronic Backstabbing Disorder often wind up... Well, like the Bloody Mummers. Modelling himself after the Golden Company example seems to have paid dividends, by contrast.) As such, Tyrion doesn't consider it a betrayal when Bronn abandons him after his arrest — Bronn never deceived or manipulated him like so many others, and was always completely honest and upfront about the nature of their relationship, and Tyrion doesn't hold it against him at all.
- Hyper-Awareness: He goes out of his way to cultivate this by drinking in details about other people he might end up fighting against ahead of time. Even when thrown into a surprise fight, he very quickly adapts his tactics to account for the environment the fight occurs in and what his opponent is bringing to bear. He's also quite the dab hand at picking up on the general atmosphere and politics around him, so even a "surprise" fight is unlikely to be a total shocker for him. Having a very good idea what King's Landing under Cersei is going to be like thanks to his time soaking in the atmosphere with Tyrion has probably helped decide his move to profit from her, then name Lollys's little boy in such a way to have the perfect excuse to stay as much away from the place as possible before everything goes hideously tits-up. Holed up in a nice, defensible, tactically sound, well-constructed, historically renowned, small (and eminently manageable) keep-and-estate, too. Bronn is one of the few to see the writing on the wall and take the steps to bunker up.
- Inheritance Murder: Mostly by proxy. Lady Tanda's interestingly timely fall from her horse may have been a little more direct, however. He kills his wife's brother-in-law and justifiably banishes her sister for "their" scheme to murder him (and she's later killed by Qyburn on behalf of Cersei), so Lollys can inherit her mother's lands and titles. As Lollys' husband, he's basically in charge of all House Stokeworth's wealth from now until/when/if Tyrion hits his majority. Keep in mind... Bronn knows how Cersei thinks at this point.
- Ironic Echo: In A Clash Of Kings, Tyrion, having been asked to attend dinner with Lady Tanda who hopes to wed her daughter Lollys to the dwarf, sardonically asks Bronn to attend in his stead and wed Lollys himself. Guess what happens in the next book.
- It's All About Me: So subverted, you can hear it squeak. Yes, he prioritizes himself, his position and his job above other considerations. This doesn't mean he forgets that others are part of the equation (after all, to get ahead, you need to keep an eye on your boss and potential future employment options, as well as keeping tabs on the competition). He also seems to be under no grand delusions as to his relative position in Westerosi society, even while he busily sets about climbing the ladder and proving himself to have worth beyond his original label.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: When he first meets Tyrion and enters his service, he tells him up front that he's only in it for the money and that he's not his friend. Since Tyrion comes from a filthy rich family and is willing to meet any price Bronn may be offered, their relationship gets along swimmingly until Tyrion's trial by combat for King Joffrey's assassination. Tyrion turns to his trusty right hand man, the man he elevated from a lowly sellsword, surely grateful for all Tyrion has done for him, and asks him to represent him in battle against Ser Gregor. Bronn, flush with a knighthood thanks to Lord Tywin and a noble title thanks to Cersei's bumbling maneuvering, turns him down, subverting The Power of Friendship by doing exactly what he said he'd do when he and Tyrion first met: Serve him until he got a better offer. He strangely enough likes Tyrion and he says as much but it doesn't change the facts. Bronn did come to hear Tyrion's offer when it was politically inconvenient for him to do so. Tyrion, despite being in a very dire situation, doesn't hold it against Bronn at all and they say goodbyes and wish each other luck and happiness in the future.Tyrion: Sorry for what? That Bronn's an insolent, black-hearted rogue? I knew he was an insolent, black-hearted rogue. That was one of the things I liked about him.
- Knighting: He is knighted after the Battle of the Blackwater for his command and defense of the winch tower that pulled the chain across the bay, cutting off the escape of King Stannis Baratheon's fleet. He takes the name Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, and his sigil is a fiery green chain on a field of smokey grey.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Implied to have sabotaged Lady Tanda's stirrup; she broke her hip on falling off her horse, and later died of 'natural causes', allowing Bronn to become Lord Protector of Stokeworth. Cersei encourages another member of the family to make Bronn die of a Hunting "Accident" — he decides to joust Bronn instead, thinking a sellsword won't be experienced with the lance. Bronn sends his lance into the knight's horse and finishes off the poor idiot as he's pinned beneath the dead horse.
- Meal Ticket: Tyrion was very much this for him (particularly as working for him got Bronn away from a life on the road and paid a regular income afterwards), alongside anything else he got out of the relationship. He also marries arguably the worst marriage prospect in King's Landing just for her title and lands as soon as his fighting skills get him enough recognition and clout to do so. Strangely enough for poor Lollys, this might be one the better things to happen to her (which isn't saying a lot), as he has a vested interest in keeping her and her son healthy for the foreseeable future, at least. Her other relatives, however, noooooo. This could go a number of ways for Lollys and little Tyrion Tanner; not all of them very nice. If Bronn doesn't give a stuff about his own potential lineage inheriting anything while he lives and dies as snug as a bug in a rug as the only (much beloved?) father the future Lord Tyrion will ever have known (since anybody else who could conceivably try to claim care of him is either ever-so-conveniently dead or is Lollys), they're both golden. However, if not... yeah.
- Meaningful Name: He was Tyrion's "brawn" but is smarter than people think.
- Mysterious Past: The only thing known about his past is that he killed for the first time before being twelve. Oh, and his parents weren't fantastic ones.
- Never Learned to Read: As is typical of low-born sellswords in Westeros, Bronn is illiterate, although that does not mean he is unintelligent.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Tyrion observes Bronn utterly focused on watching knights of the Royal household training and completely ignoring two maids checking him out. When Tyrion asks why, Bronn points out he can buy sex at just about any brothel in King's Landing, but his life may hinge one day on how well he knows how a potential opponent fights.
- Not in My Contract: Attempted-suicide-via-the-Mountain is not in his contract, apparently. And, quite rightly so, given what happens to Oberyn.
- Nothing Personal: He might fight and kill you, or turn around and leave you, but... this trope is in full effect. He's just doing his job or living up to his word. Even when it might be a little personal on the other person's end, he only really directly reacts to others trying to kill him, nothing more. This includes pre-emptively cutting them off at the pass (it doesn't take a genius to work out how Lollys's extended family would most likely react to his marrying her). If you start it, you'd better be prepared for how it'll finish, that's all.
- Only in It for the Money: May as well be his personal motto, as he trots the sentiment out enough times.
- There is, however, a limit. No amount of waving bags of dragons at him will make him budge from his personal and professional survival code. Especially if he sees a probable long term loss in the offing (Tywin and Cersei don't make the most dependable bosses, after all — doubly Cersei).
- Opportunistic Bastard: Bronn intends to rise in the world any way he can, and attaches himself to anybody who can do that for him. Starting out as a simple sellsword, he first latches onto Catelyn Stark's retinue transporting Tyrion Lannister to the Vale, for the possibility of a reward. He then proceeds to quickly switch sides from Catelyn to Tyrion, championing him in a Trial by Combat, thus becoming the right-hand man of one of the richest and most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms. He stays on for a while, accumulating riches, titles and a knighthood, before eventually refusing Tyrion's request to champion him again in the trial over Joffrey's murder because Cersei Lannister offered him a marriage into a powerful noble house with no risk to himself. Seizing any opportunity that came his way, Bronn went from an ordinary mercenary all the way to the Lord Protector of House Stokeworth.
- Pet the Dog: Towards Lollys Stokeworth. There's partially the stuff he has to gain, but he has genuinely kind moments towards her. He's also protective of her son. There's also the fact that he names his son Tyrion (possibly a sign of respect for his former boss), despite the huge political ramifications that would come from it. Albeit, given the child is a Child by Rape (not Bronn's), it's also probable there's an element of Black Humor.
- Private Military Contractors: Is one. Of the Consummate Professional kind.
- Professional Killer: And a very good one.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Pretty much completely amoral but with money being his only concern he's still much better than the psychopaths employed by some characters. Heck, he's not picky: he'll play Punch-Clock Hero if that's what the boss wants. It's basically what he did at Blackwater. Either way: as long as he gets paid.
- Refuge in Audacity: At a time when it would be political suicide to do so, the newly ennobled Bronn names his stepson Tyrion. And gets away with it.
- Whether you read this as acknowledging where he got his major leg-up from, a sign that he really did enjoy his time with Tyrion despite business being business, or just him trolling both Tywin and Cersei for underappreciating both him and Tyrion while throwing Tywin's crime against Tysha into the mix (heck: this lone reason would not be something Tyrion would actually complain about at all, either — and, Bronn would damn well know it) is very much up for debate.
- What always seems to go overlooked here, and is a crowning moment of heartwarming to bring tears to your eye, is that this might have been Lollys' idea that Bronn just went along with for the above mentioned reasons. Lollys has cried at Tyrions wedding, and there's an actual chance she might've been deeply in love with him. Her mother was shipping them for ages and might have talked him up to her, and he was clearly smart while she was clearly not, but being good natured she probably admired it rather than envy it. And she of all people would want her child to grow up smart. It's a huge Pet the Dog for Bronn to let her get away with it.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Mostly abandons Tyrion after the Battle of the Blackwater, due to gaining a knighthood, a keep and a noble wife while his ex-boss was out for the count.
- He does give Tyrion a chance to make good on his offer to double the price of anyone trying to buy Bronn out from under him. Unfortunately, Tyrion doesn't have two wives or two castles handy at the time.
- Self-Made Man: And, awesomely so. See Refuge in Audacity and Meal Ticket.
- The Sleepless: Tyrion notes this when they first travel together. No explanation is ever offered.
- The Sociopath: As affably evil as he is, he's still someone who'd kill a baby for money and murdered his in-laws for their inheritance.
- Wild Card: Bronn has many of the features of one. And, when he's on your side, the chances of your success do, in fact, go up simply because he's a damn fine sellsword. But, that's the rub: no pay, no way, good day.
- Would Hurt a Child: Tyrion, somewhat disgusted after learning a member of the goldcloaks killed one of Robert's infant bastards, asks Bronn if he would kill a baby without question. Bronn firmly replies that he would not; he'd make sure to negotiate a good price for it first.
Mallor the Dornishman
A Dornish sellsword in service of House Lannister in the early stages of the War of the Five Kings. He's part of Jaime's host besieging Riverrun.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He's a Dornishman with the sobriquet "the Dornishman".
- Only One Name: He has no surname, indicating he's lowborn.
- Private Military Contractors: He's a sellsword, fighting for riches, not loyalty.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: There's no mention of his whereabouts after being captured in the Battle of the Whispering Wood. It is possible he went over to Robb, like many other sellswords and freeriders in Jaime's host did.
Prostitutes
Shae
"My mother called me Shae. Men call me... often."
A beautiful prostitute that Bronn finds for Tyrion before the Battle of the Green Fork on the Riverlands. He ends up taking her to King's Landing despite the express command of his father; unfortunately this means Tyrion has to conceal her existence from his enemies.
- Abusive Parents: Was molested by her own father.
- Affectionate Nickname: Shae enjoys calling Tyrion her "Giant of Lannister". She later humiliates Tyrion at his trial by claiming he insisted on being called by this name. The next time she calls Tyrion this, he strangles her to death.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Shae gleefully abandon Tyrion as soon as a better offer came along? Or was she really forced testify against him under pain of torture and/or execution by his family like she claimed? Or both? We'll never know for sure, since Tyrion strangles her to death while before she can fully explain herself.
- Camp Follower: How Tyrion originally meets her; she's a prostitute with the Lannister army in the Riverlands.
- Character Death: Tyrion strangles Shae after finding her in his father's bed.
- Death by Irony: Tyrion strangles Gold Digger Shae with the gold chain Tywin has her wear in his bed, symbolically killed by the very gold she had thrown Tyrion under the bus to obtain. Right after calling Tyrion her "Giant of Lannister," which she had just used it to needlessly humiliate Tyrion in trial while she testified against him for his execution.
- Foreshadowing: There are hints showing that Shae and Tywin knew each other from before.
- After Tyrion is disfigured after the Battle of Blackwater, he's a little disturbed that Shae doesn't show the least bit of concern that he almost died. When he's engaged to Sansa, he's a little disappointed that Shae doesn't seem the least bit upset or jealous that he's to marry another woman. While she brushes these off as just being so happy to see him and feeling confident that he'll still love her better than his new bride, this serves as an early sign that Shae doesn't really care about his personal well-being or sexual fidelity because she only sees him as a Meal Ticket.
- Girl Next Door: Isn't one in her mannerisms, but Tyrion finds it appealing that she looks like one.
- Gold Digger: Tyrion picks her specifically because his father has conditioned him to think that no woman could ever love him except for his Lannister name and gold, and so they enter this contract accordingly. This turns out to have Gone Horribly Right when she turns on him for family after he's arrested, and trades him for his father as her new Meal Ticket.
- It's Personal: When Bronn sells out to Cersei for a kick up the social ladder, Tyrion accepts it with cynical resignation. When Shae gives testimony at his trial, Tyrion is driven to fury.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She has no real reason to be loyal to Tyrion. While lying at the trial was a dick move he had at that point taken back most of her payment and appeared doomed regardless, requiring her to seek a new sponsor. And when the Queen Regent tells you to do something, it's usually a smart thing to do it.
- For all she knew Tyrion and Sansa did conspire to assassinate Joffrey, leaving her in the air with nothing to grasp; due to this, she returned to her trade, a trade that brought her to King's Landing to court the most powerful men available.
- Kick the Dog: That said, even if Tyrion had bought her loyalty with gold and thus forfeited it when he got arrested, and she couldn't very well have refused the Queen Regent, it was still very cruel to needlessly humiliate Tyrion in court by lying that he had insisted on her calling him the "Giant of Lannister," when she herself had given him that pet name.
- Lady Macbeth: Can't understand why Tyrion doesn't just kill the sister he hates. This is ironic given the script Cersei gives her for Tyrion's trial, in which he's plotting to kill all his relatives and make himself King.
- Meal Ticket: It takes her testifying against him in trial for Tyrion to realize he was only ever this to Shae, much to his chagrin. Granted, this was the arrangement they had agreed upon, so he can't really be that surprised.
- No Sympathy: She doesn't feel sorry for Lollys Stokeworth after she's been gang-raped.Shae: All they did was fuck her.
- Rape as Backstory: Claims she became a prostitute after being molested by her father. That said, she's been known to use Wounded Gazelle Gambits for sympathy points and once blurted out that she became a prostitute to avoid menial work.
- Red Herring: As time goes on Shae slowly pushes more and more for Tyrion to share his burdens with her, allow her to help him with his political manuvering, to stop hiding their Secret Relationship, and let her live openly as his wife. Despite himself, the cautiously optimistic Tyrion begins to secretly hope this is a sign that she's coming to love him. When she gleefully turns on him at his trial and trades him for his father as her new Meal Ticket, he realizes that she hadn't pushed for more out of love, but to try to gain more for herself.
- Scullery Maid: Is not impressed when Tyrion suggests this as her cover, as she'd run away to become a whore to avoid it.
- Second Love: Shae is Tyrion's Replacement Goldfish for Tysha, or what he believes anyway, it turns out that he was wrong about Tysha and that she was not a prostitute while Shae definitely is.
- Secret Relationship:
- Tywin forbids that Tyrion take Shae to court, when Tyrion has to serve as Hand of the King. Tyrion takes her anyway.
- It's implied that she had a relationship with Tywin too. Whether it was personal or professional is up for grabs.
- Secret Sex Worker: Shae is required to hide the fact that she's a prostitute after Tyrion hires her as his personal mistress and brings her to King's Landing. This is in spite of an explicit command from his father, Tywin, to stop hiring sex workers and Tywin threatening to have any sex worker he catches Tyrion with killed. She works as a maid in the castle so Tyrion can keep her close by for secret rendezvous.
- Spanner in the Works: Things might have turned out better if Tyrion had just obeyed his father this once...
- Spot the Thread: Isn't fooled by Varys' disguise; she indicates prostitutes need to be able to recognize a man regardless of how he's disguised if they're to survive.
- Surprise Witness: The final witness at Tyrion's trial, she claims that Sansa and Tyrion conspired to kill Joffrey and seize power after killing the rest of Cersei's children too.
- Unreliable Narrator: Shae claims she was molested by her father and left home, but later casually mentions she did it because of being forced to work as a scullery maid. She quickly corrects herself but it is entirely possible that Shae fabricates details of her life to seem more appealing and in need of protection.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit:
- At Tyrion's trial, she pretends he had her fiancé killed then took her as a Sex Slave in order to gain the court's sympathy.
- When Tyrion catches her smiling contentedly in his father's bed with a chain of gold hands linked together around her neck, as soon as she notices him standing there she spins a tale of woe about how his family forced her to testify against him, then his father made her a Sex Slave against her will.
Chataya
"The gods made our bodies as well as our souls, is it not so? They gave us voices, so we might worship them with song. They gave us hands, so we might build them temples. And they gave us desire, so we might mate and worship them in that way."
A woman from the Summer Islands who owns one of the more popular whorehouses in King's Landing.
- Benevolent Boss: She gives one of her girls half a year off to take care of her newborn baby.
- Family Theme Naming: Chataya and her daughter, Alayaya.
- Miss Kitty: Although, she'd argue not in the way most expect the trope. People in the Seven Kingdoms might consider her lifelong profession a soiled one, yet she sees it as exactly that: a calling to a profession. She is of the Summer Islands, and they have a completely different take on sexual matters. Doesn't stop everybody else seeing her as this trope, though. Still a looker. And, a remarkably good business woman under difficult conditions.
- Only One Name: Chataya.
Alayaya
Chataya's daughter and one of the most popular prostitutes at her whorehouse.
- Damsel in Distress: Cersei imprisons her, believing that she is Tyrion's pet whore. She hopes doing so will help bend Tyrion to her will, but it only infuriates him, both for the attempt to manipulate him and the fact that his actions put Alayaya in danger, since she had been helping him to meet his actual mistress in secret. She is eventually freed, but Tywin has her whipped before being let go, permanently scarring her back.
- Family Theme Naming: Alayaya and her mother, Chataya.
- High-Class Call Girl: Very classy in many senses of the word, very professional even under extreme duress... and very, very expensive. Naturally, she is this.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She quite happily assists Tyrion in meeting with Shae by pretending to be his favorite prostitute that he visits frequently, but he is really using a secret tunnel in her room to reach Shae's manse.
- Never Learned to Read: A fact she is trying to correct, using the time she is supposedly spending with Tyrion learning how to read.
- Only One Name: Alayaya.
The Clans of the Mountains of the Moon
Savage clans who live in the Mountains of the Moon in the Vale, they hate the Arryns and rob and kill any passing travelers. The clans include the Black Ears, Stone Crows, Burned Men, Milk Snakes, Moon Brothers, Painted Dogs, Sons of the Mist, and the Stone Crows. They are descended from those of the original First Men inhabitants of the Vale who fled into the mountains rather than assimilate themselves with the invading Andals.
In General
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The Burned Men perform self-mutilation as a rite of passage to demonstrate their bravery. Cutting off one's nipple or finger is pretty typical. Timett took it further by gouging out his own eye with a hot knife, which was so impressive that he was immediately promoted to warleader.
- Ax-Crazy: The rest of Westeros see mountain clans as this, the mountain clans see the Burned Men as this, and even the Burned Men are a little wary around Timett.
- Battle Trophy: The Black Ears tribe cuts off the ears of their captured enemies but leaves them alive to prove they do not fear retaliation.
- Character Death: Ulf son of Umar and Conn son of Corratt are both slain at the Battle of the Green Fork.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: They become this after the War of the Five Kings. Prior to the War of the Five Kings, the clansmen were poorly armed and generally considered nothing more than a nuisance to the more heavily armed Knights of the Vale.note After the war, with weapons looted from the battlefield and even more steel weapons and armor courtesy of Tyrion holding up his part of their bargain, The Clansmen who returned from the war have become fearless and even more aggressive.
- I Am X, Son of Y: How they introduce themselves. Tyrion catches on and introduces himself as "Tyrion, son of Tywin".
- "Not So Different" Remark: Tywin points out to his son that there's little difference between the Mountain Clans and the Psycho for Hire thugs he uses to Rape, Pillage, and Burn villages in the Riverlands. Later we hear of the Stone Crows massacring villages in the Vale and carrying off their women. On the positive end they also have a lot of the better traits of the free folk as well, the tribes of the Mountains of the Moon are very democratic and egalitarian, all are expected to sit and speak at war councils, and they allow their women a level of freedom second only to Dorne.
- Put on a Bus: They were relatively major side characters in the first two books as Tyrion's hired muscle. However, while Tyrion was recovering from the Battle of the Blackwater, Tywin pays them for their services and kicks them out of King's Landing. Some went back to the Vale while others took up residence in the Kingswood but they effectively become little more than side notes in the story from that point on.
- The Remnant: They are descendants of the First Men that refused to bow to the Andals. This is supported in the fact that they also practice bride stealing like the Free Folk.
- Unkempt Beauty: Conn, son of Corratt is described as "handsome if he bathed".
Shagga
Shagga, son of Dolf
A clan chief of the Stone Crows, Shagga becomes one of Tyrion's closest allies.
- Affably Evil: He may a brutal killer, but Shagga is good company amongst those he considers friends.
- Annoying Arrows: He is hit by several arrows during the Battle of the Green Fork, but does not notice them in his grief for Conn. Most of them just got stuck in his armor, but a few did pierce his flesh. He's fine when he removes them after the battle ends.
- Beard of Barbarism: Shagga's beard reaches his feet and symbolises how uncivilized he is.
- Berserker Tears: When his friend Conn is killed.
- Boisterous Bruiser: He never stops boasting.
- The Brute: He fills this role for Tyrion acting as his muscle.
- Character Catchphrase: "I'll chop off your manhood and feed it to the goats" is Shagga's favorite threats; it is sometimes used by Tyrion to great effect. It turns out that Shagga refers to a man's beard as his "manhood". While in King's Landing, Tyrion often preempts Shagga from saying that will feed people's manhoods to goats. When Tyrion says this Shagga then brings up how there are no goats around.
- Dual Wielding: He likes to kill with both hands and carries two axes for this purpose. He's also introduced with an axe in one hand and a club in the other.
- Odd Friendship: Shagga's a hulking giant. Tyrion is a dwarf. They get along famously. When Tyrion is on trial and Bronn will not stand for him against the Mountain, Tyrion regrets that Shagga is not there, since the huge clansman would probably have taken his part.
- Put on a Bus: After the Battle of the Blackwater, Shagga stays behind in the kingswood with his tribesmen, having decided he likes it better than the mountains.
Gunthor
Gunthor, son of Gurn
"When you meet your gods, say it was Gunthor son of Gurn of the Stone Crows who sent you to them."
Another chief of the Stone Crows. While Shagga travels with Tyrion, Gunthor rallies the rest of the mountain clans to follow them.
- Horns of Barbarism: He wears a horned helmet.
- Lean and Mean: He's described as very thin and is amongst the most brutal clansmen.
- Offstage Villainy: During the third novel, Gunthor's clan raids a village and slaughters half the men and carries off all the women while also stealing the grain.
- Pet the Dog: A very minor one, as, before Tyrion convinced them to ally with him, Gunthor first offers him a choice on how to die and then decides to spare him to use as a goat milker since Shagga finds him amusing.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He decides to spare Tyrion and Bronn and ally with the Lannisters out of a desire to gain better weapons that would enable the mountain clans to raid the settlements of the Vale more easily so that he can feed his people.Gunthor: The mothers go hungry, and steel fills more mouths than gold.
Timett
Timett, son of Timett
"The Burned Men fear nothing. Timett son of Timett will ride with the lions."
A Red Hand of the Burned Men, one of the most feared mountain clans.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: He is described as a gaunt youth, and is not yet twenty years old when he first appears. He leads the Burned Men deputation because he is the most badass one there. When a Burned Man comes of age, he must burn a body part - usually a nipple, finger, toe or other expendable body part. Timett chose to put out his own eye, doing so with a red hot knife. The Burned Men were so impressed they promoted him to "Red Hand" (a war leader) on the spot.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Timmett's ability to withstand pain won him his position.
- Co-Dragons: To Tyrion alongside Bronn. Timett is one of the smarter of the mountain men, and while Tyrion doesn't necessarily like him, he trusts him with things that Shagga or Chella might not understand.
- The Dreaded: Other Mountain Clans fear the Burned Men, and even the Burned Men fear Timett.
- Dual Wielding: Tends to carry a pair of swords.
- Eye Scream: He burned out his own eye just to prove how badass he is.
- In-Series Nickname: Timett One-Eye.
- Lean and Mean: Timett is skeletally thin.
- Macho Masochism: Burned out his own eye in a demonstration of his authority.
- Put on a Bus: He and his men go back to the Vale after the Battle of the Blackwater, after being denied re-entrance to King's Landing following Tyrion's injury.
Chella
Chella, daughter of Cheyk
A clan chief of the Black Ears.
- Action Girl: She has forty-eight ears on the necklace around her neck. According to her, her sons have also taken many.
- Cruel Mercy: Her forty-eight ears all belong to living men she defeated in battle and mutilated as proof of their shame. Chella tells Tyrion that all of them all welcome to cleanse that shame by fighting her again to reclaim their ears.
- Put on a Bus: Returns to the Vale after the Battle of the Blackwater due to King's Landing closing its gates to the mountain clans and forcing them to leave.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Her necklace of ears.
- The Smurfette Principle: She is the only female leader of the Mountain Clans who is part of Tyrion's army.
Smallfolk
The commonfolk of Westeros, often referred to as smallfolk by the lords and ladies of the noble houses. They are sworn to serve the lord who controls the land on which they live and have fewer rights and privileges than knights and nobles. When wars are waged in the Seven Kingdoms, it is the smallfolk who suffer the most.Northern Smallfolk
Kyra
A tavern girl at the Smoking Log in the winter town outside of Winterfell. She becomes Theon Greyjoy's lover.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: She's given a gruesome death at the hands of Ramsay after she tries to escape the Dreadfort with Theon. While living as Reek, Theon reminds himself of Kyra's grisly fate whenever he feels the urge to defy Ramsay.
- Defiant to the End: When Ramsay catches up with her, she throws a stone at his head, but misses.
- Great Escape: Cruelly subverted. After she and Theon are taken to the Dreadfort as prisoners, she steals keys from the jailer. However she doesn't know the way to Winterfell, so she frees Theon as well so he can guide her. It turns out Ramsay let them escape so he could hunt them down. Theon is taken alive, but Kyra is killed.
- Satellite Love Interest: Her whole character revolves around her relationship to Theon.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": After killing her, Ramsay names one of his dogs after her.
Ramsay's mother
A miller's wife who was raped by Roose Bolton and gave birth to his bastard son, Ramsay.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Her husband had not asked permission from Roose, his liege lord, to get married. So Roose had him hanged and raped her underneath her husband's dangling corpse. Yikes.
- Droit du Seigneur: A victim of it, despite the practice having been made illegal by King Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
- Get Out!: She showed up at the Dreadfort about a year after Roose took her against his will, presenting Roose with the newborn Ramsay and explaining her late husband's brother had thrown her out and stolen the mill when he worked out his brother wasn't the father. Angered by this, Roose gave the mill back to the woman and had her brother-in-law's tongue cut out so he wouldn't report Roose's actions to Rickard Stark.
- The Ghost: She has not appeared in person.
- Girl Next Door: Roose describes her as "pretty and healthy-looking, in a common sort of way."
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: When he confirmed Ramsay was his offspring, Roose agreed to send the woman livestock and coin to assist with Ramsay's upbringing on the condition she never tell him his father's identity. She didn't keep her end of the bargain, however.
- May–December Romance: Her first husband was twice her age. Not that it mattered much, since he was dead soon after.
- Mother Makes You King: Invoked: Roose strongly suspects it was her influence that drove Ramsay to claim his rights as Roose's bastard son.
- No Name Given: Roose doesn't mention her name in his story to Theon; he probably didn't care enough to remember it.
Riverlands Smallfolk
The Ghost of High Heart
The Ghost of High Heart
"The old gods stir and will not let me sleep."
A woods witch and seer that frequently collaborates with the Brotherhood Without Banners.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: With white hair and red eyes, she might as well be a human weirwood.
- Cool Old Lady: Old she may be (she claims a thousand years), but she has a relish for life that many a twenty-year-old would envy. For somebody who spends so much time alone, she comes across as a warm-hearted, people-person. If very, very odd.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Non-linear thought and an atypical approach to trade? Why, yes. Yes indeed.
- Dirty Old Woman: Wants a kiss with plenty of tongue, but settles for her usual payment of a song.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Renly being killed by a shadow (though this has already happened what happened is not commonly known), Balon Greyjoy being killed by a Faceless Man, the Red Wedding, the death and resurrection of Catelyn, the Purple Wedding, Sansa at the Eyrie.
- Horrifying the Horror:
- When she sees a vision of Lady Stoneheart, she is utterly terrified by her eyes.The Ghost of High Heart: I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more.
- Is visibly frightened when she meets Arya Stark, seeing her grief and hunger for vengeance.The Ghost of High Heart: I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death...you are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!
- When she sees a vision of Lady Stoneheart, she is utterly terrified by her eyes.
- Known Only by Their Nickname: The Ghost of High Heart.
- Loners Are Freaks: She's basically an albino, dwarf forest-hermit.
- Mad Oracle: Normal she isn't. And, her visions need an editor to make them parse.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: Justified as she is either a dwarf or one of the Children of the Forest.
- Not Quite Dead: Barristan Selmy wrongly states that she was killed in the Tragedy of Summerhall.
- Small Role, Big Impact:
- Was accidentally responsible for the overthrow of the Targaryens, by causing Jaehaerys II to force his children Aerys and Rhaella to marry.
- She might have been partly responsible for the union between Prince Duncan Targaryen and Jenny of Oldstones, breaking his betrothal with a daughter of Lord Lyonel Baratheon, thus causing a rift between House Targaryen and House Baratheon that was somewhat healed (but not quite) when Rhaelle Targaryen was sent to wed Lyonel's son Ormund. As such, had Duncan become king with a Baratheon queen as it was intended, there is a chance that House Baratheon wouldn't have ended up deposing and almost exterminating the Targaryens.
- Solitary Sorceress: Basically a witch who lives alone in the woods.
- Songs of Solace: Is paid for her prophecies with a song which makes her weep; it's implied the song is about Jenny of Oldstones who was once a friend of hers.
- Tragic Bromance: With Jenny of Oldstones.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Claims to be a thousand years old, and often gripes about it.
Pia
Pia
Pretty Pia
"Pia was often seeing things in the buttery. Usually they were men."
— Arya's narration
Pia was a servant at Harrenhal before joining Jaime Lannister's party in A Feast For Crows.
- Abhorrent Admirer: A tragic example. Pia has had a crush on Jaime Lannister since girlhood when she saw him knighted at Harrenhal, and even used this to cope with being raped. He lets her down gently, and feels terrible about it.
- Beautiful Sexual Assault Victim: Pia is the prettiest serving girl in Harrenhall. Once the war starts, her beauty makes her life a living hell of sexual abuse and rape.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Gregor Clegane punched her in the face, breaking her nose and half her teeth.
- Break the Cutie: She was abused and raped by the soldiers in Tywin's army while he occupied Harrenhal. Later, Roose Bolton puts her in the dungeons for any man to use. Afterwards, Gregor ruins her face when she makes the mistake of talking when he wanted quiet.
- Character Tics: Covering her mouth with her hand when she speaks, to hide her ruined teeth.
- The Ditz: She's sweet, but not very bright.
- Ethical Slut: What she apparently used to be until Crapsack World reality kicked in. Still has some shades of this, giving the squire who has a crush on her the time of the day.
- Lie Back and Think of England: She admits that when the soldiers were raping her, she would try to pretend they were Jaime Lannister.
- Manchild: Jaime describes her as a five-year-old girl in a woman's body.
- Morality Pet: She becomes one of the people taken under Jaime's wings after he starts improving his morals, and is definitely the one who owes him the most.
- Morton's Fork: Happens to every at all pretty peasant serving girl like Pia in twice-occupied Harrenhall. Refuse sexual advances of Lannister soldiers and they'll rape you with impunity. Don't refuse them and you'll be put in dungeon to be raped by Bolton's forces for sleeping with Lannisters. So it is rape either way.
- Nice Girl: From what little we see of her, it seems Pia doesn't have a bad bone in her body. She is one of the few people at Harrenhal that Arya actually likes and bothers helping even when not ordered to.
- Really Gets Around: Pia has a reputation for being sexually promiscuous and most of her scenes revolve around her sexuality. During Tywin's occupation at Harrenhal, she sleeps with several of his knights. After Roose Bolton takes over, she's placed in the stocks and raped by multiple men. She also tries to sleep with Jaime Lannister, but he rejects her. Instead, she ends up in a relationship with one of his squires. Before Jaime executes one of his men for raping her, the rapist tries to claim that its no big deal because he and plenty of other men have already had sex with her multiple times.
- Slut-Shaming: Bonifer Hasty more or less kicks her out of Harrenhal because he thinks she'll corrupt his men. Averted with Jaime, who not only is kind to her, but also tells Peck to treat her the way he would treat his wife.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Inverted. Everyone is surprised that she didn't get pregnant considering she "spread her legs for half of [Tywin's] army". Jaime concludes that she must be barren and encourages Peck to get together with her, since he's unlikely to sire a bastard on her.
- When She Smiles: She smiles in satisfaction (which Jaime takes a bit of pride from) when he has a man who tried to rape Pia executed.
Weasel
Weasel
"Run, Weasel, run as fast as you can, run and never come back."
— Arya's narration
Weasel is an orphaned toddler found in the war-torn Riverlands by Yoren's group traveling to the Wall. She is added to the caravan heading north shortly after.
- The Load: Through no fault of her own. She's too young to contribute anything that will help Yoren's group survive, but nobody has the heart to abandon her.
- Madness-Induced Omnivore: Is noted to have a bad habit of eating mud, probably due to starvation.
- No Name Given: Her real name is unknown. The name of "Weasel" is given to her by Lommy, who says that she "looks like one."
- The Voiceless: She's so young that she hasn't learned to speak, or she's forgotten how.
- Uncertain Doom: Her fate is unknown after she flees into the woods, but her survival prospects aren't high, considering that she's a small orphan child all alone in the middle of war-torn Westeros.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: When the Mountain's Men near Arya's group, Weasel runs off into the woods and is never seen again.
- You Remind Me of X: Arya is reminded of Weasel when she meets the Waif due to similar physical traits shared between the two.
Westerlands Smallfolk
Tysha
"I love you, Tyrion. I love your lips. I love your voice, and the words you say to me, and how you treat me gentle..."
A crofter's daughter in the Westerlands, Tysha became the first wife of Tyrion Lannister. Their marriage lasted for a fortnight and was genuinely happy until Tywin Lannister found out forcing him to annul it with extreme prejudice. Her memory haunts Tyrion years and years later.
- Frame-Up: Jaime Lannister is ordered by Tywin to tell Tyrion that Tysha was a prostitute that he had set up as Tyrion's first time, only to annul the marriage and order her gang rape and have Tyrion to participate in it. The revelation of the truth makes Tyrion furious, needless to say.
- The Ghost: She isn't seen on screen and as per Tywin, is implied to still be alive somewhere.
- Happily Married: For a fortnight, Tyrion and Tysha were genuinely happy living in a cottage. Even when Tyrion believed that she was a whore this was the happiest he had ever been, the revelation that she was not a prostitute made them even more bitter.
- Leitmotif: The song she sang for Tyrion."I loved a maid as far as summer/with sunlight in her hair".
- The Lost Lenore: For Tyrion, especially after learning that she truly loved him.
- Love Ruins the Realm: In a roundabout way, but Tywin fearing that a relationship between his son and Tysha would sully the Lannister name. This forces Jaime to lie about Tysha and discredit her to Tyrion. Years later, when Tyrion is accused of regicide and freed by Jaime, Jaime tells him the truth about Tysha, which infuriates Tyrion. He then confronts Tywin and, upon hearing him confirm the truth, he murders him — the Hand of the King — which ends up plunging Westeros into instability after a terrible war, all for an innocent girl whose treatment few in the Seven Kingdoms would bat an eye at.
- Malicious Slander: In Tywin's eyes, the only reason any girl would want to marry Tyrion was for his gold so to him all common born girls are whores, but he went the extra distance and had Jaime give a False Confession to slander Tysha before his son's eyes.
- One True Love: Jaime reveals to Tyrion that Tysha was no prostitute and that Tywin forced him to lie about Tysha to hurt Tyrion. This makes Tyrion realize that Tysha did fall in love with him and is the only person that has ever loved him romantically regardless of his deformity, so he embarks on a quest to find her.
- Rape as Backstory: Upon learning that his son, a Lannister, a scion of the richest family in Westeros, married a crofter's daughter, Tywin had his household guard gang-rape her and then forced Tyrion to rape her as well.
- Unkempt Beauty: Tyrion describes her as "lowborn, half-starved, unwashed... yet lovely.”
- Walking the Earth: Tywin cruelly taunts Tyrion about this, noting that she's gone "Wherever whores go" and that Tyrion will likely never find her. Tyrion kills his father for this.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Tywin did not kill her and shipped her off where she wouldn't come looking for trouble. There are not even cryptic clues as to where she ended, but Tyrion sets on a quest of sorts to find her regardless. Fandom also seeks out clues about her whereabouts and if she has already appeared under a nickname. One theory concerns the Sailor's Wife, a prostitute in Braavos. She marries the men she beds in a mock ceremony, is fluent in the Common Tongue, is waiting for her one true love and has a blond daughter named Lanna. This last part is actually very important, as another, completely different character asked Cersei permission to name her unborn child Lanna if it's a girl. Lanna is also just the right age to be Tyrion's daughter and has golden Lannister hair. The other hint is Robert's bastard daughter he fathered on a whore that was named Barra, short for Barratheon, on whose name Robert commented in completely resigned voice something like "Whores and their child naming conventions".
Maggy the Frog
A woods witch and fortune teller who lived in Lannisport, she came from Essos with a young spice merchant as his wife, having married her for her beauty. Cersei crossed paths with her in her youth and the foretelling Maggy gave her continues to haunt Cersei all through her life.
- Animal Motifs: Cersei often thinks of her as looking like a frog or toad, with warty jowls and greenish skin.
- Blood Magic: She operates by drinking a drop of blood and telling people's fortune from it.
- Cassandra Truth: She told Cersei that she would never marry Rhaegar Targaryen and implied to Melara Hetherspoon that Cersei intended to murder her for her attraction to Jaime. Neither of them believed her.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Cersei invokes this about her; apparently Maggy was once a great beauty but "age and evil had left their marks on her."
- Famous Ancestor: Not so much famous, but her son was ennobled by Tytos Lannister and became the first lord of House Spicer, making Maggy the grandmother of Sybell and Rolph Spicer, and the great-grandmother of Jeyne, Rollam, Raynald and Elenya Westerling.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Apparently she was once a great beauty from the east in her youth, but by the time Cersei encounters Maggy, she's an elderly hag with jowls and warts.
- Love Potion: According to Cersei and Kevan Lannister, she made a living selling these to women in Lannisport.
- Only Known By Her Nickname: Her real name is unknown (although Cersei comments that it was "something long and eastern and outlandish"), and Qyburn theorises that Maggy is likely a corruption of the Essosi word maegi.
- Rule of Three: She allows people to ask her three questions about their future.
- The Prophecy: She told Cersei a whopper of one; that she would marry not a prince but a king, that she would have three children, that they would predecease her, that a younger and more beautiful queen would take everything Cersei held dear from her, and that she would be murdered by the 'valonqar' (the Valyrian word for "Little brother") when she'd finally lost everything.
- Prophecy Twist: Her predictions are full of these: Cersei took her prediction that she would marry not a prince but a king to mean she wouldn't marry Rhaegar until he'd succeeded Aerys, only to wind up marrying Robert Baratheon. She's convinced the younger, more beautiful queen destined to replace her is Margaery Tyrell, but Sansa Stark and Daenerys Targaryen are also viable candidates, and she's convinced Tyrion is the valonqar prophesised to kill her, ignoring that it could just as easily be Jaime (since he is younger than her by a minute), any of the younger brothers she's hurt through the series (since Maggy didn't specifically say "your little brother") and the fact High Valyrian is a gender-neutral language would mean it might not necessarily be a male character who kills her.
Suspects for the valonqar range from Jaime and Tyrion, to Euron Greyjoy, Bran, Arya or Benjen Stark, Sandor Clegane and even Tommen. - Posthumous Character: Kevan Lannister notes Maggy is long dead by the time of the War of the Five Kings.
- Secretly Wealthy: She stayed in a rather unimpressive tent when Cersei saw her, but considering that her husband was a wealthy spice trader and her son was a lord by that point, this was most likely by choice.
- Sickly Green Glow: Her tent was lit by an iron brazier shaped like a basilisk's head, casting a dim green light that made everything look dead and rotten.
- The Vamp: How pretty much everyone assumes she got her husband. Most speculate she used a Love Potion to seduce him, though Cersei says all she had to do was flutter her eyelids and spread her legs.
- Witch Classic: The series' closest example of this.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her prophecy largely shaped Cersei's hatred and near-constant abuse of Tyrion and is the catalyst of Cersei's pathological hatred of Margaery Tyrell, considering Margaery the younger, more beautiful queen prophesised to replace her.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Cersei recalls her having these. According to Cersei, one look of them sent Jeyne Farman running for the hills (though Cersei concedes not having her fortune told by Maggy might have worked out in Jeyne's favour, given she's now Happily Married with a dozen kids).
- You Need a Breath Mint: Cersei remembers the smell of her breath, strong and foul.
Crownlands Smallfolk
Layna
Alehouse owner: My Layna's no whore, ser.
Gregor Clegane: She is now.
An alehouse owner's young daughter who lives on the Goldroad.Gregor Clegane: She is now.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Chiswyck thinks it's absolutely hysterical that after raping her, Gregor Clegane demanded back some of the money he paid her father because "she wasn't worth a silver," and the man gave him some coppers and thanked him for the custom.
- The Ghost: She is only mentioned as part of a story told by Chiswyck.
- Trauma Conga Line: She is gang-raped by the Mountain and his men in plain view of her father, while her brother is killed trying to stop them.
- Vague Age: Chiswyck thinks she was eighteen, while Raff thinks she was closer to thirteen.
Dornish Smallfolk
Wylla
A wet-nurse in service of House Dayne who took care of the young Lord Edric as an infant. She purportedly had an affair with Lord Eddard Stark, thus she is one of the possible women who might be the birth mother of Jon Snow, and she's the only one outright mentioned by name.
- Bit Character: Not much is known about her other than her name. Edric Dayne's assessment of her paints her as a reliable, dutiful woman who served House Dayne for many years. Robert Baratheon also assumes that she's not that hard to look at considering that she made Ned Stark forsake his vows.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Subverted. It's not known whether Wylla was a wet-nurse at the time she and Ned had their affair nor that she took care of him. She was just a servant at Starfall.
- The Ghost: She has only been mentioned in passing, but like Howland Reed, she's purposefully out-of-sight since she bears crucial information only hinted by Ned Stark. However her contribution to the story might prove to be paramount regardless of the outcome.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Invoked in two aspects:
- Ned Stark might have claimed her as his illegitimate son Jon Snow's "mother" because it would raise the least amount of questions regarding the child's birth mother and she might have happened to be at Starfall at the time he came about Jon.
- It's not until A Storm Of Swords that some information is revealed as to her actual existence from Edric Dayne. Up until that moment, her being an actual person had some shades of doubt, as most of the information about her until then had been just hearsay and rumors. So, no; Ned didn't make her up, but he could easily have done so.
- Lonely Together: King Robert tells Ned that he doesn't blame him for his affair with Wylla, as they were in the middle of a war and were not sure they'd make it back home in one piece.
- My Greatest Failure: Ned Stark is not very fond of speaking about neither her nor Ashara Dayne, leading Robert Baratheon and Catelyn to assume that something funny happened at Starfall. One of the things that lends credence to her possibly being Jon Snow's mother is the shame Ned shows when he speaks about her. Or maybe is plain embarrassment for him to say such Blatant Lies about Wylla and her role, and being Ned, it not to be excluded.
- Mysterious Past: The circumstances that led to her supposed affair with Ned are closely kept secret by him. Also, it's not known where she's from, as she could be from Dorne or the Crownlands, and how she became acquainted with both Ned and the Daynes in the first place.
- Nominal Importance: Invoked and subverted. Out of all the possible women who might be Jon Snow's mother, she is the only one that is outright claimed by Ned as such. Other than that, we know an awful lot more about Ashara Dayne and Lyanna Stark than we do about her. She's almost entirely absent from the story, and the likelihood of actually seeing her is uncertain. She's quite unimportant for someone that important.
- The Nondescript: Though we know about her service for the Daynes, we know almost nothing about her character (other than being dutiful and seemingly a loyal servant) and nothing at all about her appearance. She's basically just a name.
- Old Retainer: What we do learn about her is that she was Edric Dayne's wet-nurse, and implied to have served House Dayne for many years. So one of her masters was Arthur Dayne, Rhaegar's best friend, and one of the Kingsguards at the Tower of Joy. Coincidence?
- The Scapegoat: If Jon is indeed the son of Lyanna Stark — Ned's sister — and Rhaegar Targaryen, Ned might have chosen Wylla as Jon's "mother" to protect the child from King Robert's wrath because she's lowborn enough not to give Robert reason to think on it much.
- Shrouded in Myth: Invoked. Of all the women that are the possible mother of Jon Snow, she is the most baseborn and least important. If Jon is indeed Ned's son with Wylla, all that destiny drivel goes down the drain.
- Social Climber: Invoked and subverted. Having an illegitimate son with the Warden of the North should have given her a significant rise in status, yet she remained at the service of House Dayne. Maybe she just isn't that ambitious; maybe it's not quite as simple as it seems.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Some readers do not second-guess Ned's argument about Wylla being Jon's mother the first time King Robert brings it up, as Ned appears ashamed when Wylla is brought up. However, in A Game Of Thrones, when Catelyn reminisces about her inquiring to Ned if Ashara Dayne is Jon's mother and Ned shutting Catelyn down with, "(Jon) is my blood, and that is all you need to know. And now I will learn where you heard that name, my lady" and then readers later get the Tower Of Joy scene, this sheds doubt on Ned's one-time claim of who Jon's mother is.
