Game of Thrones - Jon Snow / Characters

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Lord Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jonsnow_64.png

"I want to fight on the side that fights for the living."

Played By: Kit Harington

Voiced By: Roberto Molina (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 1-2), Gerardo Garcia (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 3 Onwards), Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), Patrick Roche (German)

"Mormont himself chose Jon to be his steward. He saw something in Jon. And now we've all seen it too. He may be young, but he's the commander we all turned to when the night was darkest."

— Samwell Tarly

The believed-to-be illegitimate son of the honorable lord of Winterfell, Eddard Stark. His prospects limited by his bastardy, Jon joins the Night's Watch, the once-noble order created to guard Westeros from threats beyond the Wall but has since fallen into disrepair. As the rest of the Starks face the dangers of the game of thrones, Jon must fulfill his duty to defend the realm and learns of the growing threat from the otherworldly White Walkers beyond the Wall. To prepare against the wildlings' attack on the Wall, Jon becomes a Fake Defector and learns of their plans. However, he becomes sympathetic to the wildlings and falls in love with the fierce wildling woman Ygritte but must betray both to defend the realm. Though the Night's Watch is able to fend off the attack with aid from Stannis Baratheon, Ygritte ends up dying in battle.

Elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon negotiates an alliance with the wildlings against their common enemy, the Night King, who is the leader of the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead. This earns Jon the animosity of his Watch brothers, who assassinate him in a mutiny, but Jon is resurrected by Melisandre. After working with his sister Sansa and a group of unexpected allies to defeat the monstrous Ramsay Bolton, they retake Winterfell. The Northern lords name Jon as the new King in the North. Jon travels south to negotiate an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen for her help against the Night King. Though they initially come to stand-stills on terms, they begin to connect and eventually fall in love. Upon seeing the threat is real herself, Daenerys vows to defeat the Night King and Jon bends the knee to her. Meanwhile, it's revealed Jon is not the illegitimate son of Ned Stark, but the trueborn son of Ned's sister Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. And that complicates the situation...

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24-Hour Armor: Since his resurrection and exit from the Watch, Jon has worn the Stark standard-issue brown coat-of-plate for every scene in Season 6, whether he's eating, resting or fighting. Considering that he got stabbed with only a peascod protecting him the first time, this might count as Properly Paranoid.
The Ace: To the Night's Watch, among the younger recruits and his friend, Samwell, in particular. Moreso after the Battle of Castle Black, where he was one of the main defenders alongside Ser Alliser, Pyp, Grenn and Dolorous Edd. By Season 6, his exploits are so well known that he's this through all of Westeros. Even someone as overconfident and as dangerous as Ramsay Bolton considers him the greatest swordsman in the North by reputation alone.
Accidental Truth: Jon wasn't far off the mark in the first episode when he denied he was a bastard, because he certainly wasn't.
Action Hero: While Jon is a talented swordsman and good fighter in the novels, he is the embodiment of Asskicking Leads to Leadership and a veritable One-Man Army who has among his other impressive feats, killed a White Walker general in single combat. He's a Living Legend for a reason, with 442 deaths to his name by the end of Season 8 in this video.
Adaptational Badass: The TV show's treatment of Jon places more emphasis on his combat skill. In the novels, Jon is a competent and adequate fighter who still trains hard. In A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, he reveals to Sam that he needs to train every day to effectively wield a Valyrian steel sword and notes that he has room to improve. In the show, Ramsay tells Jon, "The way people in the North talk about you, you're the greatest swordsman who ever walked." As the show progresses beyond the books, Jon ends the series with a battle kill count in the hundreds and has done four more executions (and one assassination).
Adaptational Dumbass: While TV Jon Snow is shown to be observant and quick-thinking, he can be very impulsive and relies more on Asskicking Leads to Leadership. This is a direct contrast to his book counterpart, a Genius Bruiser who devotes more time to solving problems with his mind rather than his sword.^{From the books}
Adaptation Dye-Job: Has black hair and brown eyes in the series, but his book counterpart has the dark brown hair and grey eyes of the Starks.
Adoptive Name Change: He was born Aegon Targaryen. Ned gave him the name Jon Snow so he could pass him off as his bastard son and protect him from Robert.
Adaptational Nice Guy:
- While Jon is one of the straightest examples of a hero in the books as well, some of his grittier actions to save lives in the novels are removed from the show as a result of Pragmatic Adaptation, such as pulling off a baby swap exchanging Mance Rayder's child with Gilly's to save the kid by preventing Melisandre's Human Sacrifice, fearing Melisandre wants to burn Mance's child for his king's blood. While he believes Gilly's son is safe from Melisandre because Gilly's son has no king's blood, Jon forces Gilly to comply by terrifying her, having Gilly singe her hand over a candle flame and threatening her child if Mance's son is sacrificed.^*Likewise, Jon sternly forces Samwell to go to Oldtown and become a maester in contravention of Randyll Tarly's wishes rather than it being Sam's own idea.
- In the show, the mutiny that results in Jon's stabbing is motivated entirely by xenophobia from a larger faction of Night's Watchmen. In the novels, Jon likewise works to protect the wildlings but while this does piss several Night's Watchmen off, several of Jon's actions in the fifth book compromise the Night's Watch stance on neutrality (such as advising Stannis on his northern campaign and openly declaring his intentions to ride south against Ramsay Bolton after Ramsay provokes Jon), layering the reasons of the mutineers, who are very reluctant about taking this action. In the show, Jon is emphasized as having skepticism about Melisandre's magic and powers but in the novels, while he still remains skeptical, he starts believing some of the Red Woman’s words after witnessing her actions to spare Mance and when she gives him the chance to save his sister Arya from the Boltons.
- When he meets Mance Rayder in the books, the reason Jon provides for his defection is not, as in the show, due to his real disgust with Craster but his Bastard Angst, which is something he feels as well, though Jon recognizes he has had it far better than many illegitimate children with a family he loves.
- When he becomes Lord Commander of the Night's Watch in the books, Jon forces himself to give up the companionship of his friends and isolates himself as a result of The Chains of Commanding in an effort to fulfill his duty, since Jon remembers that his father taught his sons, "A lord may love the men that he commands but he cannot be a friend to them," because one day (as his father told him) he might have to pronounce judgement and/or give them a command which may result in their death during battle. In the show, Jon is shown as A Father to His Men who remains just as close to Samwell Tarly and Dolorous Edd as before, even after his election.
- In the show, he is not shown to have nearly as much of a hot temper as in the books, where he has to be restrained from going for Ser Alliser Thorne with a knife after the latter insults Ned, flashes back to a painful childhood incident with Robb when he is knocked hard in the head during training and finds himself pummeling one of his friends in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, says that he would rather rain "death and destruction" down on House Lannister than convince them to help the Night's Watch, and muses to himself that he ought to cut off the head of Alys Karstark's Evil Uncle Cregan and give it to Alys and the Magnar of Thenn as a wedding gift. Book Jon can be quite the little ball of anger.
- The show omits Jon's negotiations with Tormund wherein he will take wildling children as hostages when the wildlings come over the Wall to ensure the wildlings do not raid or reap Westerosi lands or make off with Westerosi daughters. This is done to minimize conflict between the wildlings and Westerosi and create a compromise that both parties can begrudgingly live with. When asked if Jon can go forth with executing the child of the offending wildling parent, Jon believes that if push comes to shove, he will behead the kids as his Stark ancestors did when they took child hostages from rebellious Northern houses (in contrast, while Daenerys Targaryen takes child hostages from the Meereneese noble families, she is unable to bring herself to actually execute them when their families act against her).
Always Someone Better: While Jon and Robb share a very close relationship as brothers, Jon feels he lived in Robb's shadow, just the same way Sam feels compared to Jon.
Jon: I was jealous of Robb my whole life. The way my father looked at him? I wanted that. He was better than me at everything. Fighting, and hunting, and riding. And girls. Gods, the girls loved him. I wanted to hate him, but I never could.
Amazon Chaser: The two women whom Jon has fallen in love with (Ygritte and Daenerys) are both fierce and martial, with Ygritte being a wildling warrior and archer and Daenerys being a Dragon Rider Young Conqueror who is also a Frontline General and commander in her battles. ^{From the books}
Angst Dissonance: In-universe. He thinks that being a bastard child is terrible, his life sucks, and people treat him unfairly. He often needs to be reminded that even if he is a bastard child, he still has a family that (with the sole exception of Catelyn) loves him and whom he loves — plus, he grew up in a castle with a highborn upbringing, making him one of the most privileged Sworn Brothers of the Night's Watch. He always had a warm home, was well cared for, received a highborn education from a maester and professional combat training from the master-at-arms, a knight. This essentially boils down to stating that his complaints are usually totally bollocks. Part of his problem is that he's well into the top 10% of Westerosi society, but he was raised in a family where everyone else was in the top 1-2%, so he has difficulty keeping this in perspective until he meets some of the other 90% when he goes to the Wall.
Jon: When we had feasts, our family would sit up here... and I’d sit down there. (nods towards a small table in the corner of Winterfell's great hall)
Melisandre: Could have been worse, Jon Snow. You had a family. You had feasts.
Jon: Aye, you're right. I was luckier than most.
The Apprentice: Lord Mormont takes him under his wing, and Sam remarks that Jon is being groomed to become the next Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
Arch-Enemy: He (alongside Bran, the Night's Watch, Humanity and Daenerys) has a nemesis in The Night King. Jon Snow is dedicated to saving the realm and preventing the Long Night from descending on to Westeros.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Literally achieves higher honors and command every time he demonstrated his growing skills as a soldier:
- Gains the loyalty of his friends in the Night's Watch by teaching them better how to fight;
- Becomes an informal leader of even more of his brothers by leading the raid on the mutineers at Craster's Keep, with his friends forming the core of the expedition;
- During the Battle of Castle Black, he's left in charge after Thorne is incapacitated and Slynt runs off because he's the best fighter among the lot, and takes a small force down to ground level. He jumps out of the elevator and proceeds to kill three Wildlings before the elevator even hits the floor, and impresses yet more of his brothers by holding the Wall and slaying the Magnar of the Thenns.
- Is made Lord Commander partly for his prowess in fighting and leadership, rather than seniority, then forges an alliance with the Free Folk by leading the evacuation of Hardhome and slaying a White Walker;
- Likewise, it's mostly his battle prowess, as demonstrated by the bloody swath he carves during the Battle of the Bastards, that leads the Northern lords to crown him King in the North, despite them knowing he is an illegitimate son of House Stark. Jon has direct experience with the oncoming threat of the their true enemy, the White Walkers. As D.B. Weiss and David Benioff explain in a 2016 interview with Deadline, "The lords of the north named (Jon) King in the North because they realized he was their last, best chance to survive the wars to come."
Awesome Moment of Crowning: In the Season 6 finale, he is named the new King in the North and the White Wolf by the Northmen and the Knights of the Vale. Then we find out his true calling is the King of the Seven Kingdoms.
Back from the Dead: Jon is successfully resurrected by Melisandre.
Battle Butler: He's appointed Lord Commander Mormont's Steward instead of a Ranger, which doesn't sit well with him (until Sam points out Mormont did it to groom him for command). Gets his fair share of ass-kicking anyway.
Becoming the Mask: He's edged towards this with the Wildlings, becoming very torn about what he truly wants. At the very least, he came to genuinely love Ygritte. Ygritte, however, noticed that he is still at heart loyal to the Night's Watch, and although she tells him she is willing to ignore that, things soon come to a head between the two. After returning to the Night's Watch, the panel at his hearing (particularly Janos Slynt) aren't impressed when they notice him unintentionally refer to their enemy as "the Free Folk", rather than the Wildlings, and accuse him of Going Native.
Being Good Sucks: Most everything he does, he does for the good of the Watch and Westeros, but he faces much hardship for it — some of it from a faction of his Watch brothers — and he ends up feeling increasingly isolated from them. Being killed in a mutiny by a group of Watchmen and hanging them in return, including the boy — Olly — who helped murder him, is the last straw for him and he leaves the Watch in Season 6 thoroughly disillusioned with them and sick of fighting.
Daenerys: We all enjoy what we're good at.
Jon: I don't.
Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Ygritte, which is made worse due to his adherence to his vows. Later this renews with Daenerys, another Young Conqueror who became an Unexpected Successor for her house.
The Berserker: Seen in the episode "Battle of the Bastards" after Ramsay mercilessly kills his brother Rickon and then learns how dangerous Jon can get when angered and pushed beyond his limits. He singlehandedly slays every enemy soldier he can get his hands on and, when he finally faces Ramsay, he almost kills Ramsay with his bare hands for all the hell Ramsay has done by beating him to a bloody pulp, which shocks even the Wildlings. When Jon stops upon seeing his sister Sansa, she ultimately kills Ramsay herself by feeding him to his own dogs.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's probably one of the nicest people in this entire screwed up world. The gods help you if you harm any of his beloved half-siblings or Sam, or if you push him too far, as Karl, Janos Slynt, and Ramsay found out.
Big Brother Instinct:
- Jon towards Samwell (and later Olly), as well as his actual younger siblings, especially Arya who treasures Needle, which he gave to her.
- In Season 4, this is the reason Bran is convinced not to see Jon, despite being so near, is because he knows that Jon would do everything to protect him and keep him from going further north, even though he desperately needs to go.
- In Season 6, when Jon and his younger sister Sansa are reunited, they embrace and he promises to protect her. Then, when he finds out his youngest brother Rickon is being held captive and Ramsay plans on forcing him to watch the horrible things he wants to do to Sansa, Jon decides to take up arms against the Boltons. In the Battle for Winterfell, Jon makes a desperate attempt to save Rickon from Ramsay — but Ramsay murders Rickon right in front of Jon — and when Jon finally catches up to Ramsay, he nearly beats him to death right on the spot.
- In Season 7, he threatens to kill Littlefinger if he ever touches Sansa, throttling Littlefinger the same way Ned did back in Season 1.
- When Jon learns Arya and Bran are alive and in Winterfell, he wants to return home — especially since this same raven tells him Bran has seen the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch, "If they make it past the Wall..."
- In Season 8, along with Sansa and Arya, Jon is reluctant to use Bran as bait to lure the Night King for ambush. After Jon crash-lands during the Battle of Winterfell, he tries to make his way to Bran in order to defeat the Night King once and for all.
- When Tyrion warns Jon that Arya and Sansa will not bend the knee to Daenerys, it's Jon's protectiveness of his sisters that plays a factor in convincing him to do the right thing and assassinate Daenerys to stop her campaign of destruction after he fails to dissuade her from destruction — as much as Jon loves Daenerys, he cannot stand by and do nothing while Daenerys burns innocent people and destroys cities... and she won't tolerate Sansa and Arya's refusal to submit, as Tyrion and Arya warn.
Big Brother Mentor: After mercilessly knocking down his fellow new recruits, Jon starts instructing and making friends with them in the process once he realizes (thanks to a gentle lecture by Tyrion) that he had a privileged highborn upbringing, was raised in a castle by his lord father, while the other boys grew up under lesser circumstances and were never taught how to fight properly.
Big Good: Jon becomes someone who has the biggest potential to save humanity, particularly from Season 5 onward. Later, he's the indisputable leader of "the living" and is named as the King in the North after convincing the Northern houses that the true enemy comes with the Winter storms. At the end of Season 7, Jon and Daenerys prepare to lead the war against the dead together. He aligns himself with Daenerys, stepping down as king, and they unify their alliance to stand against the Night King's Zombie Apocalypse.
Blood-Splattered Warrior: By the end of "The Battle of the Bastards", Jon is covered head to foot in blood and dirt from the long fight. It helps show the intensity of the battle as well as Jon's mindset at the time.
Book Ends:
- A bittersweet end. Jon's story both begins and starts with him taking the black of the Night's Watch..
- On a more poetic note: the story of the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms began and ended with an Aegon Targaryen and a dragon.
Break the Haughty: His time at the Wall is one long object lesson in not taking himself too seriously and even moreso, his time among the wildlings, and he learns from these lessons.
Broken Pedestal:
- Jon's discovery that the Night's Watch is now mostly an Army of Thieves and Whores rather than the ancient and noble order it once was. He is even more disappointed to learn the Lord Commander turns a blind eye to Craster's depravity because he's too valuable an asset.^{From the books...}
- Jon is anguished to find out that Ned, the most honorable man he ever met and who he idolized, isn't his biological father and had to lie to him his whole life about who he truly is.
Brother–Sister Team: After he reunites with Sansa in Season 6, they team up to bring down the Boltons and retake Winterfell. Sansa provides the cunning and political know-how while Jon provides the brawn and martial prowess.
Bully Hunter: He insists on fighting back against the Night's Watch recruits who harass Samwell.
Bullying a Dragon: He is a good-hearted man, but you do NOT want to piss him off. Ramsay found this out in the worst possible way after raping Sansa and killing Rickon.
Cartwright Curse: Both Jon's love interests, Ygritte and Daenerys, died in his arms; the latter dies from wounds he inflicted. Poor guy.
Cassandra Truth: A major part of his struggle in season 7 is getting people to actually believe that there's an army of the dead heading towards Westeros right now, being led by the mythical Night King. When he pleads to Daenerys about the threat, she's quite understandably skeptical of his claims, not least because they've only just met. Later, when he talks to Tyrion, he admits that it all sounds crazy and even he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Tyrion replies that he believes him, but reasons that the others won't be convinced so easily, and even if they do believe them, won't necessarily agree that it's a more important problem than the struggle over the Iron Throne.
Character Catchphrase: Gets two recurring lines in season 8: "She is my queen" and "I don't want it".
Celibate Hero: As a sworn brother of the Night's Watch, he can't take a wife or father children. He's one of the very few who actually takes this part of the vow seriously. A wildling girl Ygritte gets him out of this and he has sex with her.
The Chains of Commanding: Really starts to get hit hard with his as he is forced to make hard decisions as the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch — even more so when crowned King In The North and having to take on the role of defending Westeros's border from the White Walkers as well as balancing the North's changing politics (for example, the new northern nobility, some of whom are still only children and teenagers, and holding together the uneasy Northmen/Free Folk/Vale alliance and all the players that entails.) In Season 7, he all but explicitly tells Daenerys that he's grown weary of the seat of power, despite his obvious talent for it and his continuing to land in positions of high authority.
Daenerys: We all enjoy what we're good at.
Jon: I don't.
Character Development:
- Jon begins the series as a Wide-Eyed Idealist Sheltered Aristocrat and a lord's illegitimate son who wants to desperately prove himself. He is mockingly nicknamed "Lord Snow" for being a bastard son with a young lord's upbringing, is chided by his Uncle Benjen and Tyrion — giving Jon a reality check — and then Maester Aemon and Lord Commander Mormont open Jon's eyes about the real sacrifices the Night's Watch demands and the true threats beyond the Wall. Jon grows out his naive idealism by the end of Season 1 and over the course of his experiences in the following seasons, realizes Aemon's and Mormont's lessons first-hand and that the real conflict is between the living and the dead. Jon becomes one of the series' primary heroes and eventually is one of the Big Goods for the story.
- This gets played with again in Season 6, where after some understandable trauma — being betrayed by his Night's Watch brothers, getting resurrected only to have no recollection of his time in the afterlife and having to confront his murderers, which is the straw that breaks the camel's back — Jon believes there is nothing more he can do for the Watch and is done with fighting. He initially refuses when his younger sister Sansa wants to retake their home Winterfell. However, Ramsay sends Jon a letter revealing he has their younger brother Rickon, all the horrible things (Ramsay) wants to do to Sansa, and threatens the wildlings. Jon finally agrees in order to rescue Rickon when Sansa convinces Jon what Ramsay is saying is true. His survival of the Battle of the Bastards gives him the will to live again and once again defend the realm from the Long Night.
Chick Magnet: Ros found him attractive and he almost slept with her, Melisandre tried to seduce him and both Ygritte and Daenerys fall in love with him. Several men also note he's quite the Pretty Boy.
The Chosen One: Possibly. After losing faith in Stannis, Melisandre seems to believe that Jon could be the 'Prince that was Promised'. However, the rest of the Red Priests and Priestesses in Essos think Daenerys is the subject of the prophecy. By Season 7, Melisandre appears to believe both Jon and Daenerys are important to the prophecy. Ultimately it is revealed that neither one of them was destined to be the one who struck the killing blow to end the Army of the Dead as Arya ended up being the one who killed the Night King.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: He is a Stark, after all. He wants to right the wrongs of the world, save everyone he can from the Long Night, and is prone to Honor Before Reason in his efforts, which can leave him open to the Devil in Plain Sight as a result.
Child of Two Worlds: He is the son of two dynasties, Stark and Targaryen. The Starks are descendants of the First Men and former rulers of a Grim Up North kingdom. The Targaryens are descendants of a civilization of dragon riders, who came from Essos to conquer all the Seven Kingdoms. Thus, Jon is a metaphorical child of ice and fire.
Colonel Badass: Jon is a great warrior who develops into a very complete and able commander.
Combat Pragmatist: Though starting out quite idealistic, by Season 4, he's able to make the hard call to not respond to a group of wildlings slaughtering nearby villages, especially since he knows full well it's a distraction for an attack on the Wall itself. He shoves a sword through the back of lead-mutineer Karl's skull when the situation called for it. Even his overall fighting style is becoming more and more like this as, during the wildlings' attack on the Wall, Jon uses a mixture of kicks and the environment around him, as well as typical swordplay, to kill several enemy combatants. Jon displays this in Season 6 as well when he's challenged by a bow-wielding Ramsay. Jon throws aside his Valyrian steel sword in favor of a simple shield lying in the mud, which he uses to block all of Ramsay's arrows, close the distance, and pummel him into submission.
Compassionate Critic: Has a superior martial training and doesn't shy away from pointing out the flaws of his companions, because he cares for them and incidentally for himself too, as he will be in the same boat should trouble arise.
Composite Character: He's mostly the Jon Snow of the books. However, after the revelation of his real name Aegon, his character takes key elements of his half-brother Aegon Targaryen, who was revealed to have survived his supposed death at the Sack of King's Landing in the books (or at least, there's a Young Conqueror in the books who believes he's Aegon, which some characters are skeptical about, but it hasn't been proven or disproven yet). Like the "Young Griff" in the books, Jon is made an Unwitting Pawn by Varys to supplant Daenerys as the rightful claimant to the Iron Throne. His same-named half-brother still exists in the backstory, but is unquestionably dead.
Conflicting Loyalty:
- Between his Watch oaths and his family. He wants to go and help his brother Robb but he also doesn't want to leave the Watch after swearing to serve. Also between the Watch and Ygritte, and his understanding of the needs of the Watch versus the depravity of Craster. Also between the Watch's purpose and protecting the soft and unreliable Sam. Jon's very conflicted.
- As King in the North, he is torn between his responsibility to House Stark and its legacy, which includes the grudges they hold against their former enemies, including House Lannister and House Targaryen, and the greater good of Westeros, which is finding allies to help him stave off the Long Night. His desire and love for Queen Daenerys Targaryen only complicates this further.
Cool Big Bro: His younger Stark siblings adore him, and Arya gets Needle, her first sword, as a gift from Jon.
Cool Sword: Longclaw. A gift from the Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont, who felt the sword's name suited a wolf as much as a bear. Its functional coolness comes from the fact that it's Valyrian steel, able to hold an incredibly keen edge. It can also block White Walkers' weapons and shatter them with one blow.
- Stealth Pun: Longclaw is a hand-and-a-half sword, sometimes called a bastard sword. ^{From the books...}.
Cradling Your Kill: He cradles Daenerys as she dies from the dagger he plunged into her heart.
Curb-Stomp Battle: His fight with Ramsay Snow. Although, calling it a fight implies that there was a battle as opposed to Jon taking Ramsay down easily and punching his face to custard before leaving it to Sansa to decide Ramsay's fate.
Dating Catwoman: Jon, a crow, makes love with Ygritte, a wildling. The two sides has been designated enemies for as long as the wall has existed. He later does become the ”Friend of the Free Folk” partially for this reason.
Deadly Hug: To save the world from Daenerys, Jon assassinates her in the final episode by stabbing her with a dagger as they kiss and embrace. Afterward, Jon holds her body, devastated.
Deadpan Snarker: He tends to drift into this when provoked or angered.
Janos Slynt: I commanded the City Watch of King's Landing, boy.
Jon: And now you're here. Must not have been very good at your job.
Death Seeker: Implied in "The Watchers on the Wall". After Ygritte dies, Jon decides to go on a suicide mission to assassinate Mance Rayder. However, even though he still grieves over Ygritte's death, he manages to shake out of his suicidal tendencies soon afterwards. After his actual death and resurrection in Season 6, he seems rather peeved at not being allowed to be at rest, and some of his actions toward the end hint at a lack of will to live. Nonetheless, he goes to war against the Boltons for the sake of his little brother and sister. But he specifically asks Melisandre not to bring him back again should he die in the battle.
Defiant to the End: With no hope of winning the battle against the Night's King in sight, Jon clears over the cover he took from the undead Viserion's flame and steps out in the open. The dragon roars at him and Jon roars back at it, fully expecting to die. Then the Night's King falls and so does Viserion before he can finish off Jon.
The Determinator: His skills are only one reason he keeps surviving. His endurance is the other. Jon has gone through several desperate, long-running battles against superior foes, often as the first man in and the last man standing. The Battle of the Bastards is a clear example of this, as he is able to come to the end of the fight absolutely exhausted and still have the strength and presence of mind to outfight a fresh Ramsay Bolton. And he does this because he absolutely refuses die until the realm and the people he has sworn to protect are safe, and justice is served by his hand.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The second man confirmed to have killed a White Walker, and the first to do so in single combat.
Dies Wide Open: His eyes are wide open, staring lifelessly at the sky, after he dies.
Disappeared Dad: Rhaegar Targaryen. Jon believes that Ned Stark, the man who raised him and claimed him as his own, is his father. However, Ned is secretly Jon's maternal uncle. Jon's biological father is Rhaegar Targaryen, who died before Jon was born.
Do with Him as You Will: After Jon has finally defeated the sadist Ramsay Bolton, he understandably beats Ramsay to a pulp for all the hell Ramsay has done to his family (ransacking Winterfell, murdering his little brother and raping his younger sister). However, Jon decides the final say on Ramsay's life should go to his sister Sansa, who has suffered at Ramsay’s hands even more than Jon has. Boy, does Sansa deliver that revenge.
Dragon Rider: He rides Rhaegal, Daenerys's dragon in the Season 8 premiere. With Daenerys's encouragement he climbs on Rhaegal's back and joins her and Drogon for a flight around the mountains. He later rides Rhaegal during the battle with the White Walkers.
Dramatic Irony:
- The same episode that gives Jon nearly everything he had once dreamed of — recognition as a Stark by his Lord Bannermen and a Stark position of leadership — reveals he's not Eddard Stark's son, but Eddard Stark's nephew via Lyanna Stark, Eddard's sister.
- The Stark kid that is by far the most like Ned is not his child. While Ned Stark’s blood does run through his veins, it's because Jon is Ned's nephew as Lyanna Stark is Jon's mother. He's been talking to his great-granduncle (Maester Aemon) during much of his time in the Night's Watch with neither of them aware of their relationship.
- Much like Joffrey and Tommen, he is crowned king despite not being the son of/brother of the previous Lord of Winterfell/King in the North. Though unlike them, Jon is actually related to Ned and Robb.
- Jon spent his entire life angsting about his status as a bastard child and he is actually the hidden trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Furthermore, Jon's bastard status is the very thing that saves his life from Robert Baratheon's wrath since it is the key detail in the story that protects him — his birth name is 'Aegon Targaryen' and he is a claimant to rule the entire continent.
Entitled Bastard: Of sorts when he first joins the wall, he instantly expects to accompany his uncle Benjen on his ranging exhibition. After being given a reality check from Benjen and Tyrion, he matures considerably.
Et Tu, Brute?: "Olly?" He's stunned that Olly, a kid whom he saves, personally trains and chooses as his steward, joins the mutineers who stab him.
The Exile: Jon concludes the series having been officially sent back to the Night's Watch, as punishment for assassinating Daenerys to save Westeros from tyranny. As there is no Night's Watch anymore, nor any reason for there to be one, he instead joins the Free Folk and migrates back through Castle Black and off into the Far North, leaving behind the Seven Kingdoms forever.
Expository Hairstyle Change: After he's brought back to life, he starts to wear his hair tied back, likely to symbolise his growing maturity and eventual reclaim of Winterfell. He reverts back to his pre-death look after he is "exiled" to the Night Watch.
Extreme Mêlée Revenge: When Jon finally tracks Ramsay Bolton into Winterfell, what follows is not Ramsay and Jon fighting with swords, but rather Ramsay trying to shoot Jon several times, failing, and Jon bashing Ramsay's head with the shield, and then proceeding to beat all seven hells out of Ramsay's face with his bare fists for all the hell Ramsay put his family through. This leaves just enough of Ramsay to turn over to Jon's sister, Sansa, who has Ramsay fed to his own starving dogs later.
Eye Awaken: Immediately after his resurrection, in stark contrast to his "Dies Wide Open" moment described above.
Fake Defector: In Season 2 finale, he manages to convince the Wildlings that he's a bona fide defector. Killing Quorin Halfhand (at Qhorin's command) in a one-on-one battle, along with his admission that he was unhappy with Mormont's decision to ally with Craster, went some ways to convincing them of his sincerity. However, subtlety is definitely not Jon's strong suit, since both Orell and Ygritte immediately pick up on the fact that he's working as a Fake Defector.
Ygritte: You're loyal, Jon Snow.
Family Relationship Switcheroo: Ned claimed Jon as his illegitimate son by another woman to protect him from the Baratheon Crown and raised Jon as his very own child. In reality, he was his nephew, Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen's legitimate son.
Fatal Flaw: Poor communication. Jon is a man of action who sees what needs to be done and acts accordingly. However, his tendency to act without consulting others or sufficiently explaining his logic to others has alienated his men and/or vassals multiple times. Consequently, this helped fuel a mutiny against Jon wherein he was killed for bring the wildlings south of the Wall and his decisions made relations with the Northern lords difficult wherein they even propose a coup against him at one point.
A Father to His Men: While he does not start as an authority figure, many of the low-ranking Night's Watchmen do look up to him. Averted at the end of Season 5, when he is betrayed and murdered by some of his own men. Played Straight when most of the other Night's Watch members, who Jon helped, take vengeance upon Jon's killers, and also help him come back to life.
The Fettered: A Stark in all but name, he won't hurt an innocent in cold blood. This blows his cover when the Wildlings force Jon to kill an old man to test his allegiance.
Fire-Forged Friends: He, Pyp and Grenn had a very rough start, but they eventually become True Companions along with Sam.
Four-Star Badass: The only person to hold both titles of Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and King in the North. Despite his youth, Jon's skill, his experiences beyond the Wall, and swordsmanship have made him one of the most accomplished swordsmen in the series. So much so that he is the first person in thousands of years to kill a White Walker in open combat, a feat Sam had to use sheer luck to accomplish.
Flight of Romance: With Daenerys in Season 8, both of them flying on her dragons up to the mountains where they share a kiss.
Foil:
- Is the opposite of Robb. Whereas Robb was a good general but a lousy king, Jon is a lousy general but a good king.
- Like Daenerys, he's a heroic figure and an inspiration to others, who was expected to be a footnote in history and yet came to accomplish great things, and who might possibly be The Chosen One. However, where she is elegant, exotic and driven to rise to power, he is an unambitious Humble Hero who is the very image of a drably dressed, plain-spoken Northerner. Also, while they are both capable of mercy and both sometimes bestow harsh justice, Daenerys tends to favour justice while Jon tends to favour mercy.
Friendly Enemy: Wildling leaders such as Mance and Tormund come to respect and appreciate Jon as an earnest and capable man, and the feeling is mutual. His connection with Tormund even leans towards Fire-Forged Friends.

G-L

General Failure: In "Battle of the Bastards". Jon fails to stick to his military strategy after Ramsay activates Jon's Relative Button by killing Jon's brother at the start of the battle, after which Jon charges the Bolton's forces alone into the thick of things, unleashing his prodigious swordsman skills on enemy soldiers. Unfortunately, this action places Jon's own forces in danger as the battle would have been lost if The Cavalry had not rode in to save the day.
Generation Xerox:
- He is said to resemble Ned the most out of the Stark children (specifically that "he has more of the North in him than the others" as Tyrion notes in Season 1). He is known for his honour, and carries out executions himself much like how Ned taught him and Robb. All of this makes it even more ironic that Ned is not his father, but his uncle. Lord Beric also notes on seeing him up-close that he doesn't physically resemble Ned a great deal.
- That said, he carries traits of both biological parents as well, being both a somewhat melancholy and brooding man who doesn't like violence despite being good at it (Prince Rhaegar) and a passionate, driven, and kindly Northerner (Lyanna). Much like his mother, Jon falls in love and begins an affair with a Targaryen monarch.
Going Native: Jon's time among the Wildlings and his relationship with Ygritte has led his Night's Watch superiors to accuse Jon of this. He's unquestionably loyal to the Night's Watch but with his frequent references to the Wildlings as "Free Folk", it's more than a little obvious that his time among them has had an effect. Tormund Lampshades the same:
Tormund: You spent too much time with us, Jon Snow. You can never be a kneeler again.
Good Counterpart: To Mance Rayder at the end of the series, while the latter was a defacto Anti-Hero, he was forced into Necessarily Evil to protect the Free Folk from the approaching White Walker threat. With the threat of the White Walkers eliminated, Jon is able to lead the Free Folk back across the wall to rebuild their home in peace.
Good Is Not Nice: Jon can be somewhat stubborn and naive, despite his strong moral compass. Of course, he is still a very kindhearted man, which is closer to...
Good Is Not Soft: Being one of the most compassionate men in all of Westeros has not hampered his skill with the sword or his ability to kill a white walker general and his willingness to personally execute traitors. He becomes one of the deadliest warriors on the show, having amassed around fifty onscreen kills, which doesn't even take wights into account.
The Good King: As King of the North, he has the priority to safeguard his people first and prepare them against the White Walker's onslaught. When advised to punish the last remnants of the Umbers and Karstarks, he refuses stating he will not have innocents pay for the crimes of their relatives. Hell, he bent the knee for the express purpose of saving his subjects!
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Goodish ones, which Jon receives toward the end of Season 3. After he can’t bring himself to kill an old man to prove his loyalty to the wildlings, they become suspicious and a fight between Jon and the wildlings ensues, during which Jon and Wildling warg Orell battle in a fight-to-the-death, which ends when Jon literally and figuratively twists the knife (revealing he was loyal to the Night’s Watch all along) upon stabbing Orell. Orell’s eagle, warged by Orell, proceeds to claw and peck Jon's face and attempts (but fails) to take an eye.
Heartbroken Badass:
- When his First Love Ygritte is killed during the wildlings' attack on the Wall, Jon weeps over her.
- When Jon must kill his Second Love Daenerys to save Westeros from her destruction, he also grieves over her.
The Hero: Jon is the closest thing to a classic hero you will find in this entire series (he is also noted as “the classic hero” by GRRM in a 2014 ABC News interview), particularly from Season 4 onward. Initially, Jon serves this role for the Night's Watch storyline, with his efforts in leading the Raid on Craster's Keep and the Battle of Castle Black. By Season 6, he unquestionably is this role for the North storyline (having restored the Starks back to power) if not for the whole of Westeros, as he is the only leader aware of the White Walkers' danger and wants to gather as many forces as possible to withstand their arrival. And like many heroic main characters, he's inevitably revealed to be The Chosen One as well as the unifying point of the entire story through a series of inherent links to differing factions.
The Hero Dies: Subverted. Stabbed by his brothers while denounced as a traitor. Unlike the vast majority of the characters on the show, he gets better.
Hero with Bad Publicity: In Season 6, his decision to let Wildlings through the Wall is seen by the Northerners as him betraying his oath as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch as they perceive him as siding with the Wildlings, who they believe will rampage their lands. This causes House Umber to pledge their allegiance to the Boltons, whom they despise very openly, to defend themselves. The Umbers are the ones who give Jon's little brother Rickon to Ramsay as hostage.
Heroic Bastard: He's known as the bastard of Winterfell or Ned Stark's bastard, and he suffers some serious angst over it, but his heart is in the right place. Tyrion lampshades this trope in "The Kingsroad". (Turns out he's actually not a bastard, since his father Rhaegar Targaryen and his mother Lyanna Stark married in Dorne. His uncle Ned brought him up as his bastard to protect him and save his life.)
Tyrion: A bastard boy with nothing to inherit, off to join the ancient order of the Night's Watch, alongside his valiant brothers-in-arms.
Jon: The Night's Watch protects the realm from—
Tyrion: Ah yes, yes! Against grumpkins and snarks and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about. You're a smart boy. You don't believe that nonsense.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Because of his status as a bastard child, Jon never had the best self-esteem. He downplays his successes and never puts any stock into the reputation he started to develop.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: He quickly befriends Sam, his fellow brother in the black from the Night's Watch. They become incredibly close.
Hidden Back Up Prince: In a way, since he's hailed as Robb's successor in the North, while he spent years in the Night's Watch at the Wall. Also, what really plays this trope straight is that he's the last male Targaryen left in Westeros. He is Rhaegar's legitimate son and the heir to the Targaryen dynasty.
Hidden in Plain Sight: How did Ned hide Jon, the last surviving child of Rhaegar Targaryen, from the claimant King Robert? By raising him as his own bastard son and a part of his family.
Honest Advisor: While he is not a member of her court and technically is of equal rank to her, Jon's experience, responsibilities, and compassion give him tremendous persuasive power over Daenerys' worst instincts, and he is unique in being able to talk her down when all of her other advisors, all of them very wise and experienced, are not.
Honor Before Reason:
- As noted by show runner D.B. Weiss in an HBO featurette, Jon is "his father’s son, he’s a person who’s honorable to a fault." He refuses to kill anyone innocent or who isn't directly attacking him at that very moment in time. This seems to be his Fatal Flaw just as much as it is for the rest of his family, as his refusal to kill an old man who was going to be killed one way or the other blows his cover, turns his lover against him, gets him shot full of arrows and renders Qhorin Halfhand's sacrifice all but meaningless.
- He wants to save everyone, regardless of who they are or which side of the Wall they’re from, and will do whatever is necessary to save the living from the army of the dead, even if it costs him personally. In addition to this, there is also a sense to his saving the Wildlings by bringing them south of the Wall because any dead men north of the Wall becomes part of Westeros’s greatest threat, some of the Night’s Watch really don’t approve and it culminates in Jon being betrayed and stabbed by said group of Night’s Watch brothers.
  Jon: (The wildlings) were born on the wrong side of the Wall. That doesn't make them monsters.
- Ultimately he is a triumphant Reconstruction of this trope. When Tyrion and Daenerys criticize him for not lying to Cersei, Jon gives his "No More Holding Back" Speech:
  Jon Snow: I'm not going to swear an oath I can't uphold. Talk about my father if you want, tell me that's the attitude that got him killed. But when enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies. And lies won't help us in this fight.
I Am Who?: In Season 8, Sam reveals to Jon that he is Aegon Targaryen, the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and tells Jon he is a heir to the Iron Throne. Sam explains this is an Awful Truth Ned had to keep hidden to protect Jon from Robert Baratheon.
I Choose to Stay: He turns down Stannis's offer to legitimize him as Jon Stark, something he has wanted his whole life, out of his sense of duty to the Night’s Watch and realizing that the political squabbling among the kingdoms is nothing compared to the impending threat of the White Walkers and their army of the dead.
I Have Many Names: In addition to 'Jon Snow', he is known by his titles 'Lord Snow', 'the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch' and 'the King in the North' throughout the series, as well as by his In Series Nicknames — 'Lord Snow', 'King Crow', 'Ned Stark's bastard' and 'the White Wolf'. Season 7 adds to this by revealing his birth name as 'Aegon Targaryen' — the name given to him by his mother Lyanna. Ned gives him the name Jon and raises him as his bastard to protect him from the fatal consequences of being discovered as the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
Insistent Terminology:
- Even after becoming King in the North, and thus successor to his brother Robb and the long line of previous Stark kings, and having the power to legitimize himself as "Jon Stark", he remains a Snow, and later tells Tyrion that he's not a Stark. This leads to further mockery from Ser Davos, who notes that this makes it confusing for his courtiers to list his titles:
Ser Davos: What do I call you? King Snow? No, that doesn't sound right. King Jon?
Jon: It doesn't matter.
- Jon keeps insisting more than a few times that he's "not a Stark". Still, Jon is told he is by Ned ("You are a Stark. You might not have my name, but you have my blood") and by Sansa ("You are to me"). He repeats this even after coming to Dragonstone when he says this to Tyrion. In his mind, he's internalized being Jon Snow for so long that — while he is a Stark by blood, culture, and identifies as a son of Ned Stark — he can't conceive of his identity being Stark by law due to his illegitimacy.
- Then we get the triple whammy, as it turns out that he is a Stark via his mother Lyanna AND a Targaryen via his father Rhaegar, as well as the child of a legal and loving marriage, which all in all equals to the rightful king of the entire continent of Westeros.
In-Series Nickname: 'Lord Snow' by the Night's Watchmen (mainly Ser Alliser) and 'King Crow' by Ygritte. Following his coronation, he is nicknamed as 'The White Wolf'.
Informed Ability: Jon Snow is considered a great leader and is described by Sansa as a "military man" and good at ruling.
- Jon is without a doubt an excellent and talented soldier, but about the only time he ever had overall military command was the Battle of the Bastards and that resulted in him going Leeroy Jenkins and nearly getting his army butchered until The Cavalry arrived. In the previous engagement, at the Battle of the Wall, he served as a good lieutenant under Ser Alliser Thorne's command and he personally oversees and intervenes in the skirmish at the base of the Wall while Dolorous Edd efficiently mans the defenses at the top.
- As a leader, Jon Snow is able to win Undying Loyalty of his followers but this can be compromised as he puts forth controversial and polarizing policies in the interest of the moral good, and never quite finds a way to win over naysayers. He also refuses good advice from King Stannis (who warns him about Ser Alliser's treachery and insists he send him to Eastwatch away from Castle Black, which, considering that Alliser led the coup against him, is Cassandra Truth), Ser Davos (who insists that the war in the North matters to the Watch over the Watch’s neutrality and he should support Stannis) and his sister Sansa (who warns him that Ramsay is good at goading him, and that the alliance in the North is fragile and he shouldn't head South to treat with Daenerys personally).^note
- While Jon is a very skilled, well-trained swordsman, he is also shilled to high Heaven in Season 6 as the greatest swordsman of his time, which doesn't even make sense considering how the events at the Wall isn't exactly something people in Westeros gossip about. While he was the best fighter in the Night's Watch, he still lost quite a few times (to Craster and Karl Tanner to name a couple), and had to resort to Combat Pragmatism to win other times (Styr for example). So while he's undoubtedly a good swordsman, he's still not at the level of the likes of Sandor, Brienne, Jaime (before he lost his hand), or even Bronn.
It's Personal: Despite vowing to never fight again, Jon is now willing to take up arms when he learns that Ramsay Bolton has taken his brother Rickon hostage and that he and Sansa must save him. Ramsay later taunts Jon over taking Sansa back for more torment. When Ramsay succeeds in murdering Rickon, Jon beats him within an inch of his life with his bare hands but ultimately turns Ramsay over to Sansa, who decides his fate.
Jumped at the Call: Jon is overly eager to join the Night's Watch, despite his Cool Uncle Benjen's advice to wait a while. Later, he volunteers himself to join Qhorin Halfhand's ranging party. Mance Rayder picks up on this trait very quickly, saying that he believes that the thing Jon wants, most of all, is to be a hero. This attitude changes after his resurrection, where he becomes a Reluctant Hero and quasi-Death Seeker who initially had to be prompted by Dolorous Edd, Sansa, and Ramsay's threats against his family and those under his protection to fight again, motivating Jon to return to the battlefield and defend the North. In Season 7, Jon tells the Northern lords that he never wanted to be king, but he accepted it because the North is his home and he will continue fighting for it. He reveals to Daenerys that he does not like what he is good at.
Kill the Ones You Love: In the finale, he stabs Daenerys, his aunt/lover, in the heart to save Westeros from her deluded, destructive idea of 'liberation'. He spent the first chunk of the episode agonising over the decision and sobs over her body after he does it.
"This is the second woman he's fallen in love with who dies in his arms and he cradles her in the same way," [Kit] Harington notes. "That’s an awful thing. In some ways, Jon did the same thing to [his Wilding lover] Ygritte by training the boy who kills her. This destroys Jon to do this."
Last Kiss: In the final episode, Jon and Dany share a kiss one last time as he stabs her in the heart to save Westeros, before catching her as she dies in his arms.
Last of His Kind: With Daenerys' death, Jon is last known living member of House Targaryen, although this is kept secret from the majority of the world, with only a handful of people knowing the truth.
Leeroy Jenkins: Jon has never been one for patience. More than once he's charged off into the thick of danger without thinking everything through, and more often than not this has come back to bite him hard. The Battle of the Bastards being the most egregious example, where everything was nearly ruined for his cause because he didn't remain with his men.
Licked by the Dog: Not that the audience needs to be reminded that he's a good man, but he's the only person besides Daenerys that Drogon has ever allowed to pet him. The dragon is likely able to scent the Targaryen blood in him and hence the connection to Dany.
Like a Son to Me
- To Jeor Mormont, whose own son Jorah disgraced their family. He gives him the ancestral sword of House Mormont.
- He's Ned Stark's nephew by his sister Lyanna. Ned raised Jon as his own son.
Like Father, Like Son:
- Like Robb, Jon shares many traits with Ned, the man who he thinks is his father, and who is certainly his most important parental role model. His fighting advice to Olly is the same that a young Ned gave to Benjen, he executes men he sentences to die himself as Ned taught him, and his outfit post-resurrection is brown and blue like Ned's. Sansa even makes him a cloak that looks exactly like their father's did. He also has Ned's sense of honor and duty. D.B. Weiss, co-executive producer and writer for Game of Thrones, states, "Jon is his father’s son, he’s a person who’s honorable to a fault and does the right thing even when the right thing is extremely dangerous to him personally."
- He is a Master Swordsman, good friend, charismatic leader of men, somewhat melancholic, and philanthropic, in the manner of his biological father, Rhaegar Targaryen. Like Rhaegar, who Ser Barristan insisted did not like killing despite being good at it, Jon Snow hates violence and war, and as he notes to Dany, who states that most men are quite happy doing what they are good at, Jon Snow is not. Jon also is known for defying convention, as well as his fulfilling the Star-Crossed Lovers trope twice in the series: first with Ygritte, and long after Ygritte's death, with Daenerys, both of whom are technically "the enemy" in the eyes of his faction and group.
Lineage Comes from the Father:
- Since his mother is missing and her identity is totally unknown by most people (including him), a great deal more emphasis is put on Jon's Stark lineage because despite being the illegitimate son of Ned Stark, he's the kid who echoes Ned the most and he spent his life in the North entrenched in its ways and customs. This is even a plot point by the end of Season 6 when the Northern lords are willing to overlook his illegitimacy and name him as the King in the North because Jon is the last surviving son of Ned Stark (as far as they know) and the living embodiment of a Northern warrior.
- This is made ironic in light of the revelation that he is the biological son of Rhaegar Targaryen and his Stark lineage comes from his mother, Lyanna Stark. Likewise, Lord Beric Dondarrion of the Brotherhood Without Banners looks closely at Jon and remarks that he doesn't resemble Ned physically. He says that Jon must take after his mother — which, unknown to nearly everyone, is true.
Living Legend: Being Back from the Dead and having killed a White Walker in single combat does god-like wonders for one's reputation. All the more-so when you liberate the North and topple the Boltons against overwhelming odds.
Long-Lost Relative:
- He is this to Daenerys and Maester Aemon. Dramatically enough, Maester Aemon and Jon bonded over their families being in trouble (Aemon with his Targaryen family and Jon with his Stark family) and wanting to help them, driven by their love for their families and anguished by their Night's Watch vows — all the while not knowing that they share their own family tie via their Targaryen blood.
- Daenerys doesn't know how ironic it is calling herself the last Targaryen in front of her nephew.
Looks Like Jesus: Progressively, as his beard becomes fuller as seasons go by. Both their deaths even involves a cross, though Jon wasn't crucified. His resurrection sequence is also modeled on Renaissance paintings of Jesus.
Loophole Abuse: He took an oath to serve the Watch until his death. Since he did die, he had a legitimate claim to leave the Watch upon being resurrected. Seeing as how the remaining members of the Watch were loyal to him, they let him go.
Love Cannot Overcome: Although he loves Ygritte, he puts his duty and loyalty to the Night's Watch first and leaves her, making them enemies once more. This happens again in Season 8; he loves Dany, but he cannot abide her killing of innocent civilians and knows she's too unhinged and dangerous to be left alive, ultimately being the one who kills her.
Love Hurts: Jon has only ever loved two women in his life: Ygritte of the Free Folk and Queen Daenerys Targaryen. Neither romance ended well.
- Ygritte was his First Love, but no matter how much he loved her and how much he enjoyed being one of the Free Folk, his honor and duty will always come first, and he inevitably betrays her to rejoin the Night's Watch once more. Ygritte later dies in his arms after being shot by Olly, who Jon taught to shoot and kill (and would later betray him as well).
- Daenerys was his Second Love, and his Queen. Unfortunately, Daenerys turns out to be his aunt, which strains their relationship due to the North's (and therefore, Jon's) taboo against incest. This plays a part in Daenerys's Sanity Slippage over the course of Season Eight, culminating in her going to completely mad like her father (and Jon's grandfather). She burns King's Landing to the ground and makes plans to Take Over the World. When a desperate Jon begs her to stop, she instead asks him to help her in quest. Once again, Jon's duty wins out, and he's forced to kill her to end her tyranny before it can begin. Their last moment together sees her dying in his arms, just like Ygritte had years prior.
- Love for his family. As much as he loves them, his duty to the Night's Watch prevents them from helping/avenging any of them over the course of the first five seasons. It's only after his resurrection that he's able to properly reunite with them and aid them.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: While he normally eschews a shield in order to be able to wield Longclaw with both hands, when Ramsay challenges him to one-on-one combat with a bow, Jon wisely tosses aside his sword to pick up a nearby shield. He uses this shield to block all of Ramsay's arrows before closing in and knocking him down with a Shield Bash.

M-R

Magnetic Hero: Many of the people who follow Jon do so because they believe in him. Through his actions, Jon is able to inspire Undying Loyalty from all kinds of people with different backgrounds. In quite a literal sense, once the family begins to experience its series of unfortunate predicaments, the objective of all the Starks becomes "Get up north to the Wall and meet up with Jon" and if this isn't the outright goal, it's mentioned as an option. In Season 1, Jon becomes True Companions with the fellow recruits who initially tried to kick his ass when he helps teach them how to fight properly, and they join Jon to defend and protect Samwell Tarly — who is not a physical fighter — from guys who want to mess Sam up. Throughout the series, Jon is able to make allies of former enemies — such as the wildlings, eventually becoming Fire-Forged Friends and True Companions with Tormund. He is later chosen by the Northern lords as their king due to his actions, Jon convincing them of the true threat coming for them all and they name him as their leader as their best hope for the coming storm. Varys pinpoints this as the reason why he's a threat to Daenerys in spite of his lack of desire to rule; people will naturally be drawn to him.
Tormund: (Season 6) The crows killed [Jon] because he spoke for the free folk when no other southerners would. He died for us. If we are not willing to do the same for him, we're cowards. And if that's what we are, we deserve to be the last of the free folk.
Davos Seaworth: (Season 7) [Jon] is the first to make allies of wildlings and Northmen. He was named Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He was named King in the North. Not because of his birthright. He has no birthright. He’s a damn bastard. All those hard sons of bitches chose him as their leader because they believe in him. All those things you don’t believe in, he faced those things. He fought those things for the good of his people. He risked his life for his people. He took a knife in the heart for his people.
Manly Tears:
- Walking away from his First Love Ygritte's funeral pyre, we see Jon breaking down.
- A devastated Jon cries after he holds Daenerys's body after having to assassinate her to save Westeros from tyranny.
Master Swordsman: His skills are spoken in high regard in the North, at least according to Ramsay Bolton who describes him as "the greatest sword fighter who has ever walked". His reputation isn't undeserving given that he slew Karl Tanner, a Magnar of Thenn, a White Walker, and countless Bolton soldiers by himself. Jon might as well be one of the deadliest fighters currently alive.
Meaningful Name: His nickname upon becoming king, the White Wolf, takes on a whole new meaning when you remember his father was a Targaryen, who had Mystical White Hair not unlike the white fur of Ghost (whose red eyes also echoes the red three-headed dragon of their standard).
Meaningful Rename: The final episode of Season 7 reveals that he was born under another name given to him by his mother, Lyanna Stark — Aegon — which Ned changed to "Jon." ^note Ned changes the name Lyanna gave Jon as a means to protect him from the current ruling dynasty. In a 2002 "So Spake Martin" Q&A, GRRM states Ned named Jon.
Mercy Kill:
- He plants an arrow in Mance's chest so he doesn't have to slowly burn to death.
- In the series finale, after seeing how far Daenerys has fallen and trying in vain to pull her back from the brink of madness, he reluctantly assassinates her to prevent her from destroying Westeros in her deluded megalomania.
Messianic Archetype: Set up this way, what with the noble nature and the mysterious parentage and the possibly being the only hope for a good future for the common folk and the looking like Jesus. And, of course, the whole "being betrayed by his followers and then brought back from the dead" thing.
Missing Mom: Jon grew up knowing nothing about his mother. Ned promised Jon they will talk about his mother someday when they reunite, but they never see each other again. In the story, Ned tells King Robert Baratheon when Robert pushes Ned for the name of the woman he claimed to have had an affair with — Jon's mother — Ned responds she is a woman called "Wylla". However, Stannis Baratheon is quite skeptical that Jon Snow was the result of a one-night stand, noting that it wasn't Ned Stark's style. The truth is that his mother is Ned's sister Lyanna Stark, with Jon's biological father being Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, meaning Jon is actually Ned's nephew whom Ned claimed as his illegitimate son in order to protect him from Lyanna's betrothed Robert Baratheon and Ned raised Jon as his own child.
Modest Royalty: Much like Robb before him. The only difference before and after becoming King is him wearing a gorget enameled with the Stark direwolf. In the Season 7 "Long Walk" teaser, this is shown through the different thrones each major remaining monarchs have; Cersei with the Iron Throne, Daenerys's impressively carved throne in Dragonstone... and Jon's humble wooden chair. He also could fashion himself a Long List of titles like Daenerys, but seems to be fine with just "King in the North".^{From the books}
The Mourning After: His tragic romance with Ygritte puts him off from pursuing intimacy with another woman, citing his feelings for her when he refuses Melisandre's advances. Then he meets Daenerys Targaryen. Unfortunately, his relationship with her doesn't turn out so well, either.
My Sister Is Off-Limits: He tells this line to Littlefinger, who has been manipulating Sansa and who Jon learned sold Sansa to Ramsay. As Jon is holding him by the throat, he tells Littlefinger: "Touch my sister and I'll kill you myself."
Mythology Gag: After being made king, Jon is called The White Wolf, which is a reference to the inverted colors of House Stark. It is a custom for highborn acknowledged illegitimate children to carry the inverted colours of their noble parent's sigil. This is a common custom in Westeros and was also practiced by another bastard-born king, the Black Dragon Daemon Blackfyre, who unknown to everyone, was distantly related to him. And, of course, Jon's pet direwolf is white.
Naïve Newcomer: To the north side of the Wall, where he knows nothing.
Naked on Revival: Although there's a Modesty Towel placed on his private parts, he's in his birthday suit when he is resurrected.
Named After Somebody Famous: Like many other male Targaryens, he is named Aegon after the famous conqueror.
Nerves of Steel: So much so that Jon will stand alone against a calvary without seeming to break a sweat, ready to take as many of them down with him as possible.
Nice Guy: One of the nicest and most moral guys on the Crapsack World that is Westeros, though not without his broody moments of pride.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Ignoring Stannis's advice to send Thorne away allows Thorne to organize the mutiny against him. But it's possible that if not Thorne someone else might have organized the mutiny.
- Tyrion (as the one who proposed the expedition) and Jon's efforts to prove the existence of (and the threat posed by) the Night King unwittingly leads to the Walkers obtaining a dragon of their own and the ability to breach the Wall with it, which they couldn't previously do.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The tragic Stark tradition continues with Jon Snow.
- Choosing to save the wildlings from the White Walkers gets him betrayed and murdered by his own brethren. He hangs a Lampshade on this to Ser Davos on his resurrection, noting that he tried to do the right thing and failed. All Davos tells him is that he must be prepared to fail again to do what's right.
- Likewise, Jon Snow consistently upheld his duty over his desires. He stays with the Watch rather than riding south to fight alongside Robb to avenge their father's death, when he wants to be at Robb's side. He loyally serves as a Double Agent for the Night's Watch against the wildlings, though he feels sympathy for the wildlings and loves Ygritte. As Lord Commander, he puts aside his feelings for revenge and upheld his duty by calling for men and supplies from all Northern lords, including Roose Bolton, despite his hatred for the Boltons due to them having a hand in the betrayal of his brother, Robb. After constant rejection and lack of results, Jon takes matters and legally settles the wildlings on land belonging to the Watch and this leads the Umbers, who never once responded to his summons, to side with the Boltons citing their grudge over earlier Wildling invasions.
- Played with in his decision to bend the knee to Daenerys Targaryen and bringing the allies needed to defend the North against the Army of the Dead. Jon bends the knee because he feels that uniting under Daenerys is the best option for the North after witnessing her commitment to defeating the army of the dead and feels she will be a good queen. He also returns with the support and resources they need to defend against the Army of the Dead if the North has any chance of surviving. However, almost every Northern lord, as well as his own sisters, not only disapprove of his allegiance to Daenerys, but also chide him whenever possible that Jon bent the knee to the daughter of the person who killed the Starks' grandfather and uncle. Their concerns are understandable — they don't know Daenerys, didn't choose Daenerys as their queen, and have suffered in the past when ruled by a southern king or queen. Still, death is literally marching their way and they need Daenerys's help to defend the living from the dead. Some of the lords are so infuriated that they take the suicidal option of hollering behind their walls.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
- Jon Snow's background as the Hidden Backup Prince of the Targaryen dynasty is based on the legend of Giannino Baglioni, a young pretender who was believed by some to be the legitimate King of France, Jean I (a baby who died in four days and was either poisoned or had his body-swapped). Jean I was raised by a foster parent who passed him off as her own son, and years later during The Hundred Years War and the capture of King Jean le Bon, he tried to assert his claim only for it to be denied. The final novel of The Accursed Kings deals with this incident, and more or less states (against the opinion of historians) that Giannino (which is an Italian version of Jon) was the real deal, and those series are an acknowledged inspiration for George R. R. Martin.^note
- By his own right, however, his tenure as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch (a revolutionary, younger leader who made significant changes to how the institution was run, to the consternation of the old guard—ending in his assassination) is a compressed run of Julius Caesar's last years. Him being tricked into the slaughter under the banner of normalcy also owes a bit to William Shakespeare's theatrical representation of the incident that ended Caesar's life. He would share this Caesarian background with Daenerys Targaryen, to their mutual regret.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Once Jon has retaken Winterfell and cornered Ramsay inside, he beats Ramsay to within an inch of his life for everything he's ever done, including the murder of his brother and rape of his sister. The only reason Jon doesn't kill Ramsay himself is because Jon believes that it's Sansa who deserves to deliver the final blow.
No-Sell: The only person to resist Melisandre's advances, mainly because he's still in love with Ygritte.
Not So Above It All: While undoubtedly a good person, he initially had some entitlement issues due to his highborn upbringing and castle training, which was actually a problem when he's still starting at the Night's Watch. The full-weight of the Trauma Conga Line he experiences when he is resurrected beats him down to the extent that he initially wants to give up fighting the Zombie Apocalypse, which Dolorous Edd and his sister call him out on. And, of course, Ser Davos realizes Jon has a bit of a crush on Dany, telling Jon that he noticed he was looking at Dany's good heart.
Not So Stoic: The normally reserved Jon Snow breaks down after burning Ygritte's body in the forest.
The Oath-Breaker:
- Subverted. Jon leaves to avenge the death of his father, but his brothers in the Night's Watch convince him to return to Castle Black.
- It's played straight with the celibacy part of the oath, although circumstances may have called for it. It's even admitted by Maester Aemon on the show that the oath of celibacy for the Night's Watch hasn't been taken seriously for a while. (In the books, the fact that the men at the Wall have had a longstanding working relationship with some of the 'professionals' of nearby Mole's Town is an Open Secret.)
- Also subverted in the episode titled "Oathbreaker" and the one that follows, since he is accused of this for leaving the Watch but cites the fact that he swore to serve until his death, and now he's back from the dead.
Oblivious Adoption: He has no idea that his father, Ned, is actually his maternal uncle, or that his mother is really Lyanna Stark, or that he’s related to the Targaryens via his biological father. At least until Sam tells him in the premiere of Season 8. Justified, since he takes strongly after Lyanna in appearance and not Rhaegar, so he can easily pass for the son of Lyanna's brother.
Odd Friendship:
- With Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf son of Tywin Lannister, a member of a family that is the enemy of the Starks.
- With Tormund Giantsbane, a wildling leader and consequently a mortal enemy of the Stark and the Night's Watch.
Oddball in the Series: He's the only Targaryen in the show to not feature the trademark silver hair and bright eyes of his Valyrian ancestors, greatly resembling his Stark side instead — his mother and the rest of his maternal family.^{From the books...}
Offered the Crown: Seeking aid in retaking the North, Stannis offers to raise him as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell. Jon refuses this longtime daydream, out of his sense of duty and because he took a vow for the Night's Watch. Ironically, he ends up getting crowned anyway at the end of Season 6.
One-Man Army: Is able to fight his way through levied soldiers, professional men-at-arms, barbarians, bandits, zombies, and mythical superhuman ice-demons with equal abandon. During "Battle of the Bastards", Jon charges by himself against the Bolton cavalry and racks up an impressive body count during the fight. Not even Barristan Selmy in his last stand against the Sons of the Harpy was able to take down as many of his enemies as Jon did. This video goes over all of his combat scenes, and tallies that he has killed 118 enemies in hand to hand combat (mostly with a sword), on top of scorching 308 zombies on dragonback. It helps that he has a Valyrian steel longsword that can cut through plate-like butter, though he still does well even when he's not using it.
One-Steve Limit: Rhaegar's second child and first son was also named Aegon. Aegon is the most popular Targaryen family name, but it's notable in that two brothers end up having the same name.
Phrase Catcher:
- "You must be Ned Stark's bastard". Uttered by nearly every single person who meets him for the first time.
- "You know nothing, Jon Snow", courtesy of Ygritte.
- "Prettier than X's daughters"', when his good looks are discussed.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Isn't tall by any means, as can especially be seen in his fight with the Magnar of Thenn, and even Sansa is just taller than he is ^note. He's probably the best swordsman in the North, if not all of Westeros.
Plot Armor: Jon survives unlikely odds, seemingly lost battles, and has literally cheated death. Justified, as the Lord of Light won't let him die.
Pretty Boy: Jon has a fair, boyish face and long curly black hair. It is something of a running joke that he's prettier than daughters of most men. Craster snarks that Jon is prettier than half his daughters. Tormund likewise says Jon is prettier than his daughters. Orell claims Jon's looks are the only reason Ygritte likes him.
Pride: Though a good and moral person, this can be a character flaw of his. His confidence in the superiority of his abilities often causes him to lose sight of the bigger picture and complain about the unfairness of his life. Good thing he has Sam and friends to put things in perspective for him.
Properly Paranoid: After his resurrection, Jon spends almost all of his scenes in Season 6 wearing a coat-of-plate, probably to protect himself from betrayal.
Prophecy Twist: Possibly. Even after the Night King (and by extension, the White Walkers) is killed not by Jon, but by Arya, Jon might remain the "Prince That Was Promised" if one believes the "coming darkness" that Jon was destined to put a stop to be Daenerys' up and coming reign of terror.
Rags to Royalty: While he had it better off than most people in Westeros with a privileged upbringing in a castle and a loving family, he was still the bastard son of Ned Stark and as such, couldn’t inherit his father’s titles or lands. He is acclaimed the King in the North at the end of Season 6. And then it turns out he was secretly always royalty from birth.
Raised by Rival: A downplayed example, since Ned doesn't appear to have borne Rhaegar much personal animus, but Jon was raised by Ned Stark, who was on the opposite side of Robert's Rebellion from his biological father Rhaegar Targaryen.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Joined the Night's Watch of his own volition, rather than to escape death like many other recruits.
Red Baron: The "White Wolf" after his coronation as the King in the North.
Refusal of the Call: Initially. Sansa tries to convince him to aid her in the battle against the Boltons to get back Winterfell, but Jon refuses due to be being tired of all the fighting. However, once Jon is informed by Ramsay's threatening letter that he has Rickon captive and is threatening to rape his sister, he decides to take up arms against Ramsay and aid Sansa. Once The Reveal happens in Season 8, Jon repeatedly rebuffs attempts to get him to claim his birthright as the rightful heir of the Seven Kingdoms. On top of his blood claim, he's a charismatic and natural leader that has shown the ability to unite feuding factions and cultures. He has shown on multiple occasions that he's genuinely the best man for the job. There's only one snag; he genuinely doesn't want the job.
Relationship Upgrade: After spending most of Season 7 in a near constant state of Ship Tease with one another, Jon and Daenerys consummate their relationship at the end of the season.
Relative Button: He loves his father, siblings, and uncle. Harming his little brothers or sisters is a very bad idea, as Ramsay Snow learned the hard way. He nearly attacked Alliser Thorne for bad-mouthing Ned and Robb. He almost quit the Night’s Watch to avenge his father’s death. Qhorin Halfhand also provoked Jon into seriously fighting back (as part of his plan to help Jon infiltrate the Wildlings by having Jon kill him) by calling Ned a traitor and Jon's unknown mother a whore.
Reluctant Ruler: In Seasons 7 and 8, Jon states that he didn't want to be King in the North but accepted the position out of duty. Likewise, he does not want the Iron Throne. Unfortunately, this doesn't matter as others will want to press his claim over that of Daenerys's, despite Jon's refusal of the crown. Even Daenerys is beginning to feel the pressure.
The Reveal: Via Bran's visions, we learn that Jon Snow is actually the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark from their secret marriage. This makes him not only a nephew/second cousin of Daenerys but also gives him a claim on the Iron Throne that is probably superior to her own. Jon, only learns this in the season 8 premiere.
Revival Loophole: After being betrayed, murdered, coming back only to learn there's no afterlife, and having to confront his killers, Jon hangs the mutineers who murdered him and quits the Night's Watch. He passes on command to Dolorous Edd, saying that his "watch was ended". Normally, deserting the Night's Watch warrants the death penalty and the Night's Watch oath states that a member's watch "shall not end until [his] death." However, Jon did die (but was brought back), so he's freed from his oath. When Edd brings it up, Jon responds, "I pledged my life to the Night's Watch. I gave my life."
Riding into the Sunset: The final scene is Jon slowly riding horseback beside the Wildlings into a forest beyond the Wall. Whether he is merely escorting them or joining them is left ambiguous.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Poor guy just can't catch a break from this.
- Jon's initial entitled attitude when he first arrives at Castle Black. While it's true that he was the most promising recruit at time, it does not automatically means instant membership as he has to earn it like the rest. Tyrion and Jon's Uncle Benjen's scoldings put Jon in his place.
- He broke a few oaths of the Night's Watch (namely the celibacy vow), but him leading the Wildlings to live south of the Wall is the final straw for a group of his Watch brothers, who execute him in a mutiny as they believe he has betrayed the Watch. Except Jon actually allowed the Wildlings to go through the Wall so they won't come back as part of the growing undead army, not to malign the Watch.
- The Season 6 finale reveals that this is Jon's entire existence in a nutshell. All his life, he was told that he is the illegitimate child of a highborn northerner, hence the surname "Snow". While he is the child of a highborn northerner, the northerner parent is his mother, not his father, and the Season 7 finale reveals Jon is trueborn, named 'Aegon Targaryen' at birth by his mother Lyanna Stark. Ned's "You might not have my name, but you have my blood" remark in Season 1 perfectly sums this up.
Royal Bastard: Jon was the believed-to-be illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark, Snow being a surname given to bastards born in the north. However, it's subverted in that, Jon isn't Ned's son, but the child of former prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Whether this makes him a bastard (and this a Double Subversion) is a bit grey since Rhaegar and Lyanna were married in secret, though he did annul his first marriage to Elia Martell.

S-Z

Scars Are Forever: Those dagger marks above his heart don't seem like they're going anywhere.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When he feels it is necessary, Jon will go against tradition, norms and opinions of those around him for the sake of doing the morally right thing, like his efforts to save the wildling people and others in need, as well as teaming up with various allies to fight everyone's true enemy, the White Walkers. As Lord Commander, he knows that bringing the wildlings south of the Wall would upset many of his men and would hit a raw nerve with them — but it is the right thing to do. As Maester Aemon told him, being a man and killing the boy is all about confronting the fact that doing the right thing has consequences, will potentially make you unpopular (and maybe trigger a mutiny or two) but not doing it is even worse.
Second Love: Jon and Daenerys become this for each other after the deaths of their First Loves earlier on in the series.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: It's clear he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being murdered and brought back to life in "Oathbreaker".
Shoot Your Mate: Jon has to kill Qhorin Halfhand (with Qhorin's consent) to convince the Wildlings he's defecting to their side.
Significant Wardrobe Shift: Season 6 piles it up with Jon's wardrobe changes once he leaves the Night's Watch, pointing to his reclamation of his Stark roots. His 24-Hour Armor is the exact kind Ned and Robb wore for most of their battle scenes in previous seasons — foreshadowing his rise as the King in the North come the season finale. In addition, Sansa enforces it by making him a wolf pelt coat explicitly based off of Ned's, as we saw in his very first scene in Season 1. Starting with season 7, he starts wearing a gorget with the direwolf of house Stark. And in season 8, he discards it after finding out his father wasn't actually Ned Stark.
Sixth Ranger: Becomes sort of one to Daenerys's court. As an outsider and potential competing king (instead of the slaves and servants who have been supporting Dany faithfully), his advice provides a different perspective of consideration to Daenerys' decisions.
Snow Means Death: He dies while it was snowing and lies bleeding and dying on the snow-covered ground, making his name poignant.
Snow Means Love: He and Ygritte developed feelings for each other while stuck with each other at the north of the Wall.
Someone to Remember Him By: Averted; Jon, revealing his yearning to know his Missing Mom (as his father had to keep her identity secret to protect Jon), tells Sam in Season 1 that he didn't have sex as he doesn't want to leave a girl pregnant with an illegitimate child because he doesn’t think illegitimacy is an easy life. He, himself, actually was this trope for Lyanna Stark, who gave birth to Jon months after Rhaegar Targaryen's death, although she herself didn't live long after that. Subsequently, Jon could be regarded as a familial version of this for Ned, he being the only child of his beloved sister.
Star-Crossed Lovers:
- With Ygritte, his First Love. Jon is a man of the Night's Watch and Ygritte a Wildling, meaning that they can't be together no matter how much they love one another.
- With his Second Love Daenerys. He is King in the North, and Daenerys is the daughter of the Mad King Aerys II, the man who killed Rickard and Brandon Stark, the Stark kids' grandfather and uncle. As far as Sansa Stark and most of the North is considered, the Targaryens are the same as the Lannisters and they are angered by Jon's decision to bend the knee to Daenerys — Sansa suspecting he did so out of love for Daenerys. In Season 8, things continue to act against them as The Reveal of Jon's parentage strains their relationship: Jon gives up his claim to the throne for Dany but is uncomfortable with their Surprise Incest and halts their intimate relationship while Dany, ok with incest, wants to continue their intimacy but also fears others will press Jon's claim over hers. This becomes a factor in Dany's Sanity Slippage and she goes Ax-Crazy, culminating in Jon having to reluctantly assassinate her at great personal cost to save Westeros.
Staring Down Cthulhu: Jon and the Night's King stare at each other while Jon retreats from Hardhome.
Strong Family Resemblance: Jon greatly resembles his mother Lyanna Stark, having inherited her dark hair, dark eyes, striking looks, and slight height. This is is fortunate, as it made it easy for her brother Ned (Jon's uncle) to pass Jon off as his own child, whom he claimed as his illegitimate son, for Jon has the Stark look — as opposed to if he had taken after his biological father Rhaegar Targaryen with the trademark Targaryen silver hair. It was probably a very good thing Jon took after Lyanna. Otherwise, baby Jon would have suffered Robert's wrath.
Surprise Incest: In the Season 7 finale, Jon makes love to Daenerys Targaryen; unbeknownst to either, they are actually aunt and nephew. He finds out the truth in Season 8, though he appears more in shock that Ned Stark wasn't his real father and lied to him his whole life. This later causes some problems for him and Dany; she's used to the incestuous practices of her family, but Jon was raised in the North where incest is taboo, and so is reluctant to be physically intimate with her because of their blood relation. It's made clear that he still loves her, though, so he might've been able to eventually move past the incest had he been given enough time — if it hadn’t been for Dany burning down King's Landing and forcing him to kill her.
Tangled Family Tree: The man whom Jon knows as his father is actually his maternal uncle, therefore Jon's adopted siblings are actually his maternal first cousins. And if the Season 7 finale is any indication, he'll likely get hitched with his paternal aunt who is also his second cousin (though both of them are unaware of their actual relationship until Jon learns at the start of season 8).
Teeny Weenie: Tormund jokingly insinuates that Jon has a small penis.
Tormund: They think you're some kind of god.
Jon: I'm not a god.
Tormund: I know that. I saw your pecker, what kind of god would have a pecker that small.
The Unfavorite: For Catelyn as he's a constant reminder of the one time Ned's honor faltered; as far as she's concerned, his joining the Night's Watch is a much-needed Reassignment To Antarctica. (His father, siblings, and uncle all clearly love him.)
Too Dumb to Live:
- When Jon makes peace with the wildlings and helps them pass south of the Wall, he explains the reasons for this alliance — but he does not prepare for the consequences of dissent from his own ranks. He's later murdered for it, Caesar-style, and none of the stabbers’ identities are surprising at all. He gets better though.
- In the Battle of the Bastards, after trying to save Rickon, Jon charges the Bolton army alone in grief and fury over Rickon's murder at Ramsay's hands. This results in the loss of his battle plan dependent on their only known possible advantage — a pincer move against Ramsay's army. In the end, Jon and his army are stuck in-between a phalanx-backed pincer movement and an army with the high ground, facing certain death, and are only rescued at the 11th hour when the Knights of the Vale arrive.
- Agrees to the dangerous, foolishly naive plan of capturing a wight in order to convince Cersei Lannister to join the fight against Night King, resulting in his team being pretty much curb stomped and needing a rescue by Daenerys. In the process providing the Night King the means to breach the Wall when he kills one of her dragons and resurrects it as his mount. During the mission, he also attempts to return his White Walker-killing sword to Jeor Mormont's son Jorah. All of the effort ends up being in vain anyways when Cersei predictably pretends to provide support and doesn't in the end.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Jon Snow's simplistic morality is seen as unsuitable for the morally ambiguous and complicated Westeros. He gets killed by Ser Alliser then exiled after he's brought back. Perhaps being exiled is the best thing that happened to him.
Took a Level in Badass: His term serving under Lord Commander Mormont and time spent among the Wildlings have shaped him into a better leader and fighter.
Tragic Hero: He killed the woman he loved to save a world that does not like him. He goes down in history as just another Bastard Bastard.
Tranquil Fury:
- While Jon tries to save his brother Rickon, Rickon is arrowed in the back and killed by Ramsay in "The Battle of the Bastards" just when Jon and Rickon are just about to reach each other. A distraught Jon Snow doesn't utter a single roaring fury and instead maintains a zen-like calmness, though verging on Death Seeker levels. And when he finally gets his one-on-one against Ramsay, he still doesn't yell or scream. With said tranquil fury, Jon charges against Ramsay's arrow attacks with a discarded shield.
- When the Night King kills Viserion. Having learned the episode prior just how much Daenerys' dragons mean to her, his murder prompts Jon to violently cut down two incoming wights and give the Night King a silent and seething Death Glare, genuinely considering fighting him directly. It isn't until he prepares to kill Drogon that Jon snaps out of it and urges the Wight Hunt Team to escape.
True Companions: Befriends his brothers in the Night's Watch Sam, Pyp, Grenn and Edd in the Night's Watch. After becoming King in the North, Ser Davos, Sansa, Lyanna Mormont, and Tormund become this for him.
Tyrannicide: A very tragic version of this trope. In the series finale, Jon pleads with his love Daenerys to opt for mercy instead of more destruction after her Face–Heel Turn. But when Daenerys is resolved to more destruction, believing it is necessary to create her vision of a better world, Jon realizes she is a threat not only to his own family, but the whole planet at large, and reluctantly assassinates her.
Unexpected Successor:
- A bastard son who had previously forsaken all rights to own land and wear crowns, succeeds Robb as King in the North.
- Jon is the trueborn son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and thus a heir to the Iron Throne. The number of people that knew Rhaegar had a third child, let alone that said child is Jon, can be counted on one hand. He finally learns about his parentage and his status as a heir in the Season 8 premiere, and he is not happy about it.
Walking Spoiler: So, you think Jon is just an ordinary bastard of Ned? Keep watching...
Wicked Stepmother: Lady Stark is unable to hide her contempt for Ned's illegitimate son. She eventually reveals that she blames herself for the misfortunes of her family, rationalizing that it's all a punishment from the gods because she was unable to fulfill a promise about raising Jon Snow like her own son, a bargain she made with the gods so that Jon would live when he became very ill as a baby. It turns out that he's actually her nephew by marriage.^{From the books}
Worthy Opponent: In "Hardhome", the Night's King sees Jon as someone worthy to fight, being intimidated enough by his killing of a White Walker in single combat. He goes down to the docks of the Hardhome settlement personally to raise all of the dead Night's Watchmen and Wildlings from the battle as wights as a show of force. This happens again in "The Long Night", where the Night King raises the corpses around Winterfell as wights to keep Jon from reaching him.
Would Hurt a Child: After his resurrection, he must have one of his murderers, Olly, hanged for treason along with the rest of the men who murdered him. This weighs heavily on him, though, and it’s clear how much this devastates him, leading to how utterly destroyed he feels after this and everything.
Would Not Shoot a Civilian: Jon's steadfast refusal to kill an old man for the Wildlings is what blows his cover.
Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Not kill one, at least. That's quite much by the standards of the show. It's a combination of this and "Wouldn't kill a prisoner", perhaps with a touch of "Wow, that Chick's Hot". However, in Season 8's "The Iron Throne", he ends up fatally stabbing Daenerys Targaryen, though in this case it's to end her reign of terror over the Seven Kingdoms and stop it spreading to other lands, so he's portrayed sympathetically.
You Are in Command Now:
- In "The Watchers on the Wall", Jon is forced to take command of the Wall's defenders after Slynt freaks out.
- After Jon and Sansa retake Winterfell, the contrite lords of the North anoint Jon as King In The North to lead the defense against the coming storm.

Characters / Game of Thrones - Jon Snow

Lord Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen

Played By: Kit Harington

Voiced By: Roberto Molina (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 1-2), Gerardo Garcia (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 3 Onwards), Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), Patrick Roche (German)

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Characters / Game of Thrones - Jon Snow

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Lord Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen

Played By: Kit Harington

Voiced By: Roberto Molina (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 1-2), Gerardo Garcia (Latin American Spanish/Seasons 3 Onwards), Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), Patrick Roche (German)

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