For the most part, many of the characters remain the same with only a few slight changes here and there. This page is primarily dedicated to the POV characters as well as the more prominent figures in the story.
BEWARE OF UNMARKED SPOILERS
Steffon Baratheon
Steffon Baratheon
Prince Steffon Baratheon is the second-born son of Cersei Lannister as well as the only legitimate child of Robert Baratheon, making him the rightful king of Westeros. As a great deal of the overall plot revolves around him and Arya, he is the primary main male protagonist of the story.
Following the death of his father and the crowning of his sadistic maternal half-brother, Joffrey, Steffon is quick to rise up and fight for the Iron Throne to save the Seven Holds from Joffrey and the Lannister's cruelty.
- Affectionate Nickname: Arya calls him "Stag Boy" while he refers to her as "Wolf Girl".
- All-Loving Hero: Steffon has strong, progressive ideals that everyone is created equal, concerns over the poor and desires to make their lives better. The reason he starts a campaign is mainly to save the Smallfolk from Joffrey's cruelty, not so he can become king himself.
- Amazon Chaser: Unlike most people, Steffon was more attracted to Arya’s tomboyishness rather than repulsed, and fell in love with her because she’s everything a “proper lady” isn’t.
- Animal Motif: As a Baratheon, he keeps up with the family tradition of keeping a crowned stag as his emblem, but also adds a dire wolf as symbol of his betrothal to Arya.
- The Atoner: Basically for his family. The massacre of House Targaryen weighs heavily on his conscious, which prompts him to send Barristan Selmy to Essos to protect Daenerys in an attempt to end the feud between their families.
- Badass Bookworm: Steffon likes to follow Tyrion's example by keeping his mind sharp through reading.
- Berserk Button: Insulting, threatening or trying to harm Arya is guaranteed to put you on his bad side.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Deconstructed. Steffon is honestly one of the kindest people in Westeros. However, he's known for having a volatile temper which makes him lose control and gets him into trouble more often than naught.
- Big Brother Instinct: Steffon is everything to Tommen and Myrcella that Joffrey never was. He cares for his younger siblings dearly, even submitting himself to his older brother’s bullying to protect them.
- He is also shown to be a big brother figure for his cousin, Shireen.
- Birds of a Feather: With Arya. Both of them feel like outsiders from their family due to their beliefs, interests and skills. They are also some of the only legitimate children of their family to have inherited the distinctive looks of their Houses.
- Also with his uncle Tyrion. Both of them are considered the black sheep of their families and are hated by one of their siblings. However, they are also kindred spirits and exceptionally intelligent.
- Bully Hunter: Mycella reveals that as a child, Steffon would take trips down to King's Landing to 'punish' bullies. This makes all the more sense as Steffon's drive to claim the Iron Throne isn't so much to become king, but more to keep Joffrey from being king and saving Westeros from the Lannisters' cruelty.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to Joffrey's Cain. This dynamic has been set up since the day they were born, with Steffon being the good one and Joffrey being the sadistic monster everyone loves to hate. Justified seeing how they have never liked each other and that as Robert's trueborn son, Steffon is the biggest threat to Joffrey's rule.
- Cool Big Bro: His relationship with Myrcella and Tommen paints him as this.
- He also acts as one towards Shireen, as he decides to name her his successor should he fall during the war.
- Classical Anti-Hero: For all his wits, intelligence and cunning, Steffon has serious self-esteem issues and is competent fighter, but still trains hard to keep his skills sharp.
- Dead Guy Junior: Steffon is named after his paternal grandfather.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When the newly crowned Joffrey threatens to use Arya as a hostage, Steffon punches his brother in the gut before giving him one final warning and leaving.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Steffon prefers to be referred to by name when he's with friends or family and doesn't like being treated as a superior.
- Expy:
Word of God has stated that Steffon draws inspiration from Rick Grimes, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, and Julius Caesar. His appearance is also modeled after Asa Butterfield. - Generation Xerox: To Aegon V Targaryen, his great-great grandfather, also known as Aegon "The Unlikely". Like Aegon, Steffon is a younger son of a Warrior Prince who wasn't cut out for peacetime, has a psychotic elder brother (Aerion the Monstrous for Aegon, Joffrey for Steffon), and has progressive ideas regarding the small-folk that make him an oddball at the royal court.
- Good Is Not Soft: While he is forgiving enough to spare his dipshit older brother, Steffon is by no means a pacifist or a pushover.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Even if he's a skilled tactician and rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Steffon suffers from serious self-esteem issues and feels like a disappointment to everyone.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Edric, even though they are half-brothers.
- Honor Before Reason: Zig-Zagged. At heart, Steffon is a very noble young man with strong principles and morals. However, when push comes to shove, he is willing to set aside honor if it means achieving victory.
- Hot-Blooded: Very much so. Even worse than Arya. Steffon is very passionate and usually wears his heart on his sleeve. When he gets angry, he gets really angry, and his emotional moments are much more noticeable than others.
- Ideal Hero: Out of all the runner ups for the Iron Throne, Steffon is probably the most ideal ruler. Joffrey is a Psychopathic Man Child with no clue how to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and Renly simply believes he's more suited for the role as king due to being popular. Steffon, on the other hand, is an idealist who genuinely wants to help those in need.
- Idiot Ball: Yes, Steffon, let your Sworn Shield leave your side to join the battle, leaving you unprotected, something that Arya is more than happy to Lampshade.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Steffon is very skilled with a bow, even Splitting the Arrow during an archery tourney.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Steffon's most defining feature. note
- My Greatest Failure: His very first military operation which resulted in the death of Eddard Stark.
- Nephewism: Much of Steffon’s childhood was spent with Stannis and Tyrion. Both of them left a more positive impact on him than his father did, as Stannis helped him study to become a great tactician and strategist, and taught him the importance of duty and responsibility. Tyrion, on the other hand, educated Steffon about the poor and the sorry hand life dealt them.
- Nice Guy: Steffon is genuinely kind, caring, brave, and quite possibly one of the most progressive thinkers in Westeros.
- Parental Neglect: From Cersei. Even though it’s clear that Cersei loves Steffon despite being Robert’s son, she spent more time doting over Joffrey than she did with Steffon, which negatively impacted his self-esteem.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: With Arya. While the two have a rough start at first, they decide to make the most out of their situation and start to form a genuine feeling of respect and affection for one another.
- Reluctant Ruler: Steffon really doesn't feel capable of leading armies, mostly due to his botched attempt at rescuing Ned Stark, and is even less thrilled about becoming king. However, Steffon eventually accepts his responsibility as the rightful heir and lays claim to the Iron Throne.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: To Joffrey in probably every way. Joffrey has golden hair and grey eyes and a Psychopathic Man Child who is cruel and contemptuous to practically anyone. Steffon has black hair and blue eyes, and is a Nice Guy and an All-Loving Hero.
- Survivor's Guilt: After Ned Stark gave up his own life to save his, Steffon spent hours alone in self-loathing before finally being snapped out of it by Jon and Stannis.
- The Strategist: Steffon’s greatest strength is his ability to formulate well-laid plans and strategies. Lord Tarth even states that Steffon has a greater strategic understanding than most grown men.
- Strong Family Resemblance: What sets him apart from the rest of his siblings. His black hair, which matches his father's, is the only true sign that proves Steffon to be Robert's true heir. The only thing that doesn't make him more resembling is his blue eyes, which he inherited from his great-grandmother, Rhaelle Targaryen.
- Take the Third Option: When Steffon is told to return to King's Landing to swear fealty to Joffrey and break his betrothal to Arya, Steffon chooses to return to King's Landing and save Ned Stark. It doesn't work out.
- The Unfavorite: It’s no surprise that Cersei doted over Joffrey as her favorite son. Steffon speculates that he reminded her too much of his father, which led to a lot of Parental Neglect as a child, leaving Steffon with crippling insecurities and resentment for Joffrey.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Steffon strongly believes that everyone is born equal regardless of sex, race, color, position, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, he lives in a sexist, homophobic, xenophobic Crapsack World that has no place for idealism.
- Wise Prince: Steffon is kind, noble and well-intentioned, but he suffers from lack of self-esteem. He cares about the common folk and can't stand to see them suffer. And while he is a capable fighter who trains hard, he is more skilled as a commander.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He gives this to Arya when he learns of her own insecurities regarding her looks, saying that he sees her as one of the most beautiful girls in Westeros. He later receives one from Arya as well when she learns about his inferiority complex, which kick-starts his rise to badassery.
Arya Stark
Arya Stark
Princess Arya Stark is the second daughter and third child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark. As a good deal of the overall plot involves her, she is the main female protagonist of the story.
When King Robert and her father sought to unite their houses, they chose to betroth her to Steffon Baratheon. Initially displeased with the arrangement, Arya soon falls in love with Steffon and remains by his side as war breaks out across the Westeros, giving her support for his claim to the Iron Throne.
- Adaptation Deviation: Instead of being smuggled out of King's Landing and wandering Westeros as a fugitive, Arya accompanies Steffon, Jon, Barristan and Syrio to Dragonstone, prior to her father's imprisonment, before returning to king's landing to rescue her father. Following her father's death, she sticks close to Steffon as he and Stannis rally their forces with Robb in the war for the Iron Throne.
- Adaptational Personality Change:
- Arya is nowhere near as ruthless or revenge driven as her TV show or book counterpart, and is therefore much nicer as a result.
- While she can still be feisty and impudent, her characterization has her becoming more conscious about her actions and more overt with her affections for Steffon.
- Affectionate Nickname: She's the “Wolf Girl” to Steffon’s “Stag Boy”.
- Age Lift: Initially 9 in the books and 11 in the TV series, Arya is now 14, mainly to lessen the age gap regarding her romance with Steffon.
- Badass Adorable: It's Arya. What do you expect?
- Beneath the Mask: As much as she acts like she doesn't care, Arya is self-conscious about her looks and feels inferior for not being a classic beauty like her sister or Margaery Tyrell.
- Berserk Button: There are two things that are guaranteed to piss her off: insulting or hurting Steffon and insulting her family.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She may be a sweet girl once you get to know her, but Arya is no pushover and can be a force to be reckoned with when angry. Which isn't all that hard if you know what buttons to push.
- Big Brother Worship: To Jon and (to a lesser extent) Robb.
- Big Damn Heroes: Both she and Edric come to Steffon's rescue when he is overpowered and nearly killed by Brienne of Tarth.
- Birds of a Feather: With Steffon. Both of them are considered the Black Sheep of their families; having inherited the distinctive looks of their houses, and were bullied by their older siblings in the past.
- Black Sheep: While Arya is loved by her family, she feels out of place compared to the other ladies of the North due to her Tomboyish nature and pursuit of unladylike interests. This has resulted in her getting bullied by Sansa and the other noble girls from the North.
- Boyish Short Hair: Invoked as a means of disguising her from the Gold Cloaks during their attempt to rescue her father from King's Landing.
- Break the Cutie: As usual, the death of her father does her no favors.
- Character Development: Arya’s character development starts out with her as a Hot-Blooded, Type A Tsundere. Thanks to Steffon, she starts to become more affectionate towards him and learns the value of keeping private thoughts and public sayings separate. She also learns to be less impulsive and more restrained.
- Character Tic: Whenever Arya's angry at someone, she tends to grip Needle's handle with the intent of skewering them.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Coming between her and Steffon is not a smart move. When Margaery Tyrell attempts to seduce Steffon, Arya was pretty much ready to make a pincushion out her.
- Covert Pervert: Aside from moments of Female Gaze with Steffon, she often takes the initiative during moments of intimacy with him and is usually the more dominant one.
- Daddy's Girl: Arya is very close with her father and is grieved by his death.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Arya was initially very callous and disinterested when she and Steffon were arranged to be married. However, Arya soon starts to respect him and decides to make the best of their situation before eventually falling in love with him.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Despite being the daughter of a high-lord, she dislikes being referred to as a lady, but eventually gets used to it.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Given Steffon’s low self-esteem and emotional fragility, Arya takes it upon herself to slap some sense into him when the situation demands.
- Hates Wearing Dresses: Much like her book counterpart, Arya has a disdain for dresses.
- I Am Not Pretty: Defied. Despite feeling this way at first, Steffon views her as the most beautiful girl he’s ever met. It's thanks to him, Arya grows more comfortable with her appearance and feels more like a classic beauty.
- Marry for Love: She eventually agrees to this with Steffon.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: With Steffon. While she initially acts very hostile towards Steffon in the beginning, she soon comes to respect him and eventually decides to marry him out of love and not just out of duty to their families. It should be noted that Arya and Steffon are one of the few cases of a happy political union.
- Rebellious Princess: As usual, Arya has no interest in being a lady and seeks to pursue her own interests.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Played With. Arya is usually the more passionate, feisty and impulsive Red to Steffon's more intelligent, calculating and rational Blue. However, there are moments where they switch roles.
- Relationship Upgrade: Arya starts to see Steffon in a more positive light and decides to make the most of their situation in chapter 4. As of Chapter 9, she agrees to marry Steffon out of love and not just duty.
- Samaritan Relationship Starter: While Arya was definitely very callous towards Steffon when they were first betrothed, she starts to warm up to him considerably after he presents her Needle as a peace offering and begins to admire him more with his willingness to forgive, as well as his disdain for the “moral superiority” of the nobility, concern for the poor and desire to improve their lives. The biggest one, however, is his progressive ideals of everyone being born equal, regardless of gender, skin color or sexuality.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: She delivers one to Cersei of all people. Cersei!
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: One of the reasons she falls in love with Steffon is that he is genuinely a kind, caring young man and one of the first boys to treat her like a classic beauty while everyone else called her "Arya Horseface". He has also supported her wishes in learning how to fight and treats her as an equal.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Downplayed and Justified. Steffon is aware of how well Arya can handle herself in a fight, but refuses to let her join in the battles out of his fear of losing her, not because she's a girl. Arya being Arya, disobeys Steffon and gets involved in the battle anyway.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: It mostly depends on the situation as well as her company. Arya is known for being feisty and rebellious, but can also be more pleasant and sweet around her friends and allies.
- Thicker Than Water: To her family. Arya always defends her family's decisions and is outraged when someone says otherwise.
- Tsundere: Arya’s a category 1 “Tsun”, acting distant and callous towards Steffon during the first few chapters of the story, but eventually began to warm up to him and shows a more sweet and pleasant side. However, she can still be very feisty, and is not someone you want to upset or underestimate.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: If anyone insults or hurts Steffon, you’d best hope Arya isn’t there to see it.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Word of God has stated that Arya believes she’s in love with Steffon, but doesn’t quite understand what it means to be in love yet.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She gives this to Steffon after she learns about his inferiority complex and how he fears of meaning nothing to everyone.
- She also receives this from Steffon when he hears her insecurities regarding her looks, and makes her feel more like a classic beauty.
- You Are Worth Hell: As much as Arya hates the idea of being a lady, she accepts responsibility as Steffon's future Queen if it means she can be with him.
Edric Storm
Edric Storm
Edric Storm is the bastard son of Robert Baratheon and Delena Florent. As he was a highborn bastard, Edric was the only bastard Robert was forced to acknowledge. He is Steffon’s paternal half-brother as well as his Best Friend.
When war for the Iron Throne broke out, Edric wasted no time in swearing loyalty to Steffon’s claim for the Iron Throne.
- Adaptational Badass: Edric is described as a skilled fighter in the story, while Book!Edric had next to no skill with any weapon of any kind.
- Age Lift: Originally 12 in the books, Edric starts out as 17.
- Big Brother Instinct: To Steffon in spades.
- The Charmer: He’s known for being quite charming with any anyone he meets and can occasionally talk his way out of most situations. He’s openly flirted with Arya (unaware of her being Steffon’s betrothed) and got Mira Forrester to blush just by winking at her.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Averted entirely. While Renly and Cortnay Penrose played a huge part in raising him, Edric makes it very clear that he would choose Steffon over them.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments, especially with Steffon around.
- Heroic Bastard: He’s one of Robert’s countless bastards, but is also one of the main heroes of the story.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Steffon.
- I Kiss Your Hand: How he first introduces himself to Arya. Played for Laughs once he realizes she’s Steffon’s betrothed and is rendered speechless.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Cortnay Penrose.
- Nice Guy: Snarky attitude and glibness aside, Edric is a very selfless, friendly and caring young man who is always ready to help someone in need.
- O.C. Stand-in: Edric’s character and role is much more expanded upon than in the books, where he was mostly just a blank slate.
- Thicker Than Water: Despite being a bastard, Edric is fiercely loyal to Steffon as both a friend and a brother.
- Undying Loyalty: To Steffon and the Stormlands.
- Troll: If someone is going to be making jests at another person’s expense, chances are that someone is going to be Edric. Especially if it’s at Steffon’s expense.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: While he and Steffon regularly trade snarky barbs and annoy the piss out of each other, they still remain the closest of friends and always have each other’s backs.
