History AdaptationalWimp / GameOfThrones

* In the books, Daenerys became a skilled and spirited equestrian in an instant at her wedding feast, leaping a campfire on her Silver. She physically shoves Viserys in their confrontation in the long grass and never allows him to be around her without her ''kos'' like she does in Season 1; which earns her a cut cheek-bone from her cruel brother that really should have spelled his death two episodes earlier. Qarth welcomes her with open arms and an honour guard parade instead of treating her like a beggar and her BattleInTheCentrOfTheMind and eventual victory over the Warlocks known as ''The Undying'' is much more complex and impressive than the show's watered down couple of visions relating to TheFinalTemptation. Furthermore, TV!Dany has never shown to be willing to go full Joan of Arc and act as a standard-bearer within an assaulting army; as she wishes to do in the First Siege of Meereen to increase the morale of her men. She doesn't shame her people into trying to care for terminally ill refugees by personally washing and feeding the diseased and though there are many faults in her ruling; the Harpy's Sons never dared commit open attacks in broad day-light on Book!Dany as there were many loyal divisions of Freedmen with awesome company names like "The Mother's Men" being drilled by the Unsullied to take care of civil security and most of all Dany's [[spoiler: first mounting of Drogon]] is much more active and heroic in the books, where she ''leaps down'' into Daznak's Pit in a seminal moment in 'Dance of Dragons' [[MamaBear protect her "child"]], ''rolls'' under a column of Drogon's flame breath and literally [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu bull-whips a dragon into submission]] all while ''on fire'', being much more lithe and agile than the cherubic Ms. Clarke. She mounts him, survives a volley of crossbow bolts while in-flight followed by a good two weeks of malnourishment and a couple of days poison berry-induced dysentery and fever-dreams in the wilderness. ''Phew!'' In "The Dance of Dragons", she's surrounded and [[DamselInDistress passively accepting death]] before [[spoiler: Drogon]] arrives to [[BigDamnHeroes carry her away]].

* Daenerys' [[spoiler: first mounting of Drogon]] is much more active and heroic in the books, where she runs out to [[MamaBear protect her "child"]] and literally [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu whips a dragon into submission]]. In "The Dance of Dragons", she's surrounded and [[DamselInDistress passively accepting death]] before [[spoiler: Drogon]] arrives to [[BigDamnHeroes carry her away]].

* In the books, Theon is a TallDarkAndHandsome {{Casanova}}, a skilled warrior, and a clever tactician whose aggression and arrogance get him in over his head. In the show, his cockiness is played up and his capabilities are played down to make him a CasanovaWannabe who is bested in conversation or [[ButtMonkey humiliated by failure]] in nearly every scene.

* While Robb Stark is subject to some AdaptationalBadass on the show, his skills as a military and politically-minded commander are lessened. He destroys more Lannister hosts in the books than the show. And while Stannis is marching on Kings Landing, he invades the Westerlands in an attempt to draw in Tywin Lannister( subsequently trapping him between Robb's forces and Riverrun's) to defend his lands rather than assist his grandson and daughter so that Stannis can sack the city and become King, who he knows will be easier to negotiate peace with. In the show, his objectives are not clearly defined and his seemingly greatest ambition is to trap Gregor Clegane and capture him rather than Tywin Lannister himself.

** In the books, she's exceptional at [[LeParkour climbing and sneaking]] as well as swordsmanship and a somewhat better fighter in general, gives Hot Pie such a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he can't walk for days, kills several (admittedly rather unskilled) soldiers in the skirmish with Ser Amory, plots a jailbreak with Jaqen's help, and escapes Harrenhal all by herself by committing her first true murder. In the show, the only people she's killed have been either helpless (Polliver) or completely unprepared (the Frey soldier, Rorge, Meryn Trant).

* While Robb Stark is subject to some [[AdaptationalBadass adaptational badassness]] on the show, his skills as a military and politically-minded commander are lessened. He destroys more Lannister hosts in the books than the show. And while Stannis is marching on Kings Landing, he invades the Westerlands in an attempt to draw in Tywin Lannister( subsequently trapping him between Robb's forces and Riverrun's) to defend his lands rather than assist his grandson and daughter so that Stannis can sack the city and become King, who he knows will be easier to negotiate peace with. In the show, his objectives are not clearly defined and his seemingly greatest ambition is to trap Gregor Clegane and capture him rather than Tywin Lannister himself.

* While the show's Euron appears to be a capable fighter and a crafty manipulator, he is nowhere near the terrifying SorcerousOverlord he is in the books, with none of his book counterpart's magic, status as TheDreaded, or Valyrian artifacts. Instead he got his AdaptedOut brother Victarion's superior combat abilities, making him also an AdaptationalBadass.
* In the show, Dragonglass kills a wight instantly. In the books they tried it after learning it kills Walkers and it doesn't work; only FireKeepsItDead.

** In the books being blind does little more than inconvenience her, since she discovers the ability to borrow eyes (often from cats) via her warg talents. In the show she's rendered helpless, and there has been no hint that she's a warg at all.

* Daenerys' [[spoiler: mounting of Drogon]] is much more active and heroic in the books, where she runs out to [[MamaBear protect her "child"]] and literally [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu whips a dragon into submission]]. In "The Dance of Dragons", she's surrounded and [[DamselInDistress passively accepting death]] before [[spoiler: Drogon]] arrives to [[BigDamnHeroes carry her away]].

* While the show's Euron appears to be a capable fighter and a crafty manipulator, he is nowhere near the terrifying SorcerousOverlord he is in the books, with none of his book counterpart's magic, status as TheDreaded, or Valyrian artifacts. Instead he got his AdaptedOut brother Victarion's superior strategic and combat abilities, making him also an AdaptationalBadass.

* While the show's Euron appears to be a capable fighter and a crafty manipulator, he is nowhere near the terrifying SorcerousOverlord he is in the books, with none of his book counterpart's magic, status as TheDreaded, or Valyrian artifacts.

* Qhorin "Halfhand" is [[TheDreaded enemy number one]] to the Wildlings and a [[LivingLegend well-renowned]] to the Night's Watch in the books, he's a master Ranger who is only cornered when the Wildlings deploy a Warg to track him and swordsman so skilled that Jon barely survives their mock-duel with the help of Ghost. In the show he is barely competent at either.

* Qhorin Halfhand is [[The Dreaded enemy number one]] to the Wildlings and a [[LivingLegend well-renowned]] to the Night's Watch in the books, he's a master Ranger who is only cornered when the Wildlings deploy a Warg to track him and swordsman so skilled that Jon barely survives their mock-duel with the help of Ghost. In the show he is barely competent at either.

* While Robb Stark is subject to some [[AdaptationalBadass]] on the show, his skills as a military and politically-minded commander are lessened. He destroys more Lannister hosts in the books than the show. And while Stannis is marching on Kings Landing, he invades the Westerlands in an attempt to draw in Tywin Lannister( subsequently trapping him between Robb's forces and Riverrun's) to defend his lands rather than assist his grandson and daughter so that Stannis can sack the city and become King, who he knows will be easier to negotiate peace with. In the show, his objectives are not clearly defined and his seemingly greatest ambition is to trap Gregor Clegane and capture him rather than Tywin Lannister himself.

** His skills as a military commander are much lesser on the show. In the books, he's fully prepared to do battle with Renly's forces during the siege of Storm's End, preparing the battlefield around his forces to deal with Renly's superior numbers and cavalry and fighting with the sun at his back. Its even implied that Renly's ineptness as a commander( ex: his decision to leave behind most of his army to lift the siege with just his cavalry and knights, outdistancing his supply lines, his decision to attack at dawn when the sunlight will be facing his army and Loras Tyrell leading the charge rather than the more experienced Randyll Tarly) would have given him a good chance at victory.
The show, he is convinced he has no chance at beating his brother's superior numbers.

* Rickon's direwolf Shaggydog, who was the biggest and most unruly of the direwolves in the books who was feasting on unicorns in Skagos when we glimpsed him by tree-vision in Book 5, is also tamer but, then again, CGI-ing all his wild antics would have been [[PragmaticAdaptation difficult and expensive]]. He is later killed offscreen.

** He's also something of a PapaWolf in the books, holding a serious grudge against Oberyn for crippling his eldest son and calling for the death of the man he believes nearly poisoned his daughter.

** His direwolf Shaggydog is also tamer but, then again, CGI-ing all his wild antics would have been [[PragmaticAdaptation difficult and expensive]].

* The show neglects to give Sansa any proactive role in King's Landing at all, eventually whisking her away unawares instead of showing her traverse the castle with a knife to rendezvous with an accomplice and spend months patiently preparing for her escape. Her small rebellions like refusing to kneel for Tyrion are also frequently omitted, and every sensible character dismisses her as a murder suspect (something ''everyone'' believes she's capable of in the novels). This trope is also a major criticism of making her a CompositeCharacter with Jeyne Poole since it means she's completely outmanoeuvred and [[spoiler: brutally raped and abused by Ramsay]] instead of [[BastardUnderstudy steadily learning politics, intrigue, and manipulation]] while maintaining a false identity in the Vale.
* Some of Arya's more grand and brutal accomplishments are adapted out. In the books, she's exceptional at [[LeParkour climbing and sneaking]] as well as swordsmanship and a somewhat better fighter in general, gives Hot Pie such a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he can't walk for days, kills several (admittedly rather unskilled) soldiers in the skirmish with Ser Amory, plots a jailbreak with Jaqen's help, and escapes Harrenhal all by herself by committing her first true murder. In the show, the only people she's killed have been either helpless (Polliver) or completely unprepared (the Frey soldier, Rorge, Meryn Trant). She's also constantly {{Sherlock Scan}}ning her environment and options in the books but tries to stab the Hound in the most heavily-armoured part of his body and needs him to point out the obvious clues that Brienne was sent by a Lannister in the show.

* [[CreepyChild Rickon]] is the wildest Stark child except for maybe Arya in the books, with various incidents of him attacking people. In the show he's a little overzealous cracking walnuts but otherwise quite tender and low-key, and he shows nothing but bewilderment and terror, without a hint of bravery or defiance, in Season 6. His direwolf Shaggydog is also tamer but, then again, CGI-ing all his wild antics would have been [[PragmaticAdaptation difficult and expensive]].
* Rorge and Biter are among the most terrifying psychopaths in the books but little more than FatBastard StupidCrooks in the show. Rather than wreaking havoc as outlaws and providing a dangerous DualBoss challenge, they are [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] in a [[TooDumbToLive very ill-conceived]] attempt at MuggingTheMonster.

* Mace Tyrell is a blustering yet tenaciously ambitious lord in the novels but a totally ineffectual and sycophantic MommasBoy in the show. In the books he personally commands the left wing on the Blackwater and constantly presses for important offices for his faction rather than happily [[YouGetMeCoffee fetching quill and parchment]]. He's also something of a PapaWolf in the books, holding a serious grudge against Oberyn for crippling his eldest son and calling for the death of the man he believes nearly poisoned his daughter.

* Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are this despite their bloody coup in "The Red Woman". In the books Ellaria is praised for being strong enough to TurnTheOtherCheek and the Sand Snakes are legitimate {{Action Girl}}s and {{Femme Fatale}}s, but in the show Ellaria is a [[RevengeMyopia myopic]], [[RevengeBeforeReason revenge-obsessed]] basket-case and the Sand Snakes are FauxActionGirl [[TheBully bullies]] whose on-screen skills still amount to stabbing unsuspecting or fleeing victims InTheBack.
* Lame Lothar and Black Walder. In the books, Lothar is an [[EvilGenius Evil]] GeniusCripple who masterminds every detail of the Red Wedding "down to which songs would be played," and Black Walder is a legitimate badass who uses the "[[IHaveYourWife Yield or I'll hang him]]!" ploy successfully at Seagard. In the show, their talents are inverted when they take on Ryman Frey's ineffectual role at Riverrun. In terms of birth, Black Walder also drops from a trueborn Frey and eventual second-in-line to the Twins to a bastard with no inheritance rights.
* Randyll Tarly plays no role in the War of Five Kings or the small council in the show, in contrast to crushing a third of Robb's army at Duskendale, freeing Margaery from the Faith, and serving as Master of Laws. Moreover, Sam's boast that, "He can bloody well try," to get Heartsbane back would be utter lunacy in the novels where Sam remarks in ''A Feast For Crows'' that his father would've hunted him down mercilessly if he'd run off with so much as a ''mule'', nevermind the family's AncestralWeapon.

A lot of characters in the show are [[AdaptationalWimp weaker]] than their book counterparts:

* Viserys is described as knowing nothing about dragons or anything else in "The North Remembers" (which is odd given his {{sexposition}} about them in "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things"), whereas in the books it's only when Daenerys remembers his stories that she discovers how to feed her dragons, and she also credits him with keeping them both alive during her childhood and teaching her her own identity, none of which is credited to him in the show.

* Some of Arya's more grand and brutal accomplishments are adapted out. In the books, she's exceptional at [[LeParkour climbing and sneaking]] as well as swordsmanship and a somewhat better fighter in general, gives Hot Pie such a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he can't walk for days, kills several (admittedly rather unskilled) soldiers in the skirmish with Ser Amory, plots a jailbreak with Jaqen's help, and escapes Harrenhal without any aid from Jaqen H'ghar by committing her first true murder. In the show, the only people she's killed have been either helpless (Polliver) or completely unprepared (the Frey soldier, Rorge, Meryn Trant). She's also constantly {{Sherlock Scan}}ning her environment and options in the books but tries to stab the Hound in the most heavily-armoured part of his body and needs him to point out the obvious clues that Brienne was sent by a Lannister in the show.

* Some of Arya's more grand and brutal accomplishments are adapted out. In the books, she's exceptional at [[LeParkour climbing and sneaking]] as well as swordsmanship, gives Hot Pie such a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he can't walk for days, kills several soldiers in the skirmish with Ser Amory, plots a jailbreak with Jaqen's help, and escapes Harrenhal all on her own by committing her first true murder. She's also constantly {{Sherlock Scan}}ning her environment and options in the books but tries to stab the Hound in the most heavily-armoured part of his body and needs him to point out the obvious clues that Brienne was sent by a Lannister in the show.

** Viserys is described as knowing nothing about dragons or anything else in "The North Remembers" (which is odd given his {{sexposition}} about them in "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things"), whereas in the books it's only when Daenerys remembers his stories that she discovers how to feed her dragons, and she also credits him with keeping them both alive during her childhood and teaching her her own identity, none of which is credited to him in the show.
** The show neglects to give Sansa any proactive role in King's Landing at all, eventually whisking her away unawares instead of showing her traverse the castle with a knife to rendezvous with an accomplice and spend months patiently preparing for her escape. Her small rebellions like refusing to kneel for Tyrion are also frequently omitted, and every sensible character dismisses her as a murder suspect (something ''everyone'' believes she's capable of in the novels). This trope is also a major criticism of making her a CompositeCharacter with Jeyne Poole since it means she's completely outmanoeuvred and [[spoiler: brutally raped and abused by Ramsay]] instead of [[BastardUnderstudy steadily learning politics, intrigue, and manipulation]] while maintaining a false identity in the Vale.
** Some of Arya's more grand and brutal accomplishments are adapted out. In the books, she's exceptional at [[LeParkour climbing and sneaking]] as well as swordsmanship, gives Hot Pie such a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he can't walk for days, kills several soldiers in the skirmish with Ser Amory, plots a jailbreak with Jaqen's help, and escapes Harrenhal all on her own by committing her first true murder. She's also constantly {{Sherlock Scan}}ning her environment and options in the books but tries to stab the Hound in the most heavily-armoured part of his body and needs him to point out the obvious clues that Brienne was sent by a Lannister in the show.
** In the books, Theon is a TallDarkAndHandsome {{Casanova}}, a skilled warrior, and a clever tactician whose aggression and arrogance get him in over his head. In the show, his cockiness is played up and his capabilities are played down to make him a CasanovaWannabe who is bested in conversation or [[ButtMonkey humiliated by failure]] in nearly every scene.
** Jaime's duel with Brienne is pitiful compared to the books, in which he shows greater stamina despite worse physical condition, gives her a nasty leg wound despite wearing heavy shackles instead of just rope, and is only truly overcome when he slips on a wet stone. Brienne even scoffs at his overblown reputation in the show rather than recalling that it was "all she could do to keep his blade at bay" and that "no knight in the Seven Kingdoms could have stood against him at his full strength." This combines with Brienne's own AdaptationalBadass changes.
** Davos gets the lightest touch of this when he's promoted to leading Stannis' fleet into Blackwater Bay. In the books, the commander is a knight who treats his fleet like a [[AttackAttackAttack cavalry charge]] and the fact that Davos (or any other seasoned sailor) was not in charge is a large part of how things went so spectacularly wrong.
** Renly's book counterpart is a bold, physically impressive man with an enthusiasm (though little talent) for jousting. In the show, he's a meek NonActionGuy who's AfraidOfBlood.
** Edmure Tully is a GeneralFailure ButtMonkey in the show instead of the books' able and protective lord who is simply OvershadowedByAwesome. Most notably, his victory at Stone Mill is turned into a Pyrrhic skirmish by a GloryHound instead of a CrowningMomentOfAwesome defeating ''[[TheDreaded Tywin Lannister and Gregor Clegane]]'' in battle, despite being outnumbered. He also fails to light his father's funeral pyre because of incompetence in the show, as opposed to his grief as in the books, and is cowed into handing over his uncle rather than using LoopholeAbuse to help him escape.
** The show saps a great deal of Littlefinger's financial acumen when Tyrion reveals he's simply been borrowing all the money. In the books:
---> ''He paid the king's debts in promises and put the king's gold to work. He bought wagons, shops, ships, houses. He bought grain when it was plentiful and sold bread when it was scarce. He bought wool from the north and linen from the south and lace from Lys, stored it, moved it, dyed it, sold it. The golden dragons bred and multiplied and Littlefinger lent them out and brought them home with hatchlings.''
** [[CreepyChild Rickon]] is the wildest Stark child except for maybe Arya in the books, with various incidents of him attacking people. In the show he's a little overzealous cracking walnuts but otherwise quite tender and low-key, and he shows nothing but bewilderment and terror, without a hint of bravery or defiance, in Season 6. His direwolf Shaggydog is also tamer but, then again, CGI-ing all his wild antics would have been [[PragmaticAdaptation difficult and expensive]].
** Rorge and Biter are among the most terrifying psychopaths in the books but little more than FatBastard StupidCrooks in the show. Rather than wreaking havoc as outlaws and providing a dangerous DualBoss challenge, they are [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] in a [[TooDumbToLive very ill-conceived]] attempt at MuggingTheMonster.
** Both versions of Janos Slynt have a SmallNameBigEgo, but in the show he's also a DirtyCoward.
** Mace Tyrell is a blustering yet tenaciously ambitious lord in the novels but a totally ineffectual and sycophantic MommasBoy in the show. In the books he personally commands the left wing on the Blackwater and constantly presses for important offices for his faction rather than happily [[YouGetMeCoffee fetching quill and parchment]]. He's also something of a PapaWolf in the books, holding a serious grudge against Oberyn for crippling his eldest son and calling for the death of the man he believes nearly poisoned his daughter.
** From Season 3 on, Loras becomes much more mild-mannered and InTouchWithHisFeminineSide than the HotBlooded GloryHound of the novels. He's also a skilled conversationalist in the books but constantly struggles with it in the show, such as at Tyrion's wedding and [[spoiler: Tywin]]'s funeral.
** In the books, Lord Yohn Royce is one of the few characters to suspect how dangerous Littlefinger really is and becomes his implacable adversary in the Vale. In the show, he's so taken in by Littlefinger that he's entrusted with fostering Robin Arryn, the very thing Littlefinger struggles to ''avoid'' doing in ''Literature/AFeastForCrows''.
** Hizdahr is a political version. In the books, he uses his political acumen to negotiate a truce with the Sons of the Harpy to convince Daenerys to marry him and resume the GladiatorGames, which at least ostensibly conciliates her enemies. In "Kill the Boy", he's imprisoned and forced into the marriage only to be viewed as TheQuisling by the Harpies, who aren't the least appeased by the fighting pits.
** Daenerys' [[spoiler: mounting of Drogon]] is much more active and heroic in the books, where she runs out to [[MamaBear protect her "child"]] and literally [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu whips a dragon into submission]]. In "The Dance of Dragons", she's surrounded and [[DamselInDistress passively accepting death]] before [[spoiler: Drogon]] arrives to [[BigDamnHeroes carry her away]].
** Selyse has much more political influence in the books, including playing a vocal role on Stannis' council since her family are Stannis' most powerful supporters and her faction of "Queen's Men" is the largest and most fanatical in Stannis' army. In the show, she's really just the pliant wife whose main concerns are prayer and despising her daughter.
** In the books, Stannis departs the Wall as the clear underdog but gains strength by rallying thousands of northmen and, despite his hardships, confidently awaits battle on ground of his choosing as the blizzard abates. In the show, he starts with the larger army, loses most of it to misfortune, persists with a suicidal advance, and gets ambushed in an open field by the very army he came to fight.
** Doran Martell is portrayed as a weak and ineffectual ruler who's ultimately undone by his [[VirtueIsWeakness forgiveness and forbearance]], which ironically means he's ruined precisely by failing to be TheChessmaster he is in the books, both in how his enemies get the better of him and in how those enemies despise the very "weaknesses" he actually subverts in the novels when he reveals BestServedCold plans for vengeance made together with Oberyn.
** [[spoiler: Areo Hotah]] is easily dispatched by a [[InTheBack back-stab]] from [[spoiler: Tyene]] without ever getting a chance to use his impressive glaive. In the novels, he not only easily defeats a Kingsguard knight but is characterized by a constant SherlockScan for threats (including [[spoiler: Tyene]]) that make turning his back on her and the [[FailedASpotCheck conspicuous dagger in her boot]] look utterly amateurish.
** Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are this despite their bloody coup in "The Red Woman". In the books Ellaria is praised for being strong enough to TurnTheOtherCheek and the Sand Snakes are legitimate {{Action Girl}}s and {{Femme Fatale}}s, but in the show Ellaria is a [[RevengeMyopia myopic]], [[RevengeBeforeReason revenge-obsessed]] basket-case and the Sand Snakes are FauxActionGirl [[TheBully bullies]] whose on-screen skills still amount to stabbing unsuspecting or fleeing victims InTheBack.
** Lame Lothar and Black Walder. In the books, Lothar is an [[EvilGenius Evil]] GeniusCripple who masterminds every detail of the Red Wedding "down to which songs would be played," and Black Walder is a legitimate badass who uses the "[[IHaveYourWife Yield or I'll hang him]]!" ploy successfully at Seagard. In the show, their talents are inverted when they take on Ryman Frey's ineffectual role at Riverrun. In terms of birth, Black Walder also drops from a trueborn Frey and eventual second-in-line to the Twins to a bastard with no inheritance rights.
** Randyll Tarly plays no role in the War of Five Kings or the small council in the show, in contrast to crushing a third of Robb's army at Duskendale, freeing Margaery from the Faith, and serving as Master of Laws. Moreover, Sam's boast that, "He can bloody well try," to get Heartsbane back would be utter lunacy in the novels where Sam remarks in ''A Feast For Crows'' that his father would've hunted him down mercilessly if he'd run off with so much as a ''mule'', nevermind the family's AncestralWeapon.
** Lord Wyman Manderly literally RefusedTheCall to aid the Starks out of fear in Season 6 while in the books he's arguably the most steadfast, cunning, and proactive Stark loyalist because of his family's ImmigrantPatriotism and he secretly works at the Bolton's downfall by sending Davos to [[RightfulKingReturns find Rickon]] while he himself enjoys some [[BestServedCold tasty]] [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies pies]] at Ramsay's wedding.
** Grand Maester Pycelle is actually quite good at his job in the books (especially after he emerges from [[UndyingLoyalty Tywin's shadow]]) and becomes the OnlySaneMan on Cersei's council of [[YesMan Yes-Men]]. In the show, he's just a [[EvilIsPetty petty]] and [[DirtyOldMan lecherous]] crony whom Cersei rightfully despises on those grounds.