History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireEssosTheFreeCities

** Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice. The Titan of Braavos is a statue based on both the Colossus of Rhodes (a statue [[BetweenMyLegs whose legs form the entrance to the port]]) and the legendary Colossi of Memnon in Egypt (a statue that "sings" on sunrise.) As a city founded by slaves, exiles and boasting a multi-cultural, multi-lingual culture, it can be seen as one for New York City as well with the Titan being the medieval Lady Liberty.

* ChurchMilitant: The Bearded Priests of Norvos.

!!!The Faceless Men

[[folder:The Guild of the Faceless Men]]

A religious society of assassins who worship the Many-Faced God, a god of death. Their headquarters is the House of Black and White in the Free City of Braavos. Their history stretches back to before the Doom of Valyria, originating in the volcanic mines of that ancient city. They now act as the top assassin guild in the known world, whose services are very hard to come by.

[[folder:The Iron Bank of Braavos]]
!!The Iron Bank of Braavos
The richest and most powerful bank in the known world, richer than all the other banks of the Free Cities combined.

!! Tropes
* AscendedMeme: A common saying among Braavosi: "The Iron Bank will have its due." *
* BullyingADragon: In the wake of an expensive war and crippling debt, Cersei Lannister decides to ''defer'' payment of loans to the Iron Bank and use the money to build an expensive and unnecessary fleet solely as political mileage. The Iron Bank send representatives to deal with her and she stalls them with excuses about paying back after the war ends. Later, to no one's surprise, the Iron Bank calls all existing loans and refuses to offer new loans to Westeros, plunging the Seven Kingdoms into an economic crisis.
* TheDreaded: They are noted to have a "fearsome" reputation for collecting debts.
* {{Expy}}: Of Florence's famous Medici Bank which had given loans to both the York and Lancaster Houses during the War of the Roses and played a major role in European politics.
* LoanShark: As Jon Snow reflects:
--> "When princes defaulted on their debts to lesser banks, ruined bankers sold their wives and children into slavery and opened their own veins. When princes failed to repay the Iron Bank, new princes sprang up from nowhere and took their thrones."
* MegaCorp: They are richer and more powerful than all banks in the Free Cities.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Whatever they do, they're not really on your side. They only care about being paid back.
* PlayingBothSides: After Cersei defers payment of loans, Iron Bank representative Tycho Nestoris goes North to visit Stannis Baratheon and secure a commitment to pay all existing loans in exchange for funding his war effort. While there, Jon Snow also gets a loan from the Bank for provisions during winter.

!!Tycho Nestoris
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tycho_nestoris_ffg_667.jpg]]

An emissary from the Iron Bank of Braavos sent treat with Stannis Baratheon.

* BadassBureaucrat: See IntrepidMerchant.
* IntrepidMerchant: When Queen Cersei rather bluntly refuses to continue repaying the massive debts that the throne owes to the Iron Bank of Braavos, Nestoris willingly goes into several warzones to negotiate with other claimants to the throne, offering to fund their campaigns in exchange for their promises to honor their debts and the debts of the rulers they hope to replace, and also doing business with anyone else who wishes to make use of his services. When asked what a banker is doing in such dangerous situations, he proudly claims this trope as his explanation.
* MouthOfSauron: Speaks for the Iron Bank as a whole.
* MysteriousBacker: Takes on this role for Stannis and the parties allied with him in the North. There's a definite hint of parody (especially in Asha's first meeting with him) in the idea that the series has a Gandalf-like figure in a guy who is a middle-management banker.
* NiceHat: A brimless three-tiered hat made of purple felt.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Acting as a proxy for the Iron Bank, he backs Stannis not because he because he believes he's a MessianicArchetype, but because he's the contender to the throne most likely to pay the Crown's debts to the Iron Bank.

!!Noho Dimittis

An emissary from the Iron Bank of Braavos sent to treat with Cersei Lannister.
----
* BitCharacter
* MouthOfSauron
[[/folder]]

!!Pentos

[[folder: Illyrio Mopatis]]
!!Magister Illyrio Mopatis
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/illyrio_mopatis_ffg_8032.png]]
-->''"Illyrio believes in no cause but Illyrio. Gluttons are greedy men as a rule, and magisters are devious. Illyrio Mopatis is both."''
---> -- Ser Jorah

A morbidly obese merchant and Magister of Pentos who arranged for Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo in the first book and gave her three dragon eggs as a wedding gift. He supports the Targaryens' campaign to regain the Seven Kingdoms and, [[spoiler:following Viserys' death,]] ends up shifting his attention towards helping Daenerys. [[spoiler:Though greed may play a part in his actions, his scheming with Varys hint at deeper motives]].
----

* MerchantCity: Braavos.

!!The Faceless Men

[[folder:The Iron Bank of Braavos]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tycho Nestoris]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Noho Dimittis]]

!!Pentos

[[folder: Illyrio Mopatis]]
!!Magister Illyrio Mopatis
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/illyrio_mopatis_ffg_8032.png]]
-->''"Illyrio believes in no cause but Illyrio. Gluttons are greedy men as a rule, and magisters are devious. Illyrio Mopatis is both."''
---> -- Ser Jorah

A morbidly obese merchant and Magister of Pentos who arranged for Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo in the first book and gave her three dragon eggs as a wedding gift. He supports the Targaryens' campaign to regain the Seven Kingdoms and, [[spoiler:following Viserys' death,]] ends up shifting his attention towards helping Daenerys. [[spoiler:Though greed may play a part in his actions, his scheming with Varys hint at deeper motives]].

* {{Acrofatic}}: A clue to his past as a water dancer is the way he still walks lightly on the balls of his feet.
* AffablyEvil: He's jolly, complimentary and completely amoral.
* AmbitionIsEvil: He's so ambitious, [[spoiler: he's willing to play with the lives of people on two continents to get what he wants. Very willing.]]
* BeardOfEvil: He even [[StrokeTheBeard strokes it]] obscenely.
* BigEater: He gorges himself constantly while traveling with Tyrion. [[RealityEnsues Tyrion notes that he takes very frequent pee breaks, indicating that he may be pre-diabetic.]]
* BlondGuysAreEvil: Shove him in red and gold, plonk a lion on his chest... and he'd be insulted you suggested he could be a Lannister.
* [[spoiler: TheCaper: What he and Varys might well have cooked up between them is a take on a two-man, fencing con. On a global scale, rather than the simple caper you'd expect to see on the high street. We've a long way to go to the full reveal, though. But, it looks like they might be "returning" the Crown of the Seven Kingdoms to the Targaryens -- for a price. When, they had their fingers all over how they lost it to begin with.]]
* TheChessmaster: He clearly attempts to be this as he manipulates events and people to his advantage, but unforeseen circumstances, such as Viserys' untimely death and Daenerys' rebelliousness, [[XanatosSpeedChess constantly cause him to reevaluate his plans]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He's had two wives. While his feelings towards his first wife aren't clearly established, his second wife, Serra, who died of a plague, he says he dearly loved. He still keeps a locket with her picture in it to always remember her... [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and also her hands]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He seems to have a strong aversion to unnecessary violence.
* FatBastard: Oh, so very much. In an [[AffablyEvil avuncular]] kind of way, though.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: While he suggests that he was helping Viserys to eventually be made Master of Coin of Westeros, his plots with [[spoiler:Varys]] hint at ulterior motives.
* IWasQuiteALooker: No one would ever guess it now but he used to be a handsome, muscular sellsword. Tyrion's thrown for a loop when he sees the statue carved of the much younger Illyrio.
* InSeriesNickname: Tyrion quickly starts referring to him as "the Cheesemonger". Within a few days of hanging out with Haldon and Duck, they start to do it intermittently as well.
* MinorMajorCharacter: Gave Daenerys her dragon eggs, arranged her marriage to Khal Drogo, sent Barristan Selmy to serve her, and has been [[spoiler:plotting with Varys to destabilize Westeros]] but he's only appeared personally in two books.
* MysteriousBacker: First for Viserys then for Daenerys [[spoiler:and also acts as this for Aegon Targaryen]].
* SelfMadeMan: Once a simple sellsword and bravo, by teaming up with [[spoiler:Varys]] in his youth, Illyrio managed to become successful enough to marry a daughter of the Prince of Pentos' cousin, and eventually gained enough wealth and prestige to become a Magister of the city.
* TongueTrauma: With the exception of a single bedslave, none of his servants speak, implying they're "little mice" who've grown too old for the work. As with Varys' "little birds", they would presumably have their tongues removed to prevent idle gossip.
* VillainousFriendship: Seems to have one with [[spoiler:Varys]].

!!Lys

[[folder:Salladhor Saan]]
!!Salladhor Saan
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salladhor_saan_ffg_6022.jpg]]

A pirate and sellsail, leader of a mercenary fleet, styling himself Prince of the Narrow Sea. Also a smuggler, trader, and banker, and a close friend of Davos Seaworth. He's one of the sellsail admirals hired by Stannis for his campaign to take the Iron Throne.

* AlliterativeName
* AManOfWealthAndTaste
* BadassBeard
* IHaveManyNames: Prince of the Narrow Sea, and later made Lord of Blackwater Bay by Alester Florent, Stannis' Hand of the King.
* TheLancer: To Davos.
* LoopholeAbuse: Sort of. After being made Lord of Blackwater Bay he sets to intercept any trade ship crossing the bay to "tax them" on their cargo.
* LovableRogue
* {{Pirate}}
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He abandons Stannis cause after loosing several of his ships while taking Davos to White Harbor because he grows tired of waiting for payment and returns to the Stepstones to engage in piracy. [[spoiler: Ironically, after abandoning Stannis, the latter is finally able to pay him thanks to a loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos]].

!!Volantis

[[folder:Nyessos Vhassar]]
!!Triarch Nyessos Vhassar

Nyessos Vhassar is one of the Triarchs of Volantis. He's a member of the elephant party, the faction of merchants and moneylenders, advocating trade over war. Not only he's on Illyrio Mopatis' payroll, it is also said in Volantis that he has been bought by Yunkai in order to get Volantis to wage war against Daenerys.

* AristocratsAreEvil
* CorruptBureaucrat
* CorruptPolitician

[[folder: Widow of the Waterfront]]
!!Widow of the Waterfront

A pleasure slave purchased by a Triarch of Volantis named Vogarro, who fell in love with her, freed her, and married her. After his death, she became a wealthy and influential businesswoman by taking over his businesses.

* CoolOldLady: Tyrion realizes this and charmingly tells her:
--> ''"If I were Volantene, and free, and had the blood, you'd have my vote for triarch, my lady."''
* InformationBroker: One of the services she offers.
* InUniverseNickname: The old blood of Volantis refers to her as "Vogarro's whore", but never to her face.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She is abrasive and suspicious, and she has to be, but she's also kind. She had Penny given a room and proper food after her breakdown.
* SherlockScan: She quickly figures out that Tyrion is no ordinary dwarf, but the most wanted man in Westeros.
* SlaveBrand: Has scars on both cheeks from where she had hers cut off after being freed.
* SlaveLiberation: She yearns for this, she tells Jorah and Tyrion to tell Daenerys that all of Volantis awaits her arrival.
--> ''"Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon."''
* WidowWoman: She's actually made a career out of being this.

[[folder: Penny]]
!!Penny

A dwarf entertainer from the Free Cities who teams up with her brother Oppo in a fake jousting show riding on a pig and dog. After her brother is mistaken for being Tyrion Lannister and murdered, she has a chance encounter with Tyrion in Volantis and gets dragged along with him on his journey to Meereen.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: She is attracted to Tyrion despite his notorious reputation and inadvertent role in her brother's death, but as Tyrion prefers {{Hot Consort}}s he tries to discourage her.
* AscendedExtra: Goes from being unnamed and having a minuscule part in “A Storm of Swords” to playing a significant part in ''A Dance With Dragons''.
* BreakTheCutie: First her brother gets killed, and then she gets enslaved and winds up in the siege lines around Meereen with a dying master.
* BrotherSisterTeam
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Tyrion has to do this to her a few times.
* HappinessInSlavery
* MoralityPet: For Tyrion, stopping him from dropping into ThenLetMeBeEvil.
* OurDwarvesAreDifferent: She has nothing in common with Tyrion other than being a dwarf, and often calls him on his reckless and antagonistic behavior towards the "big people" despite no longer having Lannister power and privilege.
-->'''Tyrion:''' I see I have a lot to learn about being a dwarf.
* PluckyGirl: She is insanely optimistic and naïve about a lot of things. Tyrion can never quite bring himself to shatter all of her idealist notions, although he does destroy some of them.
* StreetPerformer
* [[spoiler:UnwittingPawn: She and her brother were hired by Littlefinger for Joffrey's wedding in order to provoke a confrontation between him and Tyrion, adding further evidence to point at Tyrion as Joffrey's killer]].

* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal]]: In ''A Game of Thrones''.

* BewareTheSillyOnes: A skinny bald man with a prominent hook nose and a funny accent, whose training methods involve making his pupil chase cats and stand on one leg. He also happens to be capable of killing/maiming 5 trained men-at-arms wearing full armor with a ''wooden training sword'' without breaking a sweat.

* [[spoiler:FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: "The First Sword of Braavos does not run."]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "I am Syrio Forel, '''and you will now be speaking to me with more respect.'''"

* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: [[spoiler: "The First Sword of Braavos does not run."]]
* MasterSwordsman: Even with just a wooden practice sword, he kills or knocks out five Lannister guardsmen.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Assumed dead, but was still fighting when last seen and his head is not on display with the rest of the Stark servants'.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: He only appears in the first book, but in that time he made a big impression on the fandom.
* YouShallNotPass: Pulls one against Ser Meryn Trant and the Lannister guardsmen, to give Arya the chance to escape.

A morbidly obese merchant and Magister of Pentos who arranged for Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo in the first book and gave her three dragon eggs as a wedding gift. He supports the Targaryens' campaign to regain the Seven Kingdoms and, following Viserys' death, ends up shifting his attention towards helping Daenerys. [[spoiler:Though greed may play a part in his actions, his scheming with Varys hint at deeper motives]].

[[spoiler: * TheCaper: What he and Varys might well have cooked up between them is a take on a two-man, fencing con. On a global scale, rather than the simple caper you'd expect to see on the high street. We've a long way to go to the full reveal, though. But, it looks like they might be "returning" the Crown of the Seven Kingdoms to the Targaryens -- for a price. When, they had their fingers all over how they lost it to begin with.]]

* BrutalHonesty: Got him the job of First Sword of Braavos. When he was invited to see the Sealord after the previous First Sword died, the Sealord asked him what he thought of his RightHandCat, which was supposedly from some far-off exotic land. Syrio said that he'd seen a thousand cats just like it in the alleys of Braavos. The Sealord made him First Sword immediately, as he saw what the cat truly was (just a cat), spoke the truth and didn't try to win favor through flattery.

[[* TheCaper: What he and Varys might have cooked up between them. On a global scale, rather than the simple, two-man caper you'd expect to see on the high street. We've a long way to go to the full reveal, though.]]

* AmbitionIsEvil

* BlondGuysAreEvil

* FatBastard

Former First Sword of Braavos, hired by Eddard Stark to train Arya in swordplay.

* {{Badass}}: Proven beyond a doubt in [[spoiler: his final scene, where he holds off six men-at-arms and a knight of the Kingsguard with only a practice sword.]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "I am Syrio Forel,''' and you will now be speaking to me with more respect.'''"

** Volantis has an oligarchical form of democracy like a Greek city-state.

** Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice. The Titan of Braavos is a statue based on both the Colossus of Rhodes (a statue [[BetweenMyLegs whose legs form the entrance to the port]]) and the legendary Colossi of Memnon in Egypt (a statue that "sings" on sunrise.) As a city founded by slaves, exiles and boasting a multi-cultural, multi-lingual culture, it can be seen as one for New York City as well.

** Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice. The Titan of Braavos is a statue based on both the Colossus of Rhodes (a statue [[BetweenMyLegs whose legs form the entrance to the port]]) and the legendary Colossi of Memnon in Egypt (a statue that "sings" on sunrise.)

** Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice. The Titan of Braavos is a statue based on both the Colossus of Rhodes (a statue [[BetweenMyLegs whose legs form the entrance to the port]]) and the legendary Colossi of Memnon in Egypt (a statue that "sings" on sunrise.)

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture. With the exception of Braavos, they are former colonies of the destroyed Valyrian Empire. They even speak different languages descended from Old Valyrian (the equivalent of Latin) that, according to Tyrion, are on their way to becoming separate languages.

** Volantis has an oligarchical form of democracy like a Greek city-state. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture. They even speak different languages descended from Old Valyrian (FantasyCultureCounterpart of Latin) that, according to Tyrion, are on their way to becoming separate languages.

** Pentos is a TraderCity that has a form of government reminiscent of Venice (a prince elected by a council of magisters.)

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Loosely based on the medieval Italian city-states (including Italian-sounding names) and some elements of Ancient Greek culture, with Braavos being a CityOfCanals like Venice and Volantis having an oligarchical form of democracy. They even speak a language descended from Old Valyrian.