History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireHistoricalKingsguard

-->''"The days when men like Ryam Redwyne and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight wore the white cloak are gone to dust and song."''
--->--'''Varys'''

* BadassDecay: InUniverse. By the time of the series, the Kingsguard has gone from one of the highest institutions of knighthood in the Seven Kingdoms to a laughingstock. Formerly the place to be for the best knights in the land, after Barristan Selmy is released from the Kingsguard it's taken up by political appointments or knights of little comparative skill. While there are some knights in it that still take it seriously, people like Osmund Kettleblack don't really fill people with confidence.
* TheBrute: Ser Joffrey Staunton aided the future King Aegon IV get his mistress Megette by threatening Megette's husband.

* HighTurnoverRate: The Queensguard went through 3 Lord Commanders.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: When Maegor's regime was crumbling, Owen Bush was murdered at a brothel and found with his member stuffed in his mouth.

* ReallyGetsAround: Took three wives.

* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: He fathered '''sixteen''' children.

* BladeOnAStick: Wielded a spear rather than a sword.

* TheWorfEffect: He's apparently badass enough to be placed on the Kingsguard ahead of Quentyn Ball, but he's knocked out fighting in the trial of seven.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Because of the short-work he made of Langward, he was soon enough anointed as Lord Commander.

* DecapitationPresentation: A chieftain delivered his head to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea half a year later, claiming his wildlings had eaten him.

!!The Kingsguard of King Aegon II
-->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfAegonII Court of Aegon II]] page.

!!The Queensguard of Rhaenyra
-->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfRhaenyraI Court of Rhaenyra I]] page.

!!The Kingsguard of Aegon III, the Dragonbane

[[folder:Ser Marston Waters]]
!!Ser Marston Waters

A bastard from Dragonstone. He was raised to the Kingsguard after helping Aegon II take Dragonstone. He continued to serve in the Kingsguard of Aegon III.

[[folder:The Cargyll Twins]]
!!Ser Erryk Cargyll and Ser Arryk Cargyll
Twin Kingsguard knights from House Cargyll. Their loyalties were split during the Dance of the Dragons with Erryk siding with Rhaenyra and Arryk siding with Aegon II.

* ConflictingLoyalty: Between each other and their sovereigns. They choose the latter.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: According to the singers, the Cargyll twins professed their love for each other before dueling for an hour and dying in each others arms. The fool Mushroom, claiming to have witnessed the duel, says instead they cursed each other as traitors and had both dealt each other mortal wounds within moments.
* DuelToTheDeath: In the halls of Dragonstone.
* ImpersonationGambit: Arryk pretended to be Erryk to infiltrate Dragonstone.
* ManlyTears: Said to have said shed tears with his brother as they lay dying after inflicting mortal wounds on each other.
* MutualKill: The brothers were too evenly matched for an outright winner, but sadly too skilled not to mortally wound each other.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Both choose the side they felt should rule and set aside any family loyalty when they did so.
* SiblingTeam: Before the Dance.

[[folder:Ser Gyles Greycloak]]
!!Ser Gyles Greycloak
Gyles Greycloak was a knight of the Kingsguard.

* AlliterativeName: ''G''yles ''G''reycloak.
* AmbiguousSyntax: All we know about him is that his name is Gyles and that he was a traitor...two traits also given to Gyles Belgrave, of whom we similarly know little. Whether or not they're actually the same character is unknown.
* ColorMotif: Again proof that grey is a bad color in this series.
* CrypticBackgroundReference: Nothing is known of him except his name and exploits.
* FaceHeelTurn: He was a traitor. Again nothing is elaborated.

[[folder:Ser Orivel]]
!!Ser Orivel the Open Handed

Ser Orivel, better known as Orivel the Open-Handed, was a knight of the Kingsguard at an unknown time.
----
* CrypticBackgroundReference: Nothing is known of him except his name and exploits. His lack of family name means he was probably common born.
* DirtyCoward: What he is remembered for.
[[/folder]]

* AnAxeToGrind: How Sandoq finishes him off, smashing it right into his forehead.

* InSeriesNickname: The Green Oak. There's no explanation for its meaning.

* {{Foil}}: Like Jaime, Aemon served a terrible king and was a DoggedNiceGuy to the queen/his sister, but where Jaime eventually snapped out and became TheKingslayer for the greater good, Ser Aemon remained true to his vows and died to protect the evil King. Despite being polar opposites in terms of reputation, their actions (or lack thereof) created the same circumstances: accusations of adultery, illegitimacy and all-out internecine CivilWar.
** The other point where he contrasts with both Jaime and also Ser Loras Tyrell is that the latter two were HotBlooded and had BigBrotherInstinct. Cersei hid the fact that Robert occassionally raped her while drunk because she feared that Jaime would go nuts and kill the King. Likewise [[spoiler:one of Olenna Redwyne's reasons for killing Joffrey, as per Littlefinger]] was that she feared an abusive Joffrey would not only hurt Margaery but since Loras was in the Kingsguard, it would drive him to kill the king as well. Prince Aemon, despite reputedly having the same BigBrotherInstinct, never seemed to threaten Aegon IV into halting his mistreatment of his wife (who finally died in childbirth after all her protestations to take a separate bed were denied).

* ThisIsUnforgivable: Jaehaerys and Alysanne were quite fond of Lucamore, and were deeply hurt and angered by his betrayal of his vows.

* NotHelpingYourCase: After having been caught, he was brought before the king to explain himself, and he might've probably gotten off with just getting sent to the Wall... if he hadn't pleaded for the sake of his children.

* TheOathbreaker: It is unlikely he ever took his Kingsguard oaths seriously, and was likely on appointed to position during his brother Unwin's reign as Hand of the King. Mushroom accuses him of [[ReallyGetsAround sleeping with multiple women]] within White Sword Tower
* PetTheDog: Hears out Thaddeus Rowan's plead of clemency for his squire...but [[KickTheDog still cuts his ear off.]]

* TheOathbreaker: It is unlikely he ever took his Kingsguard oaths seriously, and was likely on appointed to position during his brother Unwin's reign as Hand of the King.

* VillainousValour: Gyldayn notes that, for all his flaws, the manner of his death did not disgrace the Kingsguard; he goes down fighting Sandoq the Shadow rather bravely, without a shield and with an open-faced helm.

* TheBrute: He and Ser Owen Bush seized Tyana of the Tower when the King suspected treachery.

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Jaehaerys said he had no room for turncloaks in his Kingsguard, so he and Raymund were packed to the Wall instead.

* BaldOfAwesome: Described as bald.

* OldSoldier: He was sixty-three when he joined the Kingsguard and already grizzled and a veteran of a hundred battles.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: A humorous example involving him; when training against his Kingsguard to improve his own martial skills, according to Archmaester Gyldayn, Ser Pate's spear gave the young King Jaehaerys fits.

* SchrödingersCanon: He's not mentioned in ''Sons of the Dragon'' or ''Fire and Blood'', and [[WordOfSaintPaul Elio Garcia]] confirmed that Martin explicitly edited him out. The exact reasoning for this is unknown, but until later clarification arises Raymont lives in canonical limbo.

* Schrödinger'sCanon: He's not mentioned in ''Sons of the Dragon'' or ''Fire and Blood'', and [[WordOfSaintPaul Elio Garcia]] confirmed that Martin explicitly edited him out. The exact reasoning for this is unknown, but until later clarification arises Raymont lives in canonical limbo.