History Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireLordsOfHarrenhal

* NouveauRiche: From the City Watch of King's Landing with a background in the city's equivalent of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shambles the Shambles]] (Butcher's Street/the Meatmarket) to high nobles with a stonking big castle... Well, that didn't last long, what with being best measured in months. A new Harrenhal record.

Head of House Strong during the reign of Jaehaerys I Taragryen. He became Lord of Harrenhal after the passing of Rhaena Targaryen. He was the father of Lyonel Strong and the older brother of Lucamore and Simon Strong.

House Strong of Harrenhal was a noble house in the riverlands. Their main seat was Harrenhal. Like the other families who have been in possession of Harrenhal, their family died out, at least in the main line. According to semi-canon sources they blazoned their arms with a tripartite pale blue, red, and green on white, representing the three forks of the Trident.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse. It is indeed the largest castle in Westeros that can't be managed on local lord's budget but it still has plenty of prime real estate and fertile lands, making it a valuable reward for any king's supporter. Its location makes it important strategic position for any warlord to possess during any war, so anyone holding it during the time of war or civil war has the target painted on them. During the time of peace, the Lord of Harrenhall is rarely liked, because of high taxation needed to maintain the castle. It means that in the times of war, people will be gunning for you, you won't be liked by your subordinates (thus making treachery likely. For practical examples, see the deaths of Vargo Hoat and Emory Lorch, with a cook opening a side gate and "weasel soup" incident) and your huge castle is not garrisoned properly (thus making it hard to defend from external attack) adding up to high probability of death. Even the infertility curse can be explained by mundane means, either with radioactive basalt that came as a result of melting the stone towers and letting them cool down or infra- and ultrasound constantly produced by The Wailing Tower.

* {{Curse}}: Is widely believed to be cursed on account of the grisly fates met by each and every Lord who has occupied the castle since Harren the Black's death. The ghoulish fates even extend to people who have merely "occupied" the castle militarily, with [[spoiler:Lord Tywin Lannister killed by his own son on the privy shaft. Roose Bolton also apparently takes small precautions against it, such as naming Vargo Hoat the Lord of Harrenhal even though he's the one in charge, but he notes to Theon in ADWD that he expects his house to end with Ramsay]].
** Another large factor contributing to stories of the curse is... just how [[GodIsDispleased blasphemous building Harrenhal within spitting distance of both the Isle of Faces and the Gods' Eye lake]] could easily be seen to be. Not to mention all that chopping down of weirwoods and heart trees from all across the Riverlands to build with. Forget simply killing, perhaps, the few remaining enclaves of Old Gods-worshipping smallfolk and petty lords of the region in the quarries, smithies, sawmills and mines supplying material to make that monster with. Only the Blackwoods now remain as open worshippers of the Old Gods, but the weirwoods likely remember the atrocities quite well, despite the lost trees.
** A subtler element (which nobody seems to have noticed in-universe) is that living in it gradually makes women infertile via stillbirths and miscarriages. All of the houses that held it that weren't simply directly wiped out in political backfires collapsed in a few generations from a lack of heirs, and the life-long female servants Arya meets there have the same issue.
*** Rock melted at temperatures high enough to flow turns into naturally "mildly" radioactive basalt once it cools down. All five towers were partially melted. That's another possible answer to the curse: radiation!

* SoleSurvivor: Implied to the be the sole survivor of Maegor's contest.

* LastOfItsKind: Last member of House Towers.

An elder knight and castellan of Harrenhal during the Dance of the Dragons, cousin of Larys Strong. He surrendered Harrenhal to Prince Daemon Targaryen at the sight of his dragon, Caraxes. ''Fire and Blood'' reveals he was actually great-uncle of Harwin and Larys.

* PetTheDog: A marginal example, and a degree of self interest is involved, but at least he reminds and informs Arya how to be careful around Vargo Hoat and the Bloody Mummers.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The curse. It is indeed the largest castle in Westeros that can't be managed on local lord's budget but it still has plenty of prime real estate and fertile lands, making it a valuable reward for any king's supporter. Its location makes it important strategic position for any warlord to possess during any war, so anyone holding it during the time of war or civil war has the target painted on them. During the time of peace, the Lord of Harrenhall is rarely liked, because of high taxation needed to maintain the castle. Even the infertility curse can be explained by mundane means, either with radioactive basalt that came as a result of melting the stone towers and letting them cool down or infra- and ultrasound constantly produced by The Wailing Tower.

A knight who fought for Maegor I Targaryen in is trial of seven against the Warrior's Sons and died during it.

* ActionGirl: She personally lead House Lothston's forces to join Bloodraven in crushing the attempted Second Blackfyre Rebellion.

* WickedWitch: She ''might'' have been a skinchanger, given her direct association both with bats and Bloodraven. And, folklore paints her as wicked as wicked gets.

* TruthInTelevision: Replace dragons with cannons, and Harrenhal's tale looks like many a familiar tale of centuries developed, tried-and-true Eurasian castle designs getting, well, massively out-dated very quickly. The UK, specifically, is dotted by ruins of once-great castles that met the rise of modern artillery doctrine in warfare during the English Civil War. The ones still with rooves that survived to become tourist magnets or hotels? Either surrendered or quickly or got lucky by not taking a large role. Most of those were still quite visibly damaged.

* UnskilledButStrong: Presumably. He was larger and far stronger than Ser Criston Cole yet he was defeated by him in the melee during the clebrations held for princess Rhaenyra.

* DecapitationPresentation: After his execution for assassinating Aegon II, the heads of Larys and Ser Gyles Belgrave of the Kingsguard (the only other conspirator who chose execution over joining the Night's Watch) were put on spikes above the gates of the Red Keep.

-->--'''The world of ice and fire'''