History Characters / GameOfThronesRamsayBolton

** When he stabs his father to death, he takes no pleasure in it, and appears to be shaken up afterwards, but he soon regains composure. That's about the extent of his standards.

* BloodKnight: His reaction when Yara attacks the Dreadfort? To simply declare "this is turning into a lovely evening", and ''charge shirtless at the enemy''. Then subverted when he becomes a coward against Jon Snow.

* PaperTiger: After 3 seasons of being a KarmaHoudini and InvincibleVillain, once Ramsay's army is finally defeated and he's left to fight Jon one-on-one by himself, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown he gets the absolute shit kicked out of him with relative ease]]. This sends the impression that while Ramsay was a deadly fighter, his true strength lied in ruthless ambushes and fighting with number advantages. Once those were no longer in his favor [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty he quickly crumbled]].

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesJonSnow Jon Snow]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesSansaStark Sansa Stark]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesAryaStark Arya Stark]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] ('''Ramsay Bolton''') | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesCerseiLannister Cersei Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesJaimeLannister Jaime Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesTyrionLannister Tyrion Lannister]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesStannisBaratheon Stannis Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTheonGreyjoy Theon Greyjoy]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesPetyrBaelish Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesMargaeryTyrell Margaery Tyrell]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheOrderOfTheMaesters The Order of the Maesters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

* PaperTiger: After 3 seasons of being a KarmaHoudini and InvincibleVillain, once Ramsay's army is finally defeated and he's left to fight Jon one-on-one by himself, [[CurbStompBattle he gets the absolute shit kicked out of him with relative ease]]. This sends the impression that while Ramsay was a deadly fighter, his true strength lied in ruthless ambushes and fighting with number advantages. Once those were no longer in his favor [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty he quickly crumbled]].

** His final act was putting a arrow through Wun Wun's head when the poor giant was already at death's doorstep.

** Played straight again in "Home" when he stabs his own father in the heart in cold blood.

** Perhaps the only straight example of this, but although he does it [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne solely to secure his place as the one true heir to the Bolton name,]] when he has his stepmother Walda and baby brother devoured by his hounds, it is the only time ''in the entire series'' where he takes absolutely no pleasure in doing so and he even looks away a bit near the end. He doesn't even [[FauxAffablyEvil use his wonderful personality]] to taunt them like he typically does, actually seems rather reluctant to do it and even seems to genuinely consider just letting her go when she promises to flee with the baby and never return, which is a '''big''' indication [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this moment is different from the rest.]] While he still goes through with it, it's quite jarring to see him ''almost'' human for the briefest of times.

** A subtle one, but although he does it [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne solely to secure his place as the one true heir to the Bolton name,]] when he has his stepmother Walda and baby brother devoured by his hounds, it is one of the only times ''in the entire series'' where he takes absolutely no pleasure in seeing others die and he even looks away a bit near the end. He doesn't even [[FauxAffablyEvil use his wonderful personality]] to taunt them like he typically does and actually seems rather reluctant to do it and even seems tempted to let her go when she promises to flee with the baby and never return, which is a '''big''' indication [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this moment is different from the rest.]] While he still goes through with it, it's quite jarring to see him ''almost'' human for the briefest of times.

[[caption-width-right:300:''[[BastardBastard "My mother taught me not to throw stones at cripples... but my father taught me to aim for their head!"]]'']]

[[Characters/GameOfThronesWesteros The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStark House Stark]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkChildren House Stark Children]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesJonSnow Jon Snow]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesSansaStark Sansa Stark]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesAryaStark Arya Stark]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseStarkHousehold House Stark Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBolton House Bolton]] ('''Ramsay Bolton''') | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseKarstark House Karstark]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMormont House Mormont]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseReed House Reed]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesOtherNorthernHouses Other Northern Houses]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannister House Lannister]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTywinLannister Tywin Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesCerseiLannister Cersei Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesJaimeLannister Jaime Lannister]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseLannisterHousehold House Lannister Household]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseClegane House Clegane]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheonOfKingsLanding House Baratheon of King’s Landing]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesJoffreyBaratheon Joffrey Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTargaryen House Targaryen]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysCourt Daenerys I’s Court]] [[[Characters/GameOfThronesDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys Targaryen]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesTyrionLannister Tyrion Lannister]]], [[Characters/GameOfThronesServantsOfDaenerys Servants of Daenerys]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseBaratheon House Baratheon of Storm’s End and Dragonstone]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesStannisBaratheon Stannis Baratheon]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseGreyjoy House Greyjoy]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesTheonGreyjoy Theon Greyjoy]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseArryn House Arryn]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesPetyrBaelish Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTully House Tully]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseFrey House Frey]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTyrell House Tyrell]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseTarly House Tarly]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesHouseMartell House Martell]] ([[Characters/GameOfThronesSandSnakes Sand Snakes]]) | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFreeCities The Free Cities]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSlaversBay Slaver's Bay]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheDothrakiSeaAndTheRedWaste The Dothraki Sea and the Red Waste]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesQarth Qarth]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesNightsWatch The Night's Watch]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRoyalCourt Royal Court]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheOrderOfTheMaesters The Order of the Maesters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheKingsguard The Kingsguard]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesWildlings Wildlings]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesBrotherhoodWithoutBanners Brotherhood Without Banners]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesRedTemple Red Temple]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesIndependentCharacters Independent Characters]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesTheatreTroupe Theatre Troupe]] | [[Characters/GameOfThronesSupernaturalBeings Supernatural Beings]]]]]]-]

* DirtyCoward: In "Battle of the Bastards", he refuses to fight Jon one-on-one, then stands back and watches the battle without getting his own hands dirty. When the knights of the Vale arrive and turn the tide, he turns and retreats to Winterfell. ''Then'' when Wun Wun smashes the main gate and Winterfell is stormed, he retreats. Finally, when he's cornered, he spitefully shoots Wun Wun in the eye and snarks that he's "reconsidered" Jon's offer for one-on-one combat, trying to kill Jon at a distance. He gets his face beaten in when Jon closes in using a shield. Quite the 180-degree turn from the shirtless BloodKnight in "The Laws of Gods and Men", as it turns out a lifetime of flaying helpless people after that left him quite unprepared for someone who could actually fight back for once. He also becomes noticeably terrified when chained up and having his dogs sicced on him.

* FatalFlaw: His excessive sadism and cruelty causes him to waste his last, best chance at killing Jon Snow or escaping in favor of killing Wun Wun (who was likely going to die anyway) solely to spite the former. It also earns him one of the most agonizing deaths in the entire show when Sansa Stark, his latest victim, has him at her mercy.
** He also repeatedly demonstrates a complete inability to consider [[DidntThinkThisThrough the consequences of his actions]]. He mentally breaks Theon and castrates which makes him useless as a bargaining chip or a negotiator, his abuse of Sansa causes her to flee Winterfell and turn the rest of the North against the Boltons, he murders Roose and Walda to gain power and gives no thought to how this will damage the Bolton's already poor image or seriously affect, if not outright destroy, relations with the Frey's and he eventually lets his army get wiped out just for his own sadism.

* DirtyCoward: In "Battle of the Bastards", he refuses to fight Jon one-on-one, then stands back and watches the battle without getting his own hands dirty. When the knights of the Vale arrive and turn the tide, he turns and retreats to Winterfell. ''Then'' when Wun Wun smashes the main gate and Winterfell is stormed, he retreats. Finally, when he's cornered, he spitefully shoots Wun Wun in the eye and snarks that he's "reconsidered" Jon's offer for one-on-one combat, trying to kill Jon at a distance. He gets his face beaten in when Jon closes in using a shield. Quite the 180-degree turn from the shirtless BloodKnight in "The Laws of Gods and Men", as it turns out a lifetime of flaying helpless people after that left him quite unprepared for someone who could actually fight back for once.

* HumiliationConga: "Battle of the Bastards" is essentially Ramsay's pride before the fall. Right as he on the cusp of victory, the Knights of the Vale arrive to relieve Jon's army and routs the Boltons back to Winterfell. Ramsay tries to hunker down for a siege, only for Wun Wun to break down the gate and allow the Wildlings to storm the castle, before Jon finally beats Ramsay to a bloody pulp for the atrocities Ramsay has committed: such as Ramsay [[BigBrotherInstinct murdering his brother Rickon, raping his sister Sansa]], and for all the hell Ramsay has wreaked. Finally, Ramsay is approached by Sansa in the dungeon, who reminds him that he has not fed his hunting dogs in seven days due to deliberately starving them so that they would kill Jon and Jon and Sansa's loyalist officers, before Ramsay is finally devoured by his own dogs.

* JustDesserts: His ultimate fate.

* TooCleverByHalf: Ramsay can be quite cunning and clever but his sadism and impulsiveness seriously undermine any ability he might have and, in the true spirit of this trope, his outsized ego ends up doing far more damage for himself and his house than even Joffrey did to the Lannisters with his blundering idiocy.

* SatanicArchetype: Ramsay is an egotistical liar who has zero empathy for literally anyone. He's extremely sadistic, power-hungry and manipulative murderer who lives to make everyone's life a living hell with a sickening grin in his face.

[[caption-width-right:300:''"[[BastardBastard My mother taught me not to throw stones at cripples... but my father taught me aim for their head!]]"'']]

[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nintchdbpict000344829944.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ramsay_1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[BastardBastard My mother taught me not to throw stones at cripples... but my father taught me aim for their head!]]"'']]

* DirtyCoward: In "Battle of the Bastards", he refuses to fight Jon one-on-one, then stands back and watches the battle without getting his own hands dirty. When the knights of the Vale arrive and turn the tide, he turns and retreats to Winterfell. ''Then'' when Wun Wun smashes the main gate and Winterfell is stormed, he retreats. Finally, when he's cornered, he spitefully shoots Wun Wun in the eye and snarks that he's "reconsidered" Jon's offer for one-on-one combat, trying to kill Jon at a distance. He gets his face beaten in when Jon closes in using a shield. Quite the 180-degree turn from the shirtless BloodKnight in "The Laws of Gods and Men", as it turns out a lifetime of flaying helpless people after that [[RealityEnsues left him quite unprepared]] for someone who could actually fight back for once.

* TokenEvilTeammate: He manages to be this even within House Bolton who are regarded as this trope for the North. This comes to a head in Season 6 when he murders his father and brother to take over and [[RealityEnsues ends up leading the house to ruin because the same qualities that made him valuable end up destroying him]].

* SatanicArchetype: Ramsay has zero empathy for literally anyone, he's extremely sadistic, power-hungry and manipulative murderer who lives to make everyone's life a living hell with a sickening grin in his face.

* SanitySlippage: Not that he was ever stable to begin with, but according to WordOfGod ''he is unable to process that he is losing'' the moment where the Knights of the Vale arrived in "The Battle of the Bastards" as he is used to being in control and get his way every time. He remains confident that his cunning and tricks will get him out somehow. When his army is absolutely destroyed by the Vale knights, he waves it off as nothing saying he still has Winterfell and can withstand a siege, never mind that the Arryn forces outnumber him and are prepared to besiege him. When he is being beaten by Jon, he thinks he will be spared because of Stark honor, without realizing Jon spared him so Sansa, Jon's sister, could be the one to deal the final blow. Even when he is chained up inside the dogs kennel, he still thinks he will break out of this one for some reason until they are literally on top of him. This echoes the last days of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, who acted much the same way regarding failure.

* VillainousBreakdown: For the entire series, Ramsay had always portrayed himself as calm and collected until "Battle of the Bastards" when he frantically tries to get his starving hunting dogs to obey his commands just before they devour him alive, realizing [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty his sadism won't save him this time]].

* RealityEnsues: His entire arc in Season 6 revolves around showing why [[AxCrazy people like Ramsay]] are poor rulers as his inability to think ahead, his sadism and his disregard for everyone but himself finally catch up to him and cause his house to be wiped out and end with him receiving an utterly brutal death through means [[HoistByHisOwnPetard he had arranged]].

* GeniusBruiser: He's a capable fighter and hunter, after all. This is in addition to a keen understanding of human psychology, [[MindRape allowing him to take torture to a level that no one else in the series even comes close to matching]].

%% * TheMole: Pretends to be one of these ForTheEvulz.

* MrFanservice: An evil one, yes, but he's seen shirtless a couple of times and he's naked during his scene with Myranda in 'Kill the Boy'.

* {{Narcissist}}: Like many real life high-functioning sociopaths and sadists, Ramsay shows several narcissistic traits. He's overly confident in his abilities, his relations are shallow and only for the sake of his own pleasure, and his inflated ego is easily wounded by his father's pragmatic remarks.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: George R.R. Martin himself has confirmed that Ramsay knew from a young age about his true parentage, but was completely disinherited. Therefore, a lot of his behavior is his desire for acknowledgement. Notably, however, it doesn't give him sympathy points in any way or justify anything he's done.