History Characters / GameOfThronesWhiteWalkers

!!The Night's King

The mysterious leader of the White Walkers. According to the legend, he was once a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch who took a woman "with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars", possibly a female Other, as a bride and became an Evil Overlord over The Wall. They were defeated by the combined forces of the Stark and the Wildlings armies. It is said he was from House Bolton or even House Stark. Since then, nothing was known about his fate, until he reappeared as a White Walker himself. It is not known if he is related to the Great Other, but if it is so, he's the Great Other's [[TheDragon Dragon]].
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* CainAndAbel: If he was a Stark, then his own brother led the northern army against him, though it's unknown if he was the one to kill him.
* EvilOverlord: Became one over Night's Watch, the Wall and the Gift. It took an [[EnemyMine alliance]] between the Starks and the Wildlings to take him down. He returned many centuries after his first defeat and is now ready to lead an army of White Walkers south.
* EvilSorcerer
* NoNameGiven: All records of him were erased and his name was forbidden from being spoken, though some believe he was a Bolton, an Umber or even a Stark. In the current era, no human characters yet know of his continued existence and speak of him, but he is name-dropped by HBO.
* TheOathbreaker: The Night's King is the worst example. He is not supposed to marry, yet he married a... creature. He's not supposed to wear a crown, yet he named himself king. He's not supposed to own any land, yet he turned the lands surrounding The Wall into his own kingdom.
* SorcerousOverlord
* ThirteenIsUnlucky
* WasOnceAMan
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[[folder: The Night's King]]

Thousands of years before the start of the series while the Night Watch was still young, the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Nights Watch found....something in the frozen forests. Something cold, something dark, and something beautiful.

* [[spoiler:AlwaysABiggerFish: "Oathkeeper" shows that the White Walkers we've seen so far seem to serve a higher power.]]

** In Oathkeeper the truth is finally revealed with the last of Craster's babies. [[spoiler: A mysterious "King" of the White Walkers (or possibly even the Great Other) personally transforms it into a new White Walker. Confimed by HBO as the "Night's King", former commander of the Night's Watch and legendary enemy of the Night's Watch.}]

* GodzillaThreshold: The last time they emerged from the Land of Always Winter, they did enough damage to Westeros to warrant the construction of the Wall and the formation of the Night's Watch just to ''try'' and keep them contained in the North. [[labelnote:From the books...]]According to legend, a previous Lord Commander of the Night's Watch was seduced and corrupted by a female White Walker and became the "Night's King", driving the King in the North to ally with the Wildlings to kill him and his Queen.[[/labelnote]]

** In Oathkeeper the truth is finally revealed with the last of Craster's babies. [[spoiler: A mysterious "King" of the White Walkers (or possibly even the Great Other) personally transforms it into a new White Walker.]]

* ZombieGait: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]; Wights are just as fast in death as they were in life.

* TheDreaded: There is no way to properly describe the sheer horror people in Westeros have for the White Walkers.
** Though the fact they built The Wall specificially to keep them out, kind of says it all.
** Actually, kind of defied; the people of Westeros either believe they were all destroyed thousands of years ago and are long extinct (mainly in The North), or they believe they never existed as anything more than a myth to begin with (everywhere else). They definitely qualify as this for the Wildlings, however, given that they live with them as an ever impending threat. And once a Westerosi is finally convinced that the White Walkers are real, the horror they can inspire quickly takes hold.

Corpses of humans, and animals, raised by the White Walkers to act as their enforcers. Vulnerable only to fire.

* OurWightsAreDifferent: They're invincable zombies capable of wielding weapons and working as an army, with fire being the only thing that can destroy them.

* AlliterativeName

* ConflictKiller: [[spoiler: In ''Mhysa'', Stannis abandons his campaign in the South after learning from the Night's Watch that the White Walkers have returned, knowing that if they manage to break through the Wall, it won't matter who sits upon the Iron Throne, ''everyone'' in Westeros will be screwed.]]

** Also, notice that in their first two appearances, they wielded swords and spears made of ice. [[labelnote:From the books...]]These ice weapons can freeze and shatter swords during a fight, as observed in the fight between Wayman Royce in the first chapter.[[/labelnote]] [[spoiler: In the last episode, one of them froze and shattered Sam's sword just by grabbing it for a few seconds.]]

* GlowingEyesOfDoom

* GrimUpNorth

* NotSoExtinct
* OhCrap: The White Walker that [[spoiler: Sam]] kills has this reaction after it realises it's been stabbed with [[spoiler: dragonglass.]]

* StupidEvil: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]; a White Walker had the chance to kill Sam in ''Valar Morghulis'' but ignores him. [[spoiler: Sam ends up killing the same Walker in ''Second Sons'' when it comes for Gilly's son.]]

* GlowingEyesOfDoom

* {{Mooks}}

* OurWightsAreDifferent

* StupidEvil: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]; a White Walker had the chance to kill Sam in ''Valar Morghulis'' but ignores him. [[spoiler: Sam ends up killing the same Walker in ''Second Sons'' when it comes for Gilly's son.]]

* BiggerBad: To the War of the Five Kings and the villainous characters responsible for it (Tywin, Joffrey, Littlefinger, Balon etc.). Their threat overshadows any other in the setting, but most factions aren't even aware of them and facing lesser but more immidiate enemies. Commander Mormont lampshades to Jon that while the War of the Five Kings is beginning now, if the Walkers descend on the Seven Kingdoms, it won't matter who wins.

* BiggerBad: To the War of the Five Kings and the villainous characters responsible for it (Tywin, Joffrey, Littlefinger, Balon etc.). Their threat overshadows any other in the setting, but most factions aren't even aware of them and facing lesser but more immidiate enemies.

* BiggerBad: Regardless of who you believe is the BigBad (Tywin, Joffrey, Littlefinger, Balon etc.), none can compare to the threat presented by the White Walkers.

** Also, notice that in their first two appearances, they wielded swords and spears made of ice. [[hottip: From the books...: These ice weapons can freeze and shatter swords during a fight, as observed in the fight between Wayman Royce in the first chapter.]] [[spoiler: In the last episode, one of them froze and shattered Sam's sword just by grabbing it for a few seconds.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: The last time they emerged from the Land of Always Winter, they did enough damage to Westeros to warrant the construction of the Wall and the formation of the Night's Watch just to ''try'' and keep them contained in the North. [[hottip: From the books...: According to legend, a previous Lord Commander of the Night's Watch was seduced and corrupted by a female White Walker and became the "Night's King," driving the King in the North to ally with the Wildlings to kill him and his Queen.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: Whatever they want with Craster's sons, it's unlikely to be nice. They might [[EatsBabies eat them]], or use them as some form of [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]]. [[hottip: From the books...: Craster's wives believe they turn them into more of themselves, although Craster was also sacrificing his livestock to them as winter approached.]]

* [[spoiler: AchillesHeel: Dragonglass, or obsidian. Being stabbed with it causes their bodies to turn rapidly into ice, before shattering violently. After all, what's the opposite of ice? Volcanic glass.]]

* [[spoiler:LiterallyShatteredLives: When killed with dragonglass]].

* [[spoiler: WeaponizedWeakness: The dragonglass blades at the Fist of the First Men.]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler: The unnamed White Walker seen in the page image was shown leading the Wight army at the end of "Valar Morghulis". People who expected him to be a major villain were probably surprised when he was decisively killed by Sam in Season Three]].

* GodzillaThreshold: The last time they emerged from the Land of Always Winter, they did enough damage to Westeros to warrant the construction of the Wall and the formation of the Night's Watch just to ''try'' and keep them contained in the North. [[hottip: From the books...: When a previous Lord Commander of the Night's Watch was seduced and corrupted by a female White Walker and became the "Night's King," it drove both the Watch and the Starks to ally with the Wildlings to kill him and his Walker consort. Once he fell, the two factions resumed their own hostilities.]]

A legendary race from beyond the Wall. Eight thousand years ago, during the Long Night, they descended on Westeros with an army of undead warriors. In a conflict known as the War for Dawn, they were eventually driven out by the First Men and the Children of the Forest, leading to the construction of the Wall. By the time of ''Game of Thrones'', most people assume that they're a myth, and those who believe they existed assume they died out centuries ago. They didn't, and now they're coming back.

** [[YourMileageMayVary Arguably]], this is a better name for them then in the books. It's much more [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast frightening]] and evocative of [[AnIcePerson what they]] [[ZombieApocalypse actually are]].

** Actually, kind of defied; the people of Westeros either believe they were all destroyed thousands of years ago and are long extinct (mainly in The North), or they believe they never existed as anything more than a myth to begin with (everywhere else). They definitely qualify as this for the Wildlings, however, given that they live with them as an ever impending threat.