History Fanfic / TheKingNobodyWanted

** Tytos Clegane, father of Gregor and Sandor, doesn't get real mention or development (or even a name) in the canon; one of the few things known about him is that he covered up Gregor's deliberate maiming of Sandor, and Gregor likely repaid him by murdering him. In this story, he's a veteran campaigner and a very skilled swordsman.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Rys Chelsted [[spoiler:having clubbed feet that keep him from walking without a cane is subtly foreshadowed on several occasions. His wife comments that he dislikes dancing, Rys tells Davos that he could never dream of being a knight as a boy, only of living in a world "where all men could stand" (although it initially sounds like he is talking about a system of society based on merit instead of birth, and that may be a double-meaning comment). He has trouble restraining his anger for a moment when Cersei remembers that King Aerys compared him to a frog. He sounds bitter when telling Stannis to be wary of clergymen, given how they claim they can heal physical afflictions but usually fail to.]]

* EvilMatriarch: Urrigon paints his late mother as this for the Iron Islands. She shaped her older sons' ambitions of conquest, and engaged in dark magic. Urrigon says she also [[spoiler:killed her husband's first wife (by knocking her off a bridge [[CallForward the same way that her son Balon is killed in the books) as part of Euron's InheritanceMurder]] and stepsons (one of them by exposing him to greyscale, although, according to canon, Euron finished that son off)]].

** In Chapter 18, Alyn Stackspear is introduced as a ProudElite CommanderContrarian who seems to irrationally hate Tytos. Then Chapter 76 comes along and shows him in an entirely new light. He has a bad inferiority complex due to his demanding father and a poor showing in his first tourney (where he was sabotaged by Boros Blount). He recounts how, when the war came, he wanted to fight against Aerys (and feels that Jaime was justified in breaking his Kingsguard vows to kill him) but was unable to do so while Tywin remained neutral. The Sack of King's Landing left him a ShellShockedVeteran when men under his command [[OneDegreeOfSeparation killed Janos Slynt's father]] due to a misunderstanding. He encountered Tytos's son Gregor on his way to murder Rheager's family and feels that he should have done something to stop him, even though he had no idea what was going on at the time. His disdain for Tytos is a reflection of how he feels about Gregor, and he seems to shed these feelings after a heart-to-heart talk with his commander.

** Like her eventual niece, Lyanna goes to Braavos holding a special coin. Once there, she uses the name of her maternal grandmother, Arya Flint.

* {{Ambadassador}}: Jon Arryn, veteran commander of at least two major wars, is given the new Small Council position as Master of the Great Seal to deal with foreign dignitaries. His ambassadorial skills are limited, though, and he is grateful to leave the job behind after his promotion, with his seemingly more proficient replacement being a Septon who may not be a fighter, but has faced danger from a variety of sources over a well-traveled career.

** WordOfGod suggests Denys Darklyn wanted to negotiate in good faith and only took Aerys prisoner during the Defiance of Duskendale because he was already TheCaligula (even in canon, he tortured and killed lots of innocent people over a probably nonexistent conspiracy to poison one of his sons) and panicked Denys by threatening bloody and disproportionate vengeance that he could only delay by taking the King prisoner. WordOfGod also says that several executed members of House Darklyn had nothing at all to do with the Defiance.

** WordOfGod suggests Denys Darklyn only took Aerys prisoner during the Defiance of Duskendake because he was already TheCaligula (even in canon, he tortured and killed lots of innocent people over a probably nonexistent conspiracy to poison one of his sons) and panicked Denys by threatening bloody and disproportionate vengeance that he could only delay by taking the King prisoner. WordOfGod also says that several executed members of House Darklyn had nothing to do with the Defiance in the first place.

* LadyLooksLikeADude: Victarion initially assumes that Morella Mudd is a young boy, in part because of her [[ContraltoOfDanger unusually deep voice]].

** The unnamed mistress Aerys executed before the Defiance of Duskendale is given the name Lady Emalyn.

* FishEyes: Squinting Ryce Rollingford suffers from this, the result of her nickname.

* AnythingThatMoves: Garth Tyrell openly states his attraction to both Ellaria Sand and Oberyn Martell, mentions affairs with the Ibbenese, a people noted primarily for their short, stout and very hairy frames, is noted by Varys to have had a relationship with a eunuch acquaintance of his, and sums things up declaring he's enjoyed "the goose and the gander, the cow and the bull, the hen and the rooster, and yes, even the capon, as they chanced to be served to me." Varys later describes him as having "sampled liberally from every platter".

* LifeSavingMisfortune: Jaime mentions that Aerys [[DisproportionateRetribution kicked Lord Rosby out of King's Landing for coughing during a feast and made Lord Ryyker leave as well for arguing on Rosby's behalf]], but feels that this probably saved their lives due to how most of Aerys' remaining courtiers ended up being killed by their AxCrazy monarch, [[PowderKegCrowd mobs of angry people]], or Jaime himself.

* StockShticks: Barbara Bracken comments that Alysanne Whent's departure alongside an improbable list of companions sounds like the start of a joke, but without a punchline that she knows of.
-->'''Barbara Bracken:''' [Alysanne Whent's] off to look at Lord Gargon's[[note]]Gargon Qoherys, notorious for DroitDuSeigneur[[/note]] chamber with the Greyjoys, my sister, and the dwarf. Faith o' me, I'd swear that's the start of a jest, but I've no notion how to finish it.

** The siblings Tommen, Mern, and Argella Brightflowers have the names of pre-Conquest royalty, (as does Mern's son, though he prefers to go by a nickname) in keeping with the family's pride in themselves.

* TheFerryman: Mad Mychel Mudd and his daughter Morella are serving Victarion in this role, first saving Victarion from drowning, then taking him across the waterways of the Riverlands, for a fee that has yet to be disclosed. During this journey, Mad Mychel shares tales of the region's bloody history and that of his house, the significance of which largely seems to escape Victarion.

* FeudingFamilies: The Riverlands are filled with these, from the Brackens and the Blackwoods, to the two (exceedingly estranged) branches of House Vances. Urrigon Greyjoy mentions that the Saltcliffes and Sunderlys are always feuding, while also being HatedByAll the other Ironborn houses.
** According to the Brightflowers, their family was driven out of The Reach by their relatives the Florents and Hightowers all the way to Blackwater Bay, were they finally settled on the newly found King's Landing.

* DoNotCallMePaul: Lord Aerys Chelsted prefers to be called Rys to avoid being associated with his tyrannical namesake, who made Rys' father "Master of Coin, King's Hand, and then [[KillItWithFire King's candlestick]] in turn."

** The siblings Tommen, Mern, and Argella Brightflowers have the names of pre-Conquest royalty, in keeping with the family's pride in themselves.

** The siblings Tommen and Argella Brightflowers have the names of pre-Conquest royalty, in keeping with the family's pride in themselves.