History Woobie / ASongOfIceAndFire

* Poor fat Sam. His father constantly mocked and abused him for being "weak" because Sam preferred reading to fighting and eventually threatening to outright ''kill'' Sam if he did not join the Knight's Watch. When he does join, he's bullied relentlessly until Jon puts a stop to it and, even though things improve somewhat for him after he meets [[LoveInterest Gilly]], his beloved mentor dies and he goes back to being treated with contempt without Jon and Maester Aemon around.

* A kind of weird inversion occurs with Robert Arryn in the first book -- the reader wishes that someone would just take him away from his overprotective mother and force him to man up. You know your mother is bad when the readers wish that you had been sent to be fostered by ''Tywin Lannister.'' Even his father noticed it and wanted to send him to Stannis Baratheon.
** Played straight in later books. As annoying and creepy as Robert Arryn is, it's hard not to have a morsel of pity for him. He's only a little kid, but he's been extremely ill for most, if not all, his life. He lost both of his parents, is in the "care" of an even creepier stepfather [[spoiler: who is poisoning him]], and is fully aware that everyone is just waiting for him to die so Harry the Heir can take his place. Only his step-sister Alayne, ([[spoiler:who's really his cousin Sansa Stark]]), shows him any tenderness, but it's ambiguous whether or not she [[spoiler: is willing to sacrifice him for her own agenda]].

* Shae. {{Starcrossed Lovers}} with Tyrion. Too bad he enjoyed the gameplaying at King's Landing and didn't want to run away with her until after it was too late. When she first arrives at King's Landing, Tyrion is terrified for her safety since he knows that his enemies would happily use her as leverage against him. The only person aside from Tyrion and Varys who she is allowed to spend time with is Sansa, while acting as the girl's ladies maid. Shae becomes very attached to Sansa and would happily kill to protect her, and Sansa is grateful to finally have a confidant who she can trust. However, this becomes very complicated and upsetting when [[spoiler: Tyrion is forced to marry Sansa.]] and things never go back to how they were before. [[spoiler: Completely averted in the end however when she double crosses Tyrion and reveals that she was indeed just a prostitute and her sole interest in him the whole time was gold.]]

* Dany is set up as one. From birth, she and her only known family -- her older brother Viserys -- are forced to spend their lives on the run from Robert Baratheon's assassins across the Narrow Sea where they are exiled. The only happy home she had known had been with Ser Willem Darry but with his death, Dany and Viserys were forced out onto the streets as children. Under the care of her brother, who blamed her for the death of their mother, this {{JerkAss}} abuses her, takes out his increasing anger and bitterness over the loss of their family's throne on Dany, and ''sells her'' to a Dothraki warlord, Khal Drogo, in exchange for an army to retake the Iron Throne. Viserys even states he'd let Drogo's entire khalasar rape her to get his army, telling her to be thankful it is only Drogo and indeed, Drogo rapes her nightly until Dany wants to die. She has an [[YouGoGirl ascent to awesomeness]] but the oppression she experiences here remains impactful.

** Rhaenyra Targaryen's mother died when she was very young. She gets slut-shamed and her claim to the throne is contested because of her gender and the Hightowers' ambition. [[spoiler: Her father died, her daughter was stillborn, her three eldest sons died one after another, her youngest son was taken hostage, she saw her dragon die, her second husband might have been cheating on her, she loses control of King's Landing, she's betrayed by her own men, then she's burned alive and fed to her brother's dragon.]] [[TraumaCongaLine All that in the span of less than two years]]. She can't even catch a break posthumously, [[spoiler: since everyone ''still'' considers her a usurper and terrible queen, despite her being the mother of the current line of Targaryens]].

*** During all of this, [[spoiler:Jon is devastated by the belief that his family has perished and on top of it, Jon's FirstLove [[DiedInYourArmsTonight ends up dying in his arms]]. In ''A Dance With Dragons,'' Jon is told his beloved sister Arya -- fellow outsider in the Stark family and his most cherished bond in the world -- is alive. He has the chance to the chance to save her but is killed for his efforts and unbeknownst to him, the girl claiming to be Arya is actually an imposter.]]

* Dany is set up as one. From birth, she and her only known family -- her five-year old brother Viserys -- are forced to spend their lives on the run from Robert Baratheon's assassins across the Narrow Sea where they are exiled. The only happy home she had known had been with Ser Willem Darry but with his death, Dany and Viserys were forced out onto the streets as children. Under the care of her brother, who blamed her for the death of their mother, this {{JerkAss}} abuses her, takes out his increasing anger and bitterness over the loss of their family's throne on Dany, and ''sells her'' to a Dothraki warlord, Khal Drogo, in exchange for an army to retake the Iron Throne. Viserys even states he'd let Drogo's entire khalasar rape her to get his army, telling her to be thankful it is only Drogo and indeed, Drogo rapes her nightly until Dany wants to die. She has an [[YouGoGirl ascent to awesomeness]] but the oppression she experiences here remains impactful.

* Dany is set up as one. From birth, she and her only known family -- her five-year old brother Viserys -- are forced to spend their lives on the run from Robert Baratheon's assassins across the Narrow Sea where they are exiled. The only happy home she had known had been with Ser Willem Darry but with his death, Dany and Viserys were forced out onto the streets as children. Under the care of her brother, who blamed her for the death of their mother, this {{JerkAss}} abuses her, takes out his increasing anger and bitterness over the loss of their family's throne on Dany, and _sells her_ to a Dothraki warlord, Khal Drogo, in exchange for an army to retake the Iron Throne. Viserys even states he'd let Drogo's entire khalasar rape her to get his army, telling her to be thankful it is only Drogo and indeed, Drogo rapes her nightly until Dany wants to die. She has an [[YouGoGirl ascent to awesomeness]] but the oppression she experiences here remains impactful.

*** During all of this, [[spoiler:Jon is devastated by the belief that his family has perished. And Jon's FirstLove [[DiedInYourArmsTonight ends up dying in his arms]]. In ''A Dance With Dragons,'' Jon has the chance to save his beloved little sister Arya but is killed for his efforts and unbeknownst to him, the girl claiming to his sister is an imposter.]]
** Arya Stark has low self-esteem due to always being compared unfavorably to her beautiful, talented, and feminine older sister who [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry bullies her]]. She comes from the same loving family as Sansa, Jon, and the rest of the Starks, but finds she does not fit gender roles as her siblings easily do because her [[{{Tomboy}} own talents]] (horseback riding, sword fighting, maths) are considered inappropriate by Westerosi society due to Westeros’s strict gender restrictions and as a result, doesn't really fit in with Westerosi society. Though Arya has the support of her half-brother Jon, who gives Arya her CoolSword, and eventually her father, who arranges for her to learn how to use her CoolSword under the guise of 'dancing lessons,' she must keep her sword fighting aspirations secret and cannot openly partake in these talents. She loves befriending the small folk and is one of the only characters not to care about class distinctions but thanks to her sister's betrothed [[{{sadist}} Joffrey Baratheon]], Arya's friend Mycah, the butcher's boy, is killed and she's forced to drive her direwolf Nymeria away to save Nymeria’s life. All this pales in comparison to [[spoiler: seeing her father executed in front of her and having to flee from his killers. She is forced to travel through war-torn Westeros as a refugee and is exposed to deprivation, horrific violence and the threat of rape. She's been forced to take on several identities to help her survive, which is slowly picking away at her sanity. She believes almost her entire family has been killed and thinks that they wouldn't even want her back because she's killed people and isn't ladylike enough -- except for her faith in her beloved half-brother, Jon Snow, who she wants desperately to get to but she never manages to reach]].

* Dany is set up as one, being abused by her {{JerkAss}} brother and forced to run for her life -- for her ''entire life''. Then it's totally subverted with her [[YouGoGirl ascent to awesomeness.]]