History Woobie / ASongOfIceAndFire

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves and is loved by his family (except for Catelyn), Jon is still an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's too nobleborn and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]] but then he is ordered to fulfill extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save ''everyone'' from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings as well from this same threat and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].
*** 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]]. It's gotten to the point where those still alive in the Stark family -- Jon, Arya, Sansa, Bran and Rickon -- don't actually know that any of the others are alive and long to see each other again, but whenever they try to get to each other, something always prevents them from reuniting. 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.]]

* Before becoming Euron's lover, Falia was a woobie in her own right. She was born a bastard, but her father, stepmother, and trueborn half-sisters forced her to be their servant. Small wonder she jumped at the opportunity to get revenge when it was offered to her. It's true that Falia's... [[AssholeVictim not a particularly great person]] -- she ''immediately'' and happily sold herself to Euron when the Ironborn raided Oakenshield and proceeded to give him ideas on how to humiliate her family further, such as making all the women serve naked. She then remained at Euron's side as he gifted her multiple prizes and luxuries, ignoring Aeron's constant pleas to run. While Falia [[spoiler: ending up as a sacrifice is [[TooDumbToLive very much her own fault]] and a [[KarmicDeath fitting end...]], having her ''tongue cut off while she's bound naked to the prow of a sailing ship despite being pregnant with his child'' can still net her a Woobie status in this regard, depending on your interpretation.]]

* Season 5 gives us [[spoiler: Shireen, who was introduced as such in season 2, but season five had Melisandre burning her to death while her father stood by and did nothing]].

* Sansa Stark, first her Direwolf, Lady, is murdered because of something her sister's did, her fiancé murders her father and then forces her to look at his severed head. She then spends a full season being tormented by Joffrey, including being beaten in public. And even when things got better for her in the third season when Joffrey became engaged to Margaery, life still sucked for her and she is forced to marry Tyrion. She is repeatedly forced to denounce her family as traitors and use her courtly manners and political intrigue in order to stay alive. And that was all ''before'' her storyline got merged into her AdaptedOut friend Jeyne Poole's in Season 5...

* Lord Mace Tyrell may be a pompous, naive doofus, but he's disrespected and ignored all the time when he's characterized as little more than a lighthearted people pleaser. However he is still a greedy ambitious lord who supports two usurpers to increase his family's power and make his daughter Queen.
* Tommen Baratheon spent most of his childhood bullied by his older brother. When Joffrey dies Tommen inherits his throne. Even though Tommen is a much better king, he's forced to deal with all the hatred and animosity towards his family despite having done nothing wrong himself. And then [[spoiler:his mother kills his wife, who could have and most likely ''would have'' steered him in the right direction, along with the Small Council and hundreds of innocent people; after that, is it any wonder [[DrivenToSuicide the poor kid couldn't take it anymore]]?]]

* Dickon Tarly can be added to the list, as he just wanted to be a good son and loyal soldiers and he ends up [[spoiler: BurnedAlive]] because of it.

* Despite the bad things he's done, it's difficult not to feel this way about Theon Greyjoy. As a child he watched his father rebell against the crown and his brothers die because of it, then he is sent away to a faroff place to be raised by his father's enemy (essentially held as hostage to ensure Balon Greyjoy doesn't rebel again). And while he becomes close friends with Robb Stark and is treated reasonably well he never truly fits in at Winterfell and is never allowed to forget it. As a young adult he returns home to try and help Robb, and his father, but the father who gave him away treats him with nothing but contempt (and so does his sister). They make no secret of the fact that they are punishing him for having been raised by the Starks, even though Theon was never given a choice in the matter. All the while he realizes too late that his true father figure [[spoiler:is the one who lost his head in King's Landing]]. The things he does in season two are deplorable, but they come from a desperation to prove himself to his biological family, knowing that in the end he will never be one of the Starks and while the Greyjoy's don't accept him anymore he still has a theoretical chance of becoming one of them again. And unlike many characters on the show he pays dearly for his ill deeds, [[spoiler:spending an entire ''season'' being tortured - including being flayed and having body parts, primarily his ''penis'', cut off.]] His mind is so utterly broken by the end of it that he is a shell of a person, has literally had his whole person stripped away and now only answers to the name Reek, and suffering from severe PTSD. And while many characters are forgiven for their crimes, or they simply aren't brought up all that often, Theon is constantly reminded of his and told he's the scum of the earth. And since he is one of the few characters who truly regrets his mistakes, and he truly believes he can never be forgiven for them, it comes off all the more harsh. The only two characters who seem to treat him like a person with any redeemable traits whatsoever are Sansa and Yara.
* Osha. After Robb spared her life, she repaid him with absolute loyalty to the Starks, repeatedly protecting Brann and Rickon, but what is the result? [[spoiler: Rickon is killed, Bran has effectively lost his humanity, and Osha herself dies pointless death. Perhaps saddest of all, she is likely to be forgotten, because almost everyone who knew about her is gone.]]

* Loras Tyrell, primarily during the fifth and sixth seasons. [[spoiler: While he does lose the man he loves in Season 2, things start to improve for Loras once he arrives in King's Landing in the finale. However, come Season 5, he's arrested by a group of religious fanatics for the "crime" of being gay. He is locked in the cells under the High Sept for ''over a year'' as he is systemically abused physically, mentally, and emotionally. Starved. Psychologically beaten down in hopes he will confess. When Margaery next sees him, he's on the verge of a complete breakdown as she urges him to stay strong. Ultimately, Loras confesses to his "sins" in front of King's Landing as an attempt to save his life and escape the Sparrows, who proceed to ''carve their symbol into his forehead.'' Finally, just before he can escape and return to safety in High Garden, [[KillEmAll Cersei blows up the Sept along with most of King's Landing, killing him, his Sister, and his father.]]]]

* Queen Naerys, the pious daughter of Viserys II. She was a slender, small and [[IllGirl sickly]] woman who wanted to join the Faith but was forced to marry her brother Aegon IV "The Unworthy". Aegon constantly cheats on her and abuses her. Childbirth was very difficult for Naerys, after her first birth it was warned another pregnancy could kill her, but even though she bears him a son, Daeron, Aegon refuses to let [[MaritalRapeLicense her leave his bed]]. She had numerous miscarriages, a daughter being the only other child that survived. Even before that her husband accuses her of cheating on him with her other brother, Aemon, who is kind to her. After Aemon dies defending the brother he hates due to his Kingsguard vows, Aegon continues to spread rumors about Daeron's illegitimacy, and Naerys dies a year after her kinder brother in childbirth.

[[folder:A Song of Ice and Fire]]

* Even among [[BigScrewedUpFamily House]] [[TheClan Frey]], there are WhiteSheep with [[EveryoneHasStandards moral standards]]; people without enough backbone to oppose either their father or their kin (and will be vilified by proxy for [[spoiler:doing nothing despite being powerless to stop the Red Wedding, if not simply for their family name]]); children who [[ChildrenAreInnocent believe that]] [[spoiler:the Red Wedding]] isn't what it actually is because they were told otherwise; and women whose opinion and autonomy is given no regard, and they're sold off into marriages by ThePatriarch. Of these, several are confirmed to be in positions of pity

[[folder:Game of Thrones]]

* Ellaria Sand's world came crashing down [[spoiler:when she had watched Oberyn ''get his skull crushed'' by Ser Gregor Clegane. Then, she's upset that his brother and her three older stepdaughters still want revenge despite that the people responsible for Elia's and Oberyn's deaths are gone. She clearly doesn't want them to get entangled with the horrible CycleOfRevenge that killed her lover and is [[AdultFear worried]] that her four younger daughters could likely get involved in this cycle if their older sisters died.]]

* [[JerkassWoobie Lysa Tully]] is paranoid, cruel, murderous and clearly off her nut by the time she enters the series, but her backstory is fairly tragic: [[spoiler:As a girl, she had an unrequited crush on Petyr Baelish, who loved her more attractive sister. Her father forced her to miscarry their bastard child, implicitly damaging her womb, and then married her off to a much older man. For years she had nearly a dozen pregnancies which ended in either stillbirth or miscarriage; when she finally had a living child, Robert "Sweetrobin" Arryn, he turned out [[IllBoy sickly with a weak constitution]], and the trials of her life had by this point already driven Lysa off the deep end]].

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves and is loved by his family, Jon is still an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's too nobleborn and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]] but then he is ordered to fulfill extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save ''everyone'' from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings as well from this same threat and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].

** Sansa Stark is an 11-year old [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic girl]] who dreams of going to court, being swept off her feet by a handsome knight, and initially aspires to be a PrincessClassic. At the start of the first book, she is living with her loving family in a not-so-exciting, but safe home, with dreams of going off to court and being engaged to a handsome prince. She gets her [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wish]] but by the end of this same book, her betrothed -- the handsome PrinceCharmless -- has her father beheaded while the royal family has declared almost her entire family to be traitors. While her mother, eldest brother, and younger sister are being hunted down, Sansa finds herself alone without any of her family, engaged to an abusive and cruel prince, and must become a StepfordSmiler to survive being trapped in a DecadentCourt where the only one who treats her decently is ''[[BloodKnight Sandor Clegane]]''. [[BreakTheCutie It just gets much, ''much'' worse from there on out]]. Now, all she wants is to go home and be reunited with the surviving family she has left.

** Sansa Stark is an 11-year old [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic girl]] who dreams of going to court, being swept off her feet by a handsome knight, and initially aspires to be a PrincessClassic. At the start of the first book, she is living with her loving family in a not-so-exciting, but safe home, with dreams of going off to court and being engaged to a handsome prince. She gets her [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wish]] but by the end of this same book, her betrothed -- the handsome PrinceCharmless -- has her father beheaded while the royal family has declared almost her entire family to be traitors. While her mother, eldest brother, and younger sister are being hunted down, Sansa finds herself alone without any of her family, engaged to an abusive and cruel prince, and must become a StepfordSmiler to survive being trapped in a DecadentCourt where the only one who treats her decently is ''[[BloodKnight Sandor Clegane]]''. [[BreakTheCutie It just gets much]], ''[[BreakTheCutie much]]'' [[BreakTheCutie worse from there on out]]. Now, all she wants is to go home and be reunited with the surviving family she has left.

* The slaves of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen lead miserable lives before they are freed by Dany, but a slave's life in Astapor is a living nightmare. When new slaves are led into the city, the first thing they see is the Plaza of Punishment, where rebellious slaves are punished and executed. Disobedient slaves are punished by flaying, and slave children are regularly fed to bears for entertainment. The Unsullied are castrated at age five and go through horrible training regimens that involve being forced to kill the puppies they've bonded with and murder slave infants in front of their mothers.

* Before becoming Euron's lover, Falia was a woobie in her own right. She was born a bastard, but her father, stepmother, and trueborn half-sisters [[CinderellaCircumstances forced her to be their servant.]] Small wonder she jumped at the opportunity to get revenge when it was offered to her. It's true that Falia's... [[AssholeVictim not a particularly great person]] -- she ''immediately'' and happily sold herself to Euron when the Ironborn raided Oakenshield and proceeded to give him ideas on how to humiliate her family further, such as making all the women serve naked. She then remained at Euron's side as he gifted her multiple prizes and luxuries, ignoring Aeron's constant pleas to run. While Falia [[spoiler: ending up as a sacrifice is [[TooDumbToLive very much her own fault]] and a [[KarmicDeath fitting end...]], having her ''tongue cut off while she's bound naked to the prow of a sailing ship despite being pregnant with his child'' can still net her a Woobie status in this regard, depending on your interpretation.]]

%%Good Morning Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900&page=1

** Ned Stark is the OnlySaneMan in a DeadlyDecadentCourt and didn't even want the job as the king's NumberTwo in the first place because he loathes the petty power feuds in the court and wanted to stay away from it as much as possible. Also, he has an inferiority complex towards his older brother Brandon, who was intended to be the heir of Winterfell instead of him, and even the wife he came to love was originally meant to marry his brother. He is also struggling with his PTSD about what he witnessed during Robert's Rebellion. Memories of his sister Lyanna's death are frequently present in his mind, as is ThePromise he made to her, and it has heavily influenced his mindset. He tries to do good for most of his time, will even go against rules for the sake of doing the right thing, but ends up in disgrace and [[spoiler:executed by a boy]] he was trying to protect -- because of schemes he never knew were being played.

** Olyvar is the 18th son of Lord Walder, who was made Robb Stark's squire as part of the crossing agreement between the Starks and Freys. He genuinely looked up to Robb despite being a couple years older, has a lively personality and when the Freys withdraw their support in anger over Robb breaking his vow to marry one of the Frey daughters (by marrying Jeyne Westerling instead), Olyvar is the only one present (and still alive, unlike his brother Stevron) who still supports Robb. He is not at the Twins for Edmure's wedding to his sister Roslin, ostensibly "on business" along with his nephew Alesander and his brother Perwyn. The real reason for his absence is that [[spoiler:all three of them they were judged to be ''too'' sympathetic to the Northerners]], and it's implied that Perwyn [[spoiler:knew about the Red Wedding, yet despite objecting to it, he didn't stop it out of family loyalty]]. Olyvar only finds out about this ''well after'' [[spoiler:his former lord and sworn King, along with many people he fought alongside during the campaign, were already massacred.]] This guy really needs a hug.

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves his father, uncle, and half-siblings and they love him, Jon is still an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's too nobleborn and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]] but then he is ordered to fulfill extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save ''everyone'' from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings as well from this same threat and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves his father, uncle, and half-siblings and they love him, Jon is still an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's too nobleborn and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, the Lord Commander begins to see Jon as his successor and Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]], but then he is ordered to go on extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite him being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save ''everyone'' from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings as well from this same threat and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves his father, uncle, and half-siblings deeply and they all love him, Jon is still somewhat of an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's far too noble and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but, like his half-sister Sansa who was also a WideEyedIdealist, his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, the Lord Commander begins to see Jon as his successor and Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]], but then he is ordered to go on extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite him being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save ''everyone'' from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings as well from this same threat and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].
*** During all of this, [[spoiler:Jon is devastated by the belief that his family has perished -- his father, his three brothers, his two sisters, his uncle. And Jon's FirstLove [[DiedInYourArmsTonight ends up dying in his arms]]. It's gotten to the point where those still alive in the Stark family -- Jon, Arya, Sansa, Bran and Rickon -- don't actually know that any of the others are alive and, if they get ''any'' shred of hope to this effect, pray their hardest that they're okay, long to see each other again, but whenever they try to get to each other, something always prevents them from reuniting. In ''A Dance With Dragons,'' he finally thinks he may be able to save one of his family members -- his beloved little sister Arya -- but is killed for his efforts and unbeknownst to him, the girl claiming to his sister is an imposter.]]

* Despite being a PosthumousCharacter, Elia Martell deserves a mention. She gets to be married off to the Crown Prince, but the king is a nutty jerk that insult hers and her newborn daughter's [[FantasticRacism Dornish heritage]]. Her husband seemed to be at least fond of her, but at the Tourney of Harrenhal [[YourCheatingHeart publicly favors another woman in front of her]] and a year afterwards he runs off with her ([[AbductionIsLove kidnapping]] or [[{{Elopement}} elopement]] doesn't matter, it's bad anyway). A war ensues for it and the nutty king refuses her to leave the city for somewhere safer because she is [[IHaveYourWife an hostage in all but name]] to make her ([[BigBrotherInstinct pissed-off by brother-in-law]]) brother keep fighting with the royal forces. Then her husband dies in battle, the war is lost, the rebel forces sack the city, some [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]] murder her children by [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice stabbing her daughter half a hundred times]] and [[FacepalmOfDoom smashing her infant son's head]]. Then she is [[RapeAsDrama raped]] and killed by a giant beast of a man who still has [[{{Squick}} her son's blood and brain in his hands]].

** 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.]]
** Season 5 gives us [[spoiler: Shireen, who was introduced as such in season 2, but season five had Melisandre burning her to death while her father stood by and did nothing]].

* The deceased "ugly little girl" whose face Arya wears in the House of Black and White. She has a broken nose and jaw, half her teeth are missing, and her cheekbone is shattered. When she was alive, her father beat her so often and so brutally that she decided to [[DrivenToSuicide end her pain]] by asking the gift of death from the Faceless Men.

* Historically, Alys Harroway, the second wife of King Maegor I Targaryen. He married her in an attempt to conceive another child when his marriage to Ceryse Hightower failed to produce any children. The High Septon and many lords of the realm denounced her as "the whore of Harroway" and "Maegor's whore". When she gave birth to a horrifically deformed stillborn child, Tyanna of the Tower told Maegor that it had been the result of Alys having an affair. Maegor responded by killing Alys's entire family, and then had Alys tortured to death by Tyanna. It took her two weeks to die, and her body was cut into seven parts and mounted on spikes atop the gates of King's Landing. The worst part? The stillborn wasn't even her fault; she was poisoned by Tyanna and framed.

* Theon Greyjoy, [[spoiler: as Reek, having been tortured to insanity]]. He did betray the Starks and did horrible things, but damn, it's hard not to pity him for the unspeakable brutal torture he suffered at the hands of Ramsay Snow.

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an [[HeroicBastard outsider]] his entire life, must face Westerosi social scorn of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves his father, uncle, and half-siblings deeply and they all love him, Jon is still somewhat of an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and wants to find his own purpose in the world due to his illegitimacy. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's far too noble and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but, like his half-sister Sansa who was also a WideEyedIdealist, his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, the Lord Commander begins to see Jon as his successor and Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]], but then he is ordered to go on extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite him being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save everyone from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings from an atrocious fate and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]] that is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].

* Aeron Greyjoy has been a victim of Euron's abuse for his entire life and spends it looking for ways to cope. As a child,[[spoiler:Euron would frequently come into his and Urrigon's rooms at night while drunk and rape one of them]], which results in Aeron becoming TheAlcoholic when he became a man. He cut the fingers off of his brother Urrigon's hand, and had to deal with the guilt of being responsible for his brother [[spoiler:and fellow victim's]] death. After being drowned and reborn in the Faith of the Drowned God, Aeron spent the rest of his life up to the current books as a mad zealot, proselytizing for the Old Way. In the books proper, he's one of the only Ironborn to actively act against Euron at the Kingsmoot. His advice goes unheeded, and then the rest of the Ironborn begin to believe that he's nothing but a mad fool, perched on his beach while Euron was the truer servant of the Drowned God. [[spoiler:Then he is kidnapped by Euron, beaten by his mutes, starved, fed food with worms in it, has rats bite at his feet, salt water rising up to his genitals, and by the end of it, he's will likely be sacrificed along with another one of Euron's abuse victims, Falia Flowers. The only comfort Aeron has by the end of this is the (likely false) belief that he and Falia will feast in the Drowned God's halls after death.]]
* Before becoming Euron's lover, Falia was a woobie in her own right. She was born a bastard, but her father, stepmother, and trueborn half-sisters [[CinderellaCircumstances forced her to be their servant.]] Small wonder she jumped at the opportunity to get revenge when it was offered to her. It's true that Falia's...[[AssholeVictim not a particularly great person]] -- she ''immediately'' and happily sold herself to Euron when the Ironborn raided Oakenshield and proceeded to give him ideas on how to humiliate her family further, such as making all the women serve naked. She then remained at Euron's side as he gifted her multiple prizes and luxuries, ignoring Aeron's constant pleas to run. While Falia [[spoiler: ending up as a sacrifice is [[TooDumbToLive very much her own fault]] and a [[KarmicDeath fitting end...]], having her ''tongue cut off while she's bound naked to the prow of a sailing ship despite being pregnant with his child'' can still net her a Woobie status in this regard, depending on your interpretation.]]

* Aeron Greyjoy's entire life has been nothing but a victim of Euron's abuse looking for ways to cope. His childhood was full of [[spoiler:Euron coming into his and Urrigon's rooms at night when drunk and raping one of them]], which lead him to become TheAlcoholic when he became a man. He cut the fingers off of his brother Urrigon's hand, and had to deal with the guilt of being responsible for his brother [[spoiler:and fellow victim's]] death. After being drowned and reborn in the Faith of the Drowned God, he spent the rest of his life up to the current books as a mad zealot, proselytizing for the Old Way. In the books proper, he's one of the only Ironborn to actively act against Euron at the Kingsmoot. His advice goes unheeded, and then the rest of the Ironborn begin to believe that he's nothing but a mad fool, perched on his beach while Euron was the truer servant of the Drowned God. [[spoiler:Then he is kidnapped by Euron, beaten by his mutes, starved, fed food with worms in it, has rats bite at his feet, salt water rising up to his genitals, and by the end of it, he's probably going to be sacrificed along with another one of Euron's abuse victims, Falia Flowers. The only comfort he has by the end of this is the (likely false) belief that he and Falia will feast in the Drowned God's halls after death.]]

** On the other side of the coin, Falia's sisters may have mistreated her, but not all of them deserved the humiliation she put them through after joining Euron Greyjoy. The youngest of them is only ten years old and cries when she's ordered to strip.

* The [[SexSlave sunset girl]] who Tyrion sleeps with in the Selhorys brothel. Her back is covered with scars from having been whipped and [[DespairEventHorizon her eyes look completely dead.]] She has no identity, not even a name of her own; "the sunset girl" is what the proprietor of the brothel calls her. Despite knowing almost nothing about her, it's not hard to imagine the kinds of horrors she's been through. Even Tyrion feels ashamed of himself after he has sex with her.

** 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. 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]].

** Jon Snow finds himself to be an outsider his entire life, must face the Westerosi social stigma of being an illegitimate child, and is often facing ConflictingLoyalty between love vs. duty. Although he loves his father, uncle, and half-siblings deeply and they all love him, Jon is still somewhat of an outsider in his own family, yearns to know about his MissingMom whose identity he doesn't even know, and [[JumpedAtTheCall wants to find his own place in the world]]. Because of his highborn upbringing wherein Jon is raised by a lord father with his trueborn siblings, he is almost always a FishOutOfWater as he's far too noble and educated to be lowborn but not highly born enough to inherit his family's titles. He believes his father would never speak about his mother's identity because he might be ashamed of it but [[spoiler: really, it could be because he wants to protect Jon from finding out an AwfulTruth or even worse]]. He dreams of becoming a ranger in the Night's Watch like his [[CoolUncle uncle]] so he can earn his own honour as an illegitimate son but, like his half-sister Sansa who was also a WideEyedIdealist, his dream is ''crushed'' when he finds out what the Night's Watch has now mostly [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores become]]. Later, the Lord Commander begins to see Jon as his successor and Jon [[CallToAdventure gets to go ranging]], but then he is ordered to go on extremely dangerous missions like being a FakeDefector among the wildlings, despite him being only 15 years old and a brand new member. He's an outsider among the wildlings and when he returns, he's an outsider among the Watch due to his time with the wildlings. From his experiences, Jon is one of the few who understands the need of Night's Watch and the [[GreaterScopeVillain oncoming threat of the Others]]. He's elected Lord Commander at [[AChildShallLeadThem a very young age]], where he is the first Lord Commander in thousands of years to face Westeros's [[ZombieApocalypse greatest threat]], a threat he must fight with severely limited resources and that he's working to save everyone from... but [[SealedEvilInACan many in the kingdom don't even believe this evil is back]]. When he tries to save the wildlings from an atrocious fate and forms an alliance with them to defend against [[NotUsingTheZWord the army of the dead]], who is coming for them ''all,'' he faces more dissent. By the end of the fifth book, he ends up pissing too many people off in his efforts to do what is morally right, some of which comes into conflict with the Watch's neutrality, [[spoiler: and a faction of his own men attempt to murder him]].

* Lollys Stokeworth. If being TheLoad to her family and being [[spoiler: viciously gang-raped "half a hundred times" by an angry mob and falling pregnant as a result]] wasn't bad enough, there are plenty of hints that Lollys may be mentally disabled. The fact that she gets NoSympathy and is nothing but a source of amusement and derision for several other characters ramps this up.

* Brienne has been mocked and rejected by many people for her lack of beauty and for her desire to be a KnightInShiningArmor. Despite being one of the closest things to an ideal that [[CrapsackWorld Westeros]] has, it actually makes things far more difficult for her as men try to "[[AttemptedRape put her in her place]]". [[spoiler: Now she's being forced by the undead Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart), a woman she has sworn a duty to, to betray Jaime, a man that she has come to respect.]]

* Aeron Greyjoy's entire life has been nothing but a victim of Euron's abuse looking for ways to cope. His childhood was full of [[spoiler:Euron coming into his and Urrigon's rooms at night when drunk and raping one of them]], which lead him to become TheAlcoholic when he became a man. He cut the fingers off of his brother Urrigon's hand, and had to deal with the guilt of being responsible for his brother [[spoiler:and fellow victim's]] death. After being drowned and reborn in the Faith of the Drowned God, he spent the rest of his life up to the current books as a mad zealot, proselytizing for the Old Way. In the books proper, he's one of the only Ironborn to actively act against Euron at the Kingsmoot. His advice goes unheeded, and then the rest of the Ironborn begin to believe that he's nothing but a mad fool, perched on his beach while Euron was the truer servant of the Drowned God. [[spoiler:Then he is kidnapped by Euron, beaten by his mutes, starved, fed food with worms in it, has rats bite at his feet, salt water rising up to his genitals, and by the end of it, he's probably going to be sacrificed along with another one of Euron's abuse victims, Falia Flowers, a woobie herself. The only comfort he has by the end of this is the (likely false) belief that he and Falia will feast in the Drowned God's halls after death.]]

* The [[SexSlave sunset girl]] that Tyrion sleeps with in the Selhorys brothel. Her back is covered with scars from having been whipped and [[DespairEventHorizon her eyes look completely dead.]] She has no identity, not even a name of her own; "the sunset girl" is what the proprietor of the brothel calls her. Despite knowing almost nothing about her, it's not hard to imagine the kinds of horrors she's been through. Even Tyrion feels ashamed of himself after he has sex with her.