Line #140 Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseWesterling


1	!!!This is a listing of members of House Westerling who appear in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
2	!!!For the main character index, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFire here]]]]
3	!!!For the main Westerlands entry, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireWesterlandsHouses here]]]]
4
5	!House Westerling of the Crag
6	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e0b1b69d18831e6187aaec5e2e58a286.jpg]]
7
8	->''"Honor Not Honors"''
9	-->-- '''Westerling House Words'''
10
11	A noble house seated at the Crag. They are an ancient house, dating back to the Age of Heroes, that has dwindled in influence and wealth over the centuries, to the point where they can no longer keep their castle's defenses fixed, but are still a prideful family. While initially loyal to House Lannister in the War of Five Kings, they defect to House Stark when Robb Stark took the Crag and married Jeyne Westerling after having sex with her. Their sigil is six white shells on a yellow background.
12	----
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Tropes related to House Westerling]]
16	* BitCharacter: Eleyna Westerling, the second daughter and third child of Gawen and Sybell.
17	* FamousAncestor: They are an old and proud house and have had many famous members over the years.
18	** Another Jeyne Westerling was the Lady of Tarbeck Hall before her husband Alyn Tarbeck was killed in the Battle Beneath God's Eye. Four years later, she was forced to marry her husband's killer Maegor the Cruel as one of his "Black Brides" and (one of his six queens). She died giving birth to a stillborn monstrosity before Maegor was overthrown.
19	** Ser Harrold Westerling, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard during the reign of Viserys I.
20	** Lord Roland Westerling, one of the initial members of the Council of Seven, who managed the regency of King Aegon III. He died of Winter Fever two years into the regency in 133 AC.
21	** Ser Ormund Westerling was present at Ashford's tourney of 209 AC.
22	* ImpoverishedPatrician: They are a very old house who were once so powerful and influential that one of its heads became a regent of the realm in the past century. In the 250 years since then, they have their (crumbling) castle and their pride, but not much else. This is the reason why Gawen married Sybell Spicer, daughter of a NouveauRiche house looked down for being founded by a spice merchant and an eastern fortune teller.
23	-->'''Tyrion's thoughts:''' The Westerlings were old blood, but they had more pride than power. It would not surprise him to learn that Lady Sybell had brought more wealth to the marriage than her highborn husband. The Westerling mines had failed years ago, their best lands had been sold off or lost, and the Crag was more ruin than stronghold.
24	* KeepTheReward: They seem to have lived by this credo if their motto is to be believed - that their every action is undertaken because it is the right thing to do, rather than out of a desire for honours and favours. If so, then this would be a deconstructive take on this trope, [[ImpoverishedPatrician given their current state]].
25	* MeaningfulName: A house of the Westerlands with "West" in its name.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Lord Gawen Westerling]]
29	!!Lord Gawen Westerling
30
31	Head of House Westerling and Lord of the Crag.
32	----
33	* BitCharacter: Has only appeared once during the series.
34	* DistressedDude: Captured at the Battle of the Whispering Wood. He's released after Jeyne marries Robb.
35	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: It is implied, and Jaime believes, that Gawen had no idea about his wife plotting [[spoiler:the Red Wedding with Walder Frey and Tywin Lannister]].
36	* NiceGuy: He is only seen once, and during that time he is fretting about the safety of his family and urging peaceful solutions. Ser Kevan Lannister also describes him as a good man.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Lady Sybell Westerling]]
40	!!Lady Sybell Westerling (née Spicer)
41
42	Wife of Lord Gawen Westerling (and mother to his four children Raynald, Jeyne, Elenya and Rollam) and sister of Ser Rolph Spicer. Her paternal grandmother was "Maggy the Frog", the same witch from Essos who foretold Cersei's future.
43	----
44	* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Forcefully takes Jeyne's crown from her after Robb is killed, which results in Jeyne getting cut on the forehead. She later tries to slap Jeyne for saying she loved Robb, but Jaime Lannister stops her. She also gave Jeyne contraceptives against her will.]]
45	* AlliterativeName: Before marrying Gawen.
46	* AmbitionIsEvil: She was one of the plotters of [[spoiler:the murder of her son-in-law and most of his bannerman in order to gain more power for her houses]].
47	* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:She at first appears to be nice and a good mother, but her true colors are shown after the Red Wedding.]]
48	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Twisted as she is, she does love her family, [[spoiler:as part of her motivation in helping set up the Red Wedding is because she clearly thinks the Starks are screwed and she does not want her children to be on the losing side of a war against Tywin Lannister. Furthermore, Sybell states that she never would have allowed Raynald to accompany Robb to the Twins if she had known he would be put in danger]].
49	* EvilMatriarch: [[spoiler:She was complicit in the Red Wedding, and ensured that Jeyne did not get pregnant by Robb by giving her potions that decreased her fertility rather than ones that enhanced it.]]
50	* FakeDefector: [[spoiler:She remains in contact with Tywin Lannister, and joins the conspiracy to kill Robb and end the Northern rebellion. Her role is to keep Jeyne from getting pregnant.]]
51	* GetOut: [[spoiler: Jaime, having gotten fed with Sybell's snobbish attitude, throws her out of his quarters]].
52	* ManipulativeBitch: She has zero problems lying to and manipulating her children for her own benefit.
53	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: To Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville. She and her husband Richard Woodville were originally tied to the House of Lancaster, but eventually sided closely with the House of York because of their daughter's marriage to [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet Edward IV]].
54	* OpportunisticBastard: Jumped at the chance to use Robb and Jeyne's marriage to increase the power of both House Westerling and House Spicer by [[spoiler:striking a deal with Tywin to get her brother Castamere and her children good marriages]].
55	* ShutUpHannibal: Is on the receiving end of one of these [[spoiler: from Jaime; when Sybell angrily explodes that the marriage deal Tywin offered her for Raynald will supposedly be with Gerion Lannister's bastard daughter Joy, she is shouted down by Jaime, who rages that he is even less happy with the deal, because he believes his sweet little cousin deserves better than to be fobbed off on the son of a conniving ''"turncloak bitch"'' who helped arrange the murder of her own son-in-law]].
56	-->'''Sybell Westerling''': [[spoiler: [[SmallNameBigEgo You want a Westerling to marry a bastard]]?!]]
57	-->'''[[spoiler: Jaime Lannister]]''': [[spoiler: No more than I want Joy to marry the son of some scheming, turncloak bitch. She deserves better]].
58	* TurnCoat: Along with the rest of her family, she joins the Starks' side after Jeyne and Robb marry. [[spoiler:In her case, however, it is a ruse, making her TheMole and a FakeDefector.]]
59	* TokenEvilTeammate: Sybell and her brother Rolph serve as this to the Westerlings, [[spoiler:being complicit in the Red Wedding while the rest of their family members were actually loyal to Robb]].
60	* WalkingSpoiler: Her role in setting up [[spoiler:the Red Wedding and preventing Jeyne's pregnancy]] makes her one.
61	* YouRemindMeOfX: Sybell's conniving nature and scheming behind her husband's back put Jaime in mind of Cersei, and his discovery of how extensively she's lied to him.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Raynald Westerling]]
65	!!Ser Raynald Westerling
66
67	First son and child of Gawen and Sybell and heir of the Crag.
68	----
69	* BodyguardingABadass: Serves as one of Robb's thirty battle companions and bodyguards.
70	* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Raynald is believed dead after having been struck with crossbow bolts at the Twins and apparently falling into the river gravely wounded. His body hasn't been located]].
71	* KnowWhenToFoldThem: Zig-zagged: [[spoiler: He initially surrenders without a fight when the Freys approach him during the Red Wedding, but when he realises they're going to kill Grey Wind, he disarms one and tries to defend the direwolf]].
72	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: [[spoiler: His mother insists Raynald had no idea she was in cahoots with Tywin Lannister]].
73	* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:He was shot with several crossbow bolts while he was freeing Grey Wind from his bonds during the Red Wedding, but the only sign of him afterwards was a blood trail leading to the river]].
74	* NiceGuy: He has an extremely cheerful attitude and becomes one of Robb's closest companions.
75	* ReplacementGoldfish: Catelyn believes that Robb is using Raynald as a substitute for Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy.
76	* TurnCoat: Switches from fighting for the Lannisters to the Starks after Robb marries his sister.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Jeyne Westerling]]
80	!!Queen Jeyne Westerling
81	->''"I shall be a good and true wife to Robb, I swear. And as wise a queen as I can."''
82
83	The eldest daughter and second child of Gawen and Sybell. Jeyne married Robb Stark during his campaign in the Westerlands, after he was wounded capturing the Crag and she helped nurse him back to health and slept with him after news arrived of his brothers' supposed deaths.
84	----
85	* ArrangedMarriage: As part of her mother's deal with Tywin Lannister, suitable marriages of high birth will be found for Jeyne and her younger sister, though Jeyne must wait two years before wedding again to prevent rumors any children she gives birth to are actually Robb Stark's.
86	* BreakTheCutie: After Robb's death, and learning of her mother's treachery.
87	* TheBusCameBack: She reappears in one of Jaime's chapters on the fourth book.
88	* DeadGuyJunior: She is not only the second Jeyne Westerling in ASOIAF, she is also the second ''Queen Jeyne Westerling''. Just like her namesake, she's not a particularly lucky girl considering that the first one was unfortunate enough to be married to Maegor I Targaryen ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cruel]]'', who had married her after her Tarbeck husband died, for her ability to have babies.
89	* DefectingForLove: Originally on the side of the Lannisters, until her marriage to Robb. [[spoiler:It doesn't last long due to her mother's plotting with Tywin and the Freys]].
90	* DefiledForever: Robb married her because he took her virginity.
91	* FlatCharacter: Despite her impact on the plot, Jeyne is not seen often or given much in the way of characterization.
92	* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: Jeyne genuinely seems to have fallen in love with Robb after nursing him back to health from an arrow wound.
93	* HappilyMarried: Despite all the problems it inevitably creates, Robb and Jeyne are quite happy with each other.
94	* HiddenDepths: She has a bit of a willful streak. When Robb orders her to stay at Riverrun while he goes to the Twins, she goes after him and he has to send her back. Later, she fights her mother for the crown Robb gave her. She also rips her clothes apart as an act of mourning for Robb and rebellion against her mother.
95	* HoneyTrap:
96	** ZigZaggedTrope. Robb's dalliance with Jeyne ended up being his AchillesHeel, but most people agree that their feelings for each other were genuine, and that Jeyne was never involved in any plots against him. [[spoiler:After his death, Jeyne holds on to the crown Robb had made for her and rips part of her dress - a sign of mourning - when leaving Riverrun]].
97	** However she is intended as one by Tywin [[spoiler:and her own mother. The latter of whom doses her with contraceptives in the guise of a fertility posset.]]
98	* HotConsort: Catelyn begrudgingly admits that she is a 'very pretty girl', with wide, birthing hips indicating her fertility. Jaime admits she is a pretty girl, but not a girl not worth losing a kingdom over.
99	* ModestRoyalty: Never thinks of herself as a Queen, and insists to Catelyn that she be called by her first name.
100	* MyNaymeIs: "Jeyne," based on "Jane."
101	* NiceGirl: Jeyne doesn't seem to care about the fact that she and Robb were both originally on opposing sides in the war, and hopes to become a good wife to her husband. Robb himself praises her kindness and honesty, but Catelyn nonetheless calls him out for what he did.
102	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: To Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort to King Edward IV, which corresponds with Robb Stark being a counterpart to Edward IV. Each was married in secret, since Jeyne's family, which was not particularly powerful, was sworn to the Lannisters, as Elizabeth's family was sworn to the Lancasters, the real-life counterpart to the Lannisters. This marriage broke down an alliance to a powerful supporter (the Earl of Warwick for Edward IV, Walder Frey for Robb). The main difference is that Robb [[spoiler:pays with his life for his marriage, while Edward gets off lucky.]]
103	* RegalRinglets: Styles her hair into curls.
104	* SatelliteLoveInterest: To Robb.
105	* SexForSolace: Which promptly leads to a ShotgunWedding at [[HonorableMarriageProposal Robb's own insistence]].
106	* StarCrossedLovers: Robb's a Stark and King in the North, while she comes from an ancient but impoverished Westerlands family. [[spoiler:The relationship ultimately costs Robb the war and his life.]]
107	* VillainRespect: Jaime Lannister makes it plain that he considers Jeyne far more worthy of respect than her conniving mother.
108	-->'''Jaime Lannister''': ''[addressing Sybell Spicer]'' Your daughter is worth ten of you.
109	* WelcomeBackTraitor: Jeyne is rather unceremoniously given back to her family after Jaime Lannister lifts the siege of Riverrun. As she is a Westerling, a vassal house to the Lannisters, she is pretty much a traitor in the Westerlands. Awkward doesn't begin to cover it.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Rollam Westerling]]
113	!!Rollam Westerling
114
115	Second son and fourth child of Gawen and Sybell. He serves as Robb's squire after he and Jeyne are married. Now heir of the Crag following Raynald's death.
116	----
117	* CheerfulChild: He is a happy kid who reminds Catelyn and Robb of Bran.
118	* TheSquire: To Robb.
119	* ReplacementGoldfish: Catelyn thinks Robb is using Rollam as one for Bran, who was left behind in Winterfell [[spoiler:and whom they believe to be dead]].
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	!!!Historical Westerlings
123
124	[[folder:Queen Jeyne Westerling]]
125	!!Queen Jeyne Westerling
126	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cb183a9b22420656ab4c1545f3b54c0f.jpg]]
127
128	The third of Maegor's Black Brides. Was previously married to Lord Alyn Tarbeck, who was killed when she was pregnant with their son. She eventually died in 47 AC after giving birth to a deformed stillborn child.
129	----
130	* AllThereInTheManual: Though she's briefly mentioned in the main series, her character is only expanded upon in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''.
131	* DeathByChildbirth: Died giving birth to one of Maegor's severely deformed, stillborn children.
132	* DefiantCaptive: Supposedly, on her wedding night she was given a fertility potion by her sister-wife Tyanna of the Tower, but threw it back in her face. This is just a rumor, however.
133	* FamousAncestor: Her marriage to Maegor is still remembered hundreds of years later by House Westerling.
134	* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: She was pregnant when her first husband Alyn Tarbeck was killed, and her proven fertility was what drew the eye of Maegor to her.
135	* StatuesqueStunner: She was beautiful, tall, and slender.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Lady Johanna Westerling]]
139	!!Lady Johanna Lannister (nee Westerling)
140
141	The widow of Lord Jason Lannister, she ruled House Lannister following his death in the Dance of the Dragons.
142	----
143	* BystanderSyndrome: Decided to sit out the last part of the Dance, claiming when called for that she was just a woman, and therefore knew not how to fight. [[BlatantLies Right.]] Of course, the bigger (or more immediate) problem of the Greyjoys raiding up and down the coast might've helped.
144	* CrusadingWidow: Due to Jason's death leaving Casterly Rock in disarray.
145	* GeneralFailure: Tried to emulate a successful victory against the Ironborn at Kayce, Johanna tried to smuggle soldiers hidden aboard a fleet of fishing boats and merchant ships onto Fair Isle, hoping to take the Ironborn by surprise. Unfortunately, Dalton Greyjoy got wind of the ruse, [[CurbStompBattle the merchant fleet was massacred by Ironborn longships]] and Dalton sent [[DecapitationPresentation the severed heads of the men she'd put in command of the attack]] back to Casterly Rock as [[IShallTauntYou an insult]].
146	* GroinAttack: When she was delivered one of the captive bastards of Lord Dalton Greyjoy, she gelded him and turned him into her son's fool.
147	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: While her desire for revenge against Dalton Greyjoy is understandable, her methods were rather extreme and misplaced. The Red Kraken was already dead by the time she launched a counterattack on the Iron Islands, and the "fighting" mostly consisted of Westermen slaughtering Ironborn smallfolk, destroying their land, and taking their food stores right as winter was descending. Thousands died, and not much else was accomplished.
148	* ItRunsInTheFamily: Let's just say you can see where her descendant Tywin Lannister got it from with her. After several raids on her lands by the Red Kraken, she wanted to go and kill every man, woman and child on the Iron Islands as payback. She settled for looting what she could and burning what she couldn't instead.
149	** Her descendant, Cersei, suggests exactly the same thing to King Robert after Balon Greyjoy's failed rebellion.
150	* LadyOfWar: Leads the fight against the Red Kraken and the Greyjoys.
151	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Restores the dwindling glory of House Lannister and in the meantime aids in the reconstruction of King's Landing following the civil war.
152	* WouldHurtAChild: Rodrik Greyjoy, who she castrated, was no older than ''eight'', and even that's assuming Dalton fathered him as soon as he hit puberty- given he had an older brother he was most likely ''even younger''.
153	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / ASongOfIceAndFireHouseWesterling