This is a listing of members of House Connington who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Stormlands entry, see here
House Connington of Griffin's Roost
House Connington of Griffin's Roost is a house of landed knights from Griffin's Roost in the Stormlands, sworn to Storm's End. It was formerly a lordly house whose lands once extended many leagues west, north, and south of Griffin's Roost, including reaching near to the rainwood.
Their blazon shows two griffins combatant countercharged per pale on red and white. Their motto is unknown.
Tropes related to House Connington:
- A House Divided: Jon Connington remains a Targaryen loyalist unlike the rest of his family.
- Alliterative Family: Frequently uses either "R" names- Raymund, Ronald, Ronnett, Roy- or "A" names: Alyn, Alynne, Armond.
- Battle Cry: Whereas most noble houses take to using their names or the names of their castles as this, Conningtons and their men shout "A griffin! A griffin!"
- Colour-Coded Characters: Frequently associated with red- it's the colour of their hair, half their emblem, and the nicknames of two knights, Roy and Ronnet.
- Cool Chair: The head of House Connington sits upon the Griffin Seat, a carved and gilded throne in the main hall of Griffin's Roost.
- Family Theme Naming: Ronald Connington had two children named Ronnet and Raymund. Ronnet's bastard son is also named Ronald.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Alyn Connington, also known as the Pale Griffin, was a knight from House Connington, who eventually became Lord Commander of the Kingsguard at an unknown time.
- Lord Kyle Connington, who attended the wedding of Rogar Baratheon and Alyssa Velaryon.
- Lord Armond Connington, the father of Jon Connington.
- Fiery Redhead: They tend to be (often inappropriately) passionate in deed and speech, quick-tempered and, when doing all of that at the wrong time and/or place to the wrong people, exiled or captured. Note this is over "getting summarily killed" — they manage enough charm/ cunning/ usefulness to avoid on-the-spot beheadings. Mostly gingers.
- People of Hair Color: Red hair.
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Current Conningtons
Lord Jon Connington*
Lord Jon Connington
The Dancing Griffins Hand, Griff
- "I failed the father, but I will not fail the son."
A close friend of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Connington was picked to be Hand of the King after Tywin Lannister resigned the position. He failed to end Robert's Rebellion and was exiled for that mistake. He later joined the Golden Company but was kicked out when caught stealing from the company war chests. He drank himself to death a year later. Except that his death was actually a false report spread by Varys.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Apparently had feelings for his old friend Prince Rhaegar according to
Word of God. Martin promised a gay POV in A Dance with Dragons that fans assumed to be Loras Tyrrell, but turns out to be him instead. - The Atoner: When he closes his eyes he remembers the Battle of the Bells, and tries desperately to make up for it.
- Being Good Sucks: His failure to capture Robert at the Battle of the Bells is an example, given he could have simply burned the town to the ground instead of searching house by house had he been more Tywinesquely pragmatic.
- Combat Pragmatist: His failure at the Battle of the Bells and years of working as a mercenary of the Golden Company have made him a far more cunning, pragmatic and ruthless tactician that he was during Robert's Rebellion, having learned the value of ruse, intelligence and of archers.
- Dead Man Walking: Contracted the greyscale while saving Tyrion from the stone men, near the Sorrows. He has kept this a secret so far.
- The Dragon: To the Mad King, briefly. To Rhaegar, a lot more happily. Now to Aegon.
- Failure Knight: What he's convinced he is. But, if there's one thing to be said for having massively screwed-up once, is that it makes you strategically and tactically savvy afterwards, and far more cold and ruthless in addition.
- Forgets to Eat: Aboard the Shy Maid, Tyrion sometimes finds himself tempted to slip his poisonous mushrooms into Griff's supper. Problem is, Griff seldom seems to eat.
- Fiery Redhead: Don't let his outwardly cold nature fool you: there's a lot of drive and passion to this ginger. Bitter experience has taught him how to direct it, is all. As for Word of God, the reason Aerys named him his Hand was due to having already a great reputation as a warrior.
- Glory Seeker: During his tenure as Hand. He paid for it, and then some. Tywin said it was because of his youth and recklessness and he predicted that Jon Connington would not be cautious and decisive.
- Green-Eyed Monster: His internal monologue indicates some jealousy of Elia Martell.Jon's thoughts: Elia was never worthy of him. She was frail and sickly from the first and childbirth only left her weaker.
- Honor Before Reason: He refused to sack Stoney Sept and instead searched house to house because he didn't want to be seen as a mass murderer, a moniker Tywin is willing to live with.
- It's All My Fault: Blames himself for the death of Rhaegar and the fall of House Targaryen (not to mention his own House) due to his failure to kill Robert Baratheon.Jon Connington: I rose too high, loved too hard, dared too much. I tried to grasp a star, overreached, and fell.
- It's Personal: Implied between him and Robert; Jon hated Robert for his drunken, womanising ways, considering him an unworthy lord of the Stormlands. Robert in turn despised Connington for his close friendship with Rhaegar and for trying to kill him at the Battle of the Bells, refusing to repeal Jon's exile even after the end of Robert's Rebellion, and parcelling out House Connington's lands to his more loyal supporters.Daemon Sand: Robert was his liege, but I've heard it said that Connington chafed at serving such a lord.
- Kingmaker Scenario: Looks like a classic case, right? He made a bid to keep Rhaegar as heir to the throne when he was Hand to Aerys and was a power to be reckoned with in the Realm. He lost. Yes-no: it's a lot more complex than that as it's not the end of the story as there is Aegon. Worse, he's not really the one in the main driving seat, when it comes to getting him on the throne. Although he may not entirely realise the extent of that, either. So, in some respects, it's a little subverted, too.
- Knight in Sour Armour: Although not one for particularly witty banter, he's decidedly jaded in outlook with a rock-hard exterior which hasn't, quite, solidified on the inside: he'll help/ tolerate the hopeless when they land right in front of him... without being remotely or overtly kind about it (Duckfield is a case in point). He'll also keep fighting Aegon's corner, come what may, considering him the rightful heir to the throne.
- Knight Templar: After taking over Griffin's Roost, he reflects on what Myles Toyne told him about the Battle of Bells lamenting that even Tywin Lannister could not have done better. Toyne instead reminds him that rather than occupy Stoney Sept, Tywin would have burnt the whole town to kill Robert Baratheon and the Rebels who were kept hidden by the townsfolk. Connington agrees and it seems willing to accept committing war crimes for the sake of expediency:Jon Connington: I failed the father... I will not fail the son.
- Like a Son to Me: Little Aegon.
- Meaningful Name: Goes by "Griff" when Tyrion meets him in A Dance with Dragons, referring to the heraldry of House Connington—a griffin.
- My Greatest Failure: Connington has not been able to forgive himself for losing the Battle of the Bells and failing to protect Rhaegar and his family.
- My Greatest Second Chance: What all this is to him on a number of levels. Although it's pretty darned clear he'd do it out of love for both Rhaegar and Aegon without much other incentive, anyway. But, it certainly matches up when you compare his greatest regrets to what he hopes to rectify.
- Never Learned to Read: Averted, which is Tyrion's first clue that he's more than a sellsword.
- Never My Fault: He sees his refusal to torch the village of Stoney Sept and kill everyone inside (as Tywin would have done) as the reason for his defeat, seeing his actions of submitting the town to martial law and holding hostages in display in crow cages as being reasonable and lenient, never realizing that such actions probably hurt his image and reputation among the townsfolk and pushed them to side with Robert. After all, as Jaime notes, Ser Arthur Dayne proved that you can win the hearts and minds of people better by treating them kindly and listening to their grievances and issues, and Jon Connington didn't consider that.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: His reward for heroically rescuing Tyrion Lannister — who Connington doesn't even like — from certain death? Infected with greyscale. In-Universe, he sees his defeat at the Battle of the Bells as a direct consequence of his refusal to simply set fire to the town Robert Baratheon was hiding in, which would have killed Robert along with the rest of the townsfolk and ended the war. For his lack of ruthlessness and desire for personal glory, he is beaten, defeated and callously exiled by his own king.
- Parental Substitute: One hint of a softer side to him is his genuine care for Young Griff, AKA Aegon Targaryen. The "substitute" part is especially apt, as they are posing as father and son as a cover story.
- Perpetual Frowner: Never seen smiling in his appearance, a thing that makes Tyrion greatly uncomfortable in his company, since his father was as much as charming. Even in his youth he was described as prickly to others who weren't Rhaegar.
- Pet the Dog: He goes out of his way to save Tyrion's life when they come under assault from marauders afflicted with the Greyscale. The kindness costs him dearly.
- Pride: Daemon Sand describes him as a proud even arrogant individual to Arianne Martell, and he didn't take kindly to Varys telling others that he drank himself to death after being expelled of the Golden Company . Though age and experience have made him more subdued and wiser, he's still very bitter about the humiliating lie about his death and fully intends to live long enough to to get payback on Varys for it.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: He's mentioned to have drunk himself to death a long time ago. Not really. The entire story of Connington stealing from the Golden Company and drinking himself to death was a fabrication made by Varys.
- Sergeant Rock: Not the cuddliest guy except toward "Young Griff", but a very capable commander who usually leads from the front.
- Secretly Dying: For now, the greyscale is relatively easy to hide with gauntlets or gloves (and, it is getting a bit nippy out, so there is plenty of excuse). Might get a bit trickier later, though.
- Straight Gay: Had a thing for Rhaegar. But, just criticising his probable orientation to his face would require oodles of courage. (Heck, even Tyrion actively tries biting his tongue around him, seeing him as being very close to a Tywin Mark II.)
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He's too much like Tyrion's hated father for the dwarf's tastes. He's also not too fond of Varys, strongly ressenting the spymaster for having reported that Jon drank himself to death, viewing it as a dishonorable and humiliating slight, and intending to make him pay once Aegon is sitting on the Iron Throne.
- Took a Level in Badass: Kevan Lannister remembers that the young Jon Connington was reckless, arrogant and haughty, but the new Connington returned to Westeros is Older and Wiser, having spent years with a prominent mercenary company and moreover having lived in secrecy all this time, noting that this implied that Connington had become cautious, ruthless and cunning.
- Tragic Bromance: His relationship with Rhaegar, though it went beyond friendship on Jon's side.
- Walking Spoiler: The true nature of Griff's identity.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Takes his own family hostage.
- You Remind Me of X: As a pale-eyed, never-smiling patriarch with a strong grip on those around him, Griff is too much like Tywin Lannister for Tyrion to be comfortable with him. Jon Connington himself seeks to be more Tywinesque in the coming war.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Once he's infected with greyscale, he knows it's only a matter of time before he eventually becomes a rabid stone-man. He resolves to use whatever time he has left to do everything in his power to seat Aegon VI on the Iron Throne.
Ser Ronnet Connington
Ser Ronnet Connington
Red Ronnet
The head of House Connington and Knight of Griffin's Roost.
- Arranged Marriage: He was once arranged to be married to Brienne of Tarth, but upon meeting her and seeing how ugly and shy she was, he handed her a rose and told her that was all she would ever get from him. The arrangement was ended soon after.
- Decapitation Presentation: Threatens to do this to Jon. It also comes across as a solid example of Tempting Fate with an alluring fan dance."Send me against my uncle, and I will bring you back his head, and the head of this false dragon too."
- Fiery Redhead: He has long red hair and a long red beard, and is considered very fierce and fiery.
- Humiliation Conga: The War of the Five Kings is slowly turning into this for him. First he gets his ass handed to him by Brienne in the Tourney at Bitterbridge, and then later captured at the Battle of the Blackwater. Jaime later punches him in the face with his golden hand for insulting Brienne, and sends him off on a trifling task with some of the Mountain's Men. When he returns to King's Landing, he discovers that his castle has been taken by his uncle Jon Connington, who had been believed dead, in the name of a still-alive Aegon Targaryen. He is then hauled before the Small Council, who question his loyalty and imprison him in the Red Keep, torn between either sending him to prove his loyalty by fighting (and likely dying) on the front lines, or just sending him to the Wall on the mere suspicion he may switch sides.
- Jerkass: Particularly in his behavior towards Brienne of Tarth.
- Kicked Upstairs: Jaime wants to get rid of him, so he gives him command of a unit heading for Maidenpool. Said unit contains the Mountain's bloodthirsty men. Yay?
- Punched Across the Room: He insults Brienne in Jaime's hearing one time too many, so Jaime smacks him down a flight of stairs with his solid gold hand.
- Tempting Fate: Has a gift for saying or doing things that greatly annoy nearby people, some of whom, like Jaime or Brienne, can easily make him pay. Down the line, usually. Thinking he can take on his uncle and the Golden Company with the dregs of the Mountain's Men? Is anybody actually betting on a positive outcome here?
- Turn Coat: Like most of the Stormlords, Red Ronnet goes over to Stannis after Renly's death and then bends the knee to Joffrey after being captured during the Battle of the Blackwater.
- Very Punchable Man: A fact that Jaime is all too happy to take advantage of.
Ronald Storm
Ronald Storm
Red Ronnet's bastard son.
- Defiant Captive: He tries to bite one of the spear men guarding him.
- Fiery Redhead: Much like his father.
- Generation Xerox: His appearance and personality are similar to that of his father.
- I Have Your Wife: He's taken hostage by Jon Connington himself.
Alynne Connington
Alynne Connington
Ronnets younger sister.- I Have Your Wife: Serves as one of Jon’s hostages.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Cries while being taken to a cell.
- Vague Age: Is some years younger than the 26 year old Ronnet but it gets no more specific than her being called still a girl.
Ser Ronald Connington
Ser Ronald Connington
Ser Ronald Connington was the Knight of Griffin's Roost. He had three children: Ronnet Connington, Raymund Connington and Alynne Connington.- Famous Ancestor: It was in his lordship that his family was Demoted to Dragon.
- Fighting for a Homeland: Ronald joined Robert Baratheon's rebels after King Aerys attainted his family's property for Jon's failure to kill or capture Robert Baratheon. In return for Ronald's service, Robert returned the family's castle to him (although not the family fortune or the majority of their lands). Despite his loyalty to the Targaryens, Ronald's cousin Jon privately admits that he doesn't entirely hate Ronald for helping the Baratheons to regain their ancestral home.
- Posthumous Character: He died before the series.
- You Are in Command Now: Jon Connington appointed Ronald castellan of Griffin's Roost when he went to fight in Robert's Rebellion. Later, Ronald replaced Jon as lord after he was exiled.
Historical Conningtons
Lord Roy Connington
Lord Roy Connington
Red Roy
One of the closest companions of Princess Saera Targaryen alongside Alys Turnberry, Braxton Beesbury, Perianne Moore and Jonah Mooton. When Alys Turnberry turned out to be pregnant, Queen Alysanne proposed he marry her. Red Roy refused to marry Alys, arguing the child probably wasn't his. The baby girl Alys gave birth to had red hair, indicating he was most likely the father.
- Arranged Marriage: He deliberately rejected one.
- The Exile: Due to refusing the marriage to Alys, he was given a choice between the Wall or ten years of exile, and he chose the latter.
- Hired Guns: Spent time as a sellsword during his exile.
- Jerkass: While he and the rest of his friends were also jerks, especially towards the fool Tom Turnip, he downright refused to marry the friend he had probably impregnated.
- People of Hair Color: He had the characteristic red hair of his family.
- Undignified Death: Half a year before his exile ended, Roy was stabbed to death by a whore in a gambling den within the city of Myr.
Ser Steffon Connington
Ser Steffon Connington
The second son of the Lord of Griffin's Roost during the reign of Aegon III Targaryen. He married lady Elenda Caron, widow of Borros Baratheon despite being 20 years younger. He was killed in the Dornish Marches by Wyland Wyl.
- Famous Ancestor: By virtue of being the husband of a former Lady of Storm's End.
- Knight in Shining Armor: He was described as valiant as he was handsome.
