Rodrik the Red Wolf
is an A Song of Ice and Fire fanfic where Brandon Stark had a bastard son named Rodrik with Barbrey Dustin.
Tropes that appear in this fanfic:
- Ancestral Weapon: Brandon Stark's sword Vengeance, which Ned passes to Brandon's son Rodrik.
- The Big Guy: Anogar is the largest of the direwolves.
- Color Motif: Rodrik's is red, mainly due to his direwolf Anogar and red horse, which was passed to Rodrik from Willam Dustin.
- Composite Character: Mark Ryswell (Rodrik's squire) takes Nymeria's place as the character responsible for injuring Joffrey.
- Dead Guy Junior: Rodrik's cousin Mark is named after his uncle Mark, who was killed at the Tower of Joy at the end of Robert's Rebellion.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Rodrik and Domeric has been side by side since their earliest days, raised by Barbrey as pages and sent to squire for Lord Redfort.
- History Repeats: The Stark family at the outset of Robert's Rebellion looks similar to the Targaryen family circa the Great Council of 233: A deceased older brother (two in the Targaryen's case) with an infant son, another son who becomes the head of the family and a third son becomes a member of the Night's Watch.
- Master Swordsman: Rodrik is said to be the best knight in the North. He proves it when he beats Sandor Clegane.
- Moment Killer: The only reason Rodrik is a knight is because he found Mychel Redfort and Mya Stone having sex.
- Named Weapons: Brandon had named his sword Vengeance when he went south to find Rhaegar and Lyanna.
- Original Character: Rodrik Snow, bastard son of Brandon Stark (Ned's elder brother) and Barbrey Dustin.
- Passed-Over Inheritance: Ned tells Rodrik that he could have been the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. When Robert's Rebellion broke out, Ned and Benjen wanted to legitimize Rodrik, but Jon Arryn and Hoster Tully had put their feet down; Jon Arryn because the North needed a leader and Hoster wanted Catelyn to marry Ned.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Rodrik gives one of these to Catelyn when she yells at Jon for wanting to see Bran after his fall. From Catelyn's reaction, his words strike her to the core.Catelyn: My husband may be your father, but [Bran] will never your brother, bastard! Go, run away to the gods damned Wall already, and leave my family alone!Rodrik: How DARE you! You, who exclude us from our family at every turn, who glares at us whenever we help your children, as brothers should, when Bran ran to me to learn how to use a sword, when Arya ran to Jon for comfort, because she thought she was a bastard because she looks like a STARK! YOU did this. You excluded us, when we have done nothing wrong but live FOR THE FAMILY! I will go south with your Lord Husband, for YOUR family! For YOUR sister! And you would send us away from Bran on what may be the last time we can see him? You shame yourself, you shame my uncle, and you shame the words of your house. Family, Duty, Honor. What honor is there in hating us for the sins of our fathers? What duty is it that makes you all but spit at us when we are in your presence? And we ARE your family.
- The Squire: Mark Ryswell becomes Rodrik's squire. Technically, Domeric is also a squire since he hasn't earned his knighthood.
- Succession Crisis: One of these has reared its ugly head regarding the succession of Barrowton. Lady Barbrey has named her nephew Domeric as heir, but he is Roose Bolton's son and this would give the Boltons too much power. The next closest relation is Rodrik, but as a bastard son and a Stark bastard son, this looks like Ned is consolidating power and using Nepotism.Barbrey: [exasperated] Then what? Who am I to pass Barrowton to? I raised [Rodrik], and I raised Domeric. I ensured both of you were well educated, trained and able to take on the task. If not you two, then who?
- Tragic Keepsake: Rodrik has two; his mother gave him Willam Dustin's red horse and Ned gives him Brandon's sword.
