Lately, Matt and I have been getting into this great writing podcast and one of the most interesting things they talk about is the elements that go into a good character. Since the final season of Game of Thrones is coming up I figured I would do another top list (it’s been a while), this time talking about the best characters.
First, let’s talk quickly about what makes a great, full character. C Robert Cargill is the main speaker on this podcast, and he likes to think a great character has four elements: the want, the need, the ghost, and the lie. The want is the main thing the character desires in the story, but it is different from the need. The need is something they likely do not know that they want, but find through their arch. Next is the ghost, this is something in the character’s past that prevents them from obtaining their needs or wants. And finally is the lie, which is something the character believes or tells themselves that is not true, and they will come to grow and learn from it as they discover more about themselves. All of these things go hand in hand and work together to create great characters that we all can fall in love with and genuinely care about. I will give many examples of these things as we get into the list. One final thing to note is this list is my opinion of the best characters in Game of Thrones, they are not necessarily my favorite characters, I will do that list in a separate post. Below is a link to the writing podcast if you are interested.
https://writealongpodcast.com
5. Tyrion Lannister
Coming in at number five is The Dwarf of Casterly Rock. I almost didn’t include him in the top five, but talked myself into it. Right away you might be thinking, he deserves to be higher, but based on the things I am judging this list on, I will try to explain why he barely made the list. Don’t get me wrong though, Tyrion is awesome, and I am sure many people’s favorite.
Let’s start with what Tyrion wants. One big thing he wants is to use his intelligence to show everyone that he is a force and a main player in the great game. From birth he has been told what a joke he is and he has used that as a chip on his shoulder, more on that later. Other than that, he also wants to simply enjoy himself. He wants to drink and whore and do things that make him happy the rest of his life.
Next is what he needs. Tyrion needs to believe in someone and find some greater purpose to use his skills and intelligence fighting in a cause that he can truly get behind. His experiences so far in his life have left him very Cynical and generally thinking the worst of people. It’s not until he finds Daenerys that he finds this thing he needs. And while his story is not yet over, it feels like his character arch is fulfilled right now. He faced his sister in season 7 and I am sure more could happen with that in the final season, but overall I feel good about where he is as a character.
Now let’s talk about the ghost for Tyrion. It started right away when he was born. His mother died while giving birth to him, and he has been unfairly blamed for this his whole life. Most of Tyrion’s issues come from his father who never truly saw him as a true son for killing his wife. With his father leading the pack, most people around him saw him as a bit of a joke and someone to not take seriously.
The lie Tyrion tells himself is about life itself. As we just talked about with his ghost, he has been surrounded by negativity his whole life. He is an extremely capable person, but he tells himself that the world is no good and the people do not deserve him. This is why he drinks so much and gives in to his vices.
The choices the characters make are what ultimately defines them. They are tested throughout the series and the decisions they make and how they relate to their wants and needs is instrumental in creating full and amazing characters. Let’s take a look at some of the big choices Tyrion has made on his journey.
The first big one I want to talk about is also an annoying choice he made. In season one he meets Shae, a whore, who Tyrion hires to sleep with him the night before the battle that he expects to die in. They share more than just a bed that night and Tyrion falls for her. We know that in the past Tyrion has a thing for whores and easily falls in love with them. Tyrion makes the very poor decision to bring her back to King’s Landing with him after he survives the battle. I think a big part of why he does this is to defy his father, who hates that Tyrion sleeps around with so many whores. Tyrion knows how dangerous his father is and keeps Shae hidden away, but she is pretty reckless and often doesn’t listen to him. Tyrion continues to fall for her and her him. It is great that he finally has found love in his life, but it all falls apart in season four. Tyrion gets put on trial for Geoffrey’s murder, and Shae is quick to betray him and sleep with his father. This is the thing that ultimately breaks Tyrion and makes him give up on life and people.
The next big decision I want to talk about also comes in season four, which is I think when Tyrion is at his best. He is locked up and on trial. Shae speaks out against him in court and he loses it, giving us one of my favorite moments of the whole series. He gives an emotional speech, speaking out against his father, his family, and the people of King’s Landing as a whole. He finishes by demanding another trial by combat. This is a very interesting and rash choice. A path was set for him to confess and join the Night’s Watch, but because of Shae he loses it and goes for the much riskier trial by combat. His odds seem terrible as he is up against the mountain. But then we are given the incredible scene where Prince Oberyn comes in to his cell to speak with him. Oberyn gives a good speech about the first time he saw Tyrion when he was a baby. He talks about how he did not see him as the monster everyone said he was and instead saw a baby who had a couple minor deformities. This is a huge moment for Tyrion. He sees a truly good person in the world who does not see him for what everyone else has his whole life. That, and the obvious hope that he can win and spare his life.
One final choice I would like to talk about is choosing to follow Daenerys and aid her conquest to Westeros. As we have seen after season four, Tyrion is a broken man. He is not sure about Daenerys at first but grows to believe in her, which is what he needs. A very powerful scene that I think completes Tyrion’s character arch, to an extent, is when Daenerys talks to Tyrion and asks him to be her hand. This is what he needs, and you can see the emotion come out in him when she asks. Daenerys has now fixed this broken man and made him whole. No matter what happens to Tyrion from this point out, he feels fulfilled and his happy with his life.
4. Jon Snow
There is no doubt that Jon is one of the main, main, characters on the show. But I think there are still two better than him out there. He has been through so much, and his story is so compelling and has made us care so much about this man. I feel like he is going to die in the final season and it’s going to be the saddest thing ever.
What does Jon Snow want? He wants to be great, and prove to everyone that he is more than just The Bastard of Winterfell. We see this right away in the Night’s watch when he wants to be a ranger and throws a tantrum when he is not made one. And then several times later when he mades very bold decisions, that are very honorable, but often poor choices.
But, what Jon needs is to stop worrying about proving himself and what people think of him, and to play his very important role, leading the realm against the White Walkers. We see Jon start to do this when he leaves the Night’s watch after he died and was resurrected. He takes back Winterfell and then gains power and the support of the North. In season seven he travels south but is still very impacted by what the North wants him to do. In the end he decided what he thinks is best for everyone and bends the knee to Daenerys, despite that being the unpopular opinion of the North.
The ghost of Jon’s past is simply being a bastard. Many people his whole life have treated him differently for this, especially Catelyn, who sucks. She was terrible to Jon and this caused some huge problems for him internally his whole life.
The lie Jon tells himself is that he is everyone already sees him as less and he needs to make up for that and prove to everyone how awesome he is to please them. We have seen Jon seek out adventure and take on roles he is not ready for, all for good reasons, but often his decisions were a little hasty.
Let’s take a look as these decisions, we will start with a list of hasty things he has done so far:
Decided to join the Night’s watch because Catelyn was extra mean to him and that would stick it to her
Almost abandoned The Night’s watch because he heard about his father being accused of treason
Went with Corrin Halfhand up North ranging, asked to be the one to kill Ygritt, and then couldn’t follow through with it
Went out to talk with Mance to try and kill him
Fought Ramsay anyways, despite not having the numbers
Rode out in the field to try and rescue Rickon
Didn’t lie to Cersei about his allegiance to Daenerys
Jon has also made some very interesting and well thought out decisions as well that show growth in him. Many of these were also maybe not the best decision for him, but were very honorable. One was going out and killing all of the mutineers at Kraster’s Keep. He knew it was necessary, but risky for him and his brothers. It was also risky but a good choice to go to Hardhome to try and save the rest of the Wildlings. This choice would ultimately get him murdered, but it’s okay because he was resurrected by the red woman. He then chose to leave the Night’s Watch to take back Winterfell and make a bigger impact on the world. And finally he chose to bend the knee to Daenerys, which was a huge decision for him, and leads us very close to the end of his nice character arch.
3. Cersei Lannister
I will start by saying that I hate Cersei Lannister, or I should say most of the story I have hated her. Her drives are so irrational, emotional, but understandable to an extent. But, I have come to realize how amazing of a character she is in the series. I think Cersei’s whole journey has all built up to create this awesome villain that we saw in season seven. She was a good antagonist the whole series, but it all culminates starting in season seven, and we saw how such a beast was created throughout the show.
What does Cersei want? For most of the show she is driven by her children. She will do anything and everything for them. The flashback scene where Cersei gets her future read is extremely important and I will dive into that after I explain the rest of what composes Cersei’s character.
Cersei needs to start living her life for herself, and to be released of the burden of worrying about her children. This happens at the end of season six when Tommen kills himself. How Cersei reacts to this is fascinating. She is very meh about the whole thing, already have written Tommen off as having failed at that point. From that point on Cersei becomes the badass villain that she is now.
I think Cersei’s ghost is what happened with the witch lady who read her future for her. This event shaped who Cersei was as a person up until Tommen killed himself. The lady told her of her children saying, “gold will be their crowns and gold will be their shrouds.” I will admit I did not know what shrouds were, and for those who also don’t know, a shroud is the thing a person dead person is wrapped in for their burial. So from a young age Cersei believed that she would have three children, not with the actual king, who she would see all come to die. This is why Cersei does what she does, she is so worried about her children and will go to any lengths for them.
The lie Cersei tells herself is that her children are everything. She can help save them, and help them rise to power, and nothing in the world is more important than their survival and success. We see this lie start to fade after Geoffrey died and she started to get over it. When Marcella died it faded even more, and then with the death of Tommen, the lie was completely gone and Cersei became who she needed to be. What we witnessed with the story of Cersei is the rise of an awesome villain and how she came to be. She is a worthy final villain for the rest of the main characters to face in the final season and I can’t wait to see how it all shakes out.
All of the factors I just talked about are so strong in Cersei and we can easily see why she chooses to do what she does. Here is simply a list of many major choices she has made, that all very much have to do with her children:
Demands Lady be killed for justice for Geoffrey
Defied her husband and Ned Stark to help Geoffrey take power
Tried to have Tyrion killed in the battle of the Blackwater because he was standing up to Geoffrey and influencing him
Was going to end the life of Tommen and herself in the battle of the Blackwater when she thought it was lost
Immediately assumed Tyrion was who killed Geoffrey and vowed vengeance on him
Sent Jaime off to Dorne to rescue Marcella
Gave the High Sparrow power to deal with Margery, who was gaining control of Tommen
Blew up the sept, killing all people who were “digging their claws” into Tommen
And finally she decided to move on from her children and take power for herself, something she turns out is very good at. One final thing I want to mention about Cersei’s prophesy with the witch is that she mentioned that Cersei would be queen, for a time. Then someone more beautiful and younger would come along and take it from her. I have always assumed this was Queen Margery, but what if it is not? What if it is Queen Daenerys? That could be a clue that Daenerys will indeed win, and become Queen of the seven kingdoms, but will Jon be the king?
2. Jaime Lannister
Jaime is such a good character. I thought I was going to have him at number one for sure, but upon deep analysis I had to have someone above him. Jaime has been through quite the journey and seen so much personal growth along the way, making it very easy to cheer for him at this point.
For most of the series Jaime has wanted two things. One is Cersei, he just wants to be with her and would do anything for her, like pushing Bran out the window right away in season one. The second and more important thing that he wants is the respect of the people. If you look closely as you watch the series you will see several instances of people putting Jaime down, thinking of him as a man without honor. This truly does bothers him and greatly influences his choices throughout the series.
What Jaime needs though is to break free some Cersei, which it seems like he might have finally done at the end of season seven. He grows as a person throughout the whole show, but still relapses with Cersei from time to time. He also needs to put his past behind him, not worry about what people think of him, and do what he thinks is right. I am extremely excited for what is in store for Jaime in the final season. The completion of his character arch could be one of the most satisfying parts in the whole show, or they could just kill him, leaving us all devastated.
Jaime’s ghost is killing the mad king. This is what he is known for and he is said to have no honor because of it. But we learn in an awesome scene back in season three with Jaime and Brienne in the bathhouse that Jaime truly did the right thing when he stabbed The Mad King in the back, but Ned Stark didn’t see it that way, and thus started the whole country judging Jaime for what he is now known for, a king slayer.
Jaime tells himself a couple lies throughout the series. One is “we love who we love.” A phrase he has spoken out loud, justifying his actions and some of the terrible things he has done for Cersei. Another is that he is who everyone believes he is. That he truly is a man without honor, and serving Cersei and his family is all he will ever be. The final scene of him in season seven, riding away from King’s Landing, heading North I presume, is an indicator of the great things to come from him in the final season.
Here is a list of bad choices he has made for Cersei and due to his past:
Pushes Bran out the window hoping to kill him
Killing his cousin to escape captivity and get back to Cersei
Denying his father and his wishes for him to take over as the Lord of Casterly Rock
Going to Dorne to rescue Marcella
Trying to rescue Tommen from the High Sparrow with force
Taking back River Run from the Blackfish
Tried to kill Daenerys to be the hero that ended the war
Now here are the good things he has done that show some redemption
Lying to Thorne about Brienne and where she comes from to stop her from being raped
Going back for Brienne, even after he got what he wanted and didn’t need her anymore
Giving his sword to Brienne, hoping she will bring it honor
Helping Tyrion escape despite Cersei’s wishes
Letting Brienne go free when he took back River Run
Showing mercy to Olenna when Cersei wanted to kill her in a terrible way
Hearing Tyrion out and meeting with him even after he killed their father
Finally abandoning Cersei to do what is right
Jaime is so complex, which is why I think he is a great character. He has you thinking he is bad, then good, then relapses a little. There are so many ways his story could end. I hope he stabs The Mad Queen Cersei in the back to save everyone in the end, letting his story come full circle, and being honored for it.
1. Daenerys Targaryen
I like Daenerys, she is not at the top of my list for my favorite characters, but I believe she is the best character in the series. She has a great backstory that drives her, and has made so many interesting and powerful choices along the way that I could not justify having her anywhere but the top spot.
Let’s start again with what she wants. This is very simple, she wants the iron throne. She wants what she believes is hers by birthright. She did not start by wanting this in season one, but as she grew more confident and realized she was awesome, she bagged believing that it was hers, and set out to take it.
The more interesting thing with Daenerys is what she needs. I don’t think she needs the iron throne. We have seen her struggle with a couple things throughout her story. She wants to go to Westeros and be the ruler her father was not, and to put an end to the terrible politics of the seven kingdoms. But at the same time, she wants to sit on the iron throne so bad and sometimes has to get talked out of choosing the easiest path to it. Daenerys said in a powerful scene that she wants to break the wheel, and I think that is exactly what she will do.
The Ghost of Daenerys is her fathers actions and what happened to her as a baby. She was smuggled out of Westeros to survive, with the hopes that her family would rule again one day. Her father was a terrible tyrant, and she is driven by wanting to be a good but kind ruler, and fears she will be like her father in some ways.
The lie she tells herself is that it is her right to sit on the iron throne. For someone who seems so morally good, freeing slaves, helping the poor and weak, she is pretty irrational about what happened to her family. While Robert’s Rebellion was founded on a lie, it was still a good rebellion because The Mad King was awful and deserved to be dethroned. She seems to want to seek revenge at times on the people who did this, but those people did exactly what she did to the major cities of Essos. She freed the cities and ruled them as a usurper, creating a better world. Yes, Cersei is turning into a terrible ruler like her father, but there are many others who would not have been terrible rulers, like Ned Stark, Rob Stark, Renly Baratheon, and Jon Snow. I think she is going to find in season seven that she really doesn’t need this thing she has wanted for so long, and will maybe not even take it.
The amount of important choices she has made is immense, so here is a summary of them all:
Instead of being sad that she was forced to marry Khal Drogo she tried to connect with him and earned his love, and in turn grew to love him back
Decided to take power with the Dothraki as the queen, and speak out against her brother
Saved the witch lady who the men were going to rape
Brought back her Khal at all costs and ended up losing everything
Risked stepping into the flames with the witch lady she was executing, hoping she would live and her dragons would hatch
Took over as leader of the remaining Dothraki and lead them to find the things she needed
Stubbornly did not submit to the masters of Qarth when they were asking to see her dragons to let her into the city
After her dragons were captured she risked her own life to go after them
She took harsh revenge on the leader of Qarth and Doreah who betrayed her
Made a deal with the master of Astapor and then went back on her word to free all of the slaves which she hoped would then follow her
Went to Yunkai and against the odds defied the masters and won over one of the second sons to join her and took the city, freeing all of the slaves
Convinced the people of Meereen to stand up to their masters and slay them, freeing everyone
Locked the dragons away because they burned a child when they were out hunting
Sent Sir Jorah away for betraying her a long time ago
Chose to marry one of the masters of Mereen to better their position instead of execute him
Instead of run away from the Dothraki who captured her she stayed to defeat the masters and gain the support of the whole Dothraki clan
Went back to Mereen and would not back down from the masters and used her dragons to wreck them
Allowed Yara Greyjoy to come to her and grant her, her kingdom for her allegiance in the war back in Westeros
Forgave Jorah and demanded he find a cure
Listened to Tyrion to not go burn King’s Landing to the ground
Did not listen to Tyrion and executed the Tarlys after burning their forces to the ground
Decided to help Jon Snow with a cause more important than her own, even before he bent the knee
As you can see, Dany’s decisions are very complex. She has not always made the right choice and still struggles with what is right at times. My official prediction for her in the final season is that she will win. She will gain all of the power she wanted, but decide she doesn’t want that much power anymore. There was an interesting scene where Yara and Theon came to her, offering their ships and in turn she would let Yara rule the Iron Islands as a queen. Dany, afterwards, said that they can’t be giving everyone their freedom like Yara, but I think that’s exactly what they will do. Since Highgarden is no more, there are now only six kingdoms. I think Daenerys will go back to the old was of having individual kings and queens rule their own lands, instead of one king or queen to rule them all. I think Jon will die and Sansa will unfortunately rule the north. I think Tyrion might go south and rule Dorne. Tara will rule The Iron Islands. Jaime will do what his father wanted all along and rule Casterly Rock. Maybe Brienne will rule the river lands, not sure on that one. I’m also very unsure who will rule the Veil, maybe Verys, or in a huge twist, Robyn Arryn has actually grown into a decent human and will rule. And finally Daenerys will rule the Stormlands.
There you have it, my top five best characters in Game of Thrones with some predictions in there as well. I could be way off, as you just never know what this show will throw at you. One last thing I want to do is briefly talk about some honorable mentions, as there are just too many great characters out there.
Honorable Mentions
At number 6 I would very controversially have to put Theon Greyjoy. I really really wanted to have him in there at 5, but talked myself into putting Tyrion instead. Theon has had one hell of a journey and I am excited to see him get the redemption he so desperately needs. I think he will die getting it, and he will die fulfilled and happy.
At number 7 is a character I initially thought I would sure include in the top 5, and that is The Hound. He has also had an incredible journey and the unresolved issues with his brother seem like they will finally come to fruition in this final season. I think we will get what we want and have him kill his brother in some kind of epic fashion.
Number 8 goes to an awesome character who’s ending I really didn’t like, that being Littlefinger. This dude orchestrated so many of the insane events that took place over the seven seasons we have had so far. He was always ten steps ahead of everyone, but was then bested by SANSA?! WHAT?!?! What an unbelievable disappointing end to him. He was someone we loved to hate, and lost to Sad Sansa.
Number 9 goes to someone I bet you all think I am underrating, that being Arya Stark. Don’t get me wrong, I think Arya is an awesome character, but is she one of the “best” characters? Well, good enough to make the top 10, but not on the level of the top 5 or so. She has a hell of a journey like everyone else, but her motives and what she wants and needs it seems are all about revenge. Yes, it is awesome when she finally became a faceless man, but it just doesn’t have the same satisfaction of a more complete character arch of someone like Jaime or Daenerys.
Finally I have to give number 10 to my man Lord Friendzone. I feel like people like him, but he is under appreciated. He has a good backstory and an interesting character arch. Yes, he can be a little whiny at times, but he is still a very solid character.
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One final thing I am going to do is an award for worst main character of the series, and you guessed it, it’s Sansa Stark! There are some worse characters probably than Sansa, but as one of the main characters in the series, she is pretty insufferable the whole time, yes even in season 7. In the beginning Sansa just wanted to marry the king and be queen. She wanted to be loved by the people and be royalty. As shitty things started happening to her, her wants became different, mostly just to escape and go back home, perfectly reasonable. The whole series Sansa hasn’t had much agency though. She has let others make her choices for her and dictate where she goes. Don’t get me wrong, I still cheer for her a bit as she is a “good guy” and I feel bad for the awful things that have happened to her. Even in the later season though, when she finally makes some choices, they are terrible ones. In season 6 she does not tell Jon about LIttlefinger’s army, and secretly asks for their help and they come save the day at the last minute. I feel like people give her a lot of credit for “saving the day” but really she should be blamed for HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE DYING on their side. If Jon had known about this, they would have held off and waited to face Ramsay, and would have slaughtered him. Instead Jon almost died, along with many others who did die, all because of Sansa. Then finally in season 7 Sansa does her first good thing. It is somehow outsmarting the smartest guy in all of Westeros, Littlefinger. Yes, this gives Sansa some redemption, but I am not buying it. She did not deserve to pull that all, and I am sad that is how Littlefinger lost. To summarize, Sansa’s whole journey has been about not being terrible, and in the final season I bet she will actually be likable, it just took seven seasons to get there.
Well, that’s it I hope you enjoyed reading about all of the great characters in Game of Thrones, as well as Sansa. Please leave a comment if you disagree with me, and I would love to talk about it!
