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Which great houses produce the best warriors


Zoravar Singh

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The aim of the thread is to discuss which great houses have produced the best warriors ( which maybe different from jousters in certain cases). Also, for the purpose of this thread , we should consider Joffrey, Tommen etc as Lannisters. I guess we could count Jon Snow as either a Targ or a Stark. Also, beyond a few names, the text does not give a lot of information about great warriors,so some houses will end up higher or lower simply because we don't know enough about their ancestors and we may just have to guess on the basis of reputation and physical traits.



My list-


1) Baratheon The Laughing Storm( we only know about jousting though), Robert and possibly a few more, their physical traits were ideal for becoming warriors


2) Targayren- Aemon the Dragonknight & Daemon Blackfyre were exceptional. They had a lot of good( but not elite ) fighters aswell, such as Baelor Breakspear.


3) Tyrell- Historically, Leo Tyrell ( admitted we don't know much about his abilities outside of jousting), Garlan and Loras in the current generation


4) Stark- Brandon Stark was described as a much better warrior than Ned, who was good himself, also, Cregan Stark, Jon is also pretty good ( although this is controversial). Also, Artos Stark as exceptional, as someone pointed out.


5) Martell- Oberyn or Lannister- Jaime ( there was probably some historical Lannister aswell but I can't recall him)


We really don't know much about Tully ( although it can be reasonalby excepted that Brynden was very good in his day),Arryn or Greyjoy.


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Just based on who we know of it has to be Targaryen with Daemon Blackfyre and Aemon the Dragonknight. That being said I don't think any great house is more likely to produce a great warrior than any other. The Baratheons and Lannisters seem to have the genes that would make males more likely to be good fighters but it isn't a given.

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I think each House displays a certain superiority (and weakness) over each other.



I'd say the most fearless ones were from Houses Baratheon and Greyjoy. They're all about sheer strength and force, but the Greyjoys are far too hot-headed (as are most of the ironborn) and I think that aside from Stannis, the Baratheons are quite rash.



There are other things to take into account, though, such as strategy and discipline. The Starks probably exhibit the best discipline, but like the Baratheons, they seem to not produce many forward thinkers, as Brandon and Rickard seemed to prove.



I figure the Targaryens, Lannisters and Martells are/were good at strategy, but the former seemed far too overreliant on their dragons and heritage and seemed to have that cockiness that would often spell their doom. Same with the Lannisters on the last two. The Martells seem more well-rounded to me, but they still have that hot-headed nature that seem to be emblematic of the Greyjoys.



I get the feeling the Tyrells would be among the best in jousting, but perhaps not as good in combat. Without the Tarlys, where would Mace Tyrell be, after all? They seem much more for show than anything else, though obviously Loras and Garlan are terrific.



The Arryns are too much of a cipher to get a bead on them, but seeing as how Jon fostered Ned, I tend to think he probably instilled a cool judgment in the Stark boy that made him unlike his brother. Still, though, the Arryns seem to have that honor-based system that probably hindered any sort of cunning.



The Tullys seem to be the default.


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I get the feeling the Tyrells would be among the best in jousting, but perhaps not as good in combat. Without the Tarlys, where would Mace Tyrell be, after all? They seem much more for show than anything else, though obviously Loras and Garlan are terrific.

The Arryns are too much of a cipher to get a bead on them, but seeing as how Jon fostered Ned, I tend to think he probably instilled a cool judgment in the Stark boy that made him unlike his brother. Still, though, the Arryns seem to have that honor-based system that probably hindered any sort of cunning.

Totally agree with your views on the Tyrells and the Arryns. I think that the Tyrells are rather showy, right down to the armour they wear ( in particular Loras goes to a blacksmith whose specialty appears to be painted armour) and there are some general hints of pretentiousness around. The Arryns were described by Cat as 'Proud & Prickly'.

That being said, I meant warrior in the 'swordsman, mace, hammer' way, not in terms of war tactics and the like.

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the whole idea that one house produces the best swordsmen is pure crap, it depends on about 101 different factors. Even in the current generation you could argue for days about how produces the best swords







It's not exactly rocket science, but I do think genetics affect the abilities of a fighter, as also how a house raises its sons. In retrospect, I think the title should be 'has produced' to indicate that it took the past as a source and wasn't too speculative on the future. And while we would argue about who was the 'best', I do think classifying fighters into tiers ( each tier representing fighters who are more or less equal) would simplify this task.


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I think each House displays a certain superiority (and weakness) over each other.

I'd say the most fearless ones were from Houses Baratheon and Greyjoy. They're all about sheer strength and force, but the Greyjoys are far too hot-headed (as are most of the ironborn) and I think that aside from Stannis, the Baratheons are quite rash.

There are other things to take into account, though, such as strategy and discipline. The Starks probably exhibit the best discipline, but like the Baratheons, they seem to not produce many forward thinkers, as Brandon and Rickard seemed to prove.

I figure the Targaryens, Lannisters and Martells are/were good at strategy, but the former seemed far too overreliant on their dragons and heritage and seemed to have that cockiness that would often spell their doom. Same with the Lannisters on the last two. The Martells seem more well-rounded to me, but they still have that hot-headed nature that seem to be emblematic of the Greyjoys.

I get the feeling the Tyrells would be among the best in jousting, but perhaps not as good in combat. Without the Tarlys, where would Mace Tyrell be, after all? They seem much more for show than anything else, though obviously Loras and Garlan are terrific.

The Arryns are too much of a cipher to get a bead on them, but seeing as how Jon fostered Ned, I tend to think he probably instilled a cool judgment in the Stark boy that made him unlike his brother. Still, though, the Arryns seem to have that honor-based system that probably hindered any sort of cunning.

The Tullys seem to be the default.

Ah, the Rhaegar conundrum.

You can be a great warrior without being a great jouster, but it does not seem that you can be a great jouster without being a great warrior. All the characters who consistently excel at the joust (Selmy, Jaime, the Cleganes, Dayne, Loras) are also great warriors. This was also true in RL.

Not sure where this idea that they speak to different skills/types comes from. Maybe Cat's biased and later disproved 'knights of summer' thing?

Anyways, the Lannisters have a couple more than Jaime. His uncle...Tygett?...was supposed to fight like him, and another from farther back...can't recall which.

The houses with the most consistency are lesser ones; Darklyn, Dayne, Clegane, Toyne, Crakehall, Corbray, Royce, etc.

The Tyrells have produced more great fighters (at least 3) than the Baratheons (2), so not sure where that buzz is coming from.

Brandon Stark was probably pretty good, but all we know is that he was clearly better than Ned, who is just average.

The Targs run away with this from what we know, but then we know so much more about them.

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The Tyrells have produced more great fighters (at least 3) than the Baratheons (2), so not sure where that buzz is coming from.

Brandon Stark was probably pretty good, but all we know is that he was clearly better than Ned, who is just average.

The Targs run away with this from what we know, but then we know so much more about them

The reason I rate Baratheons so highly is because of their physical traits that are conducive to battle. We know so little about most of the Houses that at some point, guesswork is involved.

Also, I honestly don't recall any Targs beyond Daemon and Aemon who were truly exceptional, so I don't think that their runaway winners.

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House Dayne anyone? Arthur Dayne,Gerold Dayne. Ulrick Dayne.... and many other swords of the morning that are not mentioned(although Darkstar is not listed to be one).

It's sad it took 9 posts before Dayne was mentioned. Sword of the morning!

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The reason I rate Baratheons so highly is because of their physical traits that are conducive to battle. We know so little about most of the Houses that at some point, guesswork is involved.

Also, I honestly don't recall any Targs beyond Daemon and Aemon who were truly exceptional, so I don't think that their runaway winners.

Maegor I, Maekar, and Rhaegar were at least decent fighters and Baelor Breakspear and Daeron I sounded pretty martial too. Add to that Daemon was supposed to be godlike and Bittersteel was pretty bad ass too

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The reason I rate Baratheons so highly is because of their physical traits that are conducive to battle. We know so little about most of the Houses that at some point, guesswork is involved.

Also, I honestly don't recall any Targs beyond Daemon and Aemon who were truly exceptional, so I don't think that their runaway winners.

Also Aemond, Daemon (the other one) Bittersteel, Bloodraven, Rhaegar, a few more...the Monstrous one, can't remember.

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Maegor I, Maekar, and Rhaegar were at least decent fighters and Baelor Breakspear and Daeron I sounded pretty martial too. Add to that Daemon was supposed to be godlike and Bittersteel was pretty bad ass too

i knew that they had a lot of good/very good fighters except those two, but I don't think any of the others were in the same category as Aemon/Daemon/Selmy/Cregan Stark/Arthur Dayne. Maekar and Baelor and Bittersteel were extremely good fighters, but not legends by any stretch. Never really heard of Maegor 1 as anything beyond cruel ( of course I could've skipped something) and of Daeron 1, all we know is that he conquered dorne, which I wouldn't take as an indicator of martial prowess. Rhaegar was an excellcent jouster, no doubt, but I don't think he distinguished himself as a warrior ( although he had only one chance to do so, and that was against a young and angry Bob).

Also Aemond, Daemon (the other one) Bittersteel, Bloodraven, Rhaegar, a few more...the Monstrous one, can't remember.

Maelys the Monstrous, don't recall anything about his abilities as a warrior mentioned at all ( as always, I could've missed something). The others were described as 'fine swordsmen' and the like, but none of them slayed or beat or an opinion who was himself a good srodsman.

Bob killed Rhaegar, Aemon beat Cregan Stark, Daemon defeated gwayne Cobray, but beyond that we know nothing.

One limitation I've realised is that we know more Targayrens than we know members of all other houses combined.

Although this should include the lesser houses, going with just great houses, I would go with Targaryen and Stark.

As much as I'd like that, the thread could end up like something as 'The greatest warriors of all time'.

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Each of the great houses had a slew of great warriors. What Bryden said up thread is true, one house is not better than the other. It's just that for some houses we have more info than others. The Targaryens are the most well-documented house, so they appear to have the best warriors. Add to that Houses that are pretty martial during the main series, which makes people think they were always great, and you have the distorted picture we have now.



The few tidbits of info from TWOIAF has already shown some of the folly of thinking one house beats the other. The Starks, who didn't really produce excellent warriors during the events depicted in ASOIAF, now have Cregan and Artos Stark. Both are described as great (IIRC Artos is described as the fiercest warrior of his age and Cregan was apparently the best fighter Aemon the Dragonknight ever encountered) and are probably in the range of Daemon/Aemon/Selmy/Dayne/Jaime. From the main series, we know Brandon was a confident warrior, since he thought he could take on Rhaegar who was more than good himself. Brandon Snow was probably a fine fighter as well.



The Greyjoys now have Dalton Greyjoy, who appears to have been a hardcore badass. The Lannisters got Gerion the Golden, IIRC he was described as an excellent fighter himself. And so on...


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