Stag_legion Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 especially when it comes to good warriors? Most men are medium height, and it would stand to reason that they would be present among the most skilled warriors simply because most men are medium height. Its natural that the really strong warriors like the mountain would be big and tall, but skill doesn't have much to do with height, in fact being tall makes body coordination a little more tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Typer of Dorne Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I think it's a combination of.a. the people we tend to see in ASOIAF ie warriors andb.the way that culture works. Big children seem to be identified as promising fighters because the strength of the child exist naturally and the skill comes with training. I believe it's a reasonable assumption that the tall, strong child dominates his peers therefore the master at arms concentrates on his training therefore he fulfills his potential and becomes a great fighter. He is then seen as a good match for someones daughter and passes the 'tall gene' on to his kids. Otherwise, it could just be that the characters we see just happen to be tall, if we were to see society in Westeros as a whole it would even out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sullen Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Why are there so many really attractive or really ugly characters?Why are there so many incredibly strong or smart ones?Why can I name three characters with heterochromia? ASoIaF is a work of fiction, and more specifically fantasy, characters are bound to reflect that by being "exceptional." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodor the Articulate Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Dunk really got around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Madam Mim Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Dunk really got around. :lol: I would imagine there would also be an element of Darwin's 'survival of the fittest'. The biggest, strongest fighters are more likely to survive and pass their 'tall, manly' gene's on to the next generation and so on and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 ASoIaF is a work of fiction, and more specifically fantasy, characters are bound to reflect that by being "exceptional." True. This is IMO the "real" reason. If you want in-story reasoning, bear in mind that the cast of named characters numbers in the hundreds, so even by simple statistics, there's bound to be a few that are exceptionally tall. A lot of them have no particular characteristics, but if they happen to be tall, it's something you will easily latch onto when describing said character. Then there's the "selective breeding" argument, but I'm not sure to what degree that truly influences things - certainly genetics in Martinworld seem to be very black-and-white (or should that be black-or-gold, heh!) - so if you're a Baratheon you're tall, and so on. Also, some characters (particularly secondary and tertiary ones) have a their place in society (and thus appear in the narrative) solely because of their physical characteristics - such as Olenna Tyrell's guards. ETA: Dunk really got around. Good on him! Poor guy's due, and then some! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferocious Veldt Roarer Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Wasn't this, exactly this, question asked, like, a week ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalerionTheCat Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Some like Gregor, Brienne, Hodor or the Greatjon have some blood of the giants. Giantess had children with humans in the past. And their "genes" are still present in some families. And from time to time, a baby is born with unnatural size. That said, better food, more opportunities to have children for strong, big men may also explain a natural selection for size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigUpHerBones Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Aragorn from LOTR was 6'6. So was Robert. Brie seems to be around that, maybe a little taller. Hound at what, 6'10ish? we know he is slightly shorter than The Mountain. Mountain is the only one currently, at or above 7'. if we are not counting the literal Giant Wun Wun. Not really that many, "tall" people and not really that abnormal in works of fiction. The Starks were all short, all well under 6', Tully's were short as well. Lannisters all seem to be around 6', same with the Eryrie people. All the male Targs seem to be smallish as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemond's Eye Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Aragorn from LOTR was 6'6. So was Robert. Brie seems to be around that, maybe a little taller. Hound at what, 6'10ish? we know he is slightly shorter than The Mountain. Mountain is the only one currently, at or above 7'. if we are not counting the literal Giant Wun Wun. Not really that many, "tall" people and not really that abnormal in works of fiction. The Starks were all short, all well under 6', Tully's were short as well. Lannisters all seem to be around 6', same with the Eryrie people. All the male Targs seem to be smallish as well. Taller? GRRM has said she's roughly around Robert's height - which would be abnormally tall for a woman itself. I doubt she's any taller than 6'5/6'6; I'd guess she's anywhere in the 6'3 - 6'6 region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SacredOrderOfGreenMen Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 It's one of those traits that GRRM has a tendency to exaggerate: He rarely describes prominent characters as being just portly or short of a little thin; no, they've always either had "all the fleshed melted from their bones" or they're outlandishly, hideously fat, "with fingers like plump sausages." It's a weird and bothersome tick in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigUpHerBones Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Brienne is well over six feet tall, but not close to seven, no. Just off the top of my head, I would say Brienne is taller than Renly and Jaime and significantly heavier than either, but nowhere near the size of Gregor Clegane, who is the true giant in the series. Shorter than Hodor and the Greatjon, maybe a bit shorter than the Hound, maybe roughly the same height as Robert. good call AlwaysWinter, i let the show fuck me up. when they did the Brie vs Hound fight, they looked identical. i know, i know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemond's Eye Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 good call AlwaysWinter, i let the show fuck me up. when they did the Brie vs Hound fight, they looked identical. i know, i know...I dunno it they could have tried to use camera trickery to make Sandor look taller there, but without it they did look closer in height. I think Rory McCann is 6'5 and Gwendoline Christie is 6'3.As well done as that fight scene was, I don't like it for several reasons. You've given me another for the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigUpHerBones Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I dunno it they could have tried to use camera trickery to make Sandor look taller there, but without it they did look closer in height. I think Rory McCann is 6'5 and Gwendoline Christie is 6'3. they are doing that same trickery with Kitt Harrington this season as well... last episode he was either in the foreground, or sitting, the entire time with Daavos and Stannis so his diminutive stature would not be so obvious... off topic, sorry...but nobody would be scared of a 5'7, in armor, Jon Snow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ser Septon Maester Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 It's one of those traits that GRRM has a tendency to exaggerate: He rarely describes prominent characters as being just portly or short of a little thin; no, they've always either had "all the fleshed melted from their bones" or their outlandishly, hideously fat, "with fingers like plump sausages." It's a weird and bothersome tick in my view.Curse that man and his good for nothing writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SacredOrderOfGreenMen Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Curse that man and his good for nothing writing. I love his books and style overall, but he does do a few things that are my pet peeves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stag_legion Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 they are doing that same trickery with Kitt Harrington this season as well... last episode he was either in the foreground, or sitting, the entire time with Daavos and Stannis so his diminutive stature would not be so obvious... off topic, sorry...but nobody would be scared of a 5'7, in armor, Jon Snow... Jon snow is not tall in the books either though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stag_legion Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 I personally dislike the thing GRRM does where all family members of a certain house have a certain characteristic. It would be interesting for a couple of houses, but not all. For instance I am cool with baratheons being consistently tall, muscular, black haired and all since there is the myth that they are descended from the gods of sea and wind. Targaryen features are fine as well, but all lannisters being tall blonde and green eyed?! it just kinda feels ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bironic Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Why are there so many really attractive or really ugly characters? Why are there so many incredibly strong or smart ones? Why can I name three characters with heterochromia? ASoIaF is a work of fiction, and more specifically fantasy, characters are bound to reflect that by being "exceptional." This It's one of those traits that GRRM has a tendency to exaggerate: He rarely describes prominent characters as being just portly or short of a little thin; no, they've always either had "all the fleshed melted from their bones" or they're outlandishly, hideously fat, "with fingers like plump sausages." It's a weird and bothersome tick in my view. And this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kinkslayer Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Unnatural selection. Chapter 3 of Septon Barth's book explains the faith's long term plan to breed a Kwisat... I mean a taller ruler class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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