Parallels between ASOIAF Characters and Historical Figures

[Ser Lepus]

The Blackfyre rebellion reminds my of the war between Peter the Cruel / The Righteous (depending in which side you asked) of Castile and his bastard brother Henry Trastamara, who won the war and seized the throne (this real life war ended different than the Blackfyre rebellion). Peter´s father Alphonse XI greatly favored the bastards he had sired with his lover Leonor de Guzman, and barely paid any atention to his trueborn son, so it´s not strange those thought they should inherit their father´s kingdom instead of Peter.

[mediocre cheese]

Not a historical parallel, but Putin really strongly reminds me of Tywin. Hard man, unsentimental, takes over from a buffoon and failure who had destroyed russia/house lannister's status. He even looks just like Charles Dance.

Kadyrov as Putin's pet beast would be gregor (or based on his looks, more amory lorch), although being that Kadyrov fought for the rebels and than switched sides that might make him more of a roose bolton. Which would make maskhadov ned stark.

Edit:

Kadyrov has a clear ramsay-bolton resemblance, even complete with a private torture prison.

[Jory]

Stannis is actually Henry VII. Believe it, ya'll.

[Silmarien]

I always though Melisandre is kind of a Rasputin character. The parallel is VERY loose, but she's an "eccentric" religious fanatic that a supposed-Queen becomes obsessed with, and soon enthralls the whole royal family (King Stannis's family, at least).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin

[Ser Gei]

It might be me and my patriotic mind, but the Wall/Others always reminded me about World War II and Winter War between Finland and Soviet Union.

Of course us Finns being the Nights Watch, stubborn bastards who stay there to fight, however bad the odds against this absolutely overwhelming enemy were, and the Wall being the border between Finland and Soviet Union. Although in Winter War the Wall was not made of ice, but of the heroism/stupidism and the relentness of the Finnish soldiers.

The climate is spot on, and like it is said in the books that Others bring with them this insane coldness, the winter during Winter Was was bizarrely cold, causing (luckily for us) casualties and all kind of difficulties with maintenance also for the Soviets (=Others).

And there is also the weird connection with Nazis and Stannis. Stannis, with his chant "One god, one land, one king" came to aid the Nights Watch, where as Hitler, with his chant "Ein volk, Ein reich, Ein Führer" came to aid Finland, with both weapons and personnel who actually knew something about warfare.

Hell, even the Wildlings have a kind of connection, as there were still some Finnish and other anti-Soviet people in the new Russian territory. These people had to leave their homes behind and head to Finland, or else they would have been implemented into the Soviet Union war machine. Kind of like Others and wights.

Crazy, actually, how many connections there are. Granted, not on a very firm base, but anyway. Crazy.

If we look at the history after Winter War, we can make conclusions that Others will eventually win, and force the Nights Watch to yield and chase out all the men of Stannis out from the Wall and the Gift. What makes it worse, Lannisters, Freys and Boltons seem to be USA(=Lannisters, the money, the pride, the ruthlessness towards small people..), Great Britain(=Freys, you know, they are all a degenerated bunch) & France(=Boltons, seemingly calm but freaks down under), and they would team up with the Others, forcing Stannis to eventually lose and kill himself and Mel, Selyse and Shireen (they are all Eva Braun) in some hole in the ground.

The outcome would then be this shaky alliance of the Soviet Others and the glorious Lannister/Frey/Bolton-allied forces. I'm confused though, will Winterfell then be Berlin, with sections of the castle occupied by Lannisters, Freys and Boltons, and the Others? Will there be a new wall which divides the castle in two?

And wait, does this also means Stannis and Mel are actually constantly killing and burning millions of believers of Old Gods? (=Jews, naturally..) Will there then be this Israel kind of place, e.g. in the middle of Yunkai, Meereen and all that region, where all the remaining believers of Old Gods are shipped?

Who are then the Japanese that Lannisters are going to nuke? Ironborn? Nukes must be dragons, then, and after the war, Lannisters and Others start to breed crazy amounts of them. Maybe Targaryens are just the Einstein and all the rest of the scientists, who introduce these weapons of mass destruction to world. Instead of Manhattan Project, there was "Meereen Project".

And then, in some quite distant future, Lannisters destroy the Dothraki and their leader, Khal Saddam, who supposedly has dragons, but they turn out to be parrots instead.

OK, I guess it is time to close the crackpot for now. Sorry about the mess.

[voodooqueen126]

A more positive parallel is between

Sansa and Anne of York

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_York,_Duchess_of_Exeter

both married to Lancastrians/enemies of their own house

Henry Holland was known to be cruel and ill tempered and Joffrey was abusive to Sansa.

the oldest daughters of house York/Stark

very beautiful

Edward IV (Anne of York's younger brother) began like Robb Stark although he sadly turned into Robert Baratheon.

Anne of York got divorced, and Sansa is likely hoping for a divorce.

Anne of York's 2nd marriage was for love to a guy who was considered the perfect knight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_St._Leger

showing that perhaps it is possible to have a happy ending in the real world.

and Sansa is frequently shipped with Sandor, who is in many ways a perfect knight.

[mediocre cheese]

Stannis is actually Henry VII. Believe it, ya'll.

No he's nothing like Hnery VII.

Stannis is very similar to James II, a successful soldier, but a poor leader. Follows his wife's religion, rather than his people's very unpopular, overthrown and defeated in battle despite having a superior blood claim to the throne, goes off to a obscure area of the realm to try and fight on after being defeated (Ireland/the north) where he rallies some support. Plus there is the bedpan theory and the shireen patchface theory which are both obviously absurd, but are widely stated because people want to believe it (as it gives them an excuse to deny an unpopular monarch the throne). James was also headstrong and known for poor desicion making.

[mediocre cheese]

And there is also the weird connection with Nazis and Stannis. Stannis, with his chant "One god, one land, one king" came to aid the Nights Watch, where as Hitler, with his chant "Ein volk, Ein reich, Ein Führer" came to aid Finland, with both weapons and personnel who actually knew something about warfare.

I love this.

[Ser Jaime's Wench]

Ok, so I didn't read through this entire thread for lack of time, but I do believe that Catherine De Medici held a wedding for her son, but only to slaughter the family of his bride.

Red Wedding, much?

[Trinuviel]

Ok, so I didn't read through this entire thread for lack of time, but I do believe that Catherine De Medici held a wedding for her son, but only to slaughter the family of his bride.

Red Wedding, much?

The Bartholomew's Night Massacre

- it was the wedding between her daughter Marguerite de Valois and the Protestant king Henri of Navarre (who later became Henri IV of France, but that's another story). Apparently, she and some of the Catholic lords hatched a plot to kill some of the most prominent Protestant leaders after the wedding (in particular Admiral de Coligny, who had become very influential with her son the king), but they completely lost control of the assassination attempt and then all hell broke lost. Thousands of Parisian were butchered in the streets - and the rest of Europe was quite shocked. Elizabeth I ordered her entire court into mourning garb.

[Noir Dove]

I posted this on another thread but it's relevant here too.

The map of Westeros is England flipped over. England has a wall on it's northern border called Hadrian's Wall. When built it marked the Northern border of the Roman Empire. Anyone who lived beyond it was not considered Roman and seen as barbaric.

Constantinople had a giant chain built into a little canal called the Golden Tooth to keep ships away from the city.

[LadyoftheNorth72]

Henry's chief ministers and Robert's hands generally met bloody fates as well, although Robert didn't execute his hands the way Henry executed Woolsey and Cromwell.

Minor nitpick, but Henry VIII did not execute Wolsey, and desperately did not want to. He ordered Wolsey to retire to his Archdiocese in York after his fall from favor. Wolsey, unfortunately, had made lots of enemies at court while in power, and either he actually committed treason by offering to sell secrets to Henry's enemies, or Wolsey's enemies fabricated evidence that he did.

In either case, Wolsey was charged with treason and arrested, but fell ill and died long before he could reach London and be tried. Some believe he poisoned himself en route. I personally don't believe this, he was a sick, tired old man and the journey could easily have done him in; moreover he had been raised and lived his life in a religion (even if he was not the most devout soul) where suicide was a one-way ticket to hell. But the idea of a "haha now you cannot try me" suicide is much more satisfying to the dramatic sense.

[WeirwoodTreeHugger]

Jon Snow is a lot like Lyndon B Johnson. They both got their jobs after an assassination. They both did the right thing even when it was contraversial and had consequences. LBJ pushed the Civil Rights Act through, knowing full well it would give the south to the republicans forever. Jon made peace with the Wildlings and let them south of the wall to reduce the number of wights, gain fighters and because it was compassionate. He knew many NW members would hate him for it, but he did it anway. Another commanality was guilt. LBJ was haunted by the Vietnam War to the extent that it effected his health and he died fairly young. Jone cannot get past his guilt about killing Qorhin Halfhand and being unable to save Ygritte.

[LadyoftheNorth72]

Stannis is actually Henry VII. Believe it, ya'll.

I actually agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that there are some similarities to be found between the characters and paths of Stannis and Henry VII, and I cannot imagine why/how anyone could say they were nothing alike.

Neither was born anywhere near to being in line as heir to any throne; Stannis' family was not royal yet and Henry was so far down the list that the possibility of his accession seemed absurd (plus there was the taint of Owen Tudor's common blood). Both came closer and closer to rightful heir as others died or were killed off, but had to fight for their crowns. Both had to resort to a sort of self-imposed exile (Henry to Brittany, Stannis to the North) after their initial attempts to take the thrones failed, there to gather troops and support and await the right moment to try again.

Both had dutiful and reasonably civil but basically loveless marriages. Both were *extremely* ascetic and stern men, with an almost uncanny ability to make men dislike them thoroughly almost on site (Henry was reported more winsome as a youth, but years of war, betrayals and treasons left him more than a little bitter).

According to Mel, Stannis is AA Reborn. According to the Welsh, Henry was "Y Mab Darogan," "The Son Of Prophecy," or the Welshman who would finally be free of English oppression (and thereby free the Welsh themselves).

If Stannis were to win (I don't think he will, but just for the sake of argument) I think his reign would be extremely similar to Henry VII's. His focuses would be similar: establishing his dynasty (sorry, Selyse), making the war-torn kingdom prosperous, united and financially solvent again, creating laws that would prevent similar dynastic wars or rebellions from happening again (Henry VII was the one who enacted the law against subjects, however high their rank, maintaining personal armies or liveries; in Stannis' case he would likely do away with the concept of bannermen and consolidate all loyalty strictly to the throne).

ETA: I stand corrected on one point; a certain affection and love did grow from the initially purely political marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Perhaps if Selyse had been able to provide the phalanx of heirs that Stannis wanted, and which Elizabeth provided Henry, some level of affection and respect would have grown there too. Unfortunately, someone seems to have neglected to tell Stannis that you actually have to SLEEP with your wife to conceive heirs.

[voodooqueen126]

I actually agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that there are some similarities to be found between the characters and paths of Stannis and Henry VII, and I cannot imagine why/how anyone could say they were nothing alike.

Neither was born anywhere near to being in line as heir to any throne; Stannis' family was not royal yet and Henry was so far down the list that the possibility of his accession seemed absurd (plus there was the taint of Owen Tudor's common blood). Both came closer and closer to rightful heir as others died or were killed off, but had to fight for their crowns. Both had to resort to a sort of self-imposed exile (Henry to Brittany, Stannis to the North) after their initial attempts to take the thrones failed, there to gather troops and support and await the right moment to try again.

Both had dutiful and reasonably civil but basically loveless marriages. Both were *extremely* ascetic and stern men, with an almost uncanny ability to make men dislike them thoroughly almost on site (Henry was reported more winsome as a youth, but years of war, betrayals and treasons left him more than a little bitter).

According to Mel, Stannis is AA Reborn. According to the Welsh, Henry was "Y Mab Darogan," "The Son Of Prophecy," or the Welshman who would finally be free of English oppression (and thereby free the Welsh themselves).

If Stannis were to win (I don't think he will, but just for the sake of argument) I think his reign would be extremely similar to Henry VII's. His focuses would be similar: establishing his dynasty (sorry, Selyse), making the war-torn kingdom prosperous, united and financially solvent again, creating laws that would prevent similar dynastic wars or rebellions from happening again (Henry VII was the one who enacted the law against subjects, however high their rank, maintaining personal armies or liveries; in Stannis' case he would likely do away with the concept of bannermen and consolidate all loyalty strictly to the throne).

Actually Henry VII was very much in love with Elizabeth of York and had a slight nervous breakdown (he retreated into his room for awhile when died, which is a pretty big deal for a man who was normally so unemotional) when she died in childbirth.

[Fire Eater]

I think Tywin Lannister is a bit of the Machiavellian prince who would rather be feared than loved, and the infamous Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Generalissimo who was an excellent tactician and strategist, whose eye was always on the bottom line and his tactics during the Thirty Years' War included denuding entire regions through foraging parties, and scorched earth policy leaving nothing behind for his enemies should they come through.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I take a pretty strict English history/Wars of the Roses interpretation, and I know a lot of people disagree, but here it goes. Note that I'm basing this on the position of individual characters, and the relationships between them aren't necessarily the same as historical figures (i.e. I equate Tommen to Richard, Duke of York and Young Griff to Perkin Warbeck, but Tommen and Young Griff don't have the Richard-Perkin relationship with each other, but rather independently, if that makes sense). In other cases, a character has the position of one figure but the personality of another.

OK.

Aegon II: King Stephen

Rhaenyra: Matilda

This is separate from the action in the main story, but the Dance of the Dragons is pretty similar to Stephen and Matilda's civil war. Stephen and Matilda were cousins, though. Other than that, a dead ringer.

House Targaryen: Lancasters

House Baratheon: Yorks

Robert Baratheon: King Edward IV

Aerys II: Henry VI

Cersei Lannister: Elizabeth Woodville by position, Margaret of Anjou by personality

Jaime and Tyrion Lannister: Anthony Woodville

Eddard Stark: A more honorable William Hastings

Joffrey Baratheon: Edward V by position, Edward of Lancaster by personality

Rhaegar Targaryen: An older version of Edward of Lancaster by position

Tommen Baratheon: Richard, Duke of York by position

Myrcella Baratheon: Elizabeth of York

Aegon Targaryen: Richard, Duke of York by manner of death

Tywin Lannister and Mace Tyrell: Warwick the Kingmaker

Renly Baratheon: George, Duke of Clarence

Stannis Baratheon: Richard III

Margaery Tyrell: Anne and Isabel Neville

Daenerys Targaryen: Henry VII*

Young Griff/"Aegon": Perkin Warbeck*

*These are subject to change based on what happens in the end. YG reminds me more of Warbeck now because I'm about 90% sure he's a fraud. I base Dany on Henry VII because of her exile, the fact that she's her house's (known) scion and her intent to invade and take the throne. Obviously if Aegon turns out to be real and actually does what Dany says she'll do, then he'd be more similar to Henry VII.

I also think it's cool that the dynastic shift in ASOIAF that put Aegon V on the throne roughly corresponds to the (comparatively bloodier) dynastic shift that put Henry IV on the throne. You had Henry IV (who displaced main-branch cousins by force), Henry V and Henry VI, then the War of the Roses began. In the series, you have Aegon V (who displaced main-branch cousins by a great council), Jaehaerys II and Aerys II, then Robert's Rebellion begins. It's fun to see how well it all really does line up, whether it's intentional or not.

[voodooqueen126]

I take a pretty strict English history/Wars of the Roses interpretation, and I know a lot of people disagree, but here it goes. Note that I'm basing this on the position of individual characters, and the relationships between them aren't necessarily the same as historical figures (i.e. I equate Tommen to Richard, Duke of York and Young Griff to Perkin Warbeck, but Tommen and Young Griff don't have the Richard-Perkin relationship with each other, but rather independently, if that makes sense). In other cases, a character has the position of one figure but the personality of another.

OK.

Aegon II: King Stephen

Rhaenyra: Matilda

This is separate from the action in the main story, but the Dance of the Dragons is pretty similar to Stephen and Matilda's civil war. Stephen and Matilda were cousins, though. Other than that, a dead ringer.

House Targaryen: Lancasters

House Baratheon: Yorks

Robert Baratheon: King Edward IV

Aerys II: Henry VI

Cersei Lannister: Elizabeth Woodville by position, Margaret of Anjou by personality

Jaime and Tyrion Lannister: Anthony Woodville

Eddard Stark: A more honorable William Hastings

Joffrey Baratheon: Edward V by position, Edward of Lancaster by personality

Rhaegar Targaryen: An older version of Edward of Lancaster by position

Tommen Baratheon: Richard, Duke of York by position

Myrcella Baratheon: Elizabeth of York

Aegon Targaryen: Richard, Duke of York by manner of death

Tywin Lannister and Mace Tyrell: Warwick the Kingmaker

Renly Baratheon: George, Duke of Clarence

Stannis Baratheon: Richard III

Margaery Tyrell: Anne and Isabel Neville

Daenerys Targaryen: Henry VII*

Young Griff/"Aegon": Perkin Warbeck*

*These are subject to change based on what happens in the end. YG reminds me more of Warbeck now because I'm about 90% sure he's a fraud. I base Dany on Henry VII because of her exile, the fact that she's her house's (known) scion and her intent to invade and take the throne. Obviously if Aegon turns out to be real and actually does what Dany says she'll do, then he'd be more similar to Henry VII.

I also think it's cool that the dynastic shift in ASOIAF that put Aegon V on the throne roughly corresponds to the (comparatively bloodier) dynastic shift that put Henry IV on the throne. You had Henry IV (who displaced main-branch cousins by force), Henry V and Henry VI, then the War of the Roses began. In the series, you have Aegon V (who displaced main-branch cousins by a great council), Jaehaerys II and Aerys II, then Robert's Rebellion begins. It's fun to see how well it all really does line up, whether it's intentional or not.

Also Jaehaerys like Henry V was involved with War with France.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Also Jaehaerys like Henry V was involved with War with France.

Of course. Jaehaerys had that great victory at Aegyncourte, right?

[Mark Antony]

Love Robert Graves, and the Tyrion/Claudius

comparison is spot on, can't believe i never realized all the similarities.