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Top 10 Best Written Characters?

Pinkie Baelish

By Pinkie Baelish,
in General (ASoIaF)

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Steelborn Council Member

Steelborn

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Theon pre-ADWD was well-written, but Theon in ADWD was fucking amazing. Quite possibly the most consistently well-written single-book arc in the entire series.

This. I'd add in no particular order Stannis, Sansa, Daenerys, Arya, Barristan, Brienne, Davos and even Melisandre.

And I think Cersei is a fascinating character, even though late aFfC I was starting to think she was all about that prophecy.

Jon, though I freaking relate a lot to him, sometimes I thought he had a dull personality (maybe I have a dull personality, but who knows).

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Hodor's Dragon Council Member

Hodor's Dragon

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ha! what a cool thread buried away.

Best Written Characters? Hmmm, certainly this is not about favourites.

1) Theon - Starting out with conflicted identity, provoked into acts of betrayal due to his manliness being challenged, to his total destruction of self, and probable castration together with being terrorised into unwilling acts of betrayal. It's a bitterly ironic story line. His first act of rebellion was him trying to be a man- but he was really being a coward. His second act of rebellion was when he became a man- despite having lost his identity and his penis. A weak man swallowed up and destroyed, before finding strength from somewhere in the pit of dispair. Harrowing- teaches me to sympathise with the most contemptible and understand how terrible acts can be motivated, and how betrayal is really self-betrayal and can lead to the destruction of self. A worthy lesson.

2) Tyrion- just so many nuances: Highest Born, yet physically reviled. Deceived into believing that gold was only way he could receive affection, which Im sure can resonate with anyone rich and physically unappealing. Tragic. Realises sharpening his mind is his best way to thrive. Realises he needs to turn his weakness into a strength. Contributes so many witty wisdoms, it's impossible to know where to begin. A brilliant character utterly free of cliche and predictability. Manages to turn patricide into a sympathetic act, despite kinslaying being such a heinous crime in Westeros.

3) Jamie Lannister- wittily written, a brilliant example of never judging a book by its cover, despite being apparently utterly irredeemable. A brilliant posthumous reflection on Ned's character, and possibly LS's, to challenge the "Starks good Lannisters bad" trope using this character from where he starts out is a masterstroke. A truly rigorous examination of what duty and honour really means.

4) Ned Stark- for his total subversion of the trope that good will triumph. If you are good and just and honourable, and you shy away from tough and dirty acts, you will come out on top. False. Brilliant. A massive contribution to literature. Indeed, his ending opened up all manner of questions regarding the line between honour and pragmatism, and Jamie added a further dimension regarding the infallability of the Starks actually coming across as judgemental and inflexible. But Ned was a necessary starting point for these sophisticated ideas to branch from.

5) Dany and Drogon- Drogon as the living fire breathing embodiment of Danearys' anguish, her suffering, her rage, and her wrath. Dany is Arya in many ways, albeit further along in her development, less misanthropic, yet with far more power at her fingertips. When you have someone so cruelly treated by life, with so much destructive capacity, so many reasons to hate, yet still such capacity and desire to love, you have a thrilling tension. I have never been so torn throughout her story line between love and hate, wrath and caution. At one point Dracharys is the most cathartic moment in the series, the next, it's the most wrecklessly cruel. Then there are the contemptible slavers may you seriously consider brutal acts as the only way whilst deep down there is the insidious voice "burn them ALL!" Does that make me mad too!? Dany is a magnificent tension and Drogon is what ramps it all up to fever pitch- the crazily destructive product of a powerful woman's self-righteous wrath. Pure gold.

6) Varys For the sheer depth, nuance, and detail. Anyone who can play a game this long has things to teach me! His lesson about power being a trick was excellent

7) Littlefinger- Similar. He's fascinating and has so much to offer in terms of lateral thinking and problem solving. His scene with the potted Hare in Tyrion's solar was a masterpiece of writing.

8) Sandor Clegane- For having the clarity of thought and lack of pretention to debunk myths and speak hard truths. And to reveal the festering damage an act of cruelty can have on an otherwise decent person. Great tension in this character.

9) Bran- brilliant lateral solution in terms of what to do with a crippled boy in a marshal world. The boy sees something that could destroy his enemies so he is thrown out of a window. Now he may end up seeing everyone secrets past and present. Life has so many possibilities! I guess the metaphor is the freedom the mind and imagination offers, even if you are crippled. Truly uplifting.

10) Roose Bolton- because even now, midway through season 4 of the tv series, my bf asks me "Who's Roose Bolton?" and for that, I doft my hat to the character and the actor. A quiet land, a peaceful people... how to steal the North from the Starks, stab the King in the North through the heart, break guest right, flay men, occupy lots of screen time, speak many lines, and yet, his name goes unremembered. I hope the show keeps him as softly spoken and menacing as the books.

Honourable mentions.

Arya and Catelyn, who really aught to be higher on the list, yet I cannot wrap my head around them other than Catelyn being...a mother. protective, brave, and flawed, and Arya- surviving and desperate to be able to wield some control over the chaos death and injustice surrounding her life. Very sympathetic, but I'm not sure whether I appreciate anything fundamental, fresh or new there. I'm probably missing some universal lesson in their story.

Same for Sansa- she does what she has to do in that circumstance- forget her true feelings, lie politely and do as she's told. Hell, I do that every day and I'm certainly no hero. Until she starts acting with her own agenda, I cannot really appreciate her as anything other than a character deserving sympathy- to which, disenfranchised women married off have always deserved. From Pawn to Pawn should be her current manta after 5 books, though I expect that to change soon. I really cannot see much skill on display or moments that really make me think.

And same for Davos- he is a father, he lost his sons, he supports Stannis- he does what he can. He is a good guy, a sympathetic guy, but there is nothing earth shattering about him- nothing complex, or particularly interesting- just, he is likeable and does what he can and I would probably have done the same in his shoes. Wow...

Cercei I really want to put on my list as very entertaining and engaging, but I can't articulate why. Her win or die speech and her tearing up of Robert's will was magnificent.

Enjoyable and perceptive post, but . . . and this applies to a lot of posts in this thread, most or nearly all of tohem, I think . . . it isn't about the way these characters are written. At least as I think of the term.

Maybe it's too late, here 7 pages in, to start defining our terms, but I'm thinking sheerly of the language Martin uses with these characters, not the characterization itself, nor the character's story. This was my list:

1. Tyrion

Big gap

2. Dolorous Edd

Big gap

3. Jaime

4. Theon

Big gap

Everybody else

When I made this list, I was thinking just about the language used in writing these characters. Obviously I wasn't thinking about characterization when I put Dolorous Edd 2nd on the list because basically all we know about him is that he's a wiseass who tells really funny jokes. But I think Edd is written brilliantly, and so is Tyrion, whose dialogue is as good as any dialogue I've ever seen in any medium. Jaime has a certain entertaining uniquely-Jaime way of talking, and Theon was the closest I came to letting the character's story arc put him on the list - but still, I'm looking at the language, the drama of Theon's story percolates into the language used to describe it.

There are a couple of other really good questions to be asked:

Which is the best characterization, by which I mean who is the most complex and memorable character? There are a bunch of good ones, but off the top of my head I'd say Tyrion, Jaime, Stannis and Cercei are all very richly developed, probably in that order.

Which character has the best story arc? Daenerys and Theon both kick ass in this category, and it's hard for me to say which is the most dramatic, especially since we haven't gotten to the end of either story yet. I have a feeling both these characters have some major shit still left to come. Tyrion and Jaime are strong competitors here, too - Jaime for the redemption arc that brings him from utter scum at the beginning of the story to an increasingly likable guy by where we are, and Tyrion because his story is stuffed to the gills with drama of all sorts: two murder trials, escaped slavery, commanded a successful battle, love, betrayal, on and on.

I think more people in this thread are answering the characterization question or the story arc question than the question that was actually posed. This excellent post I'm quoting seems to be about both story arc and characterization.

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  • 2 months later...
Grail King Council Member

Grail King

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1. Sansa Stark


2 and 3. flips between Theon and Little Finger


4. Cersei


5. Jamie


6. Davos


7. Tyrion


8. Ned,Cat and LSH


9. Arya


10. Samwell Tarly and Osha ( may had a slight skew due to Natalia Tenna's great rendition )


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  • 3 months later...
Tyrion Hand of the King Noble

Tyrion Hand of the King

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3, Stannis Baratheon - Designed to be an unlikeable principles zealot, yet surprisingly entertaining nontheless, despite his rather unpleasant personality, and shown to have more layers and more internal dilemmas than originally thought. Don't know if he is the king to root for, but he's certainly charismatic in a very uncharismatic way.

I feel like the bolded statement shouldn't make any sense and yet I know exactly what you are talking about.

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TheYellowAppleFossoway Freerider

TheYellowAppleFossoway

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1. Eddard Stark - Prime example of a great human being despite flaws and conflicts. Always aims to do the right thing.


2. Catelyn Stark - Greatest female character.


3. Doran Martell - Whether he is indolent or a cautious mastermind remains to be seen. The extreme division on the readership's opinion of Doran speaks volumes.


4. Sansa Stark - Most likely to have the greatest story arc in the series.


5. The Hound - Flawed individual who acts more knightly than most.


6. Theon Greyjoy - Most likely to have second greatest story arc of the series.


7. Oberyn Martell - GRRM was able to make a character that radiated coolness without it coming off as a try to hard dingus like Daario or Darkstar.


8. Barristan Selmy - Complex character that tricks many readers into thinking he isn't a pompous tool.


9. Stannis Baratheon - Character constantly engaged in an internal and external struggle.


10. Edmure Tully - Little exposure, but he is a very interesting blend of reckless playboy of the riverlands and truly compassionate liege lord.


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