Which Show Character do you like better than in the Books?

[Orphalesion]

Cersei? She IS a bit more "human" on the show. I particularly loved her and Sansa's interaction during the battle of Blackwater.

Definitely Margaery and the Queen of Thorns. Both seem to be more active and funnier in the show, and they have much ore screen time.

[Lost Melnibonean]

He was a fookin' legend. He could take any knight, therefor by extension, that wuss Drogo.

And at 7 silvers he's an absolute bargain.

Absofookinlutely!

[obiwan_shenobi]

There is always a lot of unhappiness going on because of how

poorly this and that was portrayed in the show compared to ASOIAF.

But aren't there some characters that are actually more interesting or improved

in dimension in Game of Thrones than in the books?

There is sometimes great acting going on and some great spiced-up characterization.

For me, first thing comes Tyrion into mind.

Come on - Peter Dinklage is PERFECT - and Tyrion's sarcastic character points in GoT

are just so much more entertaining to me than in the books.

Robb plays a bigger "pure hero" role (until he dies) than in the books.

Brienne and Jaimie together are brilliant.

Whom do you like more?

(this has to be here, not in the TV-Show section, because you have to have read the books in order to answer)

They've whitewashed Tyrion,as has been pointed out, but that's the writer's fault, Peter Dinklage is perfect in the role IMO.

I think that whilst Richard Madden was a fantastic Robb and it was great to see his battles and struggles in detail, the subtle changes they made to his story completely change his character for me, pretty much ruining it.

In the books he lies with Jeyne Westerling and then marries her to avoid dishonour - how very tragically similar to his father he is, a typical Stark, refusing to father a bastard. This imo goes full circle back to Ned not fathering Jon.

In the show his attitude is much more that he chooses love over duty/ honour with regards to Talisa, and as such it takes away that whole parallel in his character and Ned's, and doesn't show the influence that growing up thinking Jon is a bastard has had on him.

[Greg B]

Dany, because it's easier to enjoy "sexy dragon princess" when she's a twentysomething young woman as opposed to a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl.

[obiwan_shenobi]

Viserys. Harry Lloyd took a character who is utterly two dimensional in the books, and actually made him sympathetic.

Robert. The TV version is altogether darker: he's no longer a loveable oaf, but rather someone who knows what he is, and is literally drinking himself to death because of it. Makes him much more compelling as a character.

Sam. TV version whines less.

Alliser Thorne. Book Alliser is a moustache-twirler. TV Alliser has motivations.

Jon Snow. TV Jon actually has agency and motivation, and does stuff without having everything handed to him.

As irritating as Sam's whining can be, his transformation in the TV show was just too unlikely . he's building up much more slowly and believably in the books in my opinion. This is an important one for me - he's a victim of physical and verbal abuse as a child, and working with people like that irl I can vouch for the sad fact that people find them just as irritating as Sam.

Agree with you about Viserys, incredible portrayal by Harry Lloyd. And yes, Robert's bitterness and pain and anfer were brought to the forefront by Mark Addy in a very powerful way - it was more understandable that he'd eaten and drank out of grief all these years.

Disagree again about Jon though - I feel like he's portrayed as too capable, and too independent in the show, the typical boy grows into a hero story. The books portray this in a much more realistic light - I like the fact he can't do everything himself and has to rely on his friends assistance too, it's realistic and emphasises that his real talents lie in his charisma and ability to lead and inspire.

[Ahai Ahoy]

Aemon is godlike in the show. Every scene is just...off the fucking hook! Like when he reveals his ID to Jon. Shivers!

[Lutfitasiwi]

Theon probably.The show made him much more sympathetic by exposed his regret, even before tortured by Ramsay. Not to mention, Alfie Allen's briliant acting. *excuse my grammar*

[pettes]

Tormund

Theon

Robb

Tywin

Bronn

The hound

Joffrey

Osha

Cat

[James of the Blackwater]

Loved the hound in the show, the books he was kind of meh to me

[Lost Melnibonean]

Dany, because it's easier to enjoy "sexy dragon princess" when she's a twentysomething young woman as opposed to a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl.

Amen. I'm still very disappointed we didn't get Arianne or the Myrish swap. Thank goodness for Roz.

[Tyrell_like_Squirrel]

Aliser Thorne, Shae, Cersei, and in a strange way: Selyse.

She's a lot more likeable in the show, in a weird way. Even in her handful of scenes you get a real sense that where she's coming from is this place of absolute self-loathing and shame at what she thinks of as her failure to provide Stannis an heir, whereas in the books Selyse talks up her desire to give Stannis a child, but she's not as self-sacrificing about it and it seems almost ego-driven. You get the impression that she doesn't know about Stannis fucking Mel but that she would be livid if she did, especially given how much she keeps begging him to remarry her in a R'hllor ceremony so she can give him a son. There's this level of despair that Selyse has in the show that's nothing like the books and that humanizes her.

Her spitefulness to those she perceived as beneath her (like Jon Snow) doesn't seem to have anything to do with wanting Stannis to have his due but rather just being a petty snob. It's the same way with her religious zealotry, in the books it seems like an excuse to harrangue infidels and be superior, but on the show she's clearly a true believer because she desperately wants something bigger than herself to believe in, some way out of this pit of despair and self-hatred she's put herself into.

Likewise, I never got the sense that book!Selyse actually cares whether Stannis would be a particularly good King and she doesn't seem to be aware of how intelligent, talented, principled, etc he is, she just cares about being a Queen, getting to order her enemies burned, being self-righteous, and enriching her relations. show!Selyse is clearly every bit as much of a Stannis fanatic as Davos, and would absolutely walk straight into a fire to her own death in order to make Stannis King if he asked her.

On the show, Selyse is absolutely desperate for Stannis's love and approval in a way that I never got at all from book!Selyse, and it's just tragic, especially because you see it sort of paralleled a bit in Shireen. In the books he's rightly disgusted by Selyse because she's terrible, but in the show we end up seeing how in his Stannis-ness he actually fails them both as father and husband. It doesn't excuse how terrible she is to Shireen, but it definitely sheds a different light on things. The line Stannis had about how during the siege of Dragonstone she was so weak at the end she couldn't even speak just killed me, whereas in the books they weren't even married until something like two years after Robert was crowned. On the show they've clearly Been Through Some Shit together. There's something almost Shakespearean about their relationship.

It's actually like the one part of the Dragonstone writing that I think just utterly dunks on anything Martin has written.

Really good point about Selyse in the show. Tara Fitzgerald who plays her didn't have a lot of screen time, but she made me feel for the character in a way I never did while reading the books. I got the sense that she had a lot of insecurity and self-loathing and was using her religion as a way of feeling important and worthy.

[Chilli]

Oberyn,The Hound, Shireen, Varys,Bronn, Jorah,Tywin,Tyrion, Jaime, Joffrey, Arya,Davos, Maester Aemon, Roose,Walder Frey, Melisandre, ... I'm sure I'm forgetting people.

And also Sean Bean as Ned Stark. I knew Sean Bean from other shows and I didn't really like him. But his acting in Game of Thrones really made me likehim and care for Ned Stark.

[The other prince]

Osha is cool in the show , I gotta admit I kinda overlooked her in the books a bit

Even GRRM agreed with this. He is planning of expanding her role in the books due to the show version.

[ThePrunesThatWasPromised]

Absofookinlutely!

I mean: savior of fookin' the Universe Jon Snolo needed a literal girl to literally stab Karl in his fookin' back with a fookin' steak knife to prevent Karl from icing him and becoming the fookin' Night King, or something.

Fookin' cowards!

Gin Alley remembers! We just don't remember Coldhands cuz he was busy with his yak or whatever...

[WSmith84]

Making a character more likeable doesn't always make said character better. Tyrion is a lot more likeable in the show, but he's so watered-down that he frankly bores me. I thought Ser Alliser was better, but they ruined that in the last episode. Varys is more likeable, but I find him boring as well now that he's had the mystery of his motives stripped from him.

Robert and Viserys were better in the show for me. They felt more human.

[GtrGbln]

Karl Tanner.

Fookin' Legend!

[Carnivora]

Robb, big time. Richard Madden is outstanding.

[KingStoneheart]

Littlefinger, Varys, Robb, Bronn. Pretty much every non-POV character is amazing in the show because in the books it is only through a certain character's POV and these four (and many more) get screentime even when there isn't a Book POV in the scene

[Lady Snauh]

Maybe I'm, just too much of a book purist, but some of these comments are really making me want to nerd rage.

:agree:

[BlackFyre > BlackFire]

The only show character I "like" that I "hate" in the books is Ramsay. Cannot stand book Ramsay and everytime he's in a scene I'm just chanting kill him kill him in my head. But show Ramsay? That's dude is killing it. He's so oily and sleazy and loving every minute of it that I can't help but enjoy him. He's had some of the best pure "show lines" of any character. (Personal favorite was him eating a sausage after cutting off Theon's...umm...bits)

Still want someone to kill him dead though.