Are there any "unscarred" main male characters left?

[[Deleted]]

When you stop and think about it, almost every single main character in the series has been physically damaged in some way (besides just being killed). Who is left that hasn't been injured/scarred/maimed in some way?

Bran: Crippled

Theon: Castrated/mutilated

Jon: Stabbed

Jaime: Right hand cut off

Stannis: Being Too Awesome

Tyrion: Scar on face/nose cut off

Loras: Boiling Oil Dumped On Him

Ned/Robb/Tywin/Oberynetc etc etc : Dead

It seems it's rarer for a main character to be whole than it is for them to be maimed.

[3legImp]

Benjen.  He's just been hanging out at a killer bed and breakfast North of the Wall to avoid all the chaos.  

[Dolorous22]

Stannis: Being Too Awesome

Well, Sam Tarley is relatively unscathed, though very terrified.

Vic can join your list, he sounds very disfigured right now.

 

[Dolorous22]

Ramsey and Roose, perhaps? And LF, of course. 

[Land's End]

I’m glad somebody else noticed this!

It’s really weird how many men get mutilated compared to the female characters.

Another imbalance is the amount of male-acting/ tom-boyish female POVs (Arya, Asha, Brienne) vs. feminine-acting male POVs (zero).

Overall Martin is a very progressive author but he has some really strange gender biases I'm not saying it's "problematic”, only funny. Might be an entertaining subject for a psychoanalyst.

 

18 minutes ago, Dolorous22 said:

Ramsey and Roose, perhaps? And LF, of course. 

Maybe... but if you focus on the POV characters all men have been mutilated in some way or another, except for the new Dorne and Iron Born POVs, JonCon (if we don't count greyscale) and Barristan.

The male POVs from the first two Books have all been mutilated except for Sam. 

Davos should be added to OP's list.

[Goldhands]

The female characters lose their hair tho D:

[Queen of Procrastination]

2 hours ago, Land's End said:

I’m glad somebody else noticed this!

It’s really weird how many men get mutilated compared to the female characters.

Another imbalance is the amount of male-acting/ tom-boyish female POVs (Arya, Asha, Brienne) vs. feminine-acting male POVs (zero).

Overall Martin is a very progressive author but he has some really strange gender biases I'm not saying it's "problematic”, only funny. Might be an entertaining subject for a psychoanalyst.

 

Could Samwell count as a femine-acting male POV? 

If I am not mistaken he liked to spend time with his sister and more "feminine" activities. He's also afraid of blood which could also be seen as a feminine trait by Westerosi standards (despite the fact that women see blood more periodically than men  ).

To the OP: Areo Hotah is a (minor) POV, but as far as we know he has no major physical damages, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has gained a few scars in some fights. 

Jon has gained a "nice" collection of scars: A burned hand, a face that has been scarred by an eagle and a scar in the leg, because Ygritte shot him and at the end of ADWD he is gaining even more wounds. 

[Equilibrium]

You know that feminine girly girls are very very unlikely to come in contact with sharp bits compared to their male and action girl counterparts.

Although I fought in no major armed conflict I have extensive collection of scars myself, and most of them aren't from the fighting. 

Also there is big fucking difference in being scarred even if heavily so, from having your nose or arm (or something else)  cut off.

[Land's End]

56 minutes ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

Could Samwell count as a femine-acting male POV? 

If I am not mistaken he liked to spend time with his sister and more "feminine" activities. He's also afraid of blood which could also be seen as a feminine trait by Westerosi standards (despite the fact that women see blood more periodically than men  ).

You're right, I never considered him. So the new ratio is 3:1.

It would be interesting to take non-POV characters into consideration but that would be a lot of work especially since it's highly subjective whether one considers a character male- or female-acting. I wouldn't be able to classify Dany for example. Sometimes she's a girly girl and sometimes she's the opposite.

There are some female characters who wish to be men even though they aren't male acing. Cercei for example. Did a male character ever express the wish to be a woman? I don't think so. Though that's probably realistic for a feudal society.

 

[Philokles]

Given the setting, the amount of scarring seems reasonable, as does the fact it is more prevalent on men than women.

As for a feminine acting man, what would one look like in Westeros? Sam is pushing the limits of social acceptability - however, he does not fit a traditional definition of femininity, but more fails to match the typical Westerosi ideal of manliness.

[Jon Fossoway]

Well, after 5000 pages of plot you wouldn't expect to have people unscarred, especially when gurm apparently likes to harm his characters in physical ways.

[Betasteel]

Leyton Hightower (possible Main Char last books) looks fantastic for his age

[shizett]

Aren't all the people that you named those who are "incarnations of the Warrior" some time or the other?

I would say that Brienne is mutilated too (her face being chewed off). Arya has a "whole" in her heart. LSH is mutilated in the face (Not Cat, LSH).

Stannis does not count since he is not the Warrior, he is the Father. Bran (the Smith) is also not mutilated or scared, nor did he get his disability during a war or a fight. I think Sam would also be the Smith?

Anyways, I thought there was some in-world symbolism at work.

[Land's End]

7 minutes ago, King Merrett I Frey said:

Well, after 5000 pages of plot you wouldn't expect to have people unscarred, especially when gurm apparently likes to harm his characters in physical ways.

But the threat title suggests it's also about the gender bias. We have three POV women who constantly get in fights (Arya, Brienne, Asha) but none is maimed. Or has Brienne's face been permanently disfigured by the Biter? I'm can't remember...

Other female POV's could have been hurt as well even though I admit it's much less likely.

27 minutes ago, Horse of Kent said:

Given the setting, the amount of scarring seems reasonable, as does the fact it is more prevalent on men than women.

As for a feminine acting man, what would one look like in Westeros? Sam is pushing the limits of social acceptability - however, he does not fit a traditional definition of femininity, but more fails to match the typical Westerosi ideal of manliness.

I just remembered why I never considered Sam. He is female acting but his journey isn’t about embracing this feature but about „manning up“. He becomes slayer and Jon forbids him to call himself a coward. At this point we don’t know where his story is going but it seems to be heading in the „becoming a man“ direction. Maybe not a warrior, but an intellectual which is also deemed a male virtue.

On the other hand, Asha, Arya and Brienne all strive to be accepted as male-acting women. Arya doesn’t want to marry and have kids, Brienne wants to be a knight and Asha wants her Queensmoot. With Brienne and Arya there’s also a lot of gender-confusion going on with both being taken for a man/boy at times.

Their stories are great but it’s strange that there’s no male counterpart. One could argue that in a feudal society nobody would want to be perceived as female if they weren’t born female but… really? Would it be so hard to imagine a knight tired of fighting who’d like do the housekeeping while his wife goes to war? (basically the crackpot ending I imagine for Brienne and Jaime) Or a boy who envies his sister for all the praise and attention she gets for being pretty while he has to prove himself constantly?

(Lady of Whisperers is still right about Sam’s character in general)

I intended to make a thread on this subject but I’m not sure if anybody else would be interested.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

2 hours ago, Lady of Whisperers said:

Could Samwell count as a femine-acting male POV? 

If I am not mistaken he liked to spend time with his sister and more "feminine" activities. He's also afraid of blood which could also be seen as a feminine trait by Westerosi standards (despite the fact that women see blood more periodically than men  ).

No, he could not.

It does not matter at all whether Sam would rather stay at home emboidering. Instead, he's been out in the cold fighting white walkers and stuff like every other "manly" male. He's had as many chances to die or get disfigured as all the rest.

 

ETA, Brienne's scars are permanent and not of the "sexy" kind like Jon Snow's, either.

[Philokles]

45 minutes ago, Land's End said:

But the threat title suggests it's also about the gender bias. We have three POV women who constantly get in fights (Arya, Brienne, Asha) but none is maimed. Or has Brienne's face been permanently disfigured by the Biter? I'm can't remember...

Other female POV's could have been hurt as well even though I admit it's much less likely.

I just remembered why I never considered Sam. He is female acting but his journey isn’t about embracing this feature but about „manning up“. He becomes slayer and Jon forbids him to call himself a coward. At this point we don’t know where his story is going but it seems to be heading in the „becoming a man“ direction. Maybe not a warrior, but an intellectual which is also deemed a male virtue.

On the other hand, Asha, Arya and Brienne all strive to be accepted as male-acting women. Arya doesn’t want to marry and have kids, Brienne wants to be a knight and Asha wants her Queensmoot. With Brienne and Arya there’s also a lot of gender-confusion going on with both being taken for a man/boy at times.

Their stories are great but it’s strange that there’s no male counterpart. One could argue that in a feudal society nobody would want to be perceived as female if they weren’t born female but… really? Would it be so hard to imagine a knight tired of fighting who’d like do the housekeeping while his wife goes to war? (basically the crackpot ending I imagine for Brienne and Jaime) Or a boy who envies his sister for all the praise and attention she gets for being pretty while he has to prove himself constantly?

(Lady of Whisperers is still right about Sam’s character in general)

I intended to make a thread on this subject but I’m not sure if anybody else would be interested.

Yes, Brienne is scarred pretty badly.

Create a thread. I disagree with you, but don't want to go too far off topic.

[Land's End]

1 hour ago, ShadowCat Rivers said:

No, he could not.

It does not matter at all whether Sam would rather stay at home emboidering. Instead, he's been out in the cold fighting white walkers and stuff like every other "manly" male. He's had as many chances to die or get disfigured as all the rest.

Making a distinction between acting and thinking makes the analysis even more interesting.

Then we have three male-acting female POV characters (Asha, Arya, Brienne)
At least two female POV characters who sometimes wish they were born men but don’t act on it (Cercei, Catelyn, maybe even Arianne (?!))
And only one male POV character who shows some interest in activities which are considered feminine (Sam).

One could argue Sam did act on these wishes which resulted in him being sent to the wall where he finally became a „manly man“ (sort of).
It shows  his story goes in the opposite direction of Arya, Brienne and Asha.

1 hour ago, Horse of Kent said:

Create a thread. I disagree with you, but don't want to go too far off topic.

I'll do.. later this evening or tomorrow. But you're right, I should stop derailing.

/edit

Created one:

 

[StarkofWinterfell]

i believe every main male character has been at least emotionally scarred

[fire&blood]

18 hours ago, Dolorous22 said:

Ramsey and Roose, perhaps? And LF, of course. 

Didn't LF get ripped in his torso from Brandon stark during their duel for Cat's hand? I figured he's scarred since it sounds like it was almost a mortal wound. 

[Lord of Raventree Hall]

19 hours ago, Land's End said:

I’m glad somebody else noticed this!

It’s really weird how many men get mutilated compared to the female characters.

Brienne...probably the worse mutilated character in the whole book. Is it? Seems that without counting Bran, people who fight get hurt. Also, Sansa may not be physically scarred (although she might be as she was beaten often) but not including her in a list of fucked up people seems wrong. She was beaten regularly for no reason...and Catelyn went through some of the worst trauma jn the books and is now dead...since the OP included death for male characters...Dany's womb is internal but what happened with Mirri Maz Dur and her inability to reproduce children seems.....scarring to me. GRRM just fucked up all the characters...Cersei had to walk naked though a city and Robert raped her throughout their marriage. Arya is an assassin. Perhaps Asha isnt, but neither was Quentyn before his death and I do not think Barristan or Areo Hotah are either. I don't know, I call bullshit. Gender is not makint a difference in the scarring of characters.

16 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

Given the setting, the amount of scarring seems reasonable, as does the fact it is more prevalent on men than women.

As for a feminine acting man, what would one look like in Westeros? Sam is pushing the limits of social acceptability - however, he does not fit a traditional definition of femininity, but more fails to match the typical Westerosi ideal of manliness.

 I agree with everything you have said^^