Why did Robert hate the Targaryens so much?

[Quellon]

Ned had far more reasons to hate the Mad King and his house, yet Robert hated them much more. While Ned certainly hated Aerys for murdering his father and brother, his hatred didn't stretch to Aerys' children. I am not sure how he felt towards Rhaegar, but I doubt he actually hated him. And of course, he opposed Robert's plan to poison Daenerys. Was Robert's hatred simply a product of his own flawed personality or?

[Dareaper]

What i Gleamed was that They took what he felt was his.  His betrothed.  Stole his future, the 'only woman he ever loved'.  Where as Ned is cautions and uses his brain, Robert is passionate, has a temper, and acts before he thinks.  So this could easily build into an intense hatred.

[Coolbeard the Exile]

Robert was in love with Lyanna and what he knows is that she was kidnapped and raped by Rhaegar Targaryen. He fought many battles which are traumatising by themself and he lost friends and he was angry at Eddard's dad and brother being killed. Also Robert Baratheon is a hothead unlike calm Eddard Stark.

The disrespect, cruelty of Aerys, kidnapping and rape of his love, loss of friends and mental scars from war messed him up.

[Protagoras]

Because Robert is a shitty person and are willing to make up lies about his one true love in a way to explain why his life was destroyed without blaming the obvious candidate (that is - himself).

It is always much easier to make others responsible for your shortcomings and a dead person cannot taint his image about the perfect woman. I am also speculating in some Madonna–whore complex

[Praetor Xyn]

He believes Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna. That's pretty much it.

[J. Stargaryen]

Aside from Rhaegar kidnapping Lyanna, and Aerys murdering a bunch of Robert's allies, it was probably pretty easy to resent the royal family— the only house above his in the 7K.

 

[theblackdragonI]

1 hour ago, J. Stargaryen said:

Aside from Rhaegar kidnapping Lyanna, and Aerys murdering a bunch of Robert's allies, it was probably pretty easy to resent the royal family— one house above his in all the 7K.

 

Ageed. 

I'd also add that he hate to keep hating them to justify taking the throne from them when previously his family had been the most loyal of the Lord Paramounts. 

[Beautiful Bloody Sword]

Because Baratheon's basically originated as Targ bastards, forever a class below the trueborn royal family. Also, Robert's parents both died in front of him, returning from a trip to Volantis, ordered by Aerys II, to find Rhaegar a bride of old Valyrian blood. And, lastly, for "stealing" Lyanna after pretty much cuckolding him in front of everybody at the tourney of HH by crowning her the queen of love and beauty.

[Maxxine]

I'm not convinced there's some Baratheon-Targ inferiority complex. It seems like if that were an issue there would be precedent for it. It wouldn't just randomly show up in Robert generations later especially since Robert didn't have any negative interactions with Targs prior to Harrenhal.

I think is just a character flaw in Robert just bc its so irrational. He started out justifiably hating Rhaegar and over the years it's evolved into hating all Targs. I'm not even convinced he actually loved Lyanna. He has just fallen in love with the thought of her over the years.

[nara]

On top of all that, Viserys and Daenerys managed to "outwit" Robert and escape to Essos-- really their guardian did that, but whatever-- and that was like adding insult to injury.

[Beautiful Bloody Sword]

59 minutes ago, Maxxine said:

I'm not convinced there's some Baratheon-Targ inferiority complex. It seems like if that were an issue there would be precedent for it. It wouldn't just randomly show up in Robert generations later especially since Robert didn't have any negative interactions with Targs prior to Harrenhal.

I think is just a character flaw in Robert just bc its so irrational. He started out justifiably hating Rhaegar and over the years it's evolved into hating all Targs. I'm not even convinced he actually loved Lyanna. He has just fallen in love with the thought of her over the years.

Not over the years did it grow, if anything, it softened over time and was even abandoned completely on his deathbed. But it was at it's hottest right after the Trident and sack of KL, noticeable in his approval of Rhaegar's children and wife being gruesomely murdered by Tywin's dogs, which he would've quickly done to Dany and Viserys also, if he'd had the chance. Jon Arryn stayed his hand on really going after Dany and Ned  followed suit in his stead, but neither could've stopped him if he had got his hands on the escaping dragonspawns before they flew the coup, back a good 16 years before present time in the books.

[Laughing Storm Reborn]

Maybe because after seeing his parents drown in front of him Bruce wayne style for a mission to give rhaegar a wife, the same rhaegar who after having a wife chooses to steal his cousin's, "hey sorry your folks died for me to marry, well i did it anyway, by the way i like yours aswell, no stress cus..."

Naaah, probably it's just the wine, he drinks too much 

[Danelle]

Robert is not exactly what you would call a sensible man.

Compare him to Doran Martell. He has more reasons to despise the Lannisters and yet his hatred is focused on Tywin not his extended family.

Likewise Ned has every reason to loathe Aerys but he is well aware of the fact that both Viserys and Daenerys were innocent of any crimes that their father committed.

In regards to Rhaegar, Ned doesn't seem to share Robert's views although I think that GRRM has deliberately few mentions of Rhaegar from Ned's point of view.

Quote

"Unspeakable?" the king roared. "What Aerys did to your brother Brandon was unspeakable. The way your lord father died, that was unspeakable. And Rhaegar … how many times do you think he raped your sister? How many hundreds of times?" His voice had grown so loud that his horse whinnied nervously beneath him. The king jerked the reins hard, quieting the animal, and pointed an angry finger at Ned. "I will kill every Targaryen I can get my hands on, until they are as dead as their dragons, and then I will piss on their graves."

Ned knew better than to defy him when the wrath was on him. If the years had not quenched Robert's thirst for revenge, no words of his would help.

It is as if Robert is looking for more reasons to hate Rhaegar, using Rickard as an example. To be fair, I am surprised by the fact that Ned barely mentions/thinks what happenned to his father and brother.

Quote

Suddenly, uncomfortably, he found himself recalling Rhaegar Targaryen. Fifteen years dead, yet Robert hates him as much as ever. It was a disturbing notion 

Ned seems genuinely surprised by the enduring hatred, it seems as if Robert had an unhealthy obsession with the Targaryens.

Then again Robert wanted to be loved, as Cersei mentioned.

Quote

Robert could be merciful. Ser Barristan was scarcely the only man he had pardoned. Grand Maester Pycelle, Varys the Spider, Lord Balon Greyjoy; each had been counted an enemy to Robert once, and each had been welcomed into friendship and allowed to retain honors and office for a pledge of fealty. So long as a man was brave and honest, Robert would treat him with all the honor and respect due a valiant enemy.

This was something else: poison in the dark, a knife thrust to the soul. This he could never forgive, no more than he had forgiven Rhaegar. He will kill them all, Ned realized.

He was willing to forgive Ser Barristan-a man who had fought for the Targaryens, Pycelle-one of Aerys' most trusted advisors, Varys- a man who had been invited by Aerys himself to join his court and the man formerly known as King of the Iron Islands, Balon, who had rebelled against him. Not only he forgave them but Barristan became LC, Pycelle and Varys retained their posts and Balon continued ruling the islands.

But Rhaegar, just like Cersei and Jaime, would never be forgiven.

Ned believes that it was because their betrayal was personal and he might be right.

Note that Robert, just like Stannis and Renly, sought a foster family following the death of his parents. Stannis had the Florents and Melisandra, Renly had the Tyrells and Robert had Jon Arryn and Ned and he had expected Lyanna to be his.

But Rhaegar deprived him of his bride and that was unforgivable, just like Cersei and Jaime deprived him of having a family. 

[Laughing Storm Reborn]

1 hour ago, Danelle said:

 

But Rhaegar deprived him of his bride and that was unforgivable, just like Cersei and Jaime deprived him of having a family. 

And that is a bingo imo

Regardless if Lya loved Robert, his cousin slaped him in the face going after his love out of thousands of women, despite steffon and cassana giving their livres to give him a worthy wife... that's preety enough reason for hate (not all the targs though) but that enters into bob's psyche

Robert's pov: "i lost my parents in front of my eyes for you to have a bride, and now you choose to steal my only chance of a family?! you're better not be 100 feet away from me" that kind of stuff 

[SeanF]

13 minutes ago, Laughing Storm Reborn said:

And that is a bingo imo

Regardless if Lya loved Robert, his cousin slaped him in the face going after his love out of thousands of women, despite steffon and cassana giving their livres to give him a worthy wife... that's preety enough reason for hate (not all the targs though) but that enters into bob's psyche

Robert's pov: "i lost my parents in front of my eyes for you to have a bride, and now you choose to steal my only chance of a family?! you're better not be 100 feet away from me" that kind of stuff 

Pretty much.

At heart, I'm sure he suspects that Lyanna loved Rhaegar rather than him, (he virtually admits it on his deathbed) which would be very galling.

[Quellon]

I just think it's pretty harsh and rather despicable that after you have murdered their brother and after their father has been slain and their dynasty almost completely destroyed, that Robert still thirsted for the blood of Viserys and Dany. I mean, Viserys was a typical Targaryen, he was cruel and had delusions of grandeur, but still...one might accuse Robert of the same things. And Dany was always innocent for sure, innocent and noble.

[Batbob45]

his hatred of Targs is ironic since his Great Great Grandpa was Aegon V, who was also popular with the smallfolks.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Robert is the grudge holding type. He blames everything that's wrong in his life on the loss of Lyanna rather than dealing with his own faults and failings as a human being. He has turned Lyanna into some kind of perfect being in his mind, and convinced himself that life would have been absolute bliss if he could have had her. Rhaegar took her away, so it's all Rhaegar's fault. In Robert's mind that's enough to damn the entire family, despite his being part-Targ himself. He hates Viserys because he is Rhaegar's brother. He hates Dany because she is Rhaegar's sister. He'd hate Blackfyres just because they look Valyrian.

Aerys being what he was doesn't help, nor does the fact that Lord Steffon and Lady Cassana died on their way home from a fruitless mission to find a noble Valyrian-descended bride for Rhaegar, but really it all boils down to Robert's internal fairytale version of Lyanna and belief that Rhaegar brutalized her and ruined Robert's own life. So really it all comes down to Robert. Lyanna is secondary as an idolized version of herself, and still Robert mostly cares about the effect her abduction, captivity, and death had on him.

Robert didn't seem to care much about Aerys being nutso before he lost Lyanna.

Robert's parents could easily have died coming home from any journey...it's called Shipbreaker Bay for a reason.

It's all about Robert and the dream he lost and never bothered to replace because it's so much easier to blame others for your shortcomings than to take responsibility and find a new reason to live. If he'd truly known and loved Lyanna, he would have tried to be a king she would have been proud of, to honor her memory. But no, he'd rather spend the rest of his life alternating between sulking and partying to drown the pain of wounds he won't allow to heal.

It's a shame because deep down he's not a bad guy, and he could have been so much more than he settled for being.

[Universal Sword Donor]

20 hours ago, Protagoras said:

Because Robert is a shitty person and are willing to make up lies about his one true love in a way to explain why his life was destroyed without blaming the obvious candidate (that is - himself).

It is always much easier to make others responsible for your shortcomings and a dead person cannot taint his image about the perfect woman. I am also speculating in some Madonna–whore complex

We can just gloss over the completely unjustified call for his head, the public dishonor done to him at HH, the heir to the throne running off (at best) with his fiancee. 

[Boarsbane]

5 hours ago, Quellon said:

I just think it's pretty harsh and rather despicable that after you have murdered their brother and after their father has been slain and their dynasty almost completely destroyed, that Robert still thirsted for the blood of Viserys and Dany. I mean, Viserys was a typical Targaryen, he was cruel and had delusions of grandeur, but still...one might accuse Robert of the same things. And Dany was always innocent for sure, innocent and noble.

He didn't murder Rhaegar, he killed him in battle. And he obviously didn't thirst after Dany and Viserys too much as he left them mostly alone for over a decade.