as someone who watched the show first before reading the books I noticed how different it makes me feel about characters.

[snow is the man]

tyrion is the biggest one in my opinion. In the show he is a sweet character who is not only funny but someone you feel bad for and love. Also the scenes with his father make tywin that much more horrible since tyrion is such a nice guy. also tywin is a character I respect more in the show and is a better character in my opinion. brienne seems less pathetic and needy in the books. And while I hated catelyn stark in both (not that she was a bad character just things about her made her hard to like for me) I think she is a more detailed and better character in the books. Also the wildlings as a whole are better in the books.

But I noticed that it changes the way you view characters in the books if you watched the show first. Some of my sympathy for tyrion in the books and how I think of him as a "sort" of good character is based on the tyrion in the show. Anyone else  notice anything else or agree. or even notice it

 

If this shouldn't be in this space sorry

[Praetor Xyn]

Tormund Giants and is so much better in the books. That shit-eating grin / leering at Brienne is the only decent thing the show did with him.

[Ralphis Baratheon]

The show makes Tyrion and Varys look like saints.

[PCK]

Tyrion got a major whitewashing in the show.

[myhalfgroat]

I read the books first and while I know plenty will disagree with me, I didn't feel like Tyrion differed as vastly as people make it seem. I realize that everyone is somewhat white-washed for the show but my opinion on Tyrion was mostly the same ***except that Dance happened. that whole journey just got me bored to death with Tyrion and totally changed how I feel about him. I realize he's at a low point, but I still felt that Martin did a disservice to the character he had cultivated. 

I also agree with you about Tywin.

 

I do have a friend however who watched the show and has mentioned to me now (after reading the books) that he knows he should like Stannis because it's his sense of humor. but he just can't get beyond certain actions the show character engaged in that don't happen in the books. so his experience was similar to yours, just pulling in another direction.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

While mere acknowledging the existence of the HBO show on the books forums is grudgingly accepted (maybe better call it "decriminalized"), anything beyond this, like drawing comparisons between the show and the books, principally belongs to the show subforum(s). Just sayin'.

[shardofNarsil]

Please tell me did you made this thread after reading my "Tyrion is a hypocite." thread.

[zandru]

Tyrion is WAAAAAY too good looking on the show. Even after his so-called scarring. Plus, he's too tall and doesn't waddle noticeably. It's difficult to imagine him being loathed and rejected by women, which is a big driving force to his character in the books. Frankly, that's my only complaint about Peter Dinklage; hopefully, he wouldn't feel too insulted to read this...

[Good Guy Garlan]

20 hours ago, PCK said:

Tyrion got a major whitewashing in the show.

Stannis got the opposite of that. 

[The She-Wolf25]

I would say that the character that the show makes me feel differently about is Cersei.  In the books it is impossible to feel any sort of sympathy for her.  She's also more prone to lashing out.  She's constantly throwing temper tantrums and slapping people in the face and is just more aggressive in the books.  Lena Headey endows Cersei with more humanity than is portrayed in the books.  In the books she is always going on about how she loves her children; on the show you believe her.

I do agree that Peter Dinklage is more handsome than Tyrion is portrayed in the books but I would say that biggest difference are the characters that he surrounds himself with.  Bronn and Tyrion strike up this friendship on the show while in the books Tyrion is acutely aware that Bronn is only there for the money.  I think we all know the difference between Shae in the books and Shae in the show.  No need to go there.

[Makk]

Jaime, post return to kings landing, is the most different imo. He was a perfect match before they altered the show so he arrived before Sansa escaped. From that point on he is effectively a completely different character to the book.

Edit : Although just thinking about it more it was Jaime and Cersie in the show that killed Jon Arryn rather than Littlefinger and Lyssa. That changes all 4 characters quite a bit.

 

[Dragon in the North]

1 hour ago, Makk said:

Edit : Although just thinking about it more it was Jaime and Cersie in the show that killed Jon Arryn rather than Littlefinger and Lyssa. That changes all 4 characters quite a bit.

No, it was Lysa and Littlefinger in both book and show.

[Makk]

Just now, Dragon in the North said:

No, it was Lysa and Littlefinger in both book and show.

I can't remember the show as well but in the very first scene of the show I thought they had Jaime and Cersei discussing his death and how they have to cover it up. Is that not correct?

[Dragon in the North]

8 minutes ago, Makk said:

I can't remember the show as well but in the very first scene of the show I thought they had Jaime and Cersei discussing his death and how they have to cover it up. Is that not correct?

In that scene, they were discussing the incest and whether or not Jon Arryn told someone about it before he died. When Littlefinger and Sansa arrive at the Eyrie, it's revealed that Lysa and Littlefinger were behind his death. I believe it was episode 5 of season 4.

[Dofs]

Yes, definitely. Some characters that I love in the books I am neutral about or even annoyed with in the show and vice versa. Though lately I am becoming less and less invested in the characters of the show overall. I couldn't help but not to care about the rape of Sansa, for example, knowing that she is safe in the Vale.

[Meera of Tarth]

Yes, I watched the first 4 seasons before Reading and I used to like Tyrion (never have been one of my favourites, though). Then, Reading the books I liked him a Little bit less, especially when reaching Dance.

When I watched s5 and s6 the whitewashing and cheap dialogue was so exaggerated that since then I don't like him, and I suppose that will affect my perception when Reading Winds.

I have nothing against the actor though, I like Peter Dinklage. It's the writing.

[Ingelheim]

The most different of ll characters is Jaime, IMO, but the entire Lannister family (even Tywin) is quite different than their book version.

[RhaenysBee]

Yes of course it does, the show characters are often different from the book characters. For me the time line looked like: season 1 - books - rest of the show. Season 1 is the most similar to its book version but even like that there were some characters I liked more in the show (Catelyn, Robert, Jorah) and others I liked more in the books (Ned). 

After book/season one, my point of reference and thus the main influencer of my opinion about characters was the book. Tyrion is a selfish, egoistic piece of vindictive shit who thinks he is better than anyone. He is as much a Lannister as Tywin or Cersei, he is just more intelligent. The show portrays him as an eternal under appreciated victim. And there's Cersei who is a funny cray cray slut and I loved her POV chapters because she is so amusingly idiotic. Show Cersei is boring, sour and utterly victimized from season 3 on, no spark at all, the dullest character on the show. Brienne was a pain in the neck in the books, she is so boring, so unrealistic and such a hypocrite while being socially awkward to a painful extent. The show managed to improve that just a tiny bit by giving her traditionally male characteristics other than her physical build. Margaery was basically non existent in the books, I kept forgetting she is around, but she show filled her with life and made her interesting  (credits to the actress). 

In some instances the casting was so on point that characters rocked the show (Tywin, Oberyn, Ramsay, Bronn, Margaery, Syrio, Lysa, Drogo) and in some instances the actors aren't that great and the characters feel roughly the same as they did in the books or even weaker (Stannis, Robb, Barristan, Jaqen, Doran, Loras, Lancel, High Sparrow). 

[A Ghost of Someone]

On 5/1/2017 at 8:02 PM, Good Guy Garlan said:

Stannis got the opposite of that. 

And Sansa, Robb and Jamie too.

[aFeastForDragons]

There is a reason he's called White Knight Tyrion. They force a plot of Stannis burning his daughter and only heir over a few days of snow but wouldn't dare have Tyrion fight with Jaime or rape the slave girl. It sucks a lot of the greyness out of the story. 

 

I've said it so many times but I wish the TV adaptation had been made by someone that approached it neutrally instead of being so biased towards certain characters.