The Hound is a nice guy

[GSP]

I didn't know Tyrion and the Hound were the same age. But then, the Hound does mention somewhere that he'd killed his first man at the age of eleven or something rediculous. If that's the case he may have been up to participating in gang rape at thirteen.

[Golden Sword]

He's as responsible for saving Ser Dontos as Sansa is as well.

[GSP]

I imagine the Hound only assisted to save Ser Dontos because that's what the pretty little bird wanted. If Sansa had said nothing, niether would the Hound have.

[Gwywen]

Sandor is a tragic character. He is conflicted in that he has so much hate inside him for the world, and then on top of that the world hates him back. He seems to have good intentions, but he's done so many terrible things that perhaps he doesn't feel that he can redeem himself. At any rate, I hope that he can achieve inner peace, but I hope anymore that he gets back to kickin' ass and taking names quickly after he does.

His anger is wat kept him going. I wonder what's to become of him without it.

the Hound does mention somewhere that he'd killed his first man at the age of eleven.

I think that's why he grows a certain respect for Arya in the end. She's a girl and she made her first kill at the age of nine or ten.

I imagine the Hound only assisted to save Ser Dontos because that's what the pretty little bird wanted. If Sansa had said nothing, niether would the Hound have.

It's not just that. He is Joffry's Hound, but he is about the only person who dares to refute Joffry's words. I think he sort of likes to nag Joff, especially when Sansa is involved.

[Shadow Cat]

I didn't know Tyrion and the Hound were the same age. But then, the Hound does mention somewhere that he'd killed his first man at the age of eleven or something rediculous. If that's the case he may have been up to participating in gang rape at thirteen.

Actually Sandor is about 3 years older than Tyrion. However, I recall most of the speculation being just the opposite. Although they clearly both don't like each other it seems to be stronger from Sandor's side than Tyrion's. Also, if Sandor had been involved and Tyrion held it against him you'd think at some point he would have thought about it when they were around each other. People have actually speculated that it was Sandor who thought less of Tyrion for Tyrion's participation.

Sandor also makes a comment to Arya about how he should have killed Tyrion years ago suggesting that something happened that made Sandor consider this. Either Tyrion did something for which he considered killing him or possibly Cersei asked him to and he refused and now regrets it. Maybe we will learn more about whatever it was later.

Sandor mentions twice killing his first man at age 12. He was 12 during the war and Sack of Kings Landing which GRRM has confirmed that he was present at here:

http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/...our_Madison_WI/

I suspect this is also something we may learn more about later.

[Nichole]

Sandor is not a nice guy, and I hope he never becomes one. I love his character as an asshole who doesn't give a shit what anyone else thinks.

Now, I would also like to see a hot sexy sex scene that includes him.

[Qyburn]

The hound is not a nice guy. He did Joffs bidding, who knows how many Mycahs there were? He's not as bad as we 1st think he is but he is nowhere near nice. He is a great character though.

[Gwywen]

Apart from the killing, I do think he's a nice guy deep inside. Knights were somewhat the same as soldiers in these days. Killing was part of their job.*

Someone I know has been in a warzone for over a year, I don't want to know what he has done there, but still he's a nice guy.

(*I agree Sandor enjoyed the killing part too much, but I think that was merely frustration)

[Sijjvra Visz]

Sandor is not "nice". He's very much a reflection of the world around him; harsh, sometimes very cruel, with a twisted sense of morality. "Nice deep down inside" doesn't cut it. A serial killer might be "nice" deep down inside, but their actions are still their actions. No, I'm not saying Sady is a serial killer, but I'm making a point.

The tragic part about this is he COULD have been a very noble and "nice" knight if things had gone differently, and there is still some shadow of that nobility that comes out now and then. However, Sandor didn't get his reputation as being one of the most feared men in Westeros by being "nice". Sansa and to a slightly lesser degree, Arya... are some of the only people to have witnessed this jaded nobility he still has lurking within him, but that does not change the fact he loved to fight, kill, would do cruel things if ordered without any remorse, pillaged, may or may not have raped (never does specifically say he did or didn't) and was generally a "not nice" guy.

Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE Sandor fan... but the guy isn't nice. I'd say even if he comes off the quiet Isle (yeah, I truly do believe in the gravedigger theory, just too many hints to ignore there) he might be more stable, but I don't think he'll ever be 100% super nice noble good guy. He's a harsh man in a harsh world who doesn't have any illusions to how life in his culture works, and that's why he's so interesting. He's brutally honest, and I believe that's why Sansa...after being lied to, smacked around by, and tormented by "noble knights of song and poem" for so long, she finally begins to have that weird attraction to Sandor, even if he's scarred badly and often frightens her.

[Ealasaid]

I think the Hound is a product of a truly dysfunctional family. His older brother is the true monster of the family. Imagine being a little boy and teen growing up with that horribly burned face. People must have been very cruel to him - imagine your father not disciplining your brother for disfiguring you for life. How could you ever trust or love? I hate what he did to Mycah. But I like the Hound. I hope to see more of him.

[sholtzma]

The nice guy argument is moot. As is stated in the books multiple times:

"It's not how a man begins, but how a man ends." (Please don't take that as a direct quote.)

Perhaps he was/is truly a badass, as seems evident in his dying confession to Arya that he in fact did laugh about killing Mycah and having not-so-nice feelings about Sansa. I do wonder what the heck he is doing on a daily basis on Quiet Isle though; is he just waiting out his healing and then getting the hell out, or is he truly religious now and content to dig graves? Gods, this is going to drive me crazy for the next ten years.

[ccoa]

I think one has to take his final confession to Arya with a grain of salt. He was trying to piss her off enough to kill him, after all.

[Stark Swordsman]

I once saw an online RPG that said that although the character of a Paladin might seem limited b/c of the lawful-good requirement, it's important to remember that lawful and good don't necessarily mean kind and polite. I think that goodness w/o kindness is an accurate way of describing Sandor. He knows what is right and what is wrong and almost always tries to actively do the former and prevent others from doing the later. The problem is that he has no conception of the feelings of individuals in this process, just the greater ideas of right and wrong. Since there is nothing inherently good/ethical/moral about being polite, there is no need to be. In fact, it is possible that his single-minded devotion to justice leads to his lack of social skills, since he is disgusted by those he is forced to deal with. I should point out that I don't think he is aware of this devotion to good.

[ccoa]

How is it "good" to cleave a boy nearly in half?

[Jakob Lightbringer]

How is it "good" to cleave a boy nearly in half?

And he didn't even say he was sorry. That's just plain wrong.

Also he refuses to say a knights vow, but is more than happy to wear the colors of the most respected knightly station -- openly making a mockery of the institution.

He isn't just not polite, but actually goes out of his way to be as crass and rude as he possibly can be -- oftentimes even to the detriment of his own safety.

He isn't at all interested in the well-fare of others, especially the weak, down-trodden, or innocent: "If you can't protect yourself die and get out of the way of those who can."

Arguably, the only reason that he cares for Arya, is because she reminds him of himself as a child -- or perhaps she represents what he feels he should have been like as a child -- rather than a weakling who was burned for playing with his older brother's toys.

As much as I detest the pigeon-holed D&D alignment descriptions, I'm pretty sure nobody could convincingly argue that constitutes Lawful Good behavior.

I'm thinking Chaotic Neutral during his most sane, sedate, tender-hearted moments.

[sholtzma]

This is what I think is interesting about Sandor's behavior during all three of the first books. Cleaving Mycah in half was "bad" in the sense that he did it, first of all (following Lannister orders) but also he laughs about it after he did it; to know the difference between right and wrong (and I guess this means doing what the royal lips command no matter what, since Sandor is the Lannisters' sworn sword) and obey without question does not mean that you have to enjoy whatever nastiness your king commands. But this pretty much starts deteriorating after Sansa enters the picture and starts being abused. He starts with some "I don't recall" statements, outright lies, and ultimately refusing to follow commands to beat her. Since he is supposed to do whatever the king/prince commands him to do, isn't he disobeying orders? I would think that he would a)kill Mycah, and find no joy in it, or 2)beat Sansa, not lie for her, but then express remorse later. But that's not how he acts. This seems to be a person that has undergone a slow transformation from not only knowing right from wrong, but actually acting differently and changes throughout the books.

I like all the references that people that know him make throughout the last book (maybe even in SOS), that he is ("was") a "soul in torment." Thoros and Elder Brother take up for him, as well as Jaime, at one point.

[Stark Swordsman]

I agree with the statement that we should take that confession w/ a grain of salt. I also think that he puts up a facade of "every man for himself" even to the degree that he believes he acts that way, but most of his actions suggest a strong, though not self-reflexive, sense of right and wrong. And I completely agree with the point that he is highly offensive, but if I may speculate, it seems as though anyone with such a strong sense of right and wrong, and very little social and self awareness, would be a terrible fit for society because so much of the cruelty disgusts him. I just had this potential insight. His statement that only the strong survive and the weak just need to get out of the way, is far more a reflection of what he has seen others do than how he acts (much as he wishes he did act that way).

[sholtzma]

I always want Sansa to reply to that weak and strong statement by the Hound with "well, then, what the hell did you come help me for, anyway? I should have got what Lollys Stokeworth got!"

[Jon Targaryen]

Re-read Sandor's scene when he brings in Mycah and see if you notice anything.

The Hound's eyes seemed to glitter through the steel of that hideous dog's head helm. "He ran." He looked at Ned's face and laughed. "But not very fast."

[sholtzma]

I always took that to mean that he really found it amusing and did laugh; is that perhaps a misinterpretation? Of course, things are also different in retrospect now that we've gotten to know him better in three books. But I really always did think that he "killed Mycah, and laughed about it after."