When did Stannis Baratheon become your favourite character?

[TheFlayedMan]

"Ramsay Snow, you mean. The Bastard."

"Never call him that!" Spittle sprayed from Theon's lips. "Ramsay Bolton, not Ramsay Snow, never Snow, never, you have to remember his name, or he will hurt you."

"He is welcome to try. Whatever name he goes by."

[Lady Meera Reed]

I don't think there was any single moment for me. My appreciation for Stannis grew slowly. By the end of ASoS, I was actually surprised at myself, at how glad I was to see Stannis at the Wall.

That's not a bad summary of the guy I suppose. It takes time, but once he's won your loyalty, you stay with him for good.

/crying *ahem* :agree:

I won't ever forget Cressen's intro of him:

Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone & by the grace of the gods rightful heir to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, was broad of shoulder & sinewy of limb, with a tightness to his face and flesh that spoke of leather cured in the sun until it was as tough as steel. Hard was the word men used when they spoke of Stannis, & hard he was. Though he was not yet five-and-thirty, only a fringe of thin black hair remained on his head, circling behind his ears like the shadow of a crown. His brother, the late King Robert, had grown a beard in his final years. Maester Cressen had never seen it, but they said it was a wild thing, thick & fierce. As if in answer, Stannis kept his own whiskers cropped tight & short. They lay like a blue-black shadow across his square jaw & the bony hollows of his cheeks. His eyes were open wounds beneath his heavy brows, a blue as dark as the sea by night. His mouth would have given despair to even the drollest of fools; it was a mouth made for frowns and scowls & sharply worded commands, all thin pale lips & clenched muscles, a mouth that had forgotten how to smile & had never known how to laugh. Sometimes when the world grew very still and silent of a night, Maester Cressen fancied he could hear Lord Stannis grinding his teeth half a castle away.

Every time I read about him, I became fascinated with him even more. ADWD made him my #1-- this quote may have been one of the reasons: "You haggle like a crone with a codfish, Lord Snow. Did Ned Stark father you on some fishwife?" ^_^

[BabyMeraxes]

When he actively embraced magic as a weapon to take the Iron Throne.

[kevinbgwrites]

Pretty much immediately. Without him the second book would have sucked. He and Mel added enough Deus Ex fun to the mix to bridge things to book 3 where he was equally fantastic.

[Lex_Snow]

When he gave up the throne he didnt want and joined forces with Renly and destroyed Cersei and Joffrey.

......Oh wait thats right....

[OnionAhaiReborn]

I couldn't let this amazing Stannis thread end on an anti-Stannis note, so:

"Stannis ground his teeth. 'It is not my wish to tamper with your rights and traditions. As to royal guidance, Janos, if you mean that I ought to tell your brothers to choose you, have the courage to say so.'

That took Lord Janos aback. He smiled uncertainly and began to sweat, but Bowen Marsh beside him said, 'Who better to command the black cloaks than a man who once commanded the gold, sire?'

'Any of you, I would think. Even the cook.'" SoS pg 1076.

[Hedge Lawyer]

There are so many great Stannis quotes. How is such a stern man so funny? I think that he's made me laugh out loud more than any other character. The sample chapter has several great Stannis lines. Some have been quoted already, but here's one of my favorites from the sample chapter, when Stannis is speaking with Ser Massey about Massey's mission to Bravos:

Stannis: "I want you gone before midday, ser. Lord Bolton could be on us any moment, and it is imperative that the banker return to Braavos. You shall accompany him across the narrow sea."

Massey: "If there is to be a battle, my place is here with you."

Stannis: "Your place is where I say it is. I have five hundred swords as good as you, or better, but you have a pleasing manner and a glib tongue, and those will be of more use to me at Braavos then here."

Stannis is hilariously blunt and never hesitates to cut someone down to size. I was rooting for him as early as the Battle on the Blackwater, but I think I really started to love him when he arrived at the Wall at the end of ASoS.

[DornishmansWife]

"I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach."

Renly was childish in that scene where Cat tries to broker peace between the 2 brothers, but Stannis was all iron (as usual) and goes for his sword when Renly reaches into his pocket. It just seemed so telling that Stannis was serious about being king, but he maybe wished he didn't have to be, especially with his own brother (even if it was Renly, who seemed to really annoy him). This is when I first really considered Stannis as something more than a harbinger of doom (although that is semi-accurate at times), but someone more dimensional. I think he wishes he was as well-liked as Robert and Renly, but realizes he has something they do not...an unflinching sense of duty, which he decides to take to such an extreme, just as fervently as Robert's wenching and drinking :cheers:

[Charles Stuart]

Became one of my favourite characters after he told renly to take the knee or die. The guy literally is a terninator haha.

[HouseNed]

I think that Stannis atleast should bring justice to All the freys and the Boltons what they did to Robb Stark was Dishonorable. either him or Aegon should bring the king's justice to them for if either one of them did that I think that they would win the northern half of the kingdom. Wyman and the umbers are upset about what went down at the red wedding and if I am correct (which I might not be) Wyman made 2 freys into pies and they ate it at winterfell.

[HouseNed]

But yes stannis is my second favorite after Tyrion and I would very much like to see him crowned king because I want to read about him bringing justice to the freys and the boltons!

[The Reeds]

From Maester Cressen's first chapter in the prologue, I really liked Stannis. So far, he's the character I like more with every chance I see him. His biting sense of humor, his sternness and yet his ability to heed Davos's counsel and to see past his birth make him a very interesting character to me. Actually, his commentaries often have me laughing when I'm reading, much as Tyrion's chapters do. I also love the relationship between Davos and Stannis, especially the scene where he made Davos his Hand.

I don't know that he's my favorite, but he's one of the guys I've been rooting for since his introduction and I honestly want him to sit on the Iron Throne.

[David C. Hunter]

When he reminisces about Renly and realized that he did in fact love him.

[Stop Rhaegar HAMMERTIME!]

Not my favourite yet but his one liners , iron will and true sense of honor and duty are getting him there! Him smashing mance's host and having Davos as hand were particularly good!

[Vandalism]

He is the man. The terminator. The tenacious survivor. STANNIS BARATHEON. Even his name resonates. He's got a more profound kind of bad-assery than anyone else. And the way he makes the most out of hard times shows what an absolute veteran is.

STANNIS FTW! His is the fury!

[Lord Over]

"Davos, I have missed you sorely." & "My onion knight tells me the truth."

[Desertwind]

Of all the characters, I find Stannis perhaps the most interesting (after Tyrion, of course, but that's just because he's so novel; I would have said Dany before, but she's starting to get on my nerves). Robb and Ned Stark are/were great characters, but a bit one-dimensional and wooden. Cersei is also interesting if you can look at her from an amoral perspective, but the whole incest thing is simply gross; she's also contemptible in other ways (needlessly cruel; betrays Jaime with Lancel). Jon Snow's another great character, but he's allowed himself to be defined as a bastard (even if he heeds Tyrions advise, his base-born birth still determines his identity at this point), which becomes kind of tedious; thank God that he's finally getting over this. Arya's cool. Bran's also interesting, but as a cripple, I worry that his development as a character will be sort of limited. I hope that somehow Littlefinger becomes Ramsay's replacement Reek. Aegon has potential. Ser Jorah is cool, but selling poachers into slavery is despicable. I don't understand Victarion's appeal. Ser Barristan the Badass is just that, but he's definitely going to die in defense of his true Queen in some big battle soon.

But Stannis, I liked from the get-go, for the same reasons that I imagine all the other people do: his sense of justice, his unbelievably dry and cutting wit... his basically being exaggerated in all his qualities. His relationship with Davos is also endearing: It exemplifies his sense of justice and the fact that he rewards loyalty; it also shows that he's a good leader, since a good leader can take criticism and doesn't tolerate yes men. His decision to head to the Wall also deserves a lot of respect.

But he is flawed and his rhetoric often contradicts his endlessly stated beliefs, which makes him interesting. In short, he is no Ned Stark (though even Ned lied for Lyanna), at least not in my book (Ned Stark is the standard I hold everyone to with regards to honorable conduct). In addition to being a kinslayer, the manner of his victories over Renly and whatever the castellan of Storm's End's name was, was dishonorable. Like Tywin Lannister, he commands at the back (not exactly dishonorable, but I imagine Ned Stark leading from the front). He wanted to outlaw brothels in Westeros, yet has slept with Melisandre (at least twice). And most seriously for a medieval-minded person, he turned his back on the Faith of the Seven for the Red God, and not so much because he lost his faith in the Seven after the death of his parents, but because he wants to sit on the Iron Throne and sees R'hllor as a vehicle to his getting there. Sure, the fact that he is Robert's true heir could be argued to justify at least some of his actions... but even he questioned the legitimacy of Robert's Rebellion, which made Robert king. Ok, the Faith then crowned Robert as king, which legitimized Robert's rule, and thus Stannis'... but then Stannis abandoned the Faith.

So yeah, Stannis is a great character. I'm curious to see what Martin has in store for him... I don't think that he will accomplish his goal, which can only mean that he will die, since he can't accept living in a world in which he is not the King of Westeros.

I just hope that Ser Davos is somehow prevented from dying alongside his lord when that happens.

[Dark Rider]

When Stannis took counsel from a man born in flea bottom.

That's when he had me.

[Dark Rider]

Upon re-reading the series he's certainly become one of my favourites. The sample chapter from TWoW has only made me more of a fan:

"I defeated your uncle Victarion and his Iron Fleet off Fair Isle, the first time your father crowned himself. I held Storm's End against the power of the Reach for a year, and took Dragonstone from the Targaryens. I smashed Mance Rayder at the Wall, though he had twenty times my numbers. Tell me, turncloak, what battles has the Bastard of Bolton ever won that I should fear him?"

Can't wait for Stannis to be the rightious hand of vengance by destroying the Bastard of Bolton. The Bastard's so far out of his league he has no clue.

[Dark Rider]

Stannis

Snow

2012!

"It is Known."

I'm going to write them in.