Which character has changed the most over the course of the series?

[TheMaimedKnight]

In Martins world people fequently undergo character arcs which more or less and for better or worse change them.Some characters become unrecognizeable from their GOT counterparts.

IMO the character who went through the most significant tranformation was Jon Snow.Let me ellaborate here a bit.

The Jon Snow we met in aGOT was your average teenager, arrogant,overentitled and snobbish

The Jon Snow we saw at the end of ADWD was by and large, a changed man.He was just,honorable and dutiful much like his father Ned Stark.

[Beets]

I'm gonna go with Sansa Stark. Her dev has been STAGGERING, and I think there'll most likely be more to come. If you put Alayne next to GoT Sansa, they would be absolutely nothing alike, and while there have been some other pretty striking instances of character dev, I think Sansa takes the award for most hands down.

[Rolex Baratheon]

Stannis changed a bit, from rigid, hard, stubborn, seemingly cruel leader to rigid, hard, tough, still-socially-inept-with-most-people heroic leader. Sansa's arc probably has the greatest gradient though, IMO. Theon Greyjoy's arc probably comes second, him or Jaime.

[The Red Hand]

Theon. Jon was more or less the same in AGOT IMO, he just matured. Same with Sansa. Theon went from an arrogant, handsome, prideful, and selfish lordling to being...Reek.

[The Drunkard]

I'd go with Theon...

... Or maybe Catelyn. That is, if we consider Stoneheart and her to be one and the same.

[Beets]

I'd go with Theon...

... Or maybe Catelyn. That is, if we consider Stoneheart and her to be one and the same.

I treat Stoneheart as a different character. She Came Back Wrong, and all that.

But yes, totally forgot about Theon. Just... Theon. So much.

[Sneak]

I think it's between Sansa and Jaime.

Sansa has matured so much, and like Beets said Alayne Stone of AFFC and Sansa Stark of AGOT are almost completely different people.

Jaime went from the arrogant Kingslayer who was sleeping with his sister to someone who is at least trying to be honourable and keep his oaths. He's had his eyes opened WRT Cersei and I think Brienne has had a good influence on him.

But I gotta go with Sansa.

[Scipio Africanus]

Mentally or physically?

Physically Jaime and Theon have changed the most.

Mentally...I'd say Jon Snow and Sansa. I suspect Brienne and Dany are changing their outlooks too.

I'm not convinced that Jaime has "redeemed" or even changed his outlook that much. His maiming took away his confidence and he has become fed up with Cercei (who wouldn't) but I don't see that he's really changing "for the better". He still is that same old oathbreaker avoiding duty and hard decisions at the end of DwD.

[Jaime's Wench]

There's lots of examples and I think it's up to people's intepretation quite a bit. I see big changes in Theon, Danaerys, Arya and Bran to think of a few.

Jaime's change is amazing and lovely and yay but it's a case of him becoming what he always wanted to be, what he always was inside, that the sisterfucking and kingslaying distorted.

I disagree about seeing change in Sansa. She's less of a daydreamer, but that comes with age anyway. You would expect anyone who has seen what she has to no longer beleive in great knights in shining armour anymore. Having said that, she remains just as placid and vulnerable in my view. Her nature has not changed.

Bran has changed so much - he wanted to be a knight, and instead he's a greenseer who has to simply observe and reflect rather than be in on the action.

Arya has changed from being a wild little girl with a big heart, to being a vengeaful and dangerous young woman. Her character has become a lot darker.

Danaerys has gone from being a vulnerable little girl... to being an opinionated and highly strung woman I don't like all that much :-p

[James Blackfire]

Sansa for sure the difference between AFFC and GoT are huge. this change for me at least meant her going from a character I hated to One i actually really like possibly in the top ten now. Theon is an interesting second choice because he has changed 3 times. from GoT when he was arrogant and entitled to how messed up he is in ACOk to reek in ADWD. also I don't think Jaime has changed all that much he just went from supressing his good instinct to living by them after he lost his hand. I think the goodness and how hounerable he always was is shown in the kingslayer flashback.

[Swordsaint]

I'd have to agree with it being Jon Snow. My first thought was Jamie, but I'm not sure he would have changed at all if not for losing his hand. So he doesn't really count imo. Sansa and Dany are still in the process of changing so I wouldn't say them either. Tyion has also changed quite a bit. He went from being almost purely light hearted to becoming the monster people treat him as. Theon is just bat shit crazy, and I'm not sure he was ever playing with a full deck for deciding to attack Winterfell on his very first mission with a bunch of strangers.

[The Red Hand]

Sansa has matured so much, and like Beets said Alayne Stone of AFFC and Sansa Stark of AGOT are almost completely different people.

Could someone list all these changes, because I don't see that much change in her character.

Theon is just bat shit crazy, and I'm not sure he was ever playing with a full deck for deciding to attack Winterfell on his very first mission with a bunch of strangers.

Theres a difference between traumatized and crazy, and if attempting to attack a lightly held castle makes you crazy than a lot of characters in this book qualify.

[YouSnowNothing]

Jaime. From pushing a 7 year old out a window to fighting a bear without his strong hand to save someone, with no benefit to himself.

[Beets]

Could someone list all these changes, because I don't see that much change in her character.

At the beginning of AGoT, Sansa is idealistic, naive, weak, silly, too trusting, focused a lot on appearances, and completely unscarred. By the end of AFfC, Alayne is braver, stronger, cold, almost never revealing her true emotions, lacking any and all faith in songs, suspicious, less inclined to trust appearances, and scarred plenty. Sometimes her old traits pop back out for a second or two, but she almost always contradicts herself in these instances, which gives us (the readership) an awesome comparison to observe how much she's changed.

[Lady Sansa Stark]

Jaime Lannister has changed quite a lot. I mean, like really a lot.

Theon as well, not only physically, but also mentally. Although he still wants to be a Stark.

[Winterfellian]

For the better:

Sansa Stark- To me the fact that she no longer believe in knights is only a shade of her transformation-the loss of innocence.

She goes from dreamy spoiled little girl who judged everyone by their looks to a more mature character capable of better judgement who seems more prepared to take her destiny in her own hands.

Jon Snow- Like others mentioned Jon started as an entitled boy full of ideas of himself and now he's become a grown man with many of Ned's best qualities, honorable, just, diligent and respectful of people in general.

Jaime Lannister- While I don't think he has redeemed himself he has become more self aware of his own faults and what is more is willing to do something about it.

For the worst:

Tyrion Lannister- I think that when he killed his father and Shae the best part of him died as well.

Arya Stark- As much as I like her and understand the circumstances leading to her transformation the wild unassuming girl from AGOT has changed into someone a lot darker and capable of premeditated murder without feeling the slightest remorse.

Dany Targaryen- I'll probably get a lot of heat for this but I do believe power has turned her into a more entitled and darker character capable of very ruthless and cruel acts.

[The Lord's Kiss]

Theon has been through the most significant transformation.

On the girl's side, I would say Arya instead of Sansa, including her Braavos arc.

[Danelle]

In a way all characters changed but the most radical changes involve:

• Jaime. from a kingslayer he aspires to become a kingmaker, lost his hand and tries for once to keep his vows.
  
• Dany: from a meek girl sold to a horselord by her brother to the ruler of Meereen and the only Targaryen who brought the dragons back
  
• Theon: from the arrogant ward to Reek and npw to Theon back again
  
• Sansa: from a naive little lady to a woman who has seen the worst in life
  
• Cersei: from the gorgeous queen to a mad, insane woman, filled with paranoia
  
• Arya: from the ugly duckling to a beautiful woman
  
• Bran: from a boy who wanted to become a knight to a cripple and from a cripple to a skinchanger
  
• Sam: he has changed and doesn't even acklowledge it. From Ser Piggy to Sam the Slayer
  

I must add that the only character that I hope that remains the same is Dolorous Edd.

[Summer is Ending]

It'd have to be a tossup between Theon and Arya. Arya goes from being a pampered noble girl with a bit of a wild side to a killer who has roamed all over Westeros sticking them with the pointy end, being captive of the Mountain and having to see the Tickler do his work day after day to choosing to sail away from Westeros entirely to become a faceless assassin all before she's even become a teenager.

Theon is the only one that could even come close to the change Arya has gone through and changed into.

[The Red Hand]

At the beginning of AGoT, Sansa is idealistic, naive, weak, silly, too trusting, focused a lot on appearances, and completely unscarred. By the end of AFfC, Alayne is braver, stronger, cold, almost never revealing her true emotions, lacking any and all faith in songs, suspicious, less inclined to trust appearances, and scarred plenty. Sometimes her old traits pop back out for a second or two, but she almost always contradicts herself in these instances, which gives us (the readership) an awesome comparison to observe how much she's changed.

Shes not as ignorant of the world as she once was, true, but when has she ever shown any coldness? The old traits "popping back" gave me the impression that she was in the process of changing more than being changed.