Mirror and Foil characters

[Angel Eyes]

Gregor "The Mountain that Rides" Clegane and Hodor. Both are huge men who are very strong and not very smart. Both have been compared to giants, but while Hodor is more like the herbivorous, determined giants that exist Beyond the Wall, Gregor is closer to the literary tradition, the "Fee, fi, fo, fum"-type.

[Angel Eyes]

Renly and Aegon V. Both are youngest sons whose fathers held lands in the Stormlands (Steffon was Lord of Storm's End, Maekar was Prince of Summerhall). Each was popular with the smallfolk for different reasons; Renly for his charm and good looks, Aegon because he had traveled among the smallfolk and knew their strife. Each was an unlikely successor due to the death of an older brother, with another older brother in their path, but while Aemon gently stood aside for Aegon, who showed no open ambition for the throne, Renly tried to leapfrog the succession by declaring himself king.

[Ephraim'sFruit]

Theon(not Reek) and Viserys. Both feel cheated out of their birthrights and have huge chips on their shoulder because of it. Always a seething undercurrent of impotent rage every page they are on. Incredibly easy to troll, the slightest little thing gets under their skin.

 

[Walda]

My idea of a foil is a character that exists mainly to reveal facets of another character. The best example I can think of is Mrs Elton in Emma. 

In ASoIaF, Hodor has acted as a foil, especially for Bran and for the Walders. And Maester Luwin and Osha. Good eggs treat Hodor with respect.

Maester Luwin is a foil for Osha, and for anyone expounding on magic and mythical beings. But especially Osha. He has done a lot of research on these subjects for a guy that doesn't believe in them.

Shae was mostly a foil for Tyrion.

Tommen is a foil for Bran

Barristan is more than a foil for Jorah Mormont, but making them both Dany's Kingsguard makes him work that way.

Jeor Mormont works as a foil for his son, and for Jon Snow.

Sam Tarly works as a foil for Jon Snow - their training, fighting, persuading and lovemaking styles make a strong contrast.

Balon works as a foil for Eddard when it comes to Theon's father figures. Tyrion makes an explicit comparison between JonCon and Lord Tywin. Lord Tywin is a foil for Eddard Stark, so JonCon also seems to me to be a foil for Eddard Stark.  Tywin and Eddard are father figures the way Catelyn and Cersei are mother figures. 

Of course, fathers and mothers are always made the foils of their protagonist children, which are mostly Tywin and Jon (Yes, I know Cersei is his sister, but she is the closest thing to a mother he ever had). So when it comes to family and upbringing, Tyrion is a foil for Jon.

Robb is another foil. For Jon there's the legitimate vs bastard thing. And, in a sense, for Theon.

[Angel Eyes]

Donal Noye and Maester Cressen. Both are older men with physical difficulties (Cressen is old, Donal lost an arm) who have joined celibate orders and provide insights to the character of the Baratheon brothers, particularly looking down on Renly, whom they regard as shallow and attention-seeking. Both go down trying to take down a supernatural character (Cressen tries to poison Melisandre, Donal goes down in a mutual kill with Mag the Mighty.

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Renly, that one, he's copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day.

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The bold little boy with wild black hair and laughing eyes was a man grown now, one-and-twenty, and still he played his games. Look at me, I'm a king, Cressen thought sadly. Oh, Renly, Renly, dear sweet child, do you know what you are doing? And would you care if you did? Is there anyone who cares for him but me?

 

[Angel Eyes]

Edmure and Tyrion. Both are the youngest child of an ambitious and controlling Lord Paramount and their fathers’ heir by the time of the books’ start (not that Tywin would ever admit it), whose middle siblings were in fact betrothed to marry each other. Both are known for their sexual escapades (or occasional sexual trouble in Edmure’s case). Their expertise is not on the battlefield but both prove to be tactically capable, if at the wrong time for Edmure. They have relatively positive attitudes toward the smallfolk, with Edmure going out of his way to protect his smallfolk at his own expense, while Tyrion has some sympathy for the lower folk due to his infirmities.

[YeniAy_Ottoman]

Mirro?

Dany and Cerse, i guess. I think Martin wrote these two in similar positions and life experience. Both were raped by their husbands, and the two were married a king against their will. And both are trying to gain power as queens in an male power universe ... etc. In the five-year jump plan, these two had beautiful parallel scenes, but Martin had to get them out when he abandoned the jump. He was upset about this.

Jon and Arya are also mirror characters. Both are outsider in their family. Both joined a similar organization. No need for details, everyone already knows these two.

Foil?

Arya ve Sansa. GRRM had already said that.

Jon and Theon. GRRM said it too. Theon and Jon are in a similar position in this family, and they both have similar ambitions. Theon surrendered to these ambitions, but Jon did not surrender.

[Angel Eyes]

Tyrion and Kevan Lannister. Both are second sons of a Lord of House Lannister and aren't physically attractive; Kevan is described as being fat while Tyrion is a dwarf with a squashed-in nose. Tyrion and Kevan constantly saw the best in their elder brothers, were close with their brother's children (only Myrcella and Tommen in Tyrion's case), and showed little hesitation in doing morally questionable things in service to their house which they know heads a corrupt regime; Kevan assures Tywin the Riverlands would burn, Tyrion oversees the implementation of wildfire during the Battle of the Blackwater. Both have wives who were captives of their family, but Kevan and Dorna eventually grew to care for each other and are happily married while Sansa immediately distanced herself from Tyrion at the first available opportunity. Basically, Kevan is what Tyrion could have become if Jaime hadn't become a Kingsguard and succeeded Tywin as Lord of Casterly Rock.

[The Commentator]

The Night’s King and Jon Snow are parallel characters. Two men who let their love for a woman (Arya and the corpse queen) distract them from their duties.  

[TheLastWolf]

10 hours ago, Widowmaker 811 said:

The Night’s King and Jon Snow are parallel characters. Two men who let their love for a woman (Arya and the corpse queen) distract them from their duties.  

Don't you guys have a hate rant thread or a few million more for this ... Please don't infect this beautiful thread too. Begging. U. 

[Angel Eyes]

Joffrey and Gendry. Both are bastards and "sons" of Robert Baratheon who have relationships with girls of House Stark. However while Joffrey was betrothed to Sansa and abused her, Gendry met Arya without knowing of her parentage and so their friendship developed more organically.

[Angel Eyes]

Cersei Lannister and Mace Tyrell. Both are the only sibling of their gender and are higher-ranking people in Westerosi society (Cersei is queen, Mace is a Lord Paramount, Warden, High Marshal of the Reach, etc.) whose single remaining parent, whom their offspring outrank, is the main political power in the family; Olenna Tyrell is even said to be a female counterpart to Tywin Lannister. Cersei and Mace both believe themselves to be more intelligent than they actually are and make impulsive actions that hamstring their families in the long run in their attempts to put/keep their children on the Iron Throne (Cersei by her constant backstabbing scheming and Mace with pimping Margaery out to every available Baratheon) and rarely take blame for their actions; Cersei blames Margaery for "making" her torture the Blue Bard while Mace blames Oberyn Martell for the accident that crippled his son Willas even though a) it was an accident, b) Mace pressured Willas into doing the joust when he was not ready, and c) Willas does not blame Oberyn for the accident. Both were physically attractive but are starting to go to seed; Olenna mentions that Mace was once handsome and muscular, Cersei starts to put on weight thanks to her drinking, which becomes evident when she does her Walk of Shame. The main difference between them is that Cersei only loves her children as an extension herself, while Mace will drop whatever he's doing to save his kids, actually putting a dent in Cersei's plans by doing this.

[Angel Eyes]

Robert and Jaime. Both are the eldest sons of veterans of the War of Ninepenny Kings and supremely talented in war, Jaime with the sword and Robert with the hammer, though Robert is the more experienced and competent strategist. Both are "fathers" of Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, sired bastards and played little role in the lives of their biological children though for different reasons caused by Cersei; Cersei threatened Mya Stone and discouraged Jaime from playing an active role in their children's lives. Both have sinister reputations, exemplified by their nicknames (Robert being the Demon of the Trident and the Usurper, Jaime being the Lion of Lannister and the Kingslayer).

[Angel Eyes]

On 7/19/2020 at 2:53 PM, Prince Rhaego Targaryen said:

Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton mirror each other.  They both have quite a lot in common besides skin peeling.  Both are possible sociopaths.  

Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton may foil one another.  One could spoil it for the other.  Arya's arrival in the north could spoil it for Ramsay.  Ramsay can also spoil an Arya-Nymberia reunion if he and his hunters find the pack first and kills Nym.

Plus the fact that they greatly resented their siblings; Arya feels like the unfavorite to Sansa, while Ramsay went so far as to murder his legitimate brother so Roose could make him his heir by default.

From Arya I, AGOT:

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It wasn't fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; maybe by the time Arya had been born, there had been nothing left. Often it felt that way. Sansa could sew and dance and sing. She wrote poetry. She knew how to dress. She played the high harp and the bells. Worse, she was beautiful. Sansa had gotten their mother's fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys. Arya took after their lord father. Her hair was a lusterless brown, and her face was long and solemn. Jeyne used to call her Arya Horseface, and neigh whenever she came near. It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household. Sansa had never had much of a head for figures. If she did marry Prince Joff, Arya hoped for his sake that he had a good steward. 
 

 

[Angel Eyes]

Robert Baratheon and Theon Greyjoy. Both are the foster brothers and best friends of Starks, whose sigils are black and gold, and rebelled against their kings. Both are highly promiscuous with dark haired, and were once regarded as handsome; Robert has gained a lot of weight while Theon loses weight to the point of becoming emaciated.