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One small fact: Joffrey was not evil


Cap Ou Pas Cap

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It is mentioned in AGoT that he had a beautiful singing voice. Don't know if that counts as redeeming. Can't really think of anything else.

Yeah, he seemed not so bad when he and Sansa had their cute little adventure, until they ran into Arya and Mycah, of course.

He seemed like a good rider and danced beautifully as well.

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This is a funny topic.

I think that one could say he wasn't purely evil due to his awful upbringing. Having an alcoholic, absent father is hard enough, without having a psycho, narcissitic mother. Let alone the fact that he was a product of incest, and that his genetics may have been more messed up than anyone could have realized.

But features that people would like about him? That's harder to say. He was magnanimous at times. He was eager to please and impress people, even Tyrion and the people of King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater.

So, I guess that the best I can come up with is that he would have made an okay war time general.

Edit: He also had some scientific curiosity regarding the mechanics of pregnancy.

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Joffrey had very nice manners when he wanted to. Can't take that away from the little shit.

I saw an interview where GRRM made the point that when he wrote Joffrey's death he knew that 'everyone wanted to see the little shit die,' or something like that, but he also tried to write it so that you could sympathize with his fear of death at the end. And I think if we can picture what this looked like in our heads, or when we see it happen on the TV show, George will have succeeded with this goal and we will all feel at least a little sorry for this kid who is choking to death and terrified. So maybe the point isn't that every character or person necessarily shows at least some outwardly 'good' quality, but that inwardly almost all people have some of the same essential wants and fears.

I didn't sympathize with his fear of death at the end. I laughed.
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But features that people would like about him? That's harder to say. He was magnanimous at times. He was eager to please and impress people, even Tyrion and the people of King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater.

I wouldn't say he was eager to please and impress people of KL. "Tell them they have my leave to eat their dead", was it?

He listened to Sansa when she told him to give the woman with dead baby a coin, that counts as point in his favor, I guess.

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Some other positives.

* He follows his promises.

* He tries to help cripple boys in his own way

* He is merciful

* He has a strong manly heart

* He is kind to his lady and allows her to drink as much as she wants, and he frees her from her father's tyranny

* He loves his mother and admires his father (see his comments about how strong his father Robert was)

* He has a scientific curiosity about the inwards of kittens

* He is not afraid to show his more vulnerable side (why else is he so whiny?)

* Even after being married he doesn't forget his first love

* He is one of the few characters of the series who we see on page do something with a book

* He knows about Valyrian Steel, other evidence for his scientific curiosity

* As someone else has wisely noted, he teaches the people of KL how to hunt and take care of themselves.

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Yeah he had a pretty good iceburn on Tywin in that one scene. "Yeah Grandpa? Well my dad was out winning battles while you were hiding like a punk in your little castle."

Of course, Tywin's response of telling Kevan and Pycell to basically get some milk and cookies ready because it's clearly the king's bedtime blows it out of the water.

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