What exactly is the appeal of Jon Snow?

[David Selig]

3. He's funny. Seriously, Jon's hilarious reread his POVs if you need a reminder.

This claim is much funnier than anything Jon ever said or thought.

[Lady Katherine]

I like Jon. Him and Sam in AGOT really hit home with me, as a person who was always considered "ugly" and unpopular and was usually the brunt of bullying in elementary and middle school. Then before my freshman year of high school I got contacts and started wearing makeup, and all of a sudden, those same "popular" kids that used to give me shit wanted to talk to me. Since I was no longer the focus of the bullies, I was kinda known for giving the bullies shit when they bullied people.

So anyway....Jon's treatment of protection of Sam made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, because I've been in both roles.

That being said, I don't particularly like Jon's POVs. I think they are kinda dull, unless something specifically exciting is happening. I also tend to think that Jon is a bit of a whiner, but then again I don't blame him, based upon his heritage and different situations he is faced with.

[Naathi Prince]

This claim is much funnier than anything Jon ever said or thought.

just because its not your sense of humor doesn't mean Jon isn't funny

Would that we had one here. A dragon might warm things up a bit.”

[Mulled Wino]

Jon has the most action packed chapter could be one reason.

[Peko]

To say that Jon has gotten lucky several times is such a hypocritical argument. What PoV HASN'T gotten lucky? The number of times Tyrion lucks out in AGoT alone is borderline absurd. Not to mention Dany getting narrowly saved from assassination by Jorah once and Barristan twice. The list goes on and on and on.

And outside forces saving the day before Jon has to make a difficult decision or commit a difficult deed? When has that happened outside of Ghost helping kill Qhorin, Ygritte killing the old guy for him, and Stannis smashing the wildling host? It certainly didn't happen when he beheaded Janos Slynt, when he let the wildlings through the wall, when he sent the ships to Hardhome, when he decided to help Sam in AGoT, etc. For every former scenario, there have got to be at least two of the latter.

Yes, some of his chapters are boring, but every character has boring chapters (INCLUDING the fan-favorite, Arya, whom I'd argue is both heavily overrated and stereotypical despite the fact that I still like her, but that's another topic entirely). Maybe he is just boring overall to some people due to different tastes, and that's totally fine. But to single him out because of it? That's just asinine. So is selectively picking out flaws that happen to apply to just about every other character out there, just because he's likely setting up to be the hero of the story.

[LordBloodraven]

wow, I must be one of the few that like Jon ( I like all the Starks), he's not my favorite, but I like him and also think that he has had a comparatively easy path. I must be doubly wrong :blushing:

Jon's haters are louder than most, but there is many of us

[King Aemon I]

At the beginning, Jon was the most innocent one.. Poor boy.. Had the Stark blood but he wasn't a Stark somehow, everyone who disliked him showed foolish reactions, no good excuses for the hate.. Cat tried to sent her from Winterfell when Ned decided to leave even though he wanted Jon to stay, but she said, "He is your son Ned, I don't want him here" as if they were in Riverrun.. Mercy and sympathy... Then he tried to show off to baseborn children in NW with his fighting skills, but after a few words from Tyrion, he changed his mind.. He cares about the honor but he doesn't care too much about the rules of the NW.. Reminds me of Star Trek Captains; Kirk and Picard.. They would too break the rules but do the good thing in the end.. He has some big walls though, that made him made a few foolish decisions like denying Winterfell just because he felt like betraying Sansa and Arya, not the Watch though.. He showed the best progress, he is loyal, successful, self-sacrificing, then after the theory the man who carries the greatest blood ever lived, houses Ice and Fire, But in the end, there is no obvious reason to make anyone say "waow that is right, well done" I just love the guy.. I feel him as a real person, more than the rest of the POV's and if Martin truly thinks of the POV's as his children as he said, there is no chance he would have Jon killed.. I know I wouldn't.. And to this topic, my signature can give you clues about my perspective..

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Jon's haters are louder than most, but there is many of us

What you said remind me of: http://theyliveamong...936622079_n.jpg

[LordBloodraven]

Jon Snow is perhaps the most relatable character in this series. He grew up a lot from AGOT to ADWD, from his flawed view of the Night's Watch to his struggle about his vows in ADWD. I will not try to point an appealing trait of Jon Snow; if you have read the books and didn't find any, I don't think that anybody will change your mind. I like him a lot. Westeros needs more Jon Snow

[Lord commander_Snow]

1. He's honorable
   
   
2. He has a sense of humor unlike what is said
   
   
3. He's human, not a superhero
   
   
4. His emotions are human too, what is called "emo" by people who evidently lack feelings
   
   
5. His story is amazing with a lot of twists and conflicts
   
   
6. He has been through a lot
   
   
7. Future holds many promises for him as a character
   

But unlike what you say, he does have flaws, he's a bit stubb

orn, and he sometimes can act a bit too harshly.

HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jon Icefyre]

I don't really care much for the character. The only time I liked the guy was when he got really pissed about what was happening to Arya and considered going South. Aside from that he came across as very bland to me and I found no real reason to like the man. His arcs only interesting because of his interactions with funny characters like Tormund n Ygritte, the backdrop of the Others and the wall; then Stannis arrival. But for the most part I felt like he was just a pair of eyes to relay info about whats going on at the wall to the reader. He just doesn't seem to have as much of a character or personality or be anywhere near as interesting as say Jamie, or Tyrion, or even Theon as a POV character. Also, I don't think he suffered any real setbacks or suffered to anywhere near the extent of the other characters; nor did he have to contend with massive failure. Other characters have a lot of weakness (Dany) or they suffer a lot (Arya). Jon does not, nor does it come across. He joins an order, he immediately ingratiates himself with the wildlings, he escapes, saves the wall and becomes Lord Commander. He then does an extremely good job of running the wall, but is stabbed by a handful of traitors which ends his lucky star quite randomly. Until that point very few (if any) other characters had had it as good as Jon Snow. Hes a character without flaws and in this series its his only defining trait and you get the feeling from Tyrions POV that we're supposed to feel that "this guy should be a King". In other words, we're meant to be impressed by this guy and thats why we're supposed to like him. I don't know, just didn't care for the guy and the character.

So, whats his appeal meant to be exactly?

I wouldn't say he hasn't had any tough times. GRRM puts different characters through different struggles depending on the characters personality, situation, and environment and i'd say he's done a very good job at that. Jon's struggles are actually a perfect fit for a man of the nights watch. Jon goes to the wall at a young age thinking its this glorious, honorable, and joyous duty only to find out it's not at all. Slowly throughout the story Jon starts to see why people were warning him about Joining the NW. He starts to realize that the things he thought he didn't care about like forsaking lands and titles, celibacy, not being able to start a family, or have a real meaningful relationship with a woman are actually things he does care about, and he's realizing what it really means to give those things up for life. Jon has also struggled with the imprisonment of his father, his father being falsely labeled a traitor to the realm and then the death of his father. His brother waging war on the south, his home of winterfell being burn down and taken over by other houses. The death of his brother Rob and the believed death of his younger brothers Bran and Rickon stark. Along with his sisters being held as prisoners in KL. As much as he wanted to help his father and his family in general he couldn't because of his oath to the wall do you have any Idea how much guilt he feels from this??? Then he has to kill a man he considers his mentor and join the wildlings only to fall in love with a girl who he eventually betrays and then has to look upon her dead body, once again his guilt for this can't be imagined. I think Maestor Aemon's conversation with Jon in Got about weighing honor and duty against love and family is the general theme of Jon's struggles in the entire series. Jon struggles with mixed emotions and ideas of love, honor, duty, loyalty, anger, guilt, vengeance, betrayal, sadness and identity that constantly contradict themselves throughout the series. I think your highly underestimating Jon's internal struggles. Also just because he's survived a lot of events doesn't necessarily mean he's had it easier, remember Ned stark survived a lot of events, and had to deal with the death of his family members as a teen too like Jon and received a lot of glory for his accomplishments on the battlefield and was a prominent High Lord. But I don't think anyone can argue that internally he was haunted and tormented by memories, guilt, and other mixed emotions(most being negative) for his whole life. It might have seemed like he had a pretty good life as a high lord which Ned did but I don't think he was ever truly happy and seemed to be more depressed than anything.

[Sword in the Morning]

Had it easy? What drugs are you on?

You're going to tell me you didn't even get a little bit misty eyed when Ygritte died in his arms?

[Mulled Wino]

First post is clearly satire.

[LordBloodraven]

First post is clearly satire.

Satire? No. Simple subjective rant

[the titan of westeros]

I personnally like his pov's because he's stronger than most people, grows a lot, goes through a lot (i'd say fourth to arya then ned then dany) i would also count sansa but she brought it on herself by ratting out ned (snitches get stitiches after all) and not escaping with the hound). The position he's in is almost a forced one since no one told him what the watch was like and he was bastard born, he had to go to the wall. i would've done the same thing without knowing that the wall wasn't actually full of honorable people like his uncle. When he gets to the wall he's a spoiled bastard who's good at fighting and doesn't understand whats what (hes 14 after all i was spoiled also) but he matures fast doesn't judge his brothers for there lowbornness and past crimes (like almost everyone else does) and becomes a leader at the wall. Then he takes his vows (these vows would be very hard to keep unless you were a very strong person) going selibant and freezing for the rest of your life isn't really a childs fantasy after all. During the ranging he is forced to kill a girl (fails since he has flaws) and is forced to kill his friend to join the wildlings who he hates at the time. Challenges like this happen to him all the time and he's still only 14 the conflict that goes on in his head is what makes jon such an interesting pov, not the fact that he doesn't mess up but that he is constantly tempted to mess up and be happy, but that he knows it's for the better if he is miserable. So he has to give up being happy to serve the realm.

[TerraPrime]

Jon Snow is Harry Potter - Ghost is his wand, Night's Watch is his Hogwarts, Sam is his Hermione+Ron. He's mostly a Larry Stew, with some nominal and non-threatening flaws thrown in, like you know, being stubborn and too principled, and caring too much about his family.

His chapters are ok, but I don't particularly think that he's a great character. I like him as much as I like Patchface or Oberyn Martell. Of the first-tier characters I think he's definitely on the weaker side of the scale for me.

[Elder Sister]

Jon has never been a favorite of mine, but I do enjoy his POVs because of the Wall, which is fascinating, and the Night's Watch, which is also fascinating. Because of these two factors, I really enjoy reading him.

One thing that I do find attractive about Jon is his desire to do good. Of all Ned's children, I think he comes the closest to embodying his traits. He remembers what his father said and taught him, and he wants to be the sort of man his father would approve. I like that.

[Sword in the Morning]

Then he tried to show off to baseborn children in NW with his fighting skills, but after a few words from Tyrion, he changed his mind.

Actually, Donal Noye gave him that speech. The TV show has Tyrion talk to him, because introducing too many characters at once fries the poor tv-watchers' brains.

Note: this next little rant isn't an attempt to make you feel bad. I just think this is an appropriate place to make it...

It bothers me how much people get the show confused with the books. The events in the two diverge in places, and sometimes those divergences can mean EVERYTHING. I can't begin to imagine how many arguments have taken place on these boards solely because someone mis-remembered and swapped out the show events in their heads. Please, people, for the health of the boards and your own understanding of the series, re-read as often as possible. If anything surprises you or seems particularly interesting, or conflicts with something you remember.. it's a good idea to write it down. It'll help you remember, and you can have a little laundry list of factoids to look through later.

Of course, that may sound a little extreme...but we're all here, aren't we? This is a place where extreme has lost all meaning.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Butterbumps said pretty much what I would have. I like Jon because, for now anyway, he's just a guy. He can't rely on his looks, his money, his titles or any advantage that most of the other characters have. He has a direwolf and a bastard surname and that's it. I'm a pretty strong proponent of meritocracy, and Jon has gotten to where he is based largely on merit. Did being Ned's son get him a foot in the door, sure. But it wouldn't have mattered if he were incompetent or of poor character. He's helped people like Sam when there was no benefit in doing so, and argued for the lives of his siblings' wolves when there was no benefit for him in doing so. Much of the success that he has can be traced back to his deeds, either selfless good deeds or examples of bravery and pretty extraordinary nerves (the fight at the Wall before he's imprisoned is intense). If he ends up with the loyalty of thousands of wildlings, it's because he earned it by seeing their value as people and giving them a chance at survival instead of leaving them to their deaths, the way someone like Marsh would have. He doesn't resort to treachery or atrocities or any other morally awful acts that his proponents would have to make up excuses for. If he has to make a morally grey choice, like swapping the babies, it's done for a good reason, when the alternative would have been much worse.

I don't think that major flaws necessarily make a person interesting. Ultimately it comes down to a person's battle within himself or herself that makes them interesting or complex, not how many people they sleep with or kill or betray or whatever. Jon's inner conflict and his search for place and identity is extremely compelling to me. And I'd rather root for an unexciting GOOD person over an exciting sociopath any day of the week. Being a nasty prick does not, by default, make one "interesting."

Generally speaking, though, there will always be characters whom you like but others hate, and vice versa. There are characters whose appeal is totally lost on me, and yet they have their fans. And you know what? They don't owe me any explanation for their feelings, just like people who like Jon have nothing to prove to you.

[Lady Arianne Martell]

I like Jon Snow. I like him for his normalcy, his decency, and his good sense.

However, I fear for the future of Jon Snow...

if he becomes the chosen one, Luke Skywalker, Aragon embracing his destiny, Blah, Blah, Blah.... I will be very disappointed. What I am trying to say is that if he ends up in a life where he is the ruler, he has vanquished evil, and it is a fairy tale ending I won't like the result of his character.

I have always feared that Jon Snow is being built up to be something big...and I am ok with that if it is NOT cliched.

Basically, if he stays LC Of the Night's Watch or somewhere in the north I will continue to like him. If he becomes the Harry Potter of the series I will scream.