Top 5 worst kings?

[Loon Lord]

Jon Arryn held peace in the realm for almost 17 years while Robert in his next year of being Jon Arryn-less already started sparcking a war... Lyanna yes was his bethroyhed and Dat and Dat but you don't just end a line of good kings this way.

Do you actually think Robert and Ned were unjustified in their rebellion??? Robert cannot be called worse than Joffrey, the second Robert died the Seven Kingdoms went to hell, none of that would have happened while Robert was alive.

[Golden&Crimson]

Without a particular order:

Aerys: his paranoia, and exagerated cruelty dealing with some people, aswell his demented plan to burn KL and kill thousands in the process.

Aegon IV: sired a bunch of bastards and legitimated them, opening huge political problems after his death.

Joffrey: a king should be the servant and father of his people, he wasn`t nothing of that: a petty and unfair king.

Robb: put the honor of a single woman ahead of the interests of all others subjects and kingdom, this could be very romantic, but is a very selfish move that helped to the demise of the Kingdom of the North and the Riverlands.

Robert: is no problem a king like women, or hunting or drinking, its a huge problem a king only like to have fun, and doesn`t give a damn to the kingdom... unless that involves smashing skulls with a warhammer.

[Pod The Impaler]

1 - Joffrey Baratheon Lannister Hill - An all-around asshole. A perverse, knowledge-hating, sadistic, spoiled, delusional, cruel, dishonorable, dim-witted, deceitful, needlessly-belligerent coward. If you take the worst parts of Cersei, Tywin, Jaime, and even a bit of Robert, and distill it into a single personality, the end product you get is him. He was even a jerk-ass sicko as a child. I cannot imagine Joffrey ruling a hot-dog stand well, let alone a kingdom, no matter how long you waited for him to learn some wisdom. Every effort expended by his underlings to protect his throne was utterly wasted effort. The best thing one can say about him is that he was murdered. The only pity is that it didn't happen much sooner.

2 - Aerys II - Aerys "loses" to Joffrey because apparently he did not start out as a paranoid and cruel pyromaniac, but gradually became one. Seems to me his madness was probably always there, but had to wait a while before it blossomed into outright and open mania.

3 - Balon Greyjoy - This "King" is just a bitter blind old fool. He has the unique ability to throw away great opportunities to satisfy all his ambitions, in favour of restarting a pointless grudge against those who are not actually to blame for his woes. What makes it worse is that he even fails by the bottom-feeding code of the Ironborn ! He achieved nothing, and should be remembered for steering the ship of state right onto the rocks, just to show the rocks who was boss.

4 - Robert Baratheon - Great warrior, great carouser, terrible ruler. He never really wanted the job, yet let himself get trapped in it. A bad husband and father as well, clearly, but his toxic marriage cannot be blamed on him alone. He was a sort of sad man, really. Lyanna was dead, and you get the feeling he really wished he could have been dead too. He resented the hell out of the Lannisters, yet gave them too much power and alienated some of the very people who might have kept them in check, just because they were a buzz-kill. Strange as it seems for a man who supposedly did whatever he wanted, his boldness did not include simply exiling his wife to the rock, and taking up with some other woman who was not a deceitful megalomaniac. What was the worst that could have happened if he simply got rid of her one day ? He goes to war with Tywin? Big deal. War was what he was good at, what he needed to feel alive again.

5 - Renly Baratheon - If he had not been so eager to be a king, he would still be alive. He might have made a fair ruler, if it were fair times. The problem is, he was overconfident, liked the trappings of being a king too much, and was lackadaisical about getting to the bloody stuff. He had neither Robert's initiative, nor Stannis' discipline. We never find out what his quality as a warrior was, because he had a vast army which he never unleashed on anything. Really, he was a pretender to the throne, never more than that.

Dishonourable mention - King Cleon of Astapor. When the lady dragon who won you your "kingdom" gives you advice, like "don't start a war when you are unable to fight", best take it.

[Ray Arryn]

Because Joffrey is just a kid and because Robert's an idiot and wiped out an entire Dynasty just because his stupid girlfriend was gone

forgot about a mad king burning some northern lord just because he accused his son of a proven crime?? lol.

And that dinastys claim was all based on fucking dragons ... long GONE now.

...besides that they shame westeros laws by incest.

I´m not sry for the Targs and Robert was a better king than most of his forerunners and obviously better than the bastard after him ...

[Daemon Dagoghlor]

5) Robert I. Richard the Lionheart would be proud. Good soldier, terrible husband, sorry excuse of a father and shit for a king. Robert had a few options after Aerys was killed, but chose to seat himself on the throne probably thinking that it'd be great fun to be the most powerful man in the realm. Unfortunately Robert shirked responsibility his entire life, leaving bastards everywhere and not taking care of them. Even his "true love" Lyanna wasn't particularly fond of him. He thought only about himself, blaming his problems on his wife and her family when, as king, he could have done whatever he wanted. He appointed good hands, but ignored their advice when it suited him and actively undermined their efforts to improve the court.

4) Aerys II. I'm loathe to put Aerys on this list because unlike most of the terrible kings Westeros has had his actions were somewhat beyond his control. Putting aside the massive PTSD from his time in captivity, Aerys probably started out with some kind of mental disorder which eventually caused his extreme paranoia. He started out as a good king, appointing Tywin as hand and putting people like Jon Connington in positions of influence but he degraded greatly as his rule went on. His cruelty and malice was a result of emotional instability, not simply a failure as a human being.

3) Baelor I. If he wanted to be super pious and become a septon he could have simply passed the crown on to his heir. Whoever became king after him might have even named him the High Septon. Instead he let the realm fester and rot because he was too busy praying and fasting to care. His actions are inherently selfish because if he really wanted to be a symbol for godliness he could have devoted himself to bettering the realm.

2) Aegon IV. A fat slob who screwed anything with tits and a pulse. Executed one of his Kingsguard just for sleeping with one of his many mistresses, and thereby causing the death of the finest knight in the history of Westeros. Gave the sword which had been wielded by EVERY Targaryen King EVER to his bastard son, but didn't specify if he actually wanted him to be king or if he wanted his weak trueborn son to be king. On his deathbed he legitimized all of his bastards and placed them in the line of succession. You know cause, fuck it why not?

1) Joffrey. I'm hesitant to even refer to him as a king since he had even less claim than his father, but he sat on the throne and was called king so whatever. Definitely would have been worse than Mad King Aerys. Whereas Aerys was paranoid and emotionally unstable, Joffrey was just a vicious little fuck who enjoyed hurting people cause it made him feel like a big man.

[Eating My Wings]

1. Harren the Black - Pillaged his kingdom and enslaved his people, making Aegon I. look like a savior.
   
2. Aegon IV. - Not only he proved himself to be a failure as a ruler, his poor judgement directly led to the civil war.
   
3. Joffrey I. - A spoiled brat should not sit on the throne.
   
4. Aerys II. - Multiple innocent people died and the civil war started as a result of his antics.
   
5. Aegon II. - Went against the will of his late father and waged the war against his older sister for no other reason than his ambition.
   

[Myrcella]

Jon Arryn held peace in the realm for almost 17 years while Robert in his next year of being Jon Arryn-less already started sparcking a war... Lyanna yes was his bethroyhed and Dat and Dat but you don't just end a line of good kings this way.

If any Baratheon's to be blamed for the war, it's Joffrey. He's the one who created all the tension between Stark and Lannister.

Aye he's a bad King, but you can't put him above Joffrey or Cersei. Cersei managed to make House Lannister's situation worse immediately after Tywin died, almost breaking the Tyrell alliance.

And by what means were the Targaryens a good line of Kings? Aegon IV, Aerys II, and Daeron I are quite the most incompetent kings. Aerys killed Ned's brother and father after torturing them, and attempted to kill him and Ned too. It was a kill-him-before-he-kills-me situation. Aerys had to be killed, and Rhaegar was unfortunate enough to be thought of kidnapping (and raping) Lyanna.

About Rhaenys and Aegon. We don't know if Robert would have done it himself. Jon and Ned would probably have persuaded him against killing them.

[Brandon Martell]

If any Baratheon's to be blamed for the war, it's Joffrey. He's the one who created all the tension between Stark and Lannister.

I'd blame Littlefinger more than Joffrey :D

After all, who killed Jon Arryn, sparked a conflict between the Starks and Lannisters, escalated it even further, and finally betrayed Ned so the unhonorable side that he can profit from wins?

But yeah I suppose Joffrey is to blame partially. He did try to kill Bran and killed Ned.

[Daniel Dario]

1. Aerys II

He managed what all previous generations of great, feeble, able, ignorant, grand or cruel Targaryens never did: to lose the Iron Throne to a different House. The amount of ineptitude, paranoia and cruelty that led to this are hard to describe.

He shunned those working for the realm and feared betrayal by everyone leading him to consider the eradication of King's Landing and its inhabitants by means of wildfire after his insanity sparked a rebellion. It wasn't hard to maintain the peace, but he managed to screw it all up. It can hardly get any worse than this.

Oh, and of course he savagely raped and abused his wife too.

2. Cersei

The queen regent should be considered amongst the worst Kings as he is the de facto ruler for large parts of ASOIAF. Her general behaviour and demeanor need not to be commented but her pride had terrible consequences for the realm. She was oftentimes to weak to control her devil-spawn of a son, leading to yet another rebellion. As a ruler her decisions are completely baffling and lack any sort of foresight and are only viewed in terms of short-time advantages for herself. Her jealousy and disrespect of others lead to an isolation from all sorts of proper council. Her idiotic ideas to refuse paying the Iron Bank's loans and reinstatement of the Faith's milita stand out and may yet come to haun her, well deservedly.

3. Joffrey I

Complete lack of self-control and sense combined with a propensity to violence, torture and cruelty made sure that Joffrey would be remembered as one of the worst King's in recorded history. In the end it was his decision that forced the North to rebel and cost the lives of many. Simply because he enjoyed seeing Sansa suffer and killing people.

He was bound to end up as Aerys III but was lucky to be killed relatively early before doing even worse than he already did.

The only positive thing to be said about him is that large amounts of his faults are down to Cersei's failures as a mother. She never bothered to control, punish or educate her cub after first signs of his cruelty. She wanted a lion. She got an untamed lion.

4. Aegon The Unworthy

He had a favorite son and wanted to be succeeded by him. Unfortunately he was a bastard.

Aegon should have known the consequences of his actions would be a war amongst his sons and their various supporters. The animosity created lasted for many generations and tore the realm apart. With one stroke he doomed thousands.

5. Maegor the Cruel

Well, the name already speaks for itself. Aerys II's predecessor in spririt. He failed to control the Faith(a lesson our number 2 of my list should have taken note of).

[Frey Pie]

Because Joffrey is just a kid and because Robert's an idiot and wiped out an entire Dynasty just because his stupid girlfriend was gone

Think you need to re-read the series. Although your completely right, if i were Robert and my fiancee had been taken and raped, my best friends father and brother murdered, and had a price on both my head and my best friends then i would most certainly have bowed down to that wise old King and his benevolent son, offering my neck to the axe with a smile on my face.

Top five worst-

Maegor the Cruel

Joffrey

Balon the Idiot

Aerys the Second

Harren the Black

All in no particular order

[Rheagar Prime]

1. Joffery- cunt, impotent, whiner, momma's boy etc, etc guy has to be the worse king ever put the realm in a state where it will take decades to recover.

2. Aegon IV- did nothing but made some cool and badass children and indirectly stated a civil war that helped cripple the targ dynasty.

3. Aerys II- the guy raped his wife for god sakes and was attempting to kill his grandchildren along with his subjects in wildfire come on he had to go Rhaegar took too long.

4. Magor/ Aneys- both are tied since its both their faults the faith uprising too so long to be quelled even with balerion still alive at the time.

5. Daeron i- One thing to conquer a kingdom but to lose it just as quick along with your life is just really sad.

noteable mentions Robert I, Balon GreyJoy, Renly, Robb stark,

[Brandon Martell]

noteable mentions Robert I, Balon GreyJoy, Renly, Robb stark,

Robb Stark was a great king. He did just one fatal mistake, but he was still a great king nonetheless.

Renly didn't live long enough to be a bad king, to be fair.

[ab aeterno]

Out of the recent kings only:

1) Joffrey: Needs no explanation.

2) Balon Greyjoy: Started two stupid wars for no good reason, authorized intentional reaving/raping and pillaging by his men.

3) Aerys: Yes, he was mad, burned people alive for his own enjoyment, etc. but he only seems to have precipitated one war and started none (IIRC?) and some of the smallfolk around KL still think he was a better king than Robert or anyone who came afterwards. The amount of support he retained in the war indicates he might not have been entirely bad.

4) Robert: Not bad guy, just irresponsible, a bad king and a man who wanted to be loved.

5) Renly: All style, no substance, was prepared to kill thousands of people because he didn't like his brother. Pretty arrogant.

Honorable mentions: Everyone in Astapor; (the Cleons and King Cutthroat)

[A Dance With Daario]

Do you actually think Robert and Ned were unjustified in their rebellion??? - loon lord

brandon, instead of asking anyone for conformation if it even happened (he was in river-run and likely heard from rumor) rode up to the capitol and called for the kings sons head, pretty stupid if you asked me.

and then there's robert, who fought a war where tens of thousands died just because his betrothed chose a different man over him, largely because of something that was his fault.

and if he truly cared for lyanna and thought that raegar the "rapist" had raped her, then why did he wear out an entire whorehouse halfway through the war he claimed was for her honor ?

Was it entirely there fault, no ... were they partiality to blame ... yes.

[The Great Walrus]

5. Robert Baratheon, let the Lannisters take over while he drank, whored, and hunted his way into an early grave.

4. Balon Greyjoy, an old bitter fool who thought that one kingdom could defeat the other six combined.

3. Joffrey Hill, a sadistic, weak, and cowardly excuse for a man who's only saving grace was that he died before he could do any real damage.

2. Aerys II, an insane and paranoid wreck who lost the Iron Throne.

1. Aegon IV, fucked anything with a pair of teats, and caused five rebellions that bled the Seven Kingdoms for over 50 years.

[ab aeterno]

5. Robert Baratheon, let the Lannisters take over while he drank, whored, and hunted his way into an early grave.

4. Balon Greyjoy, an old bitter fool who thought that one kingdom could defeat the other six combined.

3. Joffrey Hill, a sadistic, weak, and cowardly excuse for a man who's only saving grace was that he died before he could do any real damage.

2. Aerys II, an insane and paranoid wreck who lost the Iron Throne.

1. Aegon IV, fucked anything with a pair of teats, and caused five rebellions that bled the Seven Kingdoms for over 50 years.

Walrus! You didn't put Stannis in this list! :grouphug:

Also, E-Ro stole your line in Confessions...

I feel that I maybe should have added more Targs to my list, and some Starks, in fact. (Historical Starks)

[The Great Walrus]

Walrus! You didn't put Stannis in this list! :grouphug:

Why would I? He has the potential to be a great king, if he survives the Others, that is...

Also, what line did he steal?

[ab aeterno]

He has the potential to be a great king, if he survives the Others, that is...

:agree:

[E-Ro]

Also, E-Ro stole your line in Confessions...

Really, you told on me? Im going to tell stannis he is not your favorite character :P

[The Great Walrus]

Really, you told on me? Im going to tell stannis he is not your favorite character :P

I already know that E-Ro...