Why do people like Drogo?

[Ironkiller]

I don't think that readers who like him accept the norms of a backwards and violent society, I think they simply like him as a character, and for the positive aspects of his character. And he does have positive aspects - he loves his wife, he loves his people, and he protects both. What he did to Viserys was cruel, but I doubt anyone would call it unjustified, for example. In his culture he is the pinnacle of a "good guy" even though by our standards he's still a rapist, murderer, and slaver.

Nailed it. Just because I understand that his culture has different values then mine it doesen't mean I have those values as well.

Honestly, rape seems to be barely a crime in GoT. It's perpetrated so frequently that most of the characters don't give it a second thought. Makes me wonder if things were really like that back in medieval times.

No they weren't, at least in the western society and when noble women were considered. The concept of marital rape didn't exist, tho, and I don't think it exists even today in societies that accept arranged marriage as a norm (like India).

[AchillesReborn]

Its funny how so many girls like him for "protecting Danny" I always thought the worst thing you could do to a women would be to...uhmmmm you know..........rape her? How is he protecting her from himself? LOL

[Cravensbayne]

He wanted to rape, kill, and pillage his way all the way to the Iron Throne.

I don't even understand how Dany fell for him, I mean he entered an agreement to take her as a wife/slave. As much as she thinks she could of manipulated him, I doubt she would of been able to control him. I mean she couldn't do anything to save her brothers life, even if she did hold a grudge she probably still loved him. If he made it to westeros he probably wouldn't of been faithful to her(would have taken a-lot of women to bed).

How do you know he would take other women to bed? He didn't bang any of Dany's handmaidens and he had a bunch of slaves he could have porked. I think Dany did have control over him.

Drogo was being honorable in his own view. He was raised a Dothraki, so he followed their ways and raped and pillaged. That's how the world works. . Would you condemn a young boy for growing up in Nazi Germany and being a racist? It's not the boys fault for growing up in a sick and twisted area.

The bad guy is usually a good guy to someone else...

[RhaenysBee]

I always promise myself that I'll evade threads like this, but I always fail.

People like Drogo because he's awesome (and because Jason Momoa is hot).

And because he loved Daenerys.

[AchillesReborn]

How do you know he would take other women to bed? He didn't bang any of Dany's handmaidens and he had a bunch of slaves he could have porked. I think Dany did have control over him.

Drogo was being honorable in his own view. He was raised a Dothraki, so he followed their ways and raped and pillaged. That's how the world works. . Would you condemn a young boy for growing up in Nazi Germany and being a racist? It's not the boys fault for growing up in a sick and twisted area.

The bad guy is usually a good guy to someone else...

I know this wasn't in the books, but a-lot more people seem to like TV Drogo opposed to Book Drogo, and on the show he said, "I will rape their women".

I also don't beleive the environment makes the person, if this were true how would we evolve(Everything evolves technology, tools, language, etc.)

I would condemn a Nazi for trying to commit genocide on the Jewish people, and being unable to see what his society was doing, was wrong.

I grew up in the ghetto, but I'm not a gang-banger.

[Morienthar]

The How did Dany fall for him question is pretty esay to answer actually....She was 13 and Drogo was a big hunky alpha male older guy...also she didn't really have another choice,it was either make him love her or get raped everyday.

[AchillesReborn]

The How did Dany fall for him question is pretty esay to answer actually....She was 13 and Drogo was a big hunky alpha male older guy...also she didn't really have another choice,it was either make him love her or get raped everyday.

Blaming Danny for her stockholm syndrome may have been cruel, considering it is clear that Drogo is at fault.

But the fact that she continues to love him after she was free of him, confuses me. I guess in the end she forgave him?

Danny is way too nice. =x

[Sir Noone Sword Of The Day]

Drogo was brought up and raised by dothraki culture, he doesn't understand western way's of thinking. Drogo wasn't a 'bad guy' as well, he was a great warrior and led the greatest Khalasar in the world. He loved Dany and wanted to give her the greatest gift he could... Its really just the dothraki culture that you don't seem to like IMO, all dothraki men do what Drogo does. The dothraki are nomads and for us, this is comparable to native americans and aboriginals, whom were perceived as savages when Europeans first encountered them. They are not savages they just live in a completely different style to westerners. The followers of R'hllor burn people alive in hope of favouring their god... Isn't that savage?

In westeros your life is 99.9% of the time dictated from where you come from... Isn't that unfair?

So what I'm trying to say is that their are many flaws in our own society that make us just as savage as Dothraki. The feudal system in the medieval era is where most of our western culture is stemmed from so when we look back on our history we see this brutal and bloody era that we have eventually come to accept as not out of the ordinary so we therefore don't find it savage... Make any sense?

[Greenseer_Wolf]

Drogo was brought up and raised by dothraki culture, he doesn't understand western way's of thinking. Drogo wasn't a 'bad guy' as well, he was a great warrior and led the greatest Khalasar in the world. He loved Dany and wanted to give her the greatest gift he could... Its really just the dothraki culture that you don't seem to like IMO, all dothraki men do what Drogo does. The dothraki are nomads and for us, this is comparable to native americans and aboriginals, whom were perceived as savages when Europeans first encountered them. They are not savages they just live in a completely different style to westerners. The followers of R'hllor burn people alive in hope of favouring their god... Isn't that savage?

In westeros your life is 99.9% of the time dictated from where you come from... Isn't that unfair?

So what I'm trying to say is that their are many flaws in our own society that make us just as savage as Dothraki. The feudal system in the medieval era is where most of our western culture is stemmed from so when we look back on our history we see this brutal and bloody era that we have eventually come to accept as not out of the ordinary so we therefore don't find it savage... Make any sense?

I'm native american and i know the culture but not in full...native americans were not like the dothraki though. maybe they had some similarities, such as being broken into tribes, but they were different. very much.

[Moi Aussi]

People like Drogo because he is badass.

Dany fell for him because he is the hottest man on Essos, Westeros, or any other os.

oh, and he protected her from her abusive bully of a brother, loved her, was faithful to her, helped her develop self-confidence, gave her thoughtful gifts like a beautiful horse and a lion skin, and transformed her overnight from a beggar to a queen.

[thecryptile]

People like Drogo 'cause Jason Momoa is a bad ass

[Lord Freypie]

Agree that Drogo is not bad if you adhere to absolute cultural relativism (now if you adhere to absolute cultural relativism and "people are just a product of their education" idea there is no bad character at all in these books out of 2 or 3 psychos, themselves excusable due to their mental illness).

Now I'm sure anyone from an actual nomad culture would feel insulted if you assimilate Dothraki to them.

Dothraki culture, like other fantasy barbarian cultures, are all but close from real world cultures. They are more based on fantasms about violent savages "civilized" europeans may have had (or the way they were depicted to justify colonization).Fantasy strength-worshiping barbarians concepts are nearly unchanged since the pulps novellas of the 1930, which were very marked by the ideology of their time. For example, you'll certainly find a lot of cultures with fertility dances and ritualized fightings during wedding ceremonies, but will probably have difficulties finding one where they include really mortal combats and rapey real sex between members of the tribe in those feasts, ending with "several death for a good marriage" (let's hope the married make a lot of childs, or there would be some kind of deficit for the tribe). Dothraki are like the opposite extreme of avatar's Na'avi. As much Na'avi are a projection of the fantasms an extremely Rousseauist idealist may have on the good savages, Dothraki are constructed from the worst possible image of the bad ones. And imagining such an ultra-violent and self destructive society can work and allow large khalasar to be gathered is not something I'd call realistic. The rare warrior nomad societies which succeeded to become important forces like Mongols only succeeded because they had strict laws and honor codes to prevent as much possible intestinal fightings (and fell into never ending civil wars when they no longer succeeded to apply them), they were all but promoting inter-tribe killings in every occasion.

Not said to blame Martin for using this kind of culture. I think Martin is voluntarily using cliche barbarians (as well as a cliche slavers societies) as part of his plan to rewrite / divert the codes of fantasy, Globally Dany story is his take on the well known and overly criticized "white saviour" trope, except instead of succeeding to save the evil savages from themselves, she always fail to change the other-ized societies she is confronted to, or only succeeds to make things worse as much she wants to be a good colonizer bringing "civilized" values to those evil barbarians of non-european look. And her story is even more sadly comical when the depiction of the feudal patriarcal western story of Westeros includes nearly as much oppression, rapes, tortures, etc... than the savages societies she wants to amend.

[King of Winters]

Why do I like Drogo? Maybe because he's a total badass! You just have to look at the guy and think your screwed if you mess with him.

[lunadangelo]

Cos he is HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!#

PS: To compare growing up in the projects and Nazi Germany is just a tad silly!

Equally, not all Germans growing up in Nazi Germany were racist. Again a silly assumption to make. I am sorry to say this and really do not mean to offend.

[Nictarion]

Why do I like Drogo? Maybe because he's a total badass! You just have to look at the guy and think your screwed if you mess with him.

I basically said the same thing and I was criticized for not providing a deeper insightful answer. Sometimes we just like characters because they are badass. And there is nothing wrong with that. I like Drogo and Victarion for that reason.

[King of Winters]

I basically said the same thing and I was criticized for not providing a deeper insightful answer. Sometimes we just like characters because they are badass. And there is nothing wrong with that. I like Drogo and Victarion for that reason.

Didn't see your one. And yeah, why do people want other people to explain themselves if they think a character is badass?

[Lord Freypie]

Because him being badass is mentionned since page 2 of this thread, so they may consider more interesting to see other arguements developped ?

(now agree that this discussion may as well have been ended at the first "badass" mention if we are just searching the best answer to thread title)

[Peptalk]

I didn't like him much in the books, he seemed like a savage brute that Dany fell for because of the Stockholm Syndrome. I did love him in the TV show though; I think Jason Momoa brought out something compassionate and gentle about Drogo through his portrayal of him. In the books I felt he was very one dimensional, but in the show it felt like there was much more to him.

[Sun]

Me? Nothing. I like absolutely nothing about Drogo - especially not the way he and his culture are written in the novels, but that's for another thread.

[Nictarion]

Because him being badass is mentionned since page 2 of this thread, so they may consider more interesting to see other arguements developped ?

(now agree that this discussion may as well have been ended at the first "badass" mention if we are just searching the best answer to thread title)

That's why the thread wasn't really necessary. Obviously people that like Drogo are most often just like him cause he is a badass warrior. I don't think anyone would say they approve of his culture or actions.