Greatest Warriors of Westeros

[Tyrus Martell]

No you're correct, how did I leave Brienne out?! I knew I missed someone extremely obvious. :P

I agree with everything you said/pointed out. Brienne is an absolute beast for winning that melee and taking on two separate groups of Brave Companions (Timeon and Pyg, and Rorge and Biter) and surviving.

I remembered Jamie but I suppose I didn't take into account his achievements during the Whispering Wood. He did indeed cut a bloody swath through Robb's forces and nearly killed him too but for a few meatshields (the Karstark boys and Daryn Hornwood).

For a revised list, I'd go:

1. Barristan Selmy - one of the greatest knight Westeros has ever seen, and he's 61. His past achievements + current bad-assery in the books.

2. Khal Drogo - For leading a Khalasar tens of thousand strong through of his unmistakable killing skill.

3. Syrio Forel - He took down five guards and held his own against a fully-armoured Meryn Trant with a wooden sword..

4. Robert Baratheon - For killing Rhaegar and owning King Aery II's army (and the Greyjoys ten years later).

5. Sandor "The Hound" Clegane - Strong, but more agile and smarter on the field than his brother.

6. Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane - Self-explanatory. Brute strength and surviving the Riverlands campaign.

7. Brienne Tarth - The melee for the Rainbow Guard and taking down several Brave Companions.

8. Jamie Lannister - Another living legend, self-explanatory.

9. Oberyn "Red Viper" Martell - For nearly defeating The Mountain one-on-one, though his use of poison was cheap.

10. Strong Belwas - For killing the Hero of Meereen in single-combat and surviving the fighting pits.

A close 11 and 12:

11. Areo Hotah - For the almost effortless way he killed Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard, a trained knight.\

12. Bronn of the Blackwater - For defeating Ser Vardis Egan and his skills shown during the road to the Eyrie and the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

[Its Not So Littlefinger]

Whoa.... Let's get real and put the deadliest (well ex-deadliest thanks to Longclaw) sword north of the wall on this list..... Not sure who he'd bump, but if we're talking about swordsman in their prime then the halfhand would definitely rank, not to mention he became just as deadly with his other hand, something the Kingslayer has yet to do

[Daniel Snow]

Achilles.....

[Cuttlefish]

To mention the greatest living commanders, I'd say Randyll Tarly and Stannis share the first spot, with the likes of Roose Bolton and Jon Connington following (he learned the lesson from his early defeat).

[Khal Shaggydog]

At least someone finally got Drogo in on this mix. Dude never lost a fight, and his entire culture is about fighting.

Bronn is a great pick (moves like a panther), but we haven't seen him really take on a respected fighter, besides Vardis in the Vale, but he was severely handicapped by the terrain, not fighting with his own sword, and Bronn still got lucky in that one.

No love for Shagga? I agree...haha

For a revised list, I'd go:

1. Barristan Selmy - one of the greatest knight Westeros has ever seen, and he's 61. His past achievements + current bad-assery in the books.

2. Khal Drogo - For leading a Khalasar tens of thousand strong through of his unmistakable killing skill.

3. Syrio Forel - He took down five guards and held his own against a fully-armoured Meryn Trant with a wooden sword..

4. Robert Baratheon - For killing Rhaegar and owning King Aery II's army (and the Greyjoys ten years later).

5. Sandor "The Hound" Clegane - Strong, but more agile and smarter on the field than his brother.

6. Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane - Self-explanatory. Brute strength and surviving the Riverlands campaign.

7. Brienne Tarth - The melee for the Rainbow Guard and taking down several Brave Companions.

8. Jamie Lannister - Another living legend, self-explanatory.

9. Oberyn "Red Viper" Martell - For nearly defeating The Mountain one-on-one, though his use of poison was cheap.

10. Strong Belwas - For killing the Hero of Meereen in single-combat and surviving the fighting pits.

I think this is a great list. Arthur Dayne deserves a shoutout for his historical respect, and I'll throw Mance Rayder in there as well for his thrashing of Jon.

[FindingNeo]

Where is Sam the Slayer? Dude killed a White Walker in one stroke!

[Lady Jenny of Austraatt]

Where is Sam the Slayer? Dude killed a White Walker in one stroke!

Well.... He killed a White Walker, but it doesn't make him a warrior. He calls himself a coward and keeps himself most of the time at an arms length away from trouble/fight.

However, people can change just like that, so who knows?

[ns_gold]

Its definitely Robert.

[Carter209]

Rebellion:

1. Arthur Dayne

2. Barristan Selmy

3. Robert Baratheon

4. Rhaegar Targaryen

5. Gerold Hightower

6. Oswell Whent

7. Lewyn Martell

8. Blackfish Tully

9. Jonothor Darry

10. Jaime Lannister

All of Aerys' Kingsguard were BA's, with the exception of Jaime, who was still pretty good but probably more on par with people like Bronze Yohn Royce, Jason Mallister, and perhaps Jon Connington.

Start of the Series:

1. Barristan Selmy

2. Jaime Lannister

3. Mance Rayder

4. Sandor Clegane

5. Garlan Tyrell

6. Brienne of Tarth

7. Bronze Yohn Royce

8. Loras Tyrell

9. Oberyn Martell

10. Khal Drogo

Obviously, due to the amount of time between the rebellion and the start of the books, older fighters have dropped down while younger fighters have moved up. Barristan and Jaime is pretty close to a coin-flip. Mance(which I don't know how he hasn't been mentioned by now) brought together EVERY wildling clan, defeating people like Tormund and Styr, the first Magnar. The rest are pretty self-explanatory; Garlan is better than Loras, Brienne is as well. Sandor could be anywhere from 3-5, Bronze Yohn, IMO, is pretty good, so I put him in there above Loras, although he could be anywhere from 7-10. Honorable mentions go to the Halfhand, Victarion, Bronn, Jorah, Thoros, and the Greatjon.

Where we stand now:

1. Barristan Selmy

2. Mance Rayder

3. Garlan Tyrell

4. Brienne of Tarth

5. Bronze Yohn Royce

6. Areo Hotah

7. Jon Snow

8. Victarion Greyjoy

9. Balon Swann

10. Bronn

I left off people that are believed to be dead/seriously wounded(Sandor, Loras), so that explains their absence. Jaime finds it difficult to swing a sword now, so that's why he's gone. I'm sure my selection of Jon will not go over well, but the kid has some (raw) talent, as shown during his brief fight will Mance. Swann has distinguished himself on the Blackwater; Victarion now has a magic hand, so probably could be higher. Bronn is up there last just because I don't think he could beat anyone before him, with the exception of Jon, but since he's going to tear shit up soon, I thought he deserved to be there.

[Khal Shaggydog]

Hey - I did mention the King Beyond the Wall! And yea, agree that Jon is also deserving of some kind of mention. He trains like crazy, often fights several people at once, and has seen various styles of combat even though he is still young. Hard to discount the Valyrian Steel as well, when considering how effective of a fighter he is.

[Crannogman Pride]

Andrik the unsmiling is considered the strongest on the Iron Islands. And when Jaime was fighting Brienne, he mentioned that Greatjon Umber and Strongboar Crakehall, and both Cleganes are stronger than he is. Also Gerold Hightower, Robert Baratheon and Arthur Dayne. The latter three are certainly some of the greatest warriors, but the others could just have greater strength.

[SerLeonardoBrown]

The best warrior for me is Jamie Lannister. I mean we all read the Battle of the Whispering Woods, when Robb Stark managed to imprison Jamie Lannister and destroy de siege of Riverrun. Jamie himself killed off several members of Robb's personal guard with no difficulties.

Besides Jamie, I think Ser Bronn of the Blackwater is one of the most skilled warriors in Westeros.

I know Daario Naharis isn't on Westeros but he is quite a skillful warrior as well.

[KingIn7heNor7h]

I'd like to think the Hound...Cold, vicious, and nothing to lose. LOOKOUT!!!

[KingIn7heNor7h]

...

[KingIn7heNor7h]

The best warrior for me is Jamie Lannister. I mean we all read the Battle of the Whispering Woods, when Robb Stark managed to imprison Jamie Lannister and destroy de siege of Riverrun. Jamie himself killed off several members of Robb's personal guard with no difficulties.

Besides Jamie, I think Ser Bronn of the Blackwater is one of the most skilled warriors in Westeros.

I know Daario Naharis isn't on Westeros but he is quite a skillful warrior as well.

I highly doubt that...his reputation was PAID for!!! He would be easily cut to pieces by at least half the list....Kingslayer, please....

[alienarea]

To the best of my knowledge Khal Drogo and Strong Belwas never fought in Westeros but in Essos, so they can't be on the list.

Robert has to be # 1. He killed Rhaegar and took the Iron Throne.

# 2 has to be Ned. He fought against Arthur Dayne and survived, and did not lose against Jaime Lannister 15 years later.

# 3 should be Mance Rayder for all the fights he had to win to become king beyond the wall.

# 4 maybe Areo Hotah.

# 5 Bronn

[Sleeve of Wizard]

I thought this thread was going to be less specific. I was thinking about warriors produced by different "peoples". Like, of course, Wildlings. They may not have the best weaponry but they certainly are fierce. And probably have members longer than any knight.

[Lost Umber]

# 2 has to be Ned. He fought against Arthur Dayne and survived, and did not lose against Jaime Lannister 15 years later.

Sorry but I can't take any 'greatest warrior' list with Ned Stark in it seriously. Even GRRM stated that Brandon was the swordsman of the Stark family, not Ned. Eddard was the better commander.

He fought Dayne 7 vs 3 and admits that he wouldn't have lived if not for Howland Reed.

He never crossed swords with Jaime in the books. Although he was doing pretty good against the Lannister guards until he fell off his horse.

The show made him out to be a much greater swordsman and warrior than he actually was.

[Steinnis]

Prince Oberyn Nymeros Martell, of Dorne.

I also tend to think Rhaegar was a bit overrated, he was a good tourney knight, jousting etc. But that doesn't always translate to swordplay. You hear it countless times throughout, someone is a better lance than sword etc.

Gregor's good for brutalizing peasants, that's about it. He was clearly outworked, outskilled by Oberyn, but Oberyn died because he pushed for a confession.

[Belwas Storm]

1) Arthur Dayne

2) Aemon the Dragon Knight

3) Cregan Stark

4) Brandon Stark

5) Barristan Selmy

6) Robert Baratheon

7) Garlan Tyrell

8) Rhaegar Targaryen

9) Syrio Forel

10) Sandor Clegane