For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few years – Game Of Thrones is THE most popular show on the box – and deservedly so. Now on its seventh season, audiences the world over have been captivated by its inter weaving story of dragons, white walkers, huge battles, ice covered wastes, and the eternal struggle to rule over the fictional land of Westeros.
To say any more would be fruitless but if you like Lord Of The Rings, Excalibur, Conan The Barbarian plus more than a small smattering of Star Wars all topped off with a serious amount of blood letting, decapitations, disemboweling and copious swearing then Game of Thrones is for you. Those with a more sensitive disposition need not bother.
Most of what makes Thrones so good though are its characters, the majority of which start out as utterly despicable or completely lovable and for the most part stay that way – so just for a bit of fun ive complied my top ten favorites – see below
(FYI Spoilers ahead!)
1.Tyrion Lannister (AKA The Imp).
Played by: Peter Dinklage.
Hampered by his somewhat diminutive stature, affection for the demon drink, prostitutes and being loathed by his all powerful and admittedly horrible family, Tyrion is constantly forced to rely on his wits and cunning. You just cant help but love him – brilliantly played by Peter Dinklage, he gets all the best lines and manages to be in just about every episode so far.
Favorite scenes: Delivering a rousing speech just before the Battle of The Blackwater in Season 2 then killing his hideously smug father (Charles Dance – whilst on the toilet) with a crossbow in season 4.
Status: Still alive.
2. Bron Of The Blackwater
Played by: Jerome Flynn (yes him off Robson and Jerome and Soldier Soldier)
A whoring, wine swilling, oik who’s also a dab hand with a sword. Started out as a small supporting character but now a firm fan favorite – mostly due to some very funny if unrepeatable one liners.
Favorite Scene: The loot train battle in S7 – brings down and almost kills Drogon the dragon with a giant crossbow then in the nick of time saves Jamie Lannister from being roasted alive by said beast.
Status: Still alive
3. Tormund Giantsbane
Played by: Kristofer Hivju
One of the so called Wildings from north of the wall. Initially a baddie but after being set free and pardoned by Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) he’s now properly on the side of right. Completely bonkers character, also a bit of a pervert – all flaming hair, huge beard and mad eyes – making him completely brilliant – if a tad insane.
Favorite Scene: The look on his face when he first claps eyes on a very unimpressed Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and falls madly in love with her, then the utterly hilarious smile he gives her in a later episode that is so funny it has to be seen to be believed
Status: Still alive
4. Ramsay Bolton
Played by: Iwan Rheon
Quite simply – one of the greatest villains in TV history. A psychopath and a sadist of staggering proportions – the list of his evil deeds is legend – skinning enemies alive, stabbing his father to death, castrating Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), feeding his stepmother and her newborn son to the hounds, torturing Sansa Stark, plus numerous others that dont bear thinking about. Brilliantly played by Iwan Rheon – we will simply never see a baddie like this again and God help us all if we do!
Favorite Scene – all of them – but especially when he gets his comeuppance in s6
Status: Dead – deservedly gets eaten alive by his own dogs but not before being given an utter shoeing by Jon Snow at The Battle of The Bastards.
5. Ser Jorah Mormont
Played by: Iain Glen
Disgraced knight of the realm, initially paid to spy on Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) but then falls in love with her from afar and becomes her most trusted and loyal adviser. A very sympathetic, heroic and rather lovely character, who you just cant help rooting for – played with gusto by the very fruity voiced Iain Glen.
Best scene: S5 – The Dance Of Dragons – fights tooth and nail in a massive gladiatorial battle then saves Daenerys from certain death with a well placed spear.
Status: Dead
6. The Dragons (Rhaegal, Drogon and Viserion)
Played by: CGI creations
I always considered that the best screen dragon of all time was Vermithrax Perjorative in Dragonslayer (if you havent seen it do so asap) that was until i saw these three. Giant fire breathing beasts – last of their kind – the so called “children” of Daenerys Targaryen – all are a wonder of visual effects genius, look completely real and elevate GOT to unlimited heights of brilliance whenever they are on the screen – damn terrifying too.
Best Scene: Hard to pick but for me it was Drogon’s nick of time appearance in S5 Dance of Dragons, then the Loot train battle and the huge fight with the white walker army in s7.
Status: 1 Alive, 2 Dead
7. Sandor Clegane (AKA The Hound)
Played by: Rory Mcgann
Horribly disfigured, foul mouthed and very bad tempered former kings body guard. Clegane goes from being initially a really horrible person who kills without mercy to becoming almost likable and extremely sympathetic. Another interesting, well drawn character, superbly played by Rory Mcgann, with subtle, hidden depths that have been slowly drawn out over the course of 7 seasons.
Best Scene: The massive and very bloody tavern scrap in S3
Status: Dead
8. Joffrey Baratheon
Played by: Jack Gleeson
Teenage king of Westeros and a lying, spoilt, sadistic, cowardly bully. The kind of person that deserved a right kicking from every person he ever wronged. Horrible character in fact – but so brilliantly realized by the very talented Jack Gleeson that one simply cant leave him out of this top ten.
Best Scene: Hard to say – for me it was the wedding feast after he weds Margaery Tyrell – behaves appallingly, humiliating his uncle Tyrion but not before suffering death by poisoning – and God did he deserve it!
Status – Very dead
9. Jamie Lannister
Played by: Nicolai Coster Waldau
A very complex character, who starts out as a total swine, who is having an affair with his sister plus mercilessly cripples young Bran Stark by pushing him out of a window. Then in a stroke of very clever plotting becomes a guy you just cant help rooting for – despite the fact that he’s on the side of the villains.
Best Scene: Saving Brienne of Tarth from the bear pit.
Status: Dead
10. Jon Snow
Played by Kit Harrington
The main GOT character and clearly modeled on Luke Skywalker. Yes i know at times hes a bit bland – but he’s completely fearless, hard as a coffin nail, great in a fight and a total classic hero.
Best Scene: For me its in my two favorite GOT episodes – The Watchers on The Wall (S4) and The Battle of The Bastards (s6). He’s in every scene and kicks so much arse with that sword of his that its a joy to watch.
Status: Still alive
There you go then – my top ten favorite Game of Thrones characters. If you havent watched GOT yet then i implore you to do so -admittedly it took Phil Hobden a great deal of effort to get me to stick at it, but im so glad he did as its now become my favorite TV show ever and i cantrecommend it highly enough.
Valar Morgulis!
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The Austin Powers to Phil Hobden’s Dr Evil, it’s fair to say Will spends his life trying to convince Phil that Paul WS Anderson ISNT a bad filmmaker, that The Hobbit movies really are THAT good and, for the most part, Phil is wrong about most things. Which he is.
