My Top 10 favorite characters from the Song of Ice and Fire saga.

The world of Ice and Fire is a vast universe full of wonderful and well-crafted settings. It is also full of fascinating characters and a plot that never stops growing and evolving.

After reading George R.R Martin's incredible A Song of Ice and Fire saga for the third time, I couldn't help but share what are my 10 favorite characters. This list corresponds only to the first two books: Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings. On another occasion, I will share my Top 10 of the rest of the books as I progress in their reading.

With you, my Top 10 of A Song of Ice and Fire. Enjoy! (drum roll🥁)

10-Littlefinger:

The charming traitor. Thanks to him I understood how complex this world of Ice and Fire is, the endless intrigues and the morals of those in power. A profound connoisseur of the Game of Thrones, Littlefinger outshines many important lords with his shrewdness. It would be interesting to imagine all that he would have achieved had he been born under an important surname.

Despite his endless thirst for power, the character shows signs of humanity, his repressed love for Catelyn, which he later transfers to Sansa, allows us to dream of the image of what would have been a different man if he had found love at the time.

I found the treatment accorded him in the final season of the TV series frivolous and disappointing. This great character deserved a better ending.

Let's wait, then, for the fates that history has in store for her in the next books.

I would love to read a few chapters from his perspective. I don't know if Martin plans to do so (there is still time).

9-Samuel Tarly:

This character is one of the characters that experience the most growth as the story progresses. Again Martin shows off his mastery in creating "secondary characters."

Samuel has his own story, his path. A brilliant young man but a victim of being born in an overly brutal era, where physical strength and prowess with weapons defined the destiny of men. Sam is constantly tormented for not living up to the requirements of the time, in what could be called a case of medieval bullying.

It is worth reflecting on the fate that was conferred on those boys who did not meet the established standards. They usually ended up in monasteries (if they were fortunate enough to afford one) or were relegated to menial tasks. Forever fingered and discarded. Our Samuel suffers from that but does so without losing the candor that characterizes him and which is his superpower.

At the same time thanks to his character, we can enjoy more of Jon Snow's growth. This duo and all the adventures they face, are delightful to read.

8-Robb:

The Young Wolf is the personification of the young medieval prince. On his shoulders weighs the heaviest burden for he is the figure of the North. He has all the characteristics of the princes we are used to reading about in the fantasy genre; good horseman, skilled with weapons, brave.

However, I love how Martin didn't make him an empty shell, instead, he gave us a 15-year-old teenager, loving of his siblings, attentive to his mother's advice, and forced to leave childhood to fight a brutal war.

I won't fast-forward Robb's ending so as not to make spoilers, but with this kind of denouement, Martin tells us that he is playing for keeps and that no one is safe.

7-Davos:

The Onion Knight for me is a pleasure to read. Thanks to his chapters the game opens up and we can get to know Dragonstone and its impetuous storms. We can also know closely Stannis Baratheon, this cold and inflexible lord, but the best King that Westeros could have (and the rightful heir, in my opinion, 😁).

Davos is a man of low birth, without titles but with a sense of honor greater than many of the knights of the Kingsguard. Thanks to his character we learn how humble people see battles for the realm, betting everything they have on the lord they have been given to serve.

Being an experienced sailors, we can travel with him to the seas and rivers of Westeros and learn more about that world. But Davos is not just a servant and a sailor, Martin shows us a father and a friend and...

There are still Davos for quite a while.

The Battle of the Blackwater begins from Davos' perspective in what, for me, is the best-narrated chapter in that book.

6-Bran:

I sometimes confuse Bran's path with Frodo's avatars in LOTR. I feel much more like I'm in a fantasy world reading his chapters, and this is a good thing.

The fact that Martin cripples the character that begins the saga, a charming and real boy, ensured that I couldn't remain impartial to anything that happens to him. Moreover, thanks to Bran and his plot we can look back and learn from the history of Westeros and marvel at its greatness.

There are many vicissitudes that this boy goes through with the small company he gathers (more similarities with LOTR), but his determination to find the object of his mission and those magical abilities that only this Stark possesses, make us trust that he will succeed.

Bran's chapters are addictive and if Martin started his saga for him, it must be for a reason.

Also because of Bran, we enjoy Hodor, the good and faithful giant, a delightful character to read.

5-Daenerys:

The Mother of Dragons, Misa, the Dragon's Blood, Daenerys, Dany. I don't think it's coincidental that we can identify her with so many names because she is all of them. A character destined for greatness, to regain the glory of her house, but at the same time to break the wheel and do things differently.

I think that's why she's the most popular character in the TV series (and also because of Amelia Clarke's naked little body ooohh😍) At first I was lazy to get into her chapters and was even tempted to skip her but as the plot progressed she started to grow and grow.

She is the girl you can fall in love with, also the queen you would follow to the end and the enemy you would want to eliminate first before anyone else. She has it all. I love the morbid curiosity she arouses in all the wretches who notice her, no one seems to be indifferent to this girl with violet eyes and golden hair.

Daenerys has in her arsenal the equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction and, with such power, it remains to be seen what she will do with it. Without spoilers, there is still much to read about Dany.

4-Jon:

The main protagonist of many. Together with Daenerys, they make the Ice and Fire. The bastard of the Starks goes through a real Odyssey North of the Wall, which allows him to grow and gain relevance, honoring his royal blood.

For me, Jon is the hero, the classic hero and his plot supports that he looks good. But he is much more than that, he is a brooding boy eager to show his worth. He is the most Stark of the Starks, due to his temperament and his stoicism, he also has the coolest dire wolf (Ghost). His brothers love them, (except for stupid Sansa, of course)🤬.

From Jon's plot, we see the real danger they face in Westeros: The Others. Even though they are just zombies in a medieval world to me they are very scary and Jon is tailor-made for that challenge. I would have liked to have seen him escape the Wall to help Robb but for Jon, it's all moral code and such nonsense.

I heard they are preparing a new TV series focused entirely on Jon 😲.

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And now, the Top 3

(more drum roll🥁😁)

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3-Arya:

This one is a CHAMPION, it kept me on the edge of the page from the beginning. Arya's adventures are very interesting and could well take up a book just for her. We are constantly worried about what might happen to her and are surprised by the ways she resolves each conflict.

This character grows, transforms, and emerges stronger from every setback. From being a fearless, spoiled little girl to have to go through everything she has been through and will be through... A girl in a brutal medieval world, she is the one who has had to face it all alone, with no knighthood, no sworn brothers, no Three-Eyed Raven. Only her wits and her unwavering desire for revenge. I love how in times of crisis she repeats her vengeful mantra. Brutal.

It is a character that redeems the figure of the woman because the fate of the girls was just to find a good husband and beget offspring. With Arya, we see the warrior woman, a true Amazon. Martin constantly refers to Princess Nymeria, with whom Arya feels identified. This is an interesting detail as she could become that kind of heroine.

Thanks to the fact that Arya spends her time traveling we get to know Westeros and many of the main houses. Reading her chapters is an opportunity to get to know better this wonderful universe and all its inner workings.

Since they plan to make Jon's TV series, they should also make Arya's, it would be much more interesting🤔.

2-Catelyn:

Catelyn is the Mariana Grajales of this world. (Mariana Grajales is a Cuban heroine characterized by the firmness with which she encouraged her children to battle) A character with many nuances, very human. On the one hand, the wife of a great lord knows her duty; she did not marry for love, she married for duty and learned to love Ned because she loves her duty. On the other hand a heroic mother; was constantly forced to choose which children she would part with, and whom to lose. And at the same time a flawed human being, full of fears.

I love the contempt she feels for Jon, he is the son of her husband with another woman, and it could not be otherwise. Here Martin shows us a person of flesh and blood, insecure about the future of their children, Jon is a bastard but in him, more than in anyone else, seems to shine the personality of the Starks, that's why Catelyn does not tolerate his presence.

A tough woman, and strategist, thanks to her we learn the ways of war and the need to make alliances and how to keep them, what to sacrifice, that nothing is free, and most people betray and will betray you. With Catelyn, it is all part of the Game of Thrones and the chess involved.

Lastly, I see Catelyn as a pivot character to appreciate others, Catelyn makes characters like Robb shine because she loves him. Jaime because she hates him and Jon because she despises him.

After Bran, the second chapter starts with Catelyn and I think Martin does this for a reason.

Without a doubt, she deserves this place of honor on this list.

1-Tyrion:

Martin always said this was his favorite, the one he enjoyed writing the most, the one that says things he would have liked to say. Without a doubt, the witty way he gets out of trouble makes you fall in love with him immediately.

The Gnome is the most brilliant character of this whole saga, he compensates for his "disability" with an intelligence sweetened with an extraordinary sarcasm and temper. His chapters started a little later but as soon as he entered the scene he stole my attention. Here Martin shows his mastery to spin situations, and surprises and makes us want to turn the page again and again.

If Jon is the classic hero, Tyrion is the real hero. The person who doubts, envies, swindles, and has his moral flaws. Nothing is black and white with this character, everything has a cost, a consequence.

At the same time, his story is full of frustration, lovelessness, and selfishness. He just wants to be loved and respected and to get that he is willing to be ruthless and hateful. With Tyrion, we also see the discriminatory treatment suffered by those people of different appearances and how difficult it was for them to integrate. He must armor himself with a breastplate to protect his true feelings.

For me, Tyrion is the best Lannister, the best son of his father, the best strategist, and the one who plays the Game of Thrones best. A few more inches taller and nothing would have denied him the glory and recognition he so desperately seeks.

Halla Tyrion! You are a master🙏

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I hope you enjoyed this Top 10 of my favorite characters. I invite you to leave me in the comments if you liked it, agree with me, or even share your own Top 10.

This is one of the most exciting fantasy sagas ever written, so if you haven't read it? Well, what are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading