A Song of Ice and Fire/Characters/Other Major Houses

House Tully

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Lords of the Riverlands from their fortress of Riverrun. Their current head, Hoster Tully, has three children: the two daughters Catelyn and Lysa, who married Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn, and the son Edmure, who will succeed him when he dies (which is going to be soon; he starts the series on his deathbed). They ally with the North during the War of the Five Kings. Their house words are "Family, Duty, Honor." Their members tend to have fiery red hair and their sigil is a leaping silver trout.

Tropes:

• Badass Grandpa: The Blackfish. Even after surrendering Riverrun to Jaime Lannister, he manages to escape by swimming under the portcullis - raised just below the water level - and then swimming for some miles. In the middle of the frikkin night.
  • His Reason You Suck Speech to Jaime is pretty Badass in itself, if not a bit of a Kick the Dog moment given Jaime's character development over the past few books.
• Butt Monkey: Unfortunately, House Tully's kingdom (the Riverlands) is the main battleground of the civil war. Edmure is the butt-monkey of the Tully family itself.
• The Clan
• Colonel Badass: The Blackfish.
• Comes Great Responsibility
• Everyone Went to School Together: Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish grew up at Riverrun as a ward of Hoster Tully, and as such has had (mis)adventures with all three Tully siblings and even Brandon Stark.
• General Failure: Edmure! Unlike his uncle the Blackfish, he is a hot-headed incompetent who either loses battles or walks his men right into enemy traps. And the one time he wins, it's by haring off to fight a battle on his own initiative, and it ends up seriously screwing with his side's long-term plans. In fairness, he had not been informed of those plans.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Most of the Tullys have red hair and blue eyes and are considered attractive.
• Honor Before Reason
• Insult Backfire: Hoster Tully once cursed his younger brother for being the "Black Goat of the family. Brynden just laughed and wondered whether, the Tully sigil being what it is, he should be considered a black fish instead? And that's how Brynden Tully got his nickname.
• The Lancer: To House Stark in the War of the Five Kings.
• Nice to the Waiter: Edmure Tully, who may have to fight a war out of his castle, nonetheless allows starving refugees to take shelter there. "Because they are my people, and they are afraid". Gemma Frey describes him as "soft of heart and soft of head."
• Pyrrhic Victory: Edmure wins a battle that severely hampers his side's war effort.
• Upperclass Twit: Edmure has some shades of this. He's not a bad person, but his priorities are typically misplaced, leading him to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. (The filling-his-castle-with-refugees thing is dumb because winning a siege typically depends on whether you have more food and less mouths than the enemy. Note that the only two Storming the Castle moments we have ever seen have resulted in the leaders of those two attempts--Robb Stark and Loras Tyrell--taking significant injury.)

House Frey

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Powerful bannermen of House Tully, and Lords of the Crossing. Their seat, the Twins, are the only way to cross a major river, which has made them very rich. Their patriarch is Walder Frey and his progeny are weaselly and scheming just like him, holding intense grudges and high ambition. Although not a traditional "Great" house, they rise in power during the civil war, though they are always disliked amongst their current allies. Lord Walder Frey is over 90, currently on his 8th wife. With over 25 legitimate sons and countless daughters, bastards, and grandchildren, he brings new meaning to the Big Screwed-Up Family trope. Their members tend to have a weaselly appearance and their sigil is two towers.

Tropes:

• The Alcoholic: Merrett Frey.
• Affably Evil: Lame Lothar, who acts courteous and friendly but in actuality planned the Red Wedding
• Animal Stereotypes: Almost all Freys are described as ugly and weaselly. Particularly the male Freys.
• Blatant Lies: The Freys excuse for the Red Wedding. They claim the Starks drew first blood, transformed into werewolves, and the massacre was just an act of self-defense. Most northmen don't buy it, but are powerless to do anything since their relatives are being held as hostages.
• Blood Knight: Black Walder and to a lesser extent Walder Rivers.
• Big Screwed-Up Family: And how!
• The Bully: Merrett Frey apparently bullied the other Kingsguard squires, until...
  • Bullying a Dragon: He tried to bully Jaime Lannister. We never find out exactly what Jaime did to him, but it was apparently such a humiliating beatdown for Merrett that it completely broke his hold over the other kids and turned him into a...
  • Butt Monkey: Merrett Frey ended up as this to just about everyone and was this to the Frey House before getting hanged by Lady Stoneheart.
• The Clan
• Christmas Cake: Tyta Frey, a maid at 29, is one In-Universe.
• Dirty Old Man: Walder Frey. According to the Character Sheet at the end of the fourth book, Walder's current wife is with child. This son will be younger than his own great-grandnieces.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The Red Wedding. The "slight" Robb caused them by marrying someone else was enough to provoke murdering him, most of the men at his side and joining the Lannisters. This action has made them deeply hated across the major Northern houses, most of which also lost people at the massacre.
  • This doesn't even sit well with their new-found southron allies, many of whom universally revile the Freys' breach of Sacred Hospitality.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Walder Frey resents how the other Houses of Westeros look down on the Freys because they are a relatively new House.
  • Emmon Frey, particularly after learning that despite becoming Lord of Riverrun he won't become Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.
• Evil Cripple: "Lame Lothar"
• Face Heel Turn: The whole family does one en masse.
• Grumpy Old Man: Again, Walder Frey, but...
• It Runs in The Family
• Jerkass: an entire family of them
  • In fairness, Olyvar, Alesander, Stevron, Cleos, and Perywn seem to have been alright guys. See Token Good Teammate below.
• Jerkass Victim: Little Walder Frey gets killed by the "Ghost of Winterfell."
• Kids Are Cruel: In A Dance with Dragons, Little Walder is well on his way to becoming a miniature Ramsay Bolton. In the latest Dunk & Egg story, Walder Frey himself was a spoiled little shit as a five-year old.
• Never Live It Down: In-universe, The Red Wedding. The decision to break the laws of Sacred Hospitality, murder their King and side with Tywin Lannister has left them deeply loathed among all the major Northern houses except the Boltons. Even the Frey's new allies express disdain for them. The ony reason they haven't been moved against is they still have hostages. "The North remembers."
  • Walder Frey also suffers from this trope among the Tullys. He arrived to the Battle of the Trident after the rebels had already won. His liege lord, Hoster Tully, nicknamed him the "Late Lord Frey."
• One Steve Limit: Averted, with all the Walders and Waldas in the family. Additionally, the extended family features a bunch of names you've already seen elsewhere (there's Cleos' son Tywin Frey, a Cersei Frey, a Sandor Frey, a Rhaegar Frey and an Aegon Frey, known more popularly as "Jinglebell").
• Really Gets Around: Amerei Frey, who ironically gets betrothed to the devoutly religous Lancel Lannister, whose nickname is "Gatehouse Ami" (as she will raise her portcullis for anyone). Also, it's mentioned that Black Walder has slept with many of the adult women in the Twins, from the wives of his brothers Edwyn and Petyr to his half-cousins Fair Walda and Gatehouse Ami and is rumored to have slept even one of Lord Walder's previous wives.
  • Also Walder Frey himself, who's had eight wives over his 90 years plus has had enough sex with other women to create an army of bastards. Not for nothing is it said that Walder Frey is the only lord who can field an army from his breeches.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Lord Walder
• Shadow Archetype/Foil: To House Tully. Freys also hold "family" above everything else, but they don't give a damn about duty or honor.
• Shout-Out/Meaningful Name: "Frey" is the name of the chief male Norse god of fertility. Yes, that kind of 'fertility'.
  • A Stealth Pun and a spoiler for book 3: Their keep, the Twins, is a set of double towers on opposite sides of the river Trident, and their official title is the Lords of the Crossing.
• The Spymaster: Symond.
• The Starscream: To the Tullys.
• Thicker Than Water: Walder Frey may be callous to his many kids and grandkids, but he doesn't let anyone else give them shit. Robb learned that, fatally. Well, except for the poor half-witted grandson Jinglebell, anyway.
• Token Good Teammate: Perwyn Frey is the only adult, male Frey who is not an asshole. Which is why he was sent away during the Red Wedding. Likewise, Olyvar, Robb's former squire, and Alesander Frey, both also absent from the wedding. Stevron Frey was apparently not a bad person either but he died after being wounded at Oxcross.
• Who's Laughing Now?: They view the Red Wedding as this. Merrett was on the receiving end after Jaime Lannister stopped his bullying when they were both squires.

House Arryn

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Lords of Mountain and Vale, their seat, the Eyrie, is built at the top of a mountaintop so steep that (primitive) elevators are used to ascend to it. Their most recent lord, Jon Arryn, was foster-father to two young boys of other families - Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon. Jon, a Straight Man of the highest caliber, later served as Robert's Hand Of The King until his death prior to the opening of the series. His young trophy wife, Lysa Arryn, has since returned to the Vale with her husband's palsied, pansied little son Robert. Their house words are "As High As Honor" and their sigil a moon and falcon.

Tropes:

• Creepy Uncle: Littlefinger, although he's not technically a family member. Poor Sansa.
• Dirty Coward

Catelyn: Lysa was never brave. When we were girls together, she would run and hide whenever she’d done something wrong. Perhaps she thought our lord father would forget to be wroth with her if he could not find her. It is no different now. She ran from King’s Landing for fear, to the safest place she knows, and she sits on her mountain hoping everyone will forget her.

• Everyone Went to School Together: Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark grew up as fast friends in the Eyrie, with Lord Jon as (essentially) the schoolteacher.
• Heir Club for Men: Jon had two wives before Lysa, but neither was able to provide him with an heir. So he tried to adopt one instead, asking the various houses for spare sons they could loan him--such as Robert and Ned. Finally he took Lysa to wife because of the promise of fertility (she and Littlefinger had surreptitiously conceived a child, which her father Hoster had aborted), and she gave us...
• Ill Boy: Robert Arryn, who is also...
• Kids Are Cruel: "I want to see him fly!"
• Love Makes You Crazy / Mad Love: Lysa is madly in love with Littlefinger, and entirely blind to the fact that she's just another pawn to him.
• My Beloved Smother: Lysa is creepily over-protective of her kid. She breast-feeds him at the age of six.
• Number Two: Jon Arryn was this to Robert as Hand of the King.
• The Obi-Wan: Jon Arryn was a mentor and second father to both Ned and Robert when they were being fostered at the Eyrie.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend / Victorious Childhood Friend: Zig Zagged trope. Littlefinger loved Catelyn, who did not love him back. Lysa loved Littlefinger, who did not love her back, but eventually he came around and married her. Of course, as it turns out, this was just another move in the game to Littlefinger. In fact, he kills her himself... after telling her that he has only ever loved one woman. "Only Cat."

House Tyrell

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The Lords of the Reach from their flowery seat at Highgarden. The Tyrells are a rich and powerful house, and the Reach is the largest of the six southern kingdoms, but their patriarch Mace Tyrell is a fat, greedy buffoon. His eldest son Willas is a bookish guy who was crippled in a tourney; his middle son, Garlan, is a Happily Married Knight in Shining Armor; his youngest son, Loras, the Knight of Flowers, is so hot that Even the Guys Want Him; and his daughter, Margaery, is a very shrewd young lady. Though they started out the series by allying with Renly, they eventually went over to House Lannister after Renly was killed, marrying Margaery to Joffrey. The poor girl's been married to several guys: first Renly Baratheon, then the aforementioned Joffrey, and later Joffrey's brother Tommen. This has made her one of the pawns in the game of thrones... And one of the contenders for Cersei's place as Queen. Something that Cersei takes VERY seriously. Their house words are "Growing Strong" and their sigil a golden rose.

Tropes:

• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Loras Tyrell.
  • Averted by Garlan Tyrell, who's more skilled of a swordsman (but less skilled of a jouster) but not even close to Loras' level of arrogance.
  • Mace Tyrell kinda comes across as this, to the extent that he thinks he's much better in battle than he actually is.
• The Beard: Margaery is perceived, both characters, fandom and Weiss & Benioff, as being this to Renly. There was also an element of Arranged Marriage to it, since their wedding was a political one meant to hold their two houses together. (The real question is whether they ever consummated.)
• Bishounen: Loras Tyrell, the "Knight of Flowers". Fans discussing "The movie cast of your dreams" inevitably nominated Orlando Bloom for this role. In the TV Series, he's portrayed by Finn Jones, who definitely qualifies.
• Cartwright Curse: Margaery's two first husbands are DEEEEEAAAAAD! If the valonqar prophecy is true, then Tommen hasn't got long on this earth either.
• The Chessmaster / Manipulative Bastard: Olenna Tyrell is as manipulative as Varys or Littlefinger (although presumably her influences doesn't stretch as far as theirs do) but almost no one is aware of it.
• Combat Pragmatist: Garlan Tyrell trains in combat against at least three people, since that is more realistic to battle situations. This has made him a much better swordsman than Loras, which the latter himself admits.
• Cool Old Lady: Arguably Olenna Tyrell.
• Deadpan Snarker: Olenna, who gets away with her constant jibes at powerful people partly because she's the grandmother of the queen and partly because of her age. No wonder she's known as "The Queen of Thorns".
• Even the Guys Want Him: Loras again.
• Happily Married: Garlan and his wife, the Lady Leonette Fossoway.
• The High Queen: Deconstructed. While Margaery is quite a bit more savvy than Sansa, lots of her fame as a High Queen comes not from her, but from Olenna's really good PR acts.
• Ho Yay: Loras and Renly; we've been over this.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Loras by reputation; Garlan by personality. Case in point: he's on the very short list of people who have ever been voluntarily kind to Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark (the latter with regards to her King's Landing imprisonment).
• Les Yay: The first time one reads Margaery takes her court girls into bed, a double take is likely. Other characters wonder as well.
• My Girl Is Not a Slut: Margaery claims that she's a virgin despite having been married thrice and widowed twice. It really doesn't go well for her. There's a good chance she's telling the truth too, considering her first husband preferred his brother-in-law, her second was unable to consummate being killed at your own wedding will do that to ya, and her third is a little boy. Her maidenhead is ruptured, but everyone except the idiot who orders her examination is well aware that this is probably the result of her horse-riding.
• Never Mess with Granny: Olenna, who is not called "Queen of Thorns" for no reason. Joffrey learnt that messily.
• Nice Guy: Garlan, who praises Tyrion for singlehandedly keeping King's Landing afloat, and even rebukes Joffrey for publicly humiliating him. He also reassures Sansa during her forced marriage to Tyrion that her husband is a better man than his relatives, and could be good for her. Garlan's wife also seem to fit the bill, as does Willas by reputation - Willas spared his brother from an embarrassing nickname by naming him 'Garlan the Gallant'.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Olenna says what she wants, when she wants to.
• Stage Dad: Lord Mace pushed Willas into entering a tourney he wasn't ready for. Between this, the Red Viper and sheer fate, Willas became crippled. (To Willas's credit, he is reportedly not bitter, and has become pen-pals with Oberyn).
• Too Dumb to Live: The late Lord Luthor Tyrell, Lady Olenna’s husband, who rode his horse off a cliff while hawking. He had been looking up and not paying attention to where his horse was going. After meeting Lady Olenna, Tyrion muses that maybe he did it on purpose.
• Unknown Rival: Cersei is very threatened by Margaery, while Margaery seems oblivious to how much worry she's causing her, and genuinely seems to want to get along with her. Margaery is almost certainly just acting, however, since she is shrewd enough to see straight through Cersei's attempt to get her damned in a trial by combat, and, while scared, doesn't seem all that surprised that Cersei is trying to get her killed.
• Thicker Than Water: The Tyrells stick together and unlike most other major houses they aren't a Big Screwed-Up Family .

House Bolton

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"Aye, but he thought us friends. A common mistake." —Ramsay Bolton

Based in the appropriately named Dreadfort, the Boltons are largely the Token Evil Teammate and Psycho for Hire of House Stark and their most powerful bannermen. They have a morbid practice of skinning their enemies and displaying all their skins in the Dreadfort, a castle on the brinks of the Weeping Water with legendary torture chambers. The "Leech Lord" Roose Bolton is the head of the house, which seems to consist only of him, his bastard son Ramsay, and his overweight wife Fat Walda. During the war, Roose betrays the Starks and arranges the Red Wedding with the Freys, where he murders Robb personally. They have icily pale eyes and their sigil is a red flayed man on a pink field, and their house words (as revealed by GRRM) are, "Our blades are sharp."

Tropes:

• Always Chaotic Evil: To the point that fans asked Martin about the possibility of a Bolton character who wasn't a total psycho. The family has a terrible reputation in-universe and out, and while the deceased Domeric was supposedly a decent guy, of the living Boltons, Roose is heavily hinted to be a cold psychopath, Walda was at the very least complicit in "wedding planning", and Ramsay is... well, Ramsay.
• Ascended Meme: In-universe, a common saying among Boltons is "a flayed man holds no secrets."
• Bastard Bastard: Ramsay.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Roose Bolton telling Theon how he fathered Ramsay Snow. He was out fox-hunting when he came across a comely maid who had married without letting him, as her liege lord, invoke his right of "first night". In the end, he says, the fox got away, his favorite horse came up lame and had to be put down, and the woman he raped wasn't nearly as good a lay as he'd hoped, which made for a pretty lousy day in the end.
• Cain and Abel: Domeric & Ramsay. Domeric wanted to befriend Ramsay; Ramsay poisoned him.
• The Chessmaster: Roose Bolton.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: This seems to be the "hat" for the Boltons ("Our Blades Are Sharp", anyone??). Roose at least considers the pros and cons first. Ramsay, on the other hand, will do it because he can't really control himself (see Stupid Evil below).
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: As opposed to Tywin Lannister, nothing is ever said or sung about Roose's ruthlessness, and it makes him really happy. Ramsay, on the other hand...
  • Not to mention that when Bolton remarried, to a daughter of House Frey, the Late Lord Walder offered him his bride's weight in silver as a dowry. Accordingly, Roose grabbed the biggest daughter he could find.
  • Also, ADWD shows that when he is at a feast with Wyman Manderley, Roose only eats from dishes or drinks from pitchers that he has seen Manderley try first. Since just about everyone else considers Manderley a Fat Idiot, which is how he is able to get away with his own schemes, this further emphasises how careful Roose is.
• Diabolus Ex Machina: When Ramsay triumphs at the end of A Clash of Kings, despite all odds being against him. His meteoric rise to power also reeks of this trope. From being a lowly bastard son, all the way to Lord of Winterfell and the next Warden of the North.
  • However, it is quite possible he will fall just as quickly: it is well known in the North that he's a psychopath, and the sobs of his wife who everyone believes is Arya Stark can be heard throughout the castle. Roose might be able to hold it together, but if he slips up, Ramsay will be torn apart. Keep in
    • Or alternatively, Roose will finally decide that Ramsay is more trouble than he's worth, and will kill him himself. The only thing staying his hand, for now, is the taboo of kinslaying.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even Roose seems to be getting fed up, however quietly, with his son by now. Of course he doesn't care that Ramsay is cruel but rather that his son lacks any discretion regarding his cruelty. Especially Ramsay's actions toward Fake Arya, who is the key to maintaining Bolton control over the North.
• Flaying Alive: Their traditional execution method. Roose apparently does it as a punishment, while Ramsay does it for fun.
• For the Evulz: Ramsay's motivation for torturing people.
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Roose has creepy "pale" eyes. When casually discussing the moment a woman he raped came to him claiming she'd bore his bastard child, Roose admitted the moment he saw those same eyes staring back at him, he accepted Ramsay was his son.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: One of Ramsay's "hobbies". It should be noted this trope is in name only: he hunts naked, terrified, exhausted women, and he has the help of a pack of dogs. Sounds fair, right?
• Idiot Ball: Ramsay can't stop mistreating people he needs, such as the fake Arya, who is necessary to win him the North. This does nothing for the relations with the other houses, as Lady Dustin and his father point out. Justified, as he is a Serial Killer, so being able to keep his sadistic impulses in check is obviously not his strong point.
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Their ancestral home is called "The Dreadfort".
• In That Order: One of Ramsay's favourite past times is to strip women naked, turn them out into the woods, give them a headstart, then hunt them down with his hounds and rape them. If they put up a fight and give him some entertainment, he'll cut their throats before he flays them and names one of his newborn bitches after the victim. If they don't, he does it the other way round.
• Karma Houdini: Roose is now the most powerful man in the North.
  • However, we learn in A Dance with Dragons that this may not last: most of the Northern houses allied to him hate his guts for what he did to the Starks, and for whatever Ramsay's doing to "Arya" that's making her sobs audible throughout the entire castle, and may very well turn on him if he shows any sign of weakness.
  • Ramsay being alive and heir to Winterfell also counts. Especially if you believe his final raven to Jon.
• Manipulative Bastard: Roose is certainly very good at this, and Ramsay plays Theon like a harp while he's in disguise. A crucial difference is that Ramsay's sadistic psychopathic tendencies make him impulsive and prone to shooting himself in the foot. Roose has no such weakness.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Roose pulls this on Jaime and Brienne at Harrenhall. With the former, Roose is trying to make absolutely sure that Jaime will make it clear to his father that Roose was not responsible for the loss of his hand. With the latter, he is simply providing a nice meal and a courteous welcome to Harrenhall before telling her that he's leaving her to the the Bloody Mummers.
• Not So Different: The fact that they're just as monstrous as Gregor Clegane, and begin the war on the side of the protagonists, indicates that there are no purely good guys in this series.
• Obviously Evil: They live in a place called The Dreadfort. Their sigil is a flayed man. What about that says "trustworthy"? Although Ramsay's... weird tendencies at least seem to be an open secret in the North. Although they do start out on the "good" side.
• Pragmatic Villainy: One of Roose's catchphrases is " A peaceful land, a quiet people."
• Pet the Dog: Subverted, with an ironic twist; if a woman gives Ramsay enough... sport, he'll name a bitch after her.
  • Ramsay's relationship with Reek might also give off this vibe; while he was quite willing to let the real Reek get killed in his place, the lengths to which he goes to recreate Reek in Theon might suggest something beyond simple sadism, degradation and domination. Whether Ramsay is capable of affection on some level, or whether it's just some disturbing obsession he has (one of several) is difficult to know.
  • Also, Roose is quite fond of Fat Walda. He also did seem to love his legitimate son Domeric, and tried to warn him that riding off to go make friends with his psycho half-brother was a bad idea.
  • Ramsay's attitude towards his little Frey squires qualifies. He seems terribly incensed when Little Walder is murdered, and offers to flay whoever was responsible.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Their colors are pink and red, the colors of a flayed man.
• The Rival: To House Stark, in times past. House Bolton was House Stark's chief competitor for supremacy in the North but the Starks eventually won out and made the Boltons their vassals. Now House Bolton rules the North.
• The Sociopath: Ramsay is a full-blown serial killing psychopath, but Roose's much greater degree of pragmatism and self-control combined with his total lack of conscience suggest he might be more of a sociopath.
• Soft Spoken Sadist: Roose is always very polite and speaks softly to the point people have to strain to hear him- but they always listen, since people know not to cross him. Theon/Reek remembers in ADWD that he used to sneer at Roose for his quiet voice, and berates himself for his stupidity in not noticing this fact - it is heavily hinted that, as bad as Ramsay is, Roose is so much worse!
• The Stoic: Roose Bolton never raises his voice, forcing others to shut up and listen, and always acts calm and cool.
• Straight Edge Evil: The "evil" part should be obvious by now, but Roose Bolton also has himself regularly bled by leeches because he believes it cleanses his system and removes bad humors. He drinks hippocras rather than wine because it improves digestion and eats prunes for much the same reason. All told, he's the closest thing the setting has to a health nut.
• Stupid Evil: Ramsay is very much this, fully indulging his sadistic urges and not caring about the effect this has on his House's reputation. Roose does not appreciate this.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else: Other than his eyes, Roose has an entirely mundane appearance.
• Token Evil Teammate: The house functions as one to the Starks, before their betrayal and rise to power.
• Token Good Teammate: Domeric apparently was this.
• Torture Technician: Seems to be the hat worn by their entire house.
• Tranquil Fury: Difficult to tell with Roose. He never raises his voice or shows actual anger, but on a few occasions he makes it clear that he's displeased, (normally when some potentially disastrous situation has emerged that would make most people furious). Whether he is genuinely angry and is just very good at controlling it, or whether he is incapable of feeling anything stronger than displeasure is currently unknown.
• Uriah Gambit: Roose is fond of this, frequently putting lords he doesn't like on the front lines while staying in the back and keeping his own men in reserve.

House Manderly

"The North Remembers!" —Wyman Manderly

Originally a Southon House located in the Reach, several centuries ago, the Manderlys were driven from their seat and were taken under the protection of House Stark and given a seat at White Harbor. As a result, they are known for Undying Loyalty to the Starks and are the only Andal-descended, Seven-worshiping House in the North. At the time of the series, the head of the House is Wyman Manderly, and he and his family are naturally allies of the Starks, and and lose several members at the hands of the Lannisters and their allies including Wendel Manderly who was murdered at the Red Wedding. Wyman's cousin Donella, widowed Lady of Hornwood, was forcibly married by Ramsay Snow and then left to starve to death. Wyman Manderly is ultimately forced to surrender to the Lannisters in exchange for his son Wylis being released for being a hostage. In A Dance With Dragons, it is revealed that Wyman's surrender is an act, and he's actually plotting with some other Northern lords to restore House Stark and take revenge on the Freys and Boltons.

• Acrofatic: Despite being obese, Wyman is described as being an elegant dancer, and his similarly rotund sons are brave and effective soldiers.
• Alphabetical Theme Naming: Almost all of the current members have names starting with "W".
• Big Fun: Wyman Manderly is introduced as this in A Clash of Kings
  • Fat Bastard: ... And develops into this by A Dance With Dragons while remaining firmly on the side of the "heroes".
• Death Faked for You: In order to "prove" loyalty to the Lannisters, Wyman Manderly appears to have executed Davos when he came to White Harbor as a messenger. In actuality, a random prisoner was executed, and Davos is sent on a mission to bring back Rickon Stark.
• Evil Tastes Good- or more accurately Revenge Tastes Good: The probable explanation for Wyman Manderly's enjoyment of the "Frey Pie".
• Fake Defector
• Foil:
  • The Manderlys seem to be this to the Boltons. The Boltons are known for rebelling against the Starks, whereas the Manderlys are known for Undying Loyalty to them. Roose Bolton is a skinny health nut while Wyman Manderly is a morbidly obese glutton. Given all of the Food Porn in the series, it's obvious who is supposed to be the more sympathetic of the two.
  • While the two live a continent away, Wyman Manderly plays a very similar role in the story as Doran Martel. Both are physical invalids who gain a reputation as appeasers while secretly plotting revenge and the restoration of the House they support. So far though, Wyman has been more successful and open about his motives.
  • In a way, the Manderlys are one for the Blackwoods- An Andal, Seven-worshiping House in the North versus a First Men, Old Gods-worshiping House in the South.
• I Have Many Names: Wyman's titles: Lord of White Harbor, Warden of the White Knife, Shield of the Faith, Defender of the Dispossessed, Lord Marshal of the Mander, Knight of the Order of the Green Hand.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Hearkening back to the Rat Cook, a symbol of the punishment received by those who break Sacred Hospitality, as well as in revenge for Wylis being served Vargo Hoat while a prisoner, Wyman Manderly has three Frey guests killed, though after they had left his protection, and serves them at Ramsay's weddding to their unknowing Frey relatives and Bolton allies. He also eats several slices himself which he enjoys immensely.
• In-Series Nickname: Lord Lamprey and Lord Too-Fat-To-Sit-On-A-Horse for Wyman Manderly.
• Memetic Badass: He has achieved this status after A Dance With Dragons. The fact that everyone underestimates him, and then he manages to have the audacity to feed Frey pies to Ramsay and Roose Bolton without anyone even suspecting, then flaunting it right in their faces by having the song "Rat Cook" playing, and then surviving his throat being cut... all of this contributes to his badassery.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Wyman Manderly remarks that people underestimate him because of his girth, and assume that his surface personality of jolly glutton is all their is to him.
• One-Scene Wonder: Wylla Manderly is one of the series' most popular cameo characters on the basis of a couple of pages.
• Revenge: In addition to restoring House Stark and protecting his family, this is Wyman Manderly's other major motivation, seeking to destroy the Freys and Boltons in revenge for their treachery and family tragedies his family suffered at their hands. In this case, it's not so much a case of "Best Served Cold" as it is one of "Best Served Between Flaky Crust".
• Poisonous Friend: Wyman Manderly is one of these to House Stark, doing many things that the honorable Ned would never do(although if he had, Manderly wouldn't have had to take revenge in the first place).
• Refuge in Audacity: Secretly killing Freys as revenge is a normal reaction for this series. Cooking them into pies and eating them is a whole different ballgame. Cooking them into pies, feeding said pies to kinsmen of the filling, and doing a song request for a folk song about a mad cook who baked a Prince into a pie and served it to a King? Damn, Manderly.
  • And his answer to the murder of a Frey who is just a boy:

"Still, it may have been a blessing. He would have grown up to be a Frey."

• Stuffed Into the Fridge: Donella Manderly, Lady Hornwood.
• Took a Level In Jerkass: Wyman Manderly takes one between A Clash of Kings and A Dance With Dragons, that can be attributed to all of the tragedies his family experienced.
• Ugly Guys Hot Daughter: Seems to be implied, as while the Manderly men are noted as being obese, this description isn't given for the female members, some of whom are stated to be pretty.