Hundreds of characters, including some with fairly important subplots and even a few protagonists, don't make it to the screen because of Pragmatic Adaptation or Adaptation Distillation. Notable examples include:
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Game of Thrones
Tropes A | Tropes B | Tropes C to D | Tropes E to F | Tropes G to K | Tropes L to O | Tropes P to S | Tropes T to Z
- Doran Martell's elder children Arianne and Quentyn are omitted despite being viewpoint protagonists in the novels, as are Quentyn's companions such as Archibald Yronwood and Gerris Drinkwater. While Quentyn is largely tangential to Daenerys, Arianne is the centrepiece of Dorne whose absence completely alters the plotline.
- Several characters in the Ironborn arc:
- Theon's uncle Victarion Greyjoy, the brutal admiral who sails the Iron Fleet to Meereen to seek Daenerys. In the show, his main role of bringing Daenerys a fleet is given to Theon and Yara and his fighting prowess is given to Euron.
- In addition, the other Kingsmoot candidates (Gylbert Farwynd, Dunstan Drumm, and Erik Ironmaker), Theon and Asha's maternal uncle Rodrik Harlaw and his kinsman Harras Harlaw, Asha's lover Qarl the Maid and unwanted suitor Tristifer Botley, and Victarion's Number Two Nute the Barber.
- In Season 2, Aeron Greyjoy was replaced by a nameless Drowned Man and his part of greeting Theon upon his arrival to the Iron Islands is given to Yara. Aeron does appear in Season 6, albeit in a much smaller role than in the books.
- Robb's wife Jeyne Westerling and her family are adapted out in favour of the factionless Canon Foreigner (and Volantene foreigner) Talisa Maegyr.
- The Tyrell sons Willas and Garlan, whose important roles are delegated to Loras or Margaery. Interestingly, their removal wasn't official until Season 3, explaining why Loras becoming a celibate Kingsguard is a threat to the Tyrell legacy in Season 3 but not in Season 2. Their mother Alerie never appears either.
- Among the other Reach natives who don't appear in the show are Margaery's cousins/handmaidens Elinor, Megga, and Alla Tyrell; Olenna's twin bodyguards Arryk and Erryk; Mace's brothers-in-law Jon Fossoway and Paxter Redwyne and Paxter's sons Horas and Hobber (a.k.a. "Horror" and "Slobber"); Garlan's wife Leonette Fossoway; man-at-arms Mark Mullendore (who switches his allegiance from Renly to Stannis to Joffrey); Lady Arwyn Oakheart (mother of the Spared by the Adaptation Kingsguard Arys Oakheart); and Mathis Rowan, who joins the Small Council.
- For the sake of brevity and partly because of Age Lift, Daenerys' grandfather King Jaehaerys II is omitted from the show canon along with his sister Rhaelle, who is King Robert's, Stannis and Renly's paternal grandmother in the books, as she married the Lord of Storm's End, giving birth to Lord Steffon Baratheon.note King Jaehaerys II is not the father of Aerys II; rather, it is King Aegon V, the star of Tales of Dunk and Egg, who is the father of the Mad King and so grandfather to Daenerys, rather than her great-grandfather. From supplementary materials for the series specifically, Prince Duncan "The Small" Targaryen is the only one of Aegon V's children from the books who is confirmed to exist within this continuity — the books have him, Jaehaerys, Daeron, Shaela, and Rhaelle. Aegon does have at least 3 children confirmed in this continuity however (and Daeron is alluded to in one episode, though not named), even though the added-on Aerys and Rhaella would likely be young compared to Duncan (even with the Age Lift).
- Tywin has four younger siblings (Kevan, Tygett, Genna, and Gerion) in the books, each with families of their own, but only Kevan and his eldest son Lancel make it into the show. In particular:
- Genna's son Cleos Frey is replaced by Canon Foreigner Alton Lannister.
- Tygett's Chekhov M.I.A. son Tyrek is adapted out.
- Jaime never meets his aunt Genna or his maternal cousin Daven Lannister at Riverrun.
- Robert's acknowledged bastards Mya Stone (a porter at the Eyrie who befriends Sansa) and Edric Storm (whose role in Stannis' storyline is filled by Gendry).
- The exiled prince Jalabhar Xho and all other characters from the Summer Islands (except Salladhor Saan).
- Davos actually has seven sons in the books: the four eldest die in battle, the fifth serves as Stannis' squire, and the two youngest remain at home with their mother. The show has only one: Matthos.
- Aside from an All There in the Manual cameo and an offhand mention, Sansa's best friend Jeyne Poole does not appear in the series and her key role as Ramsay's bride is given to Sansa instead.
- Daenerys' Meereenese courtiers Reznak, Skahaz, and the Green Grace.
- Her city watch, the Brazen Beasts, don't make an appearance either, though their bronze masks obviously inspired the gold ones worn by the Sons of the Harpy in the show.
- Mance Rayder's inner circle is pared down to just Tormund and a couple extras, eliminating his pregnant wife Dalla (and consequently their son Aemon Battleborn), his sister-in-law Val "the Wilding Princess", and others like Jarl, Harma Dogshead, Varamyr Sixskins, and the Weeper.
- Many characters involved with Cersei's Regency Arc, including her hired swords the brothers Osmund, Osfryd, and Osney Kettleblack (as well as their father Oswell, a crony of Littlefinger), her confidante Taena of Myr, and her new councillors Harys Swyft, Aurane Waters, Orton Merryweather, and Gyles Rosby.
- The Humanoid Abomination known as Coldhands, who features prominently in both Sam and Bran's stories, though his outfit and wight-like characteristics are given to Benjen Stark in "Blood of My Blood".
- Many Northern bannermen such as the vengeful Barbrey Dustin, the twisted Arnolf Karstark and his equally treacherous sons Creagan and Arthor, and the Umber brothers Crowfood and Whoresbane.
- The Mormont women; Dacey, a friend and bodyguard of Robb, Alysanne, who is part of an army marching to oust the Bolton (taken over by younger sister Lyanna in the show), and Jorelle and Lyra Mormont, who are The Ghost even in the books but still ahead of Lyanna in the line of succession.
- The mountain clansmen of Liddle, Norrey, and Wull could well be extinct for all we know, potentially explaing why Ned's party in Dorne counts six rather than seven.
- Robb's quasi-Kingsguard, composed of some 30 heirs to various houses, is never seen. Some members; Torrhen Karstark, Smalljon Umber, Theon Greyjoy appear in different contexts.
- The morbidly obese Wyman Manderly was also this, until he put in a (less obese) appearance in "The Winds of Winter". His elder son Wylis and his family appear to be omitted though, as Wyman's other son Wendel (who was killed at the Red Wedding) was mentioned as his heir.
- The vengeful Lady Stoneheart AKA Catelyn Stark, who takes over the Brotherhood Without Banners after Beric Dondarrion died (he's been Spared by the Adaptation), is nowhere to be found. (Viewers can at least see a similar role in a season of 24.) Stoneheart's role as a resurrected Stark is instead taken over by Jon Snow.
- Shireen's lack-wit Monster Clown Patchface, who speaks accurate prophecies and even unnerves Melisandre.
- The Large Ham Third-Person Person eunuch Strong Belwas, whose role as Daenerys' champion in "Breaker of Chains" and backstory as a gladiator are given to Daario instead.
- Vargo Hoat and his Brave Companions are substituted by a group of Bolton men-at-arms led by Locke. Because the Weasel Soup incident is omitted, Rorge and Biter simply remain in the Lannister army instead of joining the Brave Companions.
- Donal Noye's important roles are divided between Tyrion (giving Jon his first What the Hell, Hero? speech), Alliser Thorne (commanding the defence of Castle Black), and Grenn (holding the gate against Mag the Mighty). The first part is unfortunate because it makes sense for Donal Noye, the common-born smith, to give Jon Snow a stern admonishment about acting entitled towards the other recruits, whereas the same speech coming from Tyrion makes him the Hypocrite.
- The majority of characters in Tyrion's journey through Essos are cut, including Illyrio Mopatis, the new POV character Griff (Actually Jon Connington whose greyscale infection goes to Jorah Mormont instead) and his son (actually Aegon VI Targaryen), the officers of the Golden Company (the company and their leader Harry Strickland show up later under very different circumstances), the red priest Moqorro, the dwarf tumbler Penny, and the mercenary captain Brown Ben Plumm. Aegon VI's war party to Westeros has been essentially merged with Daenerys' as of season 6, with Daenerys doubling as Aegon and Tyrion doubling as Jon Connington, complete with the naming of Tyrion as Hand of the Queen (in the books, Daenerys hasn't even considered going to Westeros, her story currently stuck at the events adapted by the season 5 finale, which has been dubbed the "Meereenese Knot" by GRR Martin).
- Theon's mute squire Wex Pyke, who becomes a Chekhov's Gunman with valuable information on Rickon's whereabouts in the books.
- The Ghost of High Heart and her wide-ranging prophecies and references to the past are omitted. The closest we get is a vague "darkness in you" prophecy from Melisandre to Arya.
- Abel the Bard and his washerwomen are omitted from Winterfell in Season 5, leaving Sansa and Theon to make an impromptu escape instead.
- A cross between this trope and Death by Adaptation.
- Since the Vale arc has been skipped, that leaves out Harrold Hardyng (Sweetrobin's cousin/heir and Sansa's intended fiancé), Nestor Royce (one of Littlefinger's supporters), Myranda Royce (Nestor's daughter and Sansa's friend), Lothor Brune (a knight working for Littlefinger), and Lyn Corbray (a knight who opposes Littlefinger in public, but actually works for him).
- The show makes no mention at all of Sarella Sand, the insatiably curious fourth daughter of Oberyn Martell, who is mentioned regularly in the books even though her on-stage appearance is still slightly ambiguous.
- The show's Brotherhood Without Banners doesn't include The Bard Tom o' Sevens, the former Stark guardsman Harwin, Beric's squire Lord Edric Dayne or one-eyed Jack-Be-Lucky, and The Big Guy Lem Lemoncloak is reduced to a cameo with a completely different personality.
- Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne, whose only role in the books thus far (attacking Myrcella) has been given to Ellaria and the Sand Snakes instead.
- In the books, the Tower of Joy duel was seven facing three. In the show, it's six against two. Word of St. Paul says that the missing Kingsguard was Ser Oswell Whent, but the missing Northman is unknown.From the books .
- Brynden Bloodraven can safely be considered to be omitted from the show, since he himself is never mentioned even as a Posthumous Character, and the Three-eyed Crow is both renamed the Three-eyed Raven and gives no indication in appearance or dialogue that they are the same character, except for the line "a thousand eyes and one" (which are just Meaningless Meaningful Words in the show canon, since he has two good eyes).
- Due to there being a lot of Freys, many of the ones with noticeable roles in the books, such as Ryman, Edwyn, Petyr, Jingebell, Emmon, Aenys, Rhaegar, Jared, Symond, Hosteen, Merrett, Ami, Perwyn and Olyvar, and Big Walder and Little Walder, are cut out.
- Stannis' main supporters in House Florent (minus his wife), most notably Alester Florent, his onetime hand and Sam's maternal grandfather, do not appear. His other supporters, including, but not limited to Richard Horpe, Rolland Storm, Andrew Estermont, and Justin Massey do not appear as well, despite being of note in the books.
- In-universe, the play in "The Door" omits the existence of Stannis (it is made to look like Ned wanted to be king) or Arya (who is actually watching).
- The Giant on the Umber sigil is missing. Only the broken chains it wears remain.
- In Season 4's "Two Swords", Podrick identifies the Dornish houses (such as House Dalt of Lemonwood) who are arriving to King's Landing for Joffrey's wedding and Season 6's Histories and Lore featured House Dayne which is narrated by Ned Stark. However, there is no mention or appearance of other Dornish houses in the show such as House Yronwood, particularly Anders Yronwood, and House Uller, particularly Harmen Uller who is Ellaria's father. As of Season 7, the destruction of House Martell left the leadership of Dorne uncertain.
- Archmaester Marwyn, who is known as "Marwyn the Mage" due to his obsession with magic and is the mentor of Mirri Miza Durr and Qyburn, never appeared in the show.
- Many of the Riverlands nobles, such as Tytos Blackwood, Desmond Grell, Jason and Patrek Mallister, Clement and Marq Piper, Robin Ryger, Utherdyes Wayn, Norbert and Karyl Vance, and Maester Vyman, are absent from the show.
- Several of Tywin's bannermen such as Lyle "Strongboar" Crakehall, Gawen Westerling and his wife Sybell Spicer, their son Reynald and daughter Jeyne (Robb's wife in the books), Rolph Spicer, Flement Brax, and Forley Prester, are omitted from the show.
- The Citadel novices such as Leo Tyrell and Alleras (who is possibly Oberyn's bastard daughter, Sarella) who Sam meet upon arriving at the Citadel never appeared in the show.
- In the show, the Iron Fleet of House Greyjoy hasn't seen action since Stannis destroyed it at Fair Isle. Both Yara and Euron cite rebuilding the Fleet as one of their policy goals. In the novels, Balon had been rebuilding the Fleet well before Theon's return and the Fleet is back to full strength. Apparently, the TV series has been playing this a little loose, as at other points Tyrion says that Yara and Theon brought "the Iron Fleet" to Meereen, etc., but then says they only brought part of it. In the books, strictly speaking the Iron Fleet is the "national" fleet of the Iron Islands sworn directly to their ruler, but each vassal has their own fleets — the TV show just calls any ships from the Iron Islands part of "the Iron Fleet". Either way, it seems that Yara and Euron in the TV version were talking about expanding the Iron Fleet to have even more ships in it.
- In the books, Sam and his brother Dickon have three sisters, with Talla being the only one whose name is mentioned. In the show, Talla is their only sister.
- A lot of Brienne's journey searching for Sansa was cut, which means Ser Hyle Hunt, Nimble Dick Crabb and Septon Meribald are all out too. In addition, Septon Meribald's "Broken Men" speech is reduced to a few lines in a bonus feature
narrated by show original character Brother Ray. - The original Reek, Ramsay's long-time servant and partner in crime (literally; the two regularly engaged in rape and murder together). In the books, following his death Ramsay brainwashed Theon into becoming a Replacement Goldfish for him. In the show, he isn't mentioned, and "Reek" is just a cruel nickname Ramsay comes up with for Theon while he's torturing him.
House of the Dragon
- Whilst he may possibly appear later, Mushroom, the court jester whose testimonies is one of the in-universe sources for Fire & Blood is nowhere to be seen though he is supposed to be present even at the early stages. Mushroom's book purpose was to be a Framing Device, and since that framing device has been cut here, there's no longer much utility for him. There's also the issue of Mushroom being a foul-mouthed, overtly sexual Depraved Dwarf, which would be extremely hard to adapt without getting problematic, especially considering the most prominent spokesperson against stereotypical portrayals of dwarfs onscreen is none other than the franchise's own Peter Dinklage.
- Episode 5 has Mushroom make a Cameo appearance at Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding, but only as a Freeze-Frame Bonus.
- The Great Council of 101 had several differences from the book:
- Viserys was originally chosen due to the fact that he rode Balerion, and also due to his popularity;
- Rhaenys was not a candidate, but her line was, and was considered not only due to her being a Targaryen, but also because both she and her son Laenor were dragonriders; as a matter of fact, Laenor was considered the claimant, being the male heir, and not his mother Rhaenys (this would have made her a Queen Regent), but were denied because Laenor came from a female line of succession; thus, Rhaenyra's later postulation as the heir of Viserys is a direct affront to the decision reached at the council, both as a female successor and the progenitor of a female line;
- A third candidate, Vaegon (surviving son of Jaehaerys), was also considered, but he was a Maester and out of contention; he happened to be the individual who suggested the Council to be convened in the first place, as he had a conflict of interest;
- There were 14 claimants in total, most of them being bastards, noblemen, and a couple of charlatans.
