This is a listing of members of the Black Wind crew who appear in the Fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. Visit here for the main character index.
For the main Iron Islands entry, see here.
The Black Wind is the longship captained by Asha Greyjoy. The crew is fiercely loyal to Captain Asha, as she says: "My crew would wait on deck for a year if I asked it of them." Notable crew members include Eerl Harlaw, Asha's relative on her mothers side. Qarl the Maid, Asha's lover. And Lorren Longaxe a notorious raider in the Iron Isles
Tropes relating to the Black Wind Crew
- Badass Crew: Everybody on the Black Wind is a skilled warrior and experienced pirate.
- Badass in Distress: A handful of survivors from the Black Wind, plus Tristifar Botley, are taken captive by Stannis' men and imprisoned by Lady Sybelle Glover in Deepwood Motte's dungeons. She later ransoms them to Tycho Nestoris, who needs protection while travelling to meet Stannis. They rejoin Asha after reaching Stannis' army.
- Blood Knight: Cromm, who is said to have never met a woman he loved as much as battle.
- Character Death: Several members of the crew have been slain:
- Hagen the Horn is the first to die when an arrow catches him as he runs down the steps of Deepwood Motte's watchtower, sending him plummeting to the ground.
- Cromm is badly wounded when Asha's forces are defeated while fleeing Deepwood Motte, and he dies in captivity.
- Death Seeker: Asha realizes in A Dance With Dragons that most of her crew has given up on victory, and instead are simply hoping for a good death in battle.
- No Name Given: Hagen's red-headed daughter, who turns out to be a competent Action Girl even when fighting naked.
- Red Shirt Army: Many of them are killed when Stannis Baratheon and his Northern mountain clan allies retake Deepwood Motte.
- True Companions: Asha and her crew are very loyal to each other and are good friends.
- Undying Loyalty: According to Asha, half of them love her like a daughter while the others want to fuck her, but they would all die for her.
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Asha Greyjoy*
Princess Asha Greyjoy
The Kraken's Daughter
- *Catches an axe* "This is my husband -" * dranodagger* " - and this is my suckling babe!"
Balon's third child and only daughter, she is an accomplished raider. A strong-willed and independent lady, Asha is very ambitious and often enjoys teasing her younger brother, Theon. Popular with the crew of the ship she captains but resents the unwillingness of most Ironmen to accept a female leader.
- Action Girl: Oh, so very much. But, she's also a deconstruction of the trope. If she weren't one, she'd never get a say in anything important in her life at all. And, as it is, it's pretty dicey: see that unwanted, absentee wedding of hers, for starters. No matter how much Action she piles on, in the Iron Isles, she's still just a Girl.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When she is captured by Stannis in A Dance With Dragons, she wasted no time in submitting to him, without a hint of defiance. Apparently, this was taught by her father: as long as you bend the knee, you can rise up again, sword in hand. If you're dead, well, you have no choice but to stay down.
- All Love Is Unrequited: She shuns her Childhood Friend Romance Tristifer Botley, even though He's All Grown Up—and quite handsome by her own admission—because she's convinced he's too kindhearted for her.
- She has taken as her lover the more violent Qarl the Maid, making her another case of All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Arranged Marriage: To Erik Ironmaker, one of Euron's cronies, without her consent or presence. A seal was used as a stand-in.
- Battle Couple: With Qarl the Maid.
- Benevolent Boss: After Stannis takes over Deepwood Motte and takes out most of her crew, she begs for the lives of the few survivors as well as her own.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Subverted. She acts seductive with Theon only to find out what his plans are and embarrass him.
- The Captain: Of a longship called the Black Wind.
- Casual Kink: She and Qarl enjoy roleplaying, including rape scenarios.
- Character Catchphrase: "Here's my husband (hefts axe) and here's my suckling babe!" (produces dirk from her cleavage) said whenever someone questions her role as an Action Girl in a traditionally patriarchal society.
- Daddy's Girl: The otherwise staunchly traditional Balon wanted her to be his heir.
- Daddy's Little Villain: She certainly fits the letter of this trope, if not the name.
- Deadpan Snarker: Yup, she's Theon's sister, alright — to the point of trolling him. There's no denying the snarky genes they both have.
- The Dragon: To her father.
- Everyone Has Standards: Asha is hardly a good person, but Theon having "Bran and Rickon" killed, Stannis' men burning people alive and pretty much everything Euron does disgusts her. Then she sees what Ramsay Bolton has done to her younger brother and is horrified. The prequel chapter for The Winds of Winter shows that she also tries getting Stannis to spare her brother outright instead of being sacrificed, or at least given a quick death.
- The Gadfly: See her treatment of Theon, her uncles and the ceremonial aspects of the Kingsmoot. However, she's not in it just for amusement value: she either uses it to test others, confirm suspicions, and/or to try showing others the nature of the beast she faces. And, certainly in comparison to her uncle Euron, her trolls are very light-hearted. Mind you, that's not much of a benchmark.
- Hot-Blooded: If given options, she'll go for the action-packed, hands-on one by preference. Even though she never actually leaves her brain at the door by just going with that desire. She's no Blood Knight and will choose to win or get out alive by whatever means necessary over choosing a good fight.
- The Lad-ette: Fights hard, drinks hard, swears hard, and plays hard. She's very much one.
- Lady Swears-a-Lot: OK, she's not quite in the same league as characters like The Hound or Shitmouth. However, her language is tinted towards the color blue far more than is normal for women in the series as a whole.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Among the Ironborn reavers, she treats her captives with dignity and would prefer to ally with the North against the Iron Throne.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: With Theon.
- Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: Although Asha uses plenty of violence too, she is one of the few Ironborn to suggest making peace with the North in exchange of keeping the western shore. Considering winter is coming it's quite a clever move.
- Odd Friendship: She and Alysane Mormont seem to be, if not exactly becoming friends, then certainly forming some bond. And, it's decidedly odd for Krakens and Bears to mix well, even though these two are both Action Girls with a distaste for burning people alive and with Mama Bear tendencies when it comes to family members they care about. Yet, when it comes to Asha's plan to try convincing Stannis to move to execute Theon under a weirwood tree, if he won't spare him outright, well... there's definitely evidence of the hand of somebody who knows far more about Northern traditions than Asha would have known before getting caught. Even with her tendency to value knowledge more than most Ironborn do. Alysane and her could seem to be getting a bit closer than guard and prisoner should, perhaps, be.
- Only Sane Man: To a degree. Aside from a few lords, she's the only one who sees that this uprising is as doomed as the last one and that there's no way the Ironborn can hold the North or gain anything from their conquests. Furthermore she attempts to talk Theon out of trying to rule Winterfell, and in ADWD she becomes one of the few POV characters to think about just how much damage the war has done to the realm.
- Pragmatic Villainy: During the Ironborn's Kingsmoot, Asha's platform was a promise to bring an end to Ironborn's involvement in the war. She made the point that quitting would let them consolidate their gains and allow them to live one the prosperous western shore. On the other hand, keeping up the war, would bring down the wrath of King's Landing and Stannis, which was almost certain to cost them everything they gained; and the North was simply too much land to conquer with too little to gain for their trouble. She almost convinces them, until Euron plays his trump card.
- Pirate Girl: She is a Greyjoy with her own fleet of ships at times. What do you expect?
- Refuge in Audacity: Her behavior at the Kingsmoot. All the other claimants to the throne buy votes by handing out valuable treasure. Asha arrives with chests full of pebbles, pine-cones, and turnips. It's her way of pointing out how pointless raiding the North is for the Ironborn, since those lands aren't exactly wealthy. She also has the brass to do this as a girl, when no woman has ever sat the Seastone Chair. And she almost won.
- Replacement Goldfish: Has taken over Theon's position as Balon's war chief and heir, due to Theon's absence and suspected loyalties to the Starks.
- She Is All Grown Up: Theon, not recognizing her after first coming home in ten years, immediately tries to seduce her. Victarion has a moment of this too, when he thinks Asha is suggesting that she be his queen.
- The Smart Girl: Very appreciative of her uncle, Rodrik Harlaw, who is one of the few Ironmen who puts value in anything resembling "culture". This proves to be bad for her, as a lot of the Ironborn do not appreciate any type of thinking that doesn't involve pillaging.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Played with. As long as she's a capable warrior, her fellow Ironborn are content to let her be. She feels that losing both the Kingsmoot and Deepwood Motte will put an end to this.
- Stepford Smiler: She is implied to be this, in order to fit in as a female leader in the violent, male-dominated Iron Islands society. The first time we see her use the quote about the ax and the dagger, it's awesome. When she starts repeating it, it comes across as a rehearsed defence mechanism.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Feels this way a lot among her fellow Ironborn.
- They Really Do Love Each Other: Her and Theon are shown to be this after a great deal of entirely avoidable and, in Theon's case, REALLY horrific character development.
- Token Good Teammate: Compared to most other Ironborn she falls here.
- Unequal Pairing: With Qarl the Maid, who is the grandson of a thrall. Asha wants to marry him, but is unable to due to his low social status.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Keeps a "suckling babe" (dagger) sheathed between her breasts.
- Warrior Princess: She is a princess of the Ironborn, a culture very much into pillaging. She personally leads crews of raiders although others are less willing to accept the idea of this trope.
- Women Are Wiser: The only Greyjoy who recognizes the futility of their war with the North and the value of peace.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: She will not harm children, and treats her young noble captives extremely well and ensures they receive proper care while held at Ten Towers. This is one of her biggest differences from Theon, who had very little problem with executing, burning, and decapitating two children to pass off as Bran and Rickon just to keep his pride intact. When Asha learns of this, she is absolutely disgusted by his actions.
Qarl the Maid
Qarl the Maid
Asha's lover and second-in-command aboard the Black Wind.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Fights this way alongside Asha when they are ambushed by Northmen while retreating from Deepwood Motte.
- Badass in Distress: He is captured by Stannis and the Northern mountain clans when Asha's forces are defeated.
- Battle Couple: With Asha.
- Betty and Veronica: The "Veronica" to Tristifer Botley's "Betty" for Asha's affection.
- Casual Kink: He and Asha enjoy roleplaying, including rape scenarios.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He is seen very briefly in A Clash of Kings talking with his brother, with later books revealing him to be Asha's lover.
- Ironic Nickname: Is a man and has lots of sex with Asha. He is called "the Maid" to distinguish him from all the other Qarls on the Iron Islands and his total inability to grow a beard.
- Love Triangle: Tristifer Botley is hopelessly in love with Asha. Qarl doesn't even seem to acknowledge him as a rival though.
- Number Two: To Asha.
- Permashave: He is unable to grow any facial hair beyond a soft fuzz that takes a fortnight to come in.
- Pretty Boy: He's clean-shaven and considered attractive, with a well-toned physique.
- Unequal Pairing: He is the grandson of a thrall, while Asha is the princess of the Iron Islands. This prevents them from marrying— much to Asha's disappointment.
Rolfe the Dwarf
Rolfe the Dwarf
Rolfe the Dwarf is one of the crew on Asha Greyjoy's ship, Black Wind.- Giant Mook
- Ironic Nickname: Rolfe the Dwarf, who is one head taller than anybody else on Asha's crew.
- Off with His Head!: Decapitated during the retreat from Deepwood Motte after being sent to scout ahead.
Hagen the Horn's Daughter
Hagen's daughter is the ironborn daughter of Hagen the Horn. She along with her father is one of the crew on Asha Greyjoy's ship Black Wind.
- Action Girl:Hagen's daughter stumbled to her knees, snatched up his sword, stabbed the second man, and then rose again, smeared with blood and mud, her long red hair unbound, and plunged into the fight.
- All Women Are Lustful; Goes after Tris Botley then Six Toed Harl.
- Cute Mute: It's unknown if she can talk.
- Full-Frontal Assault: She fought Northmen naked after sex with Harl.
- Like Father, Like Son: Is a warrior like her father.
- No Name Given: Her given name is unknown.
- The Pilot: Hagen's daughter steers a ship as well as any man.
