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
Game of Thrones is well-known for its Grey-and-Gray Morality, with most characters having at least some sympathetic traits or redeeming qualities. However, Westeros being the Crapsack World that it is, there are still many terrible people in the series who exist only to be despised by the audience.
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Introduced in Season 1
- Viserys Targaryen is arguably the very first Hate Sink in the Game of Thrones world. He only appears for the first six episodes of Season 1, but his stupidity, arrogance, and overall horrible treatment of Daenerys in that time make his inevitable Karmic Death all the more satisfying. Threatening his unborn nephew is when he crosses the Moral Event Horizon and said Karmic Death comes very quickly after.
- King Joffrey Baratheon, who ensures that everyone hates his guts. He combines the worst traits of both his mother Cersei Lannister (cruelty, unpleasantness, and an obsession with power) and his supposed father Robert Baratheon (sexism, love of violence, and disinterest in any aspects of being king outside of getting everything he wants). He was a monster in the books as well, but the show version amplifies his sadistic, stupid, and cowardly behavior, while adding in new crimes, like ordering the purge of Robert's bastards, including babies, and threatening to execute his own mother. In-Universe the only person to love him is Cersei, and even she eventually comes to admit he's a monster. Even in his final episode where he dies a horrific and painful death from poison, he spends much of the episode engaging in Kick the Dog moments and spends most of his last few minutes bullying his uncle, a fan-favorite character, as if to specifically prime audiences for a cathartic release once Joffrey begins choking. George R. R. Martin would personally congratulate Jack Gleeson for his skill at achieving this status for Joffrey while also stating that he kinda pities Gleeson for being forced to do such nasty stuff on screen.
- Ser Gregor Clegane, aka “The Mountain that Rides,” is by far the most psychotic and animalistic of the Lannisters’ supporters. Having burned his brother’s face for playing with one of his toys, the Mountain is known for his petty cruelty above all. This has not changed in the present, where he kills a man who jousts against him in a tournament and then attempts to murder Loras Tyrell after Loras unhorses him. In his next appearance, he has several prisoners at Harrenhal tortured before exterminating all of the prisoners once it becomes obvious that Harrenhal is no longer defensible. In season 4, Prince Oberyn Martell challenges him to a Trial by Combat for raping and killing his sister and killing her children, which the Mountain gleefully admits to as he crushes Oberyn’s skull. While seeing him kill his brother Sandor might not be fun for some, it is incredibly satisfying to see Sandor get the last laugh by way of a fall into the fire in one of the high points of Season 8.
- Lysa Arryn, Jon Arryn's widow and sister to Catelyn Stark. She's introduced fawning over her son in a very creepy and unhealthy way and sending hundreds of people to their deaths through the Moon Door. She doesn't get involved in combat herself, but she's perfectly happy to send a knight in full armor up against the unarmed and small-of-stature Tyrion. Though at first, it seems as if her behaviour is explained by her being driven insane with grief over her husband's death, it later turns out that she had him killed herself to help Littlefinger start the War of the Five Kings. She also tries to murder her own niece out of petty jealousy when she sees Littlefinger kiss her, and shows zero guilt for indirectly causing the murder of her sister and nephew. The only people not cheering when Littlefinger kills her are those who thought getting thrown thousands of feet to her death wasn't harsh enough.
- Pycelle was the Grand Maester of King's Landing and a particularly slimy member of the Small Council. In contrast to his more ambitious and/or heroic counterparts such as Littlefinger, Varys and Kevan Lannister, Pycelle is nothing more than a sycophantic toad willing to backstab or bootlick anyone in his path all so he could live a little bit longer to enjoy all the comforts his position provides him, and that's exactly how he managed to remain in his position for so long despite his unpopularity. A professional Yes-Man par excellence, Pycelle frequently torments Tyrion for his dwarf status despite his habit of sucking up to the rest of the Lannisters (particularly Tywin and Cersei). In addition, Pycelle abuses his position in court by groping and harassing prostitutes despite claiming to be a "man of virtue", and every scene that involves him only leaves the audience further in disgust. Although being stabbed to death by a bunch of kids on the orders of a Mad Scientist isn't exactly the most pleasant way to go, it definitely didn't hurt to watch when the person getting the knives punched through his stomach is Pycelle.
- Ser Meryn Trant, a knight of the Kingsguard, is a representation of the worst that could come out of the sworn brotherhood, as well as the embodiment of what any knight, much less a Kingsguard, should not be. Although beginning the series as a Professional Butt-Kisser towards Joffrey and Cersei, he lacks any sympathetic quality of his book counterpart and every scene gives the viewers a reason to despise him further. During Sansa's time as a hostage of the Lannisters, Trant frequently beats her in front of the whole court, and refuses to rescue her from starving peasants during the riot in King's Landing, claiming that he "only takes orders from the king". Over time, we get to learn that obeying orders is more or less an excuse, as Meryn is simply a sadistic pedophile who takes pleasure in beating and raping underaged girls. It also doubles in the fact that he is a Dirty Coward who is unable to fight back to those who are capable of beating him.
- Janos Slynt, the arrogant and corrupt commander of the city watch. He not only sold Ned Stark out to the Lannisters, not only led a massacre that resulted in the deaths of most of Robert Baratheon’s illegitimate children, but he also coldly murdered one of said illegitimate children in front of his own mother. This results in a disgusted Tyrion Lannister stripping him of his ill-gotten titles and sending him away to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. Determined to cash in that Karma Houdini Warranty however, Slynt returns in subsequent seasons as an Obstructive Bureaucrat enemy to Jon Snow, whose father Slynt betrayed in Season 1. When the Wildlings attack the Wall near the end of Season 4, Slynt runs and hides while every other member of the Night's Watch proves their mettle. Finally, Slynt makes the fatal mistake of defying a newly-appointed Lord Commander Jon's authority by refusing to go to Greyguard and take command there, leading Jon to behead him for insubordination. Few Hate Sinks in this show crumble as pitifully or as satisfyingly as Slynt did before his death.
- The snide and ill-tempered Walder Frey, who betrays and murders most of the Stark faction by violating Sacred Hospitality, which his backers are perfectly content to let him take the blame for and thereby become also an In-Universe example of this trope. His final episode (in which he thankfully dies finally), shows still that he is nothing but a psychopath as he gleefully admits that all his enemies are defeated. He also admits that Riverrun originally belongs to the Tullys, and yet is still satisfied he now has it. Well aware of how not just Walder, but his entire family, fall into this, Season 7 opens with Arya massacring the entire Frey line via poisoned feast after killing Walder personally in the last season finale, creating one of the most cathartic death scenes in the entire show.
Introduced in Season 2
- Balon Greyjoy is the bigoted, spiteful, and uncharismatic patriarch of House Greyjoy, and is indirectly responsible for turning Theon's life into a living hell. When faced with the latter, he doesn't give a shit because his son is no longer capable of siring children. Even his Pet the Dog moments with Yara find themselves subverted over time, going as far as disinheriting her for "disobeying his orders", which allows the audience to learn that Yara, like Theon, is simply another tool in their father's plans. Even when Balon died, murdered at the hands of his more vicious brother Euron, he did not garner much, if any, sympathy from the viewers.
- Craster is a Wildling who's nominally allied with the Night's Watch but is a truly loathsome and unpleasant individual. He has a harem of multiple wives, many of whom are his daughters, and he keeps them in line with physical abuse. When his wives give birth, he offers baby boys to the White Walkers, and raises the girls so that they can produce more babies. His actions are so horrific that Jon's faith in the Night's Watch is deeply shaken upon learning that Lord-Commander Mormont tolerates Craster out of necessity. No one mourns Craster's death when a disgruntled Night's Watch ranger kills him.
- Polliver, yet another sadistic Lannister goon who submits prisoners of war to constant verbal and physical abuse and uses "The King's Colours" as a license to keep on stealing and raping throughout the Seven Kingdoms even after peacetime comes. It should be noted that a disturbing number of his victims consist of young children. Hell, the very first scene he appears in has him killing the wounded Lommy in cold blood rather than carry him. He then snatches Arya's sword Needle from her, makes a dickish comment about it, and takes her and the rest of her group prisoner. In Season 4, he nonchalantly tells Sandor he's an avid supporter of King Joffrey (no surprise there) and tries to rape Arya when a Bar Brawl breaks out between Sandor and his men. No one missed him when Arya took Needle back from him and ran it through his throat.
- Dagmer Cleftjaw. He acts as an Evil Mentor to Theon Greyjoy, manipulates him into betraying the Starks and worst of Theon's actions are actually encouraged by Dagmer and in the case of killing two innocent little boys, committed. Dagmer loses his one potential redeeming quality, his loyalty to Theon and the Greyjoys, and proves to be a Dirty Coward when he sells out Theon to the even more monstrous Ramsay Bolton even after Theon did a "good job" in the eyes of the Ironborn. And he seals it by murdering Maester Luwin just for the fun of it. Thank goodness, that he was flayed alive by Ramsay.
Introduced in Season 3
- Ramsay Bolton is quite possibly the single most vile, depraved, and despicable character in the entire story, even more so than Joffrey, which is one hell of an accomplishment, with not a single redeeming quality to be seen. (While in the books he's much worse, his TV counterpart is more than despicable). Every second he's onscreen is filled with a nightmarish tone about what horrible thing he's going to do next. He tortures, skins, hunts, rapes and psychologically breaks people with absolute glee simply because he enjoys doing it and manages to make the widely-disliked Theon sympathetic simply by subjecting him to the most gruesome torment imaginable. And in the aftermath of the second episode of Season 6, Ramsey unequivocally usurped Joffrey's position as the most despicable character in all of Westeros. Joffrey might have been a "vicious idiot [of] a king", but he never killed his own father and then had his stepmother and newborn brother fed alive to dogs just so he could be in charge. In the end, his death in "The Battle of the Bastards" is well deserved and incredibly cathartic: after being defeated by Jon Snow's wildling army (though not before killing the youngest Stark Rickon right before Jon could save him), Jon gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, and then Sansa delivers a "Reason You Suck" Speech to him and locks him in a cell with his own dogs that have been starved in anticipation of Ramsay feeding Jon to them. They tear Ramsay to pieces, starting with his face.
- Ramsay's lover Myranda is just as psychotic as he is, as she's shown happily going with him on his hunts - getting off on the torture of innocent girls. She also has a personal hand in Theon's torture and eventual castration (she's one of the two women who seduces him first). When Sansa is forced to marry Ramsay, Myranda is revealed to be a Clingy Jealous Girl too and gleefully taunts Sansa about getting raped every night. She's so awful and unsympathetic that it's clear she was created for fans to cheer when Theon stops her from preventing Sansa's escape and throws her to her death off the battlements.
- Kraznys mo Nakloz is a foul-mouthed "Good Master" of Astapor who makes his profit via training and selling the Unsullied. Introduced slicing the nipple of a soldier to demonstrate their lack of pain and complete obedience, Kraznys spends the rest of his screentime constantly deriding Daenerys throughout the auctions, calling her "stupid bitch" and "ignorant Westerosi whore" and telling Jorah Mormont that "he smells of piss", believing that they don't understand Valyrian. After Daenerys reveals her ability to speak Valyrian, Kraznys orders the Unsullied to kill her as he "is their master" before being burned alive by Drogon. A misogynistic, crass xenophobe with no regard for dignity, Kraznys is completely deserving of his Cruel and Unusual Death.
- Razdal mo Eraz and Belicho Paenymion, the men behind the Sons of the Harpy, were two unscrupulous slavemasters aiming to continue the notorious Ghiscari slave culture at whatever cost possible, using anything from blackmail to murder to force Daenerys out of Slaver's Bay. Even after Tyrion negotiated compensation in exchange for the gradual phasing out of slavery over a period of seven years, the two, along with their partner Yezzan zo Qaggaz, promptly turn on Tyrion and order the Sons of the Harpy to continue on with the sackings and mass murder in Meereen anyways. Even after all is lost, Razdal and Belicho prove themselves to be utterly irredeemable when they decide to scapegoat Yezzan to be the executed slave master just to save their own skin, claiming he's "not one of them" due to his lowly birth. Unfortunately for them, Grey Worm was even more disgusted by their cowardice and enthusiasm to throw their own partner under the bus than anything else, and proceeded to slit their throats instead.
Introduced in Season 5
- The Waif of the Faceless Men. She takes an immediate dislike towards Arya the very day she starts her training at the House of Black and White in Braavos. The Waif's time spent with her consists of making her clean corpses, asking various questions, and striking her with a switch/cane when given an insufficient answer. And their "combat training"? It consists of her viciously beating Arya with a staff day after day, even after the poor girl completely lost her vision, taking sadistic glee in what very nearly amounts to outright torture. When Arya regains her sight, and her training is completed, she ultimately can't bring herself to assassinate their latest target, Lady Crane - a kind actress who Arya befriends instead. The Waif is sent to kill her, even managing to stab her in the stomach several times before she escapes and Lady Crane finds her and nurses her back to health. But the moment the Waif becomes pure, irredeemably evil is when she viciously kills Lady Crane and mocks Arya about it as a petty act of spite before attempting to finish what she was sent out to do. The only complaint fans had about her death at Arya's hands was that it wasn't shown.
Introduced in Season 6
- Smalljon Umber betrayed Rickon Stark and Osha and sold them to the Boltons while being well aware of how vile the Boltons were. Reason? He believed that they would help fight against the wildlings, meaning that he valued his racism more than his loyalties. And if that wasn't enough, before that, he committed a Kick the Dog moment by slaughtering yet another Direwolf, Shaggydog. When he happily participated in the Battle of the Bastards on the Bolton side and yelled "Who owns the North?" a few minutes after Ramsay's brutal murder of little Rickon that Umber was watching, his disgusting nature reached its peak. It was very satisfying to see Tormund rip his throat and stab him to death.
- Harald Karstark became head of House Karstark after his father's execution. Unlike his father's motivation of avenging his sons, Harald showed no care for his brothers, allying with the Lannister-affiliated Boltons even though his father wanted nothing to do with the Lannisters. Agreeing with a plan to breach the Night's Watch's neutrality by killing their Lord Commander, Harald also showed little care for his liege lord, standing by while Ramsay Bolton murdered his father, stepmother, and newborn half-brother, then demanded that the Boltons' maester address Ramsay as "Lord Bolton". It's implied that Karstark is also a pedophile. Throughout his brief screen time, Harald Karstark showed himself to be a Professional Butt-Kisser who crossed lines that his father would not, and died an ignominious death.
- Euron Greyjoy is introduced murdering his brother Balon and once he takes the throne of the Iron Islands, Euron intends to murder both his niece and nephew Yara and Theon to keep them from challenging. He later attacks and massacres the fleets of both Yara and the Sand Snakes while cackling like a madman, kills Rhaegal the dragon with the crossbow, and constantly challenges Jaime Lannister, later trying to kill him while gloating about bedding Cersei. Euron was conceived as nothing but a total Smug Snake and is utterly despised for both that and his arrogance.
