History ByronicHero / Literature

* Creator/LordByron is the TropeNamer and used this character often (in fact, it is said that Byron himself is one in real life):

** Tyrion Lannister seems to be almost exactly this, sans the good looks. He is an extremely cunning, intelligent guy who will make a supreme politician if only someone gives him the credit he deserves. The tragedy of his life is that in a world of BeautyEqualsGoodness, it's very difficult for him to achieve the power or he longs for, and he's cast aside by his own father [[spoiler: and the woman he loved was horribly taken away from him because she was a commoner]]. Since he sides with his family, the supposed bad guys, he's an AntiVillain whose actions throughout the first part of the series help further the cause of House Lannister, and when he acts ruthless is merely out of pragmatism. He's eventually getting darker and more cynical after [[spoiler: discovering his commoner wife was not a prostitute hired by his brother Jaime for him, and he murdered his father for what he did to her. Since then he has defected his family and he's siding with the Targaryen, following his path of revenge]].
** His older brother Jaime is one as well. He's by reputation the most handsome man in Westeros and one of the most dangerous as well. He starts off presented as rather villainous, brash, cynical, and prone to reckless behavior [[spoiler: such as slaughtering some of Ned's guard in response to his brother Tyrion's kidnapping by Ned's wife]], not to mention his BodyguardBetrayal of King Aerys, which is still frowned upon years after and [[spoiler: his incestuous passion for his twin sister Queen Cersei]]. Then the third book reveals he has his share of emotional baggage which mostly consist of [[spoiler: guilt for the death of Rhaegar's children and having lied about Tyrion's wife being a prostitute]]. After [[spoiler: having lost his sword hand and having met warrior girl Brienne]], he's actively moving to more honorable behavior, though at his own interpretation of the rules.

* Susanna Clarke's ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'': Jonathan Strange ends up as one for a while, although he did have a heroic motive. It was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d with Strange explaining that he picked up some of Lord Byron's style from hanging out with him. (Incidentally, the description of Byron himself is distinctly unimpressed; when Byron deliberately strikes a deep and brooding expression the narration compares it to the look of someone suffering indigestion.)

* The title character of ''Literature/EugeneOnegin'' can be both seen as an example, a parody, and a {{deconstruction}}. While he fits the mold in his cynical, self-destructive nature, he has more than a little of the UpperClassTwit in him and is kind of ineffectual compared to similar characters. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Tatiana, Eugene's love interest, visits his library, understands that he has been {{invok|edTrope}}ng Romantic tropes when dealing with her, and asks herself: "Isn't he a parody?"[[note]]Onegin originates from the character type of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluous_man superfluous man]], which can be seen as the way the Byronic hero developed in Russian literature based on the Russian society of the time.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Sharon Kay Penman's novel gives UsefulNotes/RichardIII a Byronic HistoricalHeroUpgrade, albeit one where his is TheFettered rather than TheUnfettered. Early in his life, the quiet, moral and brooding Richard contrasts with his extroverted older brother UsefulNotes/EdwardIV. His cousin observes that Richard is both a moralist and an idealist, which is a difficult combination. In the novel, he is not the monster of Shakespeare, but if he thinks he is in the right, he will act ruthlessly to protect his family and his honor. He is willing to seize the throne through legal means, but he does not murder his nephews. After losing his wife and son, however, Richard falls into depression and becomes a death seeker, dying tragically and being libeled by his more cowardly enemy, Henry Tudor.

* ''Literature/TheHobbit'': Thorin Oakenshield is a man who broke with his society in order to reclaim what he considered rightfully his, and he cheerfully accepts any hardships associated with this endeavor. He is also a charismatic leader and skilled harpist. However, he is also a prideful man, obsessive about his goals and greedy beyond belief (one of his followers outright states that Thorin will rather sit on a heap of gold and starve than give away a single coin). While he definitely is a hero in every sense, he is, as a human being, a bit of a failure.

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Sharon Kay Penman's novel gives Richard III a Byronic HistoricalHeroUpgrade, albeit one where his is TheFettered rather than TheUnfettered. Early in his life, the quiet, moral and brooding Richard contrasts with his extroverted older brother Edward. His cousin observes that Richard is both a moralist and an idealist, which is a difficult combination. In the novel, he is not the monster of Shakespeare, but if he thinks he is in the right, he will act ruthlessly to protect his family and his honor. He is willing to seize the throne through legal means, but he does not murder his nephews. After losing his wife and son, however, Richard falls into depression and becomes a death seeker, dying tragically and being libeled by his more cowardly enemy, Henry Tudor.

* Creator/MarieCorelli liked Lord Byron and was a friend of his widow Belle. Her best known Byronic hero is probably Theos Alwyn from ''Literature/{{Ardath}}'', a poet who [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Rages Against The Heavens]] and does SmiteMeOMightySmiter in fine style, until he redeems himself through his OrWasItADream adventures and [[LoveRedeems joining with his Twin Flame]], Edris, "God's Maiden".

* Creator/LordByron's semi-autobiographical poem ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'' contains one of the earliest Byronic heroes to be actually named as such.
* Valraven Palindrake in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfMagravandias''. He takes a step into VillainProtagonist territory for a while when he's possessed, but considering how hard he fights against it, he still comes out of it as heroic as the series allows. Played with in that the reader knows all about his DarkAndTroubledPast but his second wife doesn't.
* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': The Count, a man so obsessed by revenge that no means of ensuring his enemies' destruction is too heinous for him to consider. It's superficially lampshaded early on when someone remarks that he looks an awful lot like the incarnation of Lord Ruthven, a fictional character based on Lord Byron himself.

* Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of literature is that, while the PublicDomainCharacter Don Juan is usually written as a selfish, haughty, shameless womanizer and fits this trope to a tee, ''[[{{irony}} Lord Byron's version of the character doesn't]]''. The hero of Byron's [[TheEpic mock epic]], ''Literature/DonJuan'', is not at all villainous or malicious, but easily manipulated and misunderstood.

* Dean Priest of the ''Literature/EmilyOfNewMoon'' series embodies a number of these character traits. He's well-educated and charismatic, but his disabilities have also made him cynical and bitter, as well as rather self-destructive. He travels often, which makes him a bit of a self-imposed exile. He is a loner. He is self-interested to a degree, but can also be selfless when he wants to be. LM Montgomery also gives him lots of Mr. Rochester parallels, who is himself a Byronic hero.
* The title character of ''Literature/EugeneOnegin'' can be both seen as an example, a parody, and a {{deconstruction}}. While he fits the mold in his cynical, self-destructive nature, he has more than a little of the UpperClassTwit in him and is kind of ineffectual compared to similar characters. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Tatiana, Eugene's love interest, visits his library, understands that he has been {{invok|edTrope}}ng Romantic tropes when dealing with her, and asks herself: "Isn't he a parody?"[[note]]Onegin originates the character type of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluous_man superfluous man]], which can be seen as the way Byronic hero developed in Russian literature based on Russian society of the time.[[/note]]

** Victor Frankenstein is a rather nice Byronic hero (who is [[IAmNotShazam not]] [[FrankensteinsMonster the monster!]]). His dangerous experiments with science and very troubled past makes him qualify. His lack of compassion and responsibility for his creation, who desperately longed for his love and affection, makes him less redeemable than characters who are just misunderstood by society. He still does have some good traits though, such as his adoration of Elizabeth and his admiration of his friend Henry Clerval.

* The ''Marquise of Rio Santo'' [[BigBad who]] [[TheSyndicate rules]] the ''Literature/GentlemenOfTheNight'' in Creator/PaulFeval's first hit Novel. Like ''The Vampyr'' he is a Byonic Villain, but an AntiVillain.

* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'': Rhett Butler is a TallDarkAndHandsome man with a DarkAndTroubledPast as a social outcast because of his unconventional opinions and actions, which often sound [[ValuesResonance fine for the modern audience]] [[BornInTheWrongCentury but awful for contemporary people]]. He's also morally ambiguous in his and quite opportunistic, but [[AtLeastIAdmitIt at least he admits this]] instead of being a hypocrite like most of the people around him and lives to his own interpretation of honor. He's also [[HiddenDepths honorable and selfless to the people he cares for the most]], and there are glimpses of his struggling conscience and occasional self-deprecation. Not to mention his self-destructive romance with equally impetuous Scarlett.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'': Jay Gatsby is maybe a sympathetic example. As a poor soldier, he fell hopelessly in love with beautiful socialite Daisy, who got married to her equal, a JerkJock Tom from old money, but he is determined to win her back. He would do -- and does -- anything for Daisy, who, sadly, doesn't quite deserve it. Gatsby [[LovingAShadow heavily idealized and romanticized Daisy and everything about her]]. Gradually, it becomes obvious that Gatsby's opulent wealth comes from smuggling and organized crime, but he's more compassionate than most of the "law-abiding" characters.

* A modern example in [[Creator/JohnRingo John Ringo's]] ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' series: Petty Officer Mike "Ghost" Harmon, AKA Mike Jenkins, a former US Navy SEAL medically retired due to multiple injuries who, through a series of coincidences and perfectly-rational decisions in response to them, thwarts three major terrorist attacks in the course of a few months and becomes the millionaire lord of a clan of modern-day Vikings in the mountains of Georgia ([[RunningGag the country, not the state]]). Mike (who is constantly reminding those around him that he's ''not'' a good man) unabashedly considers himself a rapist at heart but holds himself to a strict Warrior Code while channeling his baser urges into heavy BDSM. Any time he comes across a man who doesn't restrain his darker nature, things get ''nasty''. At the same time, he often shows a surprisingly compassionate side, especially to girls that he and his Keldara warriors have rescued from sex traffickers.

* ''Literature/TheSeaWolf'': Wolf Larsen pings all the criteria listed in the page description. He doesn't hesitate to enforce his beliefs on his world (defined by his ship) and is something of a StrawNihilist with an extremely [[TheHedonist hedonistic world-view]]. He is also the BigBad and is completely open about the fact that he is an unrepentant asshole on his BEST days.

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Sharon Kay Penman's novel gives Richard III a HistoricalHeroUpgrade, byronic style. Early in his life, the quiet, moral and brooding Richard contrasts with his extroverted older brother Edward. After losing his wife and son, however, Richard falls into depression and becomes a death seeker, dying tragically and being libeled by his more cowardly enemy, Henry Tudor.

* The title character of ''Literature/EugeneOnegin'' can be both seen as an example, a parody, and a {{deconstruction}}. While he fits the mold in his cynical, self-destructive nature, he has more than a little of the UpperClassTwit in him and is kind of ineffectual compared to similar characters. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Tatiana, Eugene's love interest, visits his library, understands that he has been {{invok|edTrope}}ng Romantic tropes when dealing with her, and asks herself: "Isn't he a parody?"

* In Creator/EmilyBronte's ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' VillainProtagonist Heathcliff goes to extreme lengths to ruin the lives of both the Linton family and the Earnshaw family as revenge for his lost love Cathy, at one point even [[spoiler: kidnapping Cathy's daughter Catherine and forcing her to marry his son]]. [[DracoInLeatherPants/{{Literature}} Adored by millions of people throughout the world]] for the power and intensity of his passion despite being cruel and vindictive, and not fitting the {{Jerk with a Heart of Gold}} trope. ----

* In Creator/EmilyBronte's ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' VillainProtagonist Heathcliff goes to extreme lengths to ruin the lives of both the Linton family and the Earnshaw family as revenge for his lost love Catherine at one point even [[spoiler: kidnapping Catherine's daughter Cathy and Nelly, and forcing Cathy to marry his son]]. [[DracoInLeatherPants/{{Literature}} Admired by millions of people throughout the world]], even though the {{Jerk with a Heart of Gold}} trope does not really apply.
----

* In Creator/EmilyBronte's ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' VillainProtagonist Heathcliff goes to extreme lengths to ruin the lives of both the Linton family and the Earnshaw family as revenge for his lost love Catherine at one point even [[spoiler: kidnapping Catherine's daughter Cathy and Nelly, and forcing Cathy to marry his son]]. He even admits to purposely trying to hurt Catherine, [[spoiler: on her deathbed]], for betraying him though he still loved her. [[DracoInLeatherPants/{{Literature}} Admired by millions of people throughout the world]], even though he is quite clearly a ''very'' evil man. Brontë wrote ''Wuthering Heights'' as a {{deconstruction}} of the Gothic genre and of Byronic heroes; actually averted because Heathcliff is genuinely dangerous to those around him and not just misunderstood by society.

** Oberyn Martell is Creator/LordByron [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]]. A handsome, highly skilled, intelligent, and charismatic man who lives and loves dangerously, cares nothing for what other people think of him (it helps that he's from a part of Westeros that follows [[CultureClash different, more liberal customs]]), and utterly driven by an obsession with avenging his sister's brutal murder that results in [[spoiler:his own demise, only for Oberyn to get the last laugh by poisoning his killer]]. Oberyn is also modeled after Byron in the details, in ways that other Byronic hero's often aren't. Both men are bisexual. Byron had 3 children (well, 2 confirmed and 1 suspected), all daughters, and Oberyn's 8 children are likewise all daughters.

** Oberyn Martell. A handsome, highly skilled, intelligent, and charismatic man who lives and loves dangerously, cares nothing for what other people think of him (it helps that he's from a part of Westeros that follows [[CultureClash different, more liberal customs]]), and utterly driven by an obsession with avenging his sister's brutal murder that results in [[spoiler:his own demise, only for Oberyn to get the last laugh by poisoning his killer]]. Several of his eight bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, share his traits as well.

* For being a franchise who counts LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' collects a large amount:

** Severus Snape is essentially a Byronic hero, as seen by a protagonist who sees much more of his negative qualities than his positive ones. He's an intelligent loner who's also completely insufferable, with a tragic backstory involving [[TheLostLenore death and unrequited love]] which caused him to become embittered but also to [[HeelFaceTurn go over to the side of good]]. Although he can be considered a [[{{Deconstruction}} since his actions and attitudes cause several problems at certain points and his emotions can make him highly unreasonable and hard to deal with.

* Holden Caulfield from ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye''. Angry, brooding and confused, but he secretly doesn't want to be any of those things. His cynicism and his past, unfortunately, hold him back.

** Dresden's best frenemy, crime lord John Marcone, can be viewed in this light. The book "Death Masks" reveals that he bases his style of "doing business," which involves keeping collateral damage to an absolute minimum and punishing harshly any criminals who try to operate in Chicago without his go-ahead, on [[spoiler:guilt over a young girl taking a bullet that was meant for him in his younger days, leaving her in a coma. He provides for her medical care, reads to her and even arranges to have the ShroudOfTurin stolen in an attempt to heal her, all while running what is implied to be the largest organized-crime empire in America]].

* Michael Grant zigzags this trope with [[MagnificentBastard Caine Soren]] from the ''Literature/{{GONE}}'' series. In most books, he's simply a JerkassWoobie villain who spends more time forfilling the "Jerkass" side of that trope and arguably isn't worthy of sympathy at all (''PLAGUE'' and ''GONE'' being the most potent examples). But in ''HUNGER'' and ''FEAR'' he is very much a byronic hero, at least by the end of those installments.
* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'': Rhett Butler is a TallDarkAndHandsome man with a DarkAndTroubledPast as a social outcast because of his unconventional opinions and actions, which often sound [[ValuesResonance fine for the modern audience]] [[BornInTheWrongCentury but awful for contemporary people]]. He's also morally ambiguous in his and quite opportunistic, but [[AtLeastIAdmitIt at least he admits this]] instead of being a hypocrite like most of the people around him and lives to his own interpretation of honor. He's also [[HiddenDepths honorable and selfless to the people he cares the most]], and there are glimpses of his struggling conscience and occasional self-deprecation. Not to mention his self-destructive romance with equally impetuous Scarlett.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'': Jay Gatsby is maybe a sympathetic example. As a poor soldier, he fell hopelessly in love with beautiful socialite Daisy, who got married to her equal, a JerkJock Tom from old money, but he is determined to win her back. He would do -- and does -- anything for Daisy, who, sadly, doesn't quite deserve it. Gatsby heavily idealized and romanticized Daisy and everything about her. Gradually, it becomes obvious that Gatsby's opulent wealth comes from smuggling and organized crime, but he's more compassionate than most of the "law-abiding" characters.

** Severus Snape is essentially a Byronic hero, as seen by a protagonist who sees much more of his negative qualities than his positive ones. He's an intelligent loner who's also completely insufferable, with a tragic backstory involving [[TheLostLenore death and unrequited love]] which caused him to become embittered but also to [[HeelFaceTurn go over to the side of good]]. Although he can be considered a [[{{Deconstruction}} since he actions and attitudes cause several problems at certain points and his emotions can make him highly unreasonable and hard to deal with.

** Harry himself in the last Book has come to share several traits of the Byronic Hero. He is charismatic, brooding has several intense emotions, that a times get the best of him. Is a rather intelligent young man, with prodigous amounts of Power and can be rather dramatic in his inner monologue. And of course his life has been a tragedy after tragedy with moments of respite between them.

* In ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'', Bois Guilbert is a perfect example. He is portrayed as a proud warrior and a passionate man who by his own admission holds nothing sacred save his given word. He gets infatuated with Rebecca, proceeds to kidnap her and over the course of the story begins to respect and admire her fortitude. Yet unwittingly and tragically he ends up condemning her to a painful death at the stake. The most poignant scene of the book is the tournament to determine Rebecca's guilt where Bois Guilbert's immense pride and hatred for Wilfred of Ivanhoe contends with his desire to save Rebecca and make up for his mistake. The result? Unable to bring himself to strike and defeat Ivanhoe and indirectly seal Rebecca's fate and at the same time unable to bear the shame of accepting defeat at the hands of a wounded Ivanhoe, he dies, not a victim of any physical injury, but his own passions.

* Denethor from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is a bit of a byronic hero: a beautiful, kingly and powerful man with enough strength of will to grapple with ''Sauron'' through the ''palantír'' and not submit to him (which even Saruman couldn't manage). He's devoted to the good of Gondor, of which he considers himself the rightful lord; but when he comes to believe that Gondor is doomed (along with his own line of succession), he proudly commits suicide (and attempts to have his son killed alongside him) rather than surrender or be slain by Sauron's forces.

* {{Satan}} himself, from ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', is perhaps the [[UrExample grandfather]] of this trope. Satan is an exceptional, extremely charismatic and deeply flawed creature who rebels against his society (Heaven) and grapples with his morality.

** Fëanor started out as TheAce: a master linguist(he is essentially responsible for written Quenya as we know it) a master smith/artisan/craftsman (the greatest ever actually, crafted the eponymous Silmarils, created the Palantirs or at least their forerunners, so on and so forth) etc, however as non-extant slights and jealousy eat away at his good parts, leaving only his quick temper and arrogance behind, he went on to become at best the very picture of NominalHero at worst a kind of VisionaryVillain who [[TheUnfettered commits genocide, betrays long time friends and even family]] and even ''[[RageAgainstTheHeavens declares war and]] [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu everlasting enmity on even gods should they get in his way]].''

** His older brother Jaime is one as well. He's by reputation the most handsome man in Westeros and one of the most dangerous as well. He starts off presented as rather villainous, brash, cynical and prone to reckless behavior [[spoiler: such as slaughtering some of Ned's guard in response to his brother Tyrion's kidnapping by Ned's wife]], not to mention his BodyguardBetrayal of King Aerys, which is still frowned upon years after and [[spoiler: his incestuous passion for his twin sister Queen Cersei]]. Then the third book reveals he has his share of emotional baggage which mostly consist of [[spoiler: guilt for the death of Rhaegar's children and having lied about Tyrion's wife being a prostitute]]. After [[spoiler: having lost his sword hand and having met warrior girl Brienne]], he's actively moving to more honorable behavior, though at his own interpretation of the rules.

*** Rhaegar Targaryen seems to have been one. Rhaegar repeatedly stated to have had "melancholy eyes", that matched his brooding nature and was a charismatic [[TheWisePrince wise prince]] who played the harp and liked spending time alone. It also seems that his path was generally driven by a prophecy he read as a boy, and to keep faithful to it, he became one of Westeros's finest swords. People expected him to become a great king, but he lost his life in a war for the woman he loved, whom he couldn't have since he was already married and she was about to marry his ''cousin''. He was also born under inauspicious circumstances (the Tragedy at Summerhall) and often mused about it. And most of all the true meaning of his actions is still shrouded in mystery and a font of speculations in-universe and out.

** Oberyn Martell. A handsome, highly skilled, intelligent and charismatic man who lives and loves dangerously, cares nothing for what other people think of him (it helps that he's from a part of Westeros that follows [[CultureClash different, more liberal customs]]), and utterly driven by an obsession with avenging his sister's brutal murder that results in [[spoiler:his own demise, only for Oberyn to get the last laugh by poisoning his killer]]. Several of his eight bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, share his traits as well.

* In Creator/EmilyBronte's ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' VillainProtagonist Heathcliff goes to extreme lengths to ruin the lives of both the Linton family and the Earnshaw family as revenge for his lost love Catherine at one point even [[spoiler: kidnapping Catherine's daughter, Cathy and Nelly and forcing Cathy to marry his son]]. He even admits to purposely trying to hurt Catherine, [[spoiler: in her deathbed]], for betraying him though he still loved her. [[DracoInLeatherPants/{{Literature}} Admired by millions of people throughout the world]], even though he is quite clearly a ''very'' evil man. Brontë wrote ''Wuthering Heights'' as a {{deconstruction}} of the Gothic genre and of Byronic heroes; actually averted because Heathcliff is genuinely dangerous to those around him and not just misunderstood by society.

** Severus Snape is essentially a Byronic hero, as seen by a protagonist who sees much more of his negative qualities than his positive ones. He's an intelligent loner who's also completely insufferable, with a tragic backstory involving [[TheLostLenore death and unrequited love]] which caused him to become embittered but also to [[HeelFaceTurn go over to the side of good]].

** Harry himself in the last Book has come to share several traits of the Byronic Hero. He is charismatic, brooding has several intense emotions, that a times get the best of him. Is a rather intelligent young man, with prodigous amounts of Power and can be rather dramatic in his inner monologue. And of course his life has been a ragedy after tragedy with moments of respite between them.

* Grigoriy Aleksandrovich Pechorin in Mikhail Lermontov's ''Literature/AHeroOfOurTime'' is both a good example and possibly a {{deconstruction}}, being very smart and all the more miserable for it. Also, he's not even the protagonist as such and [[DroppedABridgeOnHim dies "off-screen"]]. The author apparently intended to stretch the idea of the Byronic hero to its limits:
-->''"You will again tell me that a human being cannot be so wicked, and I will reply that if you can believe in the existence of all the villains of tragedy and romance, why wouldn't believe that there was a Pechorin?"''

*** Prince Daemon Targaryen was a prince, a pirate, and a rogue, and lived and loved dangerously. His enemies at court were terrified of him for his mercurial and ruthless nature and tried to keep him away from the throne when his brother King Viserys lacked male heirs. After being passed over for the Iron Throne once, he flew off to conquer the Stepstones with his dragon and made himself a petty pirate king until he got bored of fighting. In the years he led the City Guard he was fond of visiting brothels and gambling pits, consorting with lowlifes, and generally hanging out with all manner of scum. He was also capable of great bravery and strength and died fighting the greatest dragon alive in a TakingYouWithMe gambit.

* ''Literature/TheHobbit'': Thorin Oakenshield is a man who broke with his society in order to reclaim what he considered rightfully his, and he cheerfully accepts any hardships associated with this endeavour. He is also a charismatic leader and skilled harpist. However, he is also a prideful man, obsessive about his goals and greedy beyond belief (one of his followers outright states that Thorin will rather sit on a heap of gold and starve than give away a single coin). While he definitely is a hero in every sense, he is, as a human being, a bit of a failure.
* Creator/MarieCorelli liked Lord Byron and was a friend of his widow Belle. Her best known Byronic hero is probably Theos Alwyn from ''Literature/{{Ardath}}'', a poet who [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Rages Against The Heavens]] and does SmiteMeOMightySmiter in fine style, until he redeems himself through his OrWasItADream adventures and [[LoveRedeems joining with his Twin Flame]], Edris, "God's Maiden".

** Tyrion Lannister seems to be almost exactly this, sans the good looks. He is an extremely cunning, intelligent guy who will make a supreme politician if only someone gives him the credit he deserves. The tragedy of his life is that in a world of BeautyEqualsGoodness, it's very difficult for him to achieve the power or he longs for, and his cast aside but his own father [[spoiler: and the woman he loved was horribly taken away from him because she was a commoner]]. Since he sides with his family, the supposed bad guys, he's an AntiVillain whose actions throughout the first part of the series help further the cause of House Lannister and when he acts ruthless is merely out of pragmatism. He's eventually getting darker and more cynic after [[spoiler: discovering his commoner wife was not a prostitute hired for him and murdered his father for that. Since then he has defected his family and he's siding with the Targaryen, following his path of revenge]].
** His older brother Jaime is one as well. He's by reputation the most handsome man in Westeros and one of the most dangerous as well. He starts off presented as rather villainous, brash, cynical and prone to reckless behavior [[spoiler: such as slaughtering some of Ned's guard in response of his brother Tyrion's kidnapping by Ned's wife]], not to mention his BodyguardBetrayal of King Aerys, which is still frowned upon years after and [[spoiler: his incestuous passion for his twin sister Queen Cersei]]. Then the third book reveals he has his share of emotional baggage which mostly consist of [[spoiler: guilt for the death of Rhaegar's children and having lied about Tyrion's wife being a prostitute]]. After [[spoiler: having lost his sword hand and having met warrior girl Brienne]], he's actively moving to more honorable behavior, though at his own interpretation of the rules.

*** Rhaegar Targaryen seems to have been one. Rhaegar repeatedly stated to have had "melancholy eyes", that matched his brooding nature and was a charismatic [[TheWisePrince wise prince]] who played the harp and liked spending time alone. It also seems that his path was generally driven by a prophecy he read as a boy, and to keep faith to it, he became one of Westeros' finest swords. People expected him to become a great king, but he lost his life in a war for the woman he loved, whom he couldn't have since he was already married and she was about to marry his ''cousin''. He was also born under inauspicious circumstances (the Tragedy at Summerhall) and often mused about it. And most of all the true meaning of his actions are still shrouded in mystery and fount of speculations in-universe and out.
*** Prince Daemon Targaryen was a prince, a pirate, and a rogue and lived and loved dangerously. His enemies at court were terrified of him for his mercurial and ruthless nature and tried to keep him away from the throne when his brother King Viserys lacked male heirs. After being passed over for the Iron Throne once, he flew off to conquer the Stepstones with his dragon and made himself a petty pirate king until he got bored of fighting. In the years he led the City Guard he was fond of visiting brothels, gambling pits, consorting with lowlifes and generally hanging out with all sort of scums. He was also capable of great bravery and strength and died fighting the greatest dragon alive planting a TakingYouWithMe gambit.
*** Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, bastard son of King Aegon IV, was the most important political figure during his time at King's Landing and most certainly the greatest Master of Spies to have ever served the Iron Throne. But he was a very controversial guy: rumored to be a sorcerer [[spoiler: (and indeed he was since he could skinchange in his crows)]] who controlled the kingdom with his crows and suppressed the Blackfyre Rebellion in blood. His ruthless actions to keep the Targaryens on the throne eventually earned him a one-way ticket to The Wall. But even there he managed to become Lord Commander until he disappeared Beyond the Wall. [[spoiler: It's revealed he didn't disappear - he instead became a powerful half-weirwood figure in a cave with the Children of the Forest and ''he's still watching Westeros and his descendants''.]]
** Oberyn Martell. A handsome, highly skilled, intelligent and charismatic man who lives and loves dangerously, cares nothing for what other people think of him (it helps that he's from a part of Westeros that follows [[CultureClash different customs]]), and utterly driven by an obsession with avenging his sister's brutal murder that results in [[spoiler:his own demise, only for Oberyn to get the last laugh by poisoning his killer]].

* Creator/MarieCorelli liked Lord Byron and was a friend of his widow Belle. Her best known Byronic hero is probably Theos Alwyn from ''Literature/{{Ardath}}'', a poet who [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Rages Against The Heavens]] and does SmiteMeOMightySmiter in fine style, until he redeems himself through his AllADreamOrWasIt adventures and [[LoveRdeems joining with his Twin Flame]], Edris, "God's Maiden".