Game of Thrones/Characters/Essos

Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa)


""I will have not your body burned. I will not give you that honor. The beetles will feed on your eyes. The worms will crawl through your lungs. The rain will fall on your rotten skin until nothing of you is left but bones!""

The "Khal" or leader of a nomadic Dothraki tribe or "khalasar" and a renowned warrior. He contracts to marry Daenerys in exchange for a promise to win Viserys the crown of Westeros.

Tropes:
""The one with the largest braid is the biggest pimp. So... mine's the largest!""
 * And I Must Scream: End up with Locked-In Syndrome thanks to a botched healing ritual.
 * Asskicking Equals Authority: There's a reason he's the leader of his khalasar, as demonstrated in "The Pointy End."
 * Badass: Finally stops being an Informed Ability in "The Pointy End," when he utterly destroys a Dothraki man who challenges his authority without the benefit of a weapon.
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Long Hair: The Dothraki have a custom where a man only cuts his hair if he is defeated in battle, and Drogo has never been defeated.
 * Badass Boast: Khal Drogo is the master of these; first, his declaration of his intent to invade Westeros and later the dressing-down he gives a tribesman who challenges his authority.
 * Berserk Button: Threatening Daenerys or their unborn child is a good way to get yourself killed, as Viserys Targaryen learned. It also prompted him into invading Westeros, after previously being ambivalent, so he could take revenge on Robert for an assassination attempt.
 * Even simply insulting Daenerys is enough for Drago to rip your tongue out.
 * Braids (And Beard) Of Barbarism
 * Chewing the Scenery: Normally a rather taciturn fellow, but when he makes a speech, a SPEECH will be made. The sprays of saliva and wild flexing gesticulations are just icing on the cake.
 * Death Is Dramatic: Surprisingly combined with Dropped a Bridge On Him.
 * Defrosting Ice King: He starts off as brutish and Stoic, but overtime his heart is softened by Daenerys.
 * The Dragon: How Viserys sees him. Drogo, on the other hand, ignores Viserys entirely whenever possible and has no interest whatsoever in his agenda.
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him: An infected cut from a fight with a fellow Dothraki is what does him in.
 * Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Speaks only enough Westerosi to, say, diss Viserys, but he is an intelligent and charismatic war leader.
 * Empty Shell: After the ritual performed by Mirri Maz Duur to save his life.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: Of the "Anti-Hero across the eye" variety. Though, it has to be noted that the scars are real. Actor Jason Momoa got them after being attacked with a broken bottle in a bar.
 * Guyliner
 * Hidden Depths: He's a barbarian murderer-rapist, but he's capable of love and mercy, can be reasoned with, and is open to constructive criticism (from his wife, at least).
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With Daenerys.
 * I Am X, Son of Y: "I, Drogo, son of Bharbo..."
 * Killed Off for Real
 * Lightning Bruiser: Is revealed to be one during his fight in "The Pointy End," when his speed and agility allow him to spend most of it weaponless and unarmored, dodging any and all blows that come his way.
 * Loophole Abuse: He can't shed blood in Vaes Dothrak, so he killed Viserys in a brutal but bloodless way.
 * The Lost Lenore: A rare male example. Daenerys still loves and misses him deeply, as shown when she
 * Noble Demon
 * The Obi-Wan: To Daenerys.
 * Papa Wolf: Threatening his unborn child is a really, really bad idea.
 * Perfectly Arranged Marriage: He and Daenerys eventually end up happy together, once they've managed to defeat the language barrier.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Rapunzel Hair: Justified. Dothraki only cut their braids when they are defeated, and Drogo's has never been cut.
 * Rated M for Manly: As expected from a khal of the Dothraki.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Or in this case lots of eye makeup. Also, as Jason Momoa put it on the comentary:
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Or in this case lots of eye makeup. Also, as Jason Momoa put it on the comentary:


 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Newly embarked on one, thanks to the assassin Robert sent for Dany.
 * The Stoic
 * This Means War: Up until "You Win or You Die," the politics and power struggles surrounding the Iron Throne of Westeros don't mean much to Drogo. Then things get personal.
 * Tranquil Fury:
 * In contrast to Viserys' frothing rage, he is perfectly calm and composed when he kills Viserys for threatening Dany's life.
 * Again in "The Pointy End", when he remains calm as Mago attacks him with a sword, and he makes a point on killing him with nothing but his bare hands, all while telling Mago what he is going to do with his corpse.
 * Not so much in "You Win or You Die," where an enraged Drogo delivers a speech seemingly seconds away from frothing at the mouth.
 * Walking Shirtless Scene

Qotho (Dar Salim)


""This must not be.""

One of Khal Drogo's bloodriders.

Tropes:

 * Asskicking Equals Authority: He got to serve beside Drogo by being a great warrior. As a result, he tends to speak for and wield some power in the khalasar.
 * Badass Beard
 * Blood Brothers: With Drogo
 * Cassandra Truth / Only Sane Man: Well, he was right about not trusting the witch after all.
 * The Dragon: To Drogo.
 * Duel to The Death: Gets into an impromptu one with Jorah Mormont when he threatens to stop the potentially life-saving but forbidden ritual that Dany has ordered for Drogo. He loses.
 * Killed Off for Real

Mago (Ivailo Dimitrov)


""A khal who takes orders from a foreign whore is no khal.""

One of Khal Drogo's riders.

Tropes:

 * Braids of Barbarism: Sports a rather long one.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: Drogo slits his throat and pulls his tongue out from the wound itself.
 * Death By Adaptation: He survived the book.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: Sports a badass one above his left eyebrow.
 * Killed Off for Real
 * Spiteful Spit: After Drogo orders him not to rape the Lhazareen women.
 * The Starscream: Because Drogo accepts the will of a foreign whore, which results in Duel to The Death.

Magister Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam)


A Magister of the Free City of Pentos. Arranged the marriage between Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen.


 * Adaptational Attractiveness: In the books he's morbidly obese and has yellow, crooked teeth
 * Beard of Evil
 * Big Bad Duumvirate: The Big Bad part is debatable, but he and Varys are working together to restore the Targaryens, which would have meant crowning Viserys at the start.
 * The Man Behind the Man: One of the masterminds behind the Dothraki invasion.
 * Ambiguously Evil Old Folks

Mirri Maz Duur (Mia Soteriou)


""Why don't you take a look at your husband? Then you will see exactly what life is worth, when all the rest is gone.""

A healer and wise woman of the Lhazareen, taken as a slave by Drogo's khalasar. Daenerys takes her under her protection.

Tropes:
"Mirri Maz Duur: Saved me? Three of those riders had already raped me before you saved me, girl. I saw my god's house burned. There, where I had healed men and women beyond counting! In the streets I saw piles of heads. The head of the baker, who made my bread. The head of a young boy, that I had cured of fever just three moons past. So tell me again exactly what it was that you saved.
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Invites tons of it, both in-universe and out. For a start, Drogo's catatonia and Rhaego's death may have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and she has a point when she chews Daenerys out. Most of the fandom seem torn between seeing her as Good Is Not Nice or as Good Powers, Bad People.
 * Anti-Villain: Genuinely believes that killing Rhaego and rendering Drogo helpless was for the greater good, and may be right.
 * Blood Magic: Employs this to save Drogo's life, at Daenerys' request.
 * Burn the Witch: Though it's less because she's a witch and more because she betrayed Dany.
 * Cool Old Lady: Seems this way at first, but it's subverted in the end.
 * Evil All Along: Hates the Dothraki, and had a hand in the catatonia of Khal Drogo and the death of Daenerys' unborn son. Of course, this is a group that just wiped out her community for no good reason.
 * Hannibal Lecture: May be a What the Hell, Hero?, depending on your outlook, but either way it's a doozy.

Daenerys: Your life.

Mirri Maz Duur: Why don't you take a look at your Khal? Then you will see exactly what life is worth, when all the rest is gone."


 * Kill Her With Fire: her punishment for the death of Rhaego and saving Drogo's life but leaving him brain dead.
 * Pay Evil Unto Evil
 * Rape and Revenge
 * Screw Destiny: She wants to avert the prophecy of The Stallion Who Mounts The World, aka Daenerys' unborn son Rhaego, having seen first-hand the destruction wrought by a Dothraki horselord who isn't prophesied to be the worst ever. She succeeds by murdering Rhaego in Daenerys' womb.
 * Unwanted Rescue: A variant; Dany saved her, but Mirri Maz Duur has good reason to wish her (and her son) harm all the same.
 * Wicked Witch: Inverted; she features some of the physical traits, but she's a healer, and apparently did a great deal of good in her hometown. She's still an enemy of the protagonist, though.

Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie)


""Do you think the path from poverty to wealth is always pure and honorable? I have done many things, Khaleesi, that a righteous man would condemn. And here I am. With no regrets.""

A merchant prince of Qarth and member of "The Thirteen", the ruling elite of the city.

Tropes:

 * Adaptational Attractiveness:
 * Adaptational Badass: From the effimenate Ambiguously Gay merchant to a sword wielding Summer Islander. His first instinct when surrounded by Dany's Khalasar (while naked and in bed) is to growl and reach for his sword.
 * Agent Scully: So Pyat Pree just performed bilocation in your home and surrounded by a bunch of people. Sure it's a trick.
 * Alliterative Name
 * Ambition Is Evil: Not necessarily evil, per se, but it certainly forces one to do things that "a righteous man would condemn," as Xaro tries to elucidate to Dany.
 * Arranged Marriage: Offers it to Daenerys.
 * Blood Oath: Cuts his hand and shows the blood as part of his jurament to stand for Daenerys and her people.
 * The Farmer and The Viper: Played with. He is legitimately grateful to the leaders of Qarth for letting him enter the city as a boy.
 * Not So Different: Xaro decides to stand for Daenerys because they are both foreigners.
 * Race Lift: In the books, he's just like the rest of the Qartheen, that is pale-skinned (the Dothraki call the Qartheen "Milk Men"). In the series, Xaro handwaves his being the only member of the Thirteen who is not white by explaining that he is originally from the Summer Isles.
 * Rags to Riches: His parents never owned a single pair of shoes. Xaro himself arrived at Qarth with nothing. Now he's the richest man in the richest city in Essos...
 * Rags to Royalty: Accomplishing this is his reason for wanting to marry Dany.
 * Self-Made Man
 * Token Minority: And it actually becomes something of a plot point
 * Xanatos Gambit: By making an alliance with  and proposing marriage to Daenarys, he will accomplish his Rags to Royalty plan either way; either Dany refuses to marry him, so he , or she accepts, in which case he would presumably screw over   and conquer Westeros with her dragons. Unfortunately, his plans failed to account for one important thing:
 * Race Lift: In the books, he's just like the rest of the Qartheen, that is pale-skinned (the Dothraki call the Qartheen "Milk Men"). In the series, Xaro handwaves his being the only member of the Thirteen who is not white by explaining that he is originally from the Summer Isles.
 * Rags to Riches: His parents never owned a single pair of shoes. Xaro himself arrived at Qarth with nothing. Now he's the richest man in the richest city in Essos...
 * Rags to Royalty: Accomplishing this is his reason for wanting to marry Dany.
 * Self-Made Man
 * Token Minority: And it actually becomes something of a plot point
 * Xanatos Gambit: By making an alliance with  and proposing marriage to Daenarys, he will accomplish his Rags to Royalty plan either way; either Dany refuses to marry him, so he , or she accepts, in which case he would presumably screw over   and conquer Westeros with her dragons. Unfortunately, his plans failed to account for one important thing:
 * Token Minority: And it actually becomes something of a plot point
 * Xanatos Gambit: By making an alliance with  and proposing marriage to Daenarys, he will accomplish his Rags to Royalty plan either way; either Dany refuses to marry him, so he , or she accepts, in which case he would presumably screw over   and conquer Westeros with her dragons. Unfortunately, his plans failed to account for one important thing:
 * Xanatos Gambit: By making an alliance with  and proposing marriage to Daenarys, he will accomplish his Rags to Royalty plan either way; either Dany refuses to marry him, so he , or she accepts, in which case he would presumably screw over   and conquer Westeros with her dragons. Unfortunately, his plans failed to account for one important thing:

Pyat Pree (Ian Hanmore)


""The Mother of Dragons will be with her babies. She will give them her love and they will thrive by her side. ""

A Qartheen warlock loyal to the "Undying Ones" and another member of The Thirteen.

Tropes:

 * Adaptational Badass:
 * Affably Evil: Courteous, amiable, and surprisingly eager to take Dany's side in an argument...
 * Alliterative Name
 * Bald of Evil
 * Evil Sorcerer
 * Icy Blue Eyes
 * Guyliner: Pyat appears to be wearing purple lipstick and eyeshadow, although Xaro claims that this is due to the massive ammounts of Shade Of The Evening that warlocks drink.
 * Just One Little Mistake:
 * Lean and Mean
 * Lookslike Orlock: Might not suck blood but damn if he doesn't look the part.
 * Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Xaro Xhoan Daxos dismisses his so-called powers as parlor tricks.
 * Me's a Crowd: He can create copies of himself. Intially, the copies don't seem to be able to do that much apart from stand around and talk, . When "killed" they collapse into nothingness, leaving behind clean clothes.
 * Obviously Evil
 * Occult Blue Eyes
 * The Un-Smile: And a creepy, creepy, creepy one at that.
 * Lookslike Orlock: Might not suck blood but damn if he doesn't look the part.
 * Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Xaro Xhoan Daxos dismisses his so-called powers as parlor tricks.
 * Me's a Crowd: He can create copies of himself. Intially, the copies don't seem to be able to do that much apart from stand around and talk, . When "killed" they collapse into nothingness, leaving behind clean clothes.
 * Obviously Evil
 * Occult Blue Eyes
 * The Un-Smile: And a creepy, creepy, creepy one at that.
 * The Un-Smile: And a creepy, creepy, creepy one at that.

The Spice King (Nicholas Blane)


""Unlike you I do not have exalted ancestors. I make my living by trade and I judge every trade on its merits.""

Another member of the Thirteen. Second richest man in Qarth after Xaro Xhoan Daxos and owner of its biggest merchant fleet.

Tropes:
"Daenerys: I am not your little princess. I am Daenerys Stormborn of the blood of old Valyria and I will take what is mine. With fire and blood, I will take it.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Very polite and very condescending.
 * Canon Foreigner: There's no Spice King in the books, just the Ancient Guild of Spicers, a trade guild rival to the Thirteen, who are also a trade group and not the rulers of Qarth. However, his appearance and tone are quite similar to the way Xaro Xoan Daxos is described in the book, to the point that some readers may have assumed he was Xaro when he first appeared.
 * Deadpan Snarker:

The Spice King: Yes, My Lady, but not with my ships."


 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": To quote the man himself, "I am merely a trader of spices."
 * Fat Bastard
 * Faux Affably Evil: The Spice King might be polite and flattering to guests, but the affability is largely superficial and readily vanishes when displeased.
 * Icy Blue Eyes
 * Insistent Terminology: Referring to Qarth as “the greatest city that ever was or will be.” Likewise, calling himself a “trader of spices.”
 * Jerkass
 * Jerkass Has a Point: He nicely deconstructs Daenerys' self image; pointing out that she hasn't got an army, she hasn't got any allies in Westeros, despite what her advisors have been telling her... and she hasn't got his ships either.
 * Loophole Abuse: When the Thirteen begin to turn her away, Daenerys indignantly points out that they promised to “receive” her and her people. The Spice King deftly counters this, saying they have indeed received (met with) her.
 * No-Nonsense Nemesis: So far, his 'villainy' has consisted exclusively on knocking Daenerys off her high horse.
 * Overly Long Name: Apparently it's impossible for foreigners to pronounce.
 * The Unpronounceable
 * Sissy Villain
 * Sissy Villain

Quaithe (Laura Pradelska)


""I am no one.""

A priestess from Asshai, now residing in Qarth.

Tropes:

 * Armor-Piercing Question: Asks Jorah if he'll betray Daenerys again the second time they meet.
 * Cool Mask
 * Hyper Awareness
 * The Faceless
 * Mysterious Woman
 * The Omniscient

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