A Song of Ice and Fire/Tropes S to Z: Difference between revisions

* [[Ship Tease]]: With Sandor/Sansa and Jaime/Brienne shippers being teased the most.

* [[Shoo the Dog]]: Nymeria, early on.

* [[Shrug of God]]: All the damn time.

** Arya and Sansa - [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]].

** Cersei and Tyrion

** [[Exploited Trope]] in the case of Doran and Oberyn Martell. After his brother's death, Doran tells his nieces that he used his pensive, somewhat ineffectual reputation to shield Oberyn "the Red Viper" from the enemies he would make if he were in power, leaving Oberyn free do Doran's dirty work for him. He compares them to long grass that looks harmless but hides a snake.

* [[The Siege]]: The Battle of Blackwater and the Battle of Castle Black are brief sieges. Historically, the Siege of Storm's End was a siege that lasted two years until the besieging army surrendered.

** One of Gregor's men, known as "Shitmouth", has that nickname because of his constant cursing, though his bark is worse than his bite.

** Rorge, whose bite is just about as bad as his bark.

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: The series is noted for its cynical take on many tropes popular in [[High Fantasy]], such as the [[Distressed Damsel]] and the [[Knight in Shining Armor]]; [[Plot Armor]] is almost entirely absent at the beginning of the series, though once the magic starts coming back there's more and more [[Back From the Dead]]. [[Hope Spot|Hope Spots]] are usually a very bad sign something horrible is about to happen. However, the overall bleakness tends to be a bit overstated on the internet.

* [[Smart People Play Chess]] : No world so overflowing with [[The Chessmaster|Chessmasters]] would be complete without its own [[Variant Chess]], after all. In this case it's Cyvasse, a kind of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games Tafl game], with opponents setting up their pieces in a custom starting arrangement out of sight of each other. Tyrion is particularly good at it, and is shown mentoring Young Griff. Martin himself played in and directed chess tournaments when he was younger, and while he hasn't played competitively since the 80s, he does have a solid USCF rating of 1905, just short of Expert.

** Janos Slynt, who seems to feel that his powerful "friends" will see to it that he's never harmed. {{spoiler|Even if they were inclined to save him (which they aren't, Lord Tywin dismisses him as "the son of a butcher"), they're leagues away, and the commanding officer who learned how to deal with oathbreakers from the father Janos had a hand in betraying is very close.}}

* [[Snow Means Death]]: If the Others don't catch you, the cold will do the job nicely.

* [[Sociopathic Soldier]]: The idea of regular men turning into killers and rapists before returning home and being good husbands and fathers again is openly discussed a few times. The soldiers in Gregor Clegane's war band are a perfect example of this, since at least Raff the Sweetling is a [[Punch Clock Villain]] and a likeable guy when Gregor is not around. Of course, [[Ax Crazy|Gregor]] is just like that ''all the time''.

* [[The Spartan Way]]: The Unsullied are trained in this manner, but the methods used are much worse than anything in real life. For instance, the Good Masters give each of the would-be Unsullied a puppy to take care of after they are castrated at the age of five. At the age of six, the would-be Unsullied must strangle their puppy to demonstrate their willingness to follow orders. Any trainee unable to do so is put to death. Before becoming full-fledged Unsullied, each recruit must go to the slave market and murder a slave child in front of its mother.

* [[Spy School]]: The temple of the Many-Faced God.

* [[Standard Royal Court]]: Much of the story revolves around the goings-on at the Red Keep and the royal court comprises some of the most memorable characters in the books.

* [[The Starscream]]: Every Great House in Westeros has a house sworn to them that tries to undermine them:

** Houses Reyne and Tarbeck were this to the Lannisters until Tywin wiped them out.

* [[Surprise Incest]]: Played with in-universe by Asha Greyjoy when she comes on to Theon, who doesn't recognize her after [[She Is All Grown Up|having not seen her since she was a little girl]].

* [[Survival Mantra]]: A running theme for Arya. She frequently remembers the sayings of her old fencing instructor in times of crisis, and makes a habit of listing the people she wants dead before going to sleep each night.

* [[Switched At Birth]]: In ''A Feast for Crows'', Mance Rayder's son is switched with Gilly's son in order to prevent Melisandre from taking advantage of his "royal blood" as a sacrifice to R'hllor. As of ''A Dance with Dragons'', {{spoiler|it becomes apparent that the same thing happened in the backstory to save baby Aegon Targaryen.}}

* [[Switching POV]]: A textbook example of the advantages of this viewpoint. The first seven or eight chapters of ''A Game of Thrones'' are particularly instructive, as each chapter frequently introduces one character, only to have the next be narrated from that character's [[Point of View]], thus highlighting the [[Gray and Grey Morality]] of the series. There have been 31 narrators so far: Will, Bran, Catelyn, Daenerys, Eddard, Jon, Arya, Tyrion, Sansa, Maester Cressen, Davos Seaworth, Theon Greyjoy, Chett, Samwell Tarly, Jaime, Merrett Frey, Pate, Aeron "Damphair" Greyjoy, Areo Hotah, Cersei, Brienne, Asha, Ser Arys Oakheart, Victarion, Arianne Martell, Varamyr Sixskins, Quentyn Martell, "Griff," Melisandre, Ser Barristan Selmy, Kevan Lannister. [[Word of God]] is that no more POV characters will be added in the last two books, not counting [[A Death in The Limelight|prologues and epilogues]].

* [[Tabletop Games]]: ''A Game of Thrones d20'', which is now discontinued, ''A Song of Ice and Fire RPG'', released in 2009 and a ''Game of Thrones'' board game, released in 2003.

* [[Tactful Translation]]: Seen in the hilarious discussion between Dany and the Good Masters of Astapor when she goes to buy an Unsullied army. Subverted because Dany actually [[Completely Unnecessary Translator|understands everything she's been told]] and is struggling to keep a straight face at times.

* [[Tangled Family Tree]]: The medievalesque setting means that people often start having children very young and continue to have children very old; add in all the [[Arranged Marriage|Arranged Marriages]] between vastly age-differenced people and the general theme of incest and keeping track of relationships becomes... interesting. There are also the Freys, who manage to be this trope all on their own.

* [[Tasty Gold]]: Comes up regularly, including one instance in which {{spoiler|Arya murders a man by poisoning a gold coin}}. It's also [[Lampshaded]] in ''A Feast for Crows'' by someone who doesn't actually know how to tell whether the gold coin he's handed is real or fake, but bites it anyway so he doesn't seem naive.

* [[That Old Time Prescription]]: Maesters (essentially doctors, though they have other scholarly duties) commonly prescribe "milk of the poppy" (that is, opium) to anyone suffering from a particularly painful injury.

* [[They Called Me Mad]]: Although he says it in a more rational-sounding way than usual, Qyburn has a comment like this on the (as he sees it) close-minded Maesters of Oldtown, who didn't appreciate him vivisecting live people and {{spoiler|teaching himself necromancy}}.

* [[Third Person Person]]: Strong Belwas and Syrio Forel speak like this. Slaves in Astapor speak in the third person; Unsullied use their names, at least after they're free, while other slaves call themselves "this one." Jaqen, {{spoiler|at least as ''Jaqen'',}} refers to ''everyone'' [[Strange Syntax Speaker|not only in the third person, but with indefinite articles]] -- he is always "a man," Arya "a girl," et cetera.

* [[Thirteen Is Unlucky]]: The thirteenth commander of the Night's Watch was the "Night King" who married a "pale, unholy woman" (probably an Other) and enslaved his brothers with sorcery, making them commit atrocities for thirteen years before finally being destroyed by one of the Starks.

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: The Unsullied are eunuch slaves trained from birth to be perfect warriors. Their horrific training is meant to strip them of all self-worth and individuality, turning them into soulless weapons. It doesn't quite work.

* [[Ugly Cute]]: An in-universe example, Brienne elicits sympathy from Catelyn (and from many readers) for the combination of her impossibly brutish looks and resolutely romantic outlook.

* [[Underdogs Never Lose]]: Of the viewpoint characters who've survived the first four books in spite of constantly being placed in dangerous and potentially fatal situations, one is a bastard, one is a fat black sheep of the family, one is a child cripple, one is the [[Last of His Kind|hunted last heir of a toppled dynasty]]. Tyrion the dwarf, however, never seems to get any credit for his successes, and is constantly pushed back down. Also, a large part of the remainder of this series is spent averting this trope in some of the most horrific ways imaginable.

* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: {{spoiler|Several members of The Brotherhood Without Banners.}}

* [[Villainous Incest]]

* [[Villains Never Lie]]: The Lannisters... well they ''lie'' all the time, but they take their motto seriously, and if they outright promise you something (whether it's gold or [[Disproportionate Retribution|revenge]]) you can count on getting it.

* [[Virginity Makes You Stupid]]: Sansa, though she grows smarter in ''A Feast For Crows''.

* [[Virgin Tension]]: When {{spoiler|Jaime rescues Brienne from the Bloody Mummers}}, there's some concern that she may have been gang raped, so {{spoiler|Jaime}} checks on the status of her maidenhood by joking about how he only rescues maidens. Possibly subverted, as it had been demonstrated that his concern was less about her virginity and more about her wellbeing.

* [[We Have Reserves]]: During the {{spoiler|Siege of Riverrun}} in ''A Feast for Crows'' {{spoiler|Jaime}} boasts that his army has no lack of Freys.

** Especially true when you realize how much he despises the Freys.

** Theon Greyjoy seems to have a case of this towards his father Balon. His feelings toward surrogate father Ned Stark are even more conflicted, which is unsurprising given Theon's dual role of hostage/ward. He at times finds himself wondering what Stark would say to some particular deed and then becomes angry with himself for caring. Thus far, the net result is that he's managed to totally alienate himself from the Greyjoys ''and'' the Starks -- his [[Jerkass]] tendencies and willingness to cross the [[Moral Event Horizon]] haven't helped, either.

** In a ''very'' twisted sense, Joffrey Baratheon is like this towards Robert, irritating Tywin immensely as he had been given to understand Joffrey did not care for Robert and is pissed the little brat shows some pride at being a Baratheon rather than a Lannister.

** ''A Feast For Crows'': {{spoiler|Doran Martell revealing his plans for vengeance}}.

** ''A Dance With Dragons'': {{spoiler|Dany mounting Drogon and flying out of Meereen, as well as Jon getting stabbed by his own men}}.

* [[When It All Began]]: Robert's Rebellion.

* [[Whip It Good]]: Jhogo, one of Daenerys' bloodriders, wields a whip as his signature weapon.

* [[Wide Eyed Idealist]]:

** Sansa. Boy, does she pay the price...

* [[Wizarding School]]: The Citadel has elements of this trope. Along with medicine, alchemy and other topics, some Maesters choose to study "magic," though the most they learn is that it doesn't work, effectively making the study of magic a Westerosi equivalent of [[A Degree in Useless]]. We later learn that {{spoiler|a faction of the Citadel is strongly ''against'' magic and is trying to eradicate it. They might have been partially responsible for the extinction of Targaryen dragons, which caused magic to fade from the world for a while}}.

* [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask]]: Daenerys after some development. She is also quite aware of the fact, referring to the necessity of her queenly vestments by tsaying that "The Queen of Rabbits cannot be seen without her floppy ears".

** Averted by Stannis, who castrates rapists. It's presented as yet another way his principles lose him the good will of his followers.

** Heavily deconstructed with Daenerys. First, she tries to stop the Dothraki raping the women of defeated tribes. Since they view those women as spoils of war, she's seen as simply being ''greedy'' by claiming them for herself, so she only succeeds in protecting a handful. Later, one of those women complains that Dany sees herself as a hero for "saving" her, when she'd already seen her temple burned, her friends murdered, and indeed been raped several times already. For her next attempt at fulfilling the trope, she acquires an elite group of eunuch soldiers.

** Ramsay Bolton managed to {{spoiler|go from fleeing for his life disguised in his servant's filthy clothes to capturing and sacking Winterfell}} through what amounted to a series of clever improvisations.

* [[Yandere]]: Lysa Arryn for Littlefinger who is yandere for Catelyn. Heck, Littlefinger just takes Yandere to a [[Up to Eleven|whole new]] [[Disproportionate Retribution|level]] of crazy.

** {{spoiler|Just when it looks like Oberyn Martell is going to kill Gregor Clegane...}}

** {{spoiler|Eddard Stark's execution}}.