Game of Thrones/Characters/Essos

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Dothraki

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:

  • 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 encounters a vision of him in the House of the Undying.
  • Noble Demon
  • The Obi-Wan: To Daenerys.
  • One-Scene Wonder: In "Valar Morghulis" the House of the Undying makes Dany hallucinate him and Rhaego. He manages to be just as badass and loving in this scene as he was before, and combines it with an awesome Blasphemous Boast: when Dany wonders how he can be here, he replies "Maybe I told the Great Stallion to go fuck himself and came here to wait for you." She thinks that sounds like the sort of thing he would do.
  • 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:

"The one with the largest braid is the biggest pimp. So... mine's the largest!"

  • 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:

Mago (Ivailo Dimitrov)

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

One of Khal Drogo's riders.

Tropes:

Pentoshi

Magister Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam)

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

Lhazareen

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:

  • 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.

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.
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.

Qartheen

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: [1]
  • 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.
  • Adaptational Villainy
  • Affably Evil
  • Agent Scully: So Pyat Pree just performed bilocation in your home and surrounded by a bunch of people. Sure it's a trick. Subverted: Pree and Xaro are actually in cahoots and the doubting of Pree's skills/animosity was mutual Obfuscating Stupidity. Xaro later makes use of Pree's cloning spell in order to kill the other members of the Thirteen.
  • 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.
  • Death by Adaptation: Unless he somehow manages to escape from his impenetrable vault before he starves or runs out of air.
  • False-Flag Operation: He stages the robbery of the dragons at his palace, which includes killing several of his bodyguards.
  • 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 but since he thinks Qarth should open its doors to the world, he has the other members of the Thirteen (minus Pree) killed so he can accomplish this as the King of Qarth.
  • Karmic Death: Dany seals him and Doreah inside his impenetrable vault.
  • Mock Millionaire: He's not nearly as wealthy as he appears. His impenetrable vault is actually empty. That being said, Dany seems to believe that the valuables he has lying around his mansion can sell for enough money to buy a ship.
  • 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.[2]
  • 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... but only as far as appearances go.
  • Rags to Royalty: Accomplishing this is his reason for wanting to marry Dany. In "A Man Without Honor", he has Pyat Pree assassinate the other eleven members of the Thirteen, allowing him to become the King of Qarth.
  • Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere
  • Self-Made Man
  • The Starscream: Has Pyat Pree murder all the rest of the Thirteen to crown himself the King of Qarth.
  • Token Minority: And it actually becomes something of a plot point
  • Treacherous Advisor: He helps Pyat Pree capture Dany's dragons in return for his help assassinating the other eleven members of the Thirteen so he can become King.
  • Xanatos Gambit: By making an alliance with Pyat Pree and proposing marriage to Daenarys, he will accomplish his Rags to Royalty plan either way; either Dany refuses to marry him, so he betrays her and Pree makes him king of Qarth in exchange for her dragons, or she accepts, in which case he would presumably screw over Pree and conquer Westeros with her dragons. Unfortunately, his plans failed to account for one important thing: The dragons.

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. Forever."

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

Tropes:

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:

  • 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:

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.

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

Quaithe (Laura Pradelska)

"I am no one."

A priestess from Asshai, now residing in Qarth.

Tropes:

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  1. ↑ In the books he's a skinny bald pale guy with jewels encrusting his huge beaky nose.
  2. ↑ An archipielago mentioned in the books as being to the south of Westeros and inhabited by Black African-looking people.
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