Few shows have shaped pop culture the way Game of Thrones did. Even after its chaotic final season, people still argue about who was the real hero, who deserved better, and who should have just stayed out of the Seven Kingdoms altogether. Beneath the politics, dragons, and endless betrayals, it was the characters that made Westeros so magnetic. Here’s a ranking of the best Game of Thrones characters, judged not just by how powerful or popular they were, but by how unforgettable they remain.
10. Brienne of Tarth
Brienne’s arc was one of rare honour in a show built on moral decay. She broke through ridicule, sexism, and court snobbery to become one of the few knights who actually lived up to their vows. Watching her duel the Hound or stand guard over Jaime’s body was proof that courage isn’t about birthright but conviction.
9. Sandor “The Hound” Clegane
Scarred on the outside, scorched on the inside. The Hound was Westeros’ most reluctant hero, hiding decency beneath layers of bitterness and wine. His moments with Arya brought depth to a man who claimed not to care about anything. In the end, he died fighting fire, literally and metaphorically, and that’s a poetic kind of justice.
8. Sansa Stark
The naïve girl from Winterfell became the sharpest political mind in the North. Sansa endured manipulation from the best of them, Cersei, Littlefinger, Ramsay, and came out colder and cleverer than all. Her rise to Queen in the North wasn’t flashy, but it was quietly triumphant.
7. Jaime Lannister
The Kingslayer was complex in a way that made fans constantly reassess him. One moment he’s pushing a child out of a window, the next he’s risking everything to fight for the living. His story was about redemption that never fully stuck, and that imperfection made him painfully human.
6. Arya Stark
From water dancing in Braavos to assassinating the Night King, Arya’s transformation was part vengeance, part coming-of-age odyssey. She was the embodiment of survival. Yet beneath the faceless masks, she never lost her sense of identity, a rare feat in Westeros.
5. Cersei Lannister
Cersei was Shakespearean in scale: a mother, a ruler, and a ruthless survivor. She weaponised love and fear with equal precision. Even as she committed atrocities, you couldn’t look away. Cersei taught Westeros that power doesn’t need brute strength, it needs strategy and a very expensive glass of wine.
4. Jon Snow
Jon Snow never wanted power, which made him oddly suited for it. His honour was both his armour and his flaw. He united the wildlings, faced death (twice), and still couldn’t catch a break. For all his brooding, Jon was the emotional core of the series, a Stark heart in a Targaryen mess.
3. Daenerys Targaryen
Her story began as survival and ended in tragedy. Daenerys was the breaker of chains, the mother of dragons, and eventually, the destroyer of cities. Few characters fell from grace so hard, but that’s what made her compelling. Her downfall hurt because it made sense in a way no one wanted to admit.
2. Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion was the wit that held the whole show together. His intelligence was matched only by his talent for bad decisions and good one-liners. He navigated a world that despised him and still found ways to influence kings, queens, and history itself. Beneath the cynicism, Tyrion was driven by empathy, and that made him the most human of them all.
1. Ned Stark
He was gone by season one, yet his shadow defined everything. Ned was honour to a fault, a man who believed truth could survive in a world built on lies. His death shattered that illusion, setting the tone for everything that followed. Every betrayal, every choice, every Stark lesson traces back to him. Ned Stark wasn’t just a character; he was the moral compass Westeros lost too soon.
