You can tell Game of Thrones is fantasy because there are dragons and zombies and every one is hot. Unless a character literally has facial scars for plot reasons, everyone is so freaking bangable. I get it — it’s TV (despite HBO’s claims). But this isn’t a CW show. Prestige TV tends to have some normal-looking people thrown in. Have you seen the cast of Boardwalk Empire?!
And now, it’s that point in every GOT article where we bring up the books. Here we go: The books are different! They allow for some people to look like whatever and still aspire to power or love or a combo of the two. I know it’s crazy, but they actually believe readers would care about people who don’t look like they should be on top of a cliff, modeling knitwear. Take Littlefinger — in the books, it doesn’t say one way or another if he’s hot, but on the show, he’s specifically played by an actor whose character on Queer As Folk was partly defined by how much sex he had.
So, this is a quiz about whether a person’s looks on the show match his physical description from the book. Below are photos of 13 of the show’s objectively attractive characters. Can you tell which ones were said to be hot in the books? A note on methodology: We only focused on people whose appearance is clearly described in the novels. And since there is minimal discrepancy between how female characters are described and portrayed, we focused on the show’s hunks. It is a difficult quiz, but ain’t bad to look at.
Is This Game of Thrones Character Hot in the Books?
Iain Glen wooed Mary Crawley with his roguish good looks and icy-cool Fleet Street demeanor on Downton Abbey, but our beloved Jorah is not supposed to be a full-on hottie. A Storm of Swords makes specific mention that he’s very hairy … but also balding. Daenerys notes upon meeting him that “he’s not a handsome man,†and that “coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head.â€
Iain Glen wooed Mary Crawley with his roguish good looks and icy-cool Fleet Street demeanor on Downton Abbey, but our beloved Jorah is not supposed to be a full-on hottie. A Storm of Swords makes specific mention that he’s very hairy … but also balding. Daenerys notes upon meeting him that “he’s not a handsome man,†and that “coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head.â€
Kit Harington’s curls and broody, dark eyes have captivated fans and turned him into an international heartthrob. Hell, even Craster called him “prettier than one of my daughters.†And the Jon of the novel shares those good looks. “Jon's eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see … Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast.â€
Kit Harington’s curls and broody, dark eyes have captivated fans and turned him into an international heartthrob. Hell, even Craster called him “prettier than one of my daughters.†And the Jon of the novel shares those good looks. “Jon's eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see … Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast.â€
The Drogo whom Daenerys meets and marries in the novel version of A Game of Thrones is as striking as the hulking Jason Momoa. He’s “a head taller than the tallest man in the room, yet somehow light on his feet.†He’s “as graceful as [a] panther,†with skin “the color of polished copper.â€
The Drogo whom Daenerys meets and marries in the novel version of A Game of Thrones is as striking as the hulking Jason Momoa. He’s “a head taller than the tallest man in the room, yet somehow light on his feet.†He’s “as graceful as [a] panther,†with skin “the color of polished copper.â€
Dutch actor Michiel Huisman is dashing enough to have wooed Blake Lively in the Age of Adaline and Connie Britton on Nashville. But the Daario Naharis of the novels is such a comical sight that it’s easy to imagine why the showrunners ignored his true description. Daario wears a dyed-blue beard divided into “three prongs,†and has curly blue hair and blue eyes as well. His signature? A prominent gold tooth.
Dutch actor Michiel Huisman is dashing enough to have wooed Blake Lively in the Age of Adaline and Connie Britton on Nashville. But the Daario Naharis of the novels is such a comical sight that it’s easy to imagine why the showrunners ignored his true description. Daario wears a dyed-blue beard divided into “three prongs,†and has curly blue hair and blue eyes as well. His signature? A prominent gold tooth.
Right from the get-go in A Game of Thrones,we’re told that Gendry has striking blue eyes and thick black hair reminiscent of his father, who was meant to be an attractive younger man. He also bears a passing resemblance to Renly, a well-known hottie; Brienne of Tarth once even confuses the two men.
Right from the get-go in A Game of Thrones,we’re told that Gendry has striking blue eyes and thick black hair reminiscent of his father, who was meant to be an attractive younger man. He also bears a passing resemblance to Renly, a well-known hottie; Brienne of Tarth once even confuses the two men.
Although this also-king has the same frame as his brothers, “broad of shoulder and sinewy of limb,†he’s described as “hard,†by his own men and by Martin. There’s “a tightness to his face and flesh that spoke of leather cured in the sun until it was as tough as steel,†and his eyes are like “open wounds.†Like Stephen Dillane, who plays him on the show, “only a fringe of thin black hair remained on his head,†but that’s where the resemblance ends.
Although this also-king has the same frame as his brothers, “broad of shoulder and sinewy of limb,†he’s described as “hard,†by his own men and by Martin. There’s “a tightness to his face and flesh that spoke of leather cured in the sun until it was as tough as steel,†and his eyes are like “open wounds.†Like Stephen Dillane, who plays him on the show, “only a fringe of thin black hair remained on his head,†but that’s where the resemblance ends.
When Catelyn comes upon him hosting a tourney in A Clash of Kings (when he should be plotting his next battle), she offers this gushing description: “Renly was handsome as Robert had been handsome; long of limb and broad of shoulder, with the same coal-black hair, fine and straight, the same deep blue eyes, the same easy smile.â€
When Catelyn comes upon him hosting a tourney in A Clash of Kings (when he should be plotting his next battle), she offers this gushing description: “Renly was handsome as Robert had been handsome; long of limb and broad of shoulder, with the same coal-black hair, fine and straight, the same deep blue eyes, the same easy smile.â€
Loras is not just good-looking, he is the beau of the ball for the young men and women of Westeros: “so slim and so beautiful.†With flowing, “rich brown hair†and golden eyes, he not only jousts so beautifully in AGame of Thrones that he practically makes Sansa weep, but Tyrion, too, admits that the Knight of Flowers is a beautiful sight. He’s lithe but mighty, practically unseating the Hound in a tourney.
Loras is not just good-looking, he is the beau of the ball for the young men and women of Westeros: “so slim and so beautiful.†With flowing, “rich brown hair†and golden eyes, he not only jousts so beautifully in AGame of Thrones that he practically makes Sansa weep, but Tyrion, too, admits that the Knight of Flowers is a beautiful sight. He’s lithe but mighty, practically unseating the Hound in a tourney.
Played by the captivating and rakish Pedro Pascal, the Red Viper of the show is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. But in A Storm of Swords, we read that he has a lined face like that of a much older man, with “viper†eyes and a beaky nose.
Played by the captivating and rakish Pedro Pascal, the Red Viper of the show is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. But in A Storm of Swords, we read that he has a lined face like that of a much older man, with “viper†eyes and a beaky nose.
Unlike the mischievously handsome Iwan Rheon, with his searching blue eyes and curling black hair, Ramsay is simply ugly. “An ugly man,†Theon thinks in A Dance With Dragons, “big-boned and slope-shouldered,†with skin that’s “pink and blotchy†and, sin of all sins, dry hair. His eyes, most disturbingly, are like “two chips of dirty ice.â€
Unlike the mischievously handsome Iwan Rheon, with his searching blue eyes and curling black hair, Ramsay is simply ugly. “An ugly man,†Theon thinks in A Dance With Dragons, “big-boned and slope-shouldered,†with skin that’s “pink and blotchy†and, sin of all sins, dry hair. His eyes, most disturbingly, are like “two chips of dirty ice.â€
What does a man really look like? It’s impossible to know, of course, when you stroll through the world equipped with unlimited faces. German actor Tom Wlaschiha has piercing blue eyes and a classically handsome face, but here’s what we know of the Jaqen of the novels: Young girls “giggle in admiration†at the sight of him, with his half-white and half-red flowing locks.
What does a man really look like? It’s impossible to know, of course, when you stroll through the world equipped with unlimited faces. German actor Tom Wlaschiha has piercing blue eyes and a classically handsome face, but here’s what we know of the Jaqen of the novels: Young girls “giggle in admiration†at the sight of him, with his half-white and half-red flowing locks.
Duh.
A golden Lannister god, Jaime is described as so classically handsome that Bran declares he looks “more like the knights in the stories†than a real man. With curls the color of “beaten gold,†“perfect teeth,†and “cat-green†eyes, he’s so attractive that his own sister can’t resist him.
Though in A Storm of Swords, like in the show, Tormund claims to have once slept with a bear while drunk, with his massive belly and thick white beard, the Tormund of the novels is far more Santa-like than actor Kristofer Hivju’s Nordic good looks would have you believe.
Though in A Storm of Swords, like in the show, Tormund claims to have once slept with a bear while drunk, with his massive belly and thick white beard, the Tormund of the novels is far more Santa-like than actor Kristofer Hivju’s Nordic good looks would have you believe.
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