Ramsay Bolton
| House / Order | House Bolton |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Northmen |
| Status | Alive (as of A Dance with Dragons) |
| Origin | The North; the Dreadfort |
| Born | c. 282 AC |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Hunting hounds; a flaying knife |
| Fate | Married to "Arya Stark"; holding Winterfell for the Boltons as Stannis Baratheon closes in; author of the threatening "Pink Letter" |
| Portrayed by | Iwan Rheon |
Ramsay Bolton, born Ramsay Snow, is the legitimized bastard son of Lord Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort. Sadistic, cunning, and utterly without conscience, he is among the most monstrous figures in A Song of Ice and Fire, delighting in torture, rape, and the ancient Bolton tradition of flaying living men.
Ramsay is the chief instrument of House Bolton's seizure of the North in the wake of the Red Wedding, and the torturer who breaks Theon Greyjoy into the creature "Reek."
Background
Ramsay was born of an act of rape: his father Roose forced himself on a miller's wife and later, by his own grim account, had the miller hanged. Raised as a baseborn Snow, Ramsay grew into a creature of pure cruelty, hunting women for sport with his hounds and flaying his victims in the old Bolton manner that the Iron Throne had outlawed. His vicious servant, the original "Reek," shaped and encouraged his savagery; when that Reek died, Ramsay forced his identity onto another.
Biography
A Clash of Kings
While Theon Greyjoy holds the captured Winterfell, Ramsay (posing under a false name) leads a Bolton force that arrives as if to aid Theon, only to sack and burn the castle, slaughter its people, and take Theon prisoner. He then sets about breaking his captive.
A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons
After the Red Wedding hands the North to House Bolton, Ramsay is legitimized by royal decree, becoming Ramsay Bolton, heir to the Dreadfort. Over a long captivity he tortures Theon beyond recognition, flaying fingers, breaking his teeth and mind, until Theon believes himself to be nothing but "Reek," Ramsay's cringing thrall. To cement Bolton rule, Ramsay is wed at Winterfell to a girl passed off as Arya Stark, in truth the steward's daughter Jeyne Poole, whom he abuses horrifically, forcing Reek to participate. As Stannis Baratheon marches on Winterfell through the blizzards, Reek and "Arya" escape. Ramsay (or someone claiming to be him) then sends the Night's Watch a gloating, threatening message known as the "Pink Letter," boasting of victory over Stannis and demanding Jon Snow return his bride and others, a letter that helps provoke the mutiny against Jon.
Character
Ramsay is a sadist of the purest kind: he takes joy in inflicting suffering and humiliation, and his cruelty serves no purpose beyond his own pleasure. He is cunning and dangerous, but ruled by appetite and unable to restrain himself, qualities his colder father regards with disgust and concern. He is everything the calculating Roose is not, an embarrassment and a liability as much as a weapon.
Relationships
Ramsay's relationship with his father Roose is wary and mutually distrustful; Roose knows his bastard is a mad dog. His destruction of Theon Greyjoy is the defining act of his villainy. His brutal "marriage" to Jeyne Poole (as the false Arya) drives the late-novel events at Winterfell. He keeps a pack of hunting hounds named for the women he has killed.
Quotes
If this is some trick, you'll wish you were never born.
You are Reek. The third R is for Reek. Do you remember?
In the television series
In HBO's Game of Thrones, Ramsay was portrayed by Iwan Rheon. His arc follows the broad strokes of the novels, with major changes: in the show he marries Sansa Stark (rather than the book's Jeyne Poole), kills his father Roose to seize the Dreadfort, loses the Battle of the Bastards to Jon Snow, and is killed by his own hounds. None of these events have occurred in the books.