Archmaesterjimmie: GoT character article, book-canon ASOIAF (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)

2026-06-13T16:26:45Z

GoT character article, book-canon ASOIAF (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)

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{{Infobox character
| image = https://archmaester.site/portraits/got/jon-snow.jpg
| name = Jon Snow
| title = Lord Commander of the Night's Watch
| house = [[House Stark]] (acknowledged bastard)
| race = Northmen
| status = Uncertain (stabbed at the close of ''[[A Dance with Dragons]]'')
| region = [[The Wall]], [[The North]]
| born = 283 AC
| died =
| weapon = [[Longclaw]], a Valyrian steel bastard sword
| fate = Elected Lord Commander; cut down by mutineers of the [[Night's Watch]] in a conspiracy called "for the Watch"
| actor = Kit Harington
| quote = Night gathers, and now my watch begins.
}}

'''Jon Snow''' is the acknowledged bastard son of [[Eddard Stark]], Lord of [[Winterfell]], and a major viewpoint character in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. Raised at Winterfell alongside his trueborn half-siblings, he takes the black and rises to become Lord Commander of the [[Night's Watch]].

His true parentage is the central unsolved mystery of the novels. Eddard never names Jon's mother, and the books strongly imply, without yet confirming, that Jon is the son of [[Lyanna Stark]] and [[Rhaegar Targaryen]], hidden to protect him from [[Robert Baratheon]].

== Background ==
Jon was brought to Winterfell as an infant by Eddard Stark on his return from [[Robert's Rebellion]]. Raised with the Stark children, he was loved by his half-siblings, particularly [[Arya Stark|Arya]], with whom he shares a close bond, but resented by [[Catelyn Tully Stark|Lady Catelyn]], who saw him as a living reminder of her husband's supposed infidelity. His status as a bastard, surnamed "Snow" after the custom of the [[The North|North]], shapes his sense of being an outsider. He is given a direwolf pup, [[Ghost (direwolf)|Ghost]], an albino with red eyes.

== Biography ==

=== ''A Game of Thrones'' ===
With no place at Winterfell, Jon resolves to join the [[Night's Watch]] and travels to [[The Wall|the Wall]] with his uncle [[Benjen Stark]]. There the romance of the order gives way to its grim reality: the Watch is a dumping ground for criminals and the desperate. Jon matures under the guidance of [[Maester Aemon]] and the gruff [[Jeor Mormont|Lord Commander Mormont]], befriends the cowardly but clever [[Samwell Tarly]], and is made a steward. When Mormont's corpse-servant rises as a [[wight]], Jon saves the Lord Commander's life and is rewarded with the Valyrian steel sword [[Longclaw]].

=== ''A Clash of Kings'' ===
Jon rides north of the Wall with a great ranging led by Lord Commander Mormont. He encounters the [[Free Folk|wildlings]] and is sent to infiltrate them, falling in with [[Qhorin Halfhand]]. At Qhorin's order, Jon kills him to win the trust of the wildlings and pass as a turncloak.

=== ''A Storm of Swords'' ===
Among the [[Free Folk]], Jon falls in love with the wildling [[Ygritte]] and breaks his vows with her. Torn between duty and feeling, he ultimately abandons the wildlings to warn the Watch. He helps defend the Wall against [[Mance Rayder]]'s host; Ygritte is killed in the fighting. The arrival of [[Stannis Baratheon]]'s army breaks the wildling assault. For his deeds, and amid maneuvering by Sam, Jon is elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

=== ''A Dance with Dragons'' ===
As Lord Commander, Jon pursues a controversial policy of allowing the wildlings through the Wall to settle, judging the [[Others]] and their dead the true enemy. His decisions, including sheltering wildlings and his intent to march against [[Ramsay Bolton]] after a threatening letter, anger many of his brothers. At the novel's end he is stabbed repeatedly by mutineers crying "for the Watch," his fate left unresolved.

== Character ==
Jon is brave, dutiful, and burdened by his bastard status and the conflict between honor and necessity. He is forced again and again to choose between his vows and his conscience, killing [[Qhorin Halfhand]], loving [[Ygritte]], and admitting the wildlings. Like his father, he tries to do what is right rather than what is easy, and like his father, it brings him low.

== Relationships ==
Jon's closest bonds are with his half-siblings, especially [[Arya Stark|Arya]], and his sworn brother [[Samwell Tarly]]. His love for the wildling [[Ygritte]] defines his time beyond the Wall. His direwolf [[Ghost (direwolf)|Ghost]] is bound to him so closely that Jon dreams through the wolf, a sign of his latent warg ability.

== Quotes ==
<blockquote>''Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death.''</blockquote>
<blockquote>''You know nothing, Jon Snow.'' (Ygritte, to him)</blockquote>

== In the television series ==
In HBO's ''Game of Thrones'', Jon Snow was portrayed by Kit Harington. The series resurrected him following his stabbing, revealed his parentage as the son of [[Lyanna Stark]] and [[Rhaegar Targaryen]] (legitimizing him as Aegon Targaryen), and ended his arc with him killing [[Daenerys Targaryen]] and returning beyond the Wall. None of these developments have yet occurred in the novels, where his fate after the mutiny remains unknown.

[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Game of Thrones]]
[[Category:House Stark]]
[[Category:Night's Watch]]

Jon Snow - Revision history

Archmaesterjimmie: GoT character article, book-canon ASOIAF (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)