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

2026-06-13T16:26:50Z

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

New page

{{Infobox character
| image = https://archmaester.site/portraits/got/stannis-baratheon.jpg
| name = Stannis Baratheon
| title = Lord of Dragonstone, King (claimant), Lord of Storm's End (former)
| house = [[House Baratheon]]
| race = Stormlander
| status = Alive (as of ''[[A Dance with Dragons]]''; besieging the [[Boltons]] near [[Winterfell]])
| region = [[Dragonstone]]; [[The North]]
| born = 264 AC, [[Storm's End]]
| died =
| weapon = [[Lightbringer]] (claimed)
| fate = Marching on [[Winterfell]] through the snows to break [[Roose Bolton]]
| actor = Stephen Dillane
| quote = A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good.
}}

'''Stannis Baratheon''' is the Lord of [[Dragonstone]], the middle brother of King [[Robert Baratheon]], and a claimant to the [[Iron Throne]] during the [[War of the Five Kings]]. Rigid, dutiful, and humorless, he believes himself the one true and lawful king of [[Westeros]] following the revelation that [[Cersei Lannister|Cersei]]'s children are bastards born of incest.

Stannis is a hard, unloved man with an unbending sense of justice and duty. Drawn into the orbit of the red priestess [[Melisandre]] and her god [[R'hllor]], he comes to be hailed by her followers as the prophesied [[Azor Ahai]] reborn.

== Background ==
Stannis held [[Storm's End]] through a long, starving siege during [[Robert's Rebellion]], a brutal ordeal that left him bitter and was, in his eyes, never properly rewarded. After the war, his brother Robert gave [[Storm's End]] to their youngest brother [[Renly Baratheon|Renly]] and granted Stannis the lesser seat of [[Dragonstone]], a slight Stannis never forgave. He served as master of ships on Robert's council, married [[Selyse Florent]], and fathered a daughter, [[Shireen Baratheon|Shireen]], whose face is scarred by greyscale. It was Stannis, with [[Jon Arryn]], who first uncovered the truth of Cersei's children, prompting him to withdraw to Dragonstone.

== Biography ==

=== ''A Clash of Kings'' ===
On Robert's death, Stannis declares himself king and reveals the incest that disinherits Joffrey. Under the influence of [[Melisandre]], he converts (at least outwardly) to the worship of [[R'hllor]], burning the statues of the [[Seven]] and drawing a sword he names [[Lightbringer]]. When his brother [[Renly Baratheon|Renly]] also claims the crown and raises a far larger host, Stannis has Melisandre birth a shadow that murders Renly, then absorbs much of his army. His assault on [[King's Landing]] is shattered at the [[Battle of the Blackwater]] by [[Tyrion Lannister|Tyrion]]'s wildfire and the Lannister-Tyrell host.

=== ''A Storm of Swords'' ===
His cause in ruins, Stannis retreats to Dragonstone, where Melisandre's fires call for king's blood. The smuggler-knight [[Davos Seaworth]], his most honest counselor, persuades the Citadel-trained maester [[Cressen]]'s former pupil and others, and crucially convinces Stannis to heed the threat in the North. When [[Maester Aemon|Aemon]]'s letters from the [[Night's Watch]] reach Dragonstone, Stannis sails his remaining strength to [[The Wall]], shattering [[Mance Rayder]]'s wildling host and saving the realm's northern shield, the only king to answer the Watch's call.

=== ''A Dance with Dragons'' ===
From the Wall, Stannis seeks to win the North to his cause. He takes the ironborn-held [[Deepwood Motte]], earns the loyalty of mountain clans and northern houses, and marches on [[Winterfell]] to break the treasonous [[Roose Bolton]]. His army becomes bogged down in deadly blizzards on the march, half-starved and freezing, and a forged letter (the "Pink Letter") later claims he has been defeated, though his true fate is unconfirmed in the novels.

== Character ==
Stannis is just, but joylessly so; he prizes duty and law above mercy or love and grinds his teeth at the world's unfairness. He inspires respect rather than affection. His rigidity is both his strength, he alone among the kings rides to defend the realm from the true enemy, and his curse, for he bends to Melisandre's dark magic in his hunger for a crown he believes is his by right.

== Relationships ==
Stannis's most important relationship is with [[Davos Seaworth]], the lowborn smuggler he both punished and ennobled, and who serves as his conscience. He is dominated spiritually by [[Melisandre]], whose prophecies define his self-image. His marriage to [[Selyse Florent|Selyse]] is loveless, but he shows a hard tenderness toward his greyscale-scarred daughter [[Shireen Baratheon|Shireen]].

== Quotes ==
<blockquote>''A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good.''</blockquote>
<blockquote>''I will not become a page in someone else's history book.''</blockquote>

== In the television series ==
In HBO's ''Game of Thrones'', Stannis was portrayed by Stephen Dillane. His arc broadly follows the novels, then ends beyond them: pressured by failure on the march to Winterfell, he allows Melisandre to burn his daughter [[Shireen Baratheon|Shireen]] alive as a sacrifice, is routed by the Boltons, and is killed by [[Brienne of Tarth]]. None of these events have occurred in the books, where Stannis is still on the march and Shireen lives.

[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Game of Thrones]]
[[Category:House Baratheon]]

Stannis Baratheon - Revision history

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