Who are the Top 10 Greatest Warriors in A Song of Ice and Fire? Which characters are best at fighting, in their prime years, with their usual weapons and armour? This ranking is based on the books, in the time period of the main series and Robert’s Rebellion.
No dragons or warging or magic allowed, giants and white walkers don’t count. The number ten best warrior is Victarion Greyjoy, “The Iron Captain”. Victarion wasn’t in the TV show.
But he’s an uncle of Theon and Asha. And Victarion is renowned among the ironborn as a fearsome warrior. He’s a big man, strong as a bull and about as smart as a bull, but that just makes him braver.
Victarion wears heavy plate armour even in sea battles – which is dangerous, cause he could drown if he falls overboard, but Victarion is fearless. He lives to fight, he was put on this earth to deal death with his axe. In Book 4, Victarion singlehandedly slaughters a bunch of men in battle.
Then he kills a knight called Talbert Serry – Serry is fast, but Victarion’s fast too, catching Serry’s sword in his armoured hand. Victarion’s hand gets wounded and infected. So a red priest called Moqorro heals Victarion’s hand with magic, and now Vic’s arm is burned black, and smoking, and is stronger than ever.
Victarion lifts a man in the air and kills him with just this bare hand. So with his new super-strong barbeque fist, Victarion may be even more dangerous than before. But we never see Victarion fight any really skilled opponents.
Talbert Serry is not a particularly renowned knight. And Victarion’s bravery does border on stupidity. So while Victarion is powerful, there are better fighters.
Number nine is Loras Tyrell, “the Knight of Flowers”. Loras is just sixteen years old in Book 1, but he’s already famous as a great knight. He’s graceful, and quick, and very skilled at fighting.
Author George Martin said Loras is one of the best swordsmen in Westeros. And he’s extremely good at jousting in tournaments. But Oberyn Martell questions whether Loras is any good in actual battle.
So what fights has Loras won? We see Loras lose a fight with Brienne in a melee. Loras kills two knights – who were on his side, out of mad grief.
Loras apparently fought “magnificently” at the Battle of the Blackwater, though not as magnificently as his brother Garlan. In Book 5, Loras leads a savage assault on Drgonstone, and kills a bunch of men, but Loras gets badly wounded and doused in boiling oil, and is expected to die. So Loras is a talented fighter, but he doesn’t have many great feats of battle.
And his arrogant recklessness is a weakness that may’ve just got him killed. Jaime thinks Loras has the potential to be great. But so far that potential is unfulfilled.
Number eight is Brienne, the Maid of Tarth. Brienne is freakishly big and strong. She’s well over six feet tall, bigger and stronger than Jaime.
She’s a skilled fighter, she moves shockingly fast in battle. And she’s even more dangerous with the Valyrian steel sword Oathkeeper. In Book 2, Brienne wins a melee at Renly’s camp – she’s the last standing of one hundred and sixteen knights, and she personally defeats Loras Tyrell, one of the best knights alive.
Though Loras claims that she won with a trick, by tackling him. Brienne often uses her size and strength to overwhelm opponents – her fighting style is similar to that of her ancestor, Duncan the Tall. After Renly dies, Brienne fights off a bunch of Renly’s men, with speed and skill.
In Book 3, Brienne fights Jaime Lannister, one of the best swordsmen in Westeros. It’s a long, hard fight, but try as he might, Jaime can’t kill her, and ultimately, Brienne beats Jaime. Though she realises that Jaime is weakened from months of imprisonment, and his hands are chained together, so Brienne thinks that Jaime would have won if he was at his full strength.
In Book 4, Brienne fights some of the Brave Companions, or Bloody Mummers, a mercenary group of absolute frothing psychos. Brienne kills three of them in a one v three fight with a little help from Pod. And in the next fight she kills Rorge, the Mad Dog of Saltpans, but then Biter eats some of Brienne’s face, before she’s saved by Gendry.
So Brienne is often underestimated for being a woman. But with her great strength, skill, and sheer tenacity, Brienne wins a lot of fights, and defeats some of the greatest knights in Westeros. Number seven is Garlan Tyrell “the Gallant”.
Garlan wasn’t in the TV show. But in the books, he’s an older brother of Loras. Garlan isn’t as famous as Loras.
But he is bigger and stronger. And Loras says that Garlan is a better swordsman than him. Author George Martin said the same thing.
We see that Garlan often trains by fighting three or four men at once, so that he’s better prepared for real battle. Garlan fights “magnificently” at the Battle of the Blackwater – he kills Guyard Morrigen in single combat “and a dozen other great knights”. When Margaery faces a trial by combat, it’s Garlan she wants as her champion.
So we haven’t seen much of Garlan. But he’s clearly an exceptional warrior. Number six is Gregor Clegane, “the Mountain That Rides”.
Gregor is monstrously “huge”. Almost eight feet tall and weighing four hundred pounds, or two hundred kilos, “all of it muscle”. Gregor is inhumanly strong, he often cuts men in half with a single blow.
Gregor wields a two-handed greatsword in one hand, so he’s got a monstrously long reach. He’s surprisingly quick, and he doesn’t seem to feel pain. “No other knight in the realm inspires such terror” as the Mountain.
The Hound says “No one could ever withstand Gregor”. But what are his accomplishments in combat? In Book 1, the Mountain attacks Loras and the Hound, and tries to kill them, but he fails.
The Hound stops the Mountain, deflects his massive blows. The Mountain fights in some battles in the war – he kills Beric Dondarrion – twice. He kills Raymun Darry and his horse with a single blow.
Then in Tyrion’s trial by combat, Gregor fights Oberyn Martell. And Oberyn uses his speed and skill and poison to mortally wound Gregor, impaling him with a spear – though Gregor still kills Oberyn in the end. Then the mad scientist Qyburn transforms the Mountain into a mysterious undead warrior called Robert Strong.
This silent knight may be even more dangerous than the Mountain was, but we haven’t seen yet him in action in the books. So the Mountain is extremely dangerous, but we’ve never seen him beat a really top-tier opponent. Skilled warriors like Oberyn and the Hound can stop him.
So number five is the Hound, Sandor Clegane. The Hound is a big man, tall, “muscled like a bull”. And he’s “quick”, fighting with a terrible “savagery”.
Sandor is a twisted, bitter man whose greatest joy in life is killing. He’s been killing men since he was twelve years old – knights, lords, women and children. Everyone knows the Hound is “deadly with a sword”, and his snarling dog helm is widely feared.
Even Jaime says the Hound is a “dangerous”, “powerful” warrior. Author George Martin said the Hound is one of the greatest swordsmen in Westeros. And we’ve seen this in action.
In Book 1, the Hound stops the Mountain. Despite all the Mountain’s strength and rage he can’t kill his brother. The Hound flees the Battle of the Blackwater, because he’s afraid of fire.
But in Book 3, he overcomes his fear to kill Beric Dondarrion. Killing Beric is basically a Clegane family tradition. The Hound kills some men at the Twins in a three v one fight.
Then with the help of Arya, he kills some of Gregor’s men, even though he’s blind drunk. The Hound’s wounds get infected, and he’s left for dead. But in Book 4, the Hound seems to have survived and found a peaceful life as a monk.
Maybe he’ll return to fight his zombie brother in the next book. So the Hound has a proven record as a skilled, powerful warrior. But the fourth best warrior in Westeros is a young Robert Baratheon.
In Book 1, Robert is fat, drunk, and past his prime. But twenty years ago, when he took the Throne, Robert was “the fiercest warrior of the realm”. He was six and a half feet tall, towering over his enemies in his armour and antlered helmet.
He had “a giant’s strength”, wielding a huge iron warhammer that Ned Stark could barely lift. In his rebellion against the Targaryens, Robert won many battles, fighting fearlessly on the front lines. At Gulltown, he was the first up the walls and killed Lord Grafton by his own hand.
At Summerhall, Robert won three battles in one day, and killed Lord Fell in single combat. He lost a battle at Ashford, but he won the Battle of the Bells and killed six men including the famous knight Myles Mooton. Finally, Robert won the Battle of the Trident, personally killing Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who was renowned as a skilled warrior.
And so Robert won the war and became King of Westeros. Robert is one of the most successful warriors ever. He won all these battles, personally killing many knights and lords, and no one ever managed to kill him.
Except, eventually, for a pig, and his wife, and his crippling alcoholism. But in his prime, Robert was one of the greatest warriors in Westeros. Number three is Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, before he lost his hand.
Barristan Selmy thinks of Jaime as one of the best natural swordsmen he’s seen. Jaime says that in his prime he was bigger, stronger and quicker than Loras. He’s confident that with his skill and speed, he could beat the Mountain and the Hound.
Author George Martin often names Jaime as one of, if not the, best fighters in Westeros. He said Jaime would beat Aragorn in a fight. He said Jaime would beat Hermione in a fight.
He said Jaime would beat a cult of Cthulhu. Jaime won a tournament melee when he was just thirteen years old. At fifteen, he fought the Kingswood Brotherhood, and held his own against the notorious Smiling Knight.
Jaime was knighted by Arthur Dayne, and became the youngest Kingsguard ever. In the main series, he kicks ass in several battles, covering himself in glory. He cuts through Edmure’s army “like an axe through ripe cheese”.
At the Whispering Wood, he fights through the northern army and almost kills Robb Stark – he only stops because his sword gets stuck in a northman’s neck. Even after being imprisoned and weakened for months, he still almost beats Brienne. Brienne thinks at his full strength, “No knight in the Seven Kingdoms could have stood against him”.
Once Jaime loses his hand, he’s no longer a great fighter. But his battles, his reputation, and the words of the author, show that Jaime is the greatest warrior of his generation. Number two is a young Barristan Selmy.
Barristan the Bold is widely recognised as the greatest knight alive, a living legend. When he was young, Barristan “was the finest sword in the Seven Kingdoms”. And he has a long list of accomplishments in combat.
Barristan rode in his first tournament at ten years old. At sixteen, he performed “great feats of prowess” in a tournament, and defeated Duncan the Tall, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. At 23, he joined the Kingsguard himself, and won many more victories in tournaments and melees.
He “Defeated Lormelle Long Lance and Cedrik Storm” and Blackshield, he defeated all challengers at the Silver Bridge. Barristan defeated Simon Toyne of the Kingswood Brotherhood. Barristan ended the War of the Ninepenny Kings, by killing Maelys the Monstrous in “single combat”.
And Barristan ended the Defiance of Duskendale. King Aerys Targaryen got kidnapped and held hostage by House Darklyn. So in an act of crazy courage, Barristan singlehandedly rescued the king.
He climbed the walls of Duskendale with his bare hands, killed a bunch of guards and knights, and escaped with Aerys, despite taking an arrow to his chest. In the Battle of the Trident, Barristan fought for the Targaryens, but he was so badass that when Robert took over, he decided to keep Barristan on the Kingsguard. In the time of the main series, Barristan is in his sixties, and he’s still an exceptional fighter.
Still winning tournaments. Still better than all the other Kingsguard. He joins Daenerys and he kills the Titan’s Bastard with a stick.
He kills a deadly Dothraki warrior. And he leads a cavalry charge in the siege of Meereen. Barristan has been winning fights for six decades, and is universally recognised as the greatest knight alive.
But there is one warrior who is better. First – some honourable mentions. Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, has a great reputation as a warrior, and he’s very skilled, but the one time we see him fight, he dies.
Bronn is a deadly warrior, Tyrion compares him to Jaime. Thoros of Myr beats the Hound in melees three times, probably because Thoros uses flaming swords. Khal Drgo never loses a fight but we never see him beat an armoured knight.
Greatjon Umber is so tough that when his fingers get eaten he laughs. Mance Rayder became king of the wildlings by killing a bunch of his rivals. Andrik the Unsmiling is said to be greatest fighter in the Iron Islands, but we don’t know anything about him.
Darkstar is said to be “the most dangerous man in Dorne” – he’s also edgiest emo in Dorne. And Strong Belwas is such a confident gladiator that he lets his opponents cut him before he kills them. He survives poison, eats liver and onions, and takes a literal shit on his opponents.
The kitten Ser Pounce has the impressive combat feat of scaring off Balerion, a notably fearsome tomcat. However, Ser Pounce fails to prevent Lady Whiskers from stealing his mouse, so Ser Pounce’s combat record is mixed at best. But the number one best warrior in Westeros is Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning.
Arthur died twenty years ago. But he’s remembered as the “deadliest” of Aerys’ Kingsguard – deadlier than Barristan, deadlier than Jaime. Jaime says Arthur could’ve killed five Kingsguard with his left hand while taking a piss with his right.
Ned Stark said Arthur was “The finest knight” he ever saw. Arthur wielded the legendary sword Dawn, said to be forged from the heart of a meteor. George Martin said that with Dawn, Arthur would beat Barristan in a fight.
Arthur killed the Smiling Knight, who was like the Mountain of his time. Arthur apparently died fighting Ned Stark, with the help of Howland Reed. In the show, it’s revealed that Howland stabbed Arthur in the back – but in the books, this whole situation is still a mystery.
There’s so much we don’t know about Arthur. His only fights mentioned in the books are Ned Stark and the Smiling Knight. We only know he’s the best warrior ever because the characters and the author say so.
Many characters think of Arthur with nostalgia, and rose-tinted glasses. So was he really that great, or is he just the idealised symbol of a noble knight? How can we ever know if he would’ve beaten the Hound or Brienne in a fight?
George Martin has said the whole idea of ranking the best fighters is kinda dumb. There is no objective answer. Who would win in a fight depends on the situation, on the day, on random chance.
It depends on the relationships and emotions of the people involved. A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t about the sword-fights – it’s about the story, the characters and themes. But we won’t let that stop us.
Comment below your top ten best fighters, or top twenty – how would you rank Oberyn and the Greatjon and Belwas? We have almost finished two big videos about Dune, that will come out soon. And the Game of Thrones prequel TV show House of the Drgon will start in August, we’ll make videos about that too.
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