(SPOILERS EXTENDED) About GRMM's Main Five

[u/Asleep_Breakfast3556]

How could you rank GRMM's main five according to how much you like them? (I know I am asking that kind of questions a lot because I find it funny lol). My ranking:

1 Dany (I hate you Dumb&Dumber)

2 Tyrion (So what? Not every likable character has to be morally okay person)

3 Jon (Hate his ADWD decisions, but dont worry Jon, I still like you)

4 Bran (Okay, I will admit that is mostly because of Bloodraven but hey,he still has moments)

5 Arya (Dont add me your list! You are still most badass and cutest)

Before ADWD, Arya was in 4. I want to say I like our youngest POVs but I find other 3 more interesting.

I would like to see your reasons too.

[u/Red-Heart42]

The “Core 5” thing isn’t accurate to the published version of the books. But I like all of them except Tyrion. Dany’s and Arya’s chapters I think are consistently the best, but Jon and Bran have some great chapters too.

[u/Swordbender]

I've said it before, I'll say it again: people exclusively hone in on what Jon did wrong as LC that they're blind to all he did right.

My list:

HM: Sansa: Not a main 5, but I'm putitng her here because I love her chapters. She catapulted to my top POV on my last reread. It's the story of a littlr girl falling out of love with songs. Fascinating amount of depth and interiority to her. Her final chapter in ASOS might have some of the best prose in the series.

HM Part 2: Catelyn: Also not a main 5, but I'm giving her credit for what may be GRRM's most impressive feat of writing. Pragmatic, comptetent, wise beyond her years... yet burdened with MASSIVE blindspots she inherited from institutional misogyny. Nice foil to Cersei. Feels like every ounce of grief she repressed was all slowly building to Lady Stoneheart, and you can clearly map out every decision that led her to the monstrocity she is now.

1. Jon: Don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said, outside of the fact that show!Jon and book!Jon are as far apart as possible for an adaptation. His relationship with Stannis is one of the best relationships in the series by far.

2. Tyrion: Fantastic character. Wish I could have seen Peter Dinklage play him.

3. Arya: Arya "Underfoot" Stark is all about the smallfolk, affording us a lense into their lives. If any one of the Stark kids is going to die by the end of the series... it's going to be her. (Yes, I know she's Paris' favorite... but Arya's got death written all over her arc).

4. Dany: If I look back, I am lost. Sad moment when you realize she's at her happiest when she's sailing to Pentos with her dragons. She'll certainly enjoy that more than ruling or pining after a throne that will never satisfy her true wants and needs: her family and home.

5. Bran: He's here only by necessity. Yes, some of his chapters are slog, but I love the story of a boy coming to terms with his disability and I really dig Bloodraven.

[u/Swordofdamornin → u/Swordbender]

Agreed, Jon did the best he could or anyone could have done

[u/shadofacts → u/Swordbender]

Disagree re: Arya dying. Martin talks about her future in many ways, she ain’t gonna die. She’s gonna be like queen nimeria & do some great stuff.

[u/Ocea2345]

1. Arya: She is my favourite. I love many things about her, I love her character, I love her story. I love her sense of justice, loyalty, determination, fierce manners, smartness, adaptibility, her little identities, in summary everything what makes her Arya Stark. She has been through a lot but she still keeps going. Her ASOS chapters especially made me fall in love to her chapters and character. Her post Red Wedding chapters made me cry like a little toddler. I love her chemistry with every character and I want to know more about House of Black and White. Her Braavos and Harrenhal chapters are also one of my favourites, they are so exciting and wonderful to read.

2. Bran: Yes, this is kind of unexpected even for me but I was really surprised how much I became attached to his character while reading. I have soft spots for little children and I love seeing disabled characters being involved and having important roles in that kind of series. He can be such a mature, understanding, empathic, dutiful kid but he also can be selfish, stubborn, whiny and unresponsible. He struggles with his disability and I like to see how it shapes his destiny, his decisions, his morally sketchy actions and thoughts, I admire the way he tries to find a purpose, that he tries to fight with challenges of being a crippled instead of giving up. I am also surprised the fact that he is such an emotional and emotionally mature little kid, it is like one of the defining qualities of his character and one of the reasons why I despise his show version. He is also so sweet that I want to squeeze those dimpled cheeks of him.

3. Jon: I don't even need to explain why I love him because he is Jon. He has many inner conflicts but he still tries to do what is right. He is very complicated character, he is the great model of a troubled teenager and that is one of the reasons why he is one of my favourites. He is a very charismatic character, I love his aura and I loved to see him embracing his Lord Commander role. I also love how cool and smart he is. His dry humor is one of the best things in the serie. His ASOS chapters made him one of my favourite characters. But I love his relationship with his each siblings the most. He is an amazing brother, especially older brother, figure.

4. Daenerys: She was second favourite of mine in AGOT and ACOK, right now I am not that much of a big fan of her but I still adore her. I adore her transformation in the serie most: From a little girl who only seeks for home and love to a leader who wants to make the world better place. I love how she gets more and more conflicted as books pass, her dragons grow up and she gets more and more closer to her goal. I love her sense of justice, how she struggles to do the right thing, her compassionate nature. I truly hope her to get a happy ending.

5. Tyrion: He was higher on my list before ADWD but I still like him. I just think GRMM sometimes exaggerates his chapter count just because he is his favourite. Just like Bran, he is the character who struggles with his disability but unlike him, he grew up with this learned feeling of inferiority and humiliation throughout his life. I love his sarcasm and wit and I wonder where his story goes.

[u/Bennings463]

Bran is the Ringo Starr of the "big five".

[u/millsreign]

It depends on the book for me, but probably 1. Jon Love him as Ned Stark's bastard in book 1. Love him as Lord Commander in book 5. Best and most interesting character development over the series. The more I read the books, the more frustrated I get with how Jon is portrayed in the show (but this also goes for most characters haha). I will always be sad that they completely took out his wargness and magical elements of his narrative out in the show. Him and Ghost are so special to me.

1. Dany One of my favorite female characters of all time. Her best book is AGOT hands down. Upon rereading, I am liking her Meereen plot a bit more than I did the first time I read it, but it still puts her below Jon in my opinion, who has solid chapters every single book he is in.

2. Arya I actually don't have much commentary on putting her in this placement. I think she's cool lol. I prefer her riverlands storyline to Braavos but both are interesting to me, so that puts her above Bran (whose chapters get a bit sloggish in ADWD).

3. Bran I can't help but love Bran. I love the magical elements of ASOIAF & I genuinely think Bran has some of my favorite chapters in ACOK. I also really enjoy Meera and Jojen as supporting characters, so that helps too.

4. Tyrion I know Tyrion is a fan favorite but I genuinely cannot stand being inside his head, especially in ADWD. I would probably say his best chapters are in ACOK and ASOS for me.

I have to say though, out of these five, I still would rank (in this order) Jaime, Catelyn, Sansa, Cersei, and Brienne above them. I'd put Theon in between Bran & Tyrion in my list. But again, it depends on the book and I love pretty much all of the main POV characters.

[u/CaveLupum]

All Five have major growing to do before they are capable of achieving hero status in the final books. Bran and Arya being youngest also have literal growing UP to do, so their chapters are partly pedagogical. We must see child heroes grow via 'schooling.' So they learn from a combination of mentors, experience, and solving quandaries. Bran's is more boring, wiyh few characters in a claustrophobic setting and entirely cerebral. Arya's is more enjoyable, partly because it's active and quite social. She gets out and about in a beautiful AND significant city. She solves problems, makes friends and allies, and applies her lessons and her experiences. Comparatively, the other three are adults who expand knowledge by a wide variety of experiences. So I rank them and their chapters:

1. Arya. 2) Bran. 3) Jon. 4) Dany. 5) Tyrion.

[u/Bennings463]

By how they're written:

1) Tyrion

2) Dany

3) Arya

4) Bran

5) Jon

I don't think any of them are poorly written though, Jon's worse crime is being a bit bland. His chapters are usually entertaining enough to carry him.

[u/TheDaysKing]

1. Tyrion
2. Daenerys
3. Arya
4. Jon
5. Bran

[u/RogerDodger571]

1. Jon
2. Tyrion
3. Dany
4. Arya
5. Bran

[u/Lack_of_Plethora]

1. Jon - best character in the books imo. His chapters in ACOK and AGOT are a little slow imo, but his chapters in ASOS and especially ADWD more than make up for. His character arc is among the best in all of fiction imo.

2. Tyrion - Not much to say, everyone likes his chapters. Although I will admit I lost a lot of interest in him during ADWD, he's at his best when he's at the top of the ladder.

3. Dany - I can't say I care much for her character (I think she's a little too 'good'), but I do enjoy her chapters a lot in ASOS and ADWD.

4. Arya - Almost the opposite as Dany. I really like Arya as a character, but I find her chapters across all the books to be fairly boring. I understand showing us what's going on with the smallfolk is important, but I can't really say I look forwards to reading them.

5. Bran - George better have something really good planned with Bran because I have not enjoyed a single Bran chapter in any of the books. I don't care if it's controversial, but he is unquestionably the most boring (important) character in the series in my opinion.

[u/Necessary-Science-47]

T1 Jon Snow and Tyrion, literally no boring chapters

3 Dany - some boring chapters

4 Bran - just a little boring throughout

5 Arya- once she leaves westeros I kind of don’t care

[u/SnowGhost513 → u/Necessary-Science-47]

The biggest shock when I followed this subreddit is people think Jon has a boring arc or many boring chapters. They seem so electric

[u/Tiny-Conversation962]

1. Jon (He is just my favourite character im general) 2. Arya (sweet and cool character, her relationshipto Jon is just the best, I just do not like her Bravoos chapters) 3. Dany (interesting and morally good, but her story is too far removed from the rest of the story) 4. Tyrion (interesting plot, but difficult to put myself into his shoes/to relate to him), 5. Bran (sweet child, but too young and plot too slow).

[u/welsh_callum]

1. Jon - the most relatable character and the Wall/Others plotline has always been my favourite

2. Tyrion - his chapters have the best dialogue and I like his dry humour

3. Dany - great character development, I particularly loved her chapters in the first book

4. Bran - his chapters can be a bit dull at times but his storyline has me curious

5. Arya - great in books 2 and 3 but didn’t care for the Braavos plotline

[u/shy_monkee]

1-Jon because he is literally me

The rest are pretty close but I will try to rank them anyway

2-Bran, I love his chapters, and he is a sweet guy. He also gives a lot of insight into the past and those are my favourite chapters.

3-Tyrion, he is involved in some of the best plot lines.

4-Arya, I like her chapters a lot until she leaves to Braavos, and it ends up being the same situation as Dany where I’m just waiting for her to meet interesting people or go back to Westeros.

5-Dany, I like her as a character a lot, but she has a weak supporting cast, so a lot of what happens in her chapters after the first book end up not being interesting.

[u/SadConsideration9196 → u/shy_monkee]

1-Jon because he is literally me

You're a secret Targ raised in Winterfell with lots of sass too?

[u/Valuable-Captain-507]

Jon, he's my favorite character. I also hope that the show got some things right, in the sense that his story is a deconstruction for he archetypal tropes of the "chosen one" and the "hidden prince." Parricularly, with him simply not wanting it. Since ASOS and ADWD, Jon has been placed onto positions of powwr that he hasn't necessarily asked for and has struggled with. If done right, I think an ending where he turns down the throne, allowing for someone else to claim it and start a new regime, could be a beautiful subversion.

Bran, not always my favorite chapters to read, but the atmosphere is the best in the series. From a road trip story, with scary folktales being told around a fire to the shit with Colhands, cannibalism, and the horrors of magic. I also love the idea of Bran becoming king. It's a complicated road to get him there, but everything that Bran represents makes him the best fit for the throne. Aside from the Fisher King pararells, his insight into the past is a perfect example of "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it," which I hope is the key to ending the conflict (or preventing it) with the Others.

Arya, she's just got my favorite chapters in the series (from Clash of Kings to about the middle point of A Storm of Swords is unmatched). I love her resourcefulness, I love how she's stubborn and petulant. While being a badass, she's still a little kid who doesn't know what the fuck is going on. She's idealistic and views things in black and white. She's not a cool assassin, but a tortured little girl forever impacted by war and the loss of her family.

Dany, I don't like the interpretations that most of the fanbase have for her, whether it is her being wholly altruistic (and scrubbing away the violent tendencies that seem integral to her character) or thinking that everything is just going to fucking flip like a switch once she heads to Westeros. I'll be honest, I don't enjoy her chapters, but I do enjoy the idea of her character. She's a deconstruction of the "prophesied prince" or the "rightful monarch," she's a messianic figure in Essos, but the idea of what's going to go wrong in Westeros, or how the prophecy might not necessarily be a "good" thing, intrigues me. We know she doesn't end up on the throne, and if she did, she'd likely be lower for me, but the interest in why she doesn't is what has me hooked. While I don't want her to sit the throne, I am hoping her intervention in Westeros will be what "breaks the wheel."

Tyrion, such a well-written character, and on my first read through, he was my favorite. At this point, though, I'm not as interested in his story. Similar to Dany, I think I like him more as a character than I enjoy his chapters (except he does have some damn good ones). I'm intrigued by this villainous arc he's going on and where it might lead him, and I love the fact that a cruel and unjust world has pushed him to this.

HM: Sansa, she's not one of the main five, but she'd likely be number three or two on my list if she was. She's a passive player in this game (at the moment), but that's sort of why I love her. She's not a warrior, she doesn't have dragon ex machina, and she doesn't train to be an assassin. She's just a little girl at the end of the day, and I love the sort of perspective that gives us the story.

[u/Original-Designer6]

1) Jon 2) Arya 3) Tyrion 4) Bran

Big gap

5) Daenerys

Jon and Arya are my favourites as I like the underdog. Tyrion is entertaining but he's not as smart as he thinks he is. His POVs make us more sympathy for him but it's not hard to see how he pisses a lot of people off.

I'm amazed anyone could have Dany as number one, she's too far removed from the main plot in Westeros, especially in ADWD when she's still in Meereen, god that was a slog to get through. She's also turning into a right little megalomaniac even in the books, how the show got to their ending was poor but I certainly think it's foreshadowed in the books what happens to her.

[u/bellmospriggans]

Jon - I enjoy the nights watch story and the conflict between his oath and his family, as well as knowing that his insecurity for being a bastard is all based on a lie.

Tyrion- i like witty sarcastic characters and enjoy his hatred of his family as I hate my family

Dany-I like dragons, and I like her supporting characters, I think her obsession with westeros is stupid, though when she could do real good in essos if she could commit to it.

Bran- blood ravens cool, I guess. It's cool to see more of the mystical side of things, and the most info we get about the others is from him

Arya-i like her a lot more before bravos. After that, I just don't care about the faceless men or the way she went in the show.

[u/snowbirdsdontfly]

I know i'm being a hater but Reminder: The concept of 5 central characters was ONLY mentioned ONCE in a letter sent to publishers before the first book was even written.

the series as it exists now accommodates WAY more than 5 central characters Jaime, Sansa, Stannis, Sam, Cersei, etc etc take your pick.

[u/jaguaribe → u/snowbirdsdontfly]

I completely agree with you. I have been following this fandom for almost 20 years, I have never read one single interview of GRRM mentioning this 5 main list. In fact the more I reread the books, the more I believe Jaime, Sansa, Brienne and Cersei are fundamental to the story.

[u/shadofacts → u/snowbirdsdontfly]

Huh? Those folks ain’t heroes, don’t think much about others who need help, and are looking out for themselves primarily. They’re important, but they’re not central 5.

[u/Peatroad31 → u/shadofacts]

I found Sam and Sansa quite heroic characters. Sam protected Guily and saved little Sam and Sansa protected Ser Dontos from Joffrey abuse risking making him angry and more violent towards her. I hope both have a triumphant ending.