Tyrion Lannister

Character

Description

In A Game of Thrones (1996), Tyrion is introduced as the third and youngest child of wealthy and powerful Tywin Lannister, the former Hand of the King, and Joanna Lannister, who dies giving birth to him. Tyrion's elder sister, Cersei, is the Queen of Westeros by virtue of her marriage to King Robert Baratheon, and Cersei's male twin, Jaime, is one of the Kingsguard, the royal bodyguard. Described as an ugly ("for all the world like a gargoyle"), malformed dwarf with different colored eyes, green and black, Tyrion possesses the white-blond hair of a Lannister but has a complicated relationship with the rest of them. While he is afforded the privilege and luxuries of his family, he is treated as a "second class noble" because of his stature. Tyrion's mother, Joanna, died giving birth to him and Tywin and Cersei loathe him because they blame him for her death. While Tywin bears no affection for Tyrion, he nevertheless feels a sense of duty to his son, raising him in the Lannister fold and extending Tyrion a share of the family wealth. In contrast to Tywin and Cersei, Jaime has great affection for Tyrion and treats him with kindness, respect, friendship and love. Lev Grossman of Time wrote in 2011:

Tyrion Lannister [is] the brilliant, black-witted dwarf whose family has had the firmest grip on power for much of the series, though that's not saying much. Tyrion is another good example of what separates Tolkien and Martin. Tyrion isn't a hearty, ax-wielding, gold-mining member of a noble dwarven race. He's not Gimli. Tyrion is an actual dwarf, achondroplastic and stubby-limbed, a joke to passersby and an embarrassment to his family.

Tyrion is intelligent, witty, well-read, and shares his father's skill for business and political maneuvering. Grossman described the character as "a bitter, cynical, high-born dwarf", calling him "Martin's Falstaff". David Orr of The New York Times called Tyrion "a cynic, a drinker, an outcast and conspicuously the novels' most intelligent presence". He is often referred to throughout the series as "The Imp" due to his mischievous and cunning nature. As an outcast, he displays sympathy for other outcasts and the otherwise mistreated; the TV series version of the character commiserates with the illegitimate son of Ned Stark by saying, "All dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes." Still, he is usually seen for his deformities and vices, rather than his virtues and good deeds. Tom Shippey of the Wall Street Journal wrote that other characters underestimate Tyrion: "His dwarf-status acts as a kind of protection, because—though he is probably the most intelligent character in the whole cast list—no one takes him seriously." Acknowledging that Tyrion's wit, humor and cunning are his survival mechanism, actor Dinklage told The New York Times that "He knows he has no skills with the sword and this is a world that is really deeply violent. Military rules. He would not be able to survive in that world, given his own strength. So he beats people to the punchline—he's entertaining."

Creation and overview

In 1981, Martin was collaborating with Lisa Tuttle on a trio of novellas that would be published as the novel Windhaven:

So while we were writing the books we thought about a dwarf who would have been the Lord of one of the islands. He had to be the ugliest person in the world but the most intelligent too. I kept that idea in my mind and it reappeared to me when I was starting to write Game of Thrones. So ... That's Tyrion Lannister.

Tyrion is a prominent point of view character in the novels, and both David Orr of The New York Times and Lev Grossman of Time called him one of Martin's "finest creations." Noting the character to be one of Martin's most popular, Dana Jennings of The New York Times called Tyrion "a bitter but brilliant dwarf whose humor, swagger and utter humanity make him the (often drunken) star of the series". Thomas M. Wagner wrote in 2001 that the character "may very well be the strongest antihero in all of contemporary fantasy". Dan Kois of The New York Times also noted in 2012 that "for fans of the novels, Tyrion is among the most beloved among the scores of kings, warriors, wenches, slaves, queens and monsters that populate George R. R. Martin's world". Martin said, "My readers identify with the outcast, with the underdog, with the person who's struggling rather than the golden boy".

Martin himself has singled out Tyrion as his favorite character in the series. Asked why, Martin said in a 2000 interview:

I think his wit is appealing. He gets off a lot of good iconoclastic, cynical one-liners, and those are fun to write. He's also a very gray character. All my characters are gray to a greater or lesser extent, but Tyrion is perhaps the deepest shade of gray, with the black and white in him most thoroughly mixed, and I find that very appealing. I've always liked gray characters more than black-and-white characters ... I look for ways to make my characters real and to make them human, characters who have good and bad, noble and selfish, well-mixed in their natures. Yes, I do certainly want people to think about the characters, and not just react with a knee-jerk. I read too much fiction myself in which you encounter characters who are very stereotyped. They're heroic-hero and dastardly-villain, and they're completely black or completely white. And that's boring, so far as I'm concerned.

Development

As A Game of Thrones begins, Tyrion is a witty, hedonistic curiosity, protected by his family status but still the object of subtle derision. He is perhaps the most intelligent member of his family but is consistently underestimated and marginalized. Tyrion embraces the advantages of being a Lannister but at the same time is all too aware of its negative aspects and his own place as the embarrassment of the family. Initially he is the one Lannister remotely sympathetic to the Starks but he is soon caught in the middle of the conflict between the two Houses. Taken prisoner and put on trial for his life, "all of his skills at conniving must be brought to bear simply to stay alive". With the Starks and Lannisters fully at war, Tywin tasks Tyrion to manage affairs at King's Landing, recognizing that his son is intelligent and has inherited his skills with statecraft. In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion relishes his new power but finds that his sincere efforts to stabilize his nephew Joffrey's rule are being undermined and thwarted by the misguided and self-serving machinations of everyone around him. He plots to nullify the counterproductive whims of Joffrey and Cersei but the "much-maligned dwarf" finds himself "teetering between order and disaster as he tries to keep the Lannisters from losing absolutely everything". Thomas M. Wagner calls it a "defining moment" when Tyrion comments that he is all that keeps chaos from overwhelming the family and population who both despise him. Roberta Johnson of Booklist likens Tyrion to the calculating title character of Robert Graves' I, Claudius.

In A Storm of Swords, Tywin reclaims the office of Hand of the King and gives Tyrion the seemingly-impossible task of reforming the royal finances. Tyrion's previous efforts, crucial in keeping Joffrey in power and saving King's Landing from invasion are all but forgotten. Joffrey, emboldened by Tywin's return, publicly humiliates Tyrion; when Joffrey is murdered, everyone eagerly points the finger at Tyrion. Cersei does everything in her power to assure that he is declared guilty at trial. Innocent but condemned to death and hated more than ever, Tyrion takes a dark turn. Martin explains:

[Tyrion]'s lost everything ... He's lost his position in House Lannister, he's lost his position in court, he's lost all of his gold – which is the one thing that's kind of sustained him throughout his life ... and he's also found out that Jaime – the one blood relation that he loved unreservedly and has his back, and was always on his side – played a part in this traumatic event of his life, the ultimate betrayal ... He's so hurt that he wants to hurt other people ... and he knows that just up this ladder is a chamber that was once his that now his father has usurped from him ... And I don't think he knows what he's gonna say or do when he gets up there but he – some part of him feels compelled to do it. And of course then we find Shae there, that's an additional shock to him, an additional knife in his belly. I think sometimes people just get pushed too far, sometimes people break. And I think Tyrion has reached his point. He's been through hell, he's faced death over and over again, and he's been betrayed, as he sees it, by all the people that he's tried to take care of, that he's tried to win the approval of. He's been trying to win his father's approval all his life.

Storylines

A Game of Thrones

Tyrion accompanies King Robert Baratheon's entourage to visit the Stark stronghold of Winterfell, and disciplines his nephew Prince Joffrey when the latter refuses to pay respect to the recently crippled Bran Stark. He then opts to visit the Wall with a Night's Watch convoy, and befriends Ned Stark's bastard son Jon Snow at Castle Black. For his friendship with Jon, Tyrion visits Winterfell again on the return journey and designs a specialized saddle to help Bran ride a horse.

At the Crossroad Inn, Tyrion encounters Ned's wife Catelyn, who accuses him of hiring an assassin to kill Bran and arrests him by enlisting nearby men-at-arms. Catelyn then takes the captured Tyrion to the Eyrie in the Vale, so he can be judged by Catelyn's sister Lysa Arryn. While on the way, the procession is attacked by mountain clans and Tyrion assists in fighting them off. Tyrion denies the charges and demands a trial by combat, and is championed by a sellsword named Bronn, who wins the duel and secures Tyrion's freedom. Tyrion is sent through a dangerous road in a plot to murder him. Using his wit and the promise of a reward, Tyrion wins over a number of mountain tribes as his personal bodyguards while on his way to the Lannister army camp. He then participates in the Battle on the Green Fork, sent as the vanguard by his father Tywin Lannister. Impressed with Tyrion's capabilities, Tywin dispatches Tyrion to the capital city King's Landing as the acting Hand of the King in an attempt to control King Joffrey and Queen Cersei's political recklessness. While at the camp, Tyrion beds a camp follower named Shae and takes her with him to the capital.

A Clash of Kings

Tyrion arrives at King's Landing and immediately recognizes the chaos created by Joffrey and Cersei's abuse of power. Seeking to consolidate power and preserve order in the capital, Tyrion methodically identifies and removes Cersei's supporters. Disgusted by Joffrey's behavior and Cersei's failure to control him, Tyrion openly opposes the young king and tries to keep the hostage Sansa Stark out of harm's way.

When Stannis Baratheon is marching to siege King's Landing, Tyrion masterminds the capital's defense, even personally leading a sortie that drives Stannis from the gates. When fighting on the burning wreckage of Stannis' fleet, Tyrion is attacked and grievously wounded by the Kingsguard knight Ser Mandon Moore, but is saved by his young squire Podrick Payne. Tyrion suspects Joffrey or Cersei behind the assassination attempt, but is unable to get revenge on either.

A Storm of Swords

Upon his recovery from the injury sustained at Blackwater, Tyrion finds that he has lost most of his nose, and a returned Tywin has assumed the position of Hand himself and removed Tyrion from power. Tyrion is then appointed Master of Coin as a "reward" for his successful leadership, which is really the burden of fixing the Crown's fiscal mess. After learning of the Tyrell plot to claim Winterfell through marriage to Sansa, Tywin coerces Tyrion into marrying her instead. Sympathetic to Sansa's situation, Tyrion leaves their marriage unconsummated, despite his father's orders to conceive a child with her as soon as possible. Tyrion is also given the difficult task of hosting the visiting Dornish convoy from the hostile House Martell.

At the celebration of Joffrey's wedding to Margaery Tyrell, Joffrey openly humiliates Tyrion but later dies from poisoned wine. Cersei promptly accuses and arrests Tyrion. His previous good deeds forgotten, Tyrion is put on trial as Cersei manipulates the proceedings to ensure a guilty verdict. He is heartbroken to find that Shae has also turned against him and openly humiliates him in court. In his grief and anger, Tyrion demands a trial by combat, to which Cersei responds by naming the formidable Ser Gregor Clegane as her champion. After Bronn declines to fight for Tyrion, Prince Oberyn Martell surprisingly agrees to become Tyrion's champion to fight Gregor, but dies in the duel, and thus Tyrion loses the trial. Pronounced guilty, Tyrion is taken to the dungeon on death row, but a recently returned Jaime frees him with the help of spymaster Varys and eventually confesses his complicity in Tywin's ruin of Tyrion's first wife, Tysha. Furious, Tyrion swears revenge on his family for a lifetime of cruelty, falsely admits to murdering Joffrey, and reveals Cersei's promiscuity in order to hurt Jaime. Before escaping the palace, Tyrion acquires a secret passage from Varys into Tywin's chamber, and finds Shae naked in Tywin's bed. After strangling her in a rage, Tyrion confronts and corners Tywin on the privy with a crossbow. When Tywin speaks ill of Tysha, Tyrion fatally shoots his father before fleeing Westeros on a ship organized by Varys.

A Dance with Dragons

Tyrion is taken to Pentos, where he finds himself under the protection of wealthy Magister Illyrio Mopatis. There he learns that Varys and Illyrio have secretly plotted to reinstate the Targaryen dynasty since the murder of the Mad King Aerys II. On Illyrio's advice, Tyrion agrees to seek out and join Aerys' surviving daughter Daenerys at Meereen and help her reclaim the Iron Throne. He realizes that two of his traveling companions are not what they seem — one sellsword named "Griff" is Jon Connington, Crown Prince Rhaegar's close friend and Aerys' disgraced former Hand of the King; the other teenager named "Young Griff" is claimed to be Rhaegar's supposedly slain son Aegon, whom Varys allegedly had spirited away and replaced with another baby who was instead killed by Gregor Clegane during the Lannisters' sack of King's Landing. Tyrion then uses a game of cyvasse to sabotage Illyrio's plan by persuading Young Griff into abandoning the idea of an alliance with Daenerys.

While stopping at the trading town Selhorys on the way to Volantis, Tyrion visits a brothel and is recognized and abducted by an exiled Jorah Mormont, who believes that delivering a Lannister to Daenerys will return himself to her good graces. After negotiating passage to Meereen along with a dwarf girl named Penny, their ship is disabled by a violent storm, and all of them are captured and enslaved by the Yunkai'i slavers currently besieging Meereen. During the armistice, Tyrion and Penny are forced to perform mock jousts riding pigs in the fighting pits of Meereen, which are actually staged as a spectacle to have them eventually eaten by lions, but they are saved when Daenerys intervenes and stops the show.

When the plague of bloody flux strikes the slavers' siege camps, Tyrion engineers their escape by murdering the overseer with poisonous mushrooms, and they join the sellsword company the Second Sons, whose leader, Ben Plumm, knows Jorah. In exchange for membership, Tyrion promises the company the wealth of Casterly Rock, his birthright since Tywin is dead and Jaime has renounced it to join the Kingsguard. Tyrion quickly realizes the Yunkai'i forces are on the losing side, and attempts to convince the Second Sons to change their allegiance.

The Winds of Winter

Tyrion was confirmed by Martin as a returning character in the upcoming sixth book, with two chapters currently released to the public. One chapter was read by Martin at Eastercon in April 2012, and another one at Worldcon in August 2013, the second of which was later published in the official iOS app on March 20, 2014.

While in the Second Sons, Tyrion attempts to persuade Ben Plumm, over a game of cyvasse, to rejoin Daenerys. News of the Iron Fleet (led by Victarion Greyjoy) entering Slaver's Bay reaches the encampment. While the Second Sons are preparing for the battle that rages around them, news arrives that the fellow sellsword company Windblown has defected to Daenerys. In a meeting of their officers, where the Yunkish commander demands that they reinforce a trebuchet under attack by Daenerys' Unsullied, Jorah kills the Yunkish messenger, and Ben Plumm declares that the Second Sons will rejoin Daenerys.

TV adaptation

Executive producers/writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss had pitched the idea of adapting Martin's series for television to HBO in March 2006, and the network secured the rights in January 2007. The first actor cast was Peter Dinklage as Tyrion in May 2009. Benioff and Weiss later noted that the funny and "incredibly smart" Dinklage was their first choice for the role, as the actor's "core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character." Unfamiliar with the source material, Dinklage was cautious in his first meeting with the producers; as a someone with dwarfism, "he wouldn't play elves or leprechauns" and—choosy about genre roles—he had just come from portraying the dwarf Trumpkin in 2008's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Benioff and Weiss told Dinklage that the character was "a different kind of fantasy little person," or in the actor's words, "No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being." Dinklage signed on to play Tyrion before the meeting was half over, in part because "they told [him] how popular he was." Martin said of Dinklage's casting, "If he hadn't accepted the part, oh, boy, I don't know what we would have done." Benioff added, "When I read George's books, I decided Tyrion Lannister was one of the great characters in literature. Not just fantasy literature—literature! A brilliant, caustic, horny, drunken, self-flagellating mess of a man. And there was only one choice to play him."

In October 2014, Dinklage and several other key cast members, all contracted for six seasons of the series, renegotiated their deals to include a potential seventh season and salary increases for seasons five, six, and seven. The Hollywood Reporter called the raises "huge", noting that the deal would make the performers "among the highest-paid actors on cable TV". Deadline Hollywood put the number for season five at "close to $300,000 an episode" for each actor, and The Hollywood Reporter wrote in June 2016 that the performers would each be paid "upward of $500,000 per episode" for seasons seven and the potential eight. In 2017, Dinklage became one of the highest-paid actors on television and earned £2,000,000 per episode.

Storylines

Seasons 1 and 2 (2011–12) follow the events of A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, respectively. The plot of A Storm of Swords was split into seasons 3 and 4 (2013–14). Both season 5 and season 6 adapt material from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, novels whose plots run concurrently and each contain different characters. Though the HBO series has alternately extended, abbreviated, conflated and diverged from the novels' plot lines, Tyrion's character and story arc have remained mostly consistent with Martin's writing.

Calling the character the "black sheep" of the Lannister family, TV Guide wrote as the show premiered in 2011 that "Tyrion sees through all the chicanery and decides the best option is to drink and bed his way through the Seven Kingdoms." The Boston Globe added that he is "a hedonistic intellectual who can talk his way out of anything." According to the Los Angeles Times, "brilliant but low-living" Tyrion is "so well acquainted with the workings of the world he can hardly bear it, the Imp is ... debauched, perhaps, but a truth-teller nonetheless, fighting for his own survival with as much mercy as he can spare." The New York Times went as far as to name Tyrion "the closest thing to a hero" in the HBO series.

As in A Game of Thrones, Tyrion travels to Winterfell with the royal family, and accompanies Ned Stark's bastard son Jon Snow on his journey to the Wall. On his way back to King's Landing, Tyrion is seized by Catelyn Stark, who suspects him of having plotted to assassinate her son Bran. Taken to the Eyrie, where Catelyn's sister Lysa Arryn rules as regent, Tyrion is put to trial. Tyrion demands trial by combat, naming as his champion the sellsword Bronn, who is victorious. The two meet up with Tyrion's father, Tywin, whose forces are fighting Robb Stark's army as retaliation for his capture. Tyrion is accidentally knocked unconscious as the battle begins. Tywin sends Tyrion to King's Landing to act as Hand of the King. Disobeying Tywin's orders, Tyrion takes the sex worker Shae with him.

During the second season, Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "Tyrion is just about the only character developing any complexity. Maybe even a glimmer of a conscience." Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker noted, "If the show has a hero, it's Tyrion (Dinklage), who is capable of cruelty but also possesses insight and empathy, concealed beneath a carapace of Wildean wit." The Hollywood Reporter called Tyrion "the one to watch, as he's the smartest Lannister and knows that having a brat for a king – who mistreats all those around him – could cause major backlash." Willa Paskin of Salon called the character's increased prominence in Season 2 "a trade up in entertainment value, and a trade-off in morality." She added, "Tyrion is more cynical, more manipulative and much better suited to surviving. He's not so keen to be made into meat, and that makes him the kind of man characters in the show and audience members alike should be investing in." Praising Dinklage, Dan Kois of The New York Times wrote, "He plays Tyrion as the only modern man in a muddy, violent, primal world. He loves good food, good conversation and a good book. Unlike the warmongering lords and knights of Westeros, but like most HBO subscribers, he would prefer to stay out of battle." Kois adds that, "Dinklage's bravado masks Tyrion's deep well of melancholy." Of the Season 2 storyline, Dinklage noted that Tyrion enjoys not only his foray into battle, but also his new and unprecedented power at court. He said, "This is a character that's been shit upon his whole life. I mean, he comes from great wealth, but he's treated very poorly, so now there's a newfound respect where if somebody calls him a name, he can have them killed. He never had that before. Tyrion definitely enjoys that part, and he's trying desperately to hold onto it. He's enjoying it while it lasts 'cause he's not sure it's gonna last very long." As Varys the Spymaster tells Tyrion, power is "a trick, a shadow on the wall ... and a very small man can cast a very large shadow."

Appearances in other media

In 2019, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey appeared as Tyrion and Cersei Lannister alongside Elmo in a Sesame Street PSA on the importance of being respectful to one another, as part of Sesame Street's "Respect Brings Us Together" campaign.

Recognition and awards

Dinklage's performance was unanimously praised; The Boston Globe called his Tyrion one of the show's "highlights", adding that Dinklage "gives a winning performance that is charming, morally ambiguous, and self-aware." Matt Roush of TV Guide told viewers to "rejoice in the scene-stealing bravado of Peter Dinklage as the wry 'imp' Tyrion Lannister." The Los Angeles Times wrote, "In many ways, Game of Thrones belongs to Dinklage" even before, in Season 2, the "scene-stealing actor's" character became the series' most central figure. The New York Times noted that as beloved as the character of Tyrion is to the novels' fans, "Dinklage's sly performance has made Tyrion all the more popular." The Huffington Post called Tyrion the "most quotable" character on the HBO series, as well as one of the most beloved.

In April 2011 both the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly pronounced Dinklage worthy of an Emmy Award for his performance in Season 1. He subsequently received one for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. He also earned a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film and a Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor for Season 1 of Game of Thrones. Dinklage won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor again in 2015, and 2018.

Dinklage has been nominated for the Emmy four other times for playing Tyrion, in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016. He has received several other award nominations for his performance in the series, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012 and 2016; the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2012, 2015, and 2016; the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017; the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2011 and 2012; and in 2011 both the IGN Award and the IGN People's Choice Award for Best TV Actor.

Merchandising

Among the various lines of Game of Thrones collectible figurines licensed by HBO, Tyrion has featured prominently, being dubbed one of the "heavy hitters", "fan favorites", "most-liked" and "most popular" characters.

Funko has produced two Tyrion figures as part of their POP! Television line. They are 4.5-inch (11 cm) vinyl figures in the Japanese chibi style, one depicting an early series Tyrion and a post-Season 2 version with a facial scar, "Battle Armor", and an axe. The company also produced a Mystery Mini Blind Box figurine of a stylized Tyrion. As part of their Legacy Collection line of action figures, Funko released a "Hand of the King" Tyrion, a Tyrion in armor with axe, as well as a Limited Edition "2014 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive" armor version with a helmet. Threezero released a 1/6 scale 8.63-inch (21.9 cm) figure, and Dark Horse produced both a 6-inch (15 cm) figurine, and a 10-inch (25 cm) high-end statue for which the series' producers chose Tyrion as the subject.