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“ | Ramsay: You forgot to ask one question: you forgot to ask if I'm a liar!… (Theon screams in pain) I'm afraid, I am. (Theon screams again) Everything I told you is a lie. (Theon screams again) This isn't happening to you for a reason―(continues while Theon screams yet again) well one, one reason: I enjoy it! Theon: PLEASE, CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF! (screams) Ramsay: I win! |
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~ Ramsay while sadistically torturing Theon Greyjoy as part of a twisted game. |
“ | She's a fine woman, your sister. I look forward to having her back in my bed. And you're all fine-looking men. My dogs are desperate to meet you. I haven't fed them for seven days, they're ravenous. I wonder which parts they'll try first. Your eyes? Your balls? We'll find out soon enough. In the morning then, bastard. | „ |
~ Ramsay Bolton to Jon Snow. |
“ | Ramsay. Snow, my wife called me before she ate her fingers, but I say Bolton. | „ |
~ Ramsay reveals his identity to Theon Greyjoy. |
“ | If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention. | „ |
~ Ramsay to Theon Greyjoy, and his most famous quote. |
Lord Ramsay Bolton, formerly Ramsay Snow and nicknamed the Bastard of Bolton, is one of the main antagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones.
He was portrayed by Iwan Rheon, who also plays Maximus in Marvel's Inhumans.
Overview[]
Ramsay is widely regarded as being one of, if not the most evil and repulsive villains in the series, who many consider to be worse than King Joffrey I Baratheon.
His character first appears in the second book, imprisoned by Bran Stark and freed by Theon Greyjoy. However, he was cut from the second season, and his role in Winterfell was taken by another character, Dagmer Cleftjaw, who's also in the books but never betrays Theon. Ramsay indirectly appears in season 2, blowing the horn repeatedly to annoy and scare the ironborn.
Ramsay Snow, born just Ramsay (publicly unacknowledged for years), is the bastard son of Roose Bolton, a former bannerman of House Stark. Ramsay lived most of his life with his mother in a mill and grew to become a savage psychopath who became repressed from his rights as a Bolton due to being a bastard his entire life. His mother revealed his father's identity in order to make him press a claim on the Dreadfort. Not too long before the beginning of the series, Ramsay was once visited by his trueborn half-brother, Domeric Bolton, who then mysteriously died of illness afterwards.
After Ramsay allegedly killed his half-brother Domeric, Roose had no choice but to take his last remaining son to the Dreadfort. During the War of the Five Kings, Ramsay was named castellan of the Dreadfort, while his father and his contingent marched south with the Starks. During that time, Ramsay spent his time raping women and girls along with his partner-in-crime and necrophile Reek. Following several battles and casualties in the riverlands, Ramsay kidnapped Lord Wyman Manderly's cousin, the elderly widow and heirless Lady Donella Hornwood, and forced her to marry him. He then forced her to write and sign a document of inheritance for Hornwood and all its lands before letting her starve to death. Ser Rodrik Cassel was sent by Winterfell to execute him, which resulted in Ramsay switching places with Reek and being arrested and brought to Winterfell.
During the ironborn invasion of the north and occupation of Winterfell, the prisoner Ramsay, still posing as Reek, swore allegiance to House Greyjoy and allied himself with Prince Theon Greyjoy. During the siege of Winterfell by an army of the north, Ramsay had his forces from the Dreadfort destroy both northmen and ironmen, then proceeded to sack and burn Winterfell as revenge on the Starks for killing his sole friend Reek. He took his anger on the captive Theon, torturing him and forcing him to become the new Reek as a replacement.
Following the Red Wedding, Ramsay became legitimized as a trueborn Bolton by King Tommen I Baratheon in 300 AC, becoming the new Lord of Winterfell, acknowledged Lord of the Hornwood, and receiving a betrothal to Arya Stark (an imposter provided by Lord Petyr Baelish for Lord Tywin Lannister to replace the missing Arya). As his lord father's heir, Ramsay is part of the campaign and duty to take over the north to restore the king's peace, rid it of the ironborn invaders, submit all the northern houses, destroy King Stannis Baratheon, and any other rebel forces, all to prove to the Iron Throne that the Boltons can rule as Tommen's Wardens of the North.
Ramsay's lowborn mother is still alive and resides in her mill and lands granted by her rapist, Roose Bolton. When speaking about her, Ramsay praises her as a great beauty that struck his father, which Roose finds an amusing exaggeration, as he simply thinks the woman is "desirable." Ramsay's squire, Little Walder Frey, was noted to grow more and more like him each day, something that deeply disturbed Ramsay's other squire, Big Walder Frey, who rarely takes part in cruel acts.
Unlike his father or most Ice and Fire villains, Ramsay is far more cruel, vicious, sadistic, and dishonorable.
In the television series Game of Thrones, and in every way imaginable, Ramsay represents the feared and respected warlord Joffrey intended to be. Due to his actions, he is seen as one of the biggest enemies of House Stark and the arch-enemy and complete opposite of the series protagonist, Jon Snow. While Jon is accepting of his bastard status but nonetheless cares and loves his family and his men, Ramsay is highly detestable of his bastard status and shows no true love or care for his family since he killed his half-brother and has no problem killing and/or flaying his men if they displease him.
Always in the TV show, similarly to his predecessor, Joffrey, Ramsay was a tormentor of Sansa Stark (albeit to a much worse extent), but both in the books and show, he also serves as the abusive tormentor and later master of Theon Greyjoy, whom he turned into a broken shell of a man.
Personality[]
“ | His blood is bad. He needs to be leeched. The leeches suck away the bad blood, all the rage and pain. No man can think so full of anger. Ramsay, though … his tainted blood would poison even leeches, I fear.... | „ |
~ Roose about Ramsay. |
“ | The Boltons have always been as cruel as they are cunning, but this one seems a beast in human skin. | „ |
~ Robett Glover about Ramsay Bolton. |
Throughout both incarnations, Ramsay was a literal sociopath. He was monstrous, savage, psychotic, brutal, and a ruthless sadist who casually commits disgusting, horrific acts, such as rape and torture, for his own amusement with no regard for anyone and thus ends up angering his father, Roose, for his reckless killing of people and lack of political tact. He considers himself a true Bolton despite his birth and is highly resentful of his baseborn status, referring to himself proudly as the trueborn scion of the Dreadfort and violently correcting those who refer to him otherwise. Even though he is not a true Bolton, Ramsay follows many of their traditions and customs, more specifically their insignia of flaying men alive and wearing their skin as coats.
As a typical sociopath, Ramsay is outwardly unapologetic, impulsive, and completely remorseless about the countless men and women he tortures and kills. Ramsay's hobbies and many enjoyments are sadistic to the extreme, and he revels in the violence, misery, and death he causes. He also fancies the prospect of hunting, killing, and torturing innocent people as a sport. His idea of a game generally includes having young women stripped naked and then released into the Bolton forests before they are hunted down by him and his pack of feral dogs. He also gives quick deaths to women who give him good sport (after raping them first), then flays their corpses and names his dogs after the women he enjoyed killing most to "honor" them; the women who do not give him good sport, however, are raped and then flayed alive, and the skins of his kills are brought back with him to the Dreadfort as gruesome trophies, and the flayed bodies of the women are fed to his dogs. Ramsay has no care over this, however, and it is simply a game to him.
While Ramsay can be cunning and a good manipulator, he isn’t as cunning or calm as a true psychopath, he is also not good at intricate politics and does not understand the risks and consequences of his wild actions. Roose Bolton is annoyed by his behavior and tries to encourage him to keep the North a quiet and peaceful land. Roose confides to Theon that he does not trust Ramsay at all, and he is aware of the possibility of his son killing him if his enemies do not do it first. In the TV series version, this proves to be correct, as the second Maester Wolkan announces to Roose, Ramsay, and Lord Karstark that he and Walda have bred a son, because he was constantly reminded that despite his legitimacy, he was still a bastard and knew that if Roose ever had a trueborn son, the North would never be his. Ramsay's paranoia overwhelms him, and he kills his father, Walda, and newborn brother and unofficially becomes Warden of the North. In the novels, Roose always wears chainmail armor on his person at all times to avoid that kind of death. Robett Glover has described Ramsay to Davos Seaworth as being a beast in human skin because of the unspeakable cruelty he can easily unleash without any second of hesitation.
In the HBO television adaptation, Ramsay has shown to care more about receiving love, respect, and affection from his father while murdering, kidnapping, and raping. Ramsay has shown himself to be insecure about his relationship with his father, and Roose did little to help this, repeatedly reminding his son of his bastard status and threatening to disown him constantly. However, Ramsay is not presented as being any less of a monster because of this. He shamelessly admits that he tortures solely on the basis that he enjoys it and is the walking embodiment of cruelty, brutality, and battlefield violence.
Unlike his book counterpart, Ramsay has been properly trained in combat, while in the novels, he fights wildly but never receives sword training, as his first servant, Reek, wasn't a good fighter himself.
No matter the version, Ramsay is a walking embodiment of cruelty and sadism and the embodiment of pure evil. He rivals, if not surpasses, monsters such as Gregor Clegane, Joffrey Baratheon, Rorge, and Euron Greyjoy for the title of the worst of the worst. He enjoys torturing people in the worst possible ways, such as flaying them alive and hunting people (especially women), and is a serial killer and serial rapist who delights in how much pain he brings to others.
In the TV series, Ramsay is shown to be more resigned to his bastard status, to the point he refers to himself as a Snow and takes pride in signing himself as the natural son of Roose Bolton; however, this doesn't make him less frustrated when reminded of it. When he is legitimized as "Ramsay Bolton," he is clearly overwhelmed to the point that he almost cries with joy and gets on his knees to solemnly promise his father that he will live up to his family name and traditions and will not fail him. However, deep inside of him, Ramsay is still wary of his origins, knowing that he may be disinherited if a trueborn son is born to Roose. Ramsay is also shown to be jealous of Jon Snow, a fellow Northern bastard who was raised and loved by his father along with his trueborn sons and eventually rose to become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Ramsay's jealousy of Jon is so strong that he expresses a willingness to kill Jon if the chance comes, though at the same time he appears disturbed when he hears that Jon may come after him with a wildling army. Following the birth of Roose and Walda's son, despite Roose not outright disinheriting him, Ramsay's fear and paranoia are so great that he murders his entire family and usurps his father's position, not caring about the reprehensible act of kinslaying.
Episode Appearances[]
Episode Appearances for Ramsay Bolton |
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Game of Thrones[]Season 3[]
Season 4[]
Season 5[]
Season 6[]
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series[]
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Trivia[]
- While Iwan Rheon's performance was critically acclaimed, Ramsay's reception was polarized by being extremely hated by critics and audiences. In 2015, Ramsay was voted “the official worst person of all time” on television, even beating out Joffrey Baratheon by over a thousand votes, showing just how depraved and monstrous he truly is. Ramsay proved to be such an evil character that even Iwan said in an interview that he hated Ramsay and wanted him to die a slow and painful death.
- In the novels, Ramsay's role in the Northern storyline is more of a secondary one, with his father Roose serving as the main antagonist. The series effectively switched their roles, likely due to Ramsay's unpredictability, Iwan Rheon's great performance, and comparisons between Ramsay and Joffrey.
- In addition, Iwan Rheon was greatly disturbed by the infamous scene where Ramsay rapes Sansa, Stark to the point that the script was altered several times, and even so, the scene was still infamous.
- Ramsay displays all of the seven deadly sins.
- Wrath: His most defining vice, which is unsurprising for House Bolton in general. He tortures and murders countless people, mostly for kicks.
- Pride: He hates being referred to as a bastard and overestimates his abilities in general. In the books, Ramsay is even shown to attack people who refer to him as one, save for his father.
- Lust: He is a notorious serial rapist, having raped several women over the course of his life. In the show, he is obsessed with Sansa, constantly forcing himself on her after marrying her and going to great lengths to get her back after she escapes Winterfell.
- Gluttony: In the show, this example is more trivial since he's in great shape otherwise. He's shown having a big private feast after flaying Lord Cerwyn alive in the episode "High Sparrow." In the books, this applies, and he is described as big-boned and likely to gain more weight as he grows older.
- Greed: In the books, he forcibly married the widow Donella Hornwood to gain control over House Hornwood's lands. He is also the biggest suspect in the murder of his half-brother, Domeric Bolton, and Roose's other children. In the show, he commits patricide and murders his stepmother and half-brother in order to become the new Warden of the North.
- Envy: A likely reason for feeding his stepmother and newborn brother to his dogs is jealousy over Roose favoring them over him. To quote Ramsay himself, "I prefer being an only child." It is also likely that he murdered his legitimate brother, Domeric Bolton.
- Sloth: He stands back and just barely gets his own hands dirty during the Battle of the Bastards. It's a far cry from the fearless combatant seen in "The Laws of Gods and Men".
- In the TV series version, the letter talking about Stannis' defeat in season 6 is actually true, as Stannis died at the end of the fifth season, unlike in the novels. Jon Snow replaces Stannis in the battle of Winterfell in the sixth season. Also, the showrunners tell the book readers not to worry about spoilers, as they admit they changed most of the storyline.
- Actually, in the TV series, Ramsay sends a similar letter to Jon Snow, cutting off the part about Stannis' defeat and replacing it with Rickon's capture. Also, in Game of Thrones, Snow receives the letter after leaving the Night's Watch and when "Ramsay's bride" (Sansa Stark in this case) is actually with him.
- Ramsay has been accused of being a Villain Sue by some viewers due to his constant success, even to the point that he succeeds in crippling Stannis' war effort with 20 men. This is in contrast with Book Ramsay, who, though evil, is frequently shown to be quite incompetent and a poor fighter.
- Ramsay in the show is quite different in appearance from his book counterpart. In the books, Ramsay is unattractive, with pink blotchy skin, round shoulders, thick lips, and long, dark, dry hair. According to Theon, Ramsay will get fat in the future.
- Ramsay in the show is sometimes portrayed in a darkly humorous light, particularly the infamous pork sausage meme. Book Ramsay, however, has zero comedic moments and is depicted straight as an unlikeable, despicable monster with zero redeeming traits.
- Show Ramsay is also much more level-headed, as he showed much restraint when Sansa reminded him of his bastard status. Book Ramsay would have attacked Sansa on the spot.
- In the TV series Ramsay has Lord Medger Cerwyn flayed alive, along with his wife and brother, for refusing to pay the taxes and being loyal to House Stark. After Cley Cerwyn is forced to watch them be flayed, he pays his taxes. In the book version, Medger Cerwyn is wounded fighting the Lannisters during the Battle of the Green Fork and dies later in Harrenhal; Cley is killed by the Boltons during the Battle of Winterfell; and Jonelle Cerwyn is the current head and Lady of Cerwyn, and she supports the Boltons against Stannis Baratheon, while Cerwyn survivor soldiers joined Stannis's army.
- In the first appearance of Ramsay, the Dreadfort's master torturer, whom he killed, calls him a "little bastard," which could be a hint of his true identity.
External links[]
- Ramsay Bolton on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Ramsay Bolton on the Game of Thrones Wiki
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Asher Forrester | Andros | Britt Warrick | Damien | Dezhor zo Raza | Duncan Tuttle | Gared Tuttle | Gryff Whitehill | Harys | Ludd Whitehill | Ramsay Bolton | Rickard Morgryn | Tazal |