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The gods be damned. It was a hollow victory they gave me. A crown... it was the girl I prayed them for. Your sister, safe ... and mine again, as she was meant to be. I ask you, Ned, what good is it to wear a crown? The gods mock the prayers of kings and cowherds alike.
~ Robert to Eddard Stark.

King Robert I Baratheon, also known as The Demon of the Trident and referred to as The Usurper by Targaryen loyalists, is one of the overarching protagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones

He was Lord of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros after the Mad King and head of House Baratheon at the beginning of A Game of Thrones. The firstborn son of Lord Steffon Baratheon and Lady Cassana Estermont, Robert was the older brother of Lord Stannis and Lord Renly Baratheon, both of whom were high lords due to Robert never raising them to princes. Originally betrothed to Lyanna Stark, he is married to Queen Cersei Lannister, with whom he has three children; Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. In actuality, they are the children of his brother-in-law, Ser Jaime Lannister.

Initially a heroic figure, however, after being crowned King, Robert actually ends up doing a few villainous deeds, such as frequently raping Cersei (in the books) and ordering the assassination of a young, pregnant Daenerys.

In the TV series, he was portrayed by Mark Addy, who also portrayed David Coake in The Rig.

Appearance[]

Robert Baratheon has the classical Baratheon look; he has black hair and bright blue eyes, while his heavy black hair is thick on his chest, and coarse around his sex.

As a young man, Robert was young, handsome, and clean-shaven, with rough and hard hands. He is also very tall, and his height is estimated by Lord Eddard Stark to be six and a half feet. Most importantly, he was strong and powerful, being muscled like a "maiden's fantasy."

Personality[]

Robert was never the same after he put on that crown. Some men are like swords, made for fighting. Hang them up and they go to rust.
~ Donal Noye to Jon Snow
Robert ... He is in my dreams as well. Laughing. Drinking. Boasting. Those were the things he was best at. Those, and fighting. I never bested him at anything.
~ Stannis Baratheon to Melisandre.

Robert, in his youth, was a handsome, charismatic military leader who was able to successfully command battles to victory and was a fierce warrior in combat. He is known for his unique ability to turn deadly enemies into loyal friends and his great lust for women, which are subjects of many songs throughout the realm. As he got older, he became more lazy, short-tempered, and hedonistic. In his role as king, he was an absurdly incompetent one; he had difficulty with intricate or just easy politics and was something of a party animal, as he was more focused on drinking, gambling, and whoring than ruling his kingdom or taking care of his own son. Without fighting since Greyjoy's Rebellion, he grew prematurely old, despite being only in his thirties.

His sexual infidelities were various, and he fathered many illegitimate bastards with prostitutes, maids, servant girls, and even highborn ladies during his marriage with Cersei Lannister, causing her to resume her incestuous relationship with Ser Jaime. His people, whom he rules, are aware of how much of a poor ruler he is, normally making derogatory and insulting comments towards him. Robert, however, is aware of what the Seven Kingdoms think of him but does not seem to care because, in his view, life is too short. At times he could be spoilt, boastful, and arrogant, with little shame towards his actions, even if they were in public, and what they represented of his own family name. He could be an almost cruel man with his temper, but only Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn were able to bring out the best in him.

He was known to have severe hatred for Targaryens, as Rhaegar Targaryen "raped" Lyanna Stark, the woman that he loved. He hated anything remotely connected to House Targaryen, including Viserys and Daenerys. His spies followed them everywhere in the Free Cities, one of them being the exile Ser Jorah Mormont. Later, Robert even considers assassinating the last Targaryens, giving priority to Daenerys, and later, Daenerys' unborn child Rhaego, despite being completely innocent, when in reality he probably should have been only focused on Viserys as he was the one more focused on reclaiming the Iron Throne (though this can be argued, as Daenerys took Viserys' task as soon as he died, believing it to be her duty and mission). His love for Lyanna is what caused an extremely strained marriage with Cersei Lannister. On the eve of their wedding night, Robert, while stupendously drunk, whispers into Cersei's ear, "Lyanna," indicating he could not come to terms with her death.

In all of his faults, Robert could at least acknowledge his mistakes. He admits to Joffrey that he has always been a terrible father, and his dying wish was for Eddard to teach him to become a good man and king. He also agrees to leave Daenerys alone (however, by then it was too late, as Varys' agents had already contacted an assassin to kill the Khaleesi).

Overview[]

In his youth, Robert was known for his talent for being the best at any kind of physical and social activity, and he could easily bring any girl to his bed without much effort. Even after becoming a fat and drunken loudmouth, he hasn't lost his charm or ability, as he was able to infatuate a 15-year-old whore. Robert is a notoriously fierce, powerful, and inspiring warrior whose lust for battle became the subject of famous songs throughout the Seven Kingdoms. He's also best known for his charisma, which allows him to turn foes into friends in a single day. He was one of the strongest and greatest warriors in the Known World. During his whole life, he only lost a single battle, in which he and his forces were defeated by Lord Randyll Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill, who took command of the vanguard of House Tyrell during Robert's Rebellion.

After he ascended the Iron Throne and in the coming years, the newly-crowned King Robert became less respected and less popular, especially amongst the smallfolk, with some even calling him a sot, a brute, and a drunken fool. Despite this, his past self was always remembered positively, and when they talk about how much of a bad ruler he is, it's more with sadness than anger, especially from his friends. Any risk of rebellion was avoided thanks to the hard work of the lords Jon Arryn and Stannis Baratheon. Robert, throughout his reign, did as he wanted and left Jon Arryn, who is his first Hand of the King, in charge of ruling the realm in his stead.

Despite his decaying glory, Robert still had many allies within the nobility, mostly outside court and King's Landing, and many still remained friendly and loyal to him, despite everything. Court members such as Tyrion Lannister and the red priest Thoros of Myr were also fond of the King.

Robert's best friend is Lord Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell and head of House Stark. The king also has many friends in court, including his foster father Jon Arryn, his youngest brother Renly Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister, Thoros of Myr, Lysa Arryn, and Ser Loras Tyrell. However, Robert let too many Lannister men-at-arms into the capital while leaving most of his main allies, the Stormlanders and the Reachmen, in their homes. As a result, the Baratheon force grows smaller when, at some point, his brother Stannis abandons the capital and brings the royal fleet and his household with him to Dragonstone and closes the island's port, leaving only a few ships in King's Landing. Lysa Arryn, being paranoid and mentally unstable, also flees with the Arryn household back to the Vale due to an argument with Robert about the fostering of Jon Arryn's sickly son, Robert Arryn.

While he is still loved by many throughout Westeros, some of Robert's actions can be seen as controversial and even questionable. One example is that he was extremely generous, and this led him to bankrupt the realm to the point that the royal treasury remained empty and the realm came in debt with various institutions, such as the Iron Bank of Braavos, the Faith, Lord Tywin Lannister, and Lord Mace Tyrell. However, it has also been hinted that the Crown's massive debt might not have been entirely on Robert after Tyrion read the extremely complex and suspiciously messy and barely understandable calculations from the ledger books from Petyr Baelish's tenure as Master of Coin and his underling treasurers.

Throughout the rest of his life until his death, Robert held a deep hatred for his cousins of House Targaryen, and he has a tendency to close his eyes to the things he doesn't want to see, especially the morally ambiguous choices; for example, he gave a smile of relief upon seeing the dead bodies of the children Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys because he knew he didn't have to deal with them thanks to the Lannisters doing the dirty work for him, thus avoiding turning into a child murderer. Because he condoned the murders of Aegon and Rhaenys, Dorne never forgot nor forgave him for it, and Robert is not well-liked amongst the Dornish, most notably House Martell. Princess Arianne, the daughter of the ruling prince of Dorne, Prince Doran Martell, developed a resentment for Robert upon connecting his rise to power with the brutal deaths of Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys. Arianne even went as far as to call him a monster who climbed onto his throne over the corpses of children.

Robert is strongly disliked by Targaryen loyalists, who, alongside Prince Viserys Targaryen, brand him as "The Usurper." Aside from being despised by the loyalists, Robert was also feared by Viserys' sister Daenaerys, as she lived in danger of being killed by Robert, although the King never sent any assassins against her or her brother for fourteen years. In his recent years, Robert's hatred for the Targaryens over Rhaegar taking Lyanna resulted in him becoming paranoid that the Dothraki with Daenaerys and Viserys might cross the Narrow Sea and take back the Iron Throne one day. This paranoia caused an alienation between himself and Eddard Stark. Not being able to stand the murder of children, Eddard tried to persuade Robert to let it go in many ways, such as reminding him that the Dothraki fear the sea and know nothing about sailing or naming Stannis Warden of the East and letting him destroy the Targaryen ships with his larger fleet, but Robert ignored all of this. Instead, he plots to assassinate Daenerys and her stillborn child Rhaego, along with Viserys, and later follows through on this by sending a wine seller to poison her. Though he and Eddard do reconcile shortly after, Robert continues to unyield over Daenerys' death. 

Game of Thrones[]

After she took Septa Unella as a prisoner, Cersei revealed that she indeed killed Robert before ordering Ser Gregor Clegane to torture her. Sometime later, when Daenerys and her army invaded and sacked King's Landing, Robert's death was avenged when Cersei was killed during the ensuing chaos and destruction.

Legacy[]

Ever since his death, Robert is fondly remembered by many lords and knights, chiefly the Stormlords and the vassals of Storm's End, such as Lord Beric Dondarrion, and they remained extremely loyal to Robert even after he died. The outlaws of the Brotherhood without Banners also still show love and loyalty for the late Robert, as they called themselves "king's men." Robert also remained the subject of positive songs, and his memory is still praised in the town Stony Sept.

Quotes[]

I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it.
~ Robert to Eddard.
STOP THIS MADNESS, IN THE NAME OF YOUR KING!
~ Robert to Gregor and Sandor Clegane.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Robert is considered the strongest of the brothers of House Baratheon and the true warrior out of them. He always loved having sex with a lot of women. One day he would promise the world to a girl and forget everything about the next one, including the girl. Even when he was betrothed to Lyanna Stark, Robert still kept having sex with other girls, both then and during his marriage to Cersei.
  • Robert agrees with Tywin's idea of murdering Rhaegar's children, Aegon and Rhaenys, and refuses to sanction this crime, which earns him the hatred of Dorne. When Eddard argued about the murder of the children, Robert only replied that he saw no children—only dragonspawns. This causes an argument between him and his friend Eddard, and the two will only be reconciled by the death of Lyanna.
  • Robert never cared about ruling and justice, as the Iron Throne bored him. He learned to close his eyes to the things he didn't want to see. Jon Arryn and Stannis Baratheon found out about Janos Slynt's bribes with the Gold Cloaks. After Janos had two men killed to prevent them from testifying against him, Robert decided to do nothing about it, listened to Littlefinger's advice, and allowed Janos to keep his office.
  • He has a negative relationship with his brother, Stannis. The two are too different, and Robert and Stannis often argue about their different ideas. Stannis would often demand that Robert get back his lordship of Storm's End, but Robert would always dismiss him with the same excuse. Robert always took other people over Stannis or Renly to do important jobs, though Renly was generally considered unfit for duties. The only difference between Renly and Robert is that Renly has no addiction to food, alcohol, or sex.
  • Robert and Cersei kept their mutual infidelity towards each other. Robert and Cersei often argue, and it often results in a drunken Robert yelling and humiliating Cersei in public. Because of Robert's loud and powerful voice, Sansa was always frightened by him and failed to find the courage to speak with him when her father wanted to leave King's Landing.
  • Despite claims that everything is going well under his rule, he made no attempt to stop Ser Gregor Clegane from causing havoc throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
  • He agrees to execute Lady, Sansa Stark's direwolf, despite her having no part in the quarrel between Arya Stark and his stepson, Joffrey Baratheon. This was done to appease his queen, Cersei.
  • Robert is disgusted by his supposed eldest son and heir, Prince Joffrey Baratheon, and has a bad relationship with the boy. While Joffrey desires his apparent father's admiration, he's only a cruel and vicious boy, which caused Robert to hate him. He also envies Lord Mace Tyrell for his sons, claiming that Ser Loras Tyrell is a true son to be proud of.
  • The only thing that prevents Robert from abdicating the throne and joining a sellsword company in Essos is the perspective of leaving the realm under Cersei and Joffrey. Thus, it's possible that Robert might have chosen to believe Stannis' accusations about Cersei's children, even before and after Jon Arryn's death.
  • His brother Renly convinced him to spurn Cersei and marry the 14-years-old maid, Margaery Tyrell. Robert liked her, but the marriage vow is considered holy. Due to his contempt for his own family, it's possible that Robert would have listened to anyone who would have told him about his children's true parentage, as it would give him a reason to destroy the hated Lannisters and get rid of part of his debts, marry Margaery and make a true heir, then finally abdicate the Throne as he wanted.
  • Later, Robert orders the assassination of Daenerys Targaryen, despite the fact that she had no part in her father's or brother's deeds. However, he later redeems himself when he orders Ned to put an end to this manhunt, but only on his deathbed.
  • As shown in the TV series that revealed Jon Snow as Lyanna's son by Rhaegar, Lyanna feared that Robert would kill Jon if he found out his true parentage and made Ned promise to protect him.
  • It is confirmed that Robert is based on King Edward IV of England, who overthrew the tyranny of Henry VI (the real history counterpart of Aerys II), but after he got the throne, he went into an obsession with drinking and doing nonsense instead of being a good king. Meanwhile, Robb Stark is based on the young Edward IV before he got the throne.

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