How Game of Thrones Characters Should Look Like According to the Books

Directors and showrunners are expected to use their creative licenses to bend rules in the making of movies and TV shows. This is true especially in the fantasy genre in which some book interpretations can be hard to translate onscreen. HBO’s Game of Thrones has definitely strayed out of the original plot of George R.R. Martin’s books, but did you know that changes have been made on how the characters look like as well?

This is very tricky especially for a book series that has such a massive following of die-hard fans. But showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss managed to pull it off and now the followers of the show don’t mind the alterations so much.

Here are the most dramatic book-versus-TV contrasts of some of the show’s characters:

1 ) Daenerys Targaryen

The books: “They dressed her in the wisps that Magister Illyrio had sent up, and then the gown, a deep plum silk to bring out the violet in her eyes… “She’s too skinny,” Viserys said. His hair, the same silver-blond as hers, had been pulled back tightly behind his head and fastened with a dragonbone brooch.”

The show: Her eyes are dark instead of violet. Her eyebrows are darker than her silver hair and her generous mane was retained even after she got burned a couple of times; first, at Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre and second, when she escaped the fighting pits in Meereen and rode Drogon. If the book is to be followed, her head should be bald as an eagle after the funeral pyre.

2 ) Tyrion Lannister

The books: “Tyrion Lannister, the youngest of Lord Tywin’s brood and by far the ugliest. All that the gods had given to Cersei and Jaime, they had denied Tyrion. He was a dwarf, half his brother’s height, struggling to keep pace on stunted legs. His head was too large for his body, with a brute’s squashed-in face beneath a swollen shelf of brow. One green eye and one black one peered out from under a lank fall of hair so blond it seemed white. Jon watched him with fascination.“

The show: Peter Dinklage is not as hideous as the Imp portrayed in the books. His nose is still whole and his eyes are of the same color. His hair is darker than Jaime and Cersei’s golden blonde, but it still looks great with the blonde and ombre coloring.

3 ) Euron Greyjoy

The books: “Euron was the most comely of Lord Quellon’s sons, and three years of exile had not changed that. His hair was still black as a midnight sea, with never a whitecap to be seen, and his face was still smooth and pale beneath his neat dark beard. A black leather patch covered Euron’s left eye, but his right was blue as a summer sky. His smiling eye, thought Victarion. “Crow’s Eye,” he said. “King Crow’s Eye, brother.” Euron smiled. His lips looked very dark in the lamplight, bruised and blue.”

The show: The Euron portrayed by Pilou Asbaek did away with the stereotypical appearance of the pirate. There’s no black patch and bruised blue lips. Euron had actually undergone a dramatic makeover in the show; he looked like a typical Greyjoy in his first appearance but assumed a rockstar look in Season 7, complete with eyeliner and all-leather ensemble.

4 ) Daario Naharis

The books: “Daario Naharis was flamboyant even for a Tyroshi. His beard was cut into three prongs and dyed blue, the same color as his eyes and the curly hair that fell to his collar. His pointed mustachios were painted gold.”

The show: This character was casted twice in the show and both are very different from the Daario described in the books. The second Daario, played by Michiel Huisman, has none of the blue hair and beard, and none of the gold moustache. The TV Daario is definitely more handsome to justify why the Mother of Dragons became physically attracted to him.