Whenever a beloved written story gets adapted for TV or movies, how the adaption differs is always a big point of scrutiny. What parts of the story will be altered, expanded on, or just left out entirely? Is the adaption just doomed to be inferior by way of being a re-creation, or could it possibly be better than the original? It’s hard not to get caught up in comparing the two versions even if you enjoy them both.
Even before the on-screen adaption comes out, it’s already being subjected to the criticism of the loyal book fans analyzing each casting choice. “He’s not muscular enough to play that character,” someone will say. “They didn’t even get her hair color right!” another fan might say. Every detail is under the magnifying glass, and it’s been no different with A Song of Ice and Fire being adapted into HBO’s Game of Thrones. The TV show is known for making some huge deviations in the story, and the changes they’ve made with some of the characters have been just as big.
These are 15 Game of Thrones Characters Who Look Nothing Like They Do in the Books.
15. BRAN STARK
Something that you’ll quickly notice is a recurring theme on this list is that characters who are young in the books were made older for the TV show. Part of this might just be that skilled child actors can be more difficult to come by, or that given the graphic nature of the show, it could make viewers uncomfortable witnessing minors involved in such dark subject matter. Or maybe it’s that even George R. R. Martin himself has said in retrospect he wishes he had made the characters a bit older to better suit the roles he had planned for them.
Regardless, Bran is one of several characters on this list who is several years younger in the books. Not only that, but he also takes after his mother in regards to his looks, like the majority of the Stark children do. In the show his hair is a pretty ordinary brown color, but in the books his hair would be closer to Sansa’s coloring, more of an auburn color. His eyes are also blue in the novels, a trait common among Catelyn Stark’s side of the family.
14. DAARIO NAHARIS
The show technically had two chances to create the Daario Naharis of the books since he has been played by two different actors now, but neither one is anywhere close to the Daario of the novels. On the show, Daario looks like a pretty normal guy, and it’s easy enough to see why Daenerys might be interested in him. If Game of Thrones mimicked Daario’s appearance from A Song of Ice and Fire though, fans might be questioning Dany’s taste a bit more.
In the books, Daario is flamboyant, to say the least. He enjoys wearing bright, colorful clothing all the time, which shouldn’t be surprising given his cocky attitude. But what is really the memorable thing about his book character is his hair. It’s dyed. And it’s blue. As in all of his hair. Even his beard. Dying hair extravagant colors is pretty common in Tyroshi culture, but yeah, on screen, it would have looked pretty bizarre.
13. ASHA GREYJOY
To book fans, the most noticeable difference between this character and her show counterpart might very well be the name. Those of you who only watch the show are probably scratching your heads right now just trying to who Asha is. That’s because on the show, Asha’s name was changed to Yara. The showrunners worried that if they left her as Asha, viewers might get her confused with Bran’s female wildling companion Osha.
Though the name is definitely the biggest difference, Theon Greyjoy’s sister is also physically a bit different between the book series and the shows as well. In the novels, Asha retains her prowess as a warrior, but is also described as being very thin. And while Yara isn’t exactly chubby, being petite isn’t the first thing show watchers would say about her. Asha’s hair is also shorter on the show, likely to give opponents less to grab for when she gets in a fight.
12. JEYNE WESTERLING
This is another character where the biggest difference between the book and the show might just be in the name. Yes, those of you who only watch the show probably aren’t familiar with the name Jeyne Westerling. That’s because, to Game of Thrones fans, you know her better by the name Talisa. Actually, with the name change, and how different her plot has been, it’s probably debatable whether Jeyne and Talisa are the same character, but we’d say they count since they filled the same role of marrying Robb Stark.
As for appearance, this is an example where the show made the character better looking than in the book. Not that Jeyne Westerling is ever described as ugly, but she’s plain enough that people comment that she doesn’t have a face worth throwing away a kingdom for, like Robb essentially did. But the biggest difference between Jeyne’s appearance and Talisa’s? Well, at this point Talisa probably has a bad case of rotting flesh, whereas Jeyne is still alive and well.
11. ROBB STARK
Poor Game of Thrones fans still thought the boy king was going to be the protagonist of the show not that long ago, Unfortunately, he followed in his father’s footsteps just a little too closely and wound up losing his life during the war of the five kings. Still, it was impressive that an untrained young man was on the verge of becoming the king of the north. And it was even more impressive in the books.
In the novels, all of the Stark children are younger than they are in the show, so Robb is actually only fourteen at the start of the book series. Seeing someone in their early teen years take up a sword as well as the mantle of king is hard not to be impressed by. But though fans probably him as Ned Stark’s oldest son, he actually takes after his mother and the Tullys in his appearance. In the books, his hair is auburn like his mom’s, and he has the Tully family blue eyes.
10. EDMURE TULLY
Just as the Lannisters are known for their gold hair (which tipped off Ned Stark to Cersei’s infidelity), the Tullys of Riverrun also share distinctive physical resemblances. Though you wouldn’t know it from watching the show, a common trait among the Tully family, and even among many of the Stark children thanks to Catelyn, is having auburn hair and blue eyes. In the books, most people can recognize a Tully at a glance based on these features. But in the show, you probably wouldn’t even realize Edmure Tully was Catelyn’s brother without them saying so.
Another noticeable feature that the Edmure of the show lacks is one that he could actually still acquire if the writers decided to make it happen. The Edmure of the books is also known for having a thick beard. And ittedly, with perhaps only one season left of the show to go, he doesn’t have much time left for it, but Game of Thrones’ Edmure still has a little while left to grow into his book counterpart if he’ll just lay off the shaving.
9. JORAH MORMONT
The protector and guide of Daenerys during her formative period as Khaleesi is another one whose appearance was made less unappealing than his image of the books. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Jorah has the body of an aging knight, meaning he still has muscle to him to back up his fading fighting prowess, but he’s also starting to show some wear and tear. His body would be better described as bulky than sculpted, and he has the features of a gruff older man.
Even past fifty years of age, the real life Iain Glen isn’t really someone you could describe as gruff. His youth might be behind him, but fans have still commented on his good looks before. And unlike his book counterpart, his hair is a little more evenly distributed. The Jorah of the books is a bald man, though he retained a thick amount of body hair.
8. EURON GREYJOY
Yes, another Greyjoy makes the list, and this won’t be the last one either. To viewers of the show alone, Euron Greyjoy is a fairly recent addition to the Greyjoy family, a lineage that has had a lot of their story omitted from the TV series. But to book fans, the various of the Ironborn have featured prominently since the second book A Clash of Kings. But in the books, Euron looks a bit more like a true pirate.
The most noticeable different between the two iterations of Euron is that in Game of Thrones, he has two eyes, whereas in A Song of Ice and Fire, he’s down to one. Besides the eye patch, his dark, mysterious personality is further accentuated by his black hair. And his hair might actually match what is beneath his eye patch, since his family actually whispers he keeps a hidden black eye concealed beneath there.
7. SYRIO FOREL
Syrio Forell ultimately does not have a very large part in the books or the TV show, but fans of both him well for being Arya’s introduction into the ways of a warrior. The swordsman from Braavos immediately gains the interest of Arya with his unusual sayings, and his artistic method of sword fighting. But the “dancing instructor” also didn’t have quite as much of an Inigo Montoya vibe going for him in the books.
In A Song of Ice and Fire, Syrio doesn’t have the curly black locks we see him with in the show, and is actually totally bald. He’s also known for a having a rather prominent nose as well. But while the Syrio of the show doesn’t look much like his original iteration, it’s easy to forgive for how easily he exudes the same charisma book fans knew Arya’s sword master for.
6. SANDOR CLEGANE
Maybe there aren’t that many talented, ugly people out there, or maybe the show runners didn’t want to invest a lot in trying to tone down the looks of their actors, but it’s definitely a trend that ugly characters in the books don’t look quite as bad in the show. Looking at Sandor Clegane’s face in the show, you might find that hard to imagine, but his burns on the show aren’t actually as bad as they could be.
In the novels, the Hound not only has half his face covered in scar tissue, but also lost body parts as a result of his brother's torture. The burned half of his face wound up losing its ear as a result of the incident, and patches of his skin were so severely burned that they couldn’t even heal. Sandor’s jaw bone is left permanently exposed in the books as a result of his melted flesh.