One of the factors that led to Game of Thrones becoming one of the greatest television phenomenons of all time was its powerful source material. George RR Martin's unique storytelling, compelling characters, and out-of-this-world imagination provided the writers and producers with a solid jumping board to craft the thrilling series everyone came to know and love. No one could expect the success that would come of the A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation, and yet, here we are.
While the show didn't end on a very glorious note, that doesn't take away from its original mastery. The general consensus is that Game of Thrones was, indeed, an extremely good adaptation of Martin's work, all the way down to the characters' physical appearance. However, not everything about them was exactly as described in the original source material. So let's take a closer look at what the main characters are supposed to look like versus what they ended up looking like.
Samwell Tarly
Samwell Tarly, or Sam, as audiences came to recognize him, is played by John Bradley on the show. Sam is brought to the Night's Watch in an attempt to make him more of a warrior and less of a scholar, and he quickly befriends Jon Snow.
According to Martin's description, Samwell is very large, with dark hair, pale eyes, and a "moon-shaped face", as we can see in Amok's depiction. Overall, Bradley comes very close to what the reader can gather from reading the text.
Lord Varys
Lord Varys, the Master of Whispers in Westeros, had one of the most disappointing endings out of pretty much everyone in the show. Is tactical dive was tough to witness, especially considering how intelligent and cunning he was at the very beginning.
Even though the path of the character deviated quite a bit from the books, his physical appearance did not. Lord Varys is described as plump and bald, known for wearing expensive and fabulous fabrics. This description, represented above by Marc Simonetti, is pretty much the spitting image of actor Conleth Hill on the show.
Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish
Alongside Varys, Littlefinger had a downfall no one quite saw coming but was definitely more satisfying than the former. As far as looks go, casting directors hit the nail on the head when casting Aidan Gillen.
Described as a short man, slim, of very slight build, Baelish dons a sharp beard matching his equally sharp features and has slight streaks of white hair mingling with his dark hair, as we can see in RobotDelEspacio's interpretation.
Arya Stark
Young and feisty Arya Stark was played by Maisie Williams down to perfection. Arya's arc was one of the most interesting ones to watch, and overall, her fate on the show wasn't absolutely horrible.
Portrayed above by Xtreme1992, Arya has always be said to resemble her aunt Lyanna, with her dark hair, slim body, grey eyes, and elongated face. By comparison, it's safe to say the casting of actress Maisie was a huge hit.
Sansa Stark
The only female character that audiences had the satisfaction of seeing become Queen, Sansa Stark went from being an innocent, scared little girl, to a somewhat cynical woman and fierce leader.
Martin describes Sansa as beautiful, and heavily resembling her mother Caitlin Stark in her fiery red hair, sparkling blue eyes, and extremely feminine. Looking at Isabel Westling's interpretation of these words and Sophie Turner's take on the character, once again fans won't be disappointed by the work put into bringing the character to life.
Jaime Lannister
All those memes comparing Jaime Lannister to the Prince in Shrek 2 weren't that far off, as we can gather from this artwork by Mathia Arkoniel.
Jaime is described in the books as tall and handsome, will long strands of golden hair. His eyes are green and similar to those of a cat and his physique is strong and intimidating. Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau comes relatively close to this description, even though he gets a very modern haircut in the final stages of the show.
Cersei Lannister
Vicious, ambitious, and evil to the core, Cersei Lannister provided audiences with one of the best villains ever seen on television. Yet another character who had a less than satisfying ending, Cersei was still a joy to watch, imprinting conflict and giving the show a lot of dimension.
Martin describes her as "strikingly beautiful", with long golden hair, a slender figure, and green eyes just like her brother's. Lena Headey looks enough like Magali Villeneuve's interpretation to leave fans feeling satisfied.
Tyrion Lannister
Peter Dinklage is probably the actor that less resembles the character is playing, to no fault of his - Dinklage is simply too handsome to come even slightly close to what we see presented on the right, courtesy of Sebastian Giacobino.
In the books, Tyrion has "a jutting forehead, mismatched eyes of green and black, and a mixture of pale blond and black hair", and he loses his nose in battle, leaving him even more disfigured over the course of the books. Due to Dinklage's outstanding performance, though, it's impossible to complain about the choice that was made.
Jon Snow
Jon Snow, the bastard, who turned out to be the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen was a tortured soul whose ending on Game of Thrones left audiences wanting more.
As far as physical appearance goes, Jon is said to resemble Ned Stark more than any of his brothers, with dark brown hair and nearly black eyes. Without much more to go on, Kit Harrington actually comes incredibly close to Michael-C-Hayes' take on Martin's description of the character.
Daenerys Targaryen
One of the most promising royals with the right ideals and yet with such a tragic ending, Daenerys Targaryen has become synonymous with Game of Thrones - the good, the bad, and the horrible. Emilia Clarke gave a wonderful portrayal of the character, and appearance-wise, very little was lacking.
George RR Martin describes Dany as classic Valyrian, with purple eyes, long silver hair, and an overall beauty. Aside from the eyes, there's nothing to clock about the actress' look, which is surprisingly similar to Kathryn Steele's art.