Screenwriters and producers sometimes change the appearance of characters for practical or plot reasons. This article compares the appearance of “Game of Thrones” characters to their novel counterparts. 

Yara/Asha Greyjoy

In the TV series, the Game of Thrones writers changed Asha Greyjoy’s name to Yara, perhaps to avoid confusion with Osha, the wildling who patronized Rickon Stark. However, the character’s name is one of many things that have changed. Performer Gemma Whelan embodies Osha’s swagger and coarse language, but she doesn’t quite resemble the character’s physical description.

Bran Stark

As Martin wrote, “Theon turned to give her an appraising look. What he saw pleased him.” At first glance, he realized she was an Ironborn. Slim and long-legged, with short black hair, weathered skin, solid and confident hands, and a dirk at her belt. Her nose was too big and pointy for her thin face, but her smile made up for it. 

Bran from the TV series, played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright, doesn’t fit George R.R. Martin’s description of Bran in the books. He is supposed to have brown hair and Tully blue eyes, with a solemn face.

Bran then equates himself to a Tully by purchasing colored glasses and dyeing himself.

Brienne of Tarth was often ridiculed for her appearance.

Her hair had dirty straw, and her face was not attractive. But her eyes were strikingly blue and innocent. Despite her broad features, crooked teeth, wide mouth, and puffy lips, her freckled cheeks and eyebrows gave her a unique beauty. Her nose had been broken several times. 

Daario Naharis

So far, the Game of Thrones series makers have had two chances to make Daario Naharis right, and both times, they failed. However, you can’t blame them for taking a different direction with Daario – the multi-colored hair and forked beard don’t look good on screen.

His beard was cut into three prongs and dyed blue, the same color as his eyes and curly hair falling to his collar. The pointed mustache was painted gold. – Storm of Swords

This transformation was the most difficult, and it looked ridiculous. His hair became longer, reaching down to his collar and dyed bright blue to match his blue eyes. His beard is split into three parts and stained the same color as his hair, except for the crazy golden mustache.

Daenerys Targaryen

She was dressed in stoles sent by Magister Illyrio and then in a deep plum-colored silk dress to accentuate the purple color of her eyes… “She’s too thin,” Viserys said. His hair, as silver-blond as hers, was pulled back and fastened with a dragon bone brooch. 

If the books are to be believed, she was bald as an egg after surviving the pyre where her dragons were hatched, and her hair was burned again when she escaped on Drogon from the fighting pits at Meereen. 

Ramsay Bolton

On-screen, the infamous Bastard Bolton looks evil and sadistic. But would you believe that the book version of Ramsey is even worse? 

In the book, Ramsey has a long, shaggy haircut and extreme facial makeup that makes him look like Glenn Danzig. His skin is blotchy, his eyes are closer and lighter, his nose is more comprehensive, and his mouth is more squinted.

Roose Bolton

His face was plain, beardless, and ordinary, notable only for his strange pale eyes. He was neither plump, thin, or muscular, wearing black chainmail and a spotted pink cloak. The lord stared at her. Only his eyes moved: they were very pale, the color of ice. – A clash of kings

The Lord of Dreadfort bore no solid resemblance to his bastard son—a clean-shaven, smooth-skinned, plain face, not handsome, but not precisely essential. And though Roose had been in battles, he had no scars. Even though he was well into his forties, he was still wrinkle-free, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on his face that showed evidence of time gone by. His thin lips were so thin that when he pressed them together, they seemed to disappear altogether. His appearance had a timeless stillness; on Russ Bolton’s face, fury and joy looked alike. The only thing that united him and Ramsay was his eyes. His eyes were ice.