Stannis Baratheon

"My enemies have made my kingdom bleed. I will not forget that. I will not forgive that. I will punish them with any arms at my disposal."

- Stannis to Davos Seaworth during "Mhysa". "If a man knows what he is and remains true to himself, the choice is no choice at all. He must fulfill his destiny and become who he is meant to be, however much he may hate it."

- Stannis to his daughter Shireen, just before sacrificing her.

Stannis Baratheon is the head of House Baratheon of Dragonstone, Lord of Dragonstone, younger brother of King Robert I Baratheon, older brother to Lord Renly Baratheon, and a major character in A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as in Game of Thrones. His parents were Lord Steffon Baratheon and Lady Cassana Estermont. Stannis is married to Lady Selyse Florent and has one daughter, Shireen. Although all the other kings refer themselves only as "King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms", phrasing utilized by Targaryen kings since the reign of Aegon I Targaryen, Stannis also styles himself as "King of Westeros", meaning he sees himself as king of all the continent, including all of the lands beyond the Wall, not just the realm.

He is the main antagonist of the Lannister POV storyline in book 2 and season 2, followed by Robb Stark and the overall secondary antagonist of the book/season.

In the TV series he's played by Stephen Dillane.

Personality
Stannis is utterly unlike his two brothers: he’s not considered as handsome and charismatic as Renly or as a younger Robert. He’s in his thirties at the beginning of the main story, but he’s described as looking older than Robert, suffering from premature hair loss and looking like an old man. He’s a stern grim man obsessed with duty and principles, he never smiles and does not enjoy parties. He’s got none of his brothers’ social skills and, unlike Robert, he never acts out of impulse, but only after a long time of reflection, as he’s a strategical and calculative man. A stubborn, unforgiving, serious man, Stannis never speaks with gentleness, neither dissembles nor flatters, as he always want to say what he thinks. He is obsessed with slights both real and imagined causing him to grind his teeth regularly. Stannis is an accomplished commander, sailor, and warrior, although his personality hinders his ascension to being a truly great leader. He's said to know the military strength of every house in Westeros. Even Lord Tywin Lannister respects him and considers him an enemy not to be taken lightly.

While he is respected and feared, he has never been loved, or had the affection of nobles or smallfolk, due to him being utterly without mercy most of the time. He is the least popular of the Baratheon brothers. People in Westeros dread having him at command because of this merciless sense of justice, and even his brothers can barely stomach him. Stannis dislikes Robert and Renly and never got along with them since they were kids. He was considered a difficult child even by his parents, who never managed to make him laugh, and always preferred to stay alone and reserved. He’s a proud man, often obsessing about himself and complaining about his rights to everyone, lacking passion, easy to annoy, and rarely forgives others, preferring to kill his enemies. Despite being rather unlikable as a person he proves to be a very complex man who dislikes what he forces himself to do. He believes that a “good act” does not wash out the bad, nor the bad the good, and that each one should have it’s own reward. Unlike most highborns of the westerosi society, he does not look down upon the smallfolk and treats people as equals, rewarding others when he feels they actually truly deserve it. He also can’t stand lies and courtesies, and wants to hear the hard truths, preferring to tell and hear things like they really are. He can't stand his own lords and dislikes smiling people with colorfoul dresses and whores. In fact he doesn't allow the presence of whores at Dragonstone, not even in the island's fishing village. During his feasts he forbids loud laughter and racous shouting.

Stannis has a cold relationship with his wife, Selyse. Theirs is a loveless marriage, and the two have little patience for each other. Stannis was always uncomfortable around women, even his wife. He barely visited her, doing his duty in the marriage bed once or twice a year, taking no joy in it. Stannis and Selyse have only one surviving daughter, Shireen, a sad and homely little girl who is disfigured as a consequence of contracting greyscale in her infancy. Davos Seaworth is one of Stannis's most loyal servants.

House Baratheon of Dragonstone
Founded by Stannis, It's a cadet branch of House Baratheon of Storm's End and commands the allegiance of the lords of the narrow sea. Its seat is Dragonstone, the island seized by Stannis during Robert's Rebellion and received it as a reward from his brother, King Robert I Baratheon, though Stannis never wanted it. House Baratheon of Dragonstone's current lord and head is Stannis I and its heir is Shireen Baratheon. This house is sovereign and doesn't recognize any overlord, and doesn't make alliances with any other faction unless they are absolutely obedient and submitted to Stannis's will.

Current sworn houses to King Stannis are: Bar Emmon, Celtigar, Sunglass, and Velaryon, from vulcanic islands in the Narrow Sea; Massey, Farring, Follard, and Chyttering, from the crownlands; Seaworth, Horpe, Peasebury, Fell, Wylde, Grandison, Morrigen, Caron, Wensington, from the stormlands; Florent and Meadows, from the Reach; Glover, Mormont, Umber, Karstark (treacherous), Flint, Wull, Burley, Harclay, Knott, Liddle, Norrey, from the North. Before his defeat at the Blackwater Stannis had the support of most houses of the stormlands and other houses of the Reach and his army had many men and a massive royal fleet, built by Stannis for Robert in the past; among his leaders were many important powerful storm lords and some Reach lords. After his defeat most of them died or bent the knee to King Joffrey. Ser Erren Florent, Selyse's youngest brother, is still held captive at Highgarden.

Since the return of Stannis at Dragonstone after the Battle of the Blackwater,  House Baratheon of Dragonstone remained divided in two factions: the king's men and the queen's men.

King's men
"Lady Melisandre is a priestess of the red god. Queen Selyse has adopted her faith, along with many others, but more of His Grace’s followers still worship the Seven. Myself among them"

- Davos Seaworth to Leona Woolfield.

Melisandre's strange faith, aggressive council, and mysterious powers make her unpopular among some of Stannis Baratheon's men. The king's men are members of Stannis Baratheon's court that hold to their worship of the Seven even after the red priestess, Melisandre, brought the faith of R'hllor to Dragonstone and converted Queen Selyse. Although they are loyal to King Stannis, they don't approve of the new religion and disapprove of many things such as burning people alive and sacred places and icons of other religions. According to Davos the king's men outnumber the queen's men in Stannis's host, and Stannis says half of his army is made of unbelievers. In the TV series most of Stannis' followers are actually converted to R'hllor.

Known king's men are Lord (formerly Ser) Davos Seaworth, Ser Andrew Estermont, Ser Gerald Gower, Ser Rolland Storm, Lewys the Fishwife, Ser Triston of Tally Hill, and Omer Blackberry.

Queen's men
"One realm, one god, one king! STANNIS! STANNIS! ONE REALM, ONE GOD, ONE KING!"

- Queen's men

The queen's men are members of Stannis Baratheon's court that have converted to the faith of R'hllor. Historically, Queen Selyse Florent was among the first in Dragonstone to convert, and it was initially by her insistence that Stannis took notice of the red priestess, Melisandre. Calling them the "queen's" men alludes to the fact that Selyse is a vocal supporter of Melisandre and of her god, arguably more so than Stannis himself, and helps in telling them apart from the so-called king's men who are also supporters of Stannis's cause yet have kept the Faith of the Seven. However, an alternate interpretation is that the queen they are loyal to is not Selyse but rather Melisandre, who is in many senses closer to Stannis than Selyse.

They often have a fiery heart, the emblem of the Lord of Light, embroidered on their breasts signifying their allegiance. In the TV series, most of Stannis' men after the Battle of the Blackwater become follower of R'hllor, unlike the book version.

Known queen's men are Lord Alester Florent, Ser Axell Florent, Lord Harwood Fell, Lord Sweet, Ser Richard Horpe, Ser Godry Farring, Ser Clayton Suggs, Ser Corliss Penny, Ser Justin Massey, Ser Brus Buckler, Ser Malegorn of Redpool, Ser Patrek of King's Mountain, Ser Narbert Grandison, Ser Benethon Scales, Ser Dorden the Dour, Ser Lambert Whitewater, Ser Perkin Follard, Merrel, Morgan, and Alf of Runnymudd.

Villainous Actions

 * Had his brother Renly assassinated (though as Renly clearly intended to kill Stannis it is debatable how villainous this was).
 * Had Cortnay Penrose assassinated (though he refused to surrender Storm's End to Stannis).
 * Allowed the destruction and burning of sacred religious places, like the sept of Dragonstone and the godswood of Storm's End. Also wanted to burn the godswood of Winterfell.
 * Didn't punish Selyse and Melisandre for burning non believers alive, like Guncer Sunglass.
 * Allowed Melisandre to burn many non believers alive including his own brother-in-law Axell Florent in the TV series. In the books he burns his uncle-in-law Alester Florent, although that was due to treason rather than religious belief. Other people burned by Stannis in the books were Rattleshirt and three starving cannibal soldiers of House Peasebury, though Rattleshirt is a notoriously vile Wildling raider.
 * Tried to sacrifice his illegitimate nephew Gendry/Edric Storm in an attempt to gain more power with the Stone Dragons of Dragonstone (though he is very conflicted over this in the books).
 * Had Mance Rayder burned alive after he refused to kneel. In the novels Mance was executed for being a deserter of the Night's Watch, however he is still alive in the books, because the Lord of Bones "Rattleshirt" was glamoured by Melisandre to appear as Mance.
 * Burned his beloved daughter Shireen alive to improve the weather and ensure his victory against the Boltons.

Trivia

 * In the novels Stannis is the last surviving king out of the original five and he's one of the actual four living kings, the others being Tommen, Euron, and Aegon. In the TV series Stannis dies before Balon Greyjoy, who's still alive despite his book counterpart died before the Red Wedding.
 * Many show fans who supported Stannis throughout the seasons immediately turned against him after he murdered Shireen. However many fans were more angry with the writers for changing so much about the character.
 * While in the TV series version Selyse is shown to have a great dislike for Shireen and Stannis being the protective parent, in the book version Selyse seems to be very concerned and protective about her daughter and lets her do what she wants at the Wall. There are no interactions shown between Stannis and Shireen in the books and there is no indication about Shireen loving her father. Also, in the TV version Selyse's character has been changed and made into an extremely insane fanatic who loves to watch people burning. In the books Selyse is an arrogant, proud, fanatic, and serious woman who does her duty as a lord's wife. In both books and show she's fully obedient to her husband and her actions are meant to serve and please him, and she's the reason Melisandre has managed to spread her religion in Dragonstone.
 * Book readers were more shocked about Stannis's death, rather than Jon's. Stannis is still alive in the novels, while Jon's death had already been written years ago, and it was also implied he would return to life.
 * George R. R. Martin confirmed that Stannis is still alive in his novels. The TV series version confirmed that he's dead.
 * On the day April 25 2016, George R.R. Martin revealed in an interview that his upcoming book The Winds of Winter contains a critical development that Game of Thrones can't use: in fact a plot twist will involve a character who's already dead in the TV series. Fans believe it to be Stannis Baratheon, Mance Rayder, Selyse Florent, Jeyne Westerling, or Barristan Selmy. Most fans think it will be Stannis, due to many theories of the story and visions from Daenerys Targaryen, and also because Martin seems to like his character better than the show directors (though he said he likes all of his characters even Joffrey). However GRRM said it will be a character who didn't get much attention in the books and show, thus making unlikely it will be Stannis, who's a major character of the series.

Externel Links

 * Stannis Baratheon on Heroes Wiki