Ramsay Bolton

"This isn't happening to you for a reason. Well, one reason. I enjoy it."

- Ramsay explaining to Theon Greyjoy why he's torturing him.

Ramsay Bolton, formerly known as "Ramsay Snow" and sometimes called "The Bastard of Bolton" is one of the major antagonists in the Song of Ice and Fire novels as well as Game of Thrones, the HBO series based on the books. He serves as the tertiary antagonist of Season 3, one of the secondary antagonists of Season 4 (along with his father Roose Bolton and Mance Rayder), and the main antagonist of Season 5 and Season 6.

Ramsay is widely regarded as the most evil and repulsive villain in the series, proving himself to be more vile than King Joffrey Baratheon. His character first appears during the second book, imprisoned by Lord Bran Stark and freed by Theon Greyjoy. However he was cut from the second season and his role in Winterfell was taken by another character, Dagmer Cleftjaw, who's also in the books, but never betrays Theon. Ramsay indirectly appears in season 2, blowing the horn repeatedly to annoy and scare the ironborn.

In the HBO adaption, Ramsay is portrayed by actor Iwan Rheon (who also plays Ash Weston in Vicious).

History
Ramsay Bolton, born Snow, was the son of Roose Bolton, lord of the Dreadfort, and a miller who he killed and later raped his wife over his dead body. After she gave birth to the boy she went to lord Bolton, who wanted to have the girl whipped and kill Ramsay until he saw that the baby had his eyes. Roose promised food and money every year if she did not reveal Ramsay’s true parentage. Twelve years later the woman returned to Roose Bolton and said that he was growing wild and that without a father figure had become an angry problem child. Lord Bolton sent a servant called Reek to help raise Ramsay this however only made him worse as Reek corrupted him into, raping, stealing and even murdering. Sometime later, Bolton’s trueborn son Domeric, tried to meet his brother. Ramsay out of jealousy and anger poisoned him a short time later. Lacking any more sons Roose Bolton took his bastard to the Dreadfort and raised him there.

During the War of the Five Kings, Roose Bolton rode south with Robb Stark, but Ramsay stayed in the north and amassed men in the Dreadfort. Lord Halys Hornwood died in Battle on the Green Fork, while his only heir, Daryn died at the Battle at the Whispering Wood. Ramsay learned about House Hornwood having no male members anymore, so he planned to take the Hornwood for himself. After Robb Stark declared himself King in the North, Bran Stark planned to have King Robb legitimize Larence Snow, the bastard of Lord Hornwood who lives at Deepwood Motte. The widow Lady Donella Hornwood, nee Manderly, was kidnapped by Ramsay while she was returning to the Hornwood from Winterfell. Ramsay forced Lady Hornwood to marry him and name him her heir so he could take her lands. After the wedding Ramsay locked his wife in a tower and starved her to death, before dying Lady Hornwood ate her fingers. Ramsay’s fame spread through the North and Bran, as Lord of Winterfell, sent Ser Rodrik Cassel to capture Ramsay, while Lord Wyman Manderly took the Hornwood and started fighting Bolton men. The problems with Ramsay Snow stopped when Ser Rodrik captured them. Ramsay and Reek were captured while raping and killing a peasant girl. He made Reek pass out as him while he took the disguise of Reek. While the true Reek was killed by Rodrik, Ramsay  was taken as prisoner to Winterfell for interrogation.

While he was a prisoner in Winterfell, Theon Greyjoy takes the fortress and forces the people to plead loyalty to him. Ramsay is admitted at his service. When Bran and Rickon Stark escape from the captured castle, Ramsay joins Theons hunting party. It was Ramsay’s idea to kill the miller’s sons to hide the escape from the princes of Winterfell. He finally leaves the castle before northern troops, arrive to take back their capital, Theon frees him with the promise that he will bring more men to help the Ironborn of Asha Greyjoy and Dagmer Cleftjaw. Later the northern army led by Rodrik Cassel, Leobald Tallhart, and Cley Cerwyn arrives to besiege Winterfell. Shortly after the failed parley with Theon and Rodrik, the Bolton army arrives to join with Rodrik's forces.

During the siege Ramsay betrays and kills Rodrik. He orders his men to massacre the other northerners. After the Battle of Winterfell, Theon recognizes "Reek" and opens his gates to the men of the Dreadfort and Ramsay reveals his true identity, then he proceeds to kill all the remaining ironborn, burn the castle and slay all the inhabitants of Winterfell, save for Little Walder Frey and Big Walder Frey, and the women and chilren, whom he takes them to the Dreadfort. Ramsay burns alive the horses of Bran and Theon, Dancer and Smiler. He also takes Theon captive to his castle, where he tortures him and forces him to abandon his identity and becomes the second "Reek". Ramsay flays and mutilates Theon, as well as testing him by letting him escape until he stopped trying. A girl prisoner from Winterfell named Kyra is punished with a slow and painful death with the hounds, after being tested by Ramsay. Ramsay removes a few fingers from Theon's hands and foots, so he doesn't walk very well. He punches Theon in the face until he loses some teeth, as Ramsay always hated his smile. Reek sleeps in the kennels of the Dreadfort. During his staying in the fortress he phisically ages prematurely and becomes a thin broken man with white hair.

Roose Bolton betrays Robb Stark and personally slays him during the Red Wedding. Ramsay is then legitimized by King Tommen I and named heir to the Dreadfort and Lord of Winterfell. He also calls himself Lord of Hornwood. Tywin Lannister claims to have found Arya Stark and she's engaged to Ramsay. The girl is actually a fraud from the Lannisters, Jeyne Poole, a childhood friend of Sansa Stark. Only Tywin is aware of this, though many other Lannisters recognize her as a fraud.

Lord Arnolf Karstark swears fealty to King Stannis Baratheon, but in reality he's serving the Boltons, plotting to have Harrion Karstark killed by the Lannisters, so he can become the new Lord of Karhold. Arnolf advise Stannis to attack the Dreadfort, then he has his maester sending ravens to the Boltons. Thanks to the Karstarks, the Boltons learn about Stannis planning to fight against them, thus avoiding a surprise attack from his forces.

Roose and his Bolton-Frey army are unable to return to the North, as it's still invaded by the ironborn. Victarion Greyjoy leaves Moat Cailin with most of his forces and the Iron Fleet, back to the Iron Islands for the kingsmoot. Ramsay takes that opportunity and marches with his forces from the Dreadfort headed to Moat Cailin. Little Walder and Big Walder Frey follow him. He leaves a garrison at the castle, ready to welcome Stannis, who's still at Castle Black, in Arnolf 's trap. Arnolf's plan is botched thanks to Jon Snow, who advises Stannis to win the support of the northmen and avoid the Dreadfort.

Ramsay uses Theon to take back Moat Cailin. Ralf Kenning and Dagon Codd refuse to surrender, but Kenning dies of his wounds while Codd is killed by Adrack Humble, who accepts Ramsay's terms. Ramsay has Humble and the surviving ironmen flayed alive after offering them peace. Roose finally marches back to the North with his wife, Fat Walda, his army, and the false Arya Stark, whom Theon recognizes her as Jeyne Poole. He's infuriated to find Theon ruined, saying that Theon was a precious hostage against the Greyjoys. Many castles and towns are still occupied by the ironborn, but Roose can't deal with them as he calls his bannermen to march on Winterfell and prepare for Stannis' invasion.

The Boltons and Reek stay in Barrowton for a while, being guest of Lady Barbrey Dustin. During his stay at Barrow Hall, Ramsay kills an old man in a fit of rage, after the man calls him "Snow" instead of "Bolton". Roose is seriously angered by his son's actions and says that he's acting brash and foolish and drawing attention to himself with his cruel and barbaric amusements. In fact they have powerful allies in the Freys and the Lannisters, but the northmen despise them and only accept House Bolton's authority grudgingly, with the exception of Barbrey Dustin, who was fond of Domeric Bolton but hates Ramsay. Roose is also furious at his son for talking openly about his role in the Sack of Winterfell, fearing a rebellion from them, if they learn about the Bolton's other treacherous deeds, such as the Battle of Duskendale, where Roose had deliberately sent a huge portion of the northmen army to its own destruction. Roose admits that the existence of Ramsay caused him to regret having raped the miller's wife who gave birth to him. Later the Boltons and Lady Dustin start marching to Winterfell with their army.

Roose, Ramsay, Fat Walda, Lady Dustin, Steelshanks Walton, the two Walders, "Arya", and Reek arrive at Winterfell with the army. Later they are joined by many other northern armies. The Boltons have the support of the Iron Throne, House Frey, House Karstark, House Ryswell, House Dustin, part of House Umber under Hother Umber (nominally), House Hornwood, House Cerwyn, House Manderly (nominally), and House Locke. Thus any northmen who's fighting for Stannis is considered a rebel by the crown. After taking Deepwood Motte from the ironborn and winning the support of the northern armies, Stannis learns that Ramsay is going to marry Arya Stark, so he plans to save the girl and starts to march on Winterfell.

Winterfell is suffering from both a hard white frost and the looming menace of the coming of Stannis Baratheon's troops. Even so, Ramsay marries Fake Arya in the godswood. A musician named Abel arrives to sing for the wedding; the man is actually an agent of Melisandre, sent to free the fake Arya and bring her to Jon Snow. Ramsay is named Lord of Winterfell when he marries the 13 year-old Jeyne "Arya Stark" Poole. The Boltons feast with the northern lords, including Wyman Manderly who arrived from White Harbor. In reality, Lord Manderly sent Lord Davos Seaworth to the island of Skagos to find Rickon Stark, and after killing the Freys in his castle he marched on Winterfell, planning to defect the Boltons for Stannis. During the wedding night Ramsay rapes Jeyne Poole, after forcing Theon to get her wet with his tongue. Ramsay sexually humiliates both Theon and Jeyne in bed.

Ramsay and his father stays in the fortress with their bannermen preparing for the attack of Stannis Baratheon. Jeyne remains locked in her room, while Ramsay regularly rapes her as well as letting his dogs rape her for his own amusement. When Ramsay gets angry he beats the fake Arya and bends her to his will. Theon instructs Jeyne to NEVER refuse an order from Ramsay and never betray him, unless she wants to suffer and horrible death. The northmen are strongly annoyed by the rumors of Arya's treatment, and Roose is scared that they might get tired and betray him, realizing that the northmen have more men than him. Some of them such as Hother Umber are loyal to the Boltons only because of the captives from the Red Wedding, like Jon Umber. There also tensions between the northmen and the Freys at Winterfell.

At Winterfell a sudden winter snowstorm infuriates in the northern lands. Roose Bolton is pleased that the old gods are against the heretic King Stannis. Bolton declares in the Great Hall that Stannis is at the mercy of the weather while they are sheltered in Winterfell. Roose's men cheer, while the Freys don't since they are not used to the weather and 3 of them already died (actually killed by Mance's spearwives). Stannis and his forces are suffering losses and marching slowly, as a result of the heavy snow blizzard.

Another murder at Winterfell occurs: this time one of Roger Ryswell's men has been found dead at the inner wall of Winterfell. Roose Bolton and his host are still stuck inside Winterfell's walls due to the relentless snow storms. They expect Stannis' forces to attack them, but have no idea how close he may be due to the storms. Tensions rise among the people inside Winterfell, with no one quite certain whether it is a good idea to wait passively for Stannis or instead to pursue him outside. It doesn't help that food is somewhat scarce and distributed quite unevenly. The northmen and the Freys start arguing aggressively and Roose starts showing hints of fear. The next morning Aenys Frey's squire is found dead and naked outside in the snow. Later on that day another man, a crossbowman sworn to House Flint, is found dead with a crushed skull, presumably from a horse kick. Nevertheless, the suspicions and tensions keep growing to the point that open quarreling happens among the host's Lords inside the Great Hall. Some are tired of waiting for Stannis and want to attack him. A fight nearly breaks out as Ser Hosteen and Aenys Frey blame Wyman Manderly for the deaths of their three kin Rhaegar, Jared, and Symond. It almost comes to a duel before Roger Ryswell and Barbrey Dustin calm them down, though Roose does nothing throughout the near altercation and Theon sees something new in Roose's eyes for the first time: a hint of fear. Soon the newly rebuilt stable collapses, killing two men and twenty-six horses. Roose Bolton gives orders for the surviving horses to be brought inside the walls of Winterfell.

The situation in Winterfell becomes more dangerous when the next victim of the murders is one of Ramsay's bastard boys, Yellow Dick. This death is taken more seriously since it means messing personally with Ramsay.

Days later, men outside Winterfell start blowing horns repeatedly, scaring the people in Winterfell and Winter Town. Everywhere people whisper "Stannis" and wait for the inevitable attack. The men blowing the horns are actually Mors Umber and his scouts, serving under Stannis, preparing traps and confusing the Boltons for the southern king. Stannis and the rest of his army are still camped in a crofter's village, starving in the snow and preparing sacrifices of prisoners to improve the weather.

Another person dies in Winterfell. This time it's the child Little Walder Frey, son of Merrett. However Mance's spearwives tell Theon that this is not work of theirs. The child Big Walder Frey blames the Manderlys for the murders he dispute turns into a spar of words and when Lord Wyman Manderly insults both the dead boy and House Frey simultaneously, Hosteen draws his sword in a blind fury and attacks Manderly, who is sliced under his chins and collapses; his knights leap to defend him and a vicious and bloody fight breaks out. In the end, six White Harbor men lie dead, two Frey men, as well as one of Ramsay's Bastard Boys, Luton. Roose and Ramsay quell the tension by telling the men present if they want blood, they should turn their anger on Stannis. Hosteen replies that once they bring Roose Stannis' head, they will come for Wyman's. Ramsay is ready to lead the army against Stannis' army. The singer Abel is actually Mance Rayder, believed dead by the entire North, who also supported Stannis for killing the hated wildling king, and helps Theon and Jeyne to escape Winterfell. All of Mance's spear wives are killed in the process, until the plan fails. The guards alert the castle and Theon, terrified by Ramsay's reaction and punishment, jumps off the walls of Winterfell with Jeyne. Without a Stark hostage now there's nothing in Winterfell to keep the angry northmen under control; Ramsay is forced to remain in the castle, while Ser Aenys Frey and Ser Hosteen Frey lead the Frey-Bolton vanguard to the crofter's village in order to kill Stannis.

At Castle Black, Jon Snow receives a letter addressed to "Bastard", sealed with with pink sealing wax, which is used by House Bolton. The letter says:

"Your false king is dead, bastard. He and all his host were smashed in seven days of battle. I have his magic sword. Tell his red whore. Your false king's friends are dead. Their heads upon the walls of Winterfell. Come see them, bastard. Your false king lied, and so did you. You told the world you burned the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Instead you sent him to Winterfell to steal my bride from me.

I will have my bride back. If you want Mance Rayder back, come and get him. I have him in a cage for all the north to see, proof of your lies. The cage is cold, but I have made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell.

I want my bride back. I want the false king's queen. I want his daughter and his red witch. I want this wildling princess. I want his little prince, the wildling babe. And I want my Reek. Send them to me, bastard, and I will not trouble you or your black crows. Keep them from me, and I will cut out your bastard's heart and eat it."

- Ramsay Bolton, Trueborn Lord of Winterfell.

The letter is shown to Jon, Tormund and Queen Selyse, but whether the letter came from Ramsay and what of the letter is true it's unkown. Tormund is skeptical of the pink letter and sees it as a bait to draw Jon into the game of thrones, either from Ramsay or from Stannis, who may be tricking Jon into bringing assistance for him. Anyway Jon takes the bait and plans to head to Winterfell with the wildlings, while also allowing the men of the Night's Watch to follow him if they want. Many men of the Watch are now furious as Jon has been taken by personal feelings, thus threatening the neutrality of the Night's Watch for the war in the south rather than the threats beyond the Wall. Before Jon can start marching, a group of mutineers, led by Bowen Marsh, stab repeatedly Jon to death, while crying "For the Watch!".

It's revealed that Stannis Baratheon is still alive and planning to destroy the Bolton-Frey vanguard cavalry in the wolfswood. He has captured Theon Greyjoy and sent the fake Arya Stark to the Wall, as a sign of gratitude to Jon Snow for warning him about the Karstark's treachery. Arnolf Karstark and his men, and Theon are all sentenced to death by Stannis. Theon warns Stannis that Ramsay is coming to fetch back his escaped bride and his Reek; he tells the king to be scared by the bastard of Bolton. Stannis is not impressed by Ramsay's deeds, and boasts about how he held Storm's End against the entire might of the Reach, causing Robert to win the rebellion, took Dragonstone from the Targaryens, defeated Victarion Greyjoy and destroyed the Iron Fleet, and destroyed Mance Rayder's army when he had twenty times his numbers. Stannis challenges Ramsay and asks what battles the bastard has ever won that he should fear him.

Season 2
After Winterfell is seized by Theon Greyjoy for the ironborn, Ramsay Snow is sent by his father, Roose Bolton, to take the castle back for King Robb Stark. Ramsay's forces besiege the castle and he infuriates Theon by blowing a horn all through the night. The following morning, Theon rallies his men to defend the castle, but Ramsay tricks the ironborn to betray Theon, having granted them mercy if they surrender the castle and hand Theon. However, after their betrayal, Ramsay breaks his promise, savagely sacks Winterfell and flays the ironborn alive.

Season 3
Following the Sack of Winterfell, Ramsay and his men take Theon to the Dreadfort and make him a subject of physical and psychical torture. Ramsay sends a fake report to Harrenhal of the sacking of Winterfell by the ironborn, of the disappearance of Bran and Rickon Stark, and the unknown whereabouts of Theon Greyjoy. Later, Ramsay poses as an ironborn emissary, sent by Theon' sister, Yara, to free him. He releases Theon and tells him to ride east to Deepwood Motte, where his sister is waiting for him. Ramsay sends Theon's captors after him and they succed in capturing him again, only for Snow to appear and kill them. Having earned Theon's trust, Ramsay leds him back to the Dreadfort into his torture chamber. Kicking and screaming, Theon is refastened to the rack, as Ramsay drops his facade, grins sadistically and tells the men to put Theon "back where he belongs".

Ramsay awakens Theon with a horn to continue torturing him. He threatens to remove Theon's pinky finger if he cannot guess Ramsay's true identity and their current location. After several guesses, Ramsay tells Theon he is correct in guessing that Ramsay is the brother of Torrhen Karstark, and that they are in Karhold. However he then points out that Theon never asked if he was a liar. He admits that he was lying, and begins flaying Theon's finger while his victim screams for him to cut it off.

Then, Ramsay instructs two young women, Violet and Myranda, Ramsay's own lover, to free and pleasure Theon. However, Ramsay soon interrupts the three, orders his men to restrain Theon and then removes his genitals. When Theon begs to be killed, Ramsay states that he is no good to him dead. Ramsay decides to give Theon a new name, "Reek", and tortures him until he accepts it. He later sends Theon's malehood to the Iron Islands, along with a message, to King Balon Greyjoy, threatening to send more parts of Theon and flay every ironborn in the North alive if they have not left by the full moon.

Season 4
At the beggining of Season 4, Ramsay frees Theon and forces him to work for him as his own servant. Some time later, Ramsay hunts a girl named Tansy in the woods with his hounds, Myranda, and Theon, recently renamed "Reek". With bows in hand, he and Myranda gleefully pursue Tansy, firing arrows at her as they go. Ramsay explains that Tansy had made Myranda jealous, so she has to go because she causes too many problems otherwise. Myranda manages to strike Tansy with an arrow in the leg before Ramsay happily releases his dogs on her, killing her.

Shortly afterwards, Lord Roose Bolton arrives to the Dreadfort with his newly acquired wife, Walda Frey, as Ramsay waits for him. Roose introduces Ramsay to Walda, then asks to see his captive, meaning Theon. Ramsay brings "Reek" to his father, who quickly becomes frustrated with Ramsay for torturing and mutilating a valuable hostage, explaining that he wanted to use Theon as a bargaining chip to rid the North of Iron Islanders, and for that he needed him unharmed. Roose chastises Ramsay for his actions, and laments placing too much trust in him. Ramsay tries to prove that his torture had a purpose, ordering Reek to shave him with a razor and demonstrating that he will never betray them, and adds that his method revealed key information; that Theon did not murder Bran and Rickon Stark. Theon also tells them that their half-brother Jon Snow may be sheltering them at the Wall. Roose finds it enlightening and sends Locke to finds the two Stark boys. Roose instructs Ramsay to take Moat Cailin from the Greyjoy forces and promises that, if he succeeds, he will reconsider Ramsay's position.

Sometime later, Yara Greyjoy, intent on rescuing her brother Theon from Ramsay's clutches, leads a force of fifty ironborn reavers in rowing boats up the Weeping Water towards the Dreadfort. They manage to enter the castle and find Theon in a kennel alongside the dogs, but he refuses to go, believing it to be another trick of Ramsay. Ramsay soon arrives and drives the ironborn from the Dreadfort with his soldiers. However, Yara manages to escape the Dreadort and abandons the mission, declaring Theon to be dead. Ramsay rewards Reek with a bath for his loyalty. Ramsay gently washes Reek while asking his captive whether he loves him, which Reek confirms. He continues by instructing Reek that he has to pretend to be someone he is not: Theon Greyjoy.

Ramsay besieges Moat Cailin and sends Reek to treat with the ironborn garrison, posing as Theon Greyjoy. Theon vouches for Ramsay's promise of safe passage back to the Iron Islands if they surrender. The ironborn surrender, but Ramsay once again breaks his promise and flays them all alive. Having taken Moat Cailin, Ramsay and his father meet on an open field. Roose hands him a document of legitimization, renaming him "Ramsay Bolton". The news delight Ramsay as they make their way towards Winterfell.

Season 5
Ramsay manages to "persuade" House Cerwyn, one of House Stark's vassals, to pay their taxes by flaying Lord Medger Cerwyn, his wife and older brother alive, and coercing their son to pay in their stead. He later tells his father of this while they eat. Finally out of patience with his son, Roose scolds Ramsay for his actions, because since Tywin Lannister is dead, House Lannister will no longer support them and they will not be able to hold the North with terror alone, since the Northern Houses will eventually rise up against them at the slightest excuse. Roose then reveals that he has arranged for Ramsay to marry Sansa Stark to placate the Northerners. When Sansa arrives, Ramsay greets her with politeness. Later, Petyr Baelish speaks with Ramsay, who promises never to harm Sansa after Baelish subtly warns him against it. As Ramsay takes his leave, he expresses his gratitude to Baelish for finding him a suitable match.

Later, Ramsay shares an intimate moment with Myranda, who tells him of her jealousy of Sansa since Ramsay had previously promised to marry her when he was still a bastard. Ramsay coldly admits that he made that promise while he was a bastard, but now that he is a Bolton of the Dreadfort, he needs a more suitable match; furthermore, he admits his attraction to Sansa and openly states his opinion of her beauty, and becomes angry when Myranda threatens to marry someone else and leave him. Ramsay approaches Myranda and reminds her of what he does to people who bore him. He forces himself on Myranda, who bites his lip but reciprocates. Ramsay later confronts Reek about his encounter with Sansa, and warns him not to keep secrets from him again. Though he seems like he will punish Reek for his behavior, he ultimately forgives him.

At the dinner, Ramsay expresses his delight on marrying Sansa, but things turn sour when he brings Theon and forces him to apologize to Sansa for allegedly killing her brothers, Bran and Rickon and suggests that Reek should give Sansa away at their wedding. Ramsay's delight turns to concern when Roose interrupts him by informing that Walda is pregnant with a boy, as Ramsay sees the baby as a threat to his position as his father's heir. After the dinner, Ramsay expresses his distress at the possibility of the unborn child jeopardizing his claim on the North to his father, who reprimands him for his behavior earlier but scoffs at his worry. He then regales Ramsay with the tale of how he met his mother, a miller's wife who had married without Roose's knowledge or consent. Roose had the miller hanged and raped his wife beneath his swaying corpse, even though she fought him the whole time. Sometime later, the miller's wife came to the Dreadfort and left the infant Ramsay with him. Roose had been prepared to throw Ramsay into the sea to drown, but stayed himself because he knew, deep down, that Ramsay was his son. Roose then states that Stannis Baratheon is at Castle Black with an army and will likely attempt to take Winterfell from them during his journey to King's Landing, and Ramsay promises to help his father counter Stannis.

Later, Reek gives Sansa away to Ramsay, and they wed in front of the Godswood. After retreating to the bedroom, Ramsay tells Sansa to take her clothes off. Reek is about to leave but Ramsay tells him he must stay and watch her losing her virginity.Annoyed by Sansa's hesitance, he angrily rips open the back of her dress and pushes her face-down over the side of the bed. As he unbuckles his clothes, Sansa obediently remains still but begins crying softly. Reek is visibly distraught and begins silently crying himself as Ramsay proceeds to rape Sansa and though he is still too weak to intervene, a flash of anger briefly spreads across Reek's face as this is going on.

Over the next few days, Ramsay continues to rape Sansa every night. Then, a reluctant Reek informs him of Sansa's plan to escape by signalling Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne to come and rescue her, and retaliates by flaying Sansa's elderly maid who delivered Brienne's message to her. Ramsay forces Sansa to look at the corpse, and walks with her across Winterfell, boasting about how he will succeed his father as Warden of the North and she will be his Wardeness, but Sansa counters that Roose is expecting a boy with Walda, a boy who may be Ramsay's baby brother but may still become Roose's true heir, since Ramsay is still technically a bastard, who was even legitimized by Tommen Baratheon, who Sansa claims is also a bastard. Ramsay, visibly angered, counters that even bastards can rise, like her half-brother Jon Snow did when he became the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and taunts Sansa for not knowing the news about Jon's new title. He then orders Sansa taken back to her chambers and locked up again.

As Stannis approaches Winterfell, Ramsay is present at a council meeting on how to counter him. While Roose suggests that they wait out the siege inside Winterfell and allow Stannis and his army to die in the cold, or even for Stannis' men to mutiny against him. However, Ramsay advocates taking twenty of his best men to face Stannis in the open, on the basis that Stannis will not leave the North so easily, and they need to show the rest of the North how they will deal with Southern invaders.

Then, Ramsay takes his men into Stannis's camp and they torch some of his tents, severely depleting Stannis' men and resources, and manage to flee back to Winterfell without being spotted. Though his numbers are greatly reduced following desertion and he is left without resources, Stannis leads a siege on Winterfell. Ramsay leads the Bolton forces in the battle and massacres Stannis' men without major losses on his side, but still sustaining minor cuts to the face in the process. Having defeated Stannis, who was slain by Brienne of Tarth, he heads to Winterfell, saying "my wife must be feeling lonely", unaware that she and Theon had killed Myranda escaped from the castle.

Personality
"His blood is bad. He needs to be leeched. The leeches suck away the bad blood, all the rage and pain. No man can think so full of anger. Ramsay, though … his tainted blood would poison even leeches, I fear"

- Roose about Ramsay.

Ramsay, how he is shown the television show and the novels are different in ways. In the novels he is presented as a complete monster who does disgusting, horrid acts for his own amusement with no regard for anyone and often angering his father.

In the HBO television adaption, he has shown to have more care about receiving love, respect and affection of his father while murdering, kidnapping and raping. One trait he always possesses is cunning intelligence and brutality. Ramsay in both is shown to be insecure about his relationship with his father. However, the show notably does not present him as being any less of a monster because of this. He outright admits to Theon that the only reason he's torturing him is because of how much he enjoys it.

No matter the version, Ramsay is a walking embodiment of cruelty and sadism. He rivals monsters such as Gregor Clegane, Joffrey Baratheon, Rorge and Euron Greyjoy for the title of the worst of the worst. He enjoys torturing people, flaying them alive, hunting people (especially women), is a serial killer and serial rapist who delights in how much pain he brings to others.

Videogame appearance
Ramsay Snow is the secondary antagonist of the Telltale Game of Thrones videogame.

the Boltons gain control of the North, the House Forrester becomes endangered due to their loyalty to the Starks. With Gregor Forrester killed and his son Rodrik who many thought was killed at the Red Wedding, the third born Ethan Forrester is left in charge of the family. When he meets with him to discuss their terms, Ramsay begins taunting and abusing Ethan's siblings. No matter how well Ethan bargains with Ramsay, in the end he ruthlessly stabs Ethan in the neck and has his youngest brother kidnapped. This leaves the Forresters grief stricken as he leaves for the Dreadfort.

Upon hearing Rodrik Forrester is alive and causing problems for the Whitehills, Ramsay returns to Ironrath to confront the new lord. When Rodrik, Lady Elissa Forrester and his sentinel (either Duncan or Royland) return from a meeting with Ludd Whitehill, Rodrik sees that many of his soldiers as well as Tuttle or Royland is missing. He hears laughter from the great hall. He enters to find Ramsay psychologically abusing and taunting his sister Talia about the recent loss of her Ethan. Rodrik asks Ramsay's business in Ironrath to which Ramsay claims if he can break Rodrik into submission.

Trivia

 * Ramsay proved to be such an evil character that even his own actor Iwan Rheon said in an interview that he wanted Ramsay to die a slow and painful death
 * In addition, Rheon was greatly disturbed by the infamous scene where Boltan rapes Sansa Stark to the point the script was altered several times, and even so the scene was still infamous
 * In the TV series version the letter talking about Stannis' defeat in season 6 is actually true, as Stannis died at the end of the fifth season, unlike in the novels. Jon Snow replaces Stannis in the battle of Winterfell in the sixth season. Also the showrunners tell the book readers to not worry about spoilers, as they admit they changed most of the storyline.
 * Ramsay has been accused of being a Villain Sue by some viewers, due to his constant success, even to the point that he succeeds in crippling Stannis' war effort with 20 men. This is in contrast with Book Ramsay, who though evil is frequently shown to be quite incompetent and a poor fighter.
 * Ramsay in the show is quite different in appearance to his book counterpart. In the books Ramsay is unattractive, with pink blotchy skin, round shoulders, thick lips and long dark dry hair. According to Theon, Ramsay will get fat through the future years.