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Hugh Hammer is a major antagonist in the 2013 novella The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens by George R. R. Martin, and a spinoff of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Contents
Appearance
He was a very tall and very huge man, who was so powerful that he could twist steel bars with his bare hands.
History
During the Dance of the Dragons, Rhaenyra Targaryen tried to recruit Dragonriders to her cause. Many on Dragonstone claimed Targaryen descent through the affairs of Targaryens, their Valyrian blood could enable them to ride dragons. Among them was a blacksmith's bastard Hugh Hammer or Hard Hugh. Vermithor, the dragon of the Old King Jaehaerys I, Rhaenyra's great-grandfather, allowed Hugh to ride him.
Hugh fought at the Battle of the Gullet for the Blacks and was named Lord of Bitterbridge for this. However at the First Battle of Tumbleton he and another dragon rider, Ulf the White, defected to the Greens, and helped to defeat the Black army. They unleashed devastation in the city, scorching the town from end to end with their flames and killing all those caught up in the conflagration, with thousands and thousands of refugees burning or drowning in the river Mander. The soldiers who surrendered afterwards were beheaded and the two brutally sacked the town, killing and raping alongside their men. For this they became known as the Two Betrayers.
Rhaenyra's half-brother Aegon II was missing, his children were infants, his next brother Aemond had died in battle with Daemon Targaryen, and the youngest brother Prince Daeron the Daring was still a young man. Hugh said he should be King, his right being a dragon. Prince Daeron threw wine in his face and Hugh threatened to beat the boy. When Hugh appeared with a crown of black iron Ser Roger Corne knocked it off, and Hugh nailed three horseshoes to his skull. The ensuing fight between Hugh's and Roger's supporters led to three dead and twelve wounded. A conspiracy among the Green Commanders, known as the Caltrops, decided to kill the Two Betrayers, Daeron agreeing to the plot.
When Addam Velaryon launched the Second Battle of Tumbleton at night, taking the Greens by surprise, one of the Caltrops Ser Jon Roxton stabbed Hugh dead and was killed by their men. Shortly after Ulf was himself murdered.
Personality
Hugh Hammer was a very loathsome, manipulative, power-hungry and traitorous fallen knight, with the egotistical intend to reign over Tumbleton alongside Ulf. He was also a sadistic man, who enjoyed not only burning innocent people alive and destroying their homes, but killing unarmed men and raping women as well. He was also fond of brutal and harsh punishments, having nailed three horseshoes to Ser Roger Corne's skull because the latter disrespected him. In fact, he was so evil that a secret conspiracy between the two sides is formed for the sole purpose of eliminating him and Ulf during the war.
