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This Villain was Headlined on December 2019. | ||
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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
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| “ | If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention. | „ |
| ~ Ramsay to Theon Greyjoy, and his most famous quote. |
| “ | Ramsay: Of course, you forgot to ask one question: you forgot to ask if I'm a liar!… (sticks his knife back into Theon's finger and begins to peel away the skin, making him scream in pain) I'm afraid, I am. (continues peeling, Theon screams again) Everything I told you is a lie. (Theon screams again) This isn't happening to you for a reason―(continues while Theon screams yet again) but well, one reason: I enjoy it! Theon: PLEASE, CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF! (screams) Ramsay: I win! |
„ |
| ~ Ramsay while sadistically torturing Theon Greyjoy as part of a twisted game. |
| “ | She's a fine woman, your sister. I look forward to having her back in my bed. And you're all fine-looking men. My dogs are desperate to meet you. I haven't fed them for seven days, they're ravenous. I wonder which parts they'll try first. Your eyes? Your balls? We'll find out soon enough. In the morning then, bastard. | „ |
| ~ Ramsay Bolton to Jon Snow. |
| “ | Ramsay. Snow, my wife called me before she ate her fingers, but I say Bolton. | „ |
| ~ Ramsay reveals his identity to Theon Greyjoy. |
Lord Ramsay Bolton, formerly Ramsay Snow and nicknamed the Bastard of Bolton, is one of the main antagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones.
He was portrayed by Iwan Rheon, who also plays Maximus in Marvel's Inhumans and Tenax in Those About to Die.
Overview[]
Being widely regarded as being one of, if not the most evil and repulsive villains in the series, who many consider to be worse than King Joffrey I Baratheon, Ramsay Snow, born just Ramsay (publicly unacknowledged for years), is the bastard son of Lord Roose Bolton, a former bannerman of House Stark. Ramsay lived most of his life with his mother in a mill and grew to become a savage psychopath who became repressed from his rights as a Bolton due to being a bastard his entire life. This may have caused his mother to revealed his father's identity in order to make him press a claim on the Dreadfort. Not too long before the beginning of the series, Ramsay was once visited by his trueborn half-brother, Domeric Bolton, who then mysteriously died of illness afterwards.
After Ramsay allegedly killed his half-brother Domeric, Roose had no choice but to take his last remaining son to the Dreadfort. During the War of the Five Kings, Ramsay was named castellan of the Dreadfort, while his father and his contingent marched south with Robb Stark. During that time, Ramsay spent his time raping women and girls together with the necrophile Reek, his friend and partner-in-crime. Following several battles and casualties in the riverlands, Ramsay kidnapped Lady Donella Hornwood, the elderly cousin of Lord Wyman Manderly, before forcing her to marry him. He even pressured her to write and sign a document of inheritance for Hornwood and all its lands before letting her starve to death. As Ser Rodrik Cassel was sent by Winterfell to execute him, this resulted in Ramsay switching places with Reek, leading to his arrest and imprisonment in Winterfell.
During the ironborn invasion of the north and occupation of Winterfell, the prisoner Ramsay, still posing as Reek, feigned allegiance to House Greyjoy and allied himself with Theon Greyjoy, the self-proclaimed Prince of Winterfell. During the siege of Winterfell by a Stark army led by Rodrik Cassel, Ramsay had his forces from the Dreadfort repel Roderick's forces before betraying Theon and instigating the Sack of Winterfell as revenge on the Starks for killing his sole friend Reek. He even took his anger on the captive Theon by psychologically torturing and forcing him to become the new Reek as a replacement.
Following the Red Wedding, Ramsay became legitimized as a trueborn Bolton by King Tommen I Baratheon in 300 AC, becoming the new Lord of Winterfell, acknowledged Lord of the Hornwood, and receiving a betrothal to Arya Stark (an imposter provided by Lord Petyr Baelish for Lord Tywin Lannister to replace the real Arya, who had disappeared). As his lord father's heir, Ramsay is part of the campaign and duty to take over the north to restore the king's peace, rid it of the ironborn invaders, submit all the northern houses, destroy King Stannis Baratheon and any other rebel forces, all to prove to the Iron Throne that House Bolton can rule as King Tommen's Wardens of the North.
On the subject of Ramsay's lowborn mother, who is still alive and residing in her mill and the lands granted to her by her husband and rapist, Roose Bolton. Ramsay, when speaking of her, praises his mother as a great beauty that struck his father, which Roose finds an amusing exaggeration, as he simply thinks the woman is "desirable." Ramsay's squire, Little Walder Frey, was noted to grow more and more like Ramsay each day, something that deeply disturbed Ramsay's other squire, Big Walder Frey, who rarely takes part in cruel acts.
Unlike his father or most Ice and Fire villains, Ramsay is far more cruel, vicious, sadistic, and dishonorable.
In the television series Game of Thrones, and in every way imaginable, Ramsay represents the feared and respected warlord King Joffrey Baratheon intended to be. Due to his actions, he is seen as one of the biggest enemies of House Stark and the arch-enemy and complete opposite of the series protagonist, Jon Snow. While Jon is accepting of his bastard status but nonetheless cares and loves his family and his men, Ramsay is highly detestable of his bastard status and shows no true love or care for his family since he killed his half-brother and has no problem killing and/or flaying his men if they displease him.
Always in the TV show, similarly to Joffrey, Ramsay was a tormentor of Sansa Stark (albeit to a much worse extent), but both in the books and show, he also serves as the abusive tormentor and later master of Theon Greyjoy, whom he turned into a broken shell of a man called Reek.
Appearance[]
In the books, Ramsay is described as ugly, his orc-like appearance being a perfect reflection of his inner evil. He is a young man who possesses the pale grey eyes that seem the main trait of House Bolton. They are described as, 'ghost grey' and have also been compared to two moons or two chips of dirty ice. His eyes are less pale than his father's. He is big-boned and slope shouldered with a fleshy body that hints he will become fat later in life, but there is strength and power behind that weight. His skin is pink, pasty and blotchy, and he has fat, chapped lips and a broad nose. His hair is long, dark and dry. He often wears fancy clothes, almost always in pink and black, but they do nothing to improve his appearance. Due to being born during the reign of Lord Rickard Stark, Ramsay is likely either in his least in his late teens or early twenties at the beginning of the series.
In the show, Ramsay is far more appealing in terms of appearance. He is a young man with fair skin, short curly black hair, blue eyes and is of somewhat short stature, which does a better job at hiding his inner evil.
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. |
| “ | The Boltons have always been as cruel as they are cunning, but this one seems a beast in human skin. | „ |
| ~ Robett Glover about Ramsay Bolton. |
Throughout both incarnations, Ramsay is a monstrous, savage, wild, brutal, psychopathic and ruthless sadist who casually commits disgusting and horrific acts, such as rape and torture, just for his own amusement with no regard for anyone. He even enjoys torturing people in the worst possible ways, such as flaying them alive and hunting people (especially women), and is a serial killer and serial rapist who delights in how much pain he brings to others. While he was properly trained to master martial skills in the show, however in the novels he was never taught how to master swordsmanship, Ramsay's fighting style is wild and extremely aggressive, as he tends to wield a sword as if it were a butcher's cleaver, since his first servant and tutor in martial prowess, Reek, wasn't a good fighter himself. Despite this, Ramsay is also physically strong and large and uses them to his advantage.
Robett Glover describes Ramsay as being a beast in human skin because of the unspeakable cruelty he can easily unleash without any second of hesitation. Ramsay's behavior and actions usually angers his father, Roose, for his reckless killing of people and lack of political tact. Ramsay, despite being born a bastard, greatly resents his baseborn status, and proudly refer to himself as the trueborn scion of the Dreadfort and would correct those with violence if they refer to him otherwise. Even though he is not a true Bolton, Ramsay is fond of the many old traditions and customs of House Bolton, more specifically their insignia of flaying men alive and wearing their skin as coats. Ramsay's actions are seen as extreme even by Bolton standards.
In the TV series, however, Ramsay is shown to be more resigned to his bastard status, to the point he refers to himself as a Snow and takes pride in signing himself as the natural son of Roose Bolton; however, this doesn't make him less frustrated when reminded of it. When he is legitimized as "Ramsay Bolton," he is clearly overwhelmed to the point that he almost cries with joy and gets on his knees to solemnly promise his father that he will live up to his family name and traditions and will not fail him. However, deep inside of him, Ramsay is still wary of his origins, knowing that he may be disinherited if a trueborn son is born to Roose. Ramsay is also shown to be jealous of Jon Snow, a fellow Northern bastard who was raised and loved by his father along with his trueborn sons and eventually rose to become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Ramsay's jealousy of Jon is so strong that he expresses a willingness to kill Jon if the chance comes, though at the same time he appears disturbed when he hears that Jon may come after him with a wildling army.
While Ramsay can be cunningly a good manipulator, he isn’t as cunning or calm as a true psychopath, and is also not good at intricate politics, not understanding the risks and consequences of his wild actions, which annoys Roose Bolton, who tries to encourage him to keep the North a quiet and peaceful land. He confides to Theon that he does not trust Ramsay at all, and he is aware of the possibility of his son killing him if his enemies do not do it first. In the TV series, this proves to be correct, as the second Maester Wolkan announces to Roose, Ramsay, and Lord Karstark that he and Walda have bred a son, because Ramsay was constantly reminded that despite his legitimacy, he was still a bastard and knew that if Roose ever had a trueborn son, the North would never be his. This caused Ramsay to be overcome with Paranoia, leading him to murder his father, his new mother-in-law Walda, and newborn half-brother, not caring about committing kinslaying, before unofficially becoming the Warden of the North. In the novels, Roose always wears ringmail on his person at all times to avoid that kind of death.
In the show, while Ramsay has shown to care more about receiving love, respect, and affection from his father while doing his savage activities, he has shown himself to be insecure about his relationship with Roose, who did little to help this, repeatedly reminding his son of his bastard status and threatening to disown him constantly. However, Ramsay is not presented as being any less of a monster because of this, as he shamelessly admits that he tortures solely on the basis that he enjoys it and is the walking embodiment of cruelty, brutality, and battlefield violence, as he was properly trained in the ways of combat than his novel counterpart.
No matter the version, he is a walking embodiment of cruelty and sadism and the embodiment of pure evil, rivaling, if not surpassing, other characters who are also seen as monsters/beasts such as Gregor Clegane, Rorge, and Euron Greyjoy for the title of the worst of the worst.
Notable Victims[]
| “ | If you make it out of the woods, you win! Run, Tansy! Run! | „ |
| ~ Ramsay taunting a victim during one of his hunts |
- Gelmarr - Pushed from stairs at night and broke his neck, on Prince Theon Greyjoy's orders, in the novels. Either ordered or carried out in the TV series; flayed to death.
- Aggar - Throat slit on Prince Theon Greyjoy's orders in the novels. Either ordered or carried out in the TV series; flayed to death.
- Black Lorren - Ordered in the novels; overwhelmed and killed by Bolton men in battle. Either ordered or carried out in the TV series; flayed to death.
- Adrack Humble - Either ordered or carried out; flayed to death.
Books only[]
- Domeric Bolton - Heavily implied; poisoned out of envy and to force his father to publicly acknowledge him as his son and take him to the Dreadfort.
- Lady Donella Hornwood (née Manderly) - Starved to death in a tower due to neglect.
- Two miller's boys - Killed them on Prince Theon Greyjoy's orders, and flayed their bodies in order to pass them as Bran and Rickon Stark.
- Gynir Rednose - Drowned on Prince Theon Greyjoy's orders.
- Ser Rodrik Cassel - Left arm chopped and either stabbed or bled to death during battle.
- Red Rolfe, Kenned the Whale, and Ulf the Ill - Ordered; killed by Bolton men in the sack of Winterfell.
- Maester Luwin - Ordered; speared between his shoulders by a Bolton horseman, then ridden over by the horse, and later given the gift of mercy by Osha.
- Smiler - Ordered; burned to death by Bolton men.
- Dancer - Ordered; presumably burned to death by Bolton men.
- Harrag Sharp - Ordered; killed by Bolton men in battle.
- Poxy Tim - Ordered; killed with an axe to his face by a Bolton.
- Kyra - Tortured to death.
- Old man - Killed in a fit of rage for calling Ramsay "Snow" instead of "Bolton".
- Luton - Speared through the chest after he was disemboweled by a Manderly knight in a fight.
TV Series only[]
- Dagmer Cleftjaw, Wex Pyke, and Stygg - Either ordered or carried out; flayed to death.
- Master Torturer - Shot with arrows to save Theon Greyjoy as a part of his game to gain Theon’s trust and toy with it.
- Tansy - Fed to his dogs.
- Violet - Killed after she became pregnant.
- Lord Medger Cerwyn - Either ordered or carried out. Flayed to death, along with his wife and brother.
- Lord Roose Bolton - Stabbed in the stomach in order to inherit his position.
- Walda Bolton (née Frey) and her baby - Fed to his dogs so he can be the only heir.
- Osha - Stabbed in the throat after revealing his knowledge of her plans to kill him.
- Rickon Stark - Shot with an arrow in order to provoke Jon Snow into falling for his trap.
- Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun - Finished off with a shot to his right eye with an arrow.
Video Game only[]
- Lord Ethan Forrester - Stabbed in the throat.
- Arthur Glenmore - Flayed and finished off with an evisceration.
Episode Appearances[]
Quotes[]
| “ | Ramsay: Sansa. Hello, Sansa. Is this where I'll be staying now? No. Our time together is about to come to an end. That's all right. You can't kill me. I'm part of you now. Sansa: Your words will disappear, your house will disappear, your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear. Ramsay: (The dogs start to come out) My hounds will never harm me. Sansa: You haven't fed them in seven days, you said it yourself. Ramsay: They're loyal beasts. Sansa: They were. Now they're starving. Ramsay: (The dogs approach Ramsay) Sit. Down. Down! Down! Down! Down! |
„ |
| ~ The death of Ramsay Bolton. |
Trivia[]
- While Iwan Rheon's performance was critically acclaimed, Ramsay was met with a polarized reception, being extremely hated by critics and audiences. In 2015, Ramsay was voted “the official worst person of all time” on television, even beating out Joffrey Baratheon by over a thousand votes, showing just how depraved and monstrous he truly is. Ramsay proved to be such an evil character that even Iwan said in an interview that he hated Ramsay and wanted him to die a slow and painful death.
- For Ramsay's depraved and sadistic personality, Iwan explained that his character was modeled on Heath Ledger's Joker, noting that Ramsay is an amalgamation of the latter and two other characters, Liam Gallagher and Dennis the Menace.
- In the novels, Ramsay's role in the Northern storyline is more of a secondary one, with his father Roose serving as the main antagonist. The series effectively switched their roles, likely due to Ramsay's unpredictability, Iwan Rheon's great performance, and comparisons between Ramsay and Joffrey.
- In addition, Iwan Rheon was greatly disturbed by the infamous scene where Ramsay rapes Sansa Stark to the point that the script was altered several times, and even so, the scene was still infamous.
- Ramsay displays all of the seven deadly sins.
- Wrath: His most defining vice, which is unsurprising for House Bolton in general. He tortures and murders countless people, mostly for kicks.
- Pride: He hates being referred to as a bastard and overestimates his abilities in general. In the books, Ramsay is even shown to attack people who refer to him as one, save for his father.
- Lust: He is a notorious serial rapist, having raped several women over the course of his life. In the show, he is obsessed with Sansa, constantly forcing himself on her after marrying her and going to great lengths to get her back after she escapes Winterfell.
- Gluttony: In the show, this example is more trivial since he's in great shape otherwise. He's shown having a big private feast after flaying Lord Cerwyn alive in the episode "High Sparrow." In the books, this applies, and he is described as big-boned and likely to gain more weight as he grows older.
- Greed: In the books, he forcibly married the widow Donella Hornwood to gain control over House Hornwood's lands. He is also the biggest suspect in the murder of his half-brother, Domeric Bolton, and Roose's other children. In the show, he commits patricide and murders his stepmother and half-brother in order to become the new Warden of the North.
- Envy: A likely reason for feeding his stepmother and newborn brother to his dogs is jealousy over Roose favoring them over him. To quote Ramsay himself, "I prefer being an only child." It is also likely that he murdered his legitimate brother, Domeric Bolton.
- Sloth: He stands back and just barely gets his own hands dirty during the Battle of the Bastards. It's a far cry from the fearless combatant seen in "The Laws of Gods and Men".
- 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 not to worry about spoilers, as they admit they changed most of the storyline.
- Actually, in the TV series, Ramsay sends a similar letter to Jon Snow, cutting off the part about Stannis' defeat and replacing it with Rickon's capture. Also, in Game of Thrones, Snow receives the letter after leaving the Night's Watch and when "Ramsay's bride" (Sansa Stark in this case) is actually with him.
- 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 from his book counterpart. In the books, Ramsay is unattractive, being ugly in appearance with pink blotchy skin, round shoulders, thick lips, and long, dark, dry hair. According to Theon, Ramsay will get fat in the future.
- Ramsay in the show is sometimes portrayed in a darkly humorous light, particularly the infamous pork sausage meme. Book Ramsay, however, has zero comedic moments and is depicted straight as an unlikeable, despicable monster with zero redeeming traits.
- Show Ramsay is also much more level-headed, as he showed much restraint when Sansa reminded him of his bastard status. Book Ramsay would have attacked Sansa on the spot.
- In the TV series Ramsay has Lord Medger Cerwyn flayed alive, along with his wife and brother, for refusing to pay the taxes and being loyal to House Stark. After Cley Cerwyn is forced to watch them be flayed, he pays his taxes. In the book version, Medger Cerwyn is wounded fighting the Lannisters during the Battle of the Green Fork and dies later in Harrenhal; Cley is killed by the Boltons during the Battle of Winterfell; and Jonelle Cerwyn is the current head and Lady of Cerwyn, and she supports the Boltons against Stannis Baratheon, while Cerwyn survivor soldiers joined Stannis's army.
- In Ramsay's first appearance in the show, the Dreadfort's master torturer, whom he killed, calls him a "little bastard", which was likely be a deliberate hint of his illegitimate birth on the screenwriters' part.
External links[]
- Ramsay Bolton on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Ramsay Bolton on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Ramsay Bolton on the Game of Thrones Wiki
- Ramsay Bolton on Wikipedia
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 Villains
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Asher Forrester | Andros | Britt Warrick | Damien | Dezhor zo Raza | Duncan Tuttle | Gared Tuttle | Gryff Whitehill | Harys | Ludd Whitehill | Ramsay Bolton | Royland Degore | Rickard Morgryn | Tazal | ||
