The point-of-view characters
George R. R. Martin tells the whole of his story through the eyes of others — never his own. Across the five published novels, twenty-four figures carry named point-of-view chapters, and a handful more open or close a single book. Here is the full roster: which books each narrates, how many chapters they hold, and — behind the veil — who still draws breath.
The twenty-four points of view
Tyrion Lannister
House LannisterAGOTACOKASOSADWD47chaptersThe Imp holds more chapters than any other in the series — wit, wine, and a mind sharper than most men's swords.
Jon Snow
The Night's WatchAGOTACOKASOSADWD42chaptersThe bastard of Winterfell at the Wall; his forty-odd chapters chart a slow climb from steward to Lord Commander.
Arya Stark
House StarkAGOTACOKASOSAFFCADWD32chaptersThe wolf-girl who runs through all five books, gathering names and shedding her own along the road to Braavos.
Daenerys Targaryen
House TargaryenAGOTACOKASOSADWD31chaptersThe exiled princess who wakes dragons; her thread runs the length of the world, from the Dothraki sea to Meereen.
Catelyn Stark
House TullyAGOTACOKASOS25chaptersA mother's grief and counsel span three books, from Winterfell's sickbed to the halls of the Twins.
Sansa Stark
House StarkAGOTACOKASOSAFFC24chaptersThe captive songbird of the Red Keep, later a hidden girl in the Vale; her chapters in the fourth book carry another name.
Bran Stark
House StarkAGOTACOKASOSADWD21chaptersThe broken climber turned dreamer; absent from the fourth book, he journeys north through the other four.
Jaime Lannister
House LannisterASOSAFFCADWD17chaptersThe Kingslayer earns the reader's eye only in the third book — and with it, unexpectedly, a measure of the reader's sympathy.
Eddard Stark
House StarkAGOT15chaptersThe Hand whose honest eyes open the first book. His fifteen chapters are the reader's first road into King's Landing.
Davos Seaworth
House Baratheon of DragonstoneACOKASOSADWD13chaptersThe smuggler-knight of the onion, conscience to a hard king; his plain-spoken chapters begin in the second book.
Theon Greyjoy
House GreyjoyACOKADWD13chaptersThe ward who would be a kraken; his second-book chapters take Winterfell, and his fifth-book chapters pay for it.
Cersei Lannister
House LannisterAFFCADWD12chaptersThe queen regent takes up the point of view at last in the fourth book, and the reader watches her cleverness curdle.
Samwell Tarly
The Night's WatchASOSAFFC10chaptersThe craven who reads; the Watch's soft-hearted scholar earns his own chapters in the third and fourth books.
Brienne of Tarth
House TarthAFFC8chaptersThe Maid of Tarth searches the ruined riverlands for a highborn girl; her eight chapters are the fourth book's long road.
Asha Greyjoy
House GreyjoyAFFCADWD4chaptersThe kraken's daughter who reaps and sows; passed over at the kingsmoot, she flees west and then falls in with wolves.
Quentyn Martell
House MartellADWD4chaptersThe quiet Dornish prince sent to woo a queen with dragons; his four chapters are the fifth book's saddest errand.
Barristan Selmy
The QueensguardADWD4chaptersBarristan the Bold takes up the point of view only in the fifth book, an old knight guarding a young queen's empty city.
Victarion Greyjoy
House GreyjoyAFFCADWD3chaptersThe Iron Fleet's dour lord captain, sent east on his brother's errand; his chapters carry a horn and a grudge.
Areo Hotah
House MartellAFFCADWD2chaptersThe captain of the Dornish prince's guard; his rare chapters are the reader's only window into sunny Sunspear.
Arianne Martell
House MartellAFFC2chaptersThe princess of Dorne who would crown a Baratheon girl; her two chapters carry the fourth book's boldest gamble.
Jon Connington
House ConningtonADWD2chaptersThe exiled Griffin Lord, once Hand to a Targaryen prince; his fifth-book chapters shepherd a hidden claimant home.
Arys Oakheart
The KingsguardAFFC1chaptersA single chapter, and the only Kingsguard knight ever to hold the point of view — 'The Soiled Knight' of the fourth book.
Aeron Greyjoy
House GreyjoyAFFC1chaptersThe Damphair priest of the Drowned God; 'The Prophet' opens the fourth book and calls the kingsmoot that shapes it.
Melisandre
The Red TempleADWD1chaptersThe red priestess of Asshai holds the point of view but once, and the reader learns how little even she trusts her fires.
Who lives, who dies
Fates as they stand at the close of A Dance with Dragons. Unveil only if you would know how far each point of view has carried.
Diese Gabelungen nennen Tode, Enden und Wege, die in den Büchern noch nicht beschritten sind. Enthülle sie nur, wenn dir beide Wege bekannt sind — oder wenn du dich nicht fürchtest zu wissen.
The one-chapter eyes
Beyond the twenty-four, each book opens with a prologue — and two close with an epilogue — seen through a stranger who narrates once and never again. A device the maesters would call a herald: a minor figure sent ahead to sound a warning the great players cannot yet hear.
How many POV characters are in A Song of Ice and Fire?
Twenty-four characters carry named, recurring point-of-view chapters across the first five novels. Seven more narrate a single prologue or epilogue apiece, bringing the total number of point-of-view characters in the published series to thirty-one.
Which character has the most POV chapters?
Tyrion Lannister, with forty-seven chapters across four books — more than any other. Jon Snow follows with forty-two, then Arya Stark with thirty-two and Daenerys Targaryen with thirty-one.
Do the POV characters change between books?
Yes. The cast of narrators rotates as the story spreads across the world. A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were split by geography, so most characters appear in only one of the two — Cersei, Brienne and the Dornish and Ironborn in the fourth book, Jon, Tyrion and Daenerys in the fifth.
Which POV characters have died?
Eddard Stark, the first narrator of the series, is executed before the second book. Arys Oakheart — the only Kingsguard knight to hold a point of view — and the Dornish prince Quentyn Martell each die within their own chapters. Others hang in the balance behind the spoiler veil.