A dwarf born to the wealthiest house in the Seven Kingdoms, Tyrion Lannister spent his life proving that a sharp tongue and a sharper mind can carry a man his own family would rather have drowned at birth. His father never forgave him for his mother's death in childbed nor his stunted body, and Tyrion answered a lifetime of contempt with wine, wit, and a scholar's appetite for the one thing his family valued less than him: books. Named Hand of the King in his brother's stead, he ran the defense of King's Landing from behind the scenes and discovered that competence earns a Lannister gratitude only until it becomes inconvenient. A maester who has read his own family's ledgers finds Tyrion the rare Lannister who did the realm more good than his surname's reputation would ever credit him.
Tyrion Lannister
the Imp
- Life
- no fixed year is given in the text; a grown man, well into his adult years, when the story opens
- House
- Lannister
- Titles
- Hand of the King (former) · Master of Coin (former)
- Allegiance
- House Lannister (estranged)
- Seat
- None (disinherited)
- Culture
- Westerlands, Casterly Rock
- Religion
- Nominally the Faith of the Seven; openly skeptical
- Weapon
- No signature weapon; relies on wit and political maneuvering
- Notable for
- Serving as a shrewd acting Hand of the King during the Battle of the Blackwater despite his family's contempt for him
Alive and at large in Essos, having fled Westeros in disgrace.
Appearances
In the novels
- A Game of ThronesPOV
- A Clash of KingsPOV
- A Storm of SwordsPOV
- A Dance with DragonsPOV
On screen
HBO's Game of Thrones — Seasons 1–8
Perspective
Tyrion's chapters put the reader inside the mind of the family's most underestimated member, exposing how much of Westerosi status runs on bloodline and appearance rather than the competence he keeps proving he has.
Key events
- before AGOTBorn at Casterly Rock; his mother dies in the childbed, a loss his father never forgives him.
- before AGOTGrows up bookish and sharp-tongued, mocked by much of his family for his dwarfism.
- 298 ACArrested by Catelyn Stark and forced to stand trial by combat at the Eyrie.
- 299 ACServes as acting Hand of the King and organizes King's Landing's defense at the Battle of the Blackwater.
- 300 ACTried for King Joffrey's murder and demands trial by combat after his own family turns on him.
- 300 ACKills his father, Tywin Lannister, and flees Westeros for the Free Cities.
- 300 ACPasses through slavery and disguise in Essos before falling in with sellswords marching on Meereen.
Reading the character
Tyrion's chapters make the reader complicit in a very particular underestimation: he is smarter, kinder, and more competent than nearly everyone around him assumes, and the books use his POV to expose how much of Westerosi society runs on the appearance of bloodline and body rather than merit.
His arc is also a study in what a family can do to someone who never stops trying to earn its love. Tyrion spends the books proving himself in every arena his father might respect - war, statecraft, scholarship - and the tragedy the text keeps circling is that no accomplishment was ever going to be the one that worked, because the flaw his family found in him was never really about his failures.
The arc of Tyrion Lannister
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
In the timeline
Theories about Tyrion Lannister
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House
Is Tyrion Lannister alive?
Yes, alive as of A Dance with Dragons, though far from Casterly Rock and travelling under conditions the chronicle treats as spoiler territory.
Who is Tyrion Lannister?
The dwarf son of Tywin Lannister, prized by no one in his family but himself, whose wit and appetite for books made him one of the shrewdest hands the Iron Throne has had.