Catelyn Stark

Catelyn was born into House Tully and is the eldest child of Lord Hoster and Lady Minisa Tully. She has a younger brother, Edmure, and a younger sister, Lysa. Petyr Baelish was fostered with the Tullys and Catelyn grew up with him. She was betrothed to marry Brandon Stark of Winterfell, but he was brutally murdered along with his father, Lord Rickard Stark, by the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, after his Prince Rhaegar purportedly kidnapped Brandon's sister Lyanna. Catelyn instead married Brandon's brother, Eddard. Though they barely knew one another when they wed, they have formed a strong and loving marriage.
Catelyn and Eddard have five children together: Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. Eddard's illegitimate son, Jon Snow, also lives alongside her trueborn children with Eddard in Winterfell. Catelyn resents this and it is the only source of friction between her and her husband.
Catelyn has some independent political influence. A former ward of her father's, Petyr Baelish, known as "Littlefinger", is the king's master of coin and one of his closest advisers in King's Landing.
Catelyn says that she hasn't been to the capital city of King's Landing since nine years before her husband went there to be the new Hand of the King, which would be around the time of the Greyjoy Rebellion.

More

Eddard Stark

Eddard Stark was the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms, and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell, and Eddard also held the title Lord of Winterfell. In addition, he was the Warden of the North.
Eddard was the second son of Lord Rickard Stark. Lord Rickard served King Aerys II Targaryen as Warden of the North. Eddard's older brother Brandon was Rickard's heir. Eddard also has a younger sister Lyanna and a younger brother Benjen. Eddard was a stoic, dutiful, and honorable man and was considered to embody the values of the North.
Eddard was a trusted, close friend and counselor of King Robert Baratheon. He supported Robert's play for the throne by acting as a general in several major battles. Eddard's sister, Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert, was purportedly kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, igniting a war. Brandon protested the kidnapping, but his attempt to bring Rhaegar to justice failed. Lord Rickard was summoned to court in King's Landing by Aerys, and both Brandon and Rickard were brutally executed by the Mad King.

More

Jon Snow

Eighteen years before the War of the Five Kings, Rhaegar Targaryen allegedly abducted Lyanna Stark of Winterfell in a scandal that would lead to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion. Rhaegar would eventually return to fight in the war, but not before leaving Lyanna behind at the Tower of Joy, guarded by Lord Commander Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard. Lord Eddard Stark, Lyanna's brother, rode to war along with her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, to rescue his sister and avenge the deaths of their father and brother on the orders of Rhaegar's father, Aerys II, the Mad King.
Robert would ultimately kill Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, effectively ensuring their victory in the war. After the Sack of King's Landing, Ned continued south in search of his sister and ultimately found her at the Tower of Joy in the Red Mountains at the border of Dorne. Ned and his companions engaged in a final fierce melee with the remaining Targaryen Kingsguard, which resulted in the deaths of all combatants save Ned himself and Howland Reed.
After defeating the last of the Kingsguard, Ned rushed into the tower to save his sister - only to find Lyanna dying from childbirth, having just given birth to Rhaegar's own son. Desperate to protect the life of her newborn child, a fading Lyanna pleaded with Ned to promise her that he would keep her son safe, and his true heritage hidden from Robert as he had been Rhaegar's most bitter enemy. Furthermore, the boy's existence was a potential threat to Robert's claim to the Iron Throne after the deaths of Rhaegar's other children, Rhaenys and Aegon, by his wife Elia Martell, who also perished, during the Sack of King's Landing. In accordance with her last wish, Ned resolved to pass Lyanna's son off as his own bastard son and raise him in his home castle - a great blow to his honor as he knew that his decision would shame both himself and his lady wife, Catelyn Tully.

More

Bran Stark

Bran is the fourth child and second son of Lady Catelyn and Lord Ned Stark. Ned is the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell and Ned also holds the title Lord of Winterfell. He is also the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.
Bran was born and raised at Winterfell. He has an older brother Robb, a younger brother Rickon, two older sisters Sansa and Arya, and an older "bastard half-brother", Jon Snow, who is actually Bran's first cousin by his aunt Lyanna Stark. Bran was named for Ned's elder brother, Brandon, who was brutally executed by the Mad King along with Bran's paternal grandfather Rickard Stark. He is only called "Brandon" by his mother when he has done something wrong. Bran dreams of being a knight of the Kingsguard, and his favorite hobby is climbing the walls of Winterfell, using its old rooftops and passageways to get around.

More

Rickon Stark

Rickon is the fifth child and youngest son of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark. Eddard is the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell while Eddard holds the title of Lord of Winterfell. He is also the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.
Rickon was born and raised at Winterfell. He has two older brothers, Robb and Bran, and two older sisters, Sansa and Arya. He also has an older "bastard half-brother", Jon Snow. He is six-years-old when his uncle, Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, mysteriously dies.

More

Arya Stark

Arya Stark is the youngest daughter and third child of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark. Eddard was the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell and Eddard also holds the title Lord of Winterfell. He is also the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.
Arya was born and raised at Winterfell. She has an older sister, Sansa Stark. She also has an older brother, Robb, two younger brothers, Bran and Rickon and a "bastard half-brother", Jon Snow.
Arya rejects the notion that she must become a lady and marry for influence and power. Instead, she believes that she can forge her own destiny. She is fascinated by warfare and training in the use of arms, and is bored by embroidery and other "lady-like" pursuits. She takes after her father and has a quarrelsome relationship with her sister Sansa, due to their contrasting interests and personalities. She is close to her "half-brother" Jon, who is also something of an outsider.

More

Robb Stark

Robb was the eldest child of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark. Eddard was the head of House Stark, Lord of Winterfell, and Lord Paramount of the North, one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. The Starks rule the region from their seat of Winterfell. Eddard was also the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.[1] Robb was born at Riverrun and raised at Winterfell. His father left his mother the morning after their wedding to fight in Robert's Rebellion and did not return until after Robb was born. Robb Stark was likely named after Robert Baratheon. He had two younger trueborn brothers, Bran and Rickon, and two sisters, Sansa and Arya.
Robb also had a "bastard half-brother" Jon Snow with whom Robb shared a close relationship. Jon is actually his cousin by blood as he is the child of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Robb was also close to his father's ward Theon Greyjoy, whom he counted as his best friend outside of the family. He had been trained from childhood to wield a sword and wear armor by Winterfell's Master-at-Arms Ser Rodrik Cassel and was highly proficient with both for his young age. He lived at Winterfell with his family.

More

Sansa Stark

Sansa Stark is the eldest daughter and second child of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark. Eddard is the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell and Eddard also holds the titles of Lord of Winterfell and the Warden of the North to King Robert Baratheon.
Sansa was born and raised at Winterfell. She has an older brother, Robb, two younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, a younger sister, Arya, and a "bastard half-brother" Jon Snow, with whom she had a distant relationship due to her mother's influence (which, like her mother, Sansa later regretted). Sansa enjoys proper "lady-like" pursuits and is good at sewing, embroidering, poetry, singing, dancing, literature, etiquette, history and music. When she was young she dreamed of being a regal Queen like Cersei Lannister, and that just like in the epic songs she would meet her knight in shining armor. She has inherited her mother's Tully coloring, like most of her siblings, and Lady Catelyn thinks Sansa will be even more beautiful than she was when she was younger. She is often seen in contrast with her sister, Arya Stark who has neither her looks nor her accomplishments in feminine activities and comportment.

More

WINTERFELL

Eddard Stark: "Look at me. You're a Stark of Winterfell, you know our words."

Arya Stark: "'Winter is coming'."

Eddard Stark: "You were born in the long summer, you've never known anything else.
But now winter is truly coming. In the winter, we must protect ourselves, look after one another."

— Lord Eddard Stark and his daughter Arya.


House Stark of Winterfell is a Great House of Westeros, ruling over the vast region known as the North from their seat in Winterfell. It is one of the oldest lines of Westerosi nobility by far, claiming a line of descent stretching back over eight thousand years. Before the Targaryen conquest, as well as during the War of the Five Kings and Daenerys Targaryen's invasion of Westeros, the leaders of House Stark ruled over the region as the Kings in the North. Their rule in the North seemingly ended after the events of the Red Wedding when House Frey and House Bolton betrayed House Stark after forming a secret alliance with House Lannister, during which Roose Bolton murdered King Robb Stark. Both the North and Winterfell were taken over by House Bolton. However, the Bolton's hold was jeopardized when Sansa Stark escaped their clutches after learning her brothers Bran and Rickon Stark were still alive and reunited with her half-brother Jon Snow at Castle Black. Sansa and Jon marched on the Boltons to save their younger brother Rickon, who was later murdered by Ramsay Bolton, and retake their family home Winterfell. House Stark was restored to their former stature after the Battle of the Bastards. The Stark victory led to House Stark's return to royal status in the North with their bannermen declaring Ned Stark's illegitimate son Jon Snow as the King in the North. He later abdicated his title as king in order to gain the full support of Daenerys Targaryen in the Great War, becoming the Warden of the North.More