Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister, also known as the Kingslayer, is a knight of House Lannister. He is the second son and firstborn of Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock and his wife, Lady Joanna, also of House Lannister. He is the twin brother of Queen Cersei Lannister. Raised at age fifteen in the Kingsguard of the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, Jaime became the youngest member in the history of the prestigious knightly order. He earned the derogatory nickname "Kingslayer" when he treacherously killed Aerys near the end of Robert's Rebellion. In A Storm of Swords, Jaime becomes a POV character.

In the television adaptation of Game of Thrones, Jaime is played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Pseudonyms: Regicide The Lion of Lannister The golden man Crippled The Young Lion Golden Hand Titles: To Be Guardian of the East (formerly) Mr. Commander of the Royal Guard Loyalties: House Lannister Royal Guard Culture: Western men Born: 266 AD Casterly Rock, the western lands Father: Lord Tywin Lannister Mother: Lady Joanna Lannister Lover: Queen Cersei Lannister Children: Unrecognized bastards: Prince Joffrey Baratheon Princess Myrcella Baratheon Prince Tommen Baratheon

As children, Jaime and his sister Cersei were so alike that even their father couldn't tell them apart. Jaime grew into a tall, handsome man with curly, beaten-gold hair. He has bright, cat-green eyes and a grin that cuts like a knife. Jon Snow thinks to himself that Jaime is "what a king should be," and Bran Stark feels that Jaime looks "more like the knights from the stories." He is muscular and extremely strong, reflecting that he could only think of a few men in the Seven Kingdoms stronger than him, and that his speed and skill could defeat them. As a knight of the Kingsguard, Jaime wears white armor and a white cloak. Occasionally, he wears golden armor decorated with the Lannister lion, with a golden longsword and ornate lion helmet. He killed the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen while wearing his white cloak over his golden armor. Jaime alternately wears a crimson silk tunic embroidered with a golden lion, along with black boots and a black cloak. He also wears crimson cloaks and a leather coat. Jaime wields a golden wooden spear. Jaime is a born warrior, with little interest in politics and court intrigues. He takes few things seriously. By his own admission, Jaime only feels truly alive when he fights or makes love. He appears arrogant, amoral, and dishonorable. Because of King Aerys' death, Jaime gained such a bad reputation among many that everything he says is usually cast in the worst possible light. To the common people, however, Jaime is esteemed as Serwyn of the Mirror Shield and Prince Aemon, the Dragonknight. Jaime is rash, stubborn, and quick to anger. He is known for having little patience, and only worries about the consequences of his actions after committing them. A great and especially skilled warrior, Jaime inspires loyalty in his men. He is bold and fearless of death. According to Catelyn Stark, Jaime is an experienced battle commander.

Jaime was born in 266 AC, the firstborn son of Ser Tywin Lannister, heir to Casterly Rock, and his wife, Lady Joanna. Jaime was born shortly after his twin sister Cersei, while holding her foot. King Aerys II Targaryen sent Jaime and Cersei their weight in gold as a name-day gift, and ordered Lord Tywin to bring the children to court when they were old enough to travel. It is currently unknown whether this visit to King's Landing actually occurred, as the royal court came to Casterly Rock after the death of Lord Tytos Lannister in 267 AC. Jaime and Cersei visited King's Landing in 272 AC, when their mother brought them from Casterly Rock for the Birthday Tournament held to celebrate the tenth year of King Aerys's reign. Jaime and Cersei were inseparable in childhood. They looked so alike as children that not even their father could keep them apart. Sometimes they would dress in each other's clothes and spend the whole day as each other. As children, they played together in the bowels of Casterly Rock, where their late grandfather Tytos's caged lions were kept. Jaime and Cersei would dare each other to climb into the cage. Cersei and Jaime slept together in the same bed when they were very young, and even experimented sexually together at a tender age. During one of these encounters, they were caught by a servant who informed their mother. Jaime's room was immediately moved to the other side of the castle, while a guard was placed near Cersei's room. The twins were instructed never to do anything like that again, as Joanna would be forced to tell their father.

Jaime's mother died shortly after, in 273 AC, giving birth to Jaime's younger brother, Tyrion. Although Tyrion is a deformed dwarf, and both his father and sister despise the young Lannister, Jaime developed an affection for his younger brother and treated him with kindness and respect. Shortly after Joanna's death, the Princess of Dorne visited Casterly Rock with her two youngest children, Elia and Oberyn Martell. When she finally proposed an engagement between Elia and Jaime, she was refused. In 276 AC, when Jaime was ten years old, Lord Tywin organized a tournament to celebrate the birth of the young Prince Viserys Targaryen. During this tournament, Tywin suggested to King Aerys that Jaime could be squire to Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, but Aerys refused and appointed the sons of other lords to the position. According to Cersei, young Jaime was only interested in dogs, horses, swords, and her. Jaime went to Crakehall at age eleven and spent four years as squire to Lord Sumner Crakehall, alongside Merrett Frey. He occasionally visited Casterly Rock during this time, and was furious when, in 278 AC, his sister Cersei was taken to King's Landing by their father. At age thirteen, still a squire, Jaime won his first melee tournament. While squire to Lord Sumner, Jaime was sent to Riverrun, as Lord Tywin and Lord Hoster Tully were considering betrothing Jaime to Hoster's youngest daughter, Lysa. According to Sumner, the message Jaime was to deliver to Hoster could not be entrusted to a raven. He spent fifteen days at Riverrun, sitting beside Lysa during meals. Jaime ignored her, however, being more interested in the stories of Hoster's younger brother, Ser Brynden, a famous warrior who fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, and from whom Jaime requested tales of the war.

Ser Addam Marbrand, the heir of Lord Damon Marbrand of Ashemark, is a childhood friend of Jaime's. The two remain friends to this day.

At fifteen, Jaime participated in the campaign against the Brotherhood of Kingswood, during which he saved Lord Sumner Crakehall from Big Belly Ben and crossed swords with the psychotic Smiling Knight. After the Brotherhood was defeated, Jaime was knighted for bravery shown on the battlefield by Ser Arthur Dayne, a member of King Aerys II Targaryen's Kingsguard. Jaime kept vigil in a nearby sept, and the following morning Arthur cut Jaime's shoulder by lightly striking the young man's tunic with Dawn. Now a knight, Jaime was to return to Casterly Rock. He decided to stop in King's Landing en route to visit his sister, from whom he had been separated for years. There, Cersei informed him that their father, Lord Tywin Lannister, intended to marry him to Lysa Tully, and had gone so far as to invite Lord Hoster to King's Landing to discuss the dowry. Cersei suggested that Jaime become a member of the Kingsguard, replacing the recently deceased Ser Harlan Grandison. Although this would require Jaime to relinquish his claim to Casterly Rock and his position as Tywin's heir, it would allow him to be close to Cersei and free himself from an unwanted marriage to Lysa. After a night of passionate sex, he gave his consent to Cersei's plan. While the siblings expected Tywin to object, Cersei claimed he couldn't openly oppose it. She vowed to do the rest, and a month later, Jaime received news at Casterly Rock that he had been chosen for the Kingsguard and was to present himself to the king during the great tournament at Harrenhal, where he would take his vows and don his cloak. Jaime and Cersei's plan did not work entirely as expected. Her father, furious at the king's decision, feigned illness and resigned his position as Hand of the King. He returned to Casterly Rock, taking Cersei with him, which separated the siblings once again.

Jaime was elevated to the Kingsguard by his Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower, in a ceremony at Harrenhal in 281 AC, making him the youngest knight ever to be elevated to the order. That night, however, King Aerys soured the honor by sending him back to King's Landing to protect Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys, depriving Jaime of the chance to participate in Lord Walter Whent's tournament. It was at that moment that Jaime realized the king had chosen him for the Kingsguard only to belittle Lord Tywin, of whom Aerys was insanely jealous, and to steal his heir. Jaime left for King's Landing immediately. When a mysterious knight appeared at the tournament, King Aerys became convinced it was Jaime, who had defied his orders and secretly returned. However, the mysterious knight disappeared, and nothing more resulted from the king's suspicions. Upon being elevated to the Kingsguard, Jaime relinquished his claim to Casterly Rock. However, Tywin continued to consider him his true heir and was always angry to see Jaime dressed all in white, instead of the red and gold of House Lannister.

Knighted in 281 AC, Jaime served in King Aerys II Targaryen's Kingsguard for two years. Jaime grew increasingly disillusioned, witnessing the Mad King's growing insanity and his tendency to burn men alive. In 282 AC, Jaime witnessed the executions of Brandon and Lord Rickard Stark, standing at the foot of the Iron Throne as the two Starks died. Jaime dealt with the situation by "going inside," focusing on thoughts of Cersei instead of the events unfolding before him. Afterward, he was reminded by his Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower, that he had sworn to protect the king, not judge him. Jaime would later advise others to "go inside" as a way to cope with a harsh reality and make a terrible task bearable.

Following the deaths of Brandon and Rickard Stark, Lord Jon Arryn refused to obey Aerys II Targaryen's order to deliver the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, initiating a war known as Robert's Rebellion. After the Battle of the Bells, it became apparent to Aerys that Robert was a serious threat to Targaryen rule. He devised a plan with the help of his chief pyromancers, which involved placing wildfire caches throughout the city. The plan was to burn the entire city rather than lose it to Robert. His new Hand, Lord Qarlton Chelsted, who had been elevated to the position after the exile of the previous Hand, Lord Jon Connington, following the Battle of the Bells, eventually confronted Aerys about his plan. Unable to convince Aerys to abandon his plan, Chelsted resigned, throwing his chain of office to the ground. For this, Aerys burned him alive. Since Aerys didn't trust his newest addition to the Kingsguard, Jaime was kept close by and therefore heard and saw everything. Aerys was excited by people being burned, and on the night Chelsted was burned, Aerys visited his wife's chambers. Jaime and his sworn brother, Ser Jonothor Darry, stood guard outside Queen Rhaella's chamber while Aerys used her, listening to her screams. When Jaime, feeling conflicted, eventually remarked to Jonothor that they had sworn to protect the queen as well, Jon replied, "but not from him." Shortly afterward, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen left the Red Keep to confront the rebels at the Trident. On the day the prince departed, Jaime pleaded with Rhaegar to take him along, suggesting that one of the other knights of the Kingsguard could remain by the king's side. He refused the suggestion, admitting that King Aerys wanted to keep Jaime close as a hostage against his father, Lord Tywin. Rhaegar promised an angry and disappointed Jaime that changes would be made when he returned from the battlefield, and tasked Jaime with...

While a rebel army led by Lord Eddard Stark raced toward King's Landing after Rhaegar's death at the Trident, Lord Tywin Lannister appeared first at the capital's gates with twelve thousand men. His main concerns were that King Aerys II Targaryen might kill Jaime out of spite, as well as that Jaime himself might do something rash. Although Lord Varys, the master of the Whisperers, advised Aerys not to open the gates, the king heeded Grand Maester Pycelle, who told him that his old Hand, Tywin, had come to his defense. As such, the city gates were opened for Tywin and his army, but once inside, Tywin betrayed Aerys and began the Sack of King's Landing. As the only remaining Kingsguard in King's Landing, the defense of the Red Keep became Jaime's responsibility. Knowing he had no chance defending the castle, he sent a messenger to the king, asking permission to make a deal with the attackers. The messenger returned with Aerys's order that Jaime should bring him Lord Tywin's head to prove he was not a traitor. The messenger also informed him that Rossart was with the king, leading Jaime to believe that Aerys was about to order the destruction of the city. Jaime killed Rossart, who was dressed as a common soldier and running towards a back gate. When the king in the throne room saw the blood on Jaime's sword, he demanded to know if it was Tywin's, renewing his command that Jaime should bring him his father's head, otherwise Jaime would burn with all the other traitors. When Jaime replied that it was Rossart's blood, the terrified Aerys rushed towards the Iron Throne. Jaime pulled him off the steps and killed his king with a single blow to the throat, thus preventing him from giving the order to burn the city to some other pyromancer.

Lord Tywin's men, led by Ser Elys Westerling and Lord Roland Crakehall, burst into the throne room in time to see that Jaime had killed the king, preventing any chance of Jaime escaping and letting someone else take responsibility. Jaime told them to inform everyone still fighting that the king was dead and to spare anyone who surrendered. Lord Crakehall then asked if a new king should be proclaimed as well, indicating that it could be Lord Tywin or Lord Robert Baratheon or even a new Targaryen king. Jaime considered choosing Viserys or Rhaegar's son, Aegon, as the new king with Tywin as his Hand, but, realizing that both boys shared the same blood as Aerys and therefore the same propensity for madness, Jaime declared to Lord Crakehall that it was all the same to him. He then sat on the Iron Throne, waiting to see who would come to claim it. He was found sitting there with his golden sword on his lap when Lord Stark entered the hall with his men to claim the throne for Robert. Jaime handed the throne to Eddard, proclaiming it to be an uncomfortable seat.

In the following days, Jaime secretly hunted down and killed the other two pyromancers involved in Aerys's forest fire plot, Belis and Garigus. Although Eddard urged Robert to strip Jaime of his white cloak, arguing that he should at least be forced to join the Night's Watch, Robert listened to Jon Arryn. Jaime was pardoned at the coronation of Robert I Baratheon, along with Varys and Pycelle, and continued to serve in the Kingsguard alongside Ser Barristan Selmy. Jaime was present at Robert's coronation feast, where Robert joked about Jaime already being called "Kingslayer". He is known by himself, other members of the Kingsguard, and even Winterfell and Essos by the nickname. Although reviled by the kingdom for his treachery, Jaime considers Aerys's death his greatest act. His true motivation for killing King Aerys remains unknown to the masses.

Jaime was part of the honor guard that brought Cersei to King's Landing for her wedding to Robert I Baratheon. Jaime and Cersei had sex on the morning of the wedding in 284 AC, and Jaime was unhappy when Cersei married King Robert in the Great Sept of Baelor. Jaime won the tournament held to celebrate the wedding. Jaime and Cersei continued their illicit relationship after their marriage. Cersei refused to join her new husband on his hunting trips so she could spend time with Jaime. Jaime accompanied Robert and Cersei to Greenstone when Robert went to visit his mother's family. Jaime nicknamed the castle "Greenshit" when he first saw it, and convinced Cersei to do the same. They spent fifteen days with the Estermonts. During one of those nights, Jaime followed Robert at Cersei's request, to confirm her suspicion that Robert was sleeping with her cousin. Jaime and Cersei slept together that night, and Cersei likes to believe that her eldest son, Joffrey, was conceived that night. Jaime and Cersei would have three children: Joffrey, born in 286 AC, Myrcella, born in 289 AC, and Tommen, born in 290 AC. Although believed by the kingdom to be Robert's children, Jaime is the father of all three and was present at at least one of the births. Although Cersei also became pregnant by Robert once, she had Jaime find a woman to purify her.

One day, Jaime and his brother Tyrion, thirteen years old at the time, while riding from Lannisport to Casterly Rock, encountered a fourteen-year-old girl named Tysha, who was being pursued by bandits. While Jaime chased after the men, Tyrion took the girl to an inn. The two ended up sleeping together, the first time for both. Tyrion fell in love and secretly married the orphaned daughter of a crofter. After fifteen days, however, Lord Tywin learned of the marriage. He instructed Jaime to lie to Tyrion and claim that he had staged the whole affair, including the bandits, because he thought his brother finally needed a woman. Jaime was further ordered to tell Tyrion that Tysha was, in fact, a prostitute, for whom Jaime had paid double because she was still a maiden. Lord Tywin advised Jaime that all Tysha wanted was the Lannisters' gold, which made her no better than a prostitute, so it wouldn't even be a lie, predicting that Tyrion would thank his brother later in life. Jaime did as he was told. It is currently unknown whether Jaime is aware of the punishment Tysha received from Tywin. However, the whole experience traumatized Tyrion, making him believe that no woman could love him for who he truly was. Jaime hid the truth about Tysha from Tyrion, and later considered his role in the end of his brother's marriage the only time he was cruel to Tyrion. After Greyjoy's Rebellion in 289 AC, Jaime participated in the tournament at Lannisport, where he broke nine lances against Ser Jorah Mormont. Robert eventually awarded the victory to Jorah. In 296 AC, Jaime gave Tyrion a mare for his brother's twenty-third name day. Jaime visited Oldtown at some point in his life.

Following the death of his adoptive father, Lord Jon Arryn, King Robert I Baratheon travels north to visit Lord Eddard Stark at Winterfell and persuade him to become Jon's successor as Hand of the King. Jaime is chosen by Robert to succeed Jon as Warden of the East, instead of Jon's son, the young Lord Robert Arryn, who would have been the traditional choice. The king is accompanied by much of the court, including Jaime, Queen Cersei Lannister, and her brother Tyrion. While at Winterfell, Jaime and Cersei attend the banquet hosted by House Stark. Jon's widow, Lysa Arryn, sends a coded message to her sister, Eddard's wife Catelyn, claiming that the Lannisters murdered Jon. When Robert is away hunting, Cersei and Jaime are caught having sex in the First Keep by Bran Stark. The boy is shocked and nearly falls from the building. Jaime pulls him up and throws him out the window, intending to kill him to keep the affair secret. Bran survives, but falls into a coma. Ned accepts Robert's invitation to be Hand, and in King's Landing he begins investigating Jon Arryn's death. He discovers Jaime and Cersei's secret relationship by piecing together the fact that every time in history a Lannister has married a Baratheon, they have produced children with dark hair. Instead, Cersei's children, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, are all blond. During the Hand's tournament, Jaime dons his golden armor under his white cloak. He defeats Ser Andar Royce, Lord Bryce Caron, and Ser Barristan Selmy, but is unhorsed by Sandor Clegane.

Meanwhile, Catelyn Stark, Lady of Winterfell, captures Jaime's brother, Tyrion, on suspicion of involvement in a failed assassination attempt on Bran Stark. In retaliation for Tyrion's capture, but seemingly to incite a revolt, Jaime breaks the Kingsguard's neutrality by leading the Lannister men in an attack on Ned and his guards in the streets of King's Landing, resulting in numerous deaths on both sides. Robert orders Ned and Jaime to make peace, but the Kingslayer has already fled King's Landing to rejoin his father, Lord Tywin Lannister. Jaime begins gathering troops at Casterly Rock, and the Lannisters ignore an inquiry into their actions by Ser Edmure Tully. Robert dies after being gored in the king's wood by a boar, and the king is succeeded by Joffrey I Baratheon, who is actually Jaime's son. Jaime's army marches against the river lords, crushing Lord Vance and Lord Clement Piper in a battle in the hills below the Golden Tooth. Jaime then defeats Edmure's army in a battle beneath the walls of Riverrun, capturing the heir of House Tully. Jaime establishes three camps at Riverrun and besieges the castle. Meanwhile, Joffrey's small council dismisses Ser Barristan Selmy as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and appoints Jaime as his replacement. Robb Stark's northern army steals a surprise march on Jaime, intending to relieve Riverrun. Ser Brynden Tully attacks Jaime's camps to lure him north of Riverrun, and Robb ambushes the Lannister detachment in the Whispering Wood. Seeing that the battle is lost, Jaime fights bravely to try and take down Robb, managing to kill Daryn Hornwood, Eddard Karstark, and Torrhen Karstark before he is captured.

Later, Stark and Tully forces are able to defeat Jaime's leaderless troops at the Battle of the Camps, and Jaime is imprisoned at Riverrun. Ser Stevron Frey proposes to rescue Jaime and return him to Tywin, but the suggestion is opposed by the northerners. Jaime's capture demoralizes Tywin's vassals at the inn at the crossroads. Tyrion believes Tywin has presumed Jaime dead.

While the War of the Five Kings unfolds around him, Jaime is held captive in a comfortable cell in the tower of Riverrun. Unbeknownst to Jaime, Cersei takes her cousin Lancel Lannister as her lover to King's Landing. After arriving in the capital, Tyrion promises to help free Jaime to gain Cersei's support in his rule as Hand. Tyrion swears in open court that, as part of a peace, he would trade Sansa and Arya Stark for his brother's safe return. Ser Cleos Frey and Vylarr travel to Riverrun with Tyrion's offer. Tyrion has a secret plan to free Jaime with false envoys, however. Jaime kills Poul Pemford and Myles and wounds Delp in the rescue attempt, but he is eventually recaptured. For breaking his word not to try to escape, Edmure transfers Jaime to the dungeons. He is kept chained and malnourished. Disturbed by the news of the supposed deaths of her sons Bran and Rickon Stark after the capture of Winterfell, Catelyn interrogates Jaime after the Battle of the Fords. He now has a scraggly beard, having not been allowed to use a razor, and his hair is dirty and matted. Jaime's power and beauty are still apparent, however, and he resembles a magnificent yellow beast. Jaime casually admits to Catelyn that he threw his son Bran out of a window.

Ser Jaime of House Lannister. Eldest son of Lord Tywin and Lady Joanna of Casterly Rock. Served against the Brotherhood of Kingswood as squire to Lord Sumner Crakehall. Knighted in his 15th year by Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard for bravery in battle. Chosen for the Kingsguard in his 15th year by King Aerys II Targaryen. During the Sack of King's Landing, he killed King Aerys II at the foot of the Iron Throne. Later known as the "Kingslayer". Pardoned for his crime by King Robert I Baratheon. Served in the honor guard that brought his sister, Lady Cersei Lannister, to King's Landing to marry King Robert. Champion in the tournament held in King's Landing on the occasion of his wedding.

—Jaime's accomplishments as recorded in the White Book by Gerold Hightower and Barristan Selmy