Summary
The world of Westeros andGame of Thronesis filled with characters maneuvering to try and get what they want. From the lower lords, trying to find their way into positions of power, to the main players attempting to consolidate and even increase their fortunes, there are a vast cast of players on the chessboard always moving around.
However, some are better at this game than others. The mightiest warriors inGame of Thronesare not always the main players,because swinging a sword is easy, but manipulating others to swing one for you is where true power lies. Thus, some characters have become masters in the art of manipulation.
8Olenna Tyrell
Killed Joffrey
One of the sneakiest background characters inGame of Thrones, Olenna is the very definition of a shadow manipulator, almost never putting herself out in the open. She chooses instead to convince people to do her bidding, one by one, not revealing herself unless absolutely necessary.
Not only did she manage to swap her family alliances around constantly, keeping Loras and Margaery in good positions, like Queen and Kingsguard, but she also managed to save Westeros from any further wrath by Joffrey Baratheon. That young man was the worst thing to happen to the throne in a long time, and Olenna knew he had to go, no matter the cost, which ended up being her entire family.
7Tyrion Lannister
Drinks & Knows Things
Whether it is for better or worse, Tyrion has great gifts in the art of manipulation. Over the course of the early seasons, he provides a voice of reason to the members of his family, but never quite exerts himself to the level required to bring them around to the ways he knows things need to be done. As such, he is out-manipulated by Cersei and his father and is almost put to death.
However, he manages to escape and find Daenerys Targaryen. From then on,Tyrion is one of the prime manipulatorsin the show, leading Daenerys back to Westeros as her Hand, and helping convince others to do the right thing and work beside her. He is also responsible for the last major manipulation in the show, convincing Jon Snow to kill Daenerys when they finally see she has gone mad. Starting as a hated dwarf and ending as head of the Lannister family and Hand to the King is a pretty good upgrade.
6Sansa Stark
Learned From The Best
Though she also seemed to have genuine good intentions at heart and was smart enough not to trust Daenerys from the beginning, Sansa Stark was definitely a manipulator by the end of the series. This was because she spent much of her youth learning from Cersei Lannister, Littlefinger, and other characters who sought to manipulate her.
Thus, Sansa slowly moved from a pawn in the games of others to a strong manipulator and Lady in her own right. Dispatching Littlefinger once she solved his machinations, something nobody else had managed, she then managed to survive all the way to the end of the series, wary of Daenerys the entire time.
5Tywin Lannister
Orchestrated The Red Wedding
Managing behind the backs of the whole North to orchestrate a plan to murder their King, as well as half his family, is a showcase for manipulation. Other characters play a great game throughout the series, but Tywin Lannister is the real force of brutality that kept people scared of the power of King’s Landing in the early seasons.
Many powerful forces and great manipulators themselves, like the High Sparrow, kept away from trying to seize power while Tywin was alive. This man managed to be richer and more powerful than the King of Westeros, both a seasoned battle commander and a genius. If any of his children had inherited all of his traits, the Lannisters would have wonGame of Thrones.
4Margaery Tyrell
Three Times A Queen
There aren’t many characters throughout the history of Westeros who can claim to have been made Queen on three separate occasions. But Margaery Tyrell isn’t like other people. She’s the best casefor the great families of Westerosin a daughter, willing to do whatever it takes to gain power for her House.
Margaery knows how to play the games she must in manipulating people, but she’s even smarter than Cersei in some ways, because she even endeared herself to the people of King’s Landing and the High Sparrow. She knew how to get people on her side, having learned from Olenna, her grandmother. She was even trying to make Joffrey a better king, and then could potentially have made Tommen into a great one, had Cersei not gone for a brutal move, wiping out all her enemies at once.
3Varys
Master Of Whispers
The master of whispers, Varys, was a fascinating character inGame of Thrones. From his early plotting to give Daenerys power to his machinations both for and against the Lannisters, Varys was one of the few manipulators who was actually seeking what was best for Westeros.
Having risen to a seat on the Small Council, Varys was a dangerous man whom others didn’t dare threaten. Everybody wanted him and his whisperers working for them. He proved himself over time to be one of the most valuable assets to Daenerys as she returned to Westeros. He brought her the loyalty of both Dorne and the Tyrell family, before realising that she was turning to madness and attempting to stop her, leading to his own demise and eventually hers. Varys was a genius. Unfortunately, he entrusted Tyrion to see Dany for what she was slightly too early.
2Cersei Lannister
Manipulated Her Way To Rule The Iron Throne
One of the great schemers, if one who was always a little too reckless,Cersei managed to take what she wantedthrough constant manipulation of her brother, husband, and most of the major Lords of Westeros, but she slowly burned down everything and everyone around her until she was left weak and easy to defeat.
Cersei openly betrayed the Dornish, the Tyrells, and the Starks, she had to turn to sources like the High Sparrow, Euron Greyjoy, and the Iron Bank for help, and these unreliable sources made her weak. Despite her vicious, plotting, diabolical nature, Cersei was the cause of her downfall. She manipulates her brother so brilliantly that he returns to her, knowing what she was and that he was destined to die if he returned, Cersei could provoke that kind of loyalty in addition to inspiring terror among the masses.
1Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger)
Began The Game Of Thrones
Probably the greatest of all manipulators in Westeros, Petyr Baelish managed togo from the son of a hedge knightto the Master of Coin, with a seat on the small council, by the beginning ofGame of Thrones. He was also the whisperer in Lysa Arryn’s ear who convinced her to poison her husband, kick-starting the War of the Five Kings by telling her to blame her husband’s death on the Lannisters.
He then weaseled his way into a marriage with Lysa before killing her, gaining control of the armies of the Vale in the process. He came close to manipulating Sansa into marriage as well, after convincing her that he had her interests at heart when selling her to the Boltons. This diabolical creature was constantly in power, only being brought low because Sansa and Arya realized their part in everything, just as he attempted to turn the sisters against one another. Littlefinger wasone of the smartest characters Westeros ever saw, but he eventually got too bold and paid for it.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.
