Disclaimer:
I thought it would be fun to start a little debate not quite as serious as the usual once. This does not mean you should not bring up any good points, thoughts and posts should be based on logical conclusions derived from the study of the characters in the show. Given the complex story and moralities of the show I thought a debate could be started about who is good and who is evil. I would also like to note that my knowledge is completely based on the show, I haven't taken the time to read the books(yet).
On that note; The thread is dark and full of spoilers, continue reading on your own risk.

Obviously we have the two opposing factions still standing after the resent Red wedding, the Targaryens, lead by Daenerys Stormborn, and the Lannisters lead by the king Joffrey and his hand Tywin Lannister. Daenerys obviously being the good and the king evil.
That does not however mean that every Lannister is evil. Tyrion being the most obvious symbol of good in the house. Being the underdog in his own family he has compassion for those weaker then him. He is a knight in a not-so-shiny armor, bound by honour and family relations to a house being forced to serve a spoiled brat with a satanic inferiority complex scratching the edges of insanity.
Daenerys is however the pure good in the show, I don't think there is much debating to be had there, she is obviously the one that you are meant to root for. She acts based on compassion and love for her people. The people love her, and she loves them back.

The characters that do not belong to these two houses are however much more vague when it comes to loyalty and actual causes.

The only person I can be sure is good, in regards to the realm well-being, is Lord Varys. After he reached his goal of revenge he serves the realm and only the realm. He does not care who he serves under, as long as that person does the realm good.

There are a lot more characters to cover and I would be interested in hearing who you consider good, and why.

SPOILER ALERT: THIS POST WILL BE DISCUSSING EVENTS UP TO THE END/FINALE OF SEASON 3 (I.E. ALL OF THE CURRENT EPISODES THAT ARE OUT)

First off I'll start by naming my favourite characters and my moral opinions on them, then, in another post when I feel that I have enough of an opinion, I'll move on to my main candidate(s?) for who is good and who is evil. I haven't really planned this or thought about it, so we'll see how it goes.


My favourite characters:
--Jaime Lannister
--Tyrion Lannister
--Ser Bronn



Now, first off, Jaime: I really have grown to like Jaime. In the first season, I found him to be smug and arrogant, and didn't really know what to make of him. After him pushing Bran out of the tower, I thought him irredeemable. However, as the season progressed I first started to like his character more, in terms of simply admiring his cool and collected nature. He's cool in every sense of the word. The only time he's ever shown the glint of fear is when Robb's wolf stood in front of him, while he was chained up as the Kingslayer. Throughout this season, I feel we've seen a whole new side of his character. His devotion to Brienne is truly heart-warming. I sometimes feel that when someone so three dimensional and supposedly "evil" as Jaime finds affection, it's really quite touching. Firstly, it demonstrated that, yes, he can care for someone other than himself and Cersei. This got me considering his nature; why is it that he comes across as so cruel and uncaring? Firstly, he's been labelled as it (some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy psychological theory might fit in well here). The Starks treated him as an enemy, why should he treat them any different. Moreover, the whole REALM treats him as a traitor: A Kingslayer. In one of the most recent episodes he tells Brienne of Tarth the true story. He killed the king to stop him burning the whole city down, to stop him killing his own family. I guess some would argue he should have placed his oath above that, but that only shows his humanity. He resents the nation for his label, and so he embraces it, feeling that people don't deserve any better. He has a character to fill now, he's known as cold, collected, sarcastic, cruel and a ruthless swordsman; so he tries to fit the bill. Being captive for (possibly, I can't remember) over a year has shown us his character underneath all of that. Above all, I feel that I can relate to him, and perhaps all of the characters, in some way. His depth of character cannot be seen as purely evil, or purely good (God knows a good person wouldn't try to kill Bran, but he truly loves Cersei and if there's one thing that I can understand it's “the things I do for love”).


Now, Tyrion: He's a strange one. For the most part, I think he's good. Truly good. He's as good as Ned Stark or any of the other ones that are viewed of as undoubtedly “good”. I ask one person to name anything that he has done that is truly immoral. Now you can say that his manner of speaking is particularly blunt and sarcastic, and sometimes hurtful, but I've found that what he says to immensely truthful and immensely helpful. The advice he gives to Jon Snow about wearing his “bastard” label like armour; good advice but blunt advice. He leads the troops in the battle for Blackwater when Joffrey runs off like a little pussy. He helps run the kingdom and saves the city from the invasion. He constantly fights an internal war between the protection of the realm and the protection of his family, something that both Lord Varys and Tywin Lannister would be very much in question of on both ends of the spectrum. He treats Sansa with the most respectful of hearts and, at the same time, does his best to keep his love with Shae. I really don't see how he is anything but good.


Ser Bronn: I don't really have much to say about Bronn. He's possibly one of the most evil characters in the show. Although, I guess it depends whether you define evil as purposefully hurting people, such as Joffrey (who I consider to be utter scum-fucking evil), or whether you see it as merely being amoral or psychopathic. I see Bronn as being somewhat amoral, though perhaps not completely. He has complete indifference to death and torment, often regarding such things with sardonic humour. As he kills a Knight of the Vale, in order to save Tyrion, Catelyn's sister says “you fight with no honour”, and he responds “no... he did”, as his opponent falls through the sky to the rocks below. It may even be questioned as to whether Bronn even likes Tyrion, or whether he simply uses him for the money he gains. I mean, the first scene foreshadows this, with him accepting a coin from Tyrion as payment for a room at the Inn. Perhaps even fighting on Tyrion's behalf was a bid for money, I'm not sure. I like to believe otherwise, but I'm not sure whether I'm justified in doing so.
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So there you have it. One thing's for sure, every character in this show has depth, and every character can be related to on some level. It's why the show works. We find ourselves sympathising with people we shouldn't, and changing our opinions on characters as the show goes on. That is, of course, until the characters we love are brutally slain because George R. R. Martin is a bitch. I'm reading the books at the moment, and am only on book one, but already I have some more insight into characters. I hate Joffrey, but even he, on some small level, I can sympathise with. Nobody is the way they are because they choose to be; we are what the world makes us. The other character I really hate is Theon, so I guess I'll post about him at some point too.


Thanks for making this thread, makes a nice change :)


[edit]

I would also like to point out that not everybody who is "good" must be considered as such without scrutiny. "In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die". Daenerys is just, and righteous, but what is she fighting for? She's acquiring an army for the purpose of destroying the usurper and claiming the throne. Why is a usurper considered unjust where taking the throne back to its "rightful" bloodline isn't? Two wrongs don't necessarily make a right, but do they make something just? Why should there have to be a clear line of succession? Why is monarchy right at all? You can't forget that if she goes to war and attempts to take the throne, thousands upon thousands of innocent soldiers sworn loyalty to the king will die. All for the sake of her gaining her "rightful" place? Some may claim the only justified are the victors. It's a rocky and dangerous world in Game of Thrones, and everything has to be questioned when dealing with morality.

I recommend that before people start posting away, they should mention what part of the book/tv show they will be touching on to avoid spoilers.

I'll edit my post to say that I was discussing up to the end of season 3

I will be talking about as many characters as I can, and will possibly use info from every season. If you haven't watched every episode I suggest you do before even participating in this debate. A lot of things change in many characters over time and you realize that the character you had a certain opinion may possibly be quite close to the opposite. You hear of things in their past that makes you change your mind about them, you start to understand why some people do what they do.

Your thoughts on Jamie pretty much reflect my own word for word.

Now, Tyrion: He's a strange one. For the most part, I think he's good. Truly good. He's as good as Ned Stark or any of the other ones that are viewed of as undoubtedly “good”. I ask one person to name anything that he has done that is truly immoral. Now you can say that his manner of speaking is particularly blunt and sarcastic, and sometimes hurtful, but I've found that what he says to immensely truthful and immensely helpful. The advice he gives to Jon Snow about wearing his “bastard” label like armour; good advice but blunt advice. He leads the troops in the battle for Blackwater when Joffrey runs off like a little pussy. He helps run the kingdom and saves the city from the invasion. He constantly fights an internal war between the protection of the realm and the protection of his family, something that both Lord Varys and Tywin Lannister would be very much in question of on both ends of the spectrum. He treats Sansa with the most respectful of hearts and, at the same time, does his best to keep his love with Shae. I really don't see how he is anything but good.

This I definitively agree with. He is always capable of showing empathy to the underdog, whether it be Jon due to being a bastard, Brann being disabled, or Sansa, being held captive by her own fathers murderers. He cares for people, and that is why he is better then the other Lannisters, who mostly just care for other Lannisters.

Ser Bronn: I don't really have much to say about Bronn. He's possibly one of the most evil characters in the show. Although, I guess it depends whether you define evil as purposefully hurting people, such as Joffrey (who I consider to be utter scum-fucking evil), or whether you see it as merely being amoral or psychopathic. I see Bronn as being somewhat amoral, though perhaps not completely. He has complete indifference to death and torment, often regarding such things with sardonic humour. As he kills a Knight of the Vale, in order to save Tyrion, Catelyn's sister says “you fight with no honour”, and he responds “no... he did”, as his opponent falls through the sky to the rocks below. It may even be questioned as to whether Bronn even likes Tyrion, or whether he simply uses him for the money he gains. I mean, the first scene foreshadows this, with him accepting a coin from Tyrion as payment for a room at the Inn. Perhaps even fighting on Tyrion's behalf was a bid for money, I'm not sure. I like to believe otherwise, but I'm not sure whether I'm justified in doing so.

I do believe Bronn is truly Tyrions friend. I'm guessing that he had a very difficult childhood which has left him scarred in this way. He is driven by instinct, the need to survive, and in Westeros you need money to survive. I'm particularly fond of his don't-give-a-fuck attitude, he is a knight, but he is not a honorable man, this he knows and embraces to make money for whores, alcohol and things that make him happy. I don't think the Hounds description of him was quite correct when he said he was a man that loved killing. I don't think Bronn enjoys killing others so much, but he loves the fight, and being able to stand victorious on top of the knight in shining armor everyone was rooting for. Possibly being the underdog throughout all of his childhood it makes him happy to be finally able to beat those who used to spit down on him.

I would also like to point out that not everybody who is "good" must be considered as such without scrutiny. "In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die". Daenerys is just, and righteous, but what is she fighting for? She's acquiring an army for the purpose of destroying the usurper and claiming the throne. Why is a usurper considered unjust where taking the throne back to its "rightful" bloodline isn't? Two wrongs don't necessarily make a right, but do they make something just? Why should there have to be a clear line of succession? Why is monarchy right at all? You can't forget that if she goes to war and attempts to take the throne, thousands upon thousands of innocent soldiers sworn loyalty to the king will die. All for the sake of her gaining her "rightful" place? Some may claim the only justified are the victors. It's a rocky and dangerous world in Game of Thrones, and everything has to be questioned when dealing with morality.

Looking at how she freed Yunkai makes me think otherwise. She will only kill those who threaten her people, that is specifically why she agreed to buying the Unsullied. Right now the realm is bleeding. It is stuck with a king that does not care about his people, and a hand that only cares about his own family. I think given the way the game of thrones is played Deanerys is definitively trying to protect the innocent people that suffer from the hands of their overlords, while still fighting for her own families redemption. She obviously cannot be a good person from every persons perspective, but right now she has the only army that will only kill the soldiers that threaten her people. While the other houses would kill the usurper and pillage the city, letting the soldiers rape its women and murder who they please, she is stressing that she only wants those guilty of hurting her, or her loved once, killed.
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My favorite (major)characters:
Arya Stark
Lord Petyr Baelish(Littlefinger)

My true favorites:
Hodor
Jaqen H'ghar
Syrio Forel

Arya Stark: She is a character who has changed and progressed more then any other I feel. The things that she has seen and experienced have made her broken her in a way I fear is irreversible. They have made her very tough, and she is definitively one of the strongest individual the show has. However, her plans and wishes are not good, nor does she intend them to be. All that she now cares about is the revenge that she seeks for her family, and the death of her enemies. That does not mean that she is however evil to the core. She has a strong intention to avenge her family, but she still cares about her friends. Gendry and her fat friend who's name I can't remember were dear to her. When they took Gendry away she wanted Melisandre dead. Her quest is selfless and whatever she does she does for her loved once, she has good intentions masked under revenge and death.

Littlefinger: He is a very interesting character to me. For the first season I had a hard time to determine where his loyalty lay. Soon after he betrayed Ned I realized that he is loyal to no-one other then himself. Unlike Varys, Baelish is only driven on his own gain and greed. He cares only for three things, Catherine, his life and his finances. When one out-weights the other he will sacrifice the one that will work best for himself. This is why he betrayed Ned even though he had promised Catherine to help him.
He is someone that you can only trust with his own life. He is an excellent player in the game of thrones but realizes that he will never be king. He however realizes his own powers, and knows how he can undermine other's.

Quote from Gunnii

I do believe Bronn is truly Tyrions friend. I'm guessing that he had a very difficult childhood which has left him scarred in this way. He is driven by instinct, the need to survive, and in Westeros you need money to survive. I'm particularly fond of his don't-give-a-fuck attitude, he is a knight, but he is not a honorable man, this he knows and embraces to make money for whores, alcohol and things that make him happy. I don't think the Hounds description of him was quite correct when he said he was a man that loved killing. I don't think Bronn enjoys killing others so much, but he loves the fight, and being able to stand victorious on top of the knight in shining armor everyone was rooting for. Possibly being the underdog throughout all of his childhood it makes him happy to be finally able to beat those who used to spit down on him.

None of the traits you described make for a particularly good character. While there is no evidence to suggest that he loves killing, it is certain that he will not hesitate to kill for money. He is motivated solely by money and material gain, hence he was originally a sellsword, NOT a knight. With his swordsmanship, he would surely be able to become a high ranking officer if he swore loyalty to a house, but he did not do that until he met Tyrion, who is part of the wealthiest family in Westeros. Furthermore, a rough childhood may give insight into why he may have ended up that way, but it certainly does not shine any positive light on the character.

Now is he Tyrion's friend? The closest I would describe their relationship without doubt is that they are business partners. Bronn assisted Tyrion at the Eyrie because he knew that he was a Lannister, and ultimately by sticking with him he became a knight after Blackwater (though I still consider him a sellsword). Evidence that he was in it for the money can be seen in A Storm of Swords/After this current season (i think) where:

He goes for the highest bidder.

A question I thought to myself while thinking of this was the difference between a knight and a sellsword. I think that may be an interesting topic.

season1 and 2Sandor Clegane is one of my personal favorites. He treads a line between good and bad, and despite his abhorrent actions in the past e.g. slaying the butchers boy without hesitation, I can't resist but to see that there is some goodness within him. Compare Sandor to his brother Gregor and you see a massive difference.
While I don't think this was in the novels, but during the scene where one of the Kings guard was ordered to strike Sansa, Sandor offered her a handkerchief and some advice afterwards. He is generally quite kind to Sansa, though in a tough way; he is realistic. Another instance is when he was fleeing from the battle at Blackwater. Instead of deciding to flee off on his own, he attempted to convince Sansa to come with him and free her from being a hostage.

season1 My favourite quote from Sandor is, "There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can’t protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don’t ever believe any different" When Sansa accused him of "being awful", he replied by saying "I’m honest. It’s the world that’s awful." It seems as though he is truing to prepare Sansa for the real world, but she is too much of a naive idiot to understand and instead clings to fairy tales. Tough love, you need it sometimes.

Another interesting character to discuss is Cersei. She is manipulative, cold, a slut and is driven to gain absolute control. To put it simply, she wants to become the Tywin. You can't deny that she does have some evil in her, however lets look at another side to her.

season1-3Cersei is also a mother, and a very over protective one. She was in despair when her daughter Myrcella was shipped off the Dorne. She was ready to give Tommen a painless death near the end of Blackwater to avoid the usurpers from capturing him. And she is clearly concerned that her beloved Joffrey is being manipulated by the Tyrells. It seems that most of her actions in the past few seasons were an attempt to secure Joffrey's place on the iron throne. Cersei wants what is best for her children, which is often a common trait in a good mother.

None of the traits you described make for a particularly good character. While there is no evidence to suggest that he loves killing, it is certain that he will not hesitate to kill for money. He is motivated solely by money and material gain, hence he was originally a sellsword, NOT a knight. With his swordsmanship, he would surely be able to become a high ranking officer if he swore loyalty to a house, but he did not do that until he met Tyrion, who is part of the wealthiest family in Westeros. Furthermore, a rough childhood may give insight into why he may have ended up that way, but it certainly does not shine any positive light on the character.

Now is he Tyrion's friend? The closest I would describe their relationship without doubt is that they are business partners. Bronn assisted Tyrion at the Eyrie because he knew that he was a Lannister, and ultimately by sticking with him he became a knight after Blackwater (though I still consider him a sellsword). Evidence that he was in it for the money can be seen in A Storm of Swords/After this current season (i think) where:
He goes for the highest bidder.

I never said he was good, nor did I intend to imply it. I was simply pondering the reasons why he like he is. He's definitively a sell-sword, as he never did anything in regards to Tyrions protections for free and the only gain he saw in being a knight was to be able to sell his sword for a higher price. Whatever you put in the spoiler I have no knowledge off but I'm assuming someone trumps Tyrion's pay, which I'm assuming makes said person a Lannister since they are all fucking rich. I guess that does contradict his friendship, thought it doesn't surprise me since he has stated that he would kill an infant for enough pay. Betraying a friend doesn't sound to far fetched for him.

A question I thought to myself while thinking of this was the difference between a knight and a sellsword. I think that may be an interesting topic.

season1 and 2Sandor Clegane is one of my personal favorites. He treads a line between good and bad, and despite his abhorrent actions in the past e.g. slaying the butchers boy without hesitation, I can't resist but to see that there is some goodness within him. Compare Sandor to his brother Gregor and you see a massive difference.
While I don't think this was in the novels, but during the scene where one of the Kings guard was ordered to strike Sansa, Sandor offered her a handkerchief and some advice afterwards. He is generally quite kind to Sansa, though in a tough way; he is realistic. Another instance is when he was fleeing from the battle at Blackwater. Instead of deciding to flee off on his own, he attempted to convince Sansa to come with him and free her from being a hostage.

season1 My favourite quote from Sandor is, "There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can’t protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don’t ever believe any different" When Sansa accused him of "being awful", he replied by saying "I’m honest. It’s the world that’s awful." It seems as though he is truing to prepare Sansa for the real world, but she is too much of a naive idiot to understand and instead clings to fairy tales. Tough love, you need it sometimes.

He definitively has a soft spot for the Stark girls, and he obviously despises Joffrey, but he knew that he didn't have much of a choice in serving him. Up until Blackwater that is, and I feel that this season has revealed a completely different side of him. He obviously does have an opinion on who he wants to serve(if anyone), but up to that point he wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. At least not so that it stoppe

Another interesting character to discuss is Cersei. She is manipulative, cold, a slut and is driven to gain absolute control. To put it simply, she wants to become the Tywin. You can't deny that she does have some evil in her, however lets look at another side to her.

season1-3Cersei is also a mother, and a very over protective one. She was in despair when her daughter Myrcella was shipped off the Dorne. She was ready to give Tommen a painless death near the end of Blackwater to avoid the usurpers from capturing him. And she is clearly concerned that her beloved Joffrey is being manipulated by the Tyrells. It seems that most of her actions in the past few seasons were an attempt to secure Joffrey's place on the iron throne. Cersei wants what is best for her children, which is often a common trait in a good mother.

Cersei's only real good side is her motherhood. On her own she is, like you said, cold and manipulative, and other then her children and Jaime she doesn't show much affection to anyone. She wouldn't hesitate to get someone killed if it would be in her own or her children's gain.
I think that as much as she wants to get to Tywins place she realizes that she never will, there are two men in front of her and even with them gone she would still be a woman, this makes her more deceiving and cunning rather then the pure wrath Tywin has. She realizes that she will never be able to win if she plays his game.

Tywin is the boss, to put it simply. Being both the richest man in the seven kingdoms and also the kings hand, adviser and leader of the small counsel, gives him a significant edge that the king simply does not have. As a character he is a tough ruler. He is very logical and makes his decisions based on the welfare of his house, not necessarily his family, but rather the legacy of the name Lannister, unlike Cersei who only wants the best for her children, regardless of the houses name or reputation. This often leads Tywin to make decisions that might not be beneficial to his individual family members, but do the house good, for example marrying Cersei and Sir Loras, or Tyrion and Sansa. Neither of them wanted these marriages, but their thoughts didn't matter because he knew that this would secure the position of house Lannister above the other houses.

Quote from Gunnii

She realizes that she will never be able to win if she plays his game.

No, she's pretty sure of herself. She was the one that came up with ,"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." ​Others may be able to see that the odds are not in her favour, e.g. Little Finger says that she is "utterly predictable", however she is too arrogant to realize that she is nothing but royal blood and a pretty face.