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[bruxisms]

OOC

Handle: Kalan
Contact: roflskate
Over 18? Yup
Characters Played: Revolver Ocelot ( shashka )

THE CHARACTER

Character Name: Stannis Baratheon
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones for indexing purposes)
Canon Point: A Dance with Dragons: The Sacrifice
Character Age: 35-36 (Stated to be 34 in 299 AC and it's roughly 300-301 AC in the most recent novels)
Background: It's time to try a new hawk, Davos. A red hawk.

Personality:
"We do not choose our destines, but we must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty."

Stannis Baratheon is the king that no one wanted. After all, unlike his more popular brothers, he is mostly humorless (with the exception of some extremely deadpan comments), obsessed with past slights, real or imagined and ultimately is so unlikable that even his younger brother is willing to go against him in battle. With the exception of Davos Seaworth and the Red Priestess Melisandre, there are few who feel any deep sense of loyalty towards him, due to his tendencies. At times, it seems that even Stannis himself doesn't want the crown. But, he still pursues it with all for one reason alone: because he is the rightful heir, and it is his duty to fight for it.

His belief in his own righteousness leads him to some strange bedfellows, and a strange new religion. Unlike his wife or Melisandre however, Stannis doesn't seem to have a deep connection to his new faith. In fact, he confides in his advisor, Davos that he doesn't worship any gods. All the same, he follows her counsel because she has proven herself to have some manner of power that will be able to deliver him to the throne that is his by rights. While she also proclaims him to the the Prince Who Was Promised, a legendary figure destined to save the world from the Long Night, Stannis doesn't particularly seem to buy into that either, growing visibly uncomfortable whenever she brings it up (a particularly obvious example is near the end of A Storm of Swords, where Samwell Tarly notes this and observes Stannis rapidly change the subject). However, he still goes north to the Wall to fight off the Wildlings (and eventually the Others), because as rightful king, it is his duty to do so. More than any god, Stannis "worships" duty.

Above even his belief in duty, Stannis's greatest defining trait is his unyielding sense of justice. While someone like Melisandre views men as being either entirely good or entirely evil, Stannis takes a different approach. For him, a man is the sum of his actions. As he discusses with his friend and advisor Davos in A Clash of Kings: "A good act does not wash out the bad, nor the bad act the good." According to Stannis, even a virtuous man should be punished accordingly if he has committed a crime, and a charlatan rewarded should he act heroic. Furthermore, he also does not particularly judge men solely based based on their birth (as evidenced by his counsel with Jon Snow and Davos Seaworth alike, whose opinions he listens to because they have proven themselves knowledgable on certain situations) something many other lords would find inconceivable. Such an attitude contributes to the reasons why he is not particularly well-liked among the highborn lords of Westeros; to him his allies should be judged for their crimes the same way as his enemies. Ultimately however, this makes little difference to Stannis. No matter what it takes, he is a man that will have justice for the realm.

However, despite his stubbornness and rigidity, Stannis not a man without any scruples. As he tells Davos, one of the hardest decisions of his life was choosing to side with his elder brother, rather than his lawful king. Also, when his younger (and usurping) brother Renly is killed (by Melisandre, with the heavy implication that Stannis was involved), he expresses nothing short of regret for the way things turned out, again confiding in Davos how much he truly loved the young man. Later, when he is confronted with the possibility in burning his bastard nephew in exchange for what might be the salvation of Westeros, he shows similar reservations (after all, Edric is his own blood and more importantly, his daughter's friend, but is one life worth the lives of millions?). Like any other man, he is faced with difficult decisions, and is conflicted when what is dutiful conflicts with his own personal morals.

Equally important to his development is his relationship with his family. Calling Stannis' relationship with his brothers "tense" would be a massive understatement. In fact, much of his personality could be said to stand in direct contrast to his much more popular older brother, Robert, who Stannis feels that he "never bested at anything" (though he notes that out of the two of them, he was the only one who seemed to actually read a book). This relationship in particular has caused him much grief, from his brother deflowering his wife's cousin on his wedding bed, to him choosing Ned Stark to be Hand, despite (in Stannis' opinion) him being a much more qualified candidate. In fact, despite knowing about the incest between Jaime and Cersei, he leaves for Dragonstone rather than tell Robert, apparently feeling so slighted about being passed over for Hand. His relationship with his younger brother, Renly, is just as bad. While he says that he "grieves for the boy he was" after his death, he expresses his disappointment with the man he is, complaining that much like Robert, he refuses to take any of his duties seriously, and sees the younger brother trying to take precedence over the elder as nothing short of treason.

Despite this, however, Stannis has indicated that he loved both of his brothers (Robert to Jon and Renly to Davos) despite his feelings of animosity. In fact, it could be argued that beyond even duty, what he wished for the most was for his brothers to acknowledge him. This is indicated in the fact that during Robert's rebellion, he ultimately chose his immediate family over his rightful king, saying it was "a hard choosing", and mentions he still sees both his brothers in his dreams.

While not as much is said by Stannis about his wife and daughter, it is indicated that his relationship with Selyse is cold, and that he only shares her bed once or twice a year. Furthermore, while his wife also gives him counsel, he tends to ignore it, and when she throws herself at his feet, demanding he sacrifice Edric Storm, his reply is only "stop clutching me, woman". Davos also notes while he flinches at her touch, he does no such thing with Melisandre.

When it comes to Shireen, while we do not see them interact, there's a few indicators that he cares more for her than Selyse. One of his first objections to Melisandre against burning Edric Storm is the fact that "[his] daughter has grown fond of him". He is also described as "full of rage" when he recounts Alester Florent's plan to marry Shireen off to Tommen Baratheon in an attempt to secure a peace. He lists his daughter before the realm in the list of things he has a duty to. Finally, in a preview chapter, Stannis also orders his men that if he dies to "....seat [his] daughter on the iron throne, or die in the attempt". At the very least, Stannis cares for Shireen not only as his heir, but also as his daughter.

To sum it up, Stannis is not the sort of man that's easy to like. After all he's the king that no one particularly wanted. But in the end, he is someone who ultimately tries to do the "right" thing, no matter the cost.

Powers/Abilities:

ABILITIES
► Expert Military Strategist: Stannis Baratheon is regarded as one of the most impressive and experienced military commanders in the Seven Kingdoms, having held Storm's end against the Reach for an entire year, smashed the Iron Fleet during the Greyjoy Rebellion and defeated Mance Rayder at the Wall, despite having considerably less men. As a general, he tends to lead more from the back, planning and delegating rather than leading the charge.
► Well-Read: More than many other characters, Stannis is quick to cite historical precedence in the Seven Kingdoms, often bringing up various historical figures in different situations. Furthermore, he also knows how many men each of the noble houses in Westeros can field.
► Basic Combat Training: Like with any nobility, Stannis has received basic combat training. Unlike his show counterpart, his abilities are competent, though not particularly noteworthy, and certainly less impressive than his elder brother, Robert's.

POWERS
► Flame Divination: Throughout A Song of Ice and Fire, Stannis has claimed to be able to see vague visions in the flames, some of events that we see happen at certain points in the books (the battle of the Fist of the First Men) and some more unclear and metaphorical (a man with a burning crown that devours him). these are often unclear.

Power Nerfs (if applicable): N/A

Inventory:
( 1 ) sword glamoured into the illusion of giving off flames (lightbringer, it serves Stannis "no better than any other sword")
( 1 ) crown
( 1 ) dagger, great for cutting your finger to sign in your own blood.
( 1 ) black cloak trimmed with gold fur
( 1 ) brooch depicting his personal sigil
( 1 ) scabbard
( 1 ) set of armour
( 1 ) plain white shirt
( 1 ) black tunics
( 1 ) pair of breeches
( 1 ) pair of black boots
( 1 ) pair of black gloves

Incentives: The assurance that "all true men and women of Westeros" will be spared, and all traces of Shireen's (his daughter) greyscale completely wiped from her face.

SAMPLES

Test drive meme! (contains both log and network samples)