There are few Game of Thrones characters as beloved as the clever and sassy Tyrion Lannister. He delivers some of the best one-liners in the series and somehow manages to overcome all the challenges thrown his way.
Tyrion was also one of the few characters who truly understood the game, and though he may have had a particular disdain for it, he also knew how to use it to his advantage. There were only a few players who could come close to matching Tyrion, and many others who would never even come near.
10 Nowhere Close: Ned Stark Didn't Understand The Game
Both Tyrion and Ned Stark served as Hand of the King, though ultimately this would go well for neither of them. That being said, where Ned Stark was a proud wolf among cruel lions and devious spiders, Tyrion was just Tyrion, a survivor to the end.
While Ned Stark's head would end up adorning the walls of the Red Keep, Tyrion would manage to keep his (most of it, at least), and escape King's Landing to tie his fate to another ruler.
9 On His Level: Peter Baelish Was Cunning & Clever
As the Master of Coin, Peter Baelish understood just how powerful controlling the finances of the Seven Kingdoms made a man. Though he came from humble origins, he put himself into a position of influence, but more importantly, made himself invaluable to those who held the true keys to the halls of power.
Littlefinger had loyalty to no one but himself, and in the end, this would be his undoing, as a worm cannot crawl for long before being crushed beneath the boot.
8 Nowhere Close: Ellaria Sand Was Cunning But Arrogant
As the Sand Snakes' mother and Oberyn Martell's lover, Ellaria Sand sought but one thing: revenge for her beloved's death. After Oberyn's death, the only people she cared about were her daughters. It was her thirst for revenge that would ultimately be her undoing.
Though the devious Dornishwoman was responsible for the assassination of Dorne's ruler, Doran Martell, as well as the murder of Myrcella Baratheon, an ultimately innocent girl, she let her hatred blind her to the dangers she brought on, and in the end paid for it with her own life and that of her daughters.
7 On His Level: Tywin Lannister Thought In The Long Term
As much as fans may hate the House Lannister's patriarch, it is impossible not to respect his strategic mind and dedication to his goals. As a man who understood how to use every resource at his disposal, there were few who could match Tywin in the ability to plan and execute their goals over the long term.
Though Tywin was clearly a very intelligent man himself, his true power lay in knowing how to use the people around him. The men and women of Westeros were but pieces on a Cyvasse board for him to move at will, and he used his cruelty and power to keep them in line. It was this same cruelty that would bring him to an unceremonious end at the hands of his hated son, Tyrion.
6 Nowhere Close: Qyburn Was A Twisted Pawn
Qyburn was an enigma, a former maester who was thrown out of the Citadel for practicing human experimentation. It is little surprise then that he manages to weasel his way into Cersei's service, who is known to use anyone and everyone with no regard for morality.
While he managed to rise to the position of Cersei's Hand, the only thing he truly excelled in was as mad genius that would ultimately see him dying at the hands of his own experiments.
5 On His Level: Cersei Lannister Was a Cruel Manipulator
Cersei Lannister was an unequivocably hateable character, whose only minuscule redeeming feature was her love for her children, one of whom was a sociopathic monster whom she actively encouraged.
Yet despite the fact that as a woman, she was never properly seen as a potential heir by her strictly rigid father, Cersei was undoubtedly the one who most closely followed in his footsteps. She was smart, ambitious, and an expert manipulator, and there is plenty of reason to consider her one of the best players of the game. Once out from Tywin's repressive thumb, she truly proved herself a power player, albeit a cruel and vindictive one.
4 Nowhere Close: Ramsey Bolton Was A Violent Monster
Truly there would be no character as universally hated among fans as the monstrous Ramsay Bolton. Every one of his acts was that of a cruel psychopath, delighting in the torture of others and reveling in their fear. Though he was born a bastard, he managed to rise in power through his cunning and willingness to murder anyone who stood in his way, including his own father.
Though Ramsay had a certain twisted level of intelligence, it was broken by his cruelty, and would ultimately be his undoing, in an end to the character that was as disturbing as it was well-earned.
3 On His Level: Sansa Stark Is A Crafty Survivor
Despite starting off as essentially nothing more than a spoiled brat, Sansa somehow survived turn after turn as her life was rendered into that of a pawn to be used by Westeros' true influencers. Yet throughout her time as a prisoner of those with more power, Sansa learned, and she learned well.
When the time came for the eldest Stark sister to take matters into her own hands, not only did she help take revenge upon all those who had wronged her and her family, but she rose to power as a Queen in her own right. Far from being the helpless girl she was when fans first met her, Sansa proved herself as a capable leader and resourceful survivor.
2 Nowhere Close: Walder Frey's Obsession Ruled Him
Few people, if any, gave Walder Frey the respect he was convinced he rightfully deserved, and this drove him to actions that were so dishonorable few would have even contemplated, murdering his liege and dozens of others at the wedding of his own kin, breaking centuries-old taboos and besmirching his family name for all time.
He did this all in the name of power, power that he would never truly achieve, and in the end, he would choke to death on the spoiled flesh of his own legacy.
1 On His Level: Olenna Tyrell Was The Thorn Among Roses
If anyone could be said to be a true match for the clever genius of Tyrion, it was Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns. She knew how to play the game perfectly, manipulating entire kingdoms from behind the scenes, playing some of the other major players for fools, all the while hiding beneath a kindly old woman's façade. Yet, unlike many who tried to play the game of thrones, Olenna was neither needlessly cruel nor obsessed with power for herself; she simply tried to do what was best for her family, and she did so very well.
Though she too would lose everything in the end, her own death came with true grace and style, as she used her final moments to drive one last thorn into her nemesis' heart, Cersei Lannister.
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