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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Roose has no feelings, you see. Those leeches that he loves so well sucked all the passions out of him years ago. He does not love, he does not hate, he does not grieve. This is a game to him, mildly diverting. Some men hunt, some hawk, some tumble dice. Roose plays with men. You and me, these Freys, Lord Manderly, his plump new wife, even his bastard, we are but his playthings. | „ |
| ~ Barbrey Dustin describing Roose's distasteful nature. |
| “ | A naked man has few secrets, but a flayed man has none. | „ |
| ~ Roose's personal motto. |
| “ | The Lannisters send their regards. | „ |
| ~ Roose Bolton betraying Robb Stark at the Red Wedding, his infamous quote. |
Lord Roose Bolton, also known as the Leech Lord, is one of the main antagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and a major antagonist in its television adaptation Game of Thrones. He is the cold, calculating and ruthless head of House Bolton and Lord of the Dreadfort.
In the books he serves as a neutral character in A Game of Thrones, a major antagonist in A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords, and the main antagonist of A Dance with Dragons. He is set to be one of the main antagonists in the upcoming sequel The Winds of Winter.
In the TV show, he serves as a supporting character in season 2, and a major antagonist in Seasons 3-4, one of the main antagonists of Season 5, and a minor antagonist in Season 6.
He was portrayed by Michael McElhatton.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- He has a disturbing penchant of raping women on his land, one of whom was Ramsay's mother that ultimately led to the birth of monstrous Ramsay. To make matters worse, he hanged her husband before raping her and later tore out her brother-in-law's tongue (although the latter was caused by Ramsay's mother willingly involving Roose in her conflict against her brother-in-law, who kicked her out of their mill).
- Advised Lord Robert Baratheon to kill the captive Barristan Selmy since he fought for the Targaryens as his duty. Robert rejected his advice.
- He often flays his enemies alive.
- Basically lets Ramsay do whatever he wants, whenever he doesn't like what Ramsay does, it is always out of pragmatism rather than genuine disgust.
- He colluded with Tywin Lannister in helping Walder Frey orchestrate the Red Wedding, where over 3,500 people were killed, just to wipe out House Stark. During the horrific incident, Roose personally murdered Robb Stark.
- He arranges with Tywin to have Joffrey (Tommen does it, as Joffrey dies first) legitimize his bastard son, Ramsay Snow, making him, despite his hideous nature, the legitimate Lord of Winterfell.
- Forcibly married Jeyne Poole/Sansa Stark to Ramsay. In the novel version, Jeyne is posed as Arya Stark, with Roose and Tywin deceiving the world, including Ramsay, that she is Arya, in order to hold a stronger claim on Winterfell.
- He is just as cruel and vicious as his son, only Roose does it in secret whereas Ramsay does it openly.
Exclusive to the Books[]
- After taking over Harrenhal, he executes multiple people whose only crime is serving the Lannisters, sometimes by feeding them to a bear.
- Allows several women who had served as cleaners for the Lannister army to be gang-raped by his soldiers and the Brave Companions.
- Sends out the Brave Companions to pillage and raid across the Riverlands.
- Deliberately leads his own army into an ambush which leads to the deaths of many of his soldiers.
- Hangs several homeless people for sleeping among the ruins of Winterfell which is now his property.
- He gave Vargo Hoat to the Mountain after he cut off Ser Jaime Lannister's hand. The Mountain caused him to die cruelly as he cut him to pieces and fed the pieces to him and his prisoners.
- He possibly owns a pair of human skin boots, which were killed to prepare them.
Exclusive to the TV Show[]
- As Ramsay said he even nurtured his son's cruel behavior ("My mother taught me not to throw stones at cripples... but my father taught me, 'aim for their head'!").
- Had Ramsay sack Winterfell after taking it back from the Ironborn, killing all of them. He also undermines the authority of King Robb, who offered the Ironborn amnesty. In the novels, Ramsay took it on himself to sack Winterfell.
- After Jaime Lannister lost his hand due to Locke, one of his men, Roose watches Jaime try to clumsily tries to cut his meat until Brienne helps him. He also keeps Locke in his rank without punishment
- He also decided to keep Brienne as prisoner to be thrown into a gladiator pit with a bear which almost ended in her death.
- Gives Theon Greyjoy to Ramsay which results in him being tortured. when he saw him after Theon lost his mind he called him "this creature", however he didn't know that Ramsay tortured him so much and in the TV series he was disgusted it (albeit because it would damage negotiation attempts.
- Tried to kill Bran and Rickon Stark by sending Locke after them to Castle Black and deceive their brother, Jon Snow in fake loyalty.
- He has Ramsay take Theon to use him to conquer Moat Cailin, which cost the life of many Ironborn soldiers.
- After Sansa escapes, he asks Ramsay to take his men to bring her back, which nearly causes Sansa and Theon to be killed. He was also completely apathetic when Ramsay raped her.
- Gave Ramsay "twenty good men" that destroys Stannis Baratheon's army supplies and destroys their fighting ability. In the battle the Bolton soldiers would kill many of Stannis's soldiers.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
Exclusive to the Books[]
- He cares about his son Domeric as he tried to forbid him to meet with his half-brother, Ramsay, because he knows how dangerous Ramsay is. After Domeric disobeys Roose' orders and meets Ramsay who poisons him in turn, Roose starts hating Ramsay for what he had done to Domeric and even mentions to Theon that the only reason why he hasn't killed him to avenge Domeric is because kinslayers are cursed in the eyes of the gods.
Exclusive to the TV show[]
- In the TV show he cares for his newborn son, showing genuine happiness when his newborn son is born and possible. It's implied he was trying to soften Ramsay's resistance by tell him that: "he will always be his first born" to save his life. He also cares for Walda and treats her kindly, even refusing to let Ramsay harm her. Walda also seems to really care for him since she was looking for him before she realized that he was murdered by Ramsay.
- His relationship with Ramsay was rocky but despite this there are moments where he's kind to him: He kept him alive as him bastard even though he could kill him, asked Tywin to give him legitimacy, matched him with Sansa, left Theon the hostage to serve him and finally tried to maybe appease him about the birth of the new child (who Ramsay apparently saw as a rival). Also he seems very shocked that his son murdered him, which shows that he really cared about his son after all.
External Links[]
- Roose Bolton on the Villains Wiki
- Roose Bolton on the Game of Thrones Wiki
- Roose Bolton at Wikipedia
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 Near Pure Evils
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