Matching 50 Game of Thrones characters with each of the 50 states

Ohio: Joffrey Baratheon

Joffrey Baratheon may be the most hated character in all of Game of Thrones; he might even be in the running for most hated character in TV history. His crimes are numerous. From making his fiancee look at her own father’s severed head to murdering prostitutes to ordering the tongue torn out of a mouth of a man for singing a song he didn’t like, Joffrey is the worst of the worst.

And how could he be otherwise? Joffrey is the very definition of an entitled child. Some children will let a good grade or athletic success go their head; imagine how much worse it would be if one of those kids were made the ruler of Seven Kingdoms. With so much power so early, and Joffrey not having been stable on the best of days, the boy king quickly got carried away and never looked back.

No offense is meant to Ohio by pairing the state with Joffrey. I chose the match in part because that Ohio’s state nickname is the Mother of Presidents. That’s because the state is the birthplace of no less than seven different American presidents. There’s an expectation of leadership in Ohio, and that matches Joffrey’s eagerness to rule, even if he takes it way too far. Thankfully, actual Ohioans lacking the outsized selfishness and cruelty that makes Joffrey a historic tool.