All 15 Targaryens from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, ranked worst to best
4. Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen)
There’s a reason fans always rally behind Jon Snow, or rather, Aegon Targaryen. He’s got the kind of hero energy we all secretly wish we had. He’s a man who’s grown up believing he’s the runt of the litter, only to turn out to be the legitimate heir to the Seven Kingdoms. The irony? He never asked for it. And he’s made it very clear he doesn’t want it. He’s an example of a hero who isn’t defined by the greatness thrust upon him, but by the greatness he finds in himself.
Jon’s story arc is very poetic. He’s the typical reluctant hero, graced with leadership skills that people around him can’t help but recognize. It’s his unyielding sense of duty and his habit of sticking up for the underdog that sets him apart. Jon goes to hell and back but never lost sight of what’s truly important: protecting the realm and its people, even if it means sacrificing his own happiness.
Though Game of Thrones ended with him going beyond the Wall with the wildings after killing Daenerys himself, we have yet to see his fate in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (PLEASE FINISH THE BOOKS, GEORGE). We’ll be sitting here, eager to find out.
3. Daenerys Targaryen
Oh boy, where do we start with Daenerys? On Game of Thrones, they did my girl dirty, she becomes who she doesn’t want to be: a Mad Queen.
From the shy and soft-spoken little sister sold into marriage to the fierce queen mounting a dragon, Daenerys had the best glow-up I’ve ever witnessed. And yeah, sure, her actions in the final season raised more than a few eyebrows (and leveled a few city blocks), but her journey was compelling from start to finish. Daenerys isn’t just another stereotypical hero; she’s complex, with that fiery Targaryen blood running through her veins. That ambition, leadership, and occasional ruthlessness? They’re part of the package, and they make for one heck of a character arc.
Dany gave us some of the most unforgettable moments in the series. Who can forget the image of her emerging unscathed from the flames with three newborn dragons in tow, the first the world had seen in centuries? Or that iconic scene where she liberates the Unsullied, demonstrating both her compassion for the oppressed and her fury against tyrants? Sure, the writers may have tipped her a little too far into Mad Queen territory towards the end, but her story is ultimately a cautionary tale about power and its corrupting influence.
As with Jon Snow, we don’t know what awaits Dany in the Song of Ice and Fire series, but she’s certainly one of the most influential Targaryens Westeros has ever seen.
