8 Game of Thrones characters who were secret villains

Roose Bolton

There are different kinds of villains of Game of Thrones. You have the Varys-type secret villains. You have the straight-up villains like Tywin Lannister, who don’t try to hide their intentions but use power, money, and manipulation to get their way. Then you have the Roose Bolton types, who are truly awful and try to inflict as much pain as possible on the world as they grab power.

Like a few characters on this list, there’s no doubt that Roose Bolton is a villain from the moment we’re introduced to the character. He lives in a place called the Dreadfort, after all! But what we didn’t know was how cutthroat Roose could be when given the opportunity. Roose partnered with Walder Frey, and by proxy Tywin Lannister, to orchestrate and pull off the Red Wedding, turning on House Stark in the most unforgivable of ways.

Roose is truly as bad as they come, but he also scores extra secret villain points because he’s aware of the image he presents to the world. That’s one of the ways he he differs from his son Ramsay. Roose operates behind the veil of honor, duty, and the mantra of “a peaceful land, a quiet people” to further and continue his treachery.

Roose sees his villainy repaid in the end. Ramsay, now a Bolton, kills Roose, his wife, Walda Frey, and Roose’s newborn son to keep his status as the heir of House Bolton intact.