Childhood

Appearance and Character

Jon has the long face of the Starks.[11][12] He has dark[13][12] brown hair[14][15] and grey eyes,[12] so dark they almost seem black.[13] He is graceful and quick, and has a lean build.[13] Jon resembles his father, Lord Eddard Stark,[9][16] and has more Stark-like features than any of his half-brothers.[9] Because he looks so much like a Stark, Tyrion Lannister notes that whoever Jon's mother was, she left little of herself in her son's appearance.[11] Out of all the Stark children, Arya Stark is said to resemble Jon the most, as Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon take after their Tully mother, Catelyn.[17]

Jon's possible personal coat of arms, according to George R.R. Martin: a white direwolf on grey, the House Stark colors reversed.[18] Jon looks solemn and guarded,[11] and is considered sullen and quick to sense a slight.[19] Due to having been raised in a castle and trained by a master-at-arms, Jon is seen by some lower-born members of the Night's Watch as arrogant at first,[1] though this changes when they become more friendly towards one another, as Jon is reminded of his nonetheless privileged background and decides to pass on his knowledge to them. Jon is observant,[13][9] a trait he developed on account of being a bastard.[9] He is a capable horseback rider and is well practiced in fighting with a sword.[9] Jon has resented his bastard status most of the time.[9] He desires to be viewed as honorable,[20] and wants to prove he can be as good and true as his half-brother, Robb.[21] As a child, Jon dreamed he would one day lead men to glory, or even become a conqueror.[22] He feels strongly about not fathering a bastard himself.[23][3] George R. R. Martin has described Jon as "the brooding, Byronic, romantic hero whom all the girls love".[24]

While Lord Eddard openly acknowledged Jon as his son and allowed him to live at Winterfell with his half-siblings, Jon felt like an outsider nonetheless. While Jon has good relationships with his siblings, especially Robb, with whom he trained since they were children,[25] and Arya, whom he sees as somewhat of an outsider as well,[1] Eddard's wife Catelyn ensured that Jon was never truly one of them.[1][26] Catelyn was especially annoyed when Jon bested Robb in martial training or their studies.[25] Jon is not close to Theon Greyjoy, Eddard's ward.[19] Lord Stark refuses to speak of Jon's mother, and the boy grew up unaware of her identity, something which has wounded and haunted him.[9][27][28][29] When Jon dreams of her, he considers her to be beautiful, highborn, and kind.[27]

Raised at Winterfell as a descendant of the First Men, Jon keeps faith with the old gods,[26] and he feels no connection to the Seven.[12]

After joining the Night's Watch, Jon dresses in their official black garb.[1] While there are no indications in the books that Jon has adopted a personal coat of arms, Martin told the company Valyrian Steel, which makes replicas of Jon's sword, to use the reversed Stark colors on the plaque that goes with the sword.[18]

History

ryenJon was born in 283 AC, near the end of Robert's Rebellion,[N 1] and he was named by Lord Eddard Stark.[32] One tale says Jon was named after Lord Jon Arryn,[33] Eddard's foster father.[34] The identity of Jon's mother is a mystery, and several suggestions have been made by those who know the Starks. Jon is unaware of his mother's identity[23][1] and Eddard refuses to speak of her.[1] When Eddard returned from the war, he brought the newborn Jon to Winterfell, insisting on raising him with the rest of his family. Jon and his wet nurse were installed in the castle before the arrival of Eddard's new wife, Catelyn Tully, and his young son and heir, Robb Stark, from Riverrun, which Catelyn did not take well.[9]

Lord Eddard was fiercely protective of Jon[35] and refused to send him away.[9] Jon was raised at Winterfell with his half-siblings. He was tutored by Maester Luwin,[36] including learning sums[25] and astronomy,[37] and was trained at arms by the master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel. Jon has trained at swordplay since he was old enough to walk, together with Robb,[25] whom he came to view as his "best friend, rival and constant companion,"[1] and later also with Theon Greyjoy,[38] after the latter came to Winterfell following the conclusion of Greyjoy's Rebellion. Jon learned how to swim in the great moat at Winterfell; he is considered a strong swimmer.[39]

Jon and Robb Stark at sword-play, from Game of Thrones Blu-ray Jon grew close to his true-born siblings, especially Robb and Arya. Because they look alike, Arya briefly believed that she was bastard-born as well, but Jon reassured his half-sister this was not the case.[17] As a young child[N 2] Jon and Robb built a great mountain of snow on top of a gate, hoping to push it on someone passing by. They were discovered by Mance Rayder, a ranger from the Night's Watch who had accompanied Lord Commander Qorgyle to Winterfell. The ranger promised not to tell anyone, and Jon and Robb succeeded in their ploy, dumping the snow upon Fat Tom, who chased the boys around the yard afterwards, until all three were tired.[2] Since he was young, Jon's hero was King Daeron I Targaryen, the Young Dragon, who had conquered Dorne at the age of fourteen.[23][22] Jon and Robb would often play a game of sword-play, in which they would pretend to be great heroes (including Florian the Fool, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, King Daeron the Young Dragon, and Ser Ryam Redwyne). Once, when Jon called out that he was "Lord of Winterfell," Robb informed him that was impossible due to his bastardy, which would become a sore memory for Jon.[25] Another time, Jon covered himself in flour and hid in one of the empty tombs in the crypt of Winterfell, and when Robb brought Sansa, Arya, and Bran down to the crypts, Jon jumped out of the tomb and moaned, pretending to be a ghost. Sansa screamed and ran back upstairs, Bran clung to Robb's leg and cried, and Arya punched Jon for scaring the baby with his prank; but Jon and Robb only laughed until the other two were laughing too.[41]

A Game of Thrones

Jon accompanies his father, Lord Eddard Stark, his brothers Robb and Bran, his father's ward Theon Greyjoy, and others from Winterfell to the execution of Gared, a deserter from the Night's Watch. On their way back to Winterfell, Jon and Robb race ahead and find a litter of direwolf pups. When Eddard states that killing the pups quickly would forestall a painful and slow death, Jon points out that there are five pups—one for each of Eddard's legitimate children—and the direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, indicating that they must be meant to have the wolves. The comparison only works out because Jon is not claiming a pup for himself, and Eddard gives in. As they leave, Jon discovers an albino pup, cast away from its litter.[13] He claims the pup for his own,[13] eventually naming it "Ghost."[23]

Because he is a bastard, Jon is not allowed sit with his siblings and the royal children during the feast welcoming King Robert I Baratheon and the royal family to the north, and instead sits with the squires, further down the room. At the feast, Jon speaks with his uncle, Benjen Stark, the First Ranger of the Night's Watch. When Benjen suggests that the Watch could use a man as observant as Jon, Jon quickly requests to accompany him to the Wall when he leaves, as even a bastard can rise to a position of honor there.[23] Benjen is hesitant about having Jon join at such a young age, resulting in an argument that causes Jon to storm out.[23] Outside, he runs into Tyrion Lannister, the youngest brother of Queen Cersei Lannister, who counsels him to "never forget what you are" and tells Jon to make it his strength instead.[23]

Although hesitant about it at the feast, Benjen eventually approaches Luwin, telling the maester that Jon had expressed interest in joining the Night's Watch.[9] When Lord Eddard decides to accept the position as Hand of the King at King's Landing, his wife, Catelyn Stark, refuses to allow Jon to remain at Winterfell while Eddard is away. As Eddard feels he cannot take Jon south with him, Luwin suggests the Night's Watch for Jon, and Eddard eventually agrees. Catelyn is pleased, because as a member of the Watch Jon will never father children who might contest her grandchildren's inheritance of Winterfell.[9]