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In the world of Game of Thrones, there are few characters who've managed to elicit as much hate from the audience as Ramsay Bolton, seconded by Joffrey Baratheon himself. Ramsay's redefined brand of sadism made him one of the most controversial characters on the show, in my opinion.
Throughout the show, Ramsay and Joffrey both grew into the emblem of the darkest impulses in the show. To figure out which one of the two is worse when it comes to controversial characters, a comparison of their days of terror might help.
Who was the most controversial villain in Game of Thrones? Ramsay or Joffrey?
Joffrey Baratheon, as a controversial character in Game of Thrones
Joffrey Baratheon, showing signs of his developing sadistic streak from birth, was one of the most hated villains in the history of the franchise. Cersei Lannister, Joffrey's mom, despite loving him unconditionally as he was her son, believed him to be her punishment for the incestuous relationship between her and Joffrey's biological father and Cersei's twin brother, Jaime.
Joffrey spent the entirety of Game of Thrones trying to prove that he was the most powerful heir to ever sit on the throne. He never even saw his sadistic actions as such, to him:
"Everyone is mine to torment"
He single-handedly destroyed any chance of a peaceful resolution between the Lannisters and the Starks when he ordered Ned Stark's execution, naming him a traitor. He even went as far as emotionally and physically abusing Ned's daughter, Sansa Stark. Joffrey was a sadistic and entitled king, and his proprietary understanding made him extremely dangerous and controversial until he was killed at his own wedding after he had been poisoned.
No one would say that Joffrey didn't deserve what was coming for him, what with him being one of the most sadistic and controversial characters in the history of Game of Thrones, but his death left a very big villain-sized hole in the show, which is where Ramsay Bolton comes in.
Ramsay Bolton, as the most sadistic and controversial character in Game of Thrones
After Joffrey's death, Game of Thrones was in dire need of a villain. In a show where even the good characters weren't exactly morally upright, the villains and the controversial characters needed to go a step further. Such was the case for Ramsay Bolton. Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark, talked about Iwan Rheon's Ramsay Bolton, saying:
"After we lost Joffrey, we had a psychopath-shaped hole in the ‘Thrones’ world,” . But Iwan brings a terror and a creepiness that Joffrey never had. We needed someone to hate, and we love to hate him."
Born as Ramsay Snow, an illegitimate child of Roose Bolton, he went through hell and back to get the last name Bolton by helping his father. The acts he committed to help his father were far from helpful; from stripping the skin off of living people to keeping Theon hostage just for the sake of venting his sadistic self, there's no line Ramsay wouldn't cross.
His forced marriage and r*pe, that too with an audience of Sansa Stark at her home in Winterfell, distinguished him as one of the most controversial villains. Ramsay was fueled by his resentment and adoration towards his father, and the mix of a psychopath and a little boy (Homelander in The Boys?) created a controversial character that was something much worse than just a villain.
The thing that set Ramsay apart from any other controversial villain in Game of Thrones was his chilling precision. While other villains (Joffrey, for example) were acting out of pure impulse, Ramsay was purposeful and calculated in his cruelty.
When it comes to antagonists, Joffrey and Ramsay both stand out in the Game of Thrones universe, but none can compare to Ramsay's evil. He understood human psychology and its breaking point, which went far beyond any physical violence, as is witnessed in Theon's psychological torture. His actions were always calculated for maximum psychological impact, as he operated on the primal pleasure of inflicting suffering upon others.
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