Top 10 fighters from Game of Thrones, ranked

HBO’s Game of Thrones depicted George RR Martin’s epic tale, A Song of Ice and Fire. With the epic fantasy series, we were taken into this massive fictional land where, other than fights and clashes between noble families, dragons and other otherworldly creatures also existed.

Since it is a show about kings and their control over the land of Westeros, the series depicts many large-scale battles, one-on-one fights, and also includes the use of dragons in the battles. The better part of the series is focused on the major families such as the Starks of Winterfell, the Baratheons of King’s Landing, who ruled the seven kingdoms, and the Lannisters, who tried their best to keep their control over the Iron Throne, with or without sitting on it, and the Targaryens, with Danearys Targaryen bringing her dragons in the mix.

With so many families trying to place themselves in a better position in a politically dysfunctional place, the series is filled with clashes and conflicts, where we see the skills and discipline of the fighters, and the lengths they will go to defeat their rivals. Whether with their agility with a spear, or dexterity with a sword, or just with sheer power and strength of their bare hands, here’s a list of the 10 best fighters from Game of Thrones.

Disclaimer: The article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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10) Bronn

This dangerous sellsword became one of the popular characters after he championed Tyrion Lannister in a trial by combat in the Eyrie. He later joined Tyrion as his bodyguard. As we saw in his combat with Ser Vardis Egen, Bronn cannot be called an honourable swordsman, but we couldn’t deny his quick-mindedness.

As he noticed, Vardis was slower than him due to his armour, which gave him an upper hand. Moreover, to slow him down further, he begins throwing random objects at him, distracting the knight. He even helps Tyrion during the battle of Blackwater Bay, where he shoots the flaming arrow into the wildfire, causing huge explosions and destroying Stannis’s fleet.

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9) Jon Snow

Jon is regarded as a natural-born leader, as in a span of eight seasons, he went from a presumed bastard son to commander of the Night’s Watch and even led the whole of the North at one time. He trained with Rob Stark in Winterfell, which came in handy when he joined the Night’s Watch, where he quickly reached the rank of Commander.

His combat with Ramsay Bolton is one of his most memorable moments in Game of Thrones Season 6 episode titled, Battle of the Bastards. Jon unleashed his anger on the psychotic villain for killing his brother, Rickon, and abusing Sansa with just punches, and then left him for Sansa’s revenge.

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8) Sandor Clegane

This allrounder fighter was a part of Joffrey’s Kingsguard in Game of Thrones. Other than Sandor’s fear of fire, the hound can be included among the best fighters in Westeros. We get to see his proper skills during his combat with the leader of the Brotherhood without Banners, Beric Dondarrion, who uses a flaming sword during the combat.

Initially, Sandor is distracted due to the fire as he tries to avoid it rather than fight back, but eventually gets over his phobia and gains the upper hand, almost cutting Beric’s arm during the combat.

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7) Arya Stark

Arya’s life was a tragic one in Game of Thrones. From seeing her father get beheaded to reaching the place where the massacre of the Red Wedding happened, Arya encountered the brutal deaths of her family members.

To take revenge on all the people who caused her family’s suffering, Arya created a list and also trained hard to become a faceless man, with Lord Walder, who let The Red Wedding happen, becoming her first victim. From combating Brienne of Tarth, killing Petyr Baelish and the Knight King, Arya went on to become one of the best fighters.

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6) Gregor Clegane

Gregor Clegane, or the Mountain, was known for his brute strength in Game of Thrones. Known for his explosive rage, which we witnessed during the tournament to celebrate Ned Stark’s appointment as the Hand of the King, and horrifyingly killed Ser Hugh. Not only that, after being defeated by Sir Loras Tyrell in a joust, he kills his Stallion and proceeds to kill Tyrell until Sandor interrupts.

Another crucial moment was when he gouged out the eyes and crushed Oberyn Martell’s skull with his bare hands, resulting in one of the most horrifying deaths of the HBO series.

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5) Oberyn Martell

Pedro Pascal’s Oberyn Martell was introduced in Season 4 of Game of Thrones. The Red Viper from Dorne appeared as one of the most nonchalant characters in the series until he surprised everyone with his skills with the spear.

After Tyrion is accused of killing Joffrey, he demands a trial by combat, but Bronn refuses to fight for him. Oberyn becomes Tyrion’s champion to fight the Mountain and avenge his sister’s death. With his swift and flexible moves, Oberyn successfully bests the Mountain. His aggressive moves were quick and were hard to counter for the immovable Mountain.

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4) Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister, apart from being one of the best swordsmen, also had one of the best redemption arcs in Game of Thrones. The Kingslayer reached Knighthood at a young age of 16 and had been excelling in swordsmanship skills since then.

The sword fight with Ned Stark in Season 1 is one of the intense scenes between Ned and Jaime and also depicts the skills of both characters. However, at the time, Jaime was an egotistical villain, and not many people were rooting for him. However, in Season 8, where Jaime fights Euron Greyjoy after learning to fight again with one hand, he wins the fight and leaves the Greyjoy to bleed to death, resulting in a satisfying end to one of the villains.

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3) Brienne of Tarth

Brienne of Tarth is introduced in Season 2 of Game of Thrones, and the first scene of hers gives us a glimpse of her proficiency with the sword as she beats Ser Loras Tyrell in combat. From fighting the Hound, Jaime, and even a grizzly bear, Brienne became one of the best fighters that Westeros could encounter.

Brienne also takes part in the Battle of Winterfell, where she fights against the White Walkers. Other than this, one of Brienne’s best fighting moments is when she takes three Freedom fighters responsible for killing three young women in a matter of seconds.

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2) Barristan Selmy

Regarded as one of the best swordfighters in Westeros, Ser Barriston Selmy had served as the Kingsguard for Aerys Targaryen and later Robert Baratheon. Throughout the series, many characters, including Ned Stark, talked about Selmy’s skills and discipline that made him one of the best fighters.

In Season 5, Selmy saved Greworm and the Unsullied by taking down several of the Sons of Harpy alone until he was stabbed multiple times. The death honoured the great knight as he died fighting and had an upper hand even in his old age when he died.

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1) Arthur Dayne

Arthur Dayne only appeared in one episode of Game of Thrones, and that too in one of Bran’s visions. However, the single vision shows us the skills the wielder of Dawn had.

In the vision, we see Dayne guarding the Tower of Joy with Gerold Hightower as ordered by Rhaegar Targaryen. A young Ned Stark approaches to get past him as his sister, Lynna Stark, was in the tower, but he's stopped by Dayne. After calmly stopping him from entering the Tower, all of them draw their swords, with Gerold being killed in an instant, while Dayne alone fights Ned and his men.

While witnessing the vision, Bran remarks on Dayne’s fighting skills as he bests his father in the fight until Howland Reed attacks the honourable knight from the back and kills him.

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Also Read: 10 Shrewdest characters from Game of Thrones