Obara Sand

"When I was a child, Oberyn came to take me to court. I'd never seen this man, and yet, he called himself my father. My mother wept, said I was too young... and a girl. Oberyn tossed his spear at my feet and said, "Girl or boy, we fight our battles- but the Gods let us choose our weapons." My father pointed to the spear, and then to my mother's tears. I made my choice long ago."

- Obara to her sisters and Ellaria Sand

Obara Sand is a recurring character in the fifth season, who had already been alluded to in the fourth season. She is played by Keisha Castle-Hughes and debuts in "Sons of the Harpy".

Background
Obara Sand is the eldest of the eight bastard daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell, known as the "Sand Snakes". She was named in honor of her father. Her mother was a peasant.

Even more than her other sisters, Obara inherited her father's martial prowess, particularly his skill with a spear. Obara is a very tough warrior and the most overtly martial of the Sand Snakes. The other Sand Snakes will change out of their light leather armor when traveling in the hot deserts of Dorne, but Obara always wears her leather armor. When she sees an obstacle, she does not attempt to undermine it with deception or intrigue, but will attack it head-on relying on the strength of her weapons. This is in contrast with her sister Nymeria, who prefers to hold off and analyze her foes to calculate a more efficient means of defeating them.

Obara is the Sand Snake most like their father. He taught her the ways of war himself, training her in the use of a traditional Dornish spear like he used. She is staunchly disciplined to not overtly display her emotions, unlike most Dornishmen who are overtly passionate. This is largely due to her origins: unlike the other Sand Snakes like Tyene or Nymeria, Obara's mother was not a noblewoman, so when Oberyn came to take her back to court, she had to choose between staying or going but never seeing her mother again. She has a cold and hardened demeanor, though she deeply loves her family. This is not to say that Obara is the most rational of the sisters: Nymeria is the most rational and calculating one. Obara is actually quite irrational and ruled by her emotions, she just doesn't show them outwardly that much. The difference is that in a situation where Tyene would aggressively shout insults at an enemy and attack them, Obara would just silently walk straight up to them and stab them without saying a word. Nymeria, in contrast, would hold back and attempt to assess if there would be a more opportune moment to strike at a later time. Obara is loosely the lead Sand Snake, because she is eldest and probably the best fighter. Her sister Nymeria does nothing without her approval. Her father Oberyn and Nymeria were the only two people that Obara ever fully trusted. As her close confident, Nymeria is also the only person who can say "no" to Obara: while they may seem to argue at times, conversely this is because Nymeria is the only person that Obara will at least pay heed to - for anyone else, arguing with Obara is useless once she has her mind set on something. Nymeria is the only person Obara will ever take advice from (after their father's death).

Season 4
Oberyn mentions his eight bastard daughters to Queen Cersei Lannister while the two discuss Cersei's own illegitimate daughter Myrcella Baratheon, who has been sent to Dorne.

Season 5
When Ellaria Sand goes to the Water Gardens to scold Doran for his inaction to Oberyn's murder, she tells the Prince that Dorne must go to war against the Lannisters, and points out that the Sand Snakes, who have the love of their people, agree with her, and that they will avenge their father if Doran does not.

Ellaria later meets with Obara and Obara's two younger half-sisters, Nymeria and Tyene. Obara reveals that she captured the merchant captain who smuggled Jaime Lannister and Bronn into Dorne, and the Sand Snakes and Ellaria deduce Jaime is coming for Myrcella, robbing them of their chance for revenge. Ellaria tells the sisters they must either choose Doran's way and peace, or her way and war. After Tyene and Nymeria agree to side with Ellaria, Obara makes her point by recounting how her father came to claim her, though her mother protested that she was too young and a girl. Oberyn tossed his spear at Obara's feet and said: "girl or boy, we fight our battles, but the gods let us choose our weapons." He pointed to the spear and then to her mother's tears, and Obara picked up the spear. Then, Obara violently kills their hostage, saying she made her decision a long time ago.

When the Sand Snakes make their attempt to kidnap Myrcella, Obara leads the attack, going after Jaime Lannister herself while her sisters battle Bronn. Having her father's skill with a spear, Obara is able to easily force Jaime back, allowing Nymeria to seize Myrcella without interference. However, the battle is quickly broken up by Areo Hotah and the rest of Doran's personal guard. Obara angrily challenges Areo by saying she fights for Dorne, asking who he fights for; Areo simply repeats his command that she drop her weapon. After a tense pause, Obara nods to her sisters and they do so. They, along with Jaime, Bronn and Ellaria Sand, are taken into custody.

The Sand Snakes end up sharing a prison cell next to Bronn, which proves irritating to Obara and Nym as Bronn continues singing "The Dornishman's Wife". When Bronn mentions that he can't hurt a woman because of his "code" Obara sarcastically remarks that she and her sisters have beaten a lot of men with the same code. When Tyene begins flirting with Bronn, Obara looks bored until he begins succumbing to his poisoned wound; she and Nym watch with amusement as Tyene toys with Bronn's life before finally giving him the antidote.

Later, Tyene and Nym spar in the cell while Obara tries to ignore them and get some sleep, calling Tyene a slut when she teases Bronn. She and her sisters later witness Ellaria's swearing of fealty to their uncle Doran Martell.

Quotes
"I am Obara Sand, daughter of Oberyn Martell! I fight for Dorne- who do you fight for?!"

-Obara to Areo Hotah

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Obara is Oberyn's daughter whom he fathered on a whore in Oldtown. She is the least pretty and the most aggressive of all the Sand Snakes. She is the first Sand Snake introduced in the novels.

When her father came to claim her, her mother did not want him to take her. He threw a spear down at her mother's feet and slapped her mother. Then Oberyn asked Obara which weapon, the spear or the tears, Obara chose the spear. Her mother drank herself to death within a year.

She is prickly, hot-tempered woman who is given to martial pursuits as she considers herself a warrior, wielding a spear, a whip, and a round shield of steel and copper. She is hard, quick, and strong. She is fond of wine and is a confident rider who uses spurs, often to the point where the animal is bloody, and always rides stallions. Obara is a big-boned woman near to thirty, long-legged, with close-set eyes and rat-brown hair.

Obara in the books is the daughter of a whore from Oldtown in the Reach, but the casting announcement stated that TV-Obara is the daughter of a "Dornish peasant girl" that caught Oberyn's eye. The difference is not particularly drastic, but it might alter Obara's complex relationship with Oberyn - though the general point stands that Obara's mother wasn't of noble birth, unlike the mothers of some of the other Sand Snakes such as Nymeria Sand. Either way, Obara in the books generally resembles other "salty Dornishmen". Keisha Castle Hughes is herself half-Maori. The character might also be younger in the series; Castle-Hughes is only 25.

It is Obara and not Ellaria Sand who confronts Doran Martell at the Water Gardens. She chides him angrily for doing nothing to avenge her father, declares that she wishes to drive her spear into Tywin’s belly, and demands that he will give her and Nymeria his and Lord Yronwood's hosts, that she can sack Oldtown while Nymeria takes the Kingsroad. Unlike in the show, she does not intend to harm Myrcella. Doran tells her that he will think it over and send her his answer at Sunspear. She says "So long as the word is war" and leaves. Maester Caleotte warns Doran that Obara is likely to inflame the common people. Doran agrees, returns to Sunspear and takes steps to make certain Obara and the other Sand Snakes will not ingnite a war.