Sandor Clegane

"A dog doesn't need courage to chase off rats."

- Sandor Clegane to Sansa Stark

Sandor Clegane, nicknamed The Hound, is a major character in the first and second seasons. He is played by starring cast member Rory McCann and debuts in the series premiere. Sandor is the personal bodyguard of Joffrey Baratheon. He joined the Kingsguard when Joffrey took the Iron Throne, but deserted his post during the Battle of the Blackwater. He is taciturn and brutal but not without compassion.

Background
Sandor Clegane is a skilled warrior in the service of House Lannister, although he refuses to take holy vows and is not a knight. His face bears scars from burning and he is known for his fierce demeanor and lack of chivalry. He is the younger brother of Ser Gregor Clegane (nicknamed The Mountain), a monstrously huge knight and arguably the most feared man in Westeros. In his youth Gregor caused his scars by holding his face in a fire to punish him for using one of Gregor's toys. Sandor is the personal bodyguard of Joffrey Baratheon. He chafes under Joffrey's sadistic whims but always follows his orders.

Season 1
Sandor is part of King Robert Baratheon's retinue when he visits Winterfell in order to offer Eddard Stark the role of Hand of the King. He acts as the bodyguard of Prince Joffrey and is present at the feast held in the King's honor. Robert offers a betrothal between Joffrey and Sansa Stark and Eddard accepts both engagements.

On the kingsroad back to the capital the royal party reaches the Crossroads Inn. Sandor introduces Sansa to Ser Ilyn Payne, the king's headsman, a fearsome man who had his tongue torn out on the orders of the Mad King many years ago. Joffrey saves Sansa from this unpleasantness and takes her for a walk along the riverbank. Joffrey provokes an argument with the butcher's son Mycah and Sansa's sister Arya and is bitten by Arya's pet dire wolf Nymeria when he attacks them. Joffrey lies about the incident and Sansa supports his version of events. Queen Cersei orders Sansa's dire wolf Lady executed. Sandor chases down and kills Mycah. As Eddard goes to kill Lady he passes the Hound arriving with Mycah's corpse. "He ran, but not very fast," he says as Eddard passes by.

On his return to King's Landing Sandor stands guard over Joffrey during the tournament held in honor of Eddard's appointment as Hand. Sandor watches distastefully as his brother Gregor kills Ser Hugh of the Vale. Littlefinger tells Sansa that Sandor and Gregor hate one another because, when he was very young, Sandor played with one of Gregor's toys without his elder brother's permission. Gregor held Sandor's face over an open fire, resulting in his hideous burns. They have been enemies ever since.

Sandor is amused when Gregor is unhorsed in a joust with Ser Loras Tyrell. Gregor attacks Loras and Sandor intervenes. They exchange blows until King Robert orders a halt to the madness. Ser Loras declares Sandor a champion and the smallfolk in the crowd cheer him, to Sandor's surprise and embarrassment.

King Robert dies following a hunting accident. Sandor stands guard over King Joffrey as his advisers and vassals swear fealty to him. When Eddard attempts to have Joffrey and Cersei arrested, Sandor joins the Lannister soldiers and men of the City Watch in cutting down Eddard's bodyguards, allowing him to be taken prisoner. Sandor leads a party of Lannister guardsmen to the Red Keep where they slaughter Eddard's entourage and capture Sansa.

Sandor guarded Joffrey during the execution of Eddard Stark on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. Joffrey holds court, trying the singer Marillion for making up a 'funny' song about Robert and Cersei. Joffrey asks Marillion if he wants to keep his hands or tongue, and Marillion chooses his hands. Joffrey then takes Sansa to see her father's head and cruelly mocks her, even having Ser Meryn Trant beat her when she suggests that Robb might win the war. When the Hound alone notices that Sansa plans to throw Joffrey from the battlements, he offers Sansa a handkerchief for her bloodied mouth, rescuing Sansa from Joffrey's rage as well as Joffrey from a quick death.

Season 2

 * Main: Sandor Clegane Season 2

Sandor fights in King Joffrey Baratheon's name day tournament, killing his opponent. Joffrey has Sansa Stark stripped and publicly beaten following Robb Stark's victory at the Battle of Oxcross. Sandor gives her his cloak to cover herself after Tyrion Lannister orders an end to the beating.

Joffrey's rule sees increasing public dissent. While in public he is hit by thrown excrement and triggers a citywide riot by demanding the deaths of all the smallfolk present. Sandor fights through the crowd to get him to safety and then goes back for Sansa, rescuing her from a gang of would be rapists.

Sansa approaches Sandor to thank him for rescuing her. He tells her that he revels in killing and she questions his hatefulness. He says that she will one day be glad of the hateful things he does when he is all that stands between her and Joffrey. Sandor later catches Sansa and Shae trying to conceal evidence of Sansa's first period. He informs Queen Cersei Lannister, who begins to mentally prepare Sansa for motherhood.

He guards Joffrey during the Battle of the Blackwater. He is horrified when Tyrion uses Wildfire to decimate the attacking fleet. Tyrion orders him to lead a sortie to repel Stannis Baratheon's troops from the Mud Gate. He kills several men but is overwhelmed by his fear of fire and freezes in the midst of the fighting. He is nearly killed but Bronn intervenes, saving his life. He retreats back inside the walls and demands wine to drink. After being chastised by Tyrion Lannister, Sandor deserts from the Kingsguard and leaves the battle. When Sansa Stark retreats to her chamber for safety, the Hound is sitting in the shadows waiting for her. He offers to protect Sansa and take her north to Winterfell. She refuses him, believing that Stannis Baratheon has won the battle and that she will be safe once his men find her. He explains that she will be surrounded by killers and promises to protect her.

Quotes
"If any man dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse!"

- Sandor Clegane leading his troops in the Battle of the Blackwater.

"Fuck the kingsguard, fuck the city, fuck the king."

- Sandor Clegane to Joffrey Baratheon and Tyrion Lannister, during the Battle of the Blackwater.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Clegane is a minor vassal house sworn to the Lannisters. Ser Gregor Clegane is an eight-foot-tall warrior, the "Mountain That Rides" and the most feared warrior in the Seven Kingdoms, and Sandor's older brother. The Clegane brothers detest one another, resulting in Sandor leaving home at a young age to work as a sellsword and freerider. Sandor is known as "the Hound" for the three dogs which are his house emblem and for his fierce loyalty to House Lannister.

In the books, it is the other half of Sandor's face that is burned. His burns are also more severe than prosthetics can easily show on the TV series: his jawbone is exposed, as the skin above it was completely burned away, and his ear on the burned side is completely gone, leaving only a hole.

The history of Clegane's burns is revealed to Sansa Stark by Clegane himself, and delivered with a warning that he will kill her if she ever reveals it to anyone. In the television adaption, Littlefinger informs Sansa of the origins of Clegane's burned face as they attend the Hand's Tournament in King's Landing, with the same ominous warning as to what will happen to her should she tell anyone else.

In A Game of Thrones Clegane shuns the traditional white plate armor of the Kingsguard, instead opting to wear his white cloak over his original gray armor. This is not the case on the show.