House Baratheon of King's Landing

"The King Joffrey Baratheon is neither a true king, nor a true Baratheon"

- Robb Stark

House Baratheon of King's Landing is a cadet branch of the original House Baratheon of Storm's End and the royal house of Westeros since the defeat of and exile of the Targaryen dynasty following Robert's Rebellion.

Their seat is the Red Keep in the city of King's Landing and their domains are the lands ruled directly by the Iron Throne, the Crownlands.

Members

 * King {Robert Baratheon}, called "the Usurper" by Targaryen loyalists, the head of the family and the King before his death.
 * His wife, Queen Regent Cersei, of House Lannister.
 * Their eldest son and Robert's heir, Joffrey Baratheon, now the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, dubbed the King on the Iron Throne.
 * Their daughter, Princess Myrcella Baratheon, second in line to the throne. Currently in Dorne as a ward of House Martell, as part of her betrothal to Trystane Martell.
 * Their youngest son, Prince Tommen Baratheon, Joffrey's heir.

Note: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are legally held to be the children of King Robert Baratheon, but they are actually born of incest between Queen Cersei and her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister. This information is not publicly known in Seven Kingdoms except as a rumor and only a few know it to be true. This makes House Baratheon of King's Landing a nigh-cadet branch of House Lannister.

Royal Court and Household

 * King Joffrey's small council:
 * Lord Tywin Lannister, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West and Savior of the City, the Hand of the King.
 * Lord Petyr Baelish, called "Littlefinger", Lord of Harrenhal, the Master of Coin
 * Grand Maester Pycelle, advisor and healer.
 * Lord Varys, called "the Spider", the Master of Whisperers.


 * King Joffrey's Kingsguard:
 * Ser Jaime Lannister, called "the Kingslayer", Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, en route to King's Landing.
 * Ser Meryn Trant
 * Ser Boros Blount
 * Ser Preston Greenfield
 * Ser {Mandon Moore}, killed by Podrick Payne during the Battle of the Blackwater
 * Ser Arys Oakheart, currently in Dorne as Princess Myrcella's sworn shield.
 * Sandor Clegane, called "the Hound", deserted during the Battle of the Blackwater.


 * Lady Margaery Tyrell, King Joffrey's betrothed.
 * Ser Loras Tyrell, called "the Knight of Flowers", Lady Margaery's brother.
 * Ser Kevan Lannister, Lord Tywin's brother and adviser.
 * Ser Lancel Lannister, his son, a knight and squire to the late King Robert.
 * Tyrion Lannister, called "the Imp" and "Halfman", former Hand of the King.
 * Podrick Payne, his squire.
 * Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, a sellsword in his service and former Commander of the City Watch, recently elevated to knighthood.
 * Lord Gyles Rosby, Lord of Rosby
 * Ser Aron Santagar, master-at-arms of the Red Keep.
 * Ser Ilyn Payne, the King's Justice.
 * Princess Sansa Stark, a hostage of the Iron Throne.
 * Shae, handmaiden to Princess Sansa, a former camp follower and Tyrion Lannister's favorite.
 * Lothor Brune, a freerider in the service of Lord Baelish.
 * Septa Eglantine, Princess Myrcella's governess. Currently in Dorne with Myrcella.
 * Dontos Hollard, once called "Ser Dontos the Red", a former knight and King Joffrey's fool.her.

History
After Joffrey succeeded Robert as king, he changed the heraldry of his House from a crowned stag, to a crowned stag and a lion rampant, giving equal standing to his mother's family, House Lannister. Metaphorically revealing Joffrey's "true colors", this reflects how he was never particularly close to Robert, while he was doted on and indulged by Cersei, so he always thought of himself more as a Lannister.

Soon after Joffrey took the throne, Stannis Baratheon sent letters across all of Westeros, revealing that none of Cersei's children, including Joffrey, were Robert's children. Rather, they were all bastards of incest fathered by Cersei's own twin brother Jaime. Stannis discovered this in a letter sent to him by Eddard Stark just before he was executed on Joffrey's orders. Stannis therefore declared himself Robert's lawful successor as king, being his oldest brother.

Robert's youngest brother Renly Baratheon had already declared his claim to the throne as soon as Robert died, based solely on the fact that Joffrey was an insane monster unsuitable to rule, and Cersei Lannister's puppet. The rumors that Joffrey was a bastard of incest only served to strengthen Renly's claim.

While the two surviving Baratheon brothers bickered between themseves over which of the two of them had the better claim to the throne, virtually all of the lords from the Stormlands who were sworn to House Baratheon abandoned Joffrey to declare for either Renly or Stannis (mostly Renly, with a few declaring for Stannis). Other than a few court retainers in King's Landing, which were always more attached to the royal government than the Baratheons and Stormlands, "House Baratheon of King's Landing" contained essentially no links with the historical "House Baratheon" except for the name.

Sworn to House Baratheon of King's Landing

 * House Rosby of Rosby.
 * House Rykker of Duskendale.
 * House Slynt.
 * House Thorne.

In the books
Houses sworn to House Baratheon of King's Landing in the books include:
 * House Blount
 * House Chelsted
 * House Hayford
 * House Hogg of Hogs Sow
 * House Massey of Stonedance
 * House Stokeworth of Stokeworth
 * House Thorne

In the books, it is Stannis Baratheon who first begins to suspect that Robert Baratheon has no true born heirs, but he knew that Robert wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. So he enlisted Jon Arryn's help in his investigations, because Robert listened to Jon. Eddard Stark found out that they travelled together when visiting Gendry at the blacksmith and baby Barra at the brothel, while he was trying to trace Jon Arryn's footsteps. Jon Arryn found the proof in the book of lineages that he borrowed from Grand Maester Pycelle. He died saying "the seed is strong", i.e. black hair is a dominant trait over blonde hair. When Jon Arryn dies suddenly and mysteriously, Stannis leaves King's Landing for Dragonstone. Stannis talks about this to Renly, while negotiating with him at Storm's End. The letter Eddard Stark writes to Stannis saying he is Robert's heir and heir to the Iron Throne never reaches Stannis, and it is used by Cersei as proof of Lord Eddard's treason. While in the Red Keep's dungeon, Ned laments that the truth about Cersei's children was written right on their faces: all three are blonde and look nothing like Robert, but all of Robert's bastard children strongly resemble him.