User:The White Winged Fury/Sobriquets

WORK IN PROGRESS
"He asked me to stop calling myself Blackfish. Said it was an old joke, and it was never funny to begin with. I told him people have been calling me "Blackfish" for so long they don't remember my real name."

- Brynden Tully

Throughout Westeros it is common for members of the nobility to be known by a moniker. These names are often used in conjuncture with the persons birth name, and regularly appear in legal documents such as royal summons, bills of attainment, and decrees of legitimacy. Such names are, for all intents and purposes "official" and are often committed to the pages of history, with nobles being remembered by their monikers centuries after their deaths.

It is common practice for a knight to adopt their own moniker in order to add to their prestige, and help their legend grow. Sometimes, however, an individual with have their new name chosen for them, with a derogatory nickname sticking and following them for the rest of their lives.

Many factors can go into the fashioning of a moniker. They frequently include a reference to the person's sigil, or evoke a deed performed (great or terrible), or may simply be a reference to the person's physical appearance, or describe their personality. Some knights as so unimaginative as to simply affix their place of birth to their own name, Ser Hugh of the Vale, Ser Marlon of Tumblestones etc.

Known monikers
"When you hear them whispering "Kingslayer" behind your back doesn't it bother you?"

- Tywin Lannister to Jaime Lannister
 * The Kingslayer, Ser Jaime Lannister; named for the murder of King Aerys II Targaryen during the Sack of King's Landing.
 * The Imp, Tyrion Lannister; named on account of his dwarfism. Also known as the Halfman, or the Little Lion.
 * The Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane; named for his immense size. Alternately known as the "Mountain That Rides", and disparagingly as "Tywin Lannister's Mad Dog".
 * The Hound, Sandor Clegane; named both for the sigil of House Clegane (three black dogs) and for the helmet that he wears, which is wrought in the form of a snarling hound.
 * The Young Wolf, King Robb Stark; named for the sigil of House Stark (a direwolf) and for his youth, and tenacity in battle.
 * The Red Viper, Prince Oberyn Martell; named for his expertise with poison, which he regularly employs in combat.
 * The Blackfish, Ser Brynden Tully; named the black sheep of House Tully by his older brother Hoster, Brynden pointed out that the sigil of their house is a trout, not a sheep, and so took a black trout as his personal sigil in place of the silver Tully one.
 * The Bold, Ser Barristan Selmy; named after entering a tournament as a mystery knight at the age of ten.
 * The Last Dragon, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen
 * The Mad King, King Aerys II Targaryen
 * The Knight of the Flowers, Ser Loras Tyrell; a noted tourney knight, Ser Loras wears a suit of armor engraved with roses. A golden rose being the sigil of House Tyrell.
 * The Queen of Thornes, Lady Olenna Tyrell, named for her sharp wit and cutting barbs.
 * The Beauty, Lady Brienne of Tarth
 * The Spider, Varys
 * Littlefinger, Lord Petyr Baelish; dubbed during his boyhood by Edmure Tully in reference to his short height, and the fingers.
 * The Usurper, King Robert Baratheon; named by Targaryen loyalists due to his successfully rebellion against Aerys II Targaryen.
 * The Onion Knight, Ser Davos Seaworth; named after being knighted by Stannis Baratheon, who he saved from starvation by smuggling a boatload of onions through the siege lines. The name is intended as mockery of Davos' lowborn status.

Bastard monikers
"He's the Bastard of Winterfell, Ned Stark's blood"

- Ygritte to the Lord of Bones

It is common for bastards to be known simply as the "Bastard of" followed by either the name of the noble parent's seat or house. This further demonstrates the suspicious light in which Westerosi view bastards: They are automatically considered infamous, and are labelled accordingly, without being given the oppertunity to forge a name and reputation for themselves.
 * The Bastard of Winterfell, Jon Snow
 * The Bastard of Bolton, Ramsay Bolton
 * The Bastard of Godsgrace, Ser Daemon Sand
 * The Sand Snakes, the bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell are collectively named in reference to their father's moniker and the name for bastards in Dorne.

Historical monikers

 * The Black Dragon, Daemon Blackfyre.
 * The Tall, Ser Duncan; named for his great height.
 * The Monstrous, Maelys Blackfyre; named for his grotesque appearance, a result of absorbing his twin sibling in the womb.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels most nobles are also known by sobriquets. This is based on real historical practices. .