 |
| Robert Baratheon by Amok © |
Update (July 2026): (Since the conclusion of the television series, I have gone back and reworked all of the “Top Warriors of Westeros” posts. What began as a Top 10 has now expanded to a full Top 20 in light of the additional material and perspective we gained.
With George R.R. Martin’s remaining books still unwritten, these rankings remain a mix of book canon and informed speculation. The core arguments and personal opinions are unchanged, I’ve simply improved formatting, clarity, spelling, and flow so the series reads better and holds up as a proper archive piece.)
The overall Top 20 Greatest Warriors of the Westeros can be found here.
Continuing, it’s time to add another warrior on the Top 20 countdown of the Greatest Warriors of Westeros in the Song of Ice and Fire. At #7 is Robert Baratheon: King, drunkard, and warrior. An absolute beast with his warhammer, and a monster on the Trident.
Let’s get something straight beforehand: it’s obvious that Robert Baratheon is ing Henry VIII I of England turned up to 11. It’s hardly a revelation. But one important note here: we are talking about Robert at his prime, not when he was the later king, grown down by years of kingship and warring with his wife Cersei.
Robert himself understood it best when talking to Ned in A Game of Thrones, about how he (paraphrasing) wishes he and Ned should become sellswords, drinking, whoring, and fighting across Essos.
In a way this parallels what Spock tells Kirk in Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan:
“If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material.”
And so it was with Robert.
#7-Robert Baratheon
While other knights use sword and lance, Robert uses a hammer to utterly smash his foes into submission, or death, or both. This is no understatement. His hammer is massive and hard to wield for other men, yet in his prime he does it with ease. Presumably he’s trained in the others, but he really doesn’t need them. Want proof? Prince Rhaegar on the Trident — where Robert wrests the crown from the Targaryens — lies smashed to pieces at his feet.
While others might shrink from danger, he tackles it head on to the point of rash foolishness.
Living up to his family’s words “Ours is the Fury” is just part of his character. He’s as tempestuous as they come as the Lord of Storm’s End. Probably fitting that he should wed Cersei Lannister, who is as volatile as he. Anyone who can stand up to that… woman… is pretty damn tough.
The series of books that Martin writes all hinge on the The War of the Usurper, or Robert’s Rebellion as it is also known. It’s the focal point of “before” and “after.” It is the fact that many of the lords rise up in rebellion against the Mad King Aerys after his many atrocities — the leading noble lords and their sons (including Ned’s father and brother Brandon) — sets the stage for the events of the current timeline, culminating with Robert’s rise to king.
The fact that Robert is past his prime by the time of A Game of Thrones is doubly sad, as we see him as the hollow shell of what he once was and greatly unhappy for it. For him, striving for the crown was more of a challenge and more rewarding. Actually governing bores him, so he tells Ned as much in that “that damned chair will rub your ass raw.”
Of all the warriors in the book, Robert has probably fallen the farthest from what he once was. When he fought Prince Rhaegar he crushed his chest and armor, smashing the very ornamentation off of the Prince’s armor as well. And by all accounts Prince Rhaegar was a stout warrior. By the time of A Game of Thrones instead, we get a worn and spent Robert. So much so that Eddard can poke fun at him for getting fat, and Robert at himself telling Lancel Lannister to fetch the "breastplate stretcher" at the Tourney of the Hand.
Just like every character in Martin’s pantheon, Robert is flawed — but in his case, magnified. He is a drunk and above all a womanizer, sleeping with any woman around it seems. His bastards are numerous, his appetites legendary, but it’s clear that Robert was never cut out to be king. His kingship shows how far he has fallen, and it’s Robert’s death in A Game of Thrones that leads to the War of the Five Kings.
Robert makes the list at #7 as a powerful warrior in his prime and for being such a catalyst to the overall story. Robert was relentless. His power faded to the shell that we see him in before his untimely death. But in his prime? Robert was as fearsome as they come.
Of special note is his leadership. Throughout the list it serves as bonus and a tiebreaker of sorts. In that regard he rises to the top. He won a kingdom — hard to beat that.
