House Lannister

Hear Me Roar: the lions of Casterly Rock.

House Lannister is the series' main antagonistic faction, one of the great houses of the Seven Kingdoms and the principal house of the Westerlands. Its seat is Casterly Rock, it holds the title Wardens of the West, and its arms show a golden lion on crimson with the words Hear Me Roar!

Quick Facts

Seat: Casterly Rock
Region: The Westerlands
Words: Hear Me Roar!
Sigil: Golden lion on crimson

Lore & Background

The Lannisters began as a First Men dynasty descended from the trickster Lann the Clever, who swindled Casterly Rock from House Casterly, and ruled as Kings of the Rock. They built up the nearby city of Lannisport and made the Reynes of Castamere their vassals, and after the Andal invasion became an Andal bloodline under a First Men name.

Reader's Guide

In the series the house is led by Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport and Warden of the West, and his children Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion.

Like many houses they kept a Valyrian steel heirloom, the sword Brightroar, lost when King Tommen II sailed to Valyria with it and never returned. They fought beside House Gardener against Aegon's conquest, lost their combined armies at the Field of Fire, and King Loren Lannister surrendered to become Warden of the West.