AI Depicts How Game of Thrones Characters ‘Should’ Appear

When “Game of Thrones” aired its first episode back in 2011, viewers who didn’t recognize the difference between Starks and Stannis had no idea how significantly the show’s young characters would impact the world over its eight-year run. What might be even more surprising is how young they are depicted in the books compared to the show. Thanks to a YouTube video from AI enthusiast How Not to AI Art, we now have a view of what some key characters who shaped the Seven Kingdoms might have originally looked like. Interestingly, many of the Stark family members and other significant characters appear far younger than their on-screen counterparts.

In the show, many characters had their ages modified from the source material. For instance, Ned Stark is around 35 years old in the book while actor Sean Bean, who portrayed Ned, was around 52 at the time. Also, Ned didn’t resemble John Wick in the books—if he had, he might’ve taken King’s Landing solo without any harm coming to his direwolf. Even the older Stark children in the books were much younger than the characters we saw in the hit fantasy series.

Remember when Robb Stark (Richard Madden) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) were just sprouting facial hair and growing into their cloaks on “Game of Thrones”? Well, author George R. R. Martin envisioned them and other young characters in his epic (and still unfinished) story at an even more youthful age in his books. For instance, Kit Harington was 24 at the start of Season 1, whereas in the source material, Jon Snow is about 15 when he heads off to take the black and stand guard at the Wall. Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is only 9 when she witnesses her father’s execution, making her transformation into a skilled assassin even more remarkable.

Alarmingly, the youngest Stark children are depicted as even younger. Bran Stark (Hempstead Wright) was 7 in the books and 10 in the show’s first season. Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) was only 13 at the beginning of the story, making her initial encounter with Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) even more disturbing, thus justifying an age adjustment for the show. Notably, the perfect casting that mirrors the book’s vision is Ghost, who looks exactly as he does in the series. Well done, HBO.

For more Westeros-inspired AI creations, check out “Game of Thrones” as a 1950s TV show.