AI Reveals What Game Of Thrones Characters Should Look Like According To The Books

When "Game of Thrones" aired its first episode back in 2011, the uninformed viewers who didn't know their Starks from their Stannis' had no understanding of just how some of the show's young lords and ladies would go on to mold the world they'd be invested in for eight years. What might be even more shocking is just how young they are in the books compared to the show. Thanks to a YouTube video from AI enthusiast How Not to AI Art, we now have a look at what some of the key characters who played a part in sending the Seven Kingdoms into a new age actually looked like. Incredibly, in the case of most of the Stark family tree and some other royal pains, it turns out that they barely looked of age at all.

As displayed in the video, a lot of the characters on the show had their ages altered in comparison to the source material. For example, Ned Stark is around 35 years old in the book, while actor Sean Bean was around 52 at the time. He also didn't look like John Wick, and if he did, he'd have probably stormed King's Landing on his own and not a direwolf would've been harmed in the process. Noble Ned aside, even the oldest Stark children in the books were a lot younger than the versions we followed on the hit fantasy series.

Remember back when the likes of Robb Stark (Richard Madden) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) were just growing into their facial hair let alone their cloaks on "Game of Thrones"? Well, author George R. R Martin had them and a lot of the younger generation of characters in his epic (and ahem, unfinished story) at an even more youthful age in the books. For example, Harington was 24 at the start of Season 1, whereas in the source material, Jon Snow is around 15 when he zips off to take the black and stand watch at the Wall. As for the likes of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), she is only 9 when she watches her pops get the chop, making her epic moments as a child assassin even more impressive.

What is alarming is that the youngest of the Stark litter are of even a younger age. Bran Stark (Hempstead Wright) was 7 in the book and 10 on the show's debut season. Also, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) was only 13 at the start of the story, which makes her initial encounter with Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) even more harrowing; it's understandable why this was altered on the show. Above all though, the perfect casting that nails down the look from the books is Ghost, who looks exactly how he ended up on the series. Well done, HBO.

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