Gregor Clegane
Ser Gregor Clegane, called the Mountain That Rides, is a knight of terrifying size and implacable ferocity, standing well over seven feet tall with massive shoulders and arms thick as tree trunks. He is a bannerman to Lord Tywin Lannister, and his savage actions—from the murder of innocents to the slaughter of a royal prince and princess—make him one of the most feared and reviled figures in the Seven Kingdoms, a living weapon of Lannister will whose brutality ignites the war between the Starks and Lannisters.
Identity and Background
Gregor Clegane is the elder brother of Sandor Clegane, the Hound, and the head of House Clegane, a landed knightly house sworn to Casterly Rock. He is a solitary man who seldom leaves his own lands except for wars and tourneys. He was a new-made knight of seventeen years when King's Landing fell, already distinguished by his immense size and his implacable ferocity. Some say it was Gregor who dashed the skull of the infant prince Aegon Targaryen against a wall and afterward raped the mother, Princess Elia of Dorne, before putting her to the sword. These things are not said in Gregor's hearing. He is soon to be married for the third time, and dark whisperings surround the deaths of his first two wives. His keep is said to be a grim place where servants disappear unaccountably and even the dogs are afraid to enter the hall. There had been a sister who died young under queer circumstances, and the fire that disfigured his brother Sandor, and the hunting accident that killed their father. Gregor inherited the keep, the gold, and the family estates.
Key Actions and Objectives
Gregor Clegane's defining characteristic is his capacity for unrestrained violence, which he exercises as an instrument of Lannister policy. At the tourney of the Hand, he kills a young knight from the Vale by driving his lance through the boy's throat, a blow that Ser Sandor later implies was deliberate, noting that Gregor's lance goes where he wants it to go. When the Knight of Flowers, Ser Loras Tyrell, unhorses him in a joust, Gregor kills his own horse with a single savage blow and then attacks Ser Loras, nearly killing him before being stopped by his brother. Most devastatingly, he leads a raid into the riverlands under cover of night, without banners, burning holdfasts and slaughtering smallfolk. At Wendish Town, his men pile straw against the timbered walls and burn the people alive; when they flee the fire, they are shot down with arrows. The survivors describe him as a giant with a voice like stone breaking, confirming his identity to the lords of the Trident. This raid, ordered by Lord Tywin, is a deliberate provocation designed to draw the Tullys into war.
Relationships and Conflict
Gregor's most significant relationship is with his brother, Sandor Clegane. Sandor bears a deep, festering hatred for Gregor, stemming from an incident in their childhood when Gregor shoved the side of Sandor's face into a brazier, burning him horribly, for the crime of taking a toy wooden knight. Their father told everyone Sandor's bedding had caught fire. Gregor was anointed with the seven oils and knighted years later, while Sandor carries the scars and the memory. At the tourney, when Gregor attacks Ser Loras, Sandor intervenes, and the two brothers fight, hammering at each other until the king stops them. Sandor never sends a cut at his brother's unprotected face, but the enmity is absolute. Gregor serves Lord Tywin Lannister as a brutal enforcer, and his actions make him the target of Lord Eddard Stark's justice. Ned Stark denounces him, attaints him, strips him of all rank and titles, and sentences him to death, sending Lord Beric Dondarrion to bring him to justice.
Narrative Role and Evaluation
Gregor Clegane functions as a force of nature, a monster in human form whose presence signals the collapse of civilized order. He is a flat character in the Forsterian sense, built around a single idea of overwhelming, remorseless violence, but he is instantly recognizable and deeply effective. His actions—the murder of Rhaegar's children, the raid on the riverlands, the killing at the tourney—are not merely crimes but political acts that drive the plot forward. He is the embodiment of Lannister power at its most naked and terrifying, a sword without a conscience. His brother Sandor, who bears the physical and psychological scars of Gregor's cruelty, serves as a dark mirror, showing what Gregor might have been and what he has made of those around him. Gregor's survival and continued freedom, even after being sentenced to death, underscores the lawlessness of the realm and the impotence of justice in the face of raw power.
