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You may think keeping track of the many characters in "Game of Thrones" is already tough, but the reality is there are even more in the original books.
In order to make the series more digestible for a television audience, the HBO showrunners had to leave out many side characters.
We rounded up five abandoned book characters fans were looking forward to seeing onscreen for the HBO adaptation, but wound up never making an appearance. Keep reading to learn more.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones," including un-adapted book material.
Strong Belwas: A bodyguard to Daenerys.
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In the books, Strong Belwas is sent to Daenerys along with Ser Barristan. They both serve her as their queen, and become part of her council and bodyguard. Much to the disappointment of book readers, the show introduced Ser Barristan without Belwas by his side. As the seasons go one, Belwas remains absent.
Belwas is an ex-slave known for his many victories in the fighting pits. He has a big belly covered in scars — one for every man he's killed. At one point, after defeating an enemy of Daenerys', Belwas defecates on the ground near the man's severed head. If only that had made it into the show.
Vargo Hoat: The leader of a mercenary group hired by the Lannisters.
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In the show, Jaime Lannister has his hand chopped off by a plain-looking man named Locke. The book version of this character was Vargo Hoat, a man with a long goatee and strong lisp. Book readers were most looking forward to seeing Hoat refer to Jaime, often called Kingslayer, as "Kingthlayer."
Another one of his classic lines involves Brienne of Tarth, who Hoat mistakenly believes is from the Sapphire Islands, making her a valuable prisoner. "Thee'th worth a bag of thapphireth," he says in the book. But instead of giving viewers the lisping Hoat, showrunners simplified things by having Locke take over this role.
Patchface: A jester and companion to Shireen Baratheon
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Shireen Baratheon, the daughter of Stannis Baratheon who has greyscale, spends a lot of time with a jester named Patchface in the books. His face is covered in red and green motley tattoos — a mark of his former slave life. Patchface speaks in rhymes and incoherent phrases. His brain was damaged after barely surviving a shipwreck, but sometimes his "jests" are creepy and prophetic.
For example: "Fool's blood. King's blood, blood on the maiden's thigh, but chains for the guests and chains for the bridegroom, aye, aye, aye." Not exactly a cheerful rhyme, and it seems to allude to the infamous Red Wedding. Sadly, the showrunners not only left Patchface out the show, but they've now killed off Shireen (who is alive so far in the books).
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
