Arya Stark

Arya Stark
A Song of Ice and Fire character
Game of Thrones character
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
First appearance
Last appearance
Created byGeorge R. R. Martin
Adapted byD.B. Weiss & David Benioff
(Game of Thrones)
Portrayed byMaisie Williams
Voiced byMaisie Williams (MultiVersus)
In-universe information
Aliases
  • POV aliases:
  • Cat of the Canals
  • The Blind Girl
  • The Ugly Little Girl
  • Mercy
  • Novels:
  • Arya Horseface
  • Arya Underfoot
  • Lumpyhead
  • Lumpyface
  • Stickboy
  • Rabbitkiller
  • Weasel
  • Nymeria
  • Nan
  • Squab
  • Squirrel
  • Blood Child
  • Wolf Girl
  • Salty
  • Night Wolf
  • Blind Beth
  • The Blind Girl
  • The Gorgeous Girl
  • Mercedene
  • Mercy
  • Both mediums:
  • Arry
  • No One
  • Mercy
  • Television:
  • Lanna of the Canals
GenderFemale
OccupationAssassin
FamilyHouse Stark
Significant other
Relatives
OriginWinterfell, The North

Arya Stark is a fictional character in American author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire epic fantasy novel series and its HBO television adaptation Game of Thrones, where she was portrayed by English actress Maisie Williams. She is a prominent point-of-view character in the novels with the third most viewpoint chapters (behind Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow) and is the only character to have a viewpoint chapter in every published book of the series, with her chapters having various alternative titles such as "Cat of the Canal", "The Blind Girl", "The Ugly Little Girl" and "Mercy" from the fourth book onwards.

Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Arya is the third child and youngest daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife Lady Catelyn Stark. She is tomboyish, headstrong, feisty, independent, disdains traditional female pursuits, and is often mistaken for a boy. She wields a castle-forged steel smallsword named "Needle" forged by Mikken, the blacksmith's son of Winterfell, as a parting gift from her half-brother Jon Snow, and is trained in the Braavosi style of sword fighting by Syrio Forel.

Arya is among the most popular characters in the ASOIAF book series, and Maisie Williams' performance in the HBO adaptation has received critical acclaim. In 2016 and 2019, Williams was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[1] She and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

  1. ^ Rice, Lynette (July 14, 2016). "Emmy nominations 2016: See the full list". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 14, 2016.