Portrayed by Aidan Gillen

Status: Deceased

Origin: The Fingers

Episode Appearances: 41

First Seen: ‘Lord Snow’

Last Seen: ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’

BACKGROUND

Lord Petyr Baelish, popularly called Littlefinger, is the head of House Baelish and the lord of a minor holding located in a small area within the Fingers, a coastal region in the the Vale of Arryn. House Baelish had very meager origins and no distinguished lineage: Petyr's great-grandfather was a lowly sellsword from Braavos who came to the Vale at the invitation of House Corbray. Petyr's grandfather was a poor hedge knight, who managed to earn a minor lordship of a few acres in the Fingers. Petyr's father fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, the preemptive assault on the forces of Maelys Blackfyre before they could attempt an invasion of Westeros. During the conflict, Petyr's father served well under Lord Hoster Tully. Through their good relationship, Hoster agreed to foster his eight-year-old son Petyr at Riverrun. There he befriended Hoster's daughters Catelyn and Lysa Tully. Their brother Edmure mockingly nicknamed Petyr "Littlefinger", in reference to his small height at the time and the location of his minor landholdings. The nickname would stick with him throughout his life. Petyr became obsessed with Catelyn, but she never returned his affections. Eventually when she was betrothed to Brandon Stark, Petyr challenged him in a duel, thinking he could win through pluck and courage but he was promptly overpowered. Embittered, Petyr then returned to the Vale.

During the course of Robert's Rebellion, Baelish ingratiated himself into the services of the Hand, Jon Arryn. Seeing his financial acumen, Jon was easily convinced by Lady Lysa to later bring Littlefinger to the royal court at King's Landing, and make him Master of Coin on King Robert Baratheon's small council. In charge of the crown's treasury, Littlefinger has rapidly grown into a powerful player in royal politics and a master of court intrigues. Unscrupulous in his search for power and wealth, he bought multiple brothels in the city. Particularly a high-class brothel catering to the nobles in the city, cynically noting that whores make a better investment than ships because they rarely sink.