Portrayed by Rory McCann

Status: Deceased

Origin: Clegane's Keep

Episode Appearances: 38

First Seen: ‘Winter Is Coming’

Last Seen: ‘The Bells’

BACKGROUND

Sandor Clegane, popularly known as the Hound, is a skilled warrior in the service of House Lannister, known primarily for his fierce demeanor and lack of chivalry. Sandor is the younger brother of Ser Gregor Clegane, a monstrously huge knight and arguably the most feared man in Westeros. In his youth, Gregor nearly burned off half of Sandor's face because he found Sandor playing with a toy that Gregor had discarded. The incident left severe burn scars over the right half of Sandor's face, thus he usually wears his hair long on that side to cover them. Instead of blaming Gregor, their father merely stated Sandor's bed caught fire. Ever since, Sandor has been deeply afraid of fire.

Although not as large as his older brother, Sandor is very large and a formidable fighter in his own right, considered one of the most skilled and dangerous men in Westeros. Sandor gutted his first man in combat when he was twelve years old, likely as a young soldier during Robert's Rebellion. Sandor finds killing to be the best thing in the world, and although he isn't a crazed killer like his brother, he cynically pursues occupations as a bodyguard and soldier which allow him to kill legally. After seeing his brother knighted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen despite being an infamously dishonorable man, Sandor became jaded with knighthood and developed an extreme contempt for romances and songs which present knights and wars as chivalrous and glorious, knowing all too well that supposedly honorable knights frequently butcher the innocent while claiming glory. Thus, Sandor has steadfastly refused to be knighted or take holy vows. Sandor wears a dark set of heavy armor when in battle, and is known to wear a custom helmet shaped like a snarling hound's head, after his family's sigil. He rides a personal warhorse called Stranger, whose namesake is the seventh and final god in the Faith of the Seven who represents death and the unknown.