Daemon I Blackfyre

He was conceived while his mother, Princess Daena, was held in the Maidenvault, and he was born in King's Landing late in 170 AC. Daena named him after one of her ancestors and always refused to say who his father was, raising him alone.

He grew up in the Red Keep, taught by maesters and by the finest arms-men at court, among them the castle's master-at-arms, Ser Quentyn Ball. Despite his youth he soon proved an exceptional fighter with a real love of combat.

On his twelfth nameday, after distinguishing himself in a squires' tourney, his own father knighted him and publicly acknowledged him as his son. The king gave him Blackfyre, the Valyrian steel sword that had belonged to Aegon the Conqueror, along with lands and other honors, and from then on Daemon took that name for himself and founded a new house with it.

After Aegon IV died, Daeron II honored his father's promise and paid the Archon of Tyrosh the dowry agreed so that his daughter Rohanne could marry Daemon. Daemon said he did not want the marriage, but in the end accepted it out of respect for both his parents' wishes. On his wedding day Daeron granted him land by the Blackwater to build a castle, and with Rohanne he went on to have seven sons and at least two daughters.

He may also have been granted the title of prince around this time, since Ser Eustace Osgrey referred to him as such. After Aegon IV legitimized his bastards on his deathbed, Daemon waited some time before moving against the throne, urged on by advisers such as his half-brother Aegor Rivers and his friend Quentyn Ball.

It is believed the spark was the wedding of Princess Daenerys to Prince Maron Martell of Dorne: Daemon competed in the tourney held for that marriage and was beaten in the joust by his own nephew, Prince Baelor. He was said to love the princess, though whether she felt the same is uncertain. Twelve years after his father's death, Daemon declared himself the rightful heir and rose against Daeron II, drawing followers through his fighting reputation, his possession of Blackfyre, and the resentment many felt toward Dornish customs and the king's bookish court.

The rebellion's decisive battle was fought at the Redgrass Field. Ser Eustace Osgrey, who fought on the rebel side, said Daemon fought "like the Warrior himself", and there he defeated Kingsguard knight Ser Gwayne Corbray in single combat that lasted nearly an hour. Rather than charge Prince Maekar's forces, Daemon stopped to protect the badly wounded Corbray and helped carry him from the field.

Meanwhile Brynden Rivers and his archers, the Raven's Teeth, took a high position and rained arrows on Daemon's troops. Daemon himself was killed in the attack along with his twin sons, Aemon and Aegon, and with their deaths the rebels' chances of victory collapsed.

Daemon's surviving sons went into exile together with Aegor Rivers, and their descendants would rise in rebellion at least four more times, until Maelys the Monstrous, the last of that line, fell to Ser Barristan Selmy at the end of the War of the Ninepenny Kings.