Podrick Payne

Podrick is born into a lesser, impoverished branch of House Payne. His father, squire to wealthier relatives, dies during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and his mother abandons him at age four for a wandering singer. He ends up raised by Ser Cedric Payne, and as a boy keeps a dog he calls Hero.

Ser Cedric dies fighting in the riverlands, in Lord Tywin Lannister's army, and Podrick is left alone. He briefly serves a hedge knight, Ser Lorimer, hanged for stealing a ham; Podrick, who had eaten from it too, is spared the noose because of his birth. He then becomes Tyrion Lannister's squire, and it is he who wakes Tyrion at the Crossroads Inn when word arrives of the battle of the Camps, on the eve of the battle of the Green Fork.

In King's Landing, Tyrion places Podrick under Ser Aron Santagar, master-at-arms of the Red Keep, but the training ends when Aron dies in riots in the city. Podrick stays with Tyrion through the battle of the Blackwater, including several sorties beyond the walls. When Ser Mandon Moore tries to kill Tyrion, Podrick shoves him into the river, where the weight of his armor drags him under. Afterward, Tyrion asks him to keep what happened quiet.

Podrick stays by Tyrion's side as he recovers from his wounds, and is among those who welcome the Dornish delegation, identifying their house emblems for his lord. He wears House Payne's purple, white, and gold at the wedding of Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell.

Sansa Stark distrusts him at first, being a cousin of Ser Ilyn Payne, until she notices Podrick fears the headsman as much as she does; every time she speaks to him, he turns red. When Tyrion is imprisoned, Ser Kevan Lannister allows Podrick to keep serving him, and the squire manages to bring Bronn in to visit.

Brienne of Tarth runs into Podrick on the road to Maidenpool while searching for Sansa Stark; Podrick had followed the same hope, thinking Sansa might know where Tyrion is. Brienne agrees to take him along, and on the road Podrick's swordwork improves.

Reaching the Crossroads Inn, they run into the remnants of the Bloody Mummers, and Lady Stoneheart's men capture Podrick along with the rest; found guilty of serving the Lannisters, he is sentenced to hang.