House Lannister of Casterly Rock

The Lannisters trace their name to Lann the Clever, the trickster of the Age of Heroes who legend says took Casterly Rock from its former lords through wit alone. Their royal blood, though, comes from the Andals: after fighting the invaders, the house chose instead to marry its daughters to them, and when King Gerold III Lannister died without a male heir, the crown passed to his daughter's Andal husband.

They ruled as Kings of the Rock until the Conquest, rivaled in wealth only by House Hightower. Their ancestral Valyrian steel sword, Brightroar, was lost when King Tommen II sailed for the ruins of Valyria and never returned; the Lannisters have been searching for it ever since.

When Aegon Targaryen landed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, King Loren of the Rock joined forces with King Mern of the Reach; it was the only battle of the whole conquest in which Aegon loosed all three dragons at once, and Loren was the one who walked away, swearing fealty to House Targaryen. He kept Casterly Rock and won the title of Warden of the West.

Generations later, Lord Jason Lannister and his brother Tyland backed the Greens in the Dance of the Dragons, at a heavy cost: the Lannister host was wiped out, and Tyland ended up tortured after the fall of King's Landing. Later, Lord Tytos Lannister, Tywin's father, ruled with a softness his own son took as a disgrace to the house.

Tywin inherited a disgraced lordship and forced it back into shape: he seized the lands of House Tarbeck and destroyed the lords of Castamere, a punishment so brutal it gave rise to a song. He earned a reputation as a ruthless strategist and spent years serving as Hand to King Aerys II.

His wife Joanna's death left him crushed, and his children brought him little peace: he undid Tyrion's secret marriage to a girl named Tysha, and was devastated when Jaime joined Aerys II's Kingsguard. When the king also refused to marry his heir to Cersei, Tywin gave up the Handship.

The house stayed out of Robert's Rebellion until the very end, when Tywin marched on the capital and took it under the pretense of coming to Aerys II's aid. He had Rhaegar's wife and children killed and delivered their bodies to Robert Baratheon as proof of loyalty; amid the sack, Jaime killed Aerys II himself.

Once the war ended, Robert sealed the alliance by marrying Cersei. Three children were born of that marriage, whom the realm believed to be his.

Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully began to suspect Cersei and Jaime after the death of the previous Hand of the King, Jon Arryn. When Catelyn captured Tyrion on the road from the Wall, Tywin answered by sending his bannermen against the Riverlands; Eddard, attacked by Jaime in the street, sent troops in his own place.

Tywin and Jaime strung together victories and forced the Tullys to join Robb Stark; at the Battle of the Green Fork, Tywin beat back Roose Bolton without realizing it was a trap, and Robb seized Jaime by surprise.

In the capital, Cersei had her cousin Lancel keep Robert drunk during a hunt; the king died of a boar's wound soon after. With Joffrey crowned, Eddard was executed despite his surrender, and Stannis and Renly rose against the new king.

With Renly backed by the Tyrells and Stannis raising his fleet, Tyrion ran the capital's defense as acting Hand. Renly's death tipped the Tyrells toward the Lannisters, and the combined army arrived in time to break Stannis's siege: wildfire destroyed his fleet at the Battle of the Blackwater, and Joffrey kept the throne.

The victory left the house stronger than ever, with the Tyrells as allies and Tywin back as unquestioned Hand.

Tywin forced Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark, and soon after his son was accused of poisoning Joffrey at the wedding feast with Margaery Tyrell. Convicted, Tyrion demanded trial by combat: he chose the Dornish prince Oberyn Martell as his champion, who died at Gregor Clegane's hands, and the death sentence stood.

Jaime, back in the capital after losing his sword hand, freed Tyrion from his cell after telling him the truth about Tysha. Before fleeing, Tyrion killed his father with a crossbow, and with him went the house's finest hour.

Cersei resumed the regency for her son Tommen and ignored her father's plans, cutting Tyrion out of Casterly Rock's inheritance. Her rule went from bad to worse: she froze the Crown's debts, alienated the Iron Bank and the Faith, and the new High Sparrow eventually had her jailed for adultery and murder.

With Cersei imprisoned, Grand Maester Pycelle recalled Kevan Lannister as Lord Regent, who began undoing her decisions and named Lord Mace Tyrell as Hand. Kevan did not rule for long: Varys had him killed, hoping the death would sow suspicion between Highgarden and Casterly Rock.