Eddard Stark's illegitimate son, raised alongside his trueborn siblings at Winterfell but never allowed to forget his bastardy. Jon chooses to join the Night's Watch, seeking purpose and belonging at the edge of the known world.

The eldest son of Randyll Tarly, sent to the Wall by a father who despised his gentle, bookish nature. Overweight, timid, and self-deprecating, Sam is everything a warrior is not – but he possesses a quiet courage and a keen mind.

The elderly, blind maester of the Night's Watch at Castle Black. Few know that he is a Targaryen prince who refused the Iron Throne decades ago, choosing service over power.

A former brother of the Night's Watch who deserted and rose to unite the fractious wildling clans under his leadership. Charismatic, cunning, and a skilled warrior, Mance seeks to lead his people south of the Wall – not for conquest, but survival.

Eddard Stark's younger brother and First Ranger of the Night's Watch. Disappears beyond the Wall early in the first book and becomes an absence around which much of Jon Snow's story is organised.

The master-at-arms of Castle Black, a former Targaryen loyalist who was sent to the Wall after the rebellion. A hard man made harder by decades of thankless duty, he takes an immediate and undisguised dislike to Jon Snow from the moment he arrives at the Wall.

A steward of the Night's Watch and one of Jon Snow's closest companions at the Wall. Famous for his relentlessly gloomy outlook and dry wit, Edd is more capable than his self-deprecation suggests. One of the series' best comic voices.

A wildling girl from Craster's Keep, one of the daughters Craster keeps as wives. Escapes with Samwell Tarly when Craster's Keep falls. Resilient and observant despite a life of appalling circumstances.