Ser Gregor Clegane, often referred to as the Mountain That Rides, or more simply just the Mountain, is an anointed knight of House Clegane, the head of House Clegane, and the landed knight of Clegane's Keep. He is the elder brother of Sandor Clegane, and a sworn bannerman of Lord Tywin Lannister
Appearance and Personality[]
Gregor Clegane is a gigantic man, arguably the largest man in Westeros (surpassing all of the Baratheon brothers, Hodor and his own brother Sandor), with great arms, an ugly voice like stone breaking, grey eyes, brown hair and large shoulders. His size means that he wears plate armour so heavy that no other man will be able to walk in it, much less stand or fight in it. His armour usually comes with a plate helm with a fist punching up at the sky. As a result of his size, Gregor is unbelievably strong, widely considered the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms. Wielding a six-foot greatsword, Gregor is virtually impossible to overcome, capable of cutting a man clean in half and even taking the head off a horse with a single blow.
The Mountain That Rides is one of the cruellest, most hated men in the kingdoms, and one of its most dangerous inhabitants. Instinctively extremely violent and aggressive, with zero qualms for savagery, his infamy throughout Westeros is that of a man who has slaughtered and terrorised thousands of people and commited crimes beyond counting or consideration; he has raped, burned, murdered and pillaged people by the score, all without a second's thought and without an ounce of regret or compassion. Gregor's crimes extend even further when one considers rampant rumours that he slew his sister, father and both of his wives - his father out of ambition to rise in power, making him lord of Clegane's Keep. The death of his wives, and an uncountable number of servants at his keep, are most likely due to minor, even insignificant, offences, since Gregor has a notoriety for flying into fits of rage for the smallest of things. Even in the case of his disfiguring Sandor, Gregor wasn't even interested in the toy, having already moved on to actual combat; he did what he did because he had an excuse, because the toy had belonged to him, or purely because he was capable of doing so.
Gregor's strength still inspires terror in other people, which is the main reason for Tywin Lannister using him for so long, considering him a necessary beast. Gregor is unfailingly obedient to anyone who gives him a bloody deed to do, following the likes of Tywin Lannister into battle and carrying out the man's orders in the most brutal way possible. Tywin himself admitted that he originally underestimated what the young Gregor was capable of, and that Gregor's worst crime of murdering Elia Martell and her children had been because he hadn't explicitly told the man to spare them.
Gregor is one of the most terrifying warriors that the westerlands have to offer, and very few men are even brave enough to meet him blow-for-blow. One of these men is his worst enemy of them all, Sandor Clegane, who has hated him his whole life for leaving permanent burn scars on his face in a fit of cruel rage. Sandor has desired ever since to kill him, and has been embittered against the concept of knighthood as a result of Gregor's cruelty and how the Seven Kingdoms have pretty much anointed him for it.
Gregor is fully aware of his own strength, instinctively killing with his bare hands. He has a monstrous temper, going wild after being unhorsed in a tourney against Loras Tyrell and attempting to cut him down publicly moments later. However, the downside to all of this is that strength is all that Gregor really has - he is neither a strategist, nor a clever man, nor a genuinely skilled warrior. In fact, Oberyn Martell proves this by not only matching him blow-for-blow, but by repeatedly wounding him (something that hundreds of people have failed to do), through speed, skill and cunning. Gregor's wounds, wrath and pain compelled him to confess finally to the murders he committed of Princess Elia and her children.
Despite the Hound being labelled the antithesis of the true knight, Gregor is in fact the true candidate for that, considering that knighthood has enabled him to do nothing but wreak total havoc across Westeros, and he does not respect nor care for the weak, poor or defenceless.
History[]
Gregor is the elder child of Ser Clegane, and the elder brother to Sandor, and an unnamed sister. When Gregor was eleven or twelve, a woodcarver came to his father's keep and gave both him and his brother Sandor magnificent toys. Gregor rapidly lost interest in his own gift, having already taken passionately to combat, but Sandor had not. When Gregor once caught Sandor playing with one of Gregor's toys, a puppet knight, Gregor wordlessly pressed his brother's face against a brazier. Their father pretended that the resulting permanent scars on Sandor were a result of a bed catching fire, but Sandor hated his brother ever since.
Four years after this incident, Gregor Clegane was knighted by none other than Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone, the heir to the Iron Throne. Soon afterwards, Gregor's father died in a hunting accident, though some have suggested that he may done the deed himself. Gregor then inherited Clegane's Keep, and Sandor went to serve House Lannister at Casterly Rock.
During the Sack of King's Landing, Ser Gregor and Ser Amory Lorch scaled the walls of Maegor's Holdfast. Ser Amory butchered Rhaegar's daughter, Princess Rhaenys, whilst Gregor smashed Prince Aegon's head against the wall, and then raped and murdered the boy's mother, Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. The butchery of the Targaryen children is common knowledge in the Westerlands, but simply rumour elsewhere.
Gregor Clegane was reportedly a participant in the Greyjoy's Rebellion.
Books[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Ser Gregor rides during the Hand's Tourney, where he reaches the final four combatants. In his second tilt, he kills Ser Hugh of the Vale, when his lance pierces his throat, and the newly-made knight chokes on his own blood. Sandor speculates that Gregor noticed his opponent's gorget was poorly fastened, and so specifically targeted the area with the intent to kill. He also successfully unhorses Ser Balon Swann. The following day, Gregor jousts with Ser Loras Tyrell, who rides a mare in heat, to provoke Gregor's stallion. After being thrown from the saddle on the first pass, Gregor grows angry, summons his sword, and butchers his horse, before attacking Loras. Sandor intervenes, and the two fight, until King Robert I Baratheon intervenes. Gregor then storms away, and is allowed to leave. Varys later speculates the same as Sandor, that Gregor killed Hugh on purpose, in an attempt to silence him.
Gallery[]
