Viserys III Targaryen

Born in the year 276, Viserys III Targaryen, known as the Beastly King, is the second son of King Aerys II Targaryen and Queen Rhaella Targaryen. Since the death of his father and older brother, he is the legitimate heir of the Seven Crowns.

The rebellion of Robert Baratheon forced him to go into exile, along with his sister Daenerys, in the free cities. Physically, Viserys looks a lot like the late Prince Rhaegar, but is shorter. His hair is silver-gold and his feverish lilac-colored eyes give him an unlovable look.

Proud and ambitious, he believes he is the "last dragon". His ultimate goal is to regain his throne, and he will do anything to do so. Marked by the forced exile and the progressive loss of his prestige, he is easily angered, brutal and contemptuous, especially towards his sister.

However, and although these character traits seem to partially predate the exile, Viserys also knows how to be delicate and attentive towards Daenerys.

After having been given false promises by the powerful of the free cities and having become a "fairground phenomenon", Viserys has developed a deep bitterness coupled with a certain blindness about his condition and his chances of regaining his throne one day.

Before AGOT

The birth of Prince Viserys is celebrated by a tournament given by Lord Tywin Lannister in Port-Lannis.

According to Ser Barristan Selmy, while still a child, Viserys suffered bouts of insanity not unlike those of his father. In 283, during Robert Baratheon's rebellion, after the battle of the Trident and the death of his brother Prince Rhaegar, King Aerys sent him and his mother to take refuge in Peyredragon.

It was in the fortress that the queen lost her life while giving birth to her sister, Daenerys. Having fled Peyredragon before the arrival of Lord Stannis Baratheon's fleet, Viserys and his sister, protected by their last loyalist, Ser Willem Darry, took refuge in Braavos.

After his death, they wander through the free cities (Myr, Tyrosh, Qohor, Volantis and Lys), fleeing the Usurper's killers and taking advantage of the hospitality of the nobles.

Little by little, however, the doors are closing in front of them, as the Baratheon dynasty seems to be definitively installed on the Iron Throne. After being forced to sell their last family possessions, including his mother's crown (which broke all joy in him forever), Viserys earned the nickname "The Beggar King".

During this period, Viserys sometimes bursts into violent anger against his sister, especially when he considers her unworthy of his quality of "dragon's blood", and does not hesitate to brutalize her. He berates her for causing the death of their mother at her birth and even blames her for being born too late to marry their older brother Rhaegar, whom he believes could have cured his melancholy.

However, he can be protective and tender, telling her many stories about the Seven Crowns and promising her a lavish existence after she takes the throne.

These years are harsh, with the exiles often experiencing cold, hunger and fear (but never disease, which Viserys blames on their ancestry, which would make them immune).

They are finally sheltered by Master Illyrio Mopatis, a rich merchant and magistrate of Pentos, to whom Viserys promises, in exchange for his kindness, to make him lord and Grand Argentier when he has reconquered the Seven Crowns.

In AGOT

On the advice of his host, Master Illyrio Mopatis of Pentos, Viserys decides to "give" his sister in marriage to Khal Drogo, in exchange for an army to reconquer the Iron Throne.

He estimates that he needs ten thousand men to take back the throne, helped by the Tyrells, Redwyne, Darry and Greyjoy, who he thinks are still secretly loyal to the Targaryens. During the presentation party of the two future spouses, they are introduced to an exiled Westeros nobleman, Ser Jorah Mormont, who offers Viserys the services of his sword.

On the eve of the wedding, Viserys tries to break into his sister's room, which he has long desired, believing that since he cannot have her hand, at least her virginity is his. But Master Illyrio has guards posted to prevent him from carrying out his plan.

At the time of the wedding, he gives his sister three maids (actually provided by Illyrio) as a wedding present: Irri to learn how to ride, Jhiqui to learn the Dothrak language, and Doreah to master the female art of love.

When the Khalasar leaves for Vaes Dothrak, Viserys scorns Illyrio Mopatis' hospitality, preferring to follow his sister to ensure that the Khal keeps his promise.

But his mediocre riding skills and incessant recriminations make him held in low esteem by the Dothraki, Ser Jorah Mormont, and even Daenerys herself. The latter even ends up hitting him and humiliating him in front of the whole khalasar by forcing him to walk.

Viserys is then nicknamed Khal Rhae Mhar by the Dothraki of the Khalasar, then Khal Rhaggat when he accepts to be transported in a cart, seeing it wrongly as an honor.

In his obsession to regain his throne and his contempt for the Dothraki, Viserys did not understand that by "offering" his sister to the Khal, he had made her a queen (a khaleesi), and that he can no longer afford to disrespect her. He believes he has thus "bought" an army.

But Khal Drogo is not a merchant: he neither buys nor sells anything; he receives gifts, and can make other gifts in return, but at his own time, and according to his own will. By harassing him, and by disrespecting his wife, Viserys offends him.

Finally, on the night that the fate of Rhaego, Daenerys and Drogo's future son, is revealed by the dosh khaleen, Viserys goes overboard. He tries to take the dragon eggs to buy mercenaries, but is prevented by Ser Jorah.

He then gets drunk, and bursts into the middle of the banquet, demanding a place on the platform of honor, but he is once again humiliated by Drogo. He then draws his sword and threatens Daenerys with it, even though all metal weapons and bloodshed are forbidden in Vaes Dothrak, on pain of a curse.

He asks Drogo for his crown, and Drogo answers that he will give him a crown before which men will tremble. Viserys, disconcerted, smiles and lowers his weapon, and he is quickly overpowered by Drogo's warriors.

Drogo then melts the heavy gold medallions from his belt and puts them on Viserys' head, screaming, without spilling a drop of his blood. Viserys' death makes Daenerys the last of the Targaryen line.

In AFFC

After the arrest of his daughter Arianne, Prince Doran Martell reveals to her that he had planned for her to marry Prince Viserys, although neither of the two would-be spouses knew of the plan. This plan seems to have involved the Archon of Tyrosh, whose daughter was Prince Doran's ward at the Water Gardens.

In ADWD

Wandering hungry in the Dothrak Sea, Daenerys is overcome with vomiting and violent diarrhea after eating many green berries. Falling asleep, she dreams of her brother, as she last saw him, burned and disfigured by molten gold.

He bitterly reproaches her for not having mourned him, for having betrayed him and for having been ungrateful. He is as insulting, contemptuous and arrogant as ever, concluding that the dragon eggs should have been his, for he would have taught the world the meaning of their motto. When she wakes up, Daenerys discovers her thighs covered with blood, perhaps her moon blood.