15 Most Prominent Game Of Thrones Characters (Yet To Appear In The Show)

11. Val - 112 Mentions

Mance Rayder is perhaps the most significant character to have been majorly short-changed by the series. Whilst he led the Wildling armies against the Wall and was sentenced to death by Stannis Baratheon as a result in both mediums, Melisandre opted to keep him alive on the page, using her powers of illusion to switch his appearance with that of Rattleshirt. This enabled Mance to begin covertly supporting Jon Snow, infiltrating Roose Bolton's command of Winterfell.

Another facet of Mance's story is the birth of his son, care of which passes over to his sister-in-law, Val, after his wife is killed during the battle with the Nights Watch. This son is eventually swapped with that of Gilly's and sent away with Samwell Tarly given Stannis's likely propensity for sacrificing those with King's blood. This storyline hasn't really gone anywhere yet as of the end of A Dance With Dragons and the uncertainty over whether it will go anywhere at all is probably why it was condensed in favour of Gilly simply taking her own son and Mance remaining wife and childless on screen.

Val doesn't really do a great deal despite the frequency of her appearances, most notably securing a peace between The Nights Watch and remnants of Mance's army led by Tormund, who is instead captured after the battle in the series and becomes much more prominent than his book counterpart thereafter by assuming Mance's newfound loyalty to Jon. Her key responsibility taken away, Val would've just been a face in the crowd if cast, so it's easy enough to see why she was omitted, even if having a wife and son would've humanised Mance more.