House Of The Dragon - Every Main Character Ranked From Worst To Best

Matthew Needham absolutely purrs in his role as Larys Strong, gleefully basking in the opportunity to bring such a menacing figure to life. It is remarkable that House of the Dragon is the British actor's first real role of note to date and another example of the casting genius that has made HBO's forays into Westeros such blockbuster hits.

Regrettably, Needham's insidious Larys would be far higher on this list had the show not inexplicably fumbled his storyline with the revelation of the Clubfoot's foot fetish. The younger Strong brother's character was far more sinisterly compelling when his motivations remained unclear. The notion that his devious plotting and twisted schemes may be in part, inspired by some kind of depraved sexual fantasy, is a notable disservice to such a burgeoning Machiavellian villain.

The foreboding counterpart to Game of Thrones' Littlefinger, Larys is an incredibly compelling antagonist on the basis that the reasons behind his heinous acts were not explained; this is a man who, seemingly without cause, cut out the tongues of a group of prisoners before sending them off to murder his brother and father in the most appalling of fashions. An extreme reaction at the best of times, but when there is no real explicable motivation of note behind such an act? That makes for a terrifying antagonist of the highest order.