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Actor: Skins. Joseph Maxwell Dempsie is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama Skins (2007-2008) and Gendry Baratheon in Game of Thrones (2011-2013; 2017-2019). Dempsie's earlier acting credits include the medical dramas Peak Practice (2000), Doctors (2001-2003), and Sweet Medicine (2003), as well ...
- January 1, 1
- 1.71 m
- Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality
- Quotes
Davos: "Don't be a fool. You're not a soldier."
Gendry: "No, but I'm a fighter."
— Davos Seaworth and Gendry
Lord Gendry Baratheon, formerly known simply as Gendry,[a] is an unacknowledged bastard son of King Robert Baratheon. He has since been legitimized and inherited all titles held by his father before Robert became king, and appointed the new Warden of the South.
Background
Gendry is a bastard son of King Robert Baratheon, who, throughout his childhood, was unaware of his lineage. Gendry did not receive either the bastard surnames used in the Crownlands (Waters) or the Stormlands (Storm) because he has never been openly acknowledged by Robert. Gendry spent his whole life in King's Landing. His mother was a tavern wench that King Robert had sex with once, and apparently Robert never even knew of his existence. Gendry grew up in the slums of Flea Bottom, surviving on bowls of brown stew that contained meat which was allegedly chicken (though like most of the other patrons, he knew full well it wasn't). Gendry's mother died when he was very young. When he was old enough, an unknown lord paid his apprentice fee so he could learn to be a blacksmith. He then took up work as an apprentice blacksmith under Tobho Mott, a master weaponsmith from Qohor, forging high-end armor and weapons for the nobility. Gendry became very skilled in his own right, and the heavy manual labor built him up into a strong young man - ironically, swinging a heavy blacksmith's hammer much as Robert once swung his war hammer. Gendry worked under Tobho Mott for 10 years.
Game of Thrones: Season 1
Investigating the death of Jon Arryn, Lord Eddard Stark learns that he was seen visiting Tobho Mott's smithy in the city shortly before his death. Eddard also inspects the smithy. Mott tells him that Jon Arryn came to ask about new armor, but he also wanted to talk to Mott's apprentice. Eddard admires a helm that Gendry has made. Mott scolds Gendry for insisting that it is not for sale as he made it for himself, and potentially denying the King's Hand, but Eddard reassures the smith. Eddard learns that Jon wanted to know about Gendry's mother. He then takes a close look at the boy, and realizes that Gendry is a bastard son of Robert (whom Eddard knew ever since they were fostered boys with Jon Arryn). Eddard is at a loss as to why Arryn was trying to track down Robert's bastards. Mott later sells Gendry to the Night's Watch and is one of the latest batch of Yoren's recruits that leave for the Wall. Among the group he meets Lord Eddard's daughter Arya Stark (disguised as the boy "Arry"), when some of the other boys harass her about her sword. When Hot Pie bumps into him, he scares the boys off, saying "When I hit that steel, it sings. Are you gonna sing when I hit you?", after which he expresses their insignificance to Arya now they have all joined the Watch.
Game of Thrones: Season 2
Gendry travels north on the Kingsroad with Yoren and his recruits, befriending Arya on the journey. He is targeted by the City Watch of King's Landing because of his status as a bastard of King Robert Baratheon, but remains unaware of his lineage. Yoren intimidates a pair of gold cloaks who come looking for Gendry into leaving empty handed. Gendry sees through Arya's disguise and recognizes her as a girl. She confides her identity and swears him to secrecy. Gendry is embarrassed for talking so crudely to a highborn member of a noble house, though the tomboyish Arya is herself embarrassed at his deference to her as a "Lady." The gold cloaks return with Ser Amory Lorch and a force of Lannister soldiers. They attack the group, kill Yoren and capture Arya and Gendry. Arya manages to convince them that Lommy Greenhands, whom Polliver had killed, was Gendry because he was carrying the bull's head helm that Gendry made. The prisoners are then taken to Harrenhal. They are brutally tortured by Ser Gregor Clegane's men while being questioned by the Tickler. Gendry is selected as his next victim, but is saved when Lord Tywin Lannister arrives and chastises his men that the prisoners are more useful alive. To prove his point, Tywin asks Gendry if he has a trade, and when Gendry says that he is in fact a trained blacksmith, Tywin shoots a stern look at Gregor's men. Gendry is put to work at the castle's forge. Whilst Gendry practices his swordsmanship, which is criticized by Arya, the Tickler is found dead in suspicious circumstances, his neck snapped. Some days later, Ser Amory is murdered via a wolfsbane dart. The deaths prompt Tywin to launch an investigation and he ultimately blames infiltrators from the Brotherhood Without Banners, a resistance group whom the Tickler was trying to gain information on. Tywin leaves Harrenhal to lead his army on the march (though rather than heading west to fight Robb Stark, he in fact races back south to fight Stannis in the Battle of the Blackwater). Before they leave, Arya arranges for Jaqen H'ghar to help them to escape the castle. It turns out Arya was right to make their escape attempt then, as when the Lannister army withdrew soon afterwards, they massacred every remaining prisoner at Harrenhal.
King Robert's actual son Gendry is everything that his alleged son and heir Joffrey Baratheon was not, both in terms of physical appearance and personality. Joffrey was an arrogant, sadistic fop, with a massive sense of entitlement. He was not skilled at anything - particularly not at combat, in which he was also a coward when faced with real danger. Joffrey's one real claim to importance was that he was Robert's son – which was itself a lie even if he himself didn't know. Gendry, by contrast, is the exact opposite: a generally humble and polite working-class blacksmith, who didn't grow up rich in a castle, and a brave and capable fighter when called to do so. He also has a protective instinct, which is demonstrated as he defends the boy "Arry" when he sees the other recruits picking on (what he thinks is) a smaller boy and as he holds Arya back from danger on several occasions. Growing up having to work for a living, at Mott's smithy, Gendry became disciplined, and doesn't have any of his father Robert's negative qualities of self-indulgence (in food, drink, and women). Gendry also developed great observational skills, having noticed immediately that Arya is in fact a girl disguised as a boy. Furthermore, Gendry is incredibly brave, being the first one to attack the Gold Cloaks with only his smith's hammer after Yoren's death and fighting in the front lines in the Battle of Winterfell.
Gendry is extremely pragmatic and practical, as evidenced by his ability to understand how social standing benefits people unlike him: he understood that if he returned to Riverrun with Arya, she would be his 'lady' rather than his friend. This sets him further apart from Joffrey, who outright fell back on social standing and had massive delusions of grandeur where his own position was concerned. Joffrey accentuated his title as king to be the reason that he should get his way, whereas Gendry fought and survived for other people and was nowhere near as arrogant or temperamental as Joffrey. Also, he was surprisingly self-reproachful about his own actions, shown prominently in the aftermath of Melisandre seducing him; Joffrey was not the slightest bit self-reproachful, never blaming himself for anything even if he were the central catalyst for an incident. Joffrey would brutalize women at court, taking out his frustrations by having his guards publicly beat Sansa Stark and citing his authority as king when Tyrion Lannister confronted him about it. In a direct parallel, Gendry is polite and deferential to her sister Arya Stark when he learns who she is, worried at his behavior and insisting on addressing her with formal titles.
Gendry is still somewhat self-conscious about being a commoner, with a commoner's lot in life. Like many of them, he is terrified and subservient when he encounters members of the nobility, while somewhat resenting the great lords for oppressing the lower classes and tearing Westeros apart with their bloody wars. Though he has no formal combat training, Gendry is remarkably skilled with a hammer, both as a weapon and a tool - much like his father Robert. While escaping from King's Landing, he effortlessly killed two curious Gold Cloaks with a war hammer, having inherited his father's incredible strength. In the Battle of Winterfell he fought with a mace and took down lots of wights, proving again his incredible strength and stamina. This strength has been a prevalent factor throughout his life, as he commented to Hot Pie that when he strikes steel with a hammer it 'sings'. A glaring difference between him and his father is that Gendry does not love fighting, whereas Robert Baratheon absolutely lived for fighting.
After returning to King's Landing with the knowledge of his true parentage, Gendry seems now to take some pride in his Baratheon blood, hating the Lannisters for killing his father Robert and immediately informing Jon Snow that he is Robert's bastard son, knowing his father and Jon's (adoptive) father were best friends. His personal war hammer features a design of a stag's head with full antlers on either side of the haft socket, the stag being House Baratheon's sigil. He agrees to help Jon Snow largely because of both their mutual dislike of the Lannisters and his father's past alliance with the Starks.
Spoken by Gendry
"Oh, you like picking on the little ones, do you? You know, I've been hammering an anvil these past ten years. When I hit that steel it sings. You gonna sing when I hit you?" ―Gendry to Hot Pie Gendry: "You told me this was a brotherhood. You told me I could be one of you." Melisandre: "You are more than they can ever be. They're just foot soldiers in the Great War. You will make kings rise and fall." — Melisandre takes Gendry. Gendry: "I'm just a bastard." Melisandre: "The bastard of Robert of the House Baratheon, First of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men. Why do you think the Gold Cloaks wanted you? There is power in a king's blood." — Melisandre reveals to Gendry who his father was. "We're not really people to you, are we? Just a million different ways to get what you want." ―Gendry, reflecting on his status as lowborn in reference to highborn, to Davos Seaworth Gendry: "Our fathers trusted each other. Why shouldn't we?" Jon Snow: "I saw your father once at Winterfell." Gendry: "I met yours in my shop." Jon Snow: "You're a lot leaner." Gendry: "And you're a lot shorter." — Gendry and Jon Snow banter. Gendry: "Isn't easy making a blade that big with dragonglass." Sandor: "You're saying you're good. Is that it?" Gendry: "I'm just sayin' it's a tricky material to work." — Gendry and Sandor Clegane
Spoken about Gendry
"You've heard the awful rumors about my brother and sister?...I suppose people who do believe that filth consider Robert's bastards to be better claimants to the throne than Cersei's children." ―Tyrion Lannister Davos Seaworth: "His name's Gendry. He's a good lad. A poor lad from Flea Bottom who happens to be your nephew." Stannis Baratheon: "What is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?" Davos Seaworth: "Everything." Stannis Baratheon: "The boy must die." — Davos Seaworth and Stannis Baratheon discuss the fate of Gendry.
Gendry is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its HBO television adaptation Game of Thrones. [1] First appearing in 1996's A Game of Thrones , Gendry is a blacksmith apprentice in King's Landing , and an unacknowledged bastard of King Robert Baratheon .
- George R. R. Martin
- Television:, "The Iron Throne" (2019)
Joe Dempsie. Joseph Maxwell Dempsie (born 22 June 1987) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama Skins (2007–2008) and Gendry Baratheon in Game of Thrones (2011–2013; 2017–2019). Dempsie's earlier acting credits include the medical dramas Peak Practice (2000), Doctors (2001–2003), and ...
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Gendry. Played by Joe Dempsie. An apprentice smith in King’s Landing who is of interest to Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. Information, interviews, photos and more for Gendry played by Joe Dempsie on the HBO original program Game of Thrones - Official Website for the HBO Series.
