Fans of classic books despise it when film adaptations of their favourite books involve characters that do not correspond to what the author wrote. In the case of House of the Dragon, fans prefer the alterations from Fire & Blood. This article is about those changes that nobody can do much about; making the actors look like the depictions of characters in the book.
Anywho, this is how images generated by artificial intelligence algorithms depict the characters. The following images are very accurate depictions based on George R. R. Martin’s musings.
How House of the Dragon Characters Compare To AI-Generated Pics Based On Fire & Blood
The Targaryens’ signature purple eyes are one of the most noticeable distinctions in House of the Dragon. The family is believed to have silver hair and pale complexion, as well as purple eyes, to symbolise their royalty in the novels. This feature is not present in the edition we see on television. Buzzfeed, a popular media house, made the following AI-generated images of Fire & Blood characters, and you’ll be shocked to see some of them.
Fire & Blood’s Viserys is said to have a moustache in the book and is described as a little plumper than Paddy Considine, who played King Viserys in House of the Dragon.
Viserys’s brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen is played by Matt Smith, who has a long face. However, the book Daemon seems to have an even longer face, similar to Aemond Targaryen. A few other characters, like Daemon, were not detailed as thoroughly, putting it to the fancies of both Correa’s AI and HBO’s casting team. The likeness between AI and actors is remarkable in certain cases.
Described as “stout and thick of waist,” is Rhaenyra Targaryen who, like her father grew up to be quite plump. Emma D’Arcy, who pays Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon is not plump by any means, but we wouldn’t also call her petite. Emma was a good choice, as her facial features match Rhaenyra’s depiction very well.
We can say that casting Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower is an excellent choice. Alicent is described as a comely lady and her facial features as created by AI match that of Olivia Cooke well.
In the novels, Rhaenys Targaryen was supposed to have black hair that was distinct from the rest of the Targaryens. HBO chose to colour her hair white to resemble her family. This decision is also helpful for the viewers who can identify Princess Rhaenys as a Targaryen. Buzzfeed’s AI version differs significantly from House of the Dragon.
Ser Criston Cole is a standard-looking young knight with a light beard and moustache. Fabien Frenkel, who plays Ser Criston in House of the Dragon couldn’t have been a better choice.
Lady Mysaria or The White Worm looks completely different in House of the Dragon than in her book depiction. In the book, Mysaria is said to have white hair and is much younger than HOTD’s Mysaria.
The younger Laenor Velaryon definitely matches the depiction from the book, however, we are not so sure about the elder Laenor. The book does not describe the elder Laenor in detail and as he dies in the book, unlike the series, there’s not much storyline for him anyway.
Conclusion
Because Fire & Blood does not disclose exact specifics about each character’s looks, the HBO version and these AI images were able to take certain assumptions. Nonetheless, depending on the photographs above, it’s tough to dispute that House of the Dragon has some great castings, particularly Olivia Cooke as Alicent and Matt Smith as Daemon, who seem virtually similar to their book equivalents. There will always be some disputes and arguments over how the characters should look when a novel is adapted for the screen. House of the Dragon, on the other hand, has done an outstanding job of portraying Martin’s characters on screen.
