White Walker

Description

Martin introduces the Others in the prologue of A Game of Thrones (1996), describing them as "Tall ... and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk" with eyes "deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice". Accompanied by intense cold, they wear armor that "seemed to change color as it moved", and wield thin crystal swords capable of shattering steel. The Others move silently, and they speak their own language; Martin writes that their voices are "like the cracking of ice on a winter lake". In A Storm of Swords (2000) it becomes clear that they are vulnerable to weapons made of dragonglass (obsidian), as Samwell Tarly kills one this way:

[T]he Other's armor was running down its legs in rivulets as pale blue blood hissed and steamed around the black dragonglass dagger in its throat ... where its fingers touched the obsidian they smoked ... the Other shrank and puddled, dissolving away. In twenty heartbeats its flesh was gone, swirling away in a fine white mist. Beneath were bones like milkglass, pale and shiny, and they were melting too. Finally only the dragonglass dagger remained, wreathed in steam ... Grenn bent to scoop it up and flung it down again at once. "Mother, that’s cold."

In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Sam uncovers ancient record fragments which suggest that the Others are also vulnerable to something called "dragonsteel", and he and Jon Snow suppose that this is another word for Valyrian steel.

Creatures killed by the Others soon reanimate as wights: undead with pallid skin, black hands and similarly glowing blue eyes. Dragonglass and Valyrian steel have no effect on them. Wights may be physically injured, but even dismembered parts remain animated, so they must be destroyed by fire. The humans who live in the north beyond The Wall—called "wildlings" by the inhabitants of Westeros—burn their dead so that they do not become wights.

Novels

In 2012, Chris Lackner wrote in Dose, "Fans of the novels are eagerly awaiting Martin’s final two installments of the seven-part series. In particular, they are eager to learn more about the White Walkers—or The Others—a mysterious, undead race seemingly bent on humanity’s destruction."

Backstory

In the novels and the 2014 companion book The World of Ice & Fire, Martin establishes that, millennia before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire series, a pact existed between the Children of the Forest (elf-like creatures) and the First Men (mankind). This was weakened by the emergence of the Others, an enigmatic and malevolent nonhuman species who inflicted a night that lasted a generation and a winter that lasted decades. After the Others were pushed back, the Children and the First Men raised The Wall, a vast barrier of stone, ice and magic from one coast of northern Westeros to the other, to bar the passage of the Others south.

A Game of Thrones

As A Game of Thrones (1996) begins, the general belief across Westeros is that the Others are a legend to scare children, or else "gone eight thousand years". But the Others have reemerged, and are gaining power–and wights–beyond the Wall. In the Prologue, a ranging party from the Night's Watch come face to face with a group of the Others, who kill Ser Waymar Royce. Reanimated as a wight, he then kills the ranger Will. Out ranging beyond the Wall, Jon Snow and the Night's Watch find the corpses of two of their fallen brothers. Brought home to Castle Black, the dead men rise and kill several of their living fellows before they are destroyed.

A Storm of Swords

Sam Tarly kills an Other with a dragonglass dagger in A Storm of Swords (2000). His former comrade Small Paul is killed and reanimated as a wight. The undead Paul is unfazed by the dragonglass but Sam is able to put him down with fire. Bran Stark recalls the story of the Night's King, a Stark and the 13th Commander of the Night's Watch who had been seduced by a female White Walker. The Night's King and his queen enslaved the brothers of the watch until the Starks and the wildlings joined to defeat him.

The Winds of Winter

Martin said in 2012 that readers will see more of the Others in his forthcoming novel The Winds of Winter. He noted in another 2012 interview, "[We’ll learn more about their] history, certainly, but I don’t know about culture ... I don’t know if they have a culture".

TV adaptation

The White Walkers portrayed on HBO's Game of Thrones differ slightly in appearance from their literary counterparts, but Aaron Souppouris of The Verge named them among "the most visually iconic creatures on the show". In the TV series, the primary White Walker has been portrayed by Ross Mullan. Their apparent leader is the Night King, portrayed by Richard Brake, who appears in the episodes "Oathkeeper" and "Hardhome". In "Hardhome", the effectiveness of Valyrian steel against the White Walkers is proven as Jon shatters one to pieces with a single stroke of his ancient sword Longclaw.

In the season 6 episode "The Door" (May 2016), Bran Stark experiences a vision of the creation of the Night King by Leaf, one the Children of the Forest, by stabbing a human prisoner in the chest with a dragonglass dagger. Leaf explains to an incredulous Bran that the Children were at war with the First Men.

Writing for Vox.com in 2015, Christophe Haubursin and Zack Beauchamp suggested that White Walkers are a metaphor for climate change.

Merchandising

In 2012, Funko released a White Walker figure as part of their POP! Television line, which are 4.5 inch vinyl figures in the Japanese super deformed style. The company later produced a Mystery Mini Blind Box figurine of a stylized White Walker. Dark Horse released a 9-inch White Walker bust statue in 2013, and later a 9-inch full figure statue. In 2014, Funko released a 6.5 inch articulated White Walker action figure (with spear accessory) as part of their HBO-licensed Legacy Collection line, which features "some of the series’ most popular characters". Dark Horse produced a Night King bust in March 2016, which was followed by an 8-inch Night King figure by Dark Horse Deluxe in late 2016. Funko also released a "Night King" POP! figure that same year.