Jon Snow was the hero of Game of Thrones in the eyes of many, and there was every expectation he would be the one to sit on the Iron Throne by the time the finale rolled around. However, with one final twist in his journey, he instead decided to head back north of the wall. This was just one mysterious moment among many for the heroic yet enigmatic Game of Thrones character, and many viewers found his story to be so confusing at points that they looked to the A Song of Ice and Fire novels for answers.

Game of Thronescaptured the essence of Jon Snow as a character, but A Song of Ice and Fire is full of little details that really flesh out his backstory. There are many surprising Jon Snow facts from George R.R. Martin’s books that reveal more about Kit Harrington’s Game of Thrones character, but he’s also (like many others in the show) quite different from how he appears on-screen. Still, there are many interesting facts about Jon Snow in the books that fans of GoT will find make his story in the show much more fulfilling.

Jon Snow Was Possibly Expected To Be A Girl

A Targaryen Prophecy Suggested Jon’s Parents Would Have Had Another Daughter

Jon Snow is a Targaryen in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels just like the show, and this fact also reveals that his parents, Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, may have assumed he’d be female.Rhaegar Targaryen is utterly obsessed with prophecies just like many other members of his family. They inform many of his life choices, including his decision to have children in the first place.

A key reason why he runs off with Lyanna and has Jon is because he believes he needs to have three children that are likely meant to mirror the original Targaryen conquerors, Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya. His first two children are Aegon and Rhaenys, and he and Lyanna might have expected that Jon would be a girl in order to fully fulfill the prophecy and mimic the first Targaryen invaders.

Jon Snow Has A Long Lost Brother

There’s (Possibly) Another Living Targaryen In The Game Of Thrones Books

A key plot point in Game of Thrones is that Jon Snow and Daenerys are the last living Targaryen’s in Westeros (even if Jon himself doesn’t embrace this particular side of his heritage). However, in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, there’s a third possible Targaryen. This character wasn’t in HBO’s adaptation of Game Of Thrones, nor is it yet confirmed in the books that he’s definitely related ot Jon Snow. If he is though, this would mean Jon Snow has a long lost brother, which would be a significant difference from the show.

Although Rhaegar’s first two children, Rhaenys and Aegon, are supposedly dead, there is a boy in Essos called Young Griff who believes that he’s Aegon Targaryen. He has many Westerosi and Essosi supporters as well, and he’s planning on invading Westeros soon. If what Young Griff believes is actually true, then it would make Jon his younger half brother, and there’d a third Targaryen still living.

Although Rhaegar’s first two children, Rhaenys and Aegon, are supposedly dead, there is a boy in Essos called Young Griff who believes that he’s Aegon Targaryen.

Catelyn Feels Threatened By Jon Snow

Cat Has More Reasons To Distrust Jon In George R.R. Martin’s Novels

It’s well known that Jon Snow got his last name because he’s a bastard. While he’s really the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, for most of his life Jon Snow (and the rest of the world) believed he was Fathered by Ned Stark after an extramarital affair. Jon was raised in Winterfell with Ned and Catelyn Stark’s children, though Cat always treated Jon with barely concealed disdain — and Catelyn’s treatment of Jon is something the books explain far better than the show.

Jon and Cat don’t interact much in the TV series, but it is clear that Cat can’t stand him. However, it’s not entirely clear why. It’s true that Cat is jealous that Ned was with another woman, but the bigger issue in the books is that, essentially, Jon’s existence and acknowledgment as Ned’s son threatens the potential inheritance of her own children in the future if Jon tries to press his claim as a Stark.

Young Jon Fantasized About Being A Conqueror

The Hero Of Game Of Thrones Wasn’t Always So Heroic

The humble and heroic Jon Snow audiences fell in love with wasn’t always this way. In fact, the younger Jon Snow could have easily been groomed into becoming a man his Targaryen ancestors would have been proud of. The books unsurprisingly drop many hints and subtextual clues about Jon’s Targaryen lineage, but one of the most obvious connections he bears with his ancestry is that, at least when he was young, he dreamed of being a conqueror like the Targaryens.

He took a particular interest in King Daeron Targaryen, a young Targaryen that managed to conquer the ever-rebellious kingdom of Dorne (even though he didn’t hold it for long). Especially since the Targaryen family was explored further in House of the Dragon, this Jon Snow fact is particularly interesting, as it shows that Targaryen Madness and the ability to ride dragons may not be the only trait they genetically pass on.

Someone Who Knows Jon Snow’s Real Parents Is Still Alive

Howland Reed Always Knew Jon Snow Wasn’t Ned Stark’s Son

The fact Jon Snow is secretly a Targaryen was a closely guarded secret of Ned Stark’s in Game of Thrones, so closely guarded that nobody else in Westeros knew the truth (and the reveal was just as much of a shock for viewers). However, in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the identity of Jon Snow’s real parents was known by at least one other person — Howland Reed.

Jojen and Meera Reed were significant characters on Game of Thrones, but one potentially very important character in the books was only seen once in a flashback on the show. Howland Reed, father of Jojen and Meera, is the only living person who actually knows who Jon is. He was with Ned at the Tower of Joy, so is likely the key witness who can actually prove that Jon is actually the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna.

Jon Snow Saved The Direwolves

The Moment Was More Significant Than The Show Made Out

There are plenty of heroic Jon Snow moments throughout Game of Thrones, but one that truly won over many viewers was his rescue of the Stark Direwolves. The Direwolves may not have been the massive plot point that earlier seasons of Game of Thrones tiered them up to be, but they were integral in foreshadowing the better qualities of Jon Snow’s character.

Jon saving the Direwolves was obviously an element of the books that was kept for the series, but some of the deeper meaning behind it wasn’t made clear. When everyone finds the Direwolf pups in the woods, Ned wants to give them a quick death. Jon intervenes and asks his father to reconsider, pointing out that there is one puppy for each of Ned’s trueborn children. Ned gives in because Jon is being selfless and excluding himself as a Stark in order to save the pups.

Jon Snow Looks A Lot Like Ned

The Stark In Jon Snow Is Just As Strong As The Targaryen

Many Game of Thrones characters look different from how they’re presented in the A Song of Fire and Ice novels, and Jon Snow is no different. Specifically, the on-page Jon Snow looks so much like Ned Stark that his parentage is never questioned. Although Jon in the TV series has fairly quintessentially Stark looks, Sean Bean and Kit Harington don’t look particularly alike, so just how alike the two characters truly are isn’t as clear as it should be.

In George R.R. Martin’s books, Jon and Ned look similar enough that most people presume that Jon doesn’t take after his mother at all and solely takes after his father. In a roundabout way, that’s obviously still true in the show, given that he looks nothing like a Targaryen, but he still doesn’t look much like TV Ned either.

He’s One Of The Only Stark Children Who Looks Like A Stark

Jon And Ned’s Resemblance Is Clearer Around His Siblings

There’s another reason in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that means Catelyn has an innate dislike of Jon Snow – the fact that almost none of her and Ned’s children look like their father. Despite the fact that most of the Stark children on Game of Thrones seem to take after the typical Stark looks as opposed to Catelyn’s classic Tully looks (with the obvious exception of Sansa), in the books it’s the opposite.

Nearly all of Ned’s children, with the exception of Jon and Arya, look more like Catelyn than they do like Ned. This contrast is obviously incredibly irksome to Catelyn in the books, as it means Jon is even more of a reminder to her of Ned’s infidelity. Of course, readers know that this infidelity never really took place, but since Catelyn isn’t aware of Jon’s real parents, him looking more like Ned than the likes of Rob or Bran only heightens her paranoia that he’d one day challenge them for ownership of Winterfell.

He Died Trying To Save Arya

Jon Snow Wasn’t Executed For Saving The Wildlings In The Books

The death and resurrection of Jon Snow was one of the strangest moments in Game of Thrones, and it’s one that the books mirrored — to a degree, at least. Jon was murdered by a man of the Night’s Watch at the end of the last released book, A Dance with Dragons, but the buildup to it is quite different. In the A Sword of Ice and Fire novels, Ramsay Bolton marries someone that he claims is Arya Stark. This, of course, worries Jon (especially given Ramsay’s sadistic reputation), and leads up to his on-page death.

However, losing his life due to wanting to save his younger sister also seems to fit his character more in some ways.

After receiving a threat that seems to come from Ramsay, Jon decides to leave the Night’s Watch and go south in order to rescue his little sister, and he’s killed as a result. This is incredibly different to the reason he’s executed in Game of Thrones, and is especially notable since saving the wildlings was integral to his on-screen story. However, losing his life due to wanting to save his younger sister also seems to fit his character more in some ways.

Jon Snow Will Likely Warg Into Ghost

Bran Isn’t The Only Supernaturally Gifted Stark In The Novels

The Stark Direwolves have more significance in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels than they did in Game of Thrones. Not only that, but George R.R. Martin also seems to be setting up the idea that being able to warg into animals is a gift that many of the Starks, including Jon Snow, share. The show really only delved into the idea of Bran Stark as a warg. However, there are very obvious indications that all of the Stark children can and occasionally do subconsciously warg into their wolves.

It won’t be confirmed until the next book, the long-awaited The Winds of Winter, is released. However, a key aspect of Jon’s death and resurrection will likely be tied to Ghost, and it seems probable that he warged into Ghost when he was killed. If Jon is able to warg into his Direwolf, this will mark one of the biggest deviations between Game of Thrones and the A Song of Ice and Fire novels so far.