Claim: Arya Stark despises traditional female pursuits.

Arya Stark is a fictional character created by American author George R. R. Martin . She is a prominent point of view character in Martin 's award-winning A Song of Ice and Fire series , and also a main character in HBO 's adaptation of the series , Game of Thrones .   Introduced in 1996 's A Game of Thrones , Arya is the younger daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife Lady Catelyn Stark . She is headstrong , independent , disdains traditional female pursuits , and is often mistaken for a boy . She wields a sword named Needle , a gift from her half-brother , Jon Snow , and is trained in the Braavosi style of sword fighting .   Arya is portrayed by Maisie Williams on the HBO series Game of Thrones . Her performance has garnered critical acclaim , particularly in the second season for her work opposite veteran actor Charles Dance -LRB- Tywin Lannister -RRB- when she served as his cupbearer . She is among the most popular characters in either version of the story . Williams was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the role in 2016 . She and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012 , 2014 , 2015 and 2016 .