[House Baratheon — Houses]
Though Cersei has succeeded in wiping out nearly all of her primary enemies, her last surviving child Tommen commits suicide. House Baratheon of King's Landing – and the main branch, House Baratheon - becomes officially extinct. With no opposition, Cersei ascends to the Iron Throne , thus elevating House Lannister as the royal family and establishing a formal Lannister dynasty – something her late father desired. Cersei is crowned Queen.
House Baratheon became the royal house of the Seven Kingdoms (as House Baratheon of King's Landing ) after Robert Baratheon led a rebellion against the Targaryen dynasty . At the end of the rebellion, Robert ascended the Iron Throne as Robert I and married Cersei Lannister after the death of Lyanna Stark .
House Baratheon was founded by Orys Baratheon , a general in the army of King Aegon I Targaryen , the founder of the Targaryen dynasty who conquered the Seven Kingdoms . Orys Baratheon was also rumored to be Aegon's bastard half-brother. He defeated Argilac the Arrogant , the last of the Storm Kings , and captured his castle of Storm's End . For his accomplishments, Orys was made Lord of Storm's End and founded House Baratheon. Orys took the sigil and words of the defeated House Durrandon as his own, cementing his rule over the Stormlands by marrying Argella Durrandon , the daughter of the fallen Argilac.
Robert Baratheon led a rebellion against King Aerys II Targaryen , resulting in the overthrowing of the Targaryens. Robert became the new king; Renly became Lord of the Stormlands , ruling the Stormlands from Storm's End; Stannis formed the branch House Baratheon of Dragonstone .
As the new head of House Baratheon, Gendry consolidates control over the Stormlands. Later, he participates in a Great Council in the Dragonpit along with one of his bannermen, Lord Une , and agrees to the ascension of Bran Stark as the new King of the Andals and the First Men .
Note: Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are claimed to be the children of King Robert Baratheon, but actually were born of incest between Queen Cersei and her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister . Thus, Stannis was Robert's lawful heir before his death. With the deaths of Stannis and Shireen, the bloodline of House Baratheon became legally extinct (Lord Gendry Baratheon was an unacknowledged bastard of Robert Baratheon and thus was not entitled to claim the Baratheon name). With the death of Tommen, the people of Westeros believed that House Baratheon was completely extinct until Daenerys Targaryen's legitimization of Lord Gendry.
House Baratheon men-at-arms are equipped with long padded beige gambesons and nasal helmets with stag crests, and they carry triangular shields. Other men-at-arms have kettle steel helmets instead of nasal helmets, and some are often seen wearing pauldrons and gorgets as well.
Stormlanders are known for being brave and hardy warriors, as exemplified by the Baratheons. In Robert's Rebellion and Greyjoy Rebellion , House Baratheon plays an incredibly significant part, since in both wars Robert Baratheon is leading his side to victory.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Orys Baratheon was the rumored bastard half-brother of King Aegon I Targaryen , the conqueror of the Seven Kingdoms. Orys led an army which slew the last of the Storm Kings, Argilac the Arrogant, and captured his castle of Storm's End. For his loyal service, Orys was made a lord and allowed to found his own Great House, marrying the daughter of Argilac and taking his sigil and words for his own. At just under 300 years, this makes House Baratheon the youngest by far of the Great Houses.
Following the death of Robert and Renly, the only surviving members of House Baratheon are Stannis, his wife, and his daughter Shireen. No mention has been made in the five current novels of any surviving cousins, who might make claim to rule of House Baratheon. Robert is rumored to have fathered over a dozen bastards, but they are not considered legitimate heirs. Robert does have one acknowledged bastard, Edric Storm, whom he acknowledged because his mother was a member of the nobility. Robert had no part in raising him, instead sending him to foster at Storm's End.
In the TV series, their banner depicts a stag with a crown around its neck, while in the novels, the crown is above its head. A widespread fan assumption for some time was that because the Baratheons were not kings like the Durrandons had been, they stopped using a crown on their stag sigil, and just used a plain stag for the next three centuries - and only recently re-added a crown to the stag, after Robert's Rebellion when Robert overthrew the Targaryen kings. However, when the Baratheons make appearances during the Dunk & Egg novellas (particularly Lyonel Baratheon), they are consistently described as used a crowned stag, even though the Targaryens are still the royal family and they are not. Asked about this in 2015, Elio Garcia (owner of Westeros.org) stated that according to materials that George R.R. Martin sent him when co-writing the The World of Ice & Fire sourcebook, the Baratheons indeed always used a crowned stag sigil, starting from when Orys founded House Baratheon and exactly copied the Durrandon heraldry, through Robert's Rebellion.