House Targaryen

House Targaryen of King's Landing is a noble family of Valyrian descent who once ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The Targaryen sigil is a red three-headed dragon, breathing red flames on black. The house words are "Fire and Blood".
The only family of dragonlords who survived the Doom of Valyria, the Targaryens left the Valyrian Freehold twelve years before the Doom. They resided for more than a century at Dragonstone castle on Dragonstone island, until Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, began the first of the Wars of Conquest in 2 BC.
During Aegon's Conquest, the family built the Aegonfort in the new capital city of Aegon's Landing. The Aegonfort was later torn down and replaced by the Red Keep and Aegon's Landing was renamed King's Landing, which remained their main seat for the duration of their dynasty, and which housed the Iron Throne. Their original castle was almost always given to the heir to the throne, the Prince of Dragonstone. The Targaryens eventually built the summer residence Summerhall, which has been given to several younger sons of the family over time.
House Targaryen ruled as the Kings of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Great House of the crownlands for nearly three hundred years. Seventeen male Targaryens ruled from the Iron Throne. The dynasty ended with the death of Aerys the Mad King during Robert's Rebellion, in which the Targaryens were overthrown and replaced by House Baratheon. The two surviving children of Aerys II, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, fled into exile, and stayed there for a long time. Viserys would die there, and Daenerys would form an army of Unsullied, Dothraki, some Ironborn, sellswords, and former slaves, as well as her dragons and return to Westeros to retake her throne. In the process, she incidentally blows up King's Landing, earning her the name, "the Mad Queen." She would then die in the Battle for Dawn, extinguishing the Targaryen line, aside from Jon Stark, whose real name is Daeron Targaryen. 
== Culture ==
=== Traits ===
The phrase "blood of the dragon" refers to the Valyrian descent of the Targaryens, and more specifically to the fact that they were one of forty dragonlord families of the Valyrian Freehold.
The Targaryens are renowned for their beauty. They usually have typical Valyrian features: pale skin, silver, platinum, or gold hair and eyes in various shades of purple or light blue. A few Targaryens had darker hair, such as Princess Rhaenys, Prince Baelor Breakspear, Prince Valarr, and Prince Daeron.
The Targaryens can tolerate more heat than most ordinary people, but they are not immune to fire. The Targaryens long believed themselves immune to illness, but Princess Daenerys then died of the Shivers, and the Great Spring Sickness claimed the lives of King Daeron II, Prince Valarr, and Prince Matarys.
Another trait typical to Targaryens is the ability to have premonition-like dreams. The trait has been in House Targaryen since before the Doom of Valyria, with the dreams of Daenys Targaryen compelling the family to relocate from Valyria to Dragonstone in 114 BC. This trait was passed on to the cadet branch, House Blackfyre, as well.
The Targaryens are seen as prone to madness, presumably caused by their inbreeding. According to King Jaehaerys II Targaryen, "madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land".
=== Customs ===
House Targaryen's words are "Fire and Blood." Their sigil is a three-headed dragon breathing flames, red on black. The three-headed dragon represents Aegon the Conqueror and his two sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya. King Aegon II Targaryen used a golden dragon to rally his supporters during the Dance of the Dragons. Some younger sons of the house used variations of the standard sigil. Before his own reign, Maekar I Targaryen used the three-headed dragon, quartered, while his son, Prince Aerion Targaryen, changed the colors of the three heads—one orange, one yellow, one red—while the flames they breathed had a sheen of gold leaf.
In line with the sigil colors, most Targaryens used armor black in color. For instance, Prince Aemond Targaryen had night-black armor chased with gold, Prince Valarr Targaryen wore armor black as night in the tourney at Ashford Meadow, and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen had the three-headed dragon wrought in rubies on his black breast plate.
Although the Targaryen kings took their seat at King's Landing, originally named Aegon's Landing as the place where Aegon and his army first landed in Westeros and made their first fort, replaced by the Red Keep later on, their earlier seat of Dragonstone remained in their possession as well. It eventually became the traditional seat of the heir-apparent to the throne, who was known as the Prince of Dragonstone (or Princess of Dragonstone, in a few occasions). In 188 AC, the Targaryens eventually built a third seat, Summerhall, which was granted to several younger sons who were granted the title Prince of Summerhall.
House Targaryen historically followed the old gods of Valyria, but sometime before Aegon's Conquest the family abandoned the Valyrian gods and converted to the Faith of the Seven, the predominant religion in Westeros. However, they continued to follow the Valyrian practice of incestuous marriage, wedding brother to sister, cousin to cousin, uncle to niece and aunt to nephew, holding themselves apart from and above the noble Westerosi families.
Deceased Targaryens are traditionally cremated, a custom since the days of Old Valyria. If a dragon is available, it is used to light the flame of the pyre. The ashes of many of the dead of House Targaryen have been interred on Dragonstone, including those of King Aegon I, Queen Visenya, King Maegor I, Princess Daenerys, Princess Daella, King Jaehaerys I, and Queen Alysanne. However, Queen Rhaena's ashes were interred at Harrenhal, and her daughter Princess Aerea's ashes were scattered on the wind. Queen Daenerys Targaryen was burned in the God's Eye by Sonagon, the old dragon from Winterfell tamed by Jon Snow/Stark.
=== Dragons ===
As one of the forty dragonlord families of Valyria, the Targaryens were closer to dragons than other men. Aenar Targaryen brought five dragons with him when he moved from Valyria to Dragonstone, and Aegon I Targaryen and his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya rode them to battle during the Conquest of the Seven Kingdoms in 2 BC - 1 BC. The Targaryens rode their dragons during the first century and a half following Aegon's Conquest. Deaths in battle, especially during the Dance of the Dragons, and a growing infirmity in each following generation caused the family's stable to dwindle. The last dragon was a deformed and sterile creature, who died young in 153 AC, during the reign of Aegon III, the Dragonbane.
The Targaryens housed their dragons in an immense domed structure in King's Landing, the Dragonpit, which was constructed during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen. Not all dragons which hatched were ridden, however. On the island of Dragonstone, several dragons, both wild and previously ridden, resided at least during the reigns of King Jaehaerys I, Viserys I, and Aegon II Targaryen.
The Targaryens often gifted a newborn child with a dragon's egg in the cradle. This practice continued even after the death of the last dragon, with the last Targaryens confirmed to have been given an egg having been the sons of Prince Maekar during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen. Whether the tradition was continued beyond this point is unknown, but the Targaryens still possessed eggs as recently as the reign of Aerys II Targaryen, the last king of the Targaryen dynasty. Several attempts have been made, since the death of the last dragon, to hatch these eggs by members of House Targaryen, including by Aegon III and his younger brother and Hand of the King, Viserys, Baelor I, Aegon V, and Aerys II.
== History ==
=== Origins and Relocation ===
House Targaryen was one of the forty ancient noble houses known as dragonlords who ruled the Valyrian Freehold, a great empire spanning much of Essos. The Targaryens were not one of the most powerful houses, however. The family resided in Valyria until Daenys Targaryen, also known as Daenys the Dreamer, the daughter of Lord Aenar Targaryen, had visions of a cataclysm that would come over Valyria. Aenar sold his estates in Valyria and moved his wives, children, other relatives, slaves, wealth, and five dragons (including Balerion) to Dragonstone, an island at the entrance of Blackwater Bay and the westernmost outpost of Valyrian influence, where he took possession of a castle of the same name, in 114 BC. Twelve years later the Doom descended on the city of Valyria, leading to the collapse of the Freehold. The Targaryens were the only dragonriders of Valyria to survive. In the century that followed, four of the five dragons of House Targaryen died, with only Balerion surviving. Two more dragons, Vhagar and Meraxes, were hatched from eggs on Dragonstone, however.
During the century after the Doom, which became known as the Century of Blood due to the violent struggles for power in Essos, Volantis attempted to seize power over Valyria's colonies. Most of the other Free Cities rebelled against Volantis, and towards the end of the Century of Blood, the young Lord Aegon Targaryen, rider of the dragon Balerion, was approached by Pentos and Tyrosh to form an alliance. Aegon, mounted on his dragon Balerion, flew to meet the Prince of Pentos, and then to Lys, where he set the Volantene fleet aflame. With Volantis's campaign at an end, he returned to Dragonstone where he had a dragon-dream, which turned his interests to Westeros.