Sansa Stark

Sansa Stark is a fictional main and POV character from A Song of Ice and Fire, and is played by Sophie Turner on the HBO television series Game of Thrones. Sansa is a well loved character, but was also the target of a great deal of hate and derision within the fandom. 
Perhaps, because of her mistreatment in canon, many of her fans wish to see her happy, and will create fanworks where she finds a peaceful life. She is also the fandom's primary little black dress and is shipped with a wide variety of characters, including Jon Snow and Margaery Tyrell. AUs appear to be fairly common, including Modern AUs and Canon Divergences.
==Canon==
=== TV Series ===
At the beginning of the series Sansa lives at Winterfell with her parents and siblings. After King Robert Baratheon visits she is betrothed to his son Prince Joffrey, and she travels south with her father. After King Robert dies her father is named traitor and beheaded, and she remains a prisoner at King's Landing. Joffrey is cruel and abusive toward her. He eventually breaks the betrothal so he can wed Margaery Tyrell. The Tyrells try to arrange a marriage between Sansa and Ser Loras, but are thwarted by the Lannisters when they marry Sansa to Tyrion. After Joffrey's murder she escapes King's Landing with the help of Lord Petyr Baelish, who transports her to the Vale. Baelish kills her aunt Lysa, and afterwards arranges a marriage between her and Ramsay Bolton. Ramsay abuses Sansa, when the opportunity arises she escapes with Theon Greyjoy. She is found by Brienne of Tarth who sees her safely to the Wall where she reunites with her brother Jon Snow. Sansa is able to recruit the Knights of the Vale to come to their aid and they help the Jon and Sansa win the Battle of the Bastards. After Ramsay's death Sansa is named Lady of Winterfell and left in charge of the Stark forces when Jon travels south. After the defeat of the Whitewalkers and Cersei, Sansa declares that the North shall be independent and she is crowned Queen in the North. 
=== Books ===
Sansa's story is very similar to the television show's until she reaches the Vale. As of the last book Sansa is still in the Vale and going along with Petyr Baelish's plans to eventually seize power in that region.
==Fandom==
===Pairings===
Sansa is the main Little Black Dress of ASoIaF/GOT fandom, appearing in a wide, varied range of ships and even crossover pairings. This may be a result of her overall popularity in the fandom, or because she is something of a canonical LBD, being subjected to multiple political matches throughout the series. It may also be because her canonical relationships do not resonate with many fans. At best, she ends up a child bride in a mutually unwanted political marriage (Tyrion), and at worst she is betrothed/married off to abusive sadists (Joffrey and Ramsay). This has led many fans to imagine her in happier relationships in fic. "Sansa Stark/Happiness" is a popular joke pairing for this reason.
Person 	Ship
Jon Snow 	Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Sandor Clegane 	Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
Margaery Tyrell 	Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell
Petyr Baelish 	Petyr Baelish/Sansa Stark
Theon Greyjoy 	Theon Greyjoy/Sansa Stark
Tyrion Lannister 	Tyrion Lannister/Sansa Stark
Jaime Lannister 	Jaime Lannister/Sansa Stark
Joffrey Baratheon 	Joffrey Baratheon/Sansa Stark
Willas Tyrell 	Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell
Daenerys Targaryen	Sansa Stark/Daenerys Targaryen
Stannis Baratheon 	Stannis Baratheon/Sansa Stark
Robb Stark 	Robb Stark/Sansa Stark
Harrold Hardyng 	Harrold Hardyng/Sansa Stark
Ramsay Bolton 	Ramsay Bolton/Sansa Stark
Podrick Payne 	Podrick Payne/Sansa Stark
Tywin Lannister 	Tywin Lannister/Sansa Stark
Brienne of Tarth 	Sansa Stark/Brienne of Tarth
===Statistics===
*In 2016 Sansa was the 2nd most popular Stark child on Tumblr
*In 2017 Sansa Stark was the most popular Game of Thrones character on Archive of Our OwnGame of Thrones A03 statistics
*In 2019, during the final season, Sansa was the most popular Game of Thrones character on Tumblr
===Common Tropes in Fanworks===
*Modern AU: set in a modern setting, where Sansa knows or meets other characters from the series. Most often she is living with her family, however there are some stories where she is older and living independently
*High School AU or College AU: common because of her relative age (these are almost always in modern AUs)
*Arranged Marriage: for a political purposes marriages are arranged for Sansa, often exploring possibilities other than her disappointing canonical relationships, some popular character choices for the potential grooms are Jon Snow, Sandor Clegane, and Willas Tyrell. In AU stories, where same sex marriages are not an issue, you will also see Margaery Tyrell and Daenerys Targaryen thrown into the mix
*Canon Divergence AU: the point at which to diverge varies greatly, a few examples are: Sansa never goes south with Ned, she escapes or is rescued from Kings Landing, she escapes or is rescued from the Vale
*Futurefic: these usually entailed Sansa as Lady of Winterfell, or Queen in the North, and sometimes married with children
*Reunion: before Seasons 6 & 7 many stories focused on how she would be reunited with her remaining family members
*Hurt/Comfort: with Sansa being hurt emotionally or physically, she is usually comforted by members of the Stark family or by potential romantic interests 
===Challenges===
*Sansa Stark Appreciation Week
===Terminology ===
*Sansa is sometimes refered to as the Red Wolf in fanworks, because she has red hair and the House Stark sigil is a direwolf
==Controversies==
*Sexism: Sansa received a lot of fandom hate early in the series, because of her poor decision making and weakness. Many have pointed out that she was very young. Plus, there were accusations of sexism within the fandom because the very things that some fans hated were her classically feminine traits.
*Sexual Assault: many fans were extremely disappointed when the show changed Sansa's book story line and married her to Ramsay Bolton, who proceeded to rape her, and felt it undercut the agency her character had been developingGame of Thrones Absolutely Did Not Need to Go There with Sansa Stark
==Fanworks==
===Fan Art===
*Sansa by dalisacg
*Sansa by akizhao
*Sansa and Lady by Sansa and Lady
*Sansa Stark by JanainaArt
*Sansa Stark 1.0 by elia-illustration
*Sansa Stark by IrenHorrors
*Sansa Stark by KalaSketch
*Sansa Stark by bubug
*Sansa by Incantata
* by MAD SAD CENTRAL
===Fanfiction===
*The Six Songs of Sansa Stark by thefairfleming
*Into the Wood by Walter Gilman
*all I know since yesterday is everything has changed by bryndentully
*The Lady and the Direwolf by turtle_paced
===Fan Vids===
*Home by Zurik 23M
*Lady of Winterfell by tabbleey
*Survivor by Tap101Dancer
=== Graphics and Gif Sets ===
* gif set by padme-amidala
===Meta===
* by empresslucrezia
===Cosplay===
*GoT - Sansa - The Halfman's Bride, cosplay by MilliganVick
*Sansa Stark cosplay by mo-s-art
===Fanmixes===
* by asongforwinterfell
=== Zines ===
* Teen In The North
==Gallery==
===Fanart===
File:Sansa Stark and Lady by Skab3txina.jpg|Sansa Stark and Lady by Skab3txina (2011)
File:Sansa Stark by artAlais.jpg|Sansa Stark by artAlais (2012)
File:Arya and Sansa by DanArcane.jpg|Arya and Sansa by DanArcane (2012) – Sansa (right) with her sister Arya (left).
File:Sansa Stark by ladywinde.jpg|Sansa Stark by ladywinde (2012)
File:Running with the Hare and Hunting with the Hound.png|Cover art for Running with the Hare and Hunting with the Hound, by JDarnell (2014)|alt="Sansa laying on the ground with her spread around her. with her hand placed on the Hound's helmet. Text="Hare and Hunting with the Hound"
File:Alayne Stone by denkata5698.jpg|Sansa in her Alayne Stone identity by denkata5698 (2014).
File:Sansa Stark by Tfilipova.jpg|Sansa Stark by Tfilipova (2014)‎ 
File:Sansa Stark by CR0M3R0.jpg|Sansa Stark by CR0M3R0 (2015)
File:Sansa Stark by JanainaArt.jpg‎|Sansa Stark by JanainaArt (2015)|alt="Illustration of Sansa wearing a bronze crown, in the background is a castle and birds flying in the sky"
File:Sansa Stark 2 by IrenHorrors.jpg|Sansa Stark by IrenHorrors (2015)
File:Queen in the North by JanainaArt.jpg|Queen in the North by JanainaArt (2016)|alt="Drawing of Sansa wearing a gold crown and holding a bird in her hand, in the background is Winterfell"
File:Lady of Winterfell by Andrea Balmaceda.jpg|Lady of Winterfell by Andrea Balmaceda (2017)|alt="Illustration of Sansa, with Weirwood trees in the background"
File:Ink and Roses cover.png|Cover art for Ink & Roses, by Rosaria Battiloro (2017)|alt="Illustration of Sansa sitting and reading a letter. Text="Ink and Roses, Chaouen and Kitamere""
File:Sansa stark by irenhorrors.jpg|Sansa Stark by IrenHorrors (2017)|alt="Illustration of Sansa in a black dress and cloak, behind her is a flag with a direwolf head"
File:Arya & Sansa by Agustin Paillet.jpg|Arya & Sansa by Agustin Paillet (2018) – Sansa (left) with her sister Arya (right).
File:The Lady of Winterfell by AranelFealoss.jpg|The Lady of Winterfell by AranelFealoss (2019)
File:Sansa by Michal Biskup.jpg|Sansa by Michal Biskup (2019)
File:Queen in the North by evs-eme.jpg|Queen in the North by evs-eme (2019)
File:Sansa Stark by Ingrid Herrmann.jpg|Sansa Stark by Ingrid Herrmann (2019)
File:Sansa Stark by Mia Hobbes.jpg|Sansa Stark by Mia Hobbes (2019)
File:Queen in the North by KuroCyou.png|Queen in the North by KuroCyou (2019)|alt="Painting of Sansa wearing a sliver crown and sitting on a throne craved with direwolves"
File:Queen in the North by Gabriella Masi.jpg|Queen in the North by Gabriella Masi (2019)
File:Sansa Stark - Queen in the North by Marion Pasia.jpg|Sansa Stark: Queen in the North by Marion by Marion Pasia (2019)|alt="Illustration of Sansa with a sliver direwolf crown"
File:Sansa Stark by Anastasia Sharynskaya.jpg|Sansa Stark by Anastasia Sharynskaya (2019)
File:Sansa Stark by Aleta Vidal.jpg|Sansa Stark by Aleta Vidal‎ (2019)
===Cosplay===
File:At the Window by CalamityJade.jpg|Cosplay of Sansa by Italian cosplayer CalamityJade (2012)
File:Sansa and Lady by CalamityJade.jpg|Cosplay of Sansa CalamityJade (2013).
File:Protect Me Old Gods by CalamityJade.jpg|Cosplay of Sansa CalamityJade (2014).
File:Porcelain Skin by CalamityJade.jpg|Cosplay of Sansa CalamityJade (2014).
File:Beloved Sisters by Calamity Jade.jpg|Cosplay enacting the sibling rivalry between Sansa (CalamityJade) and Arya (unknown).
File:Sansa Stark 1 by CantoriDelWesteros.jpg|Sansa cosplay by Italian ‎cosplayer CantoriDelWesteros (2012).
File:Sansa Stark 2 by CantoriDelWesteros.jpg‎|Sansa cosplay by CantoriDelWesteros (2012).
File:Sansa Stark 3 by CantoriDelWesteros.jpg|Sansa cosplay by CantoriDelWesteros (2012).‎ ‎
File:Sansa Stark 1 by Thaea1402.jpg|Sansa cosplay by German cosplayer Thaea1402 (2014). 
File:Sansa Stark 2 by Thaea1402.jpg|Sansa cosplay by Thaea1402 (2014).
File:Sansa Cosplay by Jackie Chapman.jpg|Sansa cosplay by New Zealand cosplayer Jackie Chapman (2018).
File:Sansa Dress by Jackie Chapman.jpg|Embroidery detail by Jackie Chapman (2018).
==Archive and Links== 
*Sansa Stark tag at Archive of Our Own
*Sansa at FanFiction.net
*Tumblr Tags: Sansa Stark, GOT Sansa Stark
==Resources==
*Sansa Stark at Westeros.org
*Sansa Stark at Game of Thrones Wiki
*Sansa Stark at Wikipedia
==References==
Category:ASOIAF/Game of Thrones Characters