Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daemon/Rhaenyra is the het pairing of Daemon Targaryen and Rhaenyra Targaryen in the A Song of Ice and Fire and House of the Dragon fandom.
They are best known as the trashy problematic fave Targaryen power couple.
==Canon==
===Fire & Blood===
The book is less of a narrative and more of a historical document. It uses the trope of an unreliable narrator and is deliberately unclear about the early parts of their relationship.
They're uncle and niece. Rhaenyra is the daughter of Viserys, who is Daemon's elder brother.
After spending many years away, Daemon returned to court in 111 AC. Rhaenyra was 14 and Daemon was 30. During that time, the pair spent much time together. He showered her with gifts and they rode their dragons, hawked, and sailed together. He read her poetry, and mocked her enemies.
After half a year at court, Daemon left. There are many divergent stories about the reason.
* Septon Eustace says that Daemon seduced Rhaenyra took her virginity, and were caught by Ser Arryk Cargyll. Rhaenyra said she was in love with Daemon and begged leave to marry him, but her father would not allow it.
* Court fool Mushroom says Rhaenyra had a crush on Criston Cole (see Criston Cole/Rhaenyra Targaryen) and Daemon offered his niece lessons on how to seduce a man. These lessons included kissing, handjobs, and blowjobs, but stopped just short of PIV sex in order to maintain Rhaenyra's technical virginity, which she wished to give to Criston. This lessons often took place on lonely rocks in Blackwater Bay, accessed on dragonback, where they would have no fear of getting caught. It also involved sneaking down to brothels with Rhaenyra disguised as Daemon's page boy in order to observe sex and learn tricks from the prostitutes. At the end of this long training, when Rhaenyra finally approached Criston, he was horrified and spurned her. Then, when the story came out, Daemon said to Viserys, "Give the girl to me to wife. Who else would take her now?"
Bear in mind that Daemon is said to "have an especial fondness for deflowering maidens." Whatever happened, this episode ended with Viserys refusing to allow them to marry and exiling Daemon in order to separate him from Rhaenyra.
They both went on to marry other people (see Daemon Targaryen/Laena Velaryon).
Later, in the year of 120 AC, they were both widowed, and before the year was out they had already remarried each other. They were 23 and 39 at this point. The wedding was preformed in secret. Suggested reasons include:
* Septon Eustace: Viserys would stop it if he knew.
* Mushroom: Rhaenyra was already pregnant and wanted her child to be legitimate.
Their son, Aegon III, was born fairly promptly after their marriage. He was followed by two more children they had together: Viserys II and Visenya (stillborn).
===House of the Dragon===
Rhaenyra's actress Milly Alcock said of their relationship in season 1:
Daemon and Rhaenyra speak Valyrian to each other.
The emotional framing of them is also markedly different than in the book.
==Fandom==
===Popular tropes in fanworks===
* Most of Daemon/Rhaenyra's appeal centers around the idea of them as a power couple
* Their dragons, Caraxes and Syrax, who symbolically represent their riders, also hook up.
* Size Kink: Daemon is tall and Rhaenyra is short.
==Controversies==
They have an age difference of 16 years. Regardless of which version of the story you adhere to, they pretty clearly first hooked up when Rhaenyra was a teenager. Their relationship is incestuous. The authenticity of Daemon's feelings for Rhaenyra is also questionable, seeing as marrying her is a way for him to be king.
One would he hard-pressed to find someone who claims this is not a problematic ship. Some fics are tagged "Daemon Targaryen is His Own Warning." That part is not the question. The question is "does that bother me?" Is it a problem that it's problematic? Or is it problematic in a problematic fave sort of way?
==Fanworks==
===Meta===
* 
===Fanart===
There is not a ton of artwork of them predating the show, although the friends ChillyRavenArt and NaomiMakesArt both did several pieces each.
* Blood Of The Dragon by AndalkaCZ
* Fire and Blood by AndalkaCZ
* Daemon and Rhaenyra by aveny-art
* Wedding by aveny-art
* Rhaenyra and Daemon by SimonaBonafiniDA
* Daemon, Rhaenyra and Aegon feat. Caraxes by chillyravenart
* Rhaenyra and Daemon by chillyravenart
* You Are My Queen - Daemon X Rhaenyra by chillyravenart
* Rhaenyra and Daemon by ElviraFadeout
* The Rogue Prince and the Realm's Delight by JotaSaraiva
* daemyra by insaneption
* HOTD: the Targaryens by Kay-I
* Daemon and Rhaenyra by kimirra-art
* A Black Wedding by naomimakesart
* Daemon And Rhaenyra by naomimakesart
* House of the Dragon by naomimakesart
* The Rogue Prince and the Realm's Delight by naomimakesart
* Secret Tryst by naomimakesart
* Daemyra by PauStark
* Burn Together by point-maitimo
* Till Flames do us part by scarletxhedera
* Daemon and Rhaenyra by TaraFireLash
===Fanfic===
===Memes===
==Gallery==
===Book-Based Fanart===
File:Naomimakesart Rhaenyra Daemon.png|The Rogue Prince and the Realm's Delight by NaomiMakesArt
File:ElenaStripe Daemon and Rhaenyra.jpg|by ElenaStripe
File:Chillyravenart Rhaenyra Daemon.jpg|Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon Targaryen by ChillyRavenArt
===Show-Based Fanart===
File:Griseo Daemyra.jpg|by Griseo
File:Boomdafunk_-_A_story_of_blood.png|A story of blood by Boomdafunk
File:Dorisbanana_daemyra_families.jpg|families by Bana
File:Dynasty by Inna-Vjuzhanina.jpg|Dynasty by Inna-Vjuzhanina ‎ 
File:A Dance of Dragons by Inna-Vjuzhanina.jpg|A Dance of Dragons by Inna-Vjuzhanina
===Memes===
File:Daemon s1e2.jpg|Meme satirizing Rhaenyra's influence on the parley in S1E2.
File:Rhaenarya Barbie Mugshot by viscardiac.jpg|A version of the Barbie mugshot meme by viscardiac featuring Rhaenyra.
File:Daemon Barbie Mugshot by viscardiac.jpg|Companion piece by viscardiac featuring Daemon.
==Resources==
* Archive of Our Own tag: Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen
* Discord group: Daemyra
* Tumblr tag: daemyra
* Twitter tag: daemyra
==References==
Category:House of the Dragon Relationships
Category:Het Pairings
Targaryen