When you think about the heavy hitters in George R.R. Martin’s universe, your mind probably goes straight to dragons. It makes sense. Drogon is basically a sentient nuclear weapon. But honestly, the Game of Thrones giant population—or what was left of it—represented something much more tragic and, frankly, more physically imposing on a ground level. They weren't just "big guys." They were the Drenai of the North, the Vun-Vun, a non-human species with a culture that was already dying before the pilot episode even started.
Most fans remember Wun Wun. How could you not? He turned the Battle of the Bastards into a game of "how many Bolton soldiers can I swat like flies?" But if you dig into the lore, the giants were way more than just siege engines with legs. They were the original inhabitants of Westeros, alongside the Children of the Forest. By the time Mance Rayder started knocking on the Wall, there were only a few hundred left. Think about that. An entire race, thousands of years old, reduced to a single tribe hiding in the frost.
Mag the Mighty and the End of a Royal Line
The first time we really see a Game of Thrones giant in action is during the Siege of Castle Black. This wasn't just any giant; it was Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg. Most people just called him Mag the Mighty. He was the king of the giants, though "king" is a loose term for a people that didn't really have a government. He was more of a patriarch, a living relic of the Dawn Age.
His death is one of the most underrated moments in the series. Mag didn't just die; he died in a suicide mission to break the inner gate of the Wall. Facing him was Grenn and five other members of the Night’s Watch. They held the gate. They died doing it, but they killed a king. In the books, it's actually Donal Noye—the one-armed blacksmith who gave Jon Snow his sword Longclaw—who takes Mag down. The show gave that glory to Grenn, but the weight remains the same. When Mag fell, the giants lost their last shred of sovereignty. It was the beginning of the end for the Vun-Vun.
How Big Were They, Really?
In the show, the giants are roughly 12 to 15 feet tall. They’re massive. But they aren't the skyscraper-sized monsters you see in some high-fantasy tropes. They’re grounded. Neil Fingleton, the actor who played Mag the Mighty, stood 7 feet 7 inches tall in real life. Even with practical effects and CGI, the production team tried to keep them feeling heavy. They didn't move fast. They had massive bone density.
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The books describe them a bit differently. George R.R. Martin writes them as being covered in a coat of thick fur, almost like a prehistoric sloth or a yeti. They didn't wear much armor because, well, what was going to hurt them? Their primary weapons were literally just uprooted trees. They didn't forge steel. They didn't build cities. They were a part of the landscape, as much as the mountains or the weirwoods.
Wun Wun and the Tragedy of Hardhome
Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun—better known as Wun Wun—is the Game of Thrones giant that actually got a character arc. Kind of. He was one of the few who survived the massacre at Hardhome. Seeing Wun Wun wade into the water, smashing wights with a log while the Night’s King watched from the docks, is arguably the peak of the show’s cinematography.
But why did he follow Jon Snow? It wasn't just because Jon saved him. Giants are notoriously stubborn. In the lore, they speak the Old Tongue. They don't trust "southerners" (which, to a giant, is anyone living south of the True North). Wun Wun followed Jon because Jon treated him like a soldier, not a monster.
The Battle of the Bastards was Wun Wun's swan song. It’s actually kind of frustrating to watch back. Why didn't they give him a weapon? A tree trunk? A massive shield? Instead, he went into that battle bare-handed. He ripped a man in half, sure, but he took hundreds of arrows in the process. When he finally smashed through the gates of Winterfell, he was a pincushion. Ramsay Bolton’s final arrow to his eye wasn't just a kill shot; it was the extinction of the giants south of the Wall.
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The Science of Giant Anatomy
If we look at the biology of a Game of Thrones giant, things get interesting. To support that kind of weight, their skeletal structure would need to be radically different from a human’s. Square-cube law is a jerk. If you double an animal's height, you triple its surface area and quadruple its weight. A 14-foot giant would weigh well over 2,000 pounds.
This explains why they rode mammoths. Only a mammoth has the structural integrity to carry a giant. It also explains their diet. They were largely vegetarian in the books, surviving on roots and tough vegetation, which is weirdly similar to how many modern megafauna survive. They weren't the bloodthirsty man-eaters the stories in Old Nan’s tales suggested. They were just... there. Minduring their own business until the White Walkers forced them south.
The Wights: When Giants Don't Stay Dead
Perhaps the most terrifying iteration of the Game of Thrones giant wasn't the living ones, but the ones the Night King brought back. During the later seasons, we see giant wights. They are the ultimate siege weapon. One of them, often speculated to be a resurrected Mag the Mighty (though never confirmed), nearly levels the gates of Winterfell during the Long Night.
Lyanna Mormont's death is the standout moment here. The sheer scale of a 10-year-old girl taking down a giant wight is pure fan service, but it highlights the threat. A giant that doesn't feel pain, doesn't tire, and doesn't need to eat is a world-ending problem. If the Night King had an army of a hundred giant wights instead of just three or four, the series would have ended at the Battle of Winterfell.
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Why the Giants Mattered for the Lore
Giants represent the "Magic" side of the scale in Westeros. In the beginning, magic was everywhere. Dragons, Children of the Forest, Giants, and Direwolves. As the Andals invaded and the Faith of the Seven took over, the world became "smaller" and more "human." The extinction of the giants is a metaphor for the world losing its wonder and its history.
When the last Game of Thrones giant died, a library of oral history died with them. They knew things about the First Men that no maester in Oldtown could ever hope to uncover. They were the last link to a time before the Long Night, before the Wall was even a pile of slush.
Misconceptions About Giants
- They were stupid: Not true. They spoke a complex language (the Old Tongue) and had a hierarchy based on age and lineage.
- They were allies of the Wildlings: They were more like uneasy neighbors. Mance Rayder had to work incredibly hard to convince them to join his host.
- They are related to "The Mountain": Gregor Clegane is just a very large human with a pituitary issue (and later, some dark magic). Giants are a completely different species.
Practical Insights for Fans and Lore Buffs
If you're revisiting the series or the books, pay attention to the silence of the giants. They rarely speak, but their presence dictates the movement of every army they are in.
To understand the Game of Thrones giant legacy, you have to look at what they left behind. The Wall itself is rumored to have been built with their help. Bran the Builder couldn't have moved those massive blocks of ice alone. If that's true, the giants literally built the cage that eventually trapped them in the dying lands of the North.
Next Steps for Deep Diving into Giant Lore:
- Read "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms": There are subtle references to the "blood of giants" in larger-than-average humans like Ser Duncan the Tall.
- Study the Battle of the Bastards frames: Look at the way Wun Wun uses his environment. It’s the only time we see a giant in a formal tactical engagement.
- Explore the "World of Ice and Fire" sourcebook: It contains the most detailed descriptions of giant culture and their ancient wars with the Children of the Forest.
The giants weren't just monsters to be slain or tools to be used. They were the first owners of the Seven Kingdoms. Their story is one of the most tragic arcs in the entire franchise, ending not with a bang, but with a lone arrow in the snows of Winterfell. Underscoring the theme of the whole show: the old world is gone, and the new world is much colder without it.