A bold statement? Perhaps. But, I challenge people to dispute me, because Eddard Stark has got to be one of, if not the most, badass character in history. 

Now, for anybody who doesn’t know who Eddard Stark is, he’s the lead character in the first novel of “A Song of Ice And Fire” series by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (and played by Sean Bean in the tv series, which will be discussed later).

Eddard, Lord of Winterfell, is mid/late-thirties with a fucking strong sense of justice and an even stronger sense of honour. The man does what needs to be done and does what is right. He’s pretty much the moral compass of the series for the entire first book. 

Sure, most of his POV chapters are littered with tidbits of depressing lines and all that. He goes on about secrets and lies he’s been keeping for 14 years, but that only makes him cooler. Instead of coming off as whiney and annoying, like his daughter, Sansa, does, Eddard seems to become more praiseworthy of it. He always, above all, protects his family.

And he wields a greatsword called Ice like it’s nobody’s business. All he does is kick ass and take names.

In one flashback, Eddard, accompanied by 6 others, take on 3 of the most Elite-group of knights in the series - the Kingsguard. Granted, only Eddard and one of his allies live to walk away from that fight, he basically takes on the equivalent of 3-Supercharged Aragorns and lives to tell the tale. What’s more, the only ally that lives is a scrawny wee guy who people called useless. But, does Eddard ever brag? Oh, hell no. He’s a chill as a cucumber.

Eddard might not have been the best player in the Game of Thrones, sure. But that only makes him seem all the more human. He runs and tells Cersei Lannister, the biggest bitch in the Universe (and also on the “Women I Would Punch In The Mouth” list), what he’s planning on doing, but we all make mistakes.

Most of what we see of Eddard’s personality is, primarily, from Jon and Robb, two of his sons. Both mimic Eddard’s keen sense of duty and honour. Robb is a beast on the battlefield, and Jon proves himself awesome at pretty much anything he does.

Almost everything else we hear about Eddard, especially later in the series, is from other characters, big and small. Enemies note Stark as a worthy opponent, while friends talk about him as a man who knew how to treat people fairly.

Bigger boss in fiction today? Bitch, please. He’d beat the shit out of Link anyday. Gandalf? Please. Eddard would convince Gandalf that, instead of fighting, it’d be better if they both just went and beat the shit out of everybody else. Heck, Eddard is so much of a boss he could traverse the fabrics of the universe and beat the shit out of Jimi Hendrix’ reanimated body.

He’d also catch the bullet that shot JFK. With his teeth.