Robert Baratheon is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where he is portrayed by English actor Mark Addy.

Although Robert dies in the first novel, the legacy of his rebellion and reign continues to have a great impact on the contemporary events of Westeros.

After Lyanna disappeared with Rhaegar Targaryen and the execution of Eddard's father, Rickard, and brother, Brandon Stark, King Aerys II called for Robert and Ned's heads.

However, after he won the Iron Throne, Robert becomes very obese due to excessive feasting and drinking, gaining at least eight stone (51 kg) of weight, and turns into an often red-faced man with dark circles underneath his eyes and appears half-drunk and sweating when walking, with a wild, thick, fierce beard that hides his double chin.

In his youth, Robert is fearless in battle with a powerful voice, wielding a large spiked iron war hammer too heavy for Eddard Stark to lift, and was a formidable warrior well-loved by soldiers.

He is quite promiscuous, having fathered multiple bastard children (16 according to the prophecy by Lannisport fortuneteller Maggy the Frog) with whores or any women he encounters, and his lusts are the subject of ribald drinking songs throughout the realms.

His queen wife, Cersei Lannister, considers him to be an ignorant, dumb, slow-witted, drunken brute who does not have the ruthless streak she believes a king requires.

[1] Robert Baratheon is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are mainly witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of Ned Stark.

More interested in food, drink, and tourneys than in governance, Robert has squandered the royal treasury, leaving the crown heavily in debt.

After a hunting accident orchestrated by Cersei, Robert is mortally wounded by a wild boar and appoints Eddard as the regent for his son Joffrey.

[8] In seasons six and seven, Bran Stark's gift of vision as the Three-Eyed Raven reveals to him the truth of Rhaegar and Lyanna's relationship, that Lyanna willingly fled with Rhaegar and married him in secret, and states that "Robert's Rebellion was built on a lie," even though it was the Mad King's crimes against House Stark that started the rebellion in the first place.