Described as an ugly ("for all the world like a gargoyle"), malformed dwarf with different colored eyes, green and black, Tyrion possesses the white-blond hair of a Lannister but has a complicated relationship with the rest of them.

"[15] Acknowledging that Tyrion's wit, humor and cunning are his survival mechanism, actor Dinklage told The New York Times that "He knows he has no skills with the sword and this is a world that is really deeply violent.

"[6][12] Noting the character to be one of Martin's most popular, Dana Jennings of The New York Times called Tyrion "a bitter but brilliant dwarf whose humor, swagger and utter humanity make him the (often drunken) star of the series".

[16] Dan Kois of The New York Times also noted in 2012 that "for fans of the novels, Tyrion is among the most beloved among the scores of kings, warriors, wenches, slaves, queens and monsters that populate George R. R. Martin's world".

He is one of a handful of "sorely missed" major characters that do not appear in 2005's A Feast for Crows,[19] but on his website in 2006 Martin released a sample chapter featuring Tyrion from his next novel A Dance with Dragons.

[28] With the Starks and Lannisters fully at war, Tywin tasks Tyrion to manage affairs at King's Landing, recognizing that his son is intelligent and has inherited his skills with statecraft.

In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion relishes his new power but finds that his sincere efforts to stabilize his nephew Joffrey's rule are being undermined and thwarted by the misguided and self-serving machinations of everyone around him.

It's the great crime of his soul along with what he did with his first wife by abandoning her after the little demonstration Lord Tywin put on ... it's again something that's going to haunt him, while the act of killing his father is something of enormous consequence that would be forever beyond the pale, for no man is as cursed as a kinslayer.

[T 6] At the Crossroad Inn, Tyrion encounters Ned's wife Catelyn, who accuses him of hiring an assassin to kill Bran and arrests him by enlisting nearby men-at-arms.

Disgusted by Joffrey's behavior and Cersei's failure to control him, Tyrion openly opposes the young king and tries to keep the hostage Sansa Stark out of harm's way.

When fighting on the burning wreckage of Stannis' fleet, Tyrion is attacked and grievously wounded by the Kingsguard knight Ser Mandon Moore, but is saved by his young squire Podrick Payne.

Furious, Tyrion swears revenge on his family for a lifetime of cruelty, falsely admits to murdering Joffrey and reveals Cersei's promiscuity in order to hurt Jaime.

He realizes that two of his traveling companions are not what they seem — one sellsword named "Griff" is Jon Connington, Crown Prince Rhaegar's close friend and Aerys' disgraced former Hand of the King; the other teenager named "Young Griff" is claimed to be Rhaegar's supposedly slain son Aegon, whom Varys allegedly had spirited away and replaced with another baby who was instead killed by Gregor Clegane during the Lannisters' sack of King's Landing.

While stopping at the trading town Selhorys on the way to Volantis, Tyrion visits a brothel and is recognized and abducted by an exiled Jorah Mormont, who believes that delivering a Lannister to Daenerys will return himself to her good graces.

During the armistice, Tyrion and Penny are forced to perform mock jousts riding pigs in the fighting pits of Meereen, which are actually staged as a spectacle to have them eventually eaten by lions, but they are saved when Daenerys intervenes and stops the show.

When the plague of bloody flux strikes the slavers' siege camps, Tyrion engineers their escape by murdering the overseer with poisonous mushrooms, and they join the sellsword company the Second Sons, whose leader Ben Plumm knows Jorah.

Executive producers/writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss had pitched the idea of adapting Martin's series for television to HBO in March 2006, and the network secured the rights in January 2007.

[39] Benioff and Weiss later noted that the funny and "incredibly smart" Dinklage was their first choice for the role, as the actor's "core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character.

[17] Benioff and Weiss told Dinklage that the character was "a different kind of fantasy little person," or in the actor's words, "No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being.

[49] Though the HBO series has alternately extended, abbreviated, conflated and diverged from the novels' plot lines,[50] Tyrion's character and story arc have remained mostly consistent with Martin's writing.

[51] Calling the character the "black sheep" of the Lannister family, TV Guide wrote as the show premiered in 2011 that "Tyrion sees through all the chicanery and decides the best option is to drink and bed his way through the Seven Kingdoms.

"[14] According to the Los Angeles Times, "brilliant but low-living" Tyrion is "so well acquainted with the workings of the world he can hardly bear it, the Imp is ... debauched, perhaps, but a truth-teller nonetheless, fighting for his own survival with as much mercy as he can spare.

"[54] Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker noted, "If the show has a hero, it's Tyrion (Dinklage), who is capable of cruelty but also possesses insight and empathy, concealed beneath a carapace of Wildean wit.

In 2015, James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly called Tyrion's meeting with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) an "iconic meetup" that "delighted fans, who were universally enthusiastic (for once!)

Tyrion discovers that the Sons of the Harpy are funded by the slavers of Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis, and arranges a meeting with representatives of those cities to give them seven years to abolish slavery.

Tyrion also enlists the assistance of the red priestess Kinvara, who believes that Daenerys is a messianic figure prophesied by her faith and offers the support of the followers of R'hllor.

Following the battle, Tyrion wanders through the ruins of King's Landing and eventually discovers the corpses of Jaime and Cersei, crushed by rubble in the Red Keep.

"[52] The Los Angeles Times wrote "In many ways, Game of Thrones belongs to Dinklage"[53] even before, in Season 2, the "scene-stealing actor's" character became the series' most central figure.

[93] Among the various lines of Game of Thrones collectible figurines licensed by HBO, Tyrion has featured prominently, being dubbed one of the "heavy hitters", "fan favorites", "most-liked" and "most popular" characters.

They are 4.5-inch (11 cm) vinyl figures in the Japanese chibi style, one depicting an early series Tyrion[97] and a post-Season 2 version with a facial scar, "Battle Armor", and an axe.