Accompanied by intense cold, they wear armor that "seemed to change color as it moved", and wield thin crystal swords capable of shattering steel.

"[5]In A Dance with Dragons (2011), Sam uncovers ancient record fragments which suggest that the Others are also vulnerable to something called "dragonsteel", which he and Jon Snow surmise is another term for Valyrian steel.

[6] Creatures killed by the Others soon reanimate as wights: undead with pallid skin, black hands, and glowing blue eyes similar to the Others'.

[10] In 2012, Chris Lackner wrote in Dose, "Fans of the novels are eagerly awaiting Martin's final two installments of the seven-part series.

[12] After the Others were pushed back, the Children and the First Men raised The Wall, a vast barrier of stone, ice and magic from one coast of northern Westeros to the other, to bar the passage of the Others south.

[11] The White Walkers portrayed on HBO's Game of Thrones differ slightly in appearance from their literary counterparts, but Aaron Souppouris of The Verge named them among "the most visually iconic creatures on the show".

[10] Their apparent leader is the Night King, portrayed by Richard Brake and Vladimir Furdik, who first appeared in the episode "Oathkeeper", in which he places his hand on Craster's baby son, transforming him into a White Walker.

[18][19][20] In "Hardhome", the effectiveness of Valyrian steel against the White Walkers is proven as Jon shatters one to pieces with a single stroke of his ancient sword Longclaw.

[23] In the season 6 episode "The Door" (May 2016), Bran Stark experiences a vision of the creation of the Night King by Leaf, one of the Children of the Forest, by stabbing a human prisoner in the chest with a dragonglass dagger.

In the eighth season premiere, "Winterfell", a group of survivors from the Wall's destruction discover that Last Hearth, the home of House Umber, has been attacked by the Army of the Dead in their conquest of the North, with all of its inhabitants killed.

The Night King has also left a message in the form of the deceased Ned Umber impaled on a wall and surrounded by a spiral of severed limbs.

However, the Night King is ambushed and killed by Arya Stark with the Valyrian steel dagger that Bran had previously given her ("The Spoils of War"), which causes both him and the other White Walkers to shatter and results in the complete obliteration of the Army of the Dead.

[32] In 2014, Funko released a 6.5 inch articulated White Walker action figure (with spear accessory) as part of their HBO-licensed Legacy Collection line, which features "some of the series’ most popular characters".