Is Your Family Like House Stark From ‘Game of Thrones’?

Take this quiz to help determine how much your family has in common with the great House Stark of Westeros.

How Does Your Family Add Up Against House Stark From ‘Game of Thrones’?

We’ve never been more excited to say this: Winter is here!

It’s been almost two looooooooooong years since the last “Game of Thrones” (“GoT”) episode aired on HBO, but it’s finally back. Will Jon Snow and the dragons defeat the White Walkers then take down Cersei Lannister and install the fair-haired Daenerys Targaryen on the throne? Will Jon tell Daenerys about his true identity, forever driving a wedge between them even though she might already be pregnant following their seafaring romp that closed out Season 7? Maybe Tyrion will be the only one who survives, or maybe everyone will die and the Children of the Forest will rule again.

Who knows! There are far too many possibilities, so let’s just take it week by week and see how everything unfolds. And in the meantime, you can occupy your time by taking this fun quiz to determine how similar your family compares to our favorite Westeros house: the Starks.

**Warning: There are some plot spoilers ahead.

Do you come from a cold place?

It’s easy to figure out the climate of Winterfell just by the name. Like our own world, things in the North tend to be cold and dark. (Yes, we’re ignoring the Southern Hemisphere and Antarctica right now so you should, too.)

The show’s famous tagline, “Winter is coming,” is actually the Stark family’s motto. Unlike all other house mottos in “GoT,” which are either threatening or braggadocios, the Stark’s is a warning to always be mindful of what lies ahead.

Verdict: If you grew up in a place where winter is longer than it should be, you’re 1-for-1 so far!

Scoring

Yes: 1 Point
No: 0 Points

Is your family really popular?

Maybe you were the homecoming queen. Maybe your brother was the star quarterback. Maybe your dad throws the best barbecues in your neighborhood every summer. Maybe your mom’s recipes for lasagna is the envy of all other moms. Maybe the paperboy always makes sure to hit your porch and not the wet lawn. It’s fun being you because your family is cool.

In Westeros, there is no family more popular than House Stark. Dozens of other houses are either sworn to the Starks or are their allies. This is thanks to their long history in the North but also their loyalty and leadership over the millennia.

Verdict: Does your family command this kind of respect or anything remotely close to it? Be honest and you get yourself a point.

Scoring

Yes: 1 Point
No: 0 Points

Are either of your parents deceased?

The family’s patriarch, Ned Stark, was killed at the end of Season 1 by Joffrey, the evil boy king who assumed the throne under questionable circumstances after his father died. His presumed father was King Robert Baratheon, but he wasn’t actually Joffrey’s father since his mother, Cersei Lannister, has an incestuous relationship with her twin brother, Jaime.

As for the matriarch, Catelyn Stark (nee Catelyn Tully) was also slain during the infamous Red Wedding of her oldest child, Robb Stark, at the end of Season 3. Robb is also killed after Lord Roose Bolton sets them up.

Verdict: “GoT” is a show full of drama and anguish that actually holds some resemblance to real life. If either of your parents are deceased, give yourself a point. If both are? Give yourself two points.

Scoring

Yes to Both Parents Being Deceased: 2 Points
Yes to One Parent Being Deceased: 1 Point
No: 0 Points

Do you have any half-siblings?

Bran Stark and Samwell Tarly are so far the only people in Westeros that we know of who know the truth about Jon Snow. And after Season 8's premiere episode, Jon now knows the truth as well. But for now, Sansa and Arya still know him as their half-brother and bastard child of their father.

And soon enough, Daenerys is bound to have a moment of reckoning when she finds out she bedded her nephew, as dreamy as he might be. Or not — the Targaryens have a long history of marrying their own and keeping the bloodline super rich.

Verdict: We’re guessing that even though Jon Snow now knows the truth, he will still feel like a brother figure to Sansa and Arya since they all grew up together, so half-siblings get you points here.

Scoring

Yes: 2 Points
No: 0 Points

Is your family name in danger of dying unless you reproduce?

“GoT” fans worth their Valyrian steel know life is precious in Westeros, and more often than not people die. Survival is itself a true victory. That’s especially the case for the Stark clan, a storied house in Westeros dating back thousands of years that might not live on past the remaining three members as the show enters its eighth and final season.

Jon, Sansa, Arya, and Bran are all who remain, and since Bran is now the Three-Eyed Raven and not really human anymore, it’s actually only three members who can keep the family name alive. Remember, after all, that Jon was born to Ned Stark's sister and is, in fact, still a Stark.

Verdict: You can score points if you are one of the last three members of your family who can keep your bloodline alive.

Scoring

Yes: 2 Points
No: 0 Points

Have any of your family members — or yourself — fought in a war?

war — Richard Madden stars as Robb Stark in "Game of Thrones."

One constant in Westeros is war. It seems that no matter who’s ruling the Seven Kingdoms, someone else has a claim to the throne. This dynamic is sort of what makes “GoT” so entertaining.

We’re not even going to attempt to figure out how many wars the Stark family has been engaged in, but we do know that Ned and his children all fought in wars and so did Ned’s father. The greatest war, with the Army of the Dead, is yet to come, but we can all be certain it’s going to be a doozy. And if the Starks survive that one, the Lannisters are waiting for more bloodshed all the way south in King’s Landing.

Verdict: Take two points if anyone from your immediate family has fought in a war.

Scoring

Yes: 2 Points
No: 0 Points

Is your family super old?

house stark — Ned Stark (played by Sean Bean) has defended House Stark his entire life.

The Stark family is an ancient house of Westeros that traces its descendants 12,000 years back to the First Men and the period of peace following their pact with the Children of the Forest. Bran the Builder is believed to be the original Stark, and true to his name is responsible for constructing both the Wall, which prevents the Army of the Dead from entering Westeros, and Winterfell, the great castle of the North.

Unless you’re a descendant of Confucius and King Tang, your family lineage is only hundreds of years old at best. But that’s what we’re looking for here.

Verdict: Take three points if you can trace a minimum of six generations of your family, which would be around the time of America’s founding.

Scoring

Yes: 3 Points
No: 0 Points

Does your family have a crest?

In “GoT,” the crests are called sigils and all the great houses have one. They also have mottos. The sigils, among other things, help distinguish soldiers on the battlefield and come with strict rules, such as the fact that bastard children must wear a variation of their family heraldry. The Stark’s sigil contains a direwolf — sometimes just the head, sometimes a full body — on a white and green background. Oh so fitting for the Wardens of the North.

Coats of arms and crests are fairly rare these days, but if your lineage goes back a ways, there’s a good chance you have one.

Verdict: There are no exceptions here — your family either has a crest or it does not.

Scoring

Yes: 3 Points
No: 0 Points

Can you attach the title of “King” to anyone in your family?

In modern “GoT” times, being King in the North is a big deal. It’s a very clear statement by the people against Cersei Lannister and her illegal seizing of the throne down south in King’s Landing. But it’s wholly not a new thing for the Starks. Where the show is light on background the books provide it in spades.

The North was for centuries an independent kingdom ruled by the Stark clan until Aegon’s Conquest some 300 years ago, which resulted in Torrhen Stark bending the knee to avoid further bloodshed. Sadly, he became known as the King Who Knelt and was given the title of Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.

Verdict: If your family has true royalty of some sort, we’re impressed and you’ve already won. Take the points anyway! Same goes for if you were related to a president or any head of state. Otherwise, if some relative at some point won, say, a hot dog eating contest and was crowned King of Summer or something of that sort, take three points as well. Nicknames or family jokes like “Dad is king of the bathroom” don’t count.

Scoring

Yes: 3 Points
No: 0 Points

Was anyone in your family beheaded?

Joffrey not only ordered Ned’s killing, he had him beheaded in true “GoT” cringe-worthy fashion.

The psychotic boy king who likely had mental health problems due to inbreeding ordered the beheading even after forcing Ned to give a false confession to treason in order to be spared and sent to the Wall to live out his life among the Night’s Watch.

Verdict: We will accept death by murder/manslaughter or death under bizarre circumstances.

Scoring

Yes: 4 Points
No: 0 Points

Are there any couples in your family who are related?

The Lannisters are far from the only incestuous family in Westeros, even if Cersei and Jaime Lannister are the most famous interfamily couple.

Ned’s parents, Lord Rickard and Lady Lyarra Stark, were cousins and the Starks as a whole were known to wed their own. It sounds gross, but it’s par for the course in “GoT.”

Verdict: There must be blood relation to score points here, so no step-anythings, and we will only accept cousins and not second-cousins or beyond.

Scoring

Yes: 4 Points
No: 0 Points

Is there an incredibly special heirloom in your family?

The Stark family once had an ancestral weapon called Ice. It was a greatsword made from Valyrian steel, and Ned was the last Stark to possess it before Tywin Lannister usurped it after Ned’s beheading and melted it down to form two new swords for his son Jaime and grandson Joffrey. (Yes, the Stark sword was so enormous that it easily created two new swords.)

Jaime still has his half-sword, but Joffrey’s is now in the hands of Brienne of Tarth, who has sworn her allegiance to House Stark.

Verdict: If your family has an heirloom of great personal value that’s been passed down through the generations — or had one and lost it — you get four points.

Scoring

Yes: 4 Points
No: 0 Points

Does your family have a crypt?

Underneath the oldest building in the Stark castle is the Crypts of Winterfell, which houses many generations of deceased Starks. It was built by the original Stark, Bran the Builder, and is one of the most mysterious places in all of Westeros.

Theories abound as to what role it might play in the coming battle with the Army of the Dead and the overall arc of the story. For Jon Snow’s sake, we’re hoping it becomes the driving force behind his defeat of the Night King and conquering of Westeros with Daenerys by his side. So they’re related, whatever.

Verdict: If your family has anything resembling a crypt but more likely a large cemetery plot or mausoleum, take the points.

Scoring

Yes: 5 Points
No: 0 Points

Does anyone in your family have supernatural gifts?

One thing fans who only watch the series and don’t read the books might not know about the Stark family is that they have a supernatural ability to enter the minds and bodies of animals. That’s all Starks and not just Bran, who show watchers already know has mastered the technique.

In the books, there are actually two ways of doing this: “warging” and “skinchanging.” Wargs in the books can only enter the mind and body of a wolf, while skinchangers can do that to any animal. It’s unclear if all the Stark children will discover this ability before the show ends, but it could certainly help them take down the Army of the Dead and maybe even the Lannisters.

Verdict: Is there anyone in your family who can bend spoons with their mind, summon the dead, whisper to horses or charm bees?

Scoring

Yes: 5 Points
No: 0 Points

Do you have a suspicious family member who no one talks about?

Our favorite of the countless fan theories about “GoT” is that the Night King is a Stark. It only sounds crazy until you hear the explanation. We know the Starks are descendants of the First Men and that the Children of the Forest turned one of the First Men into a White Walker (i.e., the Night King) in hopes of defeating the First Men. This tactic backfired spectacularly — eventually leading to the mess Westeros currently finds itself in — but the Children and First Men eventually worked out their differences and lived in peace.

Old Nan once shared with Bran that the Night King and one of the past Kings in the North (i.e., a Stark) were brothers. Another story has it that the Night King was the 13th commander of the Night’s Watch, also a Stark according to Old Nan, who thousands of years ago went nuts after falling in love with a female White Walker and used the men of the Night’s Watch to conduct human sacrifices for the White Walkers before the King in the North and the King Beyond the Wall Joramun formed a rare alliance to defeat him and restore order to the Night’s Watch.

Those might be folk legends or they might be true, and we might never know the real identity of the Night King.

Verdict: Is there someone in your family who did something so bad that no one talks about this person?

Scoring

Yes: 5 Points
No: 0 Points

The Results

You made it to the end of our House Stark quiz! Let’s find out how close your family is to the real deal, based on how many points you gave yourself.

1-9: It’s quite stark how little your family resembles the Starks. You must live in a warm climate and drink Dornish wine all day … wait, are you a Lannister?

10-19: You’re not a Lannister or, God forbid, a Bolton, but you’re certainly not a Stark either. Bend the knee, and we may let you live.

20-29: You’re getting closer, but your family is still in the category of distant cousin — two, three or four times removed.

30-39: Your family broke off from the Starks long ago. You’re a Greystark or a Karstark, but you probably swore allegiance to House Bolton, so you’re dead to the Starks.

40-plus: Someone in your family is named Sansa or Arya, or Robb with two B’s. Or maybe someone owns a direwolf named Nymeria. When faced with death, you have all been taught to say, “You think my life is such a precious thing to me, that I would trade my honor for a few more years … of what?” You are as close to Starks as it gets!