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He is the eldest legal son and heir of King Robert I Baratheon and Queen Cersei Lannister. He is the older brother of Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen. He's very proud of being Robert's son and always tried to be like him, while also trying to get his attention. He is proud of being Robert's son to the point of trying to be like him and gain his attention in the process. However, unknown to him and his siblings, his real biological father is actually the queen's brother, Ser Jaime Lannister - thus meaning that Joffrey is not only a bastard, but also a product of incest.
Soon enough he became a sadistic and cruel tyrant who loved to torture and kill innocent people, so much so that Joffrey has been compared to the Mad King himself on more than one occasion to the extent being referred to as "Aerys III" by his uncle Tyrion. Although he was the King on the Iron Throne, Joffrey actually ruled in name only - being only a pawn of the small council and the powerful nobles of King's Landing.
He is uncaring for his family, even for those who care about him, like his mother. He also despises his brother Tommen and has bullied him on multiple occasions.
Throughout his life, he displayed open cruelty and violence, especially against his uncle and Sansa Stark. When people criticize him, he reacts with rage and threatens violence against them.
Although he seemed to have affection for Margaery, it is based more on pragmatism, with it being subverted when she was forced to confess for her life when Renly was involved.
During their wedding, he mocked her brother Loras and his relationship with Renly by having an actor crudely reenact Renly's death.
In addition, he could be seen as caring for Robert, who was his legal father. However, it's possible that Joffrey only worshipped Robert rather than genuinely loving him. He didn't hesitate to have Robert's best friend, Ned Stark, executed in order to secure his place on the Iron Throne.
Although his death was horrific, as he choked on his vomit after being poisoned, with his mother being unable to help him, it wasn't played for sympathy, and he indeed deserved this for his despicable actions.
He may have some comedic moments for the fans, but he is taken seriously as a dangerous threat in-universe. In fact, most of them show how truly vile and sadistic he is.
Exclusive to the books[]
Abused animals, including opening a pregnant cat's belly.
It is believed by Tyrion and Jaime that he hired an assassin to kill Bran. After hearing Robert comment, it would be more merciful for the boy to be killed, leaving him comatose or with the prospect of becoming a crippled.
This would make Joffrey indirectly responsible for the tensions between the Lannisters, Starks, and Tullys resulting from the assassination attempt, leading to Catelyn abducting Tyrion and Tywin retaliating against the Tullys and initiating the War of the Five Kings.
After Barristan taunted him while being dismissed in disgrace by the Kingsguard, he ordered Janos Slynt to kill him, though he failed.
When several refugees ask for shelter and bread from Joffrey, he shoots them with a crossbow since they treated him as a "baker".
He killed a group of Stannis supporters called the Antler Men by tying them to three trebuchets and launching them against Stannis's army during the Battle of the Blackwater.
TV show[]
Season 1[]
He caused Arya's friend Mycah to die after he tortured him, and when Arya's direwolf bit him to save them from Joffrey, when questioned about the incident, he lied, which led to Mycah getting executed.
Publicly dismiss Barristan Selmy from the Kingsguard as a scapegoat for Robert's death.
Had Eddard Stark's household executed. Although Cersei had already ordered and arranged for this massacre in advance, which did not exclude non-combatant household members who were no threat (such as Septa Mordane and the steward Vayon Poole), Joffrey supported it and felt no sympathy for the victims.
Had Ned beheaded in front of his daughter Sansa even after Ned bended his knee and submitted to him, despite promising him he would be spared. After that, he forced Sansa to look at his head.
Ordered Ser Ilyn Payne to remove Marillion's tongue after he wrote a mocking song about his father.
Forced Sansa, who at the time was betrothed to him, to watch the severed heads of her father and her septa.
He then promised Sansa to bring the head of her brother Robb as a "present". When she stood up to him by saying "Or maybe he'll give me yours", he ordered Meryn Trent to slap her face twice. Subsequently, he forces her shortly after to call her father and the rest of her family "traitors to the crown". He even goes as far as to forbid Sansa to mourn them openly.
Season 2[]
When Ser Dontos Hollard arrives drunk on his name day, he orders Meryn Trant to drown him with wine. Even when he spared with at Sansa's request, he made sure he became the court fool.
Upon being slapped in the face by his furious mother, he threatens to have her executed if she ever does it again.
Upon discovering his true lineage, he ordered Robert's bastards to be executed.
Abused Sansa both for his own sadistic glee and for punishing her brother for his victories.
At one point, he ordered Meryn Trant to beat her in front of everyone before having her stripped for further punishment - which would've happened if Tyrion had not intervened in that moment.
Misused prostitutes, forcing them to brutally beat up each other and then sodomizing them at will.
He ordered his knights to kill a mob of starving smallfolk after one of them threw cow dung at him.
He threw Sansa to the crowd and even resisted her return by his knights after being offered so by Tyrion, even though her death would have resulted in Jaime's death.
During the Battle of the Blackwater, he possibly ordered one knight of the Kingsguard called Ser Mandon Moore to assassinate Tyrion out of spite.
He retreated from the Battle of the Blackwater to the Red Keep as soon as he realized his side was losing.
Season 3[]
Announced that he might ban and execute all homosexuals in the kingdom, having originally wanted to do to Renly earlier on.
When Petyr Baelish gave him two of his whores, he forced both of them to fight to the death before executing the other with his crossbow.
Threatened to rape Sansa during her wedding with his uncle.
Following the Red Wedding, he was gleeful in telling Tyrion that both Robb and Catalyn are dead. Joffrey then planned have the Freys deliver him Robb's head so he could serve it to Sansa at his wedding feast to further torment her, an idea which shocked his small council to disgust.
After his grandfather Tywin mocked his behaviour, he hypocritically despises him as a coward who didn't help in Robert's rebellion - thus showing he has no respect for him despite Tywin saving his city from Stannis' conquest whilst Joffrey himself was the one who cowardly ran away from the battle.
Season 4[]
Mocked and showing complete indifference to his uncle/father Jamie's fall in captivity, when Jaime was fighting for his army.
He decided to name the sword he received as a gift "The Widow's Howl" and then uses it to destroy the book he received as a gift from his uncle, Tyrion.
He mistreated the guests of his own wedding, including dedicating a play to antagonize Sansa in the form of dressing one of the actors as Robb. He also cast all the actors as dwarfs to mock Tyrion.
He teased his uncle Tyrion throughout the wedding, calling him a rebel against the kingdom, pouring wine on his head, and finally appointing him to be his cupbearer to humiliate him and also force him to kneel before him. In his final moments, he points at Tyrion and accuses him of his murder.
It is claimed by Tommen that Joffrey threatened to kill his cat, Ser Pounce.
Trivia[]
Jack Gleeson stated to Entertainment Weekly that two other Pure Evils were the inspiration for his portrayal of Joffrey: Hexxus from FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Commodus from Gladiator, commenting that they inspired him to play Joffrey as an intrinsically evil villain with no speck of good or humanity in his bones.
In the same interview, Gleeson addressed that while shooting the scene where Joffrey gives Sansa Stark a necklace to "apologize" to her, he was originally going to play the scene in a way that made evident Joffrey didn't actually care for how much he had hurt her, but showrunner D.B. Weiss asked him to try to express real love, as he apparently believed that Joffrey did genuinely love Sansa, in an attempt to give him some moral complexion, but Gleeson still thought that Joffrey's still evil to the core.
The author of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, has stated in an interview that Joffrey's death was written in such a way as to make the audience feel conflicted about it and to remind them that Joffrey is a 13-year-old boy who is murdered at his own wedding and who in his last moments is desperate for his family's help and would never get the chance to grow up and potentially seek redemption.
However, this doesn't affect his book version's PE status for being sympathetic or scapegoat, since Word of God is not applicable on whether or not the villain can qualify to be Pure Evil.
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Pure Evils