Valar Morghulis (All men must die) An illustrated guide to all 456 deaths in “Game of Thrones” 

By Shelly Tan and Alberto Cuadra, Published: April 6, 2015

Ned Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, Oberyn Martell — the list of “Game of Thrones” characters goes on and on. But the 456 characters below all have one thing in common: They\'re dead. Before the “Game of Thrones” Season 5 premiere, The Washington Post took a look back and noted every on-screen death from the first four seasons. Here are all 456 deaths, including who, how, why and where. But be warned, that number will undoubtedly rise. After all, “Valar Morghulis” (all men must die). Find out more about the HBO show.

The season that started it all. When Ned Stark, the main hero and character supposedly least at risk, was beheaded, viewers everywhere realized that no one was safe.

Characters are organized according to level of importance: Major, secondary major, minor and background extra. Higher levels of importance get larger illustrations.

To see more information on how a character was killed, click on the illustration or the “more info” button to the right

Season 2 may have the fewest major characters killed, but it also gave viewers the show\'s first big battle scene: the Battle of the Blackwater.

Here\'s a fun fact: Next time you watch a battle scene, pay close attention to the battle sounds vs. the actual action. You\'ll notice that death noises are often inserted into scenes in which no one is actually dying. The illusion of a higher body count, perhaps?

The infamous Red Wedding claimed the lives of four major characters in one fell swoop. The fallout also led to Arya Stark\'s vicious killing of a Frey soldier who bragged about sewing Grey Wind\'s head to Robb Stark\'s body. Lesson learned: Don\'t get on that girl\'s bad side.

Whether it was Joffrey\'s poisoning, Oberyn\'s “mind-blowing” end, or Tywin\'s unglamorous death in the bathroom, “Game of Thrones” proved it could still shock viewers four seasons in.

Season 4 also boasted the highest body count of any season, with a whopping 182 deaths. The Battle of Castle Black was responsible for 86. (Despite its name, the battle in fact spanned across Castle Black, The Wall and Beyond the Wall.) In comparison, 58 characters died in Season 1

Threw Vardis Egen through the Eyrie\'s Moon Door

Crushed the skull of Styr, a Thenn raider, with a hammer

Shot an arrow directly into Pypar\'s throat

The character dies off-screen, but the death is confirmed or assumed due to imminent death while on screen. (If injuries are mortal, character is assumed dead, as in the case of Sandor "the Hound" Clegane.)

Only prominent off-screen deaths are listed. (Prominence is determined mainly by importance to the plot.)

The importance level of a character is determined by his/her/its significance to the plot. This is why Lady has a less important rank than Grey Wind, even though they are both Stark direwolves.

For cases in which the character\'s appearance isn\'t known before his/her death (e.g. if disfigured upon death or unborn), the illustration takes artistic liberties with his/her depiction.

If a character orders the death of another, the character who does the direct killing receives credit, not the one who orders the kill. But for cases in which where the direct killer is unidentifiable, as when Daenaerys Targaryen orders Doreah and Xaro Xhoan Daxos to be sealed into a vault, the order-giver receives credit.

In cases of overlapping weapon types (e.g. magic fireball vs. fire vs. magic), the weapon category is assigned based on the origin. For example, dragonfire is considered an "animal" death and magic fireball is considered a "magic" death.

If a character is mercy-killed, the mercy kill is used to categorize the death, not the injuries leading up to the moment.

SOURCE: Data compiled by Shelly Tan/The Washington Post. Episode information from “Game of Thrones” HBO television show, “Game of Thrones” wiki.

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