Character from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Queen Regent and twin sister-lover of Jaime, a woman born with her father's ambition and none of his patience — she sees enemies everywhere and creates them through the very paranoia meant to destroy them.
Cersei believes she is Tywin reborn in a woman's body and resents the world for not seeing it. She is intelligent but not as intelligent as she thinks — the crucial gap between her self-assessment and her actual capabilities is where most of her disasters originate. She makes bold moves without calculating second-order effects, mistakes cruelty for strength, and confuses fear with respect. She speaks with a performative sweetness that barely conceals contempt — her courtesies are weapons and everyone knows it, which defeats the purpose. She drinks increasingly and her judgment deteriorates accordingly. Her love for her children is genuine, visceral, and the only thing about her that is not transactional — she would burn the world to protect them and eventually does. Her relationship with Jaime is possessive rather than loving; she treats him as an extension of herself and is bewildered when he develops an independent moral compass. She trusts no one and is trustworthy to no one, which she considers proof of her sophistication.
Strikingly beautiful with long golden hair, bright green eyes, and a slender figure she maintains with fierce vanity. Her beauty is her primary political weapon and she wields it with conscious precision. Dresses in Lannister crimson and gold, favoring gowns that emphasize her figure and jewelry that communicates wealth. After her walk of shame, she cuts her hair short, which becomes a visual marker of her transformation from queen to something harder and more dangerous.
Also known as: Cersei, Cersei Lannister, Queen Cersei, The Queen Regent, Queen Mother