Sandor Clegane (Game of Thrones)

Sandor is the younger brother of Ser Gregor Clegane and is always feuding with him. He is widely known as "The Hound," and wears a dog-shaped helm to reinforce this moniker.

Background
A giant of a man, Sandor Clegane is a fearsome fighter, and currently serves House Lannister as Prince Joffrey's bodyguard. He got his nickname of "the Hound" in part from the sigil of House Clegane, which shows three dogs on a yellow field, and in part from from his unquestioning obedience to those he serves.

When Sandor was six years old his brother Gregor, five years his senior, got a wooden toy knight. Already a squire, he was too old for toys and threw it away, so Sandor played with it instead. His brother, however, did not take kindly to his little brother playing with his toy, and in a fit of rage forced Sandor's face into burning coal. The incident left the left side of his face horribly scarred, and made Sandor forever loathe fire. This story is not commonly known, and the "official" story is that it was caused by bedding that caught fire.

The incident left even deeper psychological scars, and Sandor hates his brother more than anything in the world. Because Gregor is a knight, the Hound has refused to be knighted himself.

Major Plots
The Hound is part of the royal party that journeys to Winterfell with King Robert. On the way back to King's Landing, he rides down and slays the butcher's boy Mycah for his alleged attack on Prince Joffrey. After Gregor is defeated by Loras Tyrell in the Tourney of the Hand, decapitates his horse and starts attacking Loras, Sandor is the one who steps between them. The two brothers come to blows, but their fight is cut short by King Robert's intervention.

Following Barristan Selmy's forcible retirement from the Kingsguard, Sandor is chosen to fill the vacant post. Later, when King Joffrey chooses to show off Ned Stark's newly removed head to his daughter Sansa and has another knight of the Kingsguard, Meryn Trant, beat her, Sandor gives the poor girl a handkerchief for the blood on her cheek with the grim prediction that she might need it again.