MovieChat Forums > Game of Thrones (2011) Discussion > Doesn't GoT take more influence from Dun...

Doesn't GoT take more influence from Dune than LotR?


The stories are kinda similar no?

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Possibly. House Atreides is the Starks. The Evil Harkonnen is the Lannisters. House Ordos is the Targaryens.

I've only played Dune2, never read the books and that movie made me fall asleep. :(

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The biggest influences do seem to be LOTR, and history (England's War of the Roses).

The LOTR influence is more negative than positive, GRRM spends a lot of time deliberately doing the opposite of all the genre cliches, most of which started with Prof. Tolkien. I see a lot more of that, and of real history, than I do of "Dune".

PS: And you compare GoT to DUNE, do you realize the closest equivalent to Paul A. is Danerys? Frank Herbert would hate that comparison, he was quite the sexist.

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you obviously havent seen or read Dune.

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Seen and read, gave up on the sequels. Can say that Danerys is the one whose house is booted out of wealth and power, goes to a new hot land and becomes part of a primitive and violent local tribe, and uses them to fight the house that ruined his family and found a new fiefdom, etc.

How much do you know about the War of the Roses?

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I see the similarities with Dune as well.

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GoT has a lot of influences:

Plot and characters similar to Dune (Houses vying for power, prophecy of the disinherited noble)

magic and monsters similar to LOTR (dragons, wights, giants, etc)

Historical background and geography similar to England/Europe (Yorks and Lancasters, medieval castle settings, Dorne = Spain, Dothraki = Mongols, Braavos = Italy, etc)

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turtles!

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