Standard special ability, totally pointless?

[PhilD]

Cainehill said:
Yep. I also love the way his characters (with a _very_ few exceptions like Joffrey & the Mummers) aren't black or white - some of my favorites are nice complex shadings of gray, such as the Hound and Tyrion.

Don't forget Eddard. He's a bit too good - but his role is mostly as a warning to the reader: "OK, nobody's safe in this story - watch this!"

But, having all characters somehow interesting is obviously part of the plan - you're supposed to like most of them somehow, and then they die.