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One of the important characters in Game of Thrones is Tyrion Lannister acted by Peter Dinklage. He turned into a crucial role in the series. In the season 1 of the show, his name appears last after all the other characters like Ned Stark, Catelyn Stark, Cersei Lannister but from season 2 to season 7, his name appears first even before Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) or Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) who have bigger roles i.e., competitors to the throne.

Following videos are opening credits of Game of Thrones . They contain spoilers for new locations and plot.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Generally, most important character names are given first in the titles in movies and TV shows. So, is this a hint that Tyrion is an important character than Cersei, Jaime, Jon Snow?

Why is his place in the order of characters changed to first even though there are other important characters than him? Is this a hint that his role has increased importance of his role from season 2? Or is there an out of universe reason for this? Is there a word from the directors or the producers regarding this?

Napoleon Wilson
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Nog Shine
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    He's likeable, he's a "bigger" actor than most of the others, GRRM really likes the character even dressing as him and saying Tyrion is part him. Nothing certain but they are potential reasons. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 18 '18 at 09:11
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    ...or he has a better agent? ;) – Tetsujin Jan 18 '18 at 09:13
  • @Tetsujin Possible. That is what caused doubt in me? Is there an out of universe explanation from that side? ;) What happened between season 1 to season 2? – Nog Shine Jan 18 '18 at 09:20
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    Dinklage is first since Season 2 and his Golden Globe Award. – J M Jan 18 '18 at 09:46
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    Possible duplicate of What rules govern how TV show opening credits are structured? – Paulie_D Jan 18 '18 at 09:51
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    These same negotiations are the reason we have movie posters that show each character but the names at the top are in a totally different order. If I was a big star, my only negotiating point would be that the names line up... – JPhi1618 Jan 18 '18 at 15:02
  • this explains billing in movie posters, it's basically the same thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQhC1Kfrs3o – David Fregoli Jan 18 '18 at 16:27
  • What makes you believe Tyrion isn't the most important character in the series? He has a lot of influence and has created a lot of drama. And has interacted with more characters than any of the others. –  Jan 18 '18 at 16:39
  • The question Top-billed actor with the least screen time has some information on this topic. While it is essentially a "list of things" question there is some other information about the process of how top billing works in the industry and why actors' names sometimes appear in "weird" orders. –  Jan 18 '18 at 17:50
  • This reminds me of Gilligan's Island. The first season song doesn't mention the Professor and Mary Anne were "the rest". Bob Denver forced the change for the second season to mention those characters. – RonJohn Jan 18 '18 at 19:59
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    Dinklage probably is the biggest star because of the series. People like all of the actors, but his popularity for his role is through the roof, regardless of whether the role is considered more major than Clarke's or Harrington's. It's about the actor, not the role often. Think about Steven Segal being listed very prominently in Executive Decision and getting killed off very early, and having a very minor role, overall. – PoloHoleSet Jan 18 '18 at 23:01
  • @RonJohn - did not know that! I always assumed that was a syndication change to the theme so they could spend more of the screen time on commercials. – PoloHoleSet Jan 18 '18 at 23:02
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    According to IMDB Peter Dinklage appears in more episodes than any other actor. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/ – bytedev Jan 18 '18 at 16:38
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    @Paulie_D My question is only about Game of Thrones and Peter Dinklage. The answer there says major character names appear first followed by supporting role. But there are also other important characters like Lena Heady, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner. Eeventhough they chose to put him very first. So, why only Tyrion first and not Lena Heady or Kit? Only change in the second season. That's my question. I think it's not a dupe. – Nog Shine Jan 19 '18 at 03:44
  • @SiXandSeven8ths I totally believe that he is an important and crucial character in the show. (You might have noticed my avatar too ;)) That is known after watching later seasons. But the change in the titles is from the S2 only. In the season 2, it is not very much known that he will become a crucial character. – Nog Shine Jan 19 '18 at 03:53
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    @NogShine: what happened between 1st and 2nd season is that Sean Bean has been... you know... seanbeaned at the end of the 1st season. He had first billing as the most famous actor and being at the center of the plot of season 1. Peter Dinklage, which was last-billed, took his place. Note that the last-billing is an honorific position ("and" in "and Peter Dinklage" is there to slightly distinguish him for the rest of the cast) and that Dinklage already had a remarkable career before GoT. As other answer/comments stated, being top-billed is not the same as being the most important character. – Taladris Jan 19 '18 at 10:22
  • Isn't it that Tyrion is the lone survivor from season 1? (Only half-kidding.) – Eric Towers Jan 19 '18 at 14:12

1 Answers1

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From forbes by Carol Pinchefsky,

Note: I had wondered if Dinklage’s Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy award had anything to do with the position of his name on the credits. However, Elizabeth Moseley, the director of Theatrical & Television Contracts at SAG-AFTRA, told me that an award doesn’t guarantee top billing. Moseley said the credits are “negotiated between the performer or performer's representative and the producing company.”

ashik
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    That's kinda hilarious actually, that the credits screen is a monetary pissing-match between the cast members. – ViggyNash Jan 18 '18 at 16:14
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    This is why many movie posters have pictures of actors that seem to be misaligned with the printed names - the order of the names is determined by contracts with the actors, but the positions of the actors in the poster is chosen for artistic reasons. It still bugs me that, if you have 5 actors on a poster, left to right, and 5 names, left to right, they don't line up. – Gregor Thomas Jan 18 '18 at 20:34
  • @Gregor: For posters with 2 actors, I always though that the names were reversed so that you get all the casting information in one glimpse, either vertically or horizontally. – Eric Duminil Jan 19 '18 at 09:26
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    Also note that the most prominent spot for a name at the top of the poster is to the left, while the most prominent spot for an actor on the poster is in the middle. So if an actor (or their manager / attorney) has negotiated to be most prominent on promotion material, that means that by contract they must be in the middle of the poster with their name to the left. – Arthur Jan 19 '18 at 09:34
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    ...although his Emmy certainly gave Dinklage more leverage in any subsequent contract negotiations. – Deacon Jan 19 '18 at 13:43
  • See also the "and" section, appearing at the end, which is usually reserved for the really big names (and which features Iain Glen, who must be a well-respected veteran despite not being very well known). – Max Williams Jan 19 '18 at 15:02
  • A rather famous YouTuber made a video on this. – Nobilis Jan 19 '18 at 15:51
  • @Gregor that could also be intentional from an advertising perspective. As you're sitting there trying to match names to faces, you're spending more time looking at the poster and thinking about the movie. – BruceWayne Mar 22 '18 at 17:23