- "I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it."
- ―Robert Baratheon to Ned Stark.
King Robert I Baratheon (formal: King Robert of the House Baratheon, First of His Name), known pre-coronation as Robert Baratheon, was the head of House Baratheon of Storm's End, and later House Baratheon of King's Landing, Lord of Storm's End, Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and, late in his life, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. He fought in a rebellion against Aerys II Targaryen after his intended wife was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, and was a close friend of Eddard Stark. Robert became king following the usurpation of the Targaryen dynasty, establishing the first non-Targaryen king in Westeros following Aegon's conquest three hundred years before. He once again went to war a few years later, where he crushed a Greyjoy rebellion. Seventeen years after the rebellion, his Hand and mentor died, and he summoned his old friend to return to King's Landing to replace him. Ultimately, Robert was poisoned by the Lannisters, causing him to be mortally wounded by a boar during a hunt. His death set off the series of events that plunged the country into civil war.