Parenting is not greatly done in ‘Game of Thrones’, we constantly see mistakes and violence amidst family. It seems like the shows us what not do in parenting more than warm family love.

The actors who play these characters have become so closely tied with their Westerosi counterparts that it’s challenging to separate them. Therefore, when we see someone like Ramsay Bolton’s Iwan Rheon walking down the street, we can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, especially if he’s holding a baby. Chances are, Iwan Rheon would be a wonderful father, but his character on Game of Thrones definitely wouldn’t be. Luckily, we currently don’t run the chance of seeing Rheon with a little kid. But there are a number of Game of Thrones actors who do have kids.

While they are probably wonderful parents, it’s still a little unnerving given who they play on the show. At the very least, fans would be surprised to see that they have kids to begin with. Without further ado, here are 20 Game of Thrones stars we can’t believe actually have kids IRL.

20. PETER DINKLAGE DID MORE THAN “DRINK AND KNOW THINGS”

Clearly, Peter Dinklage has gone beyond his GOT character and actually had kids of his own. Although Tyrion Lannister is quite transparent about his feelings, although he may be hiding something important this season, Peter Dinklage is far quieter. He has been married to his wife, Erica Schmidt, a theater director, since 2005. Together, they had a daughter in 2011. However, Dinklage has never told any press member the name of his daughter. Many believed that her name was “Zelig”, but he has debunked this myth many times. In 2017, Dinklage and Schmidt welcomed their newest child to the world. But, once again, nobody knows this child’s name or even their gender.

19. GEMMA WHELAN GAVE UP RULING FOR SOME MOMMY TIME

It’s hard to imagine Yara Greyjoy having kids. After all, she is far too busy being the ruler of the Viking-like sea-pirates of Pyke and The Iron Islands. Also, if she were interested in having kids, she may have to adopt for various reasons. But the actor who plays her, Gemma Whelan, is far more interested in children. She has recently given birth to her first child with her husband, Gerry. Nobody knew she was even pregnant with her daughter until the July 2017 premiere of the Seventh Season for Game of Thrones. Here’s hoping she’s a little softer with her child than her character is with her brother on Game of Thrones.

18. LENA HEADEY HAS MORE CHILDREN WITH GOLDEN LOCKS

Although Maggy the Frog said that Cersei would only have three children, and they’d all have yellow hair just like hers, it seems like her character is once again pregnant on the show. However, we shouldn’t expect that things end well for the baby, if Cersei really is pregnant, that is. But Maggy’s “yellow” hair prophecy has continued to the real-life Cersei, Lena Headey. It seems this mother is a far more suitable role model than the character she plays on the show. Although Cersei Lannister has one good quality, her love for her children, Lena Headey clearly has many as she’s incredibly likable. This is nice for her two kids. The first one, son Wylie, she had with her first husband, Peter Paul Loughran. Later on, she married Dan Cadan and had another son, Teddy.

17. JASON MAMOA HAS HIS LITTLE STALLIONS

Although most people don’t dig into the lives of the stars of Game of Thrones, chances are the majority know that Khal Drogo, AKA Jason Mamoa, actually has some in real life. The Aquaman star has been in a relationship with Lisa Bonet since 2005 and got married to her in 2017. The pair have two children together, a daughter named Lola Iolani Momoa and a son named, Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Of course GOT fans are a tad unhappy given the fact that the Khal should still be loyal to his Khaleesi, even though he’s long gone. But, at the very least, this horse-lord got two little stallions that could easily cross The Narrow Sea and rule.

16. CARICE VAN HOUTEN’S CHILD ACTUALLY ISN’T A SHADOW CREATURE

One of the reasons why Melisandre left the show at the beginning of Season Seven was because the actor who plays her, Carice van Houten, had literally just had a baby. It was her first child with her husband, actor Guy Pearce, who is most famous for the new Alien movies, and the film that made Christopher Nolan a major director, Memento, which co-starred Matrix actor Carrie-Anne Moss and can be seen on Netflix. Originally, van Houten wasn’t sure if she were going to be able to have a child as Pearce wasn’t into it. But now the pair have their son, Monte, who is close with both his parents. And luckily for van Houten, this baby actually isn’t a shadow creature birthed from magic. Now that the child is a bit older, we can expect Melisandre to return to the show for the final few episodes.

15. NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU STARTED A FAMILY WITHOUT CERSEI

Clearly, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau isn’t as committed to Cersei Lannister as his character on the show. Instead of always sticking with his sister, Coster-Waldau actually married another woman, Nukaaka, and had two daughters that he could openly call his own, Filippa and Safina, who are both now teenagers. Apparently, Coster-Waldau’s daughters aren’t fans of the show as they don’t like to see their father with another woman, as well as do some less than positive things. However, Jaime Lannister has been on the upswing in recent years to full redemption. So maybe we wouldn’t feel too bad if we saw him walking down the street with his kids.

14. TYWIN HAS A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS REAL LIFE KIDS, BUT NOT HIS WIVES

Speaking of the Lannisters, who could forget Charles Dance’s masterful Tywin. He was once the patriarch of the family, that is until his youngest son decided to take him down. Tywin was as brilliant as he was callous and inhuman. Although he wanted his family to thrive, it was more for the legacy of his name, versus any sort of love for them. Luckily, it seems that the real-life actor is far more loving to his three children, Oliver, Rebecca, and Rose. However, he has had some issues in the love department. In 2012, he went his separate ways from his finance, mere months after the birth of Rose. Beforehand, he had left his wife of 33 years, with whom he had his two grown-up children, Oliver and Rebecca.

13. IAIN GLEN’S OFFSPRING DON’T HAVE GREYSCALE

Iain Glenn’s Jorah Mormont has been through a lot on Game of Thrones. First and foremost, he has been an aide to Dany Targaryen even after she found out he was working for the other side, then, of course, he got greyscale. Luckily, he got better, thanks to Sam, and found his way back into Dany’s good graces. But in real-life, Iain Glenn isn’t loyal to the Khaleesi at all. He was married to Susannah Harker for many years. Together, they had their son, Finlay. More recently, he married Charlotte Emmerson and the pair had two girls, Juliet and Mary. Although he may not be loyal to the Dragon Queen, he definitely didn’t pass Greyscale down to his three kids.

12. HOW DID ALFIE ALLEN DO IT?

Okay, we need to know… How did he do it? We guess that Alfie Allen isn’t like his character on the show and is actually able to have kids since he and his girlfriend, Allie Teilz, had their first child in October 2018. The brother of singer Lily Allen has been in a whirlwind romance with his partner that moved so swiftly that nobody even knew she was pregnant for the longest time. But Alfie Allen has already shown that he is a suitable father to his newborn girl as his partner has posted multiple comments about him being a loving dad. We’re glad he is doing his part in the whole thing because we know that Theon certainly wouldn’t be able to. After all, he’s missing a few important pieces.

11. LITTLEFINGER HAS LITTLE ONES

Littlefinger loved nobody but himself. Although he claimed to have deep feelings for Catelyn Stark and, later her daughter, Sansa, it was clear that this wasn’t entirely healthy. Everything he did, he did to boost his social standing and get him into a position where he could pull the strings. These aren’t good qualities for a father, let alone romantic partner, to have. But, Littlefiner’s Aiden Gillen isn’t like his GOT character. In real life, he is in a relationship with singer Camille O’Sullivan, but doesn’t have any kids with her. His two children are from a previous relationship. Gillen had a daughter who he called Berry, as well as a son named Joe Murphy.

10. STEPHEN DILLANE DID BETTER WITH HIS ACTUAL KIDS

After what Stannis let happen to his daughter, Shireen, there’s just no way that anybody would let him have a kid in real life. Luckily, the actor who played him, Stephane Dillane, is nothing like his character on the show. For one, Dillane didn’t really care about the Iron Throne or what was happening in Westeros. Secondly, he’s a far more loving and attentive father to his two sons. Although he’s not married, Dillane has been in a 29-year relationship with the baby-mama of his two boys, Frank and Seamus. Dillane’s son, Frank, is a major actor who played the young Tom Riddle in the sixth Harry Potter movie and is currently the lead on the AMC spin-off series of their hit-show about zombies.

9. THE ONION KNIGHT’S LITTLE SOLDIERS

Although Davos Seaworth would probably still make a good father, he famously lost his son in The Battle of Blackwater Bay. Since then, he showed Shireen much fatherly love and even shared guidance to Jon Snow. But still, his days of being a dad are long over. However, in real life, the actor who plays The Onion Knight Davos, Liam Cunningham, has three children who are happy and healthy. The actor lives in Dublin with his wife of many years, Colette, and his three younger children, daughter Ellan, and sons Liam Jr. and Sean. An interesting fact about Cunningham is that he worked as an electrician in Ireland and Zimbabwe for many years until deciding to move to London and become an actor.

8. BEN CROMPTON GAVE UP ON HIS NIGHT’S WATCH PLEDGE

When you take “The Black” and join the Night’s Watch, you give up all opportunities to have children. This is because you are no longer part of a family, other than your sacred brothers at arms. This is precisely what Dolorous Eddison “Ed” Tollett did on Game of Thrones. But in real life, the actor who plays Jon Snow’s old friend, Ben Crompton, has forsaken his vows and actually had two kids of his own with Liv Lorent. Like many of his cast mates on Game of Thrones, Crompton has been very quiet about his personal life. Therefore, the names of his children are very challenging to find. But, perhaps this is because he didn’t follow one of the oldest rules in the Night’s Watch.

7. KEISHA CASTLE-HUGHES: LIFE BEFORE THE SAND SNAKES

Long before Keisha Castle-Hughes became Sand Snake Obara, who worked with Ellaria Sand to get payback for the demise of Oberyn Martell, she dealt with another major life-event. Castle-Hughes, who hails from New Zealand, and even earned an Academy Award-Nomination for her work in Whale Rider, became a mother one month after she turned 17. She claims that many came out to criticize her for becoming such a young mother out of wedlock. She said,  “I kind of felt like a girl who had done something wrong.” The father of her daughter, Felicity-Amore, stuck with her for the first few years and then ended things. But Castle-Hughes remains joyous for her daughter and doesn’t seek the payback that her character did.

6. PILOU ASBÆK’S PIRATE CHILD

Any child that Pilou Asbæk has must be a little pirate. Sure, Asbæk is just playing a character on Game of Thrones, but he’s so convincing as a rancorous pirate and ladder climber that it’s challenging to think that he’d be anything different in real life. And thus, he would have children that would follow in his footsteps. Alas, it seems that most everything is normal when it comes to Asbæk. life as a father to his daughter, Agnes. He had his daughter with his playwright wife, Anna Bro, who has been with him since 2008. So, it seems, if Euron Greyjoy can’t get things going with Cersei, he has a good family to go back to.

5. THE MOUNTAIN HAS A LITTLE HILL

Don’t be deceived, the woman on Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson’s shoulders is not his daughter, Teresa Lif. She is, in fact, his particularly short wife, Kelsey Henson, a woman he met while competing in bodybuilding in Alberta, Canada. But given that Henson is 5 foot 2, she’s a good stand-in for the 6 foot 8 giant’s daughter. It’s very odd to think that The Mountain has a child. After all, he is only portrayed as a man of brute force and dedication to a, particularly bad queen. Even without the baggage of being The Mountain, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson does have to contend with his sheer bigness. This isn’t a quality that most people consider when they think of a dad. But still, he was one since he had Teresa with his former girlfriend, Thelma.

4. THE GRAND MAESTER MADE TIME TO HAVE KIDS

Although Maesters, especially grand ones, aren’t supposed to have relations with women, Julian Glover certainly did. If you don’t recognize Julian Glover immediately, rewatching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back will certainly jog our memory. But, most famously, he played Grand Maester Pycelle on Game of Thrones. Glover has been married to his actor wife Isla Blair for many years, and together they have an actor son, Jamie, who is big in the London theater scene. Clearly, Jamie wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps to become an actor, perhaps he will one day be tasked with being the Maester in King’s Landing.

3. HOPEFULLY, QYBURN’S KIDS WEREN’T EXPERIMENTS

Speaking of Maesters, Qyburn was the guy who was previously removed from the Citadel (the place where Sam and Pycelle studied) because of his odd experiments. However, Cersei Lannister certainly found a use for him as he not only has proven to be a loyal subject but also capable of bringing The Mountain back to an almost useless state. However, actor Anton Lesser is far less of an experimenter than the character he plays on television. In real life, he very much wanted to have his two grown children, Lily and Henry. Lesser, who comes from Jewish descent, has been a legend on stage in England and has appeared in major roles on other series such as The Crown and Endeavor.

2. MICHIEL HUISMAN’S LIFE AFTER KHALEESI

The dreamy Michiel Huisman seemed pretty certain that he would be loyal to Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the woman he was totally in love with. The guy had a big thing for the blonde queen. Come to think of it, it seems that he likes blondes a lot since he also crushed on Blake Lively in Age of Adeline. But in real life, Huisman is less like Daario and more into brunettes, just like Tara Elders, his partner since 2003. Together the pair have a daughter named Hazel who was born in 2007. The following year, the pair got hitched. Nowadays, they live in New Orleans when Huisman isn’t flying off to some faraway set to play a character with a thing for another woman.

1. SEAN BEAN HAS HIS OWN STARK CHILDREN

In Game of Thrones, Sean Bean played the father who started it all. He is responsible for raising some of our most beloved characters on the show. In real life, Sean Bean, who is also famous for The Lord of the Rings and countless other shows and films where he inevitably meets his end on camera, is the father of three daughters. During his second marriage, to Melanie Hill, he fathered two daughters, Lorna and Molly. Not long after, he got hitched to another woman and had his daughter Evie. Nowadays, he’s with Ashley Moore, a woman he’s completely considering having a fourth child with. Whatever Sean Bean decides, we wish him well and advise him not to leave The North to go to King’s Landing.