House Targaryen didn’t conquer Westeros with diplomacy. They did it with fire, blood, and a near-genetic refusal to back down from a fight. From dragon-riding conquerors to Dark Sister-wielding sorcerers, this family tree is stacked with people who could hold their own against anyone in George R.R. Martin’s world.
But ‘strongest’ gets tricky with Targaryens. Raw swordplay matters, but so does personal resilience: the ability to survive situations that would kill anyone else, and the sheer impact someone had through direct action. A politically savvy king who never drew a sword doesn’t belong here. A warrior who changed the map of the world does.
This list ranks the 15 strongest members of House Targaryen from the books, the shows, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Some picks are obvious. Others might start arguments. That’s the point.
15. Rhaenyra Targaryen
Rhaenyra’s claim to this list comes from grit, not combat skill. She survived betrayal, childbirth in the worst possible circumstances, and the loss of multiple children before pressing her claim to the Iron Throne during the Dance of the Dragons.
She wasn’t a warrior. But she rode Syrax into battle and refused to surrender her birthright even when the realm turned against her. That kind of stubbornness kept a civil war going and reshaped the Targaryen succession for generations.
Strongest moment: Holding Dragonstone while her allies bled for her cause.
14. Viserys I Targaryen
Viserys rode Balerion the Black Dread, the last person ever to do so. That alone earns a spot on this list. His real strength was the iron will he showed on the Iron Throne, holding the realm together through sheer force of personality while his family tore itself apart behind closed doors.
He wasn’t a fighter. House of the Dragon makes that painfully clear as his body deteriorates over the years. Still, the man sat on a throne that literally cut him open and kept showing up.
Strongest moment: Dragging himself to the Iron Throne to defend Rhaenyra’s claim one final time.
13. Rhaegar Targaryen
Rhaegar is more legend than man in the source material, which makes ranking him tricky. What’s clear: he was a skilled tournament knight who unhorsed some of the best fighters in Westeros at the Tourney at Harrenhal. He also led the Targaryen army at the Battle of the Trident, where he fought Robert Baratheon in single combat.
He lost that fight. But taking a warhammer to the chest from the strongest warrior of his generation and still nearly winning says something about his ability with a blade.
Strongest moment: Going blow for blow with Robert Baratheon at the Trident before falling.
12. Rhaenys Targaryen (The Queen Who Never Was)
Rhaenys was everything the Dance of the Dragons needed: fearless, decisive, and willing to ride Meleys directly into fights she knew she might not survive. Her dragon was old but battle-tested, and Rhaenys matched that energy.
She died fighting Vhagar and Sunfyre at Rook’s Rest, outnumbered and ambushed by Aegon II and Aemond. She could have fled. She chose to fight anyway.
Strongest moment: Charging two dragons at Rook’s Rest knowing the odds were against her.
11. Baelor Breakspear
Prince Baelor is one of the most grounded Targaryens in the entire franchise. In The Hedge Knight, he’s the Prince of Dragonstone who chooses to champion a nobody hedge knight named Dunk because it’s the right thing to do. No political angle. No power play. Just decency backed by real combat skill.
He fought in the Trial of Seven at Ashford and held his own against trained knights. His death in that trial is one of the most gut-wrenching moments in Martin’s writing. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms brings this character to a wider audience, and he deserves every bit of the attention.
Strongest moment: Stepping forward to champion Dunk when no one else would.
10. Aegon II Targaryen
Aegon II was not a great king. But he was absurdly hard to kill. During the Dance, he was burned over half his body at Rook’s Rest, broke multiple bones, lost the use of his legs for a time, and still clawed his way back to power.
He rode Sunfyre while both of them were barely functional. That dragon was as broken as its rider, and together they still managed to end Rhaenyra’s life. Say what you will about Aegon II’s character. The man simply refused to die when the story demanded it.
Strongest moment: Flying a crippled Sunfyre to take back his throne.
9. Bloodraven (Brynden Rivers)
Bloodraven blurs the line between warrior and something else entirely. He was a deadly archer, a spymaster, a sorcerer, and eventually the Three-Eyed Raven. With Dark Sister at his hip and a thousand eyes watching the realm, he was the most dangerous Targaryen who never sat the Iron Throne.
He won the Battle of the Redgrass Field by raining arrows from a hilltop onto Daemon Blackfyre’s forces. Ruthless, strategic, and willing to cross every line that honorable men wouldn’t.
Strongest moment: Killing Daemon Blackfyre and his sons with arrows at the Redgrass Field.
8. Aerion Brightflame
Aerion is the kind of Targaryen who makes you understand why people feared the family. He was genuinely skilled with a sword, violent without hesitation, and completely unhinged. In The Hedge Knight, he beats a puppeteer nearly to death for depicting a Targaryen dragon being slain, then brutalizes Dunk during the Trial of Seven.
His death (drinking wildfire because he believed it would turn him into a dragon) tells you everything about the gap between his fighting ability and his judgment. Raw combat talent puts him this high. Everything else keeps him from going higher.
Strongest moment: His savage performance at the Trial of Seven at Ashford.
7. Maekar I Targaryen
Maekar carried a spiked mace and the weight of accidentally killing his own brother Baelor at the Trial of Seven. That tragedy defined him, but it also showed what he was capable of in a fight. He hit hard enough to kill one of the best Targaryens of his era in a single blow.
He later died in battle during the Peake Uprising, fighting on the front lines as king. Maekar didn’t rule from behind castle walls. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms gives viewers a front-row seat to the man’s physicality and quiet fury.
Strongest moment: The blow that killed Baelor, the moment that haunted him for the rest of his life.
6. Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys didn’t rank here by swinging a sword. She walked into a funeral pyre, emerged with three dragons, and used them to reshape the known world. She survived assassination attempts, the Red Waste, political imprisonment in Meereen, and capture by a Dothraki khalasar before burning the khals alive and taking command.
Her strength is the most unconventional on this list. It’s pure will and fireproof destiny compressed into one person. Whether or not you agree with where her story ended in Game of Thrones, no one can deny the scale of what she accomplished through direct, personal action.
Strongest moment: Walking into the flames at Drogo’s pyre and emerging unburned with three dragons.
5. Visenya Targaryen
Visenya rode Vhagar and carried Dark Sister, making her one of the most dangerous individuals in Westerosi history. She was the warrior queen of the Conquest, the one who actually enjoyed the fighting while Aegon and Rhaenys handled the politics and charm.
She personally flew to the Eyrie and convinced the boy-king of the Vale to surrender by letting him ride Vhagar. After Aegon’s death, she became the real power behind the throne during Maegor’s reign. Visenya was the blade of House Targaryen in its most powerful era.
Strongest moment: Securing the Vale’s surrender alone, without a single battle.
4. Maegor the Cruel
Maegor earned his name. He was the most feared swordsman of his generation, claimed Balerion the Black Dread after Aegon the Conqueror’s death, and crushed the Faith Militant in a campaign so brutal it ended religious military orders in Westeros for centuries.
He killed his nephew Aegon in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, dragon against dragon. He built the Red Keep and then allegedly killed every builder who worked on it to keep its secrets.
Maegor’s strength wasn’t just physical. It was an absolute willingness to do whatever violence the moment required.
Strongest moment: Defeating his nephew Aegon and Aegon’s dragon Quicksilver while riding Balerion.
3. Daemon Blackfyre
Daemon wielded Blackfyre, the Valyrian steel sword of Aegon the Conqueror, and by all accounts he was worthy of it. He was widely considered the greatest swordsman of his time, possibly the greatest since Aemon the Dragonknight.
At the Battle of the Redgrass Field, he cut through the loyalist forces so effectively that he nearly won the rebellion through sheer combat prowess alone. It took Bloodraven’s arrows from a distant hilltop to stop him. In a straight fight, almost no one in Targaryen history could match Daemon Blackfyre.
Strongest moment: His legendary stand at the Redgrass Field, where he fought through an army before falling to Bloodraven’s archers.
2. Daemon Targaryen (The Rogue Prince)
Daemon is the most complete fighter on this list. He wielded Dark Sister, rode Caraxes, won the Stepstones alongside Corlys Velaryon by personally leading the ground assault, and killed his nephew Aemond over the Gods Eye in the most spectacular dragon duel in Westerosi history. Both riders died. Both dragons died. Only Daemon chose to make that trade.
His resume is unmatched: battlefield commander, single combat specialist, dragon rider at the highest level, and a willingness to throw his own life away if it meant taking his enemy down with him. House of the Dragon made him a fan favorite for a reason. The books already knew.
Strongest moment: Leaping from Caraxes onto Vhagar mid-flight to drive Dark Sister through Aemond’s eye.
1. Aegon the Conqueror
There’s only one answer for the top spot. Aegon I Targaryen took three dragons, a small army, and two sister-wives and conquered an entire continent. He didn’t inherit a kingdom. He built one from scratch through a combination of dragon fire, battlefield command, and the personal willpower to hold it all together.
Balerion the Black Dread was the largest dragon in known history, and Aegon rode him with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how much power he held. He accepted surrenders when offered and burned entire armies when they weren’t. Every Targaryen on this list exists in the shadow of what Aegon accomplished.
Strongest moment: The Field of Fire, where Aegon and his sisters unleashed all three dragons at once and destroyed the combined armies of the Reach and the Westerlands in a single afternoon.
Rankings like these are built to be argued with. For deeper lore on every character here, A Wiki of Ice and Fire and the Wiki of Westeros are the best places to start. Maybe you think Daemon Blackfyre deserves the top three over the Rogue Prince. Maybe Bloodraven’s sorcery should count for more, or Daenerys belongs higher for reshaping the world without ever picking up a weapon. That’s the fun of it. House Targaryen’s history stretches thousands of years, and the strongest members didn’t just survive that history. They set it on fire.