I don't care if he's a bastard; Ned Stark's blood runs through his

veins. He's my king, from this day until his last day!"
Lady Lyanna Mormont[src]
King Jon Snow is the son of Lady Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen,
the Prince of Dragonstone. From infancy, Jon is presented as
the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, Lyanna's brother, and raised by
Eddard alongside his lawful children at Winterfell but his true parentage
is kept secret from everyone, including Jon himself. In order to escape his
bastard status, Jon joins the Night's Watch and is eventually chosen
as Lord Commander. However, his decision to allow thousands of Free
Folksafe passage through the Wall alienates many of his black brothers,
culminating in a mutiny where Jon is killed but later revived
by Melisandre. Freed from his Night's Watch vows, Jon executes the
mutineers and joins his cousin, Sansa Stark, in building an army to
retake Winterfell from House Bolton. After securing help from a few other
Northern Houses and the Vale of Arryn, they successfully retake the
castle from Ramsay Bolton, restoring House Stark's dominion over the
North with Jon being declared the new King in the North by the Northern
Lords.

Contents
[show]
Biography
Secret Origin
"His name is [...] If Robert finds out, he'll kill him. You know he will.
You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned. Promise me."
Lyanna Stark to her brother Ned, speaking of her son Jon Snow.
[src]

Artistic depiction of Rhaegar Targaryen abducting Lyanna Stark.

Young Ned Stark found his sister Lyanna dying after she gave birth to Rhaegar Targaryen's last living child, whom
Ned then passed off as his own bastard son, "Jon Snow".

Jon Snow as an infant.

Eighteen years before the War of the Five Kings, Rhaegar
Targaryen allegedly abducted Lyanna Stark of Winterfell in a scandal that
would lead to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion. Rhaegar would
eventually return to fight in the war, but not before leaving Lyanna behind
at the Tower of Joy, guarded by Lord Commander Gerold Hightower and
Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard. Lord Eddard Stark, Lyanna's brother,
rode to war along with her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, to rescue his
sister and avenge the deaths of their father and brother on the orders of
Rhaegar's father, Aerys II, the Mad King.
Robert would ultimately kill Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident,
effectively ensuring their victory in the war. After the Sack of King's
Landing, Ned continued south in search of his sister, and ultimately found
her at the Tower of Joy, in the Red Mountains at the border of Dorne. Ned
and his companions engaged in a final fierce meleewith the remaining
Targaryen Kingsguard, that resulted in the deaths of all combatants save
Ned himself and Howland Reed.[2]
After defeating the last of the Kingsguard, Ned rushed into the tower to
save his sister - only to find Lyanna dying from childbirth, having just
given birth to Rhaegar's own son. Desperate to protect the life of her
newborn child, a fading Lyanna pleaded with Ned to promise her that he
would keep her son safe, and his true heritage hidden from Robert as he
had been Rhaegar's most bitter enemy. Furthermore, the boy's existence
was a potential threat to Robert's claim to the Iron Throne after the
deaths of Rhaegar's other children, Rhaenys and Aegon, by his wife Elia
Martell, who also perished, during the Sack of King's Landing. In
accordance with her last wish, Ned resolved to pass Lyanna's son off as
his own bastard and raise him in his home castle - a great blow to his
honor as he knew that his decision would shame both himself and his
lady wife, Catelyn Tully.[3][4]
Ned decided not to use his nephew's birth name, which Lyanna revealed
to him in her final moments - apparently because it was a Targaryen-style
name which would have given away his real parentage. Instead, he chose
to give the baby the name "Jon" after his great friend and mentor Jon
Arryn, Lord of the Vale, whom he loved like a second father. The boy also
grew up using the surname "Snow", as is customary for acknowledged
bastards in the North. In truth, it is unclear if "Jon" actually is a bastard
at all. Rhaegar was already married to Elia at the time of the rebellion but
the Targaryens have been known to enter into polygamous marriages in
the past - leaving open the possibility that he might have used that
precedent to wed Lyanna. On the other hand, it is also unknown if
Lyanna eloped with Rhaegar or was in fact simply raped by him as King
Robert claimed - though in this case, Rhaegar could have forced Lyanna
to marry him.
Early life
Jon Snow spent the next seventeen years being raised in Winterfell as
Lord Eddard's illegitimate son, alongside his trueborn children with his
wife. Understandably, Eddard never told anyone, including Catelyn or Jon
himself, who his mother was or even if she was still alive. When pressed
by King Robert Baratheon, whom he couldn't deny an answer, Ned went
as far as to concoct a vague explanation that Jon's mother was
some lowborn woman named "Wylla" that he met during the war.[5] Lady
Catelyn's eldest son, Robb, would be