IBM's Watson analyzed 'Game of Thrones' and found women were the strongest characters

Game of Thrones
HBO

IBM's Watson has over 30 APIs, allowing it to do everything from translating text to different languages to classifying images. But lately, we've been playing with Watson's Personality Insights and Tone Analyzer capabilities to see just how good a machine is at interpreting human qualities.

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The supercomputer assesses traits based on the popular Big Five test, which rates subjects for extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. It can also identify different tones such as fear, joy, and confidence.

Watson has analyzed the "Harry Potter," "Star Wars," and "Lord of the Rings" universes for Tech Insider. IBM researcher Vinith Misra put Watson to the test with the "Game of Thrones" books — and the results may be the most interesting yet. Watson found that female characters overwhelmingly had stronger personalities than their many male counterparts.

Here's a closer look:

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The top five characters ranked for most assertive were all women, with Arya ranking the highest.

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Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Followed by Arya were Brienne, Cersei, Sansa, and Daenerys.

"Game of Thrones" has a lot of internal monologue for each characters, so Watson was able to assess characters' true personalities — not just what they exhibit when in dialogue with other characters.

"Sansa even is high on the assertiveness scale, and that might be surprising at first but remember this is not the words she's saying to people, but her internal behavior," Misra told Tech Insider. "Those thoughts are very assertive. Even more so than someone like Dany."

Women also ranked the lowest for self-consciousness.

Brienne about to kill Stannis Game of Thrones Helen Sloan HBO
Helen Sloan/HBO

Arya was the ranked the least self-conscious with Brienne and Daenerys falling behind, respectively. Misra noted that for Brienne and Arya to be successful female fighters, they can't be too self-conscious.

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Daenerys is the most conscientious female character, ranking third. The most conscientious character overall is, unsurprisingly, Ned.

Daenerys Targaryen Game of Thrones
HBO

"Dany is near the top of conscientiousness — that's interesting because if you look at the fan community they talk about how she lost her way in Essos," Misra said. "She was supposed to come back to Westeros like three books ago, but... shes trying to actually fix the city and follow through on what she did for a change."

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Bran is the most altruistic, dutiful, and trusting character in the books.

Game of Thrones Bran and Hodor
HBO

Misra pointed out it makes sense Bran would be seen as the most trusting, considering he immediately puts full trust in Osha, Jojen, Meera, and Brynden [Rivers, the Bloodraven] immediately after meeting them.

Watson also found Bran to exhibit the most self-belief, which is fairly remarkable considering the adversity he has faced.

"His reaction to the situation has been anything but crawling in a ball and going to sleep," Misra added.

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Tyrion falls right in the middle for most categories, showing he's a complex character exhibiting different personality traits based on the situation. But he did rank rather high for immodesty.

Tyrion Lannister Season 5
HBO

Considering his love of prostitutes, we're not all too surprised by that immodesty ranking.

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Cersei exhibits the most neuroticism, anxiety, depression, and anger of all the characters.

cersei game of thrones
HBO/Game of Thrones trailer

Cersei is certainly a controlling character who wants things to go her way, and as is the case in the "Game of Thrones" universe, that's rarely how things turn out. That's why these rankings aren't too surprising, especially when her drinking habits support that perception.

Cersei did rank the highest for gregariousness — another quality that suits her, considering how sociable she must be to scheme.

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There were a lot of unsurprising rankings for Ned, like him being low for emotionality and high for intellect. But what piqued our interest was Watson picking up on a tendency for liberalism.

Ned Stark close up Game of Thrones
HBO

Stoic, rule-abiding Ned may not seem like the most liberal character. But let's not forget him paying for Arya's sword lessons — something unheard of for a daughter at that time.

Jaime, like Tyrion, is consistently ranked in the middle for each category. But he does rank high for vulnerability and depression.

Jaime Lannister Game of Thrones trailer TV march madness promo 9
HBO

"Jaime has an outward persona that's different from his inward persona, and his inward persona is actually very neurotic," Misra said. "Jaime on this outside is this adventure seeking knight.... He projects an air of openness."

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Jon Snow is ranked as a self-conscious, introverted, and dutiful character, which is more or less what you would expect.

jon snow game of thrones
HBO

Although Jon definitely grows as a character, Misra noted that "Jon has more concerns with how people perceive him," highlighting why his self-consciousness is still so high. It is hard to be an illegitimate child in the "Game of Thrones" world.

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