Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Pairing
Pairing: Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
Alternative name(s): SanSan
Gender category: Het
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Canonical?: No
Prevalence: Popular
Archives:
Other:
SanSan by Sara Ayoub
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark, also known as SanSan, is the het pairing of Sandor Clegane, aka The Hound, and Sansa Stark in the A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones fandoms.

She brings the light and he brings the darkness, and they help each other shift their perspectives closer to reality somewhere in the middle.

thehound

Canon

At the beginning of the series Sandor is sworn sword to crown prince Joffrey Baratheon, Sansa's betrothed. After Sansa'a father is brandished a traitor and killed, Joffrey cruelly shows her his head on a spike. Sansa makes an attempt to kill Joffrey, but Sandor stops her. In the second season a riot breaks out in the streets and Sansa is separated from the royal party, three men attempt to rape her, but Sandor kills them and rescues Sansa. During the Battle of the Blackwater Sandor decides to leave King's Landing, he asks Sansa to come with him, but she refuses.

Fandom

Statistics

  • In 2014, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark was the most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.[2]
  • In 2017, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark had dropped slightly to the 3rd most popular Game of Thrones pairing on Archive of Our Own.[3]
  • In 2019, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark was ranked as the 2nd most popular ship for Sansa in the ASOIAF category in a survey of FanFiction.net, accounting for 27% of sampled fics.[4]
  • In 2019, during the final season, SanSan was the fifth most popular Game of Thrones ship on Tumblr.[5]
  • In 2020, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark was the 4th most popular A Song of Ice and Fire ship on Archive of Our Own, accounting for 11% of sampled fics.[6]

Common Tropes in Fanworks

  • Modern AU: modern setting, where they meet and begin a relationship
  • Canon Divergence AU: the most common being Sansa leaves with Sandor during the Battle of the Blackwater
  • Arranged Marriage: a marriage is arranged between Sandor and Sansa, usually by Joffrey
  • Futurefic: varies, sometimes Sandor is Sansa's sworn sword and lover, other times they are married with children
  • Reunion: before they were reunited in canon, writers explored possible scenarios where they would be reunited
  • Sandor Lives: Sandor does not die during season 8
  • Fix-it: some fans will change their story by "fixing" the ending, this may include Sandor surviving the confrontation with his brother and returning to Winterfell, others will keep Sandor's tragic ending, but have a reveal of feelings or the pair having a short romantic/sexual relationship before Sandor's return to King's Landing. Another variant is that Sandor lives, but Sansa and Sandor do not meet again until several years later, when they begin a relationship.

Terminology

  • The Unkiss: Term used by fans to refer to Sansa Stark's false memory of Sandor kissing her when he visited her room during the Battle of the Blackwater in the books.
  • Pups or Puppies: The couple's children

Fanworks

Fan Art

Fanfiction

Fan Vids

Zines

Meta

Gallery

Fanart

Cosplay

Resources

References