Sansa Stark, later Alayne Stone, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Sansa is the eldest daughter and second child of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife, Lady Catelyn Stark. She subsequently appeared in the following three novels: A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000), and A Feast for Crows (2005). While absent from the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons, Sansa will return in the forthcoming book, The Winds of Winter. In the television adaptation of Game of Thrones, she is portrayed by English actress Sophie Turner. Sansa's character development in the novels has received critical praise, though her television counterpart has been met with a more mixed reception, with some praising her development into a strong leader and others perceiving her as simply adopting her captors' and tormentors' traits while being protected by plot armor; her arc in the show's fifth season was the subject of controversy where she replaced the character of Jeyne Poole and became a stronger character in later seasons as a result of her repeated sexual abuse, with some viewing it as an attempt to replicate the MeToo movement and its slogan "Believe women". Martin himself has expressed displeasure with the showrunners' creative decisions regarding Sansa. Turner and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Turner also received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2019.
