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Cersei Lannister of House Lannister is the older twin sister of Jaime and is the only daughter of Tywin Lannister.

She serves as the third-person narrator for twelve chapters throughout A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

She is physically beautiful, but she is also greedy, cruel, manipulative, and amoral.

She shares her father's belief that to be feared is better than to be loved.

She often feels that she should have been born male and given a sword, and she resents the restrictions put on her because she is female.

Several characters state that she wants power but does not wield it well.

She is inseparable from Jaime, and the pair have maintained an incestuous relationship since they were young.

Fifteen years before the events of the series, Cersei married King Robert Baratheon and became Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but did not take on the Baratheon name after becoming Robert's queen.

She neither loves nor respects Robert because he had called her Lyanna while consummating the marriage.

She had three children, but all three are fathered by Jaime rather than Robert.

She is greatly concerned for the safety of her children, but she does not care about the rest of their well-being.

It is constantly pointed out that she is an unfit mother.

In A Game of Thrones, Eddard Stark discovers the truth of her children's parentage.

He offers her a chance to flee in exile before he informs Robert.

She refuses to leave.

She arranges for the death of Robert, and when he dies, she crowns her son Joffrey and names herself regent.

When Eddard tries to publicly reveal the truth, she has him arrested for treason.

Throughout A Clash of Kings, her brother Tyrion, serving as Hand of the King, curtails her policy and puts an end to her foolish decrees.

As Jaime has been captured, she takes other lovers.

When Tyrion is injured defending King's Landing, she lies to Tywin and has Tyrion's power stripped from him.

However, when Tywin becomes Hand of the King in A Storm of Swords, he makes it clear that she should no longer rule as regent and plans to marry her off.

Joffrey is poisoned, and she immediately accuses Tyrion and his wife Sansa Stark, though they are not responsible.

She reclaims her position as regent when Tywin is murdered and bends her son Tommen to her will.

She also becomes Lady of Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, as her brothers cannot claim it.

Because there are no restrictions on her power, she feels that she can be a better ruler than her father.