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 Game of Thrones, she is portrayed by English actress Sophie Turner. Sansa's character development has received critical praise. 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. Character and appearances Sansa Stark is the second child and the elder of the two daughters born to Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Stark, the ruling liege of the North. She was born and raised in Winterfell with an older brother Robb, a younger sister Arya, two younger brothers Bran and Rickon, as well as an older bastard half-brother Jon Snow. Through her mother, Sansa is also first cousin to Robert Arryn, the lord paramount of The Vale; and the niece of Edmure Tully, the lord paramount of the Riverlands. She was once betrothed to Crown Prince Joffrey Baratheon, and is still legally married (though never consummated) to Tyrion Lannister by the end of A Dance with Dragons. Raised as a noblewoman, Sansa embodies the traditional femininity stereotype expected by the Westerosi society, and is widely praised as a courteous and lovable young maiden. Sansa has been described as tall, slim, womanly and classically beautiful, destined to be a lady or a queen. Inheriting from her mother, Sansa has the Tully features of blue eyes, high cheekbones and thick auburn hair, but later has her hair dyed dark brown while hiding in the Vale under the guise of "Alayne Stone", the alleged bastard daughter of Petyr Baelish. Sansa's interests are music, poetry and singing, and she excels in embroidery works. She fantasizes of becoming like the damsels of romantic tales who