Game of Thrones, a creature that is symbolic of the series is more real than you might imagine

Of all the species introduced in the acclaimed HBO series, at least one seems to have actually existed

Image Credit: HBO

Throughout its eight seasons, Game of Thrones has shown us a series of fantastic creatures, including the infamous White Walkers, three-eyed ravens, giants, and dragons. However, one species introduced to the general public in the series is real, since it roamed the Earth just a few millennia ago. We are talking about dire wolves, carnivorous mammals very similar to their modern counterparts, yet of much greater size and strength, well-known for being the symbol of House Stark. 

These are characterized by the peculiar colors of their eyes, with black specimens often having yellow or green eyes, and albino specimens that instead show off the characteristic red eyes. In the literary saga by George R.R. Martin, it is also specified that they can even reach the size of a pony. But what animal was the direwolf that actually existed? The term “direwolf” was coined as the Italian equivalent of “direwolf”, a name used in Martin’s original novels which means precisely “terrible wolf”. 

In creating their character, the novelist took as a reference the canid species known as Aenocyon dirus, commonly known as “enocyone” which lived in the American continent and in eastern Asia in the Pleistocene between 200,000 and 10,000 years ago. With an average weight ranging between 65 and 70 kg, the enocyone could count on a powerful physical structure which, together with the much larger teeth and a more powerful bite than today’s wolves, allowed it to take down prey belonging to the now-extinct megafauna, which included mastodons, ground sloths, bison, horses, and many others. 

The enocyon gradually became extinct with the constant decrease in available prey caused by climate changes that ended the ice age, also favoring the spread of man. In Game of Thrones, fans are introduced to the direwolves since the first season with the Starks who find six cubs abandoned to themselves after their mother died hunting a deer. These, respectively called Ghost, Nymeria, Lady, Grey Wind, Shaggydog, and Summer, will then be entrusted to Eddard's children and then end up entangled in the events of the series, remaining despite themselves protagonists of some of the most shocking moments, between unexpected betrayals and heroic sacrifices.