Seriously, how so? To me, he's the stereotypical fantasy hero. Really the only cliche in the books. (he's still one of my favorite characters).
He doesn't look like the stereotypical fantasy hero to me though, I think it's mainly the curly hair but he seems kind of childish and soft.
I think it's the shaggy teenager beard that's what throwing me off. I have look at his other images without them and he seems to be a decent cast. I think the look it a bit too modern and too much of a hippie looking that's what turning me off. You're right about the hairstyle. I just can't point my finger on it but it's just too pampered.
When Jon Snow first went to the wall, I kind of thought of him as childish and soft in his own way. What you see through the books is him maturing.
I agree- at Winterfell, he was pretty much royalty with the exception of being shunned by Catylin. At any rate, he was castle-raised and the son of a high lord. He was also 14 (or 15) in the first book. Given that, Jon having a babyface and looking the part of nobility is how I pictured him. He also acted the spurned brat throughout the first book. The stereotypical part is his future in the additional books, and the prevailing R+L=J theories.
Spoiler Brienne doesn't show up in the Hand's Tourney. She shows up in Renly's tourney after Robert and Ned are killed and the Young Wolf, Stannis and Renly are all vying for the throne that the incest boy sits. Lady Catelyn showed up at Renly's camp to plead with him to side with Rob and when she arrives the tournament is ongoing. Renly makes Brienne one of his Rainbow Guard immediately following her win. I'm pretty sure all of that is in the 2nd book.
At first look, Jon Snow wasn't anything like what I had imagined. But I remember back when Hugh Jackman got the role of Wolverine and everyone hated that, too. Now I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the role. Perhaps it will be the same for Kit Harrington as Jon Snow. And Jon is my second favorite character in the series behind only Tyrion...which I couldn't be happier with the casting of Dinklage.
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GRRM, Sean Bean, Dinklage, and the producers are doing a press conference for a bunch of television critics right now. WiC is live blogging it with some other critics, lots of interesting information there. Also, the premiere date is set.
