Ned Stark was introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones.
A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire , a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin . Ned Stark . Introduced in 1996 's A Game of Thrones , Ned is the honorable lord of Winterfell , an ancient fortress in the North of the fictional continent of Westeros . Ned is portrayed by Sean Bean in the first season of HBO 's adaptation of the series , Game of Thrones , and as a child and young man by Sebastian Croft and Robert Aramayo respectively in the sixth season .