how old is ser duncan the tall in the show

Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) is written as roughly 16 years old at the start of the Dunk & Egg story that the HBO show A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is adapting, but in the show he appears (and is cast) notably older, closer to his late 20s in look and portrayal.

Because HBO often ages characters up from the books for casting and tone reasons (they did this with Jon, Dany, and Arya in Game of Thrones), most fans currently treat show‑Dunk as a “young but grown” knight in his mid‑to‑late 20s, even though the in‑universe number has not been nailed down on screen yet.

Quick Scoop: How old is Ser Duncan the Tall in the show?

In the original Dunk & Egg stories, Dunk is about 16 when we first meet him on the road to the Ashford tourney.

The actor playing him in HBO’s upcoming series (Peter Claffey) is around 28 , and promotional coverage explicitly notes that HBO has aged Dunk up compared to the books.

So:
- Book Dunk: teen hedge knight (approx. 16).
- Show Dunk (on screen): visually and tonally more like late 20s, early 30s knight, even if the script doesn’t give an exact birth year yet.

Think of it like this: in the story’s timeline he’s at the very beginning of his career, but in the show he’s played more as a young adult with a fully grown frame and some life behind his eyes, rather than a lanky teenager.

Why the age difference?

HBO has a long-running pattern of aging up younger characters when adapting George R.R. Martin’s material.

In Game of Thrones , Jon Snow, Daenerys, and Arya were all older on screen than their book ages.

This lets the show:
- Use adult actors for intense themes (violence, politics, sexuality).
- Make stunts and combat more believable with physically mature performers.
- Avoid some of the more uncomfortable implications of young teenagers in brutal medieval-style situations.

Dunk fits that trend: a “kid” hedge knight on the page, but more of a rough- around-the-edges young man on the show.

In-universe vs. show casting

You can think of Dunk’s age in two layers:

In-universe (story age)
- The lore lines up with him having been knighted around 16 and starting life as a hedge knight just after that.

 * He’s early in his journey, pre–Kingsguard, pre–famous legend status.

On screen (how he’s meant to come across)
- Casting and early commentary frame him closer to late 20s in appearance and demeanor.

 * Fans on forums are already joking that he just looks like “a big bloke down at the local pub” who happens to be the tallest man around, which tracks with that older look rather than a boyish teenager.

So if you’re answering “how old is Ser Duncan the Tall in the show?” in a casual discussion, the safest phrasing is:

In the books he’s about 16, but the HBO show has clearly aged him up so he comes across more like late 20s, and they haven’t given a precise number on screen yet.

Forum and trending context

Dunk is a big current talking point in ASOIAF and TV fandom: casting reveals, stills, and early promo for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms have kicked off a lot of debate about his height, build, and age.

On Reddit and other forums, people:
- Compare him jokingly to the “tallest man in the world.”
- Speculate about how far the show will stray from book ages and events.
- Argue over whether the rough, older look makes his underdog arc more or less effective.

All of that feeds into why there isn’t a single, clean number yet for “show Dunk’s age” the way there is in the prose timeline.

TL;DR

Book Dunk: about 16 at the start of the story.

Show Dunk: portrayed and cast as clearly older; visually late 20s, no confirmed age stated in-universe yet.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.