Littlefinger: what's Petyr Baelish up to?

Petyr Baelish, known as Littlefinger, is one of the most intriguing characters in Game

of Thrones. He's quietly powerful, a clever manipulator, sharp-tongued and more than slightly

creepy. Littlefinger has said that he tries to keep his foes confused by his actions,

and watching Game of Thrones, you may be pretty confused yourself. Petyr has betrayed Ned,

snogged Sansa, killed Lysa, and been competing with Varys in a dramatic stare competition

for four seasons now. What's he trying to achieve? Who is this guy?

Unlike most of the major players of the Game of Thrones, Littlefinger comes from a small

and unimportant noble family which holds a piece of land here, at the Fingers – one of

the little ones. Because of his father's friendship with Hoster Tully, Petyr was lucky enough

to be raised at Riverrun, growing up with Edmure, Lysa and Catelyn. Lysa loved Littlefinger,

but Littlefinger only had eyes for Cat. When Catelyn was to be married to Brandon Stark,

young Petyr went so far as to challenge Brandon to a spectacularly unsucessful duel which

left him scarred in more ways than one. In any case, Brandon got himself killed by the

Mad King, Catelyn ended up with his brother Ned, and Littlefinger never won the love of

his dear Cat. These events shaped Petyr as a man. "You know