Jon Snow On Game Of Thrones Teaser Poster

The creators of Game Of Thrones have confirmed what most viewers suspected at the end of season five - fan favourite Jon Snow will be making a return.

A teaser poster for the sixth series was tweeted on Monday with a partial shot of Snow's bloodstained face and hair, with the simple caption "APRIL #GoTSeason6".

It is the first time the TV series has officially acknowledged the future of the character, played by British actor Kit Harington, and the poster sent fans on social media into overdrive.

The tweet was shared more than 35,000 times in three hours and "Jon Snow" became the top Twitter trend.

Emmy-winning Game Of Thrones, based on George RR Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire books, is a fantasy epic about the battle across seven kingdoms for the Iron Throne.

The sixth season will air on HBO in April and later in 2016 on Sky Atlantic in the UK.

Fan speculation on Jon Snow's fate has ranged from sightings of Harington on set in Ireland to the actor's decision not to cut his shoulder-length brown locks, which have become a trademark of his character.

Little slips from fellow cast members in interviews have also fuelled the fire, but HBO and the show's creators have enjoyed toying with fans, always avoiding the question and keeping Harington out of fan events.

Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Ned Stark (who was beheaded in season one) and Commander of the Night's Watch, made it through five seasons before being betrayed by his subjects and stabbed to a seeming death.

Whether Jon Snow is actually alive or dead is still not known in a series that is woven through with dark magic, sorcery and the mysterious "White Walkers", an army of the undead.