As a gamer, you’ve probably heard of The Witcher as an action RPG video game from CD Projekt Red. Its games became popular, especially after the release of its third game, The Witcher 3:Wild Hunt. But that wasn’t the end; in 2017, Netflix announced its plan to create a TV series based on it. The show was then released last December 2019, and became a massive hit!
If you love The Witcher and its universe, then you will definitely like this article. Here are ten things you should know about The Witcher series:
What is The Witcher based on?
The Witcher, both the game and the Netflix series, is based on a series of fantasy novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski.
The book revolves around the story of the Witcher named Geralt of Rivia and his adventures as a beast hunter. It is set on a fictional and medieval-inspired land known as The Continent. It focuses on the legend of Geralt of Rivia and his child of surprise, Princess Ciri, which are both linked by destiny.
How many The Witcher books are there?
The Witcher book series has a total of eight books that were first published in Polish before being translated into different languages, including English.
Here is the reading order The Witcher books along with their published date:
- The Last Wish (1993)
- Sword of Destiny (1992)
- Blood of Elves (1994)
- Time of Content (1995)
- Baptism of Fire (1996)
- The Tower of the Swallow (1997)
- The Lady of the Lake (1999)
- Season of Storms (2013)
What does it mean to become a Witcher?
A witcher, also known as witch-man or vedymin, are men who were subjected to intense chemical processes, mysterious rituals, and ruthless mental and physical conditioning since they were children. All of these are done in preparation for them to become monster slayers.
These specific mutations are shared by all witchers due to their consumption of mutagenic processes:
- Incredibly long life span
- Prolonged youth
- Accelerated healing
- Cat-like eye
- Tremendous resistance to disease
- Exceptional strength, speed, reflexes, and endurance
- Ability to perform combat magic
- Sterility
What are the powers of the Witcher?
With their rigorous training and mutagenic built-up, witchers have the following abilities to help them hunt and kill monsters:
- Witchers have enhanced sensory systems, allowing them to see in the dark, identify scents from miles away, and detect nearby beings that are out of sight.
- A boosted immune system that develops a tremendous resistance to disease.
- Enhanced physical skills that allow them to be faster and more durable than normal humans.
- Ability to perform versatile magical attacks.
- A developed sixth sense which allows them to feel things and know people’s intention.
- An uncanny ability to track and hunt people and monsters.
- Accelerated healing to quickly recover from injuries.
- Long life-span
How old is Geralt?
As stated, witchers age slowly, thanks to the mutagens they received during their training. This allows them to live for centuries.
While Geralt may appear to be in his early or middle 30s, his age is actually around 80 to 85 years old when the book started. In The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, Geralt is less than 100 years old — probably 94 or 95 years old.
How did Geralt become a Witcher?
Geralt is the son of a powerful sorceress named Visenna. Right after he was born, his mother left him at Kaer Morhen in the Witcher School of the Wolf. There, Geralt was trained and made to be a witcher by Vesemir, the oldest and most experienced Witcher at Kaer Mohen.
Geralt became one of the outstanding students, which made him the perfect choice for additional mutation experiments. He was the only one who survived these experiments but caused his hair to turn stark white.
Here’s a detailed backstory of Geralt created by Chrpr:
Why is Geralt called the White Wolf?
Due to the intense mutation experiments and mutagenic compound consumption Geralt underwent, his hair turned white. This earned him the nickname the “White Wolf” from Kaer Mohen.
What is the law of surprise?
According to The Witcher books, the law of surprise is a custom as old as humanity itself. This law says that a man who is saved by another is expected to offer his savior something he already has that is unknown to both parties.
In Geralt and Ciri’s case, Geralt saved Ciri’s father Duny and claimed the law of surprise. Unknown to them, Duny’s wife, the princess of Cintra named Pavetta, was already pregnant with Ciri. This made Ciri a child of surprise for Geralt.
Is Ciri a Witcher?
In the story, when Geralt accepted Ciri as his destiny, he decided to take her into Kaer Mohen to hide and train her to become a witcher. However, she wasn’t able to complete the training because she had to leave Kaer Mohen with Triss and Geralt to go to the temple in Ellander.
This means that Ciri never became a witcher. But later on, she was also magically trained by Yennefer to control her power.
With the physical training she received in Kaer Mohen and her magical knowledge, thanks to Yennefer, Ciri was able to become a strong and powerful character in the series.
Is the Witcher Netflix the same as the game?
Not necessarily in a sense. The Netflix series draws directly from the books, but certain elements were added and changed by the writers of the show.
For example, in the Netflix series, Ciri doesn’t seem to have any idea about witchers and who Geralt may be. However, in the books and video games, Ciri knew all about being a child of surprise, Geralt, and the witchers. This led her to look for Geralt in the first place. And that she knew from the start that she was never meant to be a princess.
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In our opinion, The Witcher is one of the best RPG games of all times, especially the latest entry in its video game series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. We also included it in our list of the Best Games to Play this Lockdown. You can check the article in this link.
Got any questions about The Witcher series, comment it down below, and we will try to answer it!