History Characters / TheWitcherDuchyOfToussaint

* ThickerThanWater: While merciless to criminals and traitors, Annarietta is willing to forgive her sister Syanna for orchestrating the murders of four knights and even planning to kill Anna herself. Subverted as being Anna’s sister is only part of the Duchess’ reasoning, which is also being fueled by guilt for failing to prevent her exile.

* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: Given Dettlaff’s true form and scope of power, she pulled out exactly this, coupled with DidYouJustScamCthulhu. Subverted as both didn’t last long and didn’t end well (and as Dettlaff’s personality is considerably more human that the tropes’ usual examples).

* HaughtyHelp: Subverted. He has the accent, the position, the mannerisms... everything except the attitude. He is consistently polite, friendly and non-judgemental, shows no signs of prejudice against anyone, and does his level best to serve the humble monster hunter whom fate has appointed to be his master, even sharing stories about the history of the vineyard. The only thing that gets his dander up is a person [[spoiler: who is actually Ciri, Yennefer, or Triss, depending on your choices]] barging in without introducing themselves.

->'''Voiced by:''' Peter Marinker (English)[[labelnote:additional [=VAs=]]]Alexander Hotchenkov (Russian), Philippe Catoire (French)[[/labelnote]]

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Regis relates a tale from three hundred years previous, where Detlaff tracked down and killed the Brute of Lyria, a fiend terrorising Lyria, Aedirn and Rivia that had killed almost two hundred people. After the monster killed a boy who [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe had shown Detlaff an unexpected kindness]], Detlaff tracked down and killed the fiend, then left its carcass beside a sleeping hunter so the man could take the credit for killing the Brute (and ensuring Detlaff's hand in the matter went unnoticed).

-->'''Unseen Elder''': Why should I care about Detlaff? Why should I help you?
-->'''Geralt''': Sooner or later, Detlaff will bring trouble. Serious trouble.

-->'''Geralt''': As Khagmar brought trouble before. Folk will take [Detlaff] down eventually. Might need a year or two, or a decade, but they'll find a way. Then they'll go after other vampires, and eventually they'll find you.

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler: If she decides to go through her original plan of killing Anna. Of course, she does it when Anna was completely vulnerable, which was her goal all along, and got rid of everyone who wronged her, and even Detlaff, who was played by her, is dead in the process. But she is soon executed by Damien for regicide and dies an ignominious death, with the Duchy ready to UnPerson her for good. Geralt [[WasItReallyWorthIt even lampshades it]] if he decides to pay Sylvia [[DueToTheDead his final respects]].]]

* VillainousValor: Say what you may about Syanna, the fact that she was the lover to freaking ''Detlaff'', and manipulated him into doing her bidding, and was living even with hostile bandits who often want to kill anyone else normally, speaks volumes about her character. [[spoiler:This is followed through even in the bad ending; even though Syanna knew she would be a dead woman walking once she assassinates Anna Henrietta in broad daylight, she still chose to follow through her goals.]]

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: As the Journal explains:
-->''If this world has ever known a ruler who enjoyed the absolute admiration of her subjects without the need for systematic repression or a particularly cruel hangman, it was, without a doubt, the sovereign of Toussaint, Duchess Anna Henrietta.''
** But of course, it's written by Dandelion, her former lover.
** It appears to be mostly true, though at least partially due to Anna-Henrietta’s late husband being a considerably worse person and duke, and Toussaint enjoying prosperity under her rule, not being involved in any wars, which is a rare luxury in the Witcherverse.
** If she dies, Touissant mourns her so deeply that her death is commemorated with an annual week of mourning ''forever.''

* FirstNameBasis: {{Averted}}, unlike Milton, in regards to the Duchess. While she and Milton call each by their names instead of titles in private, Palmerin finds that familiarity offensive and thus they avoid doing so in his presence.

** Eventually averted if Guillaume [[spoiler:helps lift her curse]], but played straight if he doesn't help.

* TheHighQueen: Technically a duchess, as Toussaint is a duchy of Nilfgaard. A slight subversion is that Anna Henrietta is willing to break decorum and get her hands dirty to protect her subjects.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: She has a man put on trial for treason and, if Geralt talks back to her while she chews him out, she warns him that he is close to being charged with treason himself, despite not evening being one of her Toussaint subjects. Yet, when it's revealed that her older sister ''actually'' plotted treason against her, Anna Henrietta ''refuses'' to punish her accordingly simply ''because'' she's her sister. This decision actually causes revolts amongst her subjects because the Duchess is treating her own feelings as above the law.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: She has a man put on trial for treason and, if Geralt talks back to her while she chews him out, she warns him that he is close to being charged with treason himself. Yet, when it's revealed that her older sister ''actually'' plotted treason against her, Anna Henrietta ''refuses'' to punish her accordingly simply ''because'' she's her sister. This decision actually causes revolts amongst her subjects because the Duchess is treating her own feelings as above the law.

* CantTakeCriticism: Doesn't take too well to criticism or contradiction, particularly in public. At one point, Anna in a frustrated rant to Geralt about his perceived lack of progress makes an analogy between vampire hunting and fox hunting. Geralt can reply that there are slight but critical differences between a higher vampire and a fox, in a tone that clearly indicates that only an imbecile would make such a comparison. The duchess, after an awkward silence, implies that Geralt is about to be charged with treason if he takes one step further.

* BigBadWannabe: While she is the legitimate BigBad of her own story arc, in the greater scheme of things she is an extremely minor villain despite her attempts to color herself as a monster, and Geralt calling her the real Beast. Even the similar themed CainAndAbel rivalry between the Borsodi brothers is considerably darker (and has no options for both surviving), and as an evildoer she's got nothing not only on most of game's major baddies, but even on her own ancestors like Ludovic. [[spoiler:Even ''in'' her own story, she is ultimately outdone by her pawn, Dettlaff, who becomes an even greater threat once Syanna is apprehended and rendered harmless, and either spends the last portion of the game trying to undo the damage she has caused, or just sits in her prison until the end.]]
* BlackSheep: [[spoiler: Due to having the Curse of the Black Sun. Whenever anything went wrong, it was Sylvia's fault. When Henrietta started fights, it was her sister who got the blame, even if Henrietta stood up for her. Eventually, her family stripped her of all her titles and exiled her.]]
* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Anna Henrietta's Abel. [[spoiler: Depending on Geralt's actions, they can reconcile, or Sylvia Anna can murder her sister and die in turn.]]

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: [[spoiler: Geralt can say this to her if he decides the Black Sun and her mistreatment was no excuse for her criminal activities.]]

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Some choices can result in [[spoiler: Syanna rejecting a chance at redemption and stabbing her sister in the back when Anna Henrietta begs forgiveness.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, Regis considers her intentions to [[spoiler:murder Anna Henrietta to be this. Regis was already extremely pissed at her for ruining his friend Dettlaff's life (and possibly causing his death), but learning she wants her own beloved sister dead causes him to wash his hands of her completely.]] Geralt, however, [[MultipleEndings can still succeed]] in bringing out some good in her, or have the ''entire Duchy'' renounce her existence if she succeeds in [[spoiler: assassinating Anna Henrietta]].

* RevengeBeforeReason: She would have completely gotten away with her scheme, without anyone ever finding out she was involved, if she hadn't decided to go even further by stealing Sangreal as well as the Heart of Toussaint. But she says if she could turn back time, she'd do it all over again because they were her birthrights. [[spoiler: She follows through with the completion of her revenge in one ending, which leads to her total victory, but with a bolt in her throat as a reward.]]

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She spend her entire adult life among bandits and mercenaries, wears black almost exclusively, can stand her own in a fight and manipulate people ([[spoiler: and higher vampires]]) like nobody's business, but deep down she still enjoys cute things and pink colour when she's allowed to have a break from her scheming, much to Geralt's surprise. This is part of the ambiguity around the Curse of the Black Sun - if she was the cursed monster the prophecy talks about, she shouldn't have that streak.

* VillainousValor: Say what you may about Syanna, the fact that she was the lover to freaking ''Detlaff'', and manipulated him into doing her bidding, and was living even with hostile bandits who often want to kill anyone else normally, speaks volumes about her character. [[spoiler: This is followed through even in the bad ending, even though Syanna knew she would be a dead woman walking once she assassinates Anna Henrietta in broad daylight, she still chose to follow through her goals.]]

* NotSoSimilar [[spoiler:Regis]] is of the mind that both Geralt and Dettlaff are similar in that they "have noble hearts, yet both are wont to [[ShootTheDog perform ignoble deeds]]." [[spoiler:Dettlaff's willingness to murder thousands of innocents when he feels betrayed shows that there is in a fact a world of difference between the two.]]
* OneManArmy: He's a Higher Vampire. It comes with the territory. He kills dozens of humans effortlessly. [[spoiler: He doesn't even need a vampire army to raze Beauclair. If Regis wasn't there to stop him, he'd easily be capable of it himself.]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: He does this once you take off a third of his health during his final boss fight, and then again when two thirds are gone.]].

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "If you acknowledge any gods...start praying now!"
* {{Pride}}: He has a lot of it. Offending it is a way to make him act brutally...unreasonable.

* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler: According to the character entry written by Dandelion, Dettlaff ''let'' himself be killed by Regis. Even though Regis would have been able to kill Dettlaff, who was horribly maimed, Dettlaff made it as easy as possible for Regis. After being betrayed by Syanna and then alienating Regis with his bloodlust, Dettlaff had lost the two things that made his unfathomably long life worth living]]

* SympatheticMurderer: Killing people because [[spoiler: he's being blackmailed to do so as his lover being held hostage and facing death by torture...but at the end, it becomes much harder to hold on to any sympathy as he takes his anger out on thousands of innocents.]]

* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Some aspects of the ''Blood And Wine'' expansion suggests that it's, canonically, the last of Geralt's adventures in ''Witcher 3''. That said, this guy's the FinalBoss of ''Blood And Wine'']].

* EldritchAbomination: His OneWingedAngel form is bad enough, being a Giger-eque amalgamation of a xenomorph and a gargoyle. His final and seemingly true form? Much, much worse, as he transforms into a huge structure of flesh and pulsating veins, complete with three hearts and a floating womb spewing out an endless stream of his previous form’s blood clones. For extra NightmareFuel, all parts of this monstrosity are labeled as simply ”Dettlaff”. Oh, and it can’t be killed, only weakened to give Regis a window to deliver the final bite. Easily one of the largest, deadliest and most horrendous creatures Geralt ever fought.

->'''Voiced by:''' [=MyAnna Buring=] (English), Elena Chebaturkina (Russian), Ingrid Donnadieu (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AntoniaBernath (English), Polina Kuzminskaya (Russian), Barbara Beretta (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Tom Goodman-Hill (English), Oleg Novikov (Russian), Franck Monsigny (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' ??? (English), Ekaterina Semenova (Russian), Noémie Orphelin (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Sébastien Desjours (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' ??? (English), Alexey Myasnikov (Russian), Antoine Tomé (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Dino Kelly (English), Ivan Kalinin (Russian), Philippe Valmont (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Andrew Greenough (English), Maxim Dakhnenko (Russian), David Krüger (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' David Annen, Adrien Larmande (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Laura Doddington (English), Marie Zidi (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Peter Marinker (English), Alexander Hotchenkov (Russian), Philippe Catoire (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Suzanne Sindberg (French)

* WidowWoman: Her hated husband died of apoplexy in 1265, leaving Anna to rule Toussaint alone, much to the delight of her subjects.

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the books, Anna is depicted as a spoiled WomanChild who throws temper tantrums and treats the world like it's her playground, with strong implication the only reason her duchy is so prosperous (or exists at all) is due to being far, far away from all the trouble. In the games, Anna is shown to be a very active, capable, and benevolent (if somewhat self-centered) ruler. However, it is implied that she has greatly matured over the last several years since she last met Geralt and many of her flaws are still present but less severe.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Her marriage to Duke Raymund was anything but loving. He was a womanizer and generally regarded as a vile man, with his death being greeted with celebrations in Toussaint.

* FatalFlaw: Her greatest weakness is her love for her sister and the crippling guilt she feels for her banishment. Anna gets ''very'' temperamental and irrational wherever Sylvia is concerned, and refuses to accept the possibility that she may not be the woman she remembers. [[spoiler:This will result in her death when, even after all Sylvia's crimes have been exposed and Sylvia is unrepentant, Anna insists on embracing her, putting her directly into striking distance of her sister.]]

* WidowWoman: Her husband died of apoplexy in 1265, leaving Anna to rule Toussaint alone, much to the delight of her subjects.

** When boasting of her ability to sum up people, she pegs Dettlaff's character to a tee just from a single conversation, summing him up as "sensitive, sad...a good man, but lost." Her assessment, however, is a massive understatement: ''he'' is the Beast of Beauclaire she hired Geralt to kill, and he is "lost" due to violent temper which will ultimately drive him to kill hundreds of innocent people.