Characters / The Witcher - Witchers

• Always Male: Traditionally, witcher candidates have always been male. The only canonical example of a female training to be a witcher is Ciri, and there are numerous technicalities abound with her status as one, not having undergone the mutations of the Trial of the Grasses, not being capable of casting Signs, not being trained for nearly as long as true Witchers, and seeming to be one more in spirit and romantic belief than actuality. The diet witcher candidates are on in the initial stages of their training are in all but name large quantities of hormones, which have some truly awful effects on a woman's menstrual cycle and body in general. Furthermore, in the backstory of Gwent, it was revealed all of the girls Alzur and his ilk experimented on alongside the boys inevitably died from the process. It appears unlikely girls can biologically survive the mutagens and process of the Trial of the Grasses, while male children, who were the primary test subjects for the experimentation and creation of the trials in the first place, already have a very low percentage of survival as it is.
• Animals Hate Him: Downplayed. Most cats for some unknown reason despise Witchers, hissing and yowling at them or fleeing, likely as a result of sensing the mutation and magical Trials Witchers are put through, that something is off about them.
• Animal Motifs: Each of the Witcher schools has a particular animal as its emblem and they issue out medallions in the shape of their animal of choice.
• Because I'm Good At It: Since they're trained from youth to slay monsters and are generally shunned by normal society, Witchers rarely ever get the chance to take on any other profession. Geralt does note that every Witcher does have his doubts about the path and a couple of them have tried their hand as monks or, in one case that Lambert can potentially sabotage, settle down with an adoptive family.
• Blessed with Suck: You'll be hard-pressed to find a witcher who's all that happy about being a witcher, despite having better senses, improved speed and strength, immunity to every disease, more durability and faster healing, a considerably longer lifespan, and access to light magical power. Though the sheer hell they had to go through, the dangerous lives they have to live, and the social stigma they end up facing likely has something to do with it.
• Booze-Based Buff: Witcher potions use strong alcohol as an alchemical base.
• Bullying a Dragon: Tend to be on the receiving end of this often, with peasants and various other bigots of all races and classes frequently harassing and accosting Witchers, despite the fact they should know full well what Witchers are capable of as superhuman, professional monster slayers and master swordsmen who can cast magic. Well highlighted by Geralt's Pre-Asskicking One-Liner before a Curb-Stomp Battle against some dwarven criminals threatening him.
  Geralt: "Two things only the greatest fools do: throw stones at hornets' nests... and threaten a Witcher."
• Combat Pragmatist: Swordsmanship alone is not enough to see even superhumans like witchers along. So, in addition to steel and silver, witchers make use of signs and potions to enhance their already impressive combat skills. In the games, oils and bombs are also an addition to a witcher's arsenal, though crossbows aren't until Vesemir encourages Geralt to make use of one in Wild Hunt. In the books, Geralt doesn't shy from regularly using sap gloves studded with silver and this is regarded something of a norm in his trade.
• Creature-Hunter Organization: The eponymous Witchers hunt all kinds of monsters, but specifically those who invaded the world after the Conjunction of the Spheres. They would fall under the phlebotinum-powered subtype, since they are genetically enhanced since childhood and have number of supernatural traits to complement their Training from Hell.
• Code of Honor: Witchers do have a number of principles that they abide by, such as their neutrality, not taking up arms against humans except in self defence, or attacking each other, but they've also been known to exaggerate the concept of a code of honour in order to avoid doing jobs that they don't like, such as ones that would violate their neutrality.
• Covered in Scars: Pretty much every Witcher, given how dangerous their profession is.
• Curse Escape Clause: Part of their job is to find this, as some monsters are cursed humans. Most famously, Geralt lifts the curse from Princess Adda in the first story by spending a night with her.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Given what is required to create a witcher, the grueling, abusive training and brutal Trials few survive, the trauma they are exposed to as children, those Witchers who do survive almost certainly have this. To say nothing of everything they endure while out on the Path.
• Decapitation Presentation: Inevitable, given their profession, and how unfeasible it would be hauling back the entire, often giant, monster carcasses to their clients to prove the job was completed, along with being done for trophy purposes, attaching the heads to the saddles of their mount.
• The Drifter: Part of the Witcher's life when out on the Path, moving from village, town and city taking contracts.
• The Dreaded: Are usually considered this to most humans and monsters alike.
• Dying Race: For quite some time, the number of witchers in the world has been on the decline, especially after an attack on Kaer Morhen destroyed much of the knowledge required for Wolf School witchers to undergo the necessary mutations, as well as the attacks on all the other schools. It doesn't help that witchers are sterile and can't just breed new witchers. The games expand on this with Letho noting that, aside from his group of kingslayers, he only knows of two other Viper School witchers and that witchers in the south are social outcasts that can't even ply their trade. In the first game, Vesemir has been training Leo to be a witcher and hoping to make him somewhat effective in the role for an unmutated human, albeit nowhere near as good as real witchers.
• Fantastic Racism: Suffer this across the Continent in most places they travel, though especially prevalent in the south where most cities forbid them from entering or from plying their trade.
• Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Witcher mutations were humanity's answer to monsters. Enhancing a man's strength, speed, senses, endurance, and reflexes makes witchers superhuman. Normal humans are suspicious of them at best and outright hostile to them at worst.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Witchers tend to prefer light leather armour with silver studs, as it gives them better mobility than heavy armour, which is pretty useless against most monsters anyway.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Often tend to be hated and reviled by commoners, priests, mages, and nobles alike as abominations, despite the fact they were created to serve and protect the entire Continent from monsters, regardless of affiliations and classes.
• Heroic Neutral: As independent guilds, the Schools tend to stay out of political affairs unless specifically dragged, manipulated, or coerced into them.
• Horrifying the Horror: The in-universe song Lullaby of Woe is implied to have been composed by monsters, and is told from their POV, revealing how terrified of Witchers they have become over the years. That Witchers have done their job so well they have become the monsters of legend to the monsters.
• Hunter of Monsters: Their training and mutations are specifically tailored towards tracking and killing monsters and supernatural beings in order to keep the populace safe.
• Ideal Illness Immunity: Witchers are immune to all diseases, in spite of what members of the general populace will claim.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: Thanks to the mutagens that give them their abilities, they live very long lives, but are unable to procreate. Therefore, they have to recruit children from outside, since they can't just breed new witchers.
• Impartial Purpose-Driven Faction: Their purpose is to hunt monsters to keep the populace safe. In political matters, they are not meant to take sides, only doing so when there is no other choice.
• Jedi Mind Trick: The Axii sign is often used by witchers both in dialogue and combat to gain the upper hand. How it's used is entirely dependent on how unscrupulous the witcher casting it is. It's also got its limitations; using it with witnesses present will often clue them into the fact that someone is amiss and can cause them to act hostile.
• Lightning Bruiser: Witchers have superhuman reflexes and are trained to have expert footwork, especially seeing as how Armor Is Useless against many monsters, forcing witchers to dodge instead. In the first game, the fast styles of swordsmanship are pretty much the go-to style that covers most of the bases against anything that isn't large and in the second and third games, dodging is a lot more useful than parrying, especially against monsters.
• Long-Lived: The mutation process has given Witchers extraordinarily long life spans. Most of the Witchers in the saga are over a century old. They still age, albeit at a much slower rate than normal humans. Though it appears to be mostly on the surface where they eventually age, as Vesemir at however many centuries old was more than capable of still physically throwing down with powerful monsters. What their lifespan is exactly is impossible to determine, as no Witcher has ever lived long enough to die in his own bed.
• Lost Technology: The process to create new witchers has been lost thanks to anyone who knew how to do it having been killed in the attacks on the various Witcher schools.
• Magic Knight: In addition to silver and steel swords, witchers can also use signs to perform basic magic.
• Master Swordsman: They train to use both silver and steel swords and become experts in their use.
• Multi-Melee Master: While swords are their primary weapon, they can use axes, daggers, and clubs should the need arise.
• Mutants: Witchers are modified at the genetic level through chemical and magical means to make them superhuman warriors. This gives them about the same social standing as mutants in other works.
• Occult Detective: Elements of this appear in a witcher's work, and the knowledge they are taught. Often, they will be called on to investigate the circumstances of a mysterious death or disappearance that is often the result of a supernatural being like a spectre or wraith. Even breaking curses and performing exorcisms now and again when required of them.
• Older Than They Look: Because the mutagens slow down the ageing process, most of the Witchers in the saga are well over a century old, while still looking relatively young. In fact, Vesemir is the only one to show any kind of age.
• One-Man Army: They tend to be among the Continent's best fighters, given their superhuman abilities and the grueling nature of their training and professions.
• One Riot, One Ranger: Witchers tend to work alone. One is usually considered enough to deal with whatever monster they are under contract to deal with. Of course, this might also be down to the fact that they are a Dying Race and they are so thinly spread that it's almost impossible to encounter witchers in groups of any size.
• Perpetual Poverty: Given they are entirely independent and not funded by or provided for by the nobles or monarchs, Witchers have to pay for their own supplies, weapon and equipment purchasing and maintenance, travel, inns, and various other expenses out of their own pockets. As such they tend to be vagrants with little in the way of spare coin, with their contracts alone keeping them relatively afloat, but most of the coin they make being eaten up by the expenses of being an independent guild.
• Poisoned Weapons: Witcher oils are brewed and applied to swords and there are various types that inflict more damage to varying species of monster. There are even two that work on non-monster species, such as Beast Oil (animals, such as wolves and bears) and Hanged Man's Venom (humans).
• Really 700 Years Old: The mutations they undergo has the added benefit of greatly increasing their lifespans. Geralt is well into his second century during the course of the games, and Vesemir (the only Witcher who sort of looks his age) is centuries old by the third game. In addition, it is unknown exactly how long Witchers can live for since not a single one has ever had the luxury of dying in their bed.
• Really Gets Around: Tends to be the case, given their mutations greatly increase their libidos, they live for a long time, their infertility eliminating the danger of bastards, they cannot catch diseases and their dangerous occupation and reputations making them more enticing to various women. The stereotype of Witcher lasciviousness might be exaggerated, but definitely has at least a grain of truth to it.
  Peasant: "Hide the wenches! Witcher's coming!"
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Their Super-Senses allow them to follow people and monsters with ease by spotting signs that normal human beings would miss.
• Shrouded in Myth: Witchers deliberately perpetuate various myths about themselves, such as claims that their swords are imbued with magical properties, in order to market themselves better to potential clients.
• Silver Bullet: One of their weapons of choice is a silver-plated sword for the purpose of fighting monsters, since they are susceptible to silver. They also tend to wear silver studs on their clothing to provide protection against monsters. The third game also introduces a kind of grenade called "Moon Dust", filled with silver filings that disrupt the special abilities of some species of monsters.
• The Stateless: Witcher neutrality means that, in theory at least, witchers are not meant to be allied to any particular fiefdom, effectively making them stateless. In practice, however, many witchers adopt home cities to make themselves more marketable and Wolf School witchers could technically be considered Kaedweni. During the second Nilfgaardian invasion, Coën ends up fighting for the Northern Kingdoms at the Battle of Brenna, and during the third invasion, Vesemir expresses a preference for the North.
• STD Immunity: One of the upshots to the witcher mutagens is that they never have to worry about contracting any diseases from sex.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: The most obvious physical sign and the one thing that makes them stand out from normal humans (barring, maybe the excessive scarring) is their gold eyes, which is a result of their mutations. These have a practical function; it gives them superior eyesight.
• Super-Reflexes: Much is made of their ability to parry bolts in flight.
• Super-Senses: Witchers have very acute senses of sight, hearing, and smell, which allow them to easily track their prey on contracts. This can be adjusted as necessary.
• Super-Soldier: They are basically fantasy equivalents to this trope. They are both trained from a very young age as well as alchemically and ritually augmented to be quicker, stronger, and more resilient than normal humans. Though they are created to fight monsters, not humans (not that there is a big difference).
• Super-Strength: Able to effortlessly overpower human foes and physically grapple with a variety of powerful monsters.
• Super-Toughness: The mutations have made them incredibly hardy. Most of the witchers in the franchise are covered in scars, implying having survived several horrific injuries.
• Technicolor Eyes: Their eyes are yellow and cat-like thanks to their mutations. The eyes grant them enhanced vision, especially in the dark.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: In the games, Witchers make use of a variety of bombs with different effects to disrupt or disable monsters.
• Thunderbolt Iron: Their steel swords are made from meteorite steel. Though the swords are not imbued with any magical abilities (unless a rune is engraved on the blade in the games at least), they are high quality, expertly crafted weapons.
• Training from Hell: Witchers are trained from childhood to become expert monster slayers. Their training has a high mortality rate with three out of ten actually surviving the entire process.
• Tyke Bomb: All witchers are taken from families as children and trained up to undergo the Trial Of Grasses.
• Unorthodox Sheathing: Witchers wear their swords across the back, which is something few others do in-universe. The iconic depiction of Witchers with two swords over the right shoulder only began in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings; In the books, they only carry one sword at a time, switching out when explicitly on a contract and in the first game, both swords are crossed at the back with steel on the right and silver on the left.
• Walking the Earth: The Witcher's Path involves them wandering around looking for contracts to fulfill. Members of the School of the Wolf do tend to return to Kaer Morhen to settle in for the winter.
• Warrior Monk: A separate caste from the rest of society, paying neither fealty nor taxation to the nobles or royals, their schools having their own pieces of land, they dedicate their lives to wandering the Continent slaying of monsters who threaten the populace. Even if they leave the Path, it's hard for them to even become anything else due to both the social stigma attached to being a mutant witcher and their otherness from society in general. A descriptive video included in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings uses this exact term to describe them. However, unlike monastic orders, they don't take vows of poverty or chastity, being more like a guild in this respect.

Cut-Throat

Madoc was a Witcher of the first generation to undergo and survive the Trials and training, as part of the Order of the Witchers. Bearing a seething contempt for Alzur and the other creators of the Witchers as a result of his suffering at their hands, he eventually went renegade from the Order for a time as a freelance killer, before returning to try and save Alzur from the Viy of Maribor the sorcerer had summoned. His fate in the present day remains unknown, but his survival is unlikely.

• Face Death with Dignity: In the end he comes to terms with his bitterness over being a Witcher, realizing he can still make a difference and take control of his own destiny, and rides off courageously to what is almost certain doom against the powerful Viy without hesitation to try and save others.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Most likely his ultimate fate, with Madoc riding off to Maribor to fight the colossal Viy after seeing Alzur summon it, and protect the city's occupants and others from it.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Despite how coarse and mean spirited he is, and being a killer for hire, his assessments of the Witcher creators, especially Alzur, and the Trials and suffering of the Witchers are all spot on.
• Uncertain Doom: Last seen heading to Maribor to try and save Alzur and the city from the Viy, receiving a Bolivian Army Ending wherein he most likely died, given the canonical fates of Alzur, the city, and the Viy, but nothing has been confirmed.

See main characters.

Vesemir

Possibly the oldest witcher alive and Geralt's surrogate father and mentor. He was one of the finest fencing instructors at Kaer Morhen and the sole survivor of the old order during the pogrom by means that often change during every retelling. Although mildly doddering in his extreme old age he is still a master witcher; capable of feats every bit as astonishing as his younger peers. But it is his compassion, wisdom and dedication to the perfection of his craft that has allowed his few surviving students to thrive even as their order is quietly doomed to eventual extinction.

• Badass Teacher: A long lived veteran witcher who has had his share of adventures and was also the fencing instructor of Kaer Morhen when the school was still functional.
• Berserk Button: He does not like the idea of having to abandon Kaer Morhen, Eskel mentions that Lambert once suggested they should leave it behind and find a new place to pass winter and it basically sent Vesemir into a Tranquil Fury. Being the leader of the Witchers he naturally doesn't like when people challenge his authority, especially when he's in Kaer Morhen, letting Yennefer have it when she tries to act like she's calling the shots in the Witchers' own home.
• Cool Old Guy: He's a Witcher with a couple of centuries on Geralt and deeply loyal to the idea of the North, even if Geralt is not particularly interested in fighting Nilfgaard this time around.
• Cool Uncle: Cannot help but act this way towards Ciri and she obviously returns the feeling.
  Lambert: It was an accident... She had already mastered the comb...
  Vesemir: Shut your big mouth, you idiot! I don't want to hear any more! I warned you, if something happened to that little girl...
• Dirty Old Man: In Blood of Elves, he 'accidentally' gropes Triss' butt while welcoming her back to Kaer Morhen. And Wild Hunt reveals he seduced a young noblewoman during a contract while being a number of centuries older than her, having to be chased off by her father eventually.
• Do Not Go Gentle: The Wild Hunt successfully convinces Ciri to hand herself over when Imlerith presents a battered Vesemir as a hostage. After saying that he always loved Ciri's defiant streak, he goads his captor into killing him... by shanking Imlerith with a hidden dagger.
• Good is Not Nice: For all his grandfatherly demeanor by the 'present' of the books and games, it is clear from his hundreds of years in a Crapsack World he is and was a hard man and severe disciplinarian teacher. Going as far as lashing Geralt and Eskel with a leather strap for playing with a giant forest bumblebee when they were young students.
• Grumpy Old Man: Capable of being quite crotchety in his old age.
• The Hilarity of Hats: Amongst his possessions is a broad, brimmed, black hat which Lambert claims was in vogue back in 1112 (so it’s more than a century out of date), which Lambert memorably wears while he mocks Vesemir’s mannerisms.
• The Idealist: A surprising example given he's a witcher. In the video games, Vesemir genuinely believes Radovid will restore the old borders after he wins the war against Nilfgaard. This is partially due to the fact he wants to believe the world will go back to the way it was.
• Long-Lived: Centuries old and kicking even more ass than his younger pupils.
• Magic Knight: Like all witchers.
• Manly Facial Hair: He sports a thick mustache that gives him a brawny edge while displaying how much older he is than the other witchers. According to Mignole, he wore it at least 50 years ago as well. He also wore a full on snowy beard around the time of Blood of Elves.
• Master Swordsman: Prior to the sack of Kaer Morhen, Vesemir was the school's fencing instructor. He thus taught Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, and later on Leo everything he knows about the way of the blade.
• The Mentor: Vesemir serves as this to Geralt, Eskel, Lambert, Leo, and has even taught Ciri everything he knows about herb-craft and monster lore while the younger generation taught her to fight.
  • He's also, essentially, Ciri's version of Yoda.
• My Greatest Failure: While he has nothing but Nostalgia Filter toward past events in his life, he still considers his participation in making and training new witchers to be this. In practical terms, it meant kidnapping young children, torturing them with potions, mutagens and magical rituals to recreate their bodies as witchers, and then subjecting those who survived to equally lethal Training from Hell.
• Nostalgia Filter: Thinks about his youth as those good old days of yore despite the North being as much of a Crapsack World as it's always been (if not even more), with the added benefit that witchers were more common and therefore more widely hated and two-thirds of all the boy candidates died during the mutation process when it was still being done.
• Not So Above It All: He tends to disapprove of the younger witchers' often philandering ways, but it's implied that he had quite an eventful love life himself. On a more serious note, Vesemir often urges Geralt to not be a hero and stay out of conflicts as they come up, but he tends to get in trouble stepping in with his own heroics as well.
• Obi-Wan Moment: Gets himself killed in the third game to prevent Ciri from being captured.
• Old Master: Several centuries older than Geralt and The Mentor to the current generation of The School of the Wolf and Ciri, up until his Obi-Wan Moment in the third game was able to rather effortlessly keep up with all his former students and their allies against all kinds of supernatural beings and monsters, including The Wild Hunt. And it's subtly implied that even among Witchers he was something of a prodigy despite his advanced age, considering that despite being at it for far longer than any one Witcher alive he's not Covered in Scars like the rest of them, the implication being that he was just that good.
• Parental Substitute: To the point Geralt says Vesemir is his father (despite witchers being sterile) in "The Voice of Reason." Eskel and Lambert also jokingly refer to him as alternatives between "Papa/Pappy Vesemir". Vesemir for his part seems to view his charges as sons.
• Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: Gives one of these to Ciri before goading Imlerith to kill him so Eredin can't use Vesemir as a hostage to force Ciri to surrender herself.
  Vesemir: You always were an unruly child... I adored that about you.
• Really 700 Years Old: All witchers are potentially immortal since none has ever died of natural causes. Vesemir is centuries old, however. Sadly, he doesn't get to be the first to die in his bed in the video games' continuity.
• Revenge Before Reason: Not overall as he typically is very reasonable. But after the attack in Kaer Morhen in Witcher 1, Vesemir does have a couple moments of this.
  Vesemir: We'll recover our secrets and find Leo's murderers, even if they fled to the end of the world.
• Sacrificial Lion: Vesemir ends up getting killed helping others and preventing Ciri from being captured by the Wild Hunt during the battle of Kaer Morhen. His death further motivates Geralt and Ciri to hunt down the Wild Hunt in order to end their countless killings.
• Silence, You Fool!: In the third game, he eventually grows tired of Yennefer bossing himself and his fellow Witchers around. Though he'd promised to help her in whatever way he could, he eventually silences her when she tries to veto his plans for curing Uma. As he puts it, he is still the leader of the Witchers and she is in his home.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: When he was younger, Vesemir fell in love with Mignole, the daughter of a noble in Oxenfurt. He was forced to flee after being discovered by her father and an arrest warrant was put out for him, and seemingly never had another relationship after that. Geralt can meet her fifty years later and learns she has become a collector of Witcher artifacts. If told about it, Vesemir muses he may go to her once the situation with the Wild Hunt has been taken care of. Sadly, he does not get that chance.
• Stern Teacher: While Vesemir is normally pretty nice, he's also a strict disciplinarian who takes his job training and instructing young witchers-to-be very seriously.
• Sole Survivor: Vesemir is the only witcher to have survived the sack of Kaer Morhen that happened long before the saga began.
• Team Dad: Serves this role for the witchers at Kaer Morhen, including Ciri. Considering he's the eldest among them, trained them all when they were young boys, and may be the only father-figure any of them had, this is only natural.
• Tragic Keepsake: A rather dark example in the games, as Vesemir has kept the table once used to mutate young boys as witchers. Lambert has no reservations on calling him out on it.
• Ye Goode Olde Days: Has a lot to say about those, despite the fact he was born in The Dung Ages and a Crapsack World.

Eskel

A witcher of the same generation as Geralt. They grew up together, underwent the harsh conditioning and eventual leap of fate that is the Trial of the Grasses; which they both survived and flourished from children into true protectors of humanity. Eskel and Geralt are as close as brothers and they have wintered at Kaer Morhen every year to share their adventures and triumphs on the Path over a pitcher of White Gull. Although not as famous as Geralt, he is at least the White Wolf's equal in experience and skill and has a reputation as a very professional and reliable witcher of a kind, relaxed disposition. His extremely disfiguring scar was not the result of either a Manticore or Ulfhedinn's tender caress but by the blade of the Princess Deidre Ademeyn of Caingorn, his own Unexpected Child.

• Actually Pretty Funny: If Eskel is in the main hall of Kaer Morhen examining his dead Katakan when Geralt confronts Vesemir about his past affair with Countess Mignole, Eskel can be heard in the background laughing about it.
• Badass Bookworm: Well read and up to date on all witcher knowledge, right down to memorizing and quoting it where applicable, and wanting to update it. In Price of Neutrality he also does independent research on the Curse of the Black Sun and Council of Mages in relation to Deidre Ademeyn, his Child of Surprise.
• Baritone of Strength: His voice is described as menacing and metallic, and like a dog's barking in the books. His deep voice is especially noticeable in the first game.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Eskel is a calm, kind-hearted, polite, and amiable individual, who also happens to be perfectly capable of beating the legendary "White Wolf" Geralt of Rivia in a stand-up one-on-one fight. Despite his kindness he is no pushover in the slightest, willing to go toe to toe with Letho the Kingslayer without hesitation, confronting the witcher turned assassin about his presence at Kaer Morhen, and takes on the Aen Elle's Caranthir Ar-Feiniel of the Wild Hunt just as readily.
• By-the-Book Cop: Or By the Book Witcher, being a more traditional witcher than Geralt with his famous non-witcher exploits. Geralt notes he's prone to actually quoting rules they'd been taught — which is ludicrous given there's four (possibly five) Wolf School witchers left in the world.
• The Comically Serious: Doesn't tell one joke in the books, and theorizes quite seriously that Ciri's Elder Blood prophecy about 'teeth' causing Geralt and Coën's deaths might be referring to gangrene of the teeth, but pointing out none of them have lost any teeth. This trait of his pops up in the games at times as well.
• Confirmed Bachelor: Where Geralt and Lambert can end Wild Hunt in a relationship with a sorceress and even settling down in Geralt's case, Eskel remains single and without a love interest regardless of the ending. He's not particularly bothered by it, especially while seeing how Yennefer treats Geralt and his skepticism towards dating sorceresses:
  Eskel: "Times like these, I’m glad this ugly mug of mine keeps the women away."
  Geralt: "Looks aren't everything — certainly not to all women."
  Eskel: "You're right... but most like a full coin purse, too. Don't have much to brag about in that domain either."
• Cool Horse: He owns a war horse named Scorpion which he managed to secure via the Law of Surprise. He saved a knight-errant from a pack of wolves, and invoked the Law. When the knight got home, he saw that a thoroughbred Kaedweni mare in his stable had just foaled. That foal is now Scorpion.
  Geralt: "Eskel and Scorpion... bound by fate. An enchanting tale."
  Eskel: "Mock me all you want. You're just jealous."
• Disappeared Dad: Defied destiny and abandoned his Child of Surprise Deidre Ademeyn, instead of claiming her and bringing her to Kaer Morhen to be raised and trained as Geralt did with Ciri. To his credit it almost certainly wasn't malicious abandonment, he was a Witcher and she was a Princess, and he likely believed she would have a much better life raised by her real parents in wealth and comfort instead of among mutant outcasts in a remote, dying school. All the same, destiny, the Curse of the Black Sun and Council of Mages had other ideas for him and Deidre.
• The Dutiful Son: After Vesemir's death in Wild Hunt, it is noted in Eskel's journal entry that the responsibility of keeping Kaer Morhen falls into Eskel's hands. Geralt meanwhile in most endings either retires with a sorceress or even dies, while Lambert can potentially die or take off with Keira Metz. This is well highlighted when Vesemir sets off with Uma to try to break his curse, and Eskel's first suggestion to the others of how to pass time is to set about patching up Kaer Morhen, before being outvoted on the alternative to just drink instead.
• Foil: Despite all their similarities, being considered close enough to be brothers, Eskel and Geralt have a number of pointed differences at their character cores. Geralt tends to be more of a cool Jerk with a Heart of Gold while Eskel is much more of a warm Nice Guy. Geralt is much more prone to Chronic Hero Syndrome and being drawn up in drama and politics, while Eskel is better at remaining a Heroic Neutral, not going out of his way to violate witcher neutrality and focusing on his job. Where Geralt is drawn to sorceresses, Eskel either actively avoids most of them or is weary and distrustful of them, barring Triss, likely as a result of his experience with Sabrina Glevissig, and the role she played in the Price of Neutrality. Where Geralt gave in to destiny and took in, raised and protected his Child of Surprise, Ciri, considering her his daughter, Eskel hid from destiny for years and avoided his Child of Surprise, Deidre, until she was older and harsher from her circumstances and came for him, and regardless of the outcome of Price of Neutrality it ends poorly for him, with Eskel mutilated and refusing to ever speak about her again.
• For Science!: Eskel has this sort of attitude to monsters. He's very interested in updating the witcher's knowledge about even trivial elements of monsters despite the fact their organization is almost extinct.
• The Generic Guy: Seems to occupy this role at Kaer Morhen with Geralt as the Knight in Sour Armor, Lambert as the Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and Vesemir as the Cool Old Guy. Eskel's chief defining feature seems to be he's much-much more laid back and mature about everything than the others. Hilariously, the only reason he seems generic in comparison to his fellow Kaer Morhen witchers is because he does not carry his trauma like a chip on his shoulders and despite his own personal issues he's the most mentally well-adjusted among the witchers.
• Gentleman Snarker: Befitting his role as Only Sane Man among The School of the Wolf, Eskel is nothing but utterly polite, soft-spoken and wryly charming even when poignantly showing his disagreement with others. In a contrast of foils, Lambert will blatantly and without care state his opinion no matter how rude he sounds as he does so while Eskel will take care to word things carefully but making abundantly clear when he's mocking someone or disagrees with an opinion.
• Good Is Not Dumb: Although kind towards Triss, clearly appreciating and caring about her, he kindly points out her dual conflicting loyalties when she claims she can be loyal to the Witchers/Ciri and her fellow mages at the same time. Eventually being proven quite correct in his skepticism of her claim when she joins the Lodge of Sorceresses and chooses them over Ciri.
  “We’re amazed by the ease with which you pledge to keep this secret,” said Eskel calmly. “Forgive me, Triss, I do not mean to offend you, but what has happened to your legendary loyalty to the Council and the Chapter?”
• Good Is Not Soft: While cordial and polite to Yennefer in group settings where Lambert openly bickers with her, he does not mince his words about his disapproving opinion of her to Geralt when she is elsewhere, having observed her abusive behavior towards his brother witcher for years.
  Geralt: "Yen tell you why she wants this?"
  Eskel: "Mean you don't know? And that, uh... doesn't bother you?"
  Geralt: "No, it doesn't. I trust her."
  Eskel: "And they say people learn from their mistakes."
  Geralt: "What was that?"
  Eskel: "Nothing, nothing."
  Geralt: "Something about Yen bothering you? C'mon, grow a pair, give it to me straight."
  Eskel: "You grow a pair and admit she tricked you. More than a few times."
  Geralt: "That was then. Yen's changed."
  Eskel: "Right. Fine, never mind... let's go."
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Eskel had his face permanently disfigured by a very unexpected but eventually fated encounter, though while he has typical "evil" scars, he's a Nice Guy who's firmly on the heroes' side.
• Has a Type: Succubus, though he doesn't seem to be particular.
  Eskel: "I'm a sucker for women with horns."
• The Heart: Along with being The Generic Guy he seems to serve this role of the witchers at Kaer Morhen, as the most peaceable, stable and good natured.
• Heroic Neutral: Arguably more so than Geralt, who gets heavily involved in politics and Chronic Hero Syndrome, while Eskel remains much more focused on his witcher duties and neutrality, though will quickly lend a hand when it doesn't violate his neutrality. The only possible known time that he has was one of the outcomes of Price of Neutrality.
• Hero of Another Story: While, compared to Geralt, he's much averse to getting into plots, politics and non-job related heroics, Eskel's longevity, wandering occupation, scars and skills tell the story of a man that has seen his fair share of adventures. He even fulfills the role of the Woodsman in the Witcher equivalent of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, in an in universe book, with a Basilisk as his foe instead of the Big Bad Wolf.
• Hunter of Monsters: Takes his job as a monster-slayer much-much more seriously than Lambert. Arguably, more so than Geralt who gets involved in a lot more melodrama and politics on the side. For his part, Eskel is noticeably annoyed if Geralt brings Letho to Kaer Morhen, likely due to Letho's involvement in politics/King slaying, considering him an unprofessional witcher who turned into an assassin.
• Kill the Ones You Love: One of the tragic outcomes of The Price Of Neutrality sees Eskel's Child of Surprise, Deidre, exiled from neutral Kaer Morhen, going into a rage, stabbing Eskel and slashing apart his face. After she has fled, once he is healed by Sabrina Glevissig, Eskel takes responsibility for Deidre, forbidding the sorceress from hunting her down. Deidre proceeds to go insane and go on a two years reign of terrorizing southern Kaedwen, until she is killed by a 'mysterious man with a terribly scarred face' who doesn't collect a coin of the sizable bounty that has accumulated on her.
  Eskel: "I'm truly grateful, but I understand that destiny cannot be denied. I can't make you any promises."
  Sabrina Glevissig: "Be warned witcher — the girl can only bring death. You refuse to relinquish her, so the blood she will inevitably shed will stain your hands."
  Eskel: "Don't worry about us. We tend to our own matters."
• Last of His Kind: Potentially by the end of Wild Hunt. Depending on player choices Eskel can become the last known surviving witcher from the School of the Wolf in the world. And even in endings where Geralt and Lambert survive, Geralt can settle down and give up life on the Path, and Lambert can go off to travel with Keira Metz and do his own thing, while no matter what Eskel inherits Kaer Morhen and remains on the Path as the last truly active Wolf Witcher.
• Loyal Animal Companion: His ever faithful goat Lil' Bleater and his Cool Horse of destiny Scorpion.
• Magic Knight: Like all witchers, except see Power Levels below.
• Man Hug: Eskel is notably the only Witcher Geralt shares a manly hug with in Blood of Elves, upon their reunion at Kaer Morhen when Geralt arrives with Ciri, having been brothers in every way but blood growing up at the keep and training together. He also shares one with Lambert in the first game before all the Witchers go their separate ways to hunt down Salamandra.
  Eskel: "Wolf, you're alive."
  Geralt: "I am."
• Master Swordsman: The third game establishes him as such with his duel with Caranthir. Sure, Caranthir begins to get the better of him, but when your opponent can teleport at will, you'd need to be a master swordsman just to survive.
• Mr. Exposition: In the first game. Justified, in that Geralt has been stricken with amnesia, and Eskel needs to catch him up.
• Nice Guy: Is noticeably more sensitive, socially courteous and adept, and mature than the other witchers, a fact not unappreciated by Triss.
• Nice Mean And In Between: His relationship with Geralt and Lambert can be described as this, him being the "nice".
• Nightmare Face: Downplayed and played with. When Ciri first sees Eskel emerge from the darkness of Kaer Morhen, his mutilated face is revealed to her in a torch, and between his illuminated features, scarring and viper-like eyes as a Witcher she nearly screams out, thinking to herself that no human can look the way he does, that he must be a monster wearing human clothes. Yet instead of being mean or frightening, as intimidating as he looks, he is at once kind and polite to her, smiling at her, sharing a Man Hug with Geralt, and she soon ceases being afraid of him, sees he is a human like any others, despite his appearance.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being the kindest and most stable witcher, along with his claims of being a 'simple witcher' who doesn't get into adventures like Geralt or sleep around with sorceresses, he reveals in Wild Hunt he has slept with noblewomen at a masquerade ball while hunting a vampire, was able to convince an herbalist to drug herself up and serve as Vampire bait for him, did fisstech with a succubus he slept with, and was ready and willing to call up the Lodge of Sorceresses and invite them to Kaer Morhen for a good time. Lambert is impressed, and it's implied Eskel is holding back a good deal more of his experiences. Even Geralt declares the drinking game over before more can be revealed, before he 'wouldn't be able to look at him the same anymore'. When the three witchers get drunk enough to consider using the megascope for booty calls, Eskel’s the one to phrase their plan as “summon[ing] the bitches”—this despite his claimed aversion to getting entangled with sorceresses that way!
  Lambert: "Eskel, Eskel! Still waters run deep!"
• No, You: Though an intelligent man and professional in his field, he is more serious and less overtly witty than Geralt or Lambert, at least when he is flustered or being competitive with Geralt. This is his usual flavor of Lame Comeback when he is. He does this at least twice, before and after racing Geralt.
  (before)
  Geralt: I could beat you riding a lame sow.
  Eskel: You're a lame sow!
  (after Geralt wins)
  Eskel: Saddle was slipping.
  Geralt: Not a crappy show dancer out there who doesn't blame her shoes.
  Eskel: You're a fucking show dancer - but one who's damn good on horseback.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: According to Lambert in the first game him and Vesemir shared one. While they were out hunting, a magical storm hit Kaer Morhen Valley and deposited an amnesiac Geralt into the woods nearby, who was being pursued by Wraiths of the Wild Hunt. Under the advisement of Triss, Eskel and Vesemir were able to fight them off, banishing them before locating Geralt in the woods.
• Offered the Crown: When Princess Deidre Ademeyn was grown up and came to Kaer Morhen seeking out Eskel for his help, it was under the wish for him to stop fleeing his destiny, to become the Prince of Caingorn to rule at her side after ousting her brother Roben and Sabrina Glevissig from power. Suffice to say, for one reason or another, it was not an offer Eskel ended up accepting.
• Older Than He Looks: He is around the same age as Geralt but that doesn't stop him from making jabs at Geralt's grizzled appearance.
  Eskel: I see your memory's back in full, and sharp as ever in spite of your years.
  Geralt: You're as old as I am, wise guy. Don't let the gray hair fool you.
• One-Man Army: Naturally, as a witcher, cutting his way through even skilled Wild Hunt warriors attacking Kaer Morhen's courtyard, and in the backstory of Price of Neutrality defeating an entire gang of Werebbubbs attacking the Prince of Caingorn.
• Only Sane Man: Gives off the vibe as this as the most socially courteous and mature, balanced and dependable of the Witchers of Kaer Morhen. Especially considering Geralt's angst, moodiness and plethora of personal relationship and political melodrama, Vesemir's old school ways, mild senility, grumpiness, and romanticizing of the unpleasant past, and Lambert's seething contempt and resentment for the life and career he had no choice in and general lack of professionalism and maturity.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally stoic, subdued witcher is noticeably perturbed over seeing Sad Albert again. And when Uma is being put through the torturous Trial of the Grasses, Eskel cannot bring himself to watch, walking away and turning his back to it all.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Played with. This at first appears to be his relationship to Geralt, at least on the surface. The third game reveals that this is intentional, Eskel has every bit as much experience and skill as Geralt, if not more, he merely doesn't have his fame, nor any desire for it, focusing more on being a witcher instead of juggling being a witcher, knight, and a hero like Geralt does. He deliberately limits himself to taking contract work hunting monsters and has a policy of avoiding politics and relationships with sorceresses. Adheres better to witcher neutrality than Geralt. Given how much strife and drama Geralt has been put through due to his adventuring and love life, one can't really blame him.
  Eskel: "You'd brave a fire for her. Whereas she plays you like a cheap fiddle. Way it's always been."
  Geralt: "Listen to you two goddamn relationship experts. Neither of you's been with a sorceress..."
  Eskel: "For good reason."
• Power Levels: In the books, Triss notices that he has even more magical power than Geralt. You know, the witcher who is a son of a sorceress!
• Red Is Heroic: His wardrobe in Wild Hunt reflects this, in contrast to Geralt's Blue Is Heroic.
• The Reliable One: Vesemir considers him this, and between it and his personality it is no mystery why Eskel inherited Kaer Morhen. Triss especially thinks this of him, when the other Witchers act immature and mortified over the revelation of Ciri having her period, while Eskel is immediately kind and understanding towards her, and unashamed to ask for Triss' help in the matter while offering his own to Ciri.
  Triss POV: Vesemir hawked again. But Eskel, dear Eskel, kept his head and once more behaved as was fitting.
• Sequel Hook: Potentially. In Wild Hunt, Eskel is the only major character of the surviving hero cast whose story and outcome cannot be effected by decisions, and is the same in every ending, as well as surviving no matter what where most of the others can die. The last time you see him he inherits Kaer Morhen and announces his intention to return to the Path and venture forth to Lormark, where nobody yet knows what adventures await him.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Shades of this pop up despite how cordial he is, especially towards Yennefer, who he is noticeably on guard and uncertain around. If her romance with Geralt is not pursued in Wild Hunt, she instead asks Eskel to wipe her down with a rag after Uma vomits on her, leading to his flustered hesitation.
  Eskel: "Geralt, maybe you oughta..."
  Yennefer: "Come now, Eskel. I shan't bite you. Just do it."
• The Stoic: Eskel, as the most well-adjusted of the witchers, handles being taken from his family, his traumatic mutation, brutal training, the attacks on Kaer Morhen that doomed the school and killed most of the witchers, his disfigurement, and his disastrous relationship with a princess all really well. At least on the surface. Wild Hunt shows him genuinely saddened and defeated after Vesemir's death, all but giving up on Kaer Morhen.
• Tragic Keepsake: Eskel was near Brenna at the time of the battle at the end of the Second Northern War, and at some point in its aftermath he discovered his fellow Witcher and friend Coën's fate in the battle, as well as recovered one of his silver swords and brought it back to Kaer Morhen to hang up in the main hall in his memory.
• Two-Faced: Half of his face is a mess of scar tissue, and Ciri is initially frightened of him when she first sees him, but unlike most examples of this trope, Eskel is very friendly and easygoing.
• Thinking Tic: In the books, when Eskel is considering or worrying about something he has the tendency to rub his cheek scars.
• Undying Loyalty: Like Lambert, he doesn't even need Geralt to ask him to help fight the Wild Hunt for Ciri's sake.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Not claiming his Child of Surprise Deidre, and all the unexpected, needless suffering, death and conflict that came from the decision as a result. Regardless of the outcome of the story, Eskel ends up mutilated, and paying the price of neutrality. On the bright side, he seems to learn his lesson, and years later is still using the Law of Surprise, getting Scorpion in the process, perhaps hoping for another shot at a Child of Destiny to do it right.

Lambert

One of the few surviving witchers of the Wolf School left in the world. He is stoic and cynical, practically a living cliche of the witcher as nearly heartless and devoid of emotion due to the processes that have transfigured his physiology. Significantly developed in the third game, where his personality takes on some traits of Berengar, as a personal mission reveals a similar and deep-seated loathing of his fate. Most of the tropes listed here will therefore refer to his video game appearances without being marked as such.

• Abusive Parents: His father was a cruel drunk. According to him, he and his mother prayed for his death every night.
  • Considers the witchers to be this as well, for what they put him and the other children through.
• Always Someone Better: Considers Geralt to be this. Whereas Geralt gets to sleep with beautiful women, be recognized in epic ballads, and save the world, Lambert spends most of his time killing Drowners for people who hate him.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Several of Lambert's interactions with both Eskel and Geralt come across this way.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: He's pretty much always at odds with Triss Merigold, only ever referring to her by last name and always with contempt. In the first game, when Triss is hurt, he remains by her bedside, urging her to recover. Triss thinks she dreamt this.
• Battle Couple: Potentially with Keira Metz.
• Calling the Old Man Out: His entire life is this to Vesemir, according to Geralt.
• Combat Pragmatist: His solution to held up by a pair of bandits is to use the Axii sign on one of them to force him to shoot the other with his crossbow and then hang himself afterwards.
• Cruel Mercy: The one member of the gang he willingly spares is Vienne, a pathetic self-pitying drunk.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He prominently wears red and black, but Jerkass behavior aside, he's still a loyal friend of Geralt's.
• Deadpan Snarker: Easily one of the snarkiest characters in the game.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: If Geralt helps him then he avenges not one, but two friends, and begins a relationship with Keira Metz who goes on to become a world-famous healer. It's implied, very strongly, he finally gets the respect he deserves as well as the companionship he's always wanted. Essentially, becoming Geralt-lite.
• Green-Eyed Monster: As much as he has serious issues with the witchers, there's also a definite note of this in his interactions with Geralt. Geralt, unlike the vast majority of witchers, is world-famous, respected, and the lover of numerous beautiful sorceresses. It becomes especially obvious when he starts dating Keira Metz.
• I Hate You, Vampire Dad: His relationship with Vesemir, as he feels contempt for Vesemir for taking him in to be a witcher as a "payment" from a time when Vesemir saved his abusive father from drowners. Played with, however; he won't stand for Yennefer verbally abusing Vesemir in front of him.
• Hidden Depths: Has a lot of opinions on which of Yennefer’s clothes would fit Eskel the best (they’re planning to booty call another sorceress; this does not make much sense even in context), prompting Eskel to ask how he knows that much about women’s fashion or why he even suggested that in the first place. Lambert brushes off the question without giving a meaningful answer.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Lambert's chief desire, which he knows is impossible.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lambert hates the witchers and is very vocal about how miserable they've made his life. When Geralt asks for his help fighting the Wild Hunt, he doesn't hesitate.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Good Lord, is he ever. He's somehow worse than Geralt, who is infamous for being one. He also doesn't hesitate to risk his life for Ciri against impossible odds.
• Last-Name Basis: Only ever refers to Triss as "Merigold," to her eternal annoyance.
• Magic Knight: Like all witchers.
• Mirror Character: As we discover with the target of his revenge plan. Who is a witcher who equally hated his status and left to adopt a family.
• Nice Mean And In Between: His relationship with Geralt and Eskel, him being the mean.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: His relationship to Geralt.
• Pet the Dog: Every time the young Leo dueled Lambert for practice, he would be curb-stomped by him — but notably, Lambert would also reassure the kid every time he beat him that he did have potential.
• Snark Knight: Good Lord, is he ever. And he's willing to push your buttons twice as hard if he finds out the comments are actually bothering you.
• Training from Hell: Suffered it like all witchers, but really resents it.
• Revenge Before Reason: Lost one of his few true friends to a bandit. He does not handle it well.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: To pretty much Kill Bill levels. He tracks down every member of the bandit gang and horribly exterminates them. Unless Geralt stops him.
• Screw Destiny: Passionately hates Fate and tries to fight it at every turn. Considering the fatalistic nature of the world, it's not the smartest thing to do. Which he's fully aware of and does it anyway. With twice as much spite.
• The Stoic: In the 'Blood of Elves' and 'The Witcher' , not so much when 'Wild Hunt' comes around.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: He didn't have a happy life before he was brought to Kaer Morhen, and he's absolutely miserable as a witcher. However, in the third game, it's possible for him to form a relationship with Keira Metz, implying he might have a shot at happiness.
• Undying Loyalty: Is completely with Geralt against the Wild Hunt without needing to be recruited or a single suggestion.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: How Geralt and he interact, Lambert loathes being a witcher, Geralt embodies it. The two somehow make it work.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Geralt has the option of calling him out on several of his actions.
  • Does this with Vesemir all the time, like when he discovers he kept the table for creating new witchers.

Berengar

A surly, ineffective and rather pitiful witcher, his resentment towards the rest of the caste because of his fate is searingly potent; so much so that he has become an outcast. Geralt shadows him through the events of the first game, as the man turned mutant is seemingly involved in many affairs which he promptly quits to flee as far as his sword can carry him. After rather unsuccessfully faking his death, Geralt finally finds him during Chapter IV.

• Always Someone Better: Inverted. He always seems one step ahead of Geralt during the first three chapters, having been hired by many of the same people to deal with the same problems (The Beast, Monolith hunt etc), but he failed at accomplishing anything.
• Big Damn Heroes: If not killed by him, Berengar comes to Geralt's aid when fighting against Azar.
• Canon Foreigner: Never mentioned in the books.
• Category Traitor: The only reason the opening attack on Kaer Morhen was even possible was because Berengar gave away the castle's secret location.
• Character Death: See Senseless Sacrifice below.
• Decomposite Character: Of Lambert, together with Leo, see above.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Whatever his psychological and emotional deficiencies, he is still a superhuman monster-slayer who survived the Trials and training. A shame, because he's a bad one, really bad.
• Defector from Decadence: Twice. Because he hates the witchers, he allies himself with the Salamandra, but after witnessing their monstrous crimes, he breaks ties with them to run away once more.
• Dirty Coward: In his final letter, he admits he has always been one of these from the moment he arrived at Kaer Morhen as a boy.
• The Ghost: Until Chapter IV.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: And makes no secret of it.
• Jerkass: Is very bitter due to being a witcher, which he hates for denying him the wife, two children, pet, white-picket fence dream.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: If you don't seek a confrontation with him, he'll become Geralt's (rather ineffective) ally.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Likes to dole these out to Geralt and the witchers in general but he can't take as good as he gives and if Geralt searingly rebukes him for his cowardice, moral bankruptcy, hypocrisy and the fact that it was his indirect actions that led to not only Leo's death but the success-rates of Javed's experiments (through having a live witcher test-subject as a control group) he will attempt to cut you down!
• Senseless Sacrifice: If he comes to aid you against Azar, it is 99.9% guaranteed that he will die. Saving him doesn't even give you additional dialogues or journal entries, so his death is pretty much canon, especially considering that he's not even given a mention in the second game and in the third he exists only for Vesemir and Geralt to remind each other of what a drip he was in a little-known side quest.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Geralt can give him the final push to help him muster his courage and go after Salamandra... but this isn't a fairy tale and a man who's spent most of his time running away from his problems instead of confronting them is not going to be great backup — he let's Geralt go One-Man Army as he assaults the old mansion, then he jumps in at the last moment to fight Javed! Aaand... gets his skull immediately crushed with a flaming spiked mace.

Leo

A brash but kind youth and the youngest initiate to the Wolf School witchers. As an orphan from the Second War with Nilfgaard he was rescued by and apprenticed under Vesemir about six years prior to the game's opening. He is maliciously shot by the Professor during the prologue and can serve as one of Geralt's key motivators for tracking down Salamandra and avenging his pointless murder.

• The Baby of the Bunch: Very young still, to the point where he hadn’t even left Kaer Morhen yet to go on the Path. This and his unmutated status is recognized and when the Keep comes under attack, Vesemir very deliberately does not send Leo to the frontline and reminds Geralt to remember who is with him when the two split off.
• Badass Normal: Hasn't received any mutation courses yet he holds up against a horde of bandits through conditioning alone.
• Big Brother Worship: Mentions Lambert the most and seems to look up to him a lot.
• Canon Foreigner: Never mentioned in the books. He was possibly found and taken in not long after their events.
• Closest Thing We Got: It's possible to use extensive training, the Grasses (herbal steroids) and not the mutation process to make an incredibly strong human with Witcher knowledge and access to regular humans magic. They did something similar with Ciri after all. But they have no means to mutate him into a full Witcher.
• Decomposite Character: Of Lambert, together with Berengar. Leo has the 'youngest witcher' part, while Berengar has the 'brooding loner who hates being a witcher' part.
• Glass Cannon: He knows how to fight and a lot about monsters, but he can't take anywhere near as much physical punishment as true Witchers can.
• Hot-Blooded: Described as "Leo comes across as a hot-headed whelp, but also good and kind-hearted".
• Fingore: Apparently broke his fingers during some accident while running the Gauntlet. They have not healed up well enough by the game for him to be doing Signs.
• Happily Adopted: Of a sort. Leo was a young war-orphan child that was taken in by Vesemir and he seemed happy with his lot in life.
• Incompletely Trained: He was only a youth and still had a ways to go, when the attack on Kaer Morhen happened. Even then, biologically he also could not complete all the training other witchers got either, only having undertaken the first stage "The Choice".
• In Name Only: He even admits himself that he is no "real witcher" and without the reflexes, strength and senses of his brothers, it is only his training and Vesemir's fondness for the lad that attributes him the title.
• Naïve Newcomer: Not a full witcher yet, and though he never will be, he is quite cheery and idealistic. Before the attack, he hadn't even killed a single man. This makes his senseless death even more tragic.
• Nice Guy: A friendly and helpful young man, eager to become a “witcher”.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Gets killed off during the prologue, adding further insult to what has been done by the Professor, and to give Geralt some more angst and motivation to avenge him.
• Token Human: As an unmutated "Witcher" living in Kaer Morhen.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Leo is the sort of person who will take losing a training duel positively, since he managed to land at least one hit against Lambert (who was distracted and did not even stumble).

Reinald

Reinald was a witcher and expert armor and weapon maker from the early years of the School of the Wolf, who was once active around the late 900s before he disappeared. Possessed by a Red Miasmal and locked away in the mines of Devil's Pit by the very priests of the Eternal Fire who had hired him, Reinald displayed tremendous strength in resisting the specter's will. He imprisoned himself and the Miasmal in the salt cavern where he would remain as his life slowly slipped into darkness and sorrow.

• And I Must Scream: Subjected to this fate at the hands of a Red Miasmal, thanks to the actions of priests of the Eternal Fire who hired and betrayed him. He was killed and possessed for well over a couple centuries and was left to struggle against it in agony over control of his body down in a cavern.
• The Blacksmith: Was a very talented armor and weapon crafter, to the point his designs would have been the original default armor for the School of the Wolf had he not vanished. His old schematics are retrieved by Geralt from his body.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: His gruesome, lengthy possession, torment and death at the hands of the Red Miasmal.
• Fighting from the Inside: Against the Red Miasmal possessing him, even leaving behind clues, information and the means to make defeating it possible for the next Witcher to come looking for him.
• Heroic Willpower: Demonstrated in his struggling against his own possession, and still having the willpower to do so after over two centuries.
• Manly Facial Hair: Reinald wears an unkempt beard that would be worthy of the School of the Bear.
• Misplaced Retribution: Unless Geralt is careful, Reinald takes out his rage over his cruel fate against an Eternal Fire priest who had nothing to do with his past betrayal by the order's priests, and was in fact trying to return peace to the dead in hiring Geralt to free Reinald.
• Mythology Gag: A walking one. His armor, amulet and weapon designs are those featured in The Witcher (2019). As is the concept of past School of the Wolf Witchers like him creating their own medallions instead of receiving them from a Witcher mentor/teacher.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Taking a contract from the priests of Eternal Fire to clear out the Devil's Pit ends up getting him betrayed by the same ingrate priests and left to die and suffer a possession for hundreds of years.
• Posthumous Character: Long dead for centuries by the time Geralt finds and frees him, and finding out how long he has been dead for clearly rattles his ghost a great deal.
• Tragic Hero: By the time he is found by Geralt, it is clear his many years sealed away to fight with possession have taken their toll, and it takes very little for him to succumb to wrath and murder an innocent priest of the Eternal Fire who had nothing to do with his fate.

• The Dragonslayer: True to their knightly ideals, they have no problem with hunting and slaying Dragons, unlike most of the other Schools.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Fit the description best of all the schools of Witchers, being far kinder, more honorable, social and the most positively looked upon, by Witcher standards.
• Magic Knight: Moreso than other Witchers, including wearing more metal armor plating than most Witchers do, displaying better etiquette and chivalry than most other Witchers, and Signs being a major focus of their combat style.
• The Social Expert: In comparison to other Witchers, they evidently have higher standards for social etiquette, as a more knightly based school, to the point that even after their fall many villages around the Northern Kingdoms continued to remember them fondly.

Coën

A witcher from Poviss, a relative loner within his own order who once made the trek south-east to spend his first winter at Kaer Morhen, incidentally when Ciri had just arrived there too. He acted as one of the girl's sword combat instructors and a relative playmate, being far more comfortable around children than his new brothers. Despite all his skill and experience he was tragically killed during the Battle of Brenna, when a soldier of Nilfgaard's routed forces skewered him with a military fork, a bident with two "teeth", as Ciri had once prophesied and just as Geralt would be ended by the "three" teeth of a peon's pitchfork. Shani and Milo Vanderbeck were the last to witness his final moments as he bled out in their field hospital.

• Adapted Out: Sadly, he's not even mentioned in Witcher III to the point that he doesn't even exist in Geralt's dream when he should be there! And most of his adorable traits are foisted on Vesemir instead. For extra pathos!
• Big Brother Mentor: To Ciri.
• Big Brother Worship: He is obviously Ciri's favorite, as he dotes on her and spends the most play time with her outside of training. Geralt seems to have to look at his new brother in wonder as it's implied the two put Ciri to bed after a hard fall off the comb and absorb every detail of their interaction, wondering, "how by the circle of elements does he do it?"
• Neutral No Longer: He ends up fighting for the Northern Kingdoms at the Battle Of Brenna, a decision that costs him his life.
• Posthumous Character: In the first game, where you learn a bit about him and receive his old silver sword in the quest Memory of a Blade. Shani also mentions him.
• Spell My Name With An S: See the two dots on top of the E?
• Take Up My Sword: Quite literally. In the first game you will use Coën's silver sword to defeat all manner of monsters infecting Vizima. Only replacing it with one of two infinity plus one swords in the final two chapters.

Old Keldar

Old Keldar was a veteran witcher instructor from the Griffin School in charge of monster knowledge tutoring, and a former teacher of Coën. When the school was all but destroyed by envious mages causing an avalanche, Keldar remained behind as the solitary guardian of the ruins of his beloved school.

• Badass Teacher: To be expected of any Witcher School instructor. From what little is known about him, Keldar is pretty much a counterpart to Vesemir for Griffin School.
• Berserk Button: His students getting their answers wrong.
• Grumpy Old Man: Gives Vesemir a run for his money in this department, and is especially irritated that all the students choose their final exam to be stealing an egg from a Griffin instead of memorizing the Liber Tenebrarum he teaches.
• Old Master: One of the eldest remaining witchers of the Griffin School, and likely in the world.
• Sole Survivor: Of the Griffin School Witchers who were at Kaer Seren at the time the mage caused avalanche hit the school, while others were out on the Path when it happened.

George of Kagen

• Due to the Dead: Zigzagged. While the locals he saved did enshrine his body in a respectable tomb, for slaying the green dragon that terrorized them, some took the opportunity to pilfer the armor diagrams in his possession while he was on his deathbed.
• Expy: To the famed Christian martyr Saint George, who was likewise a famed Dragonslayer.
• Mutual Kill: With the green dragon that was rampaging through Velen.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: True to how the world treats Witchers no matter how honorable they are, as he lay dying from his injuries acquired slaying a green dragon to protect the local peasants, they looted his still living body of his armor diagrams. Though one of the thieves was stupid enough to drink one of his Witcher potions, poisoning himself to death.
• Posthumous Character: Has been long dead since before the events of the first game.

Erland of Larvik

Erland of Larvik, once a boy from Skellige until Alzur bought him from his mother and was the second Witcher successfully created in the first generation of Witchers that comprised the original Order of Witchers. Later on with the order's fracturing, he founded the School of the Griffin alongside other like minded Witchers. His status in the present day remains unknown, having gone missing long ago.

• Mythology Gag: His armor was inspired by the set worn by the Witcher Thoenwald, from The Hexer series, said to be the traditional armor worn by the original order.
• Our Founder: The original founder of the Witcher School of the Griffin located in Kovir and Poviss.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: His fate in the present day is left unknown, having vanished not long after the destruction of Kaer Seren, which he witnessed from afar along with the culprits responsible for it, before taking his notes to a cavern and leaving them there for safe keeping.

• 0% Approval Rating: Of all the Witcher Schools, it is clear the Cat Witchers are the ones who do the most to give the Witchers the bad reputation, contempt and fear that they receive from most outsiders, seemingly justifying a number of the bigotries and superstitions against them. They are prone to going berserk and murdering anyone who slights them, getting involved in criminal activities, including wiping out entire villages and taking contract work as assassins, getting involved in politics, wars and rebellions and freely regularly breaking the neutrality most Witchers adhere to, along with having little to no regard for their fellow Witchers outside Cat School.
• The Berserker: Cat School Witchers tend to be lost in the middle of battle frenzy, killing even people that surrender. Gaetan's massacre of Honorton over a payment dispute is an example of such an incident.
• Cats Are Mean: They're only cats in the thematic sense, but it fits. Unlike most other Witcher schools, they're willing to take assassination jobs, they tend to have the most hostile attitudes, and most Cat School witchers encountered in the franchise are either Jerkasses or involved in some shady business.
• Combat Pragmatist: Besides the Bear School, they're the only Witcher School that's known to use crossbows, and they always like to go for the Critical Hit, while caring nothing for honorable fighting, tools or methods.
• Fragile Speedster: They are this in relation to other Witchers, preferring fast, precise strikes with light, flexible armor... the complete opposite to the Bear School.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Due to their willingness to do the work of a Professional Killer, they're even looked down upon by the other Witchers.
• Professional Killer: They're perfectly willing to take on assassination jobs in addition to monster-slaying jobs.
• Psycho for Hire: Whether they were like this to begin with, because of the Training from Hell, or due to the augmentation process, a lot of Cat School Witchers tend to be mentally unstable.
• Token Good Teammate: According to Lambert, a Cat Witcher by the name of Aiden was this. Described as to have frequently worked alongside the Wolf Witcher and to have been the best man he'd ever met.

Brehen

A paranoid killer for hire, introduced in the novel Season of Storms.

• Cryptic Background Reference: He is not welcome in Kaer Morhen.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Challenges Geralt to a duel over the contract on the Striga of Wyzima, mistakenly thinking that the White Wolf wanted to steal his job.
• Last of His Kind: Implied in his conversation with Geralt, when he mentions that he has nowhere to go for the winter.
• The Paranoiac: Thinks that Vesemir wants him killed.
• Red Baron: Known as the Cat of Iello since the massacre he committed in that city.

Gaetan

A Witcher belonging to the School of the Cat. Geralt encounters him in Velan after stumbling upon a massacred village whose elders had refused to pay Gaetan for a contract and then tried to kill him.

• Because You Were Nice to Me: For all that he's an exemplar of the School of the Cat, if Geralt lets him go, he gives a rather good reward in return because he does not want to repay that kindness cheaply.
• Bullying a Dragon: On the receiving end of this when the villagers of Honorton refused to pay him what he was owed after slaying a leshen to save them. They stupidly and ungratefully decided to offer a pittance of what was agreed upon, and then tried to murder him to get out of it altogether when he refused and demanded the full amount. They don't seem to have considered that a superhuman Witcher capable of slaying a leshen was no less capable of doing the same to them as well.
• Decapitation Presentation: During his investigating Honorton, Geralt finds the severed head of the leshen Gaetan brought to fulfill his contract.
• Dirty Coward: Downplayed. Will play dirty if given a chance and admits he only fights when the odds are heavily in his favour. That said, in his actual job as a Witcher he is by no means a coward, successfully slaying a highly dangerous leshen where an entire village couldn't.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The ealdorman of Honorton cheated him out of his pay for hunting a leshen and tried to kill him with a few men from the village. Instead of just killing the ealdorman and the men with him, Gaetan killed the entire village, including the women and a dog. Only a little girl escaped his wrath.
• In the Back: One of the villagers tried to stab him from behind with a pitchfork. Gaetan dodged at the last second, turning what could have been a fatal wound into a nasty, but superficial one.
• Jerkass: Well, he is from the School of the Cat. Being an asshole is one of their defining traits, and whose angry threats made the villagers turn on him in fear. That aside, he is pretty civil to Geralt, and willing to repay him handsomely for a small kindness.
• Jerkass Has a Point: For all the excessiveness of his reaction, Gaetan did have a right to be pissed; he risked his life to destroy a monster threatening Honorton, a leshen at that which are considered incredibly dangerous even by Witcher standards; and the villagers' idea of gratitude was first trying to pay him a pittance of what was promised, and then tried to murder him to get out of paying Gaetan altogether.
• Karma Houdini: Geralt can spare his life and let him get away with his massacre.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Geralt can invoke this if he spares Gaetan, noting his own involvement in massacres like Blaviken.
  Geralt: In the end, it's not my place to judge you.
  Gaetan: (surprised) That's it? Not gonna lecture me? Make me promise to mend my ways?
  Geralt: They call me the Butcher of Blaviken, for good reason. I know how it is. Sometimes... sometimes heads just roll.
• Pet the Dog: He spares Millie from his slaughter of Honorton because she reminded him of his sister before he was made into a witcher.
• Ungrateful Bastard: When Geralt decides to kill him, he can allow Gaetan to take a potion of Swallow to restore his health and fight Geralt equally. Gaetan instead takes this opportunity to blind Geralt and leave him at a huge disadvantange being unable to take potions and limited sight.
• Unstoppable Rage: He confesses that when the men of Honorton attacked him, he went berserk and wasn't lucid until there was no one (save for one girl) left. It's heavily implied by Geralt and Gaetan's refusal to answer that this is not the first village he has wiped out in a burst of rage.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Gaetan tells Geralt he invoked this when the villagers tried to get out of paying him.
  Gaetan: I told them if I didn't see gold, they were gonna wish they had the leshen back.

Jad Karadin

A Witcher formerly of the School of the Cat. Geralt encounters him in Novigrad while helping Lambert track down Karadin and the band of assassins he formerly led, seeking revenge for the death of a friend of his at their hands.

• Accidental Murder: He claims this was the case. That his team were hired to track down the witcher Aiden after Aiden bungled a contract to lift a curse, took the money for the job anyway and then ran. According to Karadin, he and his men were only sent to get the money back from Aiden, not kill him, but when Aiden refused and got violent, one of his team panicked and slew the witcher.
• The Anticipator: Jad Karadin hears of the Wolf Witcher searching for him - so by the time they arrive at his home, he has his guards escort them in to where he is waiting with his wife and children.
• The Dreaded: Vienne views him very much as such, entirely expecting him to be up to something big - and fully convinced that if he hears of the Witchers searching for him, he will mercilessly kill them.

  Vienne: "Don't go looking for Karadin. If he senses you nipping at his heels, he'll kill you without batting an eye."

• Happily Married: He's married to a woman in Novigrad and acts as a stepfather to her children, which are all seen when Lambert and Geralt go to confront him. He claims his wife is aware of his shady past; explaining how he told her everything the night before they got married, wanting to start with a clean slate. Although, when Laetita herself appears she mostly looks down at the ground without acknowledging Karadin or pleading his case.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: He was paid, along with his companions to track down Aiden, a fellow witcher from the School of the Cat.
• It's Personal: The witcher he killed was a very good friend of Lambert's, the best man he ever knew in his own words, hence why Lambert is so determined to track him down.
• My Greatest Failure: He expresses deep remorse over the accidental death of the witcher Aiden. It's up to Geralt whether to believe Karadin's remorse is sincere.
• Pet the Dog: In addition to treating his wife's children by another man as his own, he frequently donates to charitable causes in Novigrad. Lambert believes it a case of Villain with Good Publicity.
• Rags to Riches: Witchers are typically very impoverished, starting out on the Path with little owned - but by the time he has met, Karadin has found himself to be a very rich merchant.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Lambert accuses him of having dealings in the slave trade. A letter Geralt finds in the course of his own investigations throws some doubt on this; in the letter Karadin refuses to have any further dealings with Lund, his former teammate who now operates as a pirate and slave trader on Skellige. However, further muddying the waters - is that if Karadin is killed before the slavery quest line of Flesh for Trade is started, then the chain will never happen, which would imply a connection.
• Unreliable Narrator: For several things, it's down to Geralt to decide how much he believes what Jad Karadin is saying. Such as where he got the money for his expensive house, whether he is involved in slavery to how Aiden's death occured. Everyone involved from Karadin himself to Vienne to Lambert with their contradicting claims, have very strong reasons to be biased which further adds the ambiguity. Karadin does at one point at least contradict himself in his narration, when first he claims it self defense Aiden's death when the other thought his group - but later he shifts the blame to solely the absent Vienne, saying that she lost her nerve and shot Aiden.

Kiyan

A witcher from the Cat School who was abducted by a mage called Ireneus var Steingard and turned to his test subject.

• Body Horror: Apparently lost his skin due to Ireneus' experiments, whether it's a direct result of the experiment or he skinned himself because the experiment has turned him mad is unknown.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The experiment broke his mind, turning him into an insane shell of a witcher only driven by immense pain and the urge to kill intruders.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom/Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are glowing red when Geralt encounters him, likely as a result of the experiment.
• Madness Mantra: By the time Geralt finds him all he is capable of saying is, "There is no good. Nor evil. Only pain" over and over again.
• Mercy Kill: Geralt can encounter and kill him, therefore relieve him from his suffering, in the abandoned laboratory below Novigrad as a part of the Cat School gear quest.

Gezras of Leyda, born in the 11th century, was a witcher known for founding the current incarnation of School of the Cat, the Dyn Marv Caravan branch of the school.

• Half-Human Hybrid: A Witcher of half human, half Aen Seidhe elven blood.
• Our Founder: The original founder of the Dyn Marv Caravan branch of the Witcher School of the Cat, while the founder of the original Stygga Castle branch of the school remains unknown.

• Dual Wielding: They are masters of it, preferring a pair of short blades in combat and referring to them as 'fangs'.
• Machete Mayhem: Their weapon of choice are a pair of short blades, which they will often Dual Wield and apply various poisons to.
• Murder, Inc.: Served not only as Witchers but as a guild of professional independent assassins for hire for those in the Nilfgaardian Empire, before they were destroyed by the Usurper.
• Professional Killer: Something they have in common with the School of the Cat; they take jobs against both monsters and humanoid targets equally. Though the Vipers seem to be far more cold and professional about it, instead of driven by psychotic bloodlust.
• Snakes Are Sinister: They're only snakes thematically, but being as they serve as the main antagonists of the second game and are destabilizing the north, it applies.

Egan

A mysterious mutant who was part of Letho's Kingslayer group, one of the remaining members of the School of the Viper. He attempts to assassinate King Foltest during the epilogue of the first game, at the behest of the Emperor of Nilfgaard. He nearly succeeds too, if not for the intervention of a white-haired wanderer...

• An Arm and a Leg: Geralt slices his arm off with one clean stroke in their climatic duel. A few more strategic cuts, and that was it for Egan.
• Arrow Catch: Deflects Geralt's thrown stiletto knife with a parry of his sword's flat.
• Dual Wielding: Wields a pair of short cutlasses, the most glaring evidence that he belonged to the Viper School, since this was a style favored later by both Serrit and Auckes.
• In the Hood: He wears both a hood and a mask that do an amazing job concealing his face and especially his eyes, hiding the fact that he's a witcher. Even when his eyes are finally exposed, his face is still heavily shadowed, as seen in the picture.
• Master Swordsman: He is able to keep Geralt on the ropes throughout their entire duel and in a straight-up sword fight he most definitely would have won. Any rabid fan will note however that Egan definitely had prep time before carrying out his assassination. But then again, there's no such thing as honor, or clean fighting in a match to the death. Luck or fate can be a deciding factor.
• No Name Given: He is often addressed in fan-circles with the moniker that was Auckes' original name in concept development before it was changed for an unexplained reason.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Although his appearance lasts less than two minutes, hoo-boy what a minute and a half it is. Without him, the events of the second game would never have happened.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Geralt never even asks Letho about Egan, though he does appear standing with the group of Vipers during Geralt's flashback to the Wild Hunt and the deal he made with Eredin.

Letho of Gulet, the Kingslayer

A mysterious southern witcher from the School of the Viper who murders Northern Kings. The Big Bad of Assassins of Kings, Geralt seemed to know him before the loss of his memory and has to unravel the mystery of who he is, what he wants and how they knew one another. Why he is spreading chaos across the North.

• The Ace: Possessing equally impressive brains and brawn alike as a Witcher, leader and assassin, Letho earns his title of Kingslayer well, slaying two Kings personally, possessing a Chess Master way of thinking, political savvy, a One-Man Army status, and using his cunning, Obfuscating Stupidity and balls of adamantium to manipulate and outplay the Lodge of Sorceresses, Scoia'tael and others like puppets on strings to do his bidding in disrupting the Northern Realms. He even defeats Geralt in a fight between them early on, though opting to spare him afterwards. In the end he is the factor that tips the odds in Emperor Emhyr's favor, weakening the Northern Realms with chaos and infighting, reducing it to such a state that Nilfgaard is able to launch a third war of conquest against the bickering kingdoms. He further shows this in Wild Hunt when he can help defend Kaer Morhen against the Wild Hunt itself, being unimpressed with the most dangerous invaders of the Continent, just as he took them on in the backstory of his original meeting Geralt. Ultimately he demonstrates well what a Witcher could be capable of if they ceased to be neutral.
• Anti-Hero: In Wild Hunt, provided he survived Assassins of Kings and is invited to Kaer Morhen, showing his more noble side by fighting to protect Ciri and Kaer Morhen against the Wild Hunt itself.
• Anti-Villain: He is ultimately trying to secure a safe place for fellow witchers to live in due to the huge discrimination they receive. Whether this justifies murdering kings and causing chaos in the North - and whether Geralt has any real right to kill him for it - is left up to the player to decide.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Regardless of whether you spare him or not in Assassins of Kings, he succeeds in his mission for Nilfgaard, throwing the Northern Realms into chaos and war, softening them up for invasion by Emhyr.
• Bald of Evil: The shaved scalp shows off the hideous scars, which only make him look even more sinister, and he has quite a cold ruthless streak with his actions. Though he's not entirely evil.
• Big Bad: Of the second game, being the one who's made it his mission to assassinate the kings of the north. However, he was acting at the behest of Emperor Emhyr var Emreis who promised him the restoration of the School of the Viper.
• Big Damn Heroes: Potentially, overlapping with Villainous Rescue. If you don't choose to save Triss in Assassins of Kings he will do it himself, intimidating his way through a Nilfgaardian camp, taking her and preemptively betraying his alliance with them before Emhyr can go back on his deal and betray him. While in Wild Hunt if he fights at Kaer Morhen, he saves Lambert from being overwhelmed by one of the Red Riders, driving his sword through the Rider's spine.
• Blood Knight: Battled the Wild Hunt in his backstory and was not impressed by them in combat, likely in part because Vipers were heavily taught about them, and they ended up being just a bunch of elves from another world in disguise. To the point he calls Geralt a pansy if Letho fights at Kaer Morhen against the Wild Hunt when the former advocates retreating back to the fortress instead of confronting Imlerith.
  Geralt: "Big fight ahead of us. How's morale?"
  Letho: "Remember our encounter with them at the Hanged Man's Tree? We'll thrash them again this time."
• Born Lucky: His Kingslayer plot goes off nearly without a hitch, even when it gets more complicated and he is pursued by Geralt and others, and he succeeds in his mission of sowing chaos in the Northern realms.
• Boxed Crook: While looking out for an amnesiac Yennefer, Letho and his fellow Vipers were captured by the Imperial Secret Police and tossed in jail, before Emperor Emhyr came to them with his proposal.
  Geralt: "How did a Witcher agree to kill humans at another human's bidding?"
  Letho: "At the Emperor's bidding, Geralt. And he's no ordinary human. The rulers of the North come up to about where his poleyns end."
• Crazy-Prepared: Invoked in a conversation with him about how he planned sowing chaos in the Northern Realms.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He betrays just about every alliance he makes, including Iorveth and the Scoia'tael, along with Síle and the Lodge of Sorceresses... because of his actual allegiance to Emhyr var Emries and his promise to restore his witcher school.
• Deadpan Snarker: A frequent master of the trope:
  Vernon Roche: "Watch this murderer, and you won't be watching the enemy. Why is the Kingslayer so important?"
  Letho: "Eredin's a king, ain't he?"
• Decapitation Presentation: Does this with the head of King Demavend III during his first meeting with Iorveth to boost his credentials for allying with the Scoia'tael.
  Letho: "Bow low. You stand before a head crowned."
• Deep South: Perhaps the only known medieval fantasy genre example of it. Being both from the south in universe and having an American southern accent.
• The Dreaded: Becomes this over the course of his plot in Assassins of Kings, to the point even his at the time allied Nilfgaardian troops were too frightened to stop him from taking a captured Triss from their camp, in one outcome of the game's ending.
• Due to the Dead: If he survived and is brought to Kaer Morhen to fight the Wild Hunt, he solemnly attends and pays his final respects to Vesemir at his funeral after the battle.
  Letho: "Witchers never die in bed."
• Easily Forgiven: One way to portray their relationship in The Witcher III. Geralt and Letho can fully put all the "framing Geralt for kingslaying" stuff behind them before acting like best friends taking on a horde of mercs.
• Evil Former Friend: Geralt saved his life in a swamp from a Slyzard, and together they chased and battled the Wild Hunt, Letho knowing where to find them. After Geralt offered himself to their King in exchange for Yennefer it was Letho who took care of the sorceress, despite the risks her presence posed, before the capture of the Vipers and his turning into a Kingslayer for the Emperor. Though it is possible to repair their friendship in the third game, including Letho possibly helping protect Ciri against the Wild Hunt and defend Kaer Morhen.
  Letho: "We've met, Geralt. Do you remember?"
  Geralt: "No."
  Letho: "I'll never forget it. You saved my life, White Wolf. We fought side by side, now we'll cross blades."
• Ex-Big Bad: If he's still alive in The Witcher 3, then he fulfills this role quite nicely. Having already accomplished his goals in the last game, he's now simply trying to avoid the people coming for his head and has no further quarrel with Geralt. The two can even bury the hatchet and team up to fight Eredin in the finale.
• Face of a Thug: He looks like a big, dumb, cruel brute, but he's actually very intelligent, resourceful, and has a sense of honor. He takes full advantage of it to make people underestimate him.
  Letho: "Initially, she watched my every move. But, sooner or later, everyone starts treating me like a big oaf. I mean, I can't change how I look."
• Faking the Dead: In the third game, if he survives the second, he has plans to do so. Geralt can help him do this as, if he doesn't, they cut off his head while he's unconscious due to self-poisoning.
• Fighting for a Homeland: Ultimately everything Letho does in Assassins of Kings is done in the name of restoring the School of the Viper for the few remaining oppressed southern witchers of Nilfgaard.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: If you're able to recruit him to Kaer Morhen, he will be treated with suspicion and hostility by your other allies, including Lambert, Eskel, and notably by Roche and Ves who are so upset they refuse to speak to Geralt after finding out he is consorting with Letho.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Although witchers are certainly unique and have some power, he was a nobody and outcast in the grand scheme of things, considering himself merely a 'simple witcher'. Until the Emperor gave him an offer he couldn't refuse, in turn becoming the central catalyst that threw the Northern Kingdoms into chaos and war.
• Genius Bruiser: And he exploits it for all it's worth, playing the idiot and stringing his hapless marks along until the time comes to strike.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a rather large, deep, and ugly V-shaped one on his forehead.
• The Heavy: Serves as this for Emperor Emhyr and the Nilfgaardian Empire during the events of Assassins of Kings.
• Heel–Face Turn: He serves as the Big Bad for the second game, but in the third, Letho can be recruited to help Geralt, and the two can even opt to patch up their friendship. Provided Geralt doesn't induce a Heel–Face Door-Slam on him instead.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Cunning as he was otherwise, trusting Emhyr was not a smart thing, as the emperor didn't live up to his promise and betrayed Letho after the dirty work (i.e. the kingslaying) was done, just like he did to the Scoia'tael after the Battle of Brenna. Though given Emhyr's nature, Letho's choices were likely to either accept the too good to be true offer or be executed. That said, in one path Letho will intimidate his way through a Nilfgaardian camp to save Triss from his supposed allies, risking their 'alliance', implying he knew all along it wasn't likely Emhyr would keep his end of the deal, but was coerced into holding up his end up to that point. At least until he was able to exploit the chaos of Assassins of Kings' ending and escape from Nilfgaard's clutches.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: The Emperor really struck gold when he was able to coerce the band of Viper School Witchers into his service, but especially Letho. In either the books or games alike, Emhyr never had a more useful and valuable pawn than Letho, with him and his cunning almost single handedly bringing the Northern Realms to their knees with chaos and infighting, toppling the Lodge of Sorceresses and softening up the kingdoms for invasion by the Empire. It's no surprise that Emhyr considered him too dangerous to himself to keep alive, afterwards.
• I Owe You My Life: Geralt saved his life while chasing the Wild Hunt. So when Letho gains the upper hand during the duel in Chapter 1, he just lets Geralt go.
• The Kingslayer: He is literally called this, and for good reason. He kills Demavend and Foltest over the course of the second game, and he even plots an attempt on Henselt's life. The only reason he doesn't assassinate any other monarchs is because the summit at Loc Muinne provided a far more ripe opportunity to weaken the North by turning it against the sorcerers.
• Large and in Charge: A huge witcher who is calling the shots among his group of Vipers, and unbeknownst to the Scoia'tael and Lodge, the one in charge of both of them, playing them along like a fiddle to do his bidding.
• Laser-Guided Karma: If not killed at the end of Assassins of Kings, after pulling off so many betrayals and softening the North for Nilfgaard's invasion, he in turn is betrayed by the very emperor he served, with assassins sent to hunt the titular assassin of kings. In a permanent example if the option is chosen, Letho can be defeated and killed by the very witcher who saved his life in the backstory and who he framed, defeated and spared earlier in the game; his entire motivation is to save his fellow witchers, but he is ultimately slain by the one he wronged.
• Lightning Bruiser: Compared to humans, all witchers are very strong and fast, but Letho stands out for being, in Geralt's words, "a mountain of meat", and yet he is every bit as agile as his fellow witchers, who are a lot smaller and leaner by comparison. Letho's speed is even lampshaded on more than one occasion, first by Ciaran, the dying elf in the barge, and later on by a dying Cedric.
• Magic Knight: He's a Witcher, after all, and has a particular fondness for the Quen sign.
• Manipulative Bastard: He was able to trick the Lodge of Sorceresses into helping him. A member of the Lodge even hired him to kill one certain king, thinking he was just Dumb Muscle.
• Mirror Boss: He's a Witcher like Geralt, and he uses all the same tricks, including signs and bombs.
• Mr. Exposition: At the end, he'll happily explain to you the reasons for his actions, finishing up the Backstory and cluing you in on what's really going on in the grand scheme of things.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Letho is only in the unpleasant position he is in with Nilfgaard during Assassins of Kings because he tried to repay the fellow witcher on the Path who saved his life in a swamp. Taking Yennefer with them and looking out for her ended up getting him and the other Vipers busted by Emhyr's Secret Police when her amnesiac antics drew too much attention to the group. When he speaks of her to Geralt he sounds quite understandably bitter.
  Letho: "Can't fathom what you saw in her. But I suppose there's No Accounting for Taste."
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Deliberately makes the Sorceresses and the Scoia'tael think he's nothing but Dumb Muscle, while having his own agenda all along.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: His saving of Triss from where she is being held prisoner in a Nilfgaardian camp, as well as protecting her from the Sorceress hunting soldiers, if Geralt does not save her.
• One-Man Army: Of course, as a Witcher. Well demonstrated in his assassination of Demavend, and in one particular ending of Assassins of Kings after he saves Triss from a Nilfgaardian camp, cutting a bloody path through the witch hunters pursuing her, with Geralt finding him sitting calmly waiting with Triss amid their many corpses.
• Opportunistic Bastard: While he is capable of making plans, all of his successes come from his uncanny ability to capitalize on every ripe opportunity that presents itself. Most notably is his assassination of Foltest; Geralt very nearly foiled it, but he also made for a convenient patsy to frame the regicide on, allowing Letho to get away without anyone even realizing he was behind it.
• Pet the Dog: Multiple instances of this. One, he doesn't kill Geralt after their first fight, due to feeling he owes the latter, and in general does not consider him his enemy. Second, in the past, he watched over Yennefer for a while after Geralt made his Deal with the Devil, even though doing so put them all in danger due to the extreme paranoia of magic users in Nilfgaard. Third, if Geralt does not rescue Triss in Chapter 3, then Letho does, and he protects her from the sorceress-hunting soldiers.
  • In the third game, he gets one not involving Geralt for once, while chasing after the mercenaries sent to kill him. Said mercenaries are hiding in a farmhouse owned by a farmer's family. Instead of simply attacking the house, he takes a moment to tell the young son of the farmer to warn his parents and flee with them and their valuables, even giving him some coin to compensate for the damage he is about to inflict on their property. It shows that even Letho has some values and soft spots for the innocent left in him. He is also willing to help Geralt and the others defend Kaer Morhen and protect Ciri against the Wild Hunt despite the scorn his presence receives and standing to gain nothing from it personally.
• Post-Final Boss: He's dealt with in the second game after the dust has finally settled and the much tougher dragon has been defeated. He can be skipped though.
• Professional Killer: One for Emhyr that’s only after kings. It's part of Nilfgaard’s plan to weaken the North before their invasion. He was also one for the School of the Viper back before it was destroyed by the Usurper.
• Psycho Knife Nut: He has a pair of massive butcher daggers that we never see him use in the game proper. The animated introduction in the Enhanced Edition, however, shows that he's no less dangerous when he uses them.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: And he is not a wimp.
• Southern-Fried Genius: English dub only. He's an exceedingly cunning and deceptive foe, every bit the equal or superior of any of his adversaries at realpolitik, while speaking with a thick Dixie accent.
  Letho: "I paid the monk who treated me a lot of orens to stay silent. Actually it was only a loan 'cause I killed him later. Only the dead can keep a secret."
• The Unfettered: Despite his surprising amount of honor and understandable, even sympathetic motives and position he was in, for the most part he is as cold, calculating and ruthless as he has to be to carry out his goals, his conspiracy, not batting an eye at any of it or feeling any remorse by the end of Assassins of Kings when all is said and done, regardless of all the chaos and death he unleashed on the North.
  Letho: "Kill as many rulers as we could. Lay the blame on the sorceresses. Breed chaos. Prepare the North, soften it before the invasion. And you know what's incredible? We could not have imagined more fertile soil. No matter what the war's outcome, the Northern Monarchs'll accuse one another, pursue their god-given rights and be at each other's throats for years to come."
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: When the player first fights him early in the second game, he is a very difficult boss. Defeating him even results in a cutscene where he defeats Geralt, but lets him live since Geralt saved his life before, making him feel indebted. The second battle feels a lot easier, as Geralt (probably) took the time collecting fancy new skills, weapons and armor, while Letho is largely the same.
• Villainous Valor: If the player decides to do so at the end of Assassins of Kings, Letho will not run, but go down fighting Geralt to the death without any hesitation.
• We Used to Be Friends: After Geralt saved his life against a Slyzard in the swamps of Angren, Letho and his band of Viper School Witchers decided to join him on his quest to track down the Wild Hunt and rescue Yennefer from them. In the time since Geralt exchanges himself for Yennefer, Letho and the other Witchers tried to protect and look after Yennefer, before being caught and given an offer they couldn't refuse from Emhyr, becoming the Kingslayers in service of Nilfgaard, and Geralt's antagonists when he returns to the Continent with amnesia and gets caught up in the plot. Fortunately, if Letho is spared, it is possible to mend their friendship, including helping Letho evade the Emperor's assassins, and Letho coming to Kaer Morhen to help battle the Wild Hunt once more, to protect Ciri.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Twice over potentially. First the School of the Viper was destroyed and his kind were scattered across the Empire. Second, if he survives the events of Assassins of Kings, Letho is a man on the run, stuck in the Northern Realms or fleeing east to Zerrikania, unable to even return south to the Nilfgaardian Empire as a wanted man, with Emhyr sending assassins to pursue and silence him for doing his bidding.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: If you let him walk away at the end of the second game, it is revealed in the third game that Emhyr decided to have him killed so Letho is on the run.

Serrit and Auckes

"We do what we must. I am not ashamed of that."

A pair of Viper School witchers assisting Letho in his mission to sow chaos by assassinating Northern kings.

• An Arm and a Leg: In Roche's path, Geralt hacks off Auckes' leg during a fight to protect King Henselt from them.
• Bald of Evil: Auckes is bald, while Serrit has black bangs.
• Bash Brothers: A literal example, as Serrit and Auckes are blood relatives as well as being part of the School of the Viper.
• Co-Dragons: To Letho.
• Dual Wielding: Both Serrit and Auckes wield a pair of short swords in their fight with Geralt.
• He Knows Too Much: On Roche's path, after the failed attack on King Henselt, Sile de Tansarville tracks down and kills Serrit to hide the Lodge of Sorceresses' involvement in the murders of northern kings.
• In the Hood: They both keep their faces hidden.
• My Greatest Failure: Serrit's dying words indicate he considers failing to destroy the Wild Hunt at the Hanged Man's Tree this.
  Serrit: Just think! The Wild Hunt... We could've freed the world of the omen of war...
• Pet the Dog: Like Letho, Serrit and Auckes helped keep Yennefer safe after Geralt traded himself to Eredin and the Wild Hunt for her.
• The Unfought: Geralt never encounters them if on Iorveth's path.
• Worthy Opponent: Both Serrit and Auckes recognize how dangerous Geralt is.

Ivar Evil-Eye was a legendary former member of the Order of Witchers and the School of the Bear. He would later be the founder and grandmaster of the School of the Viper after violently breaking away from the School of the Bear, inspired to try to hunt down and slay the Wild Hunt, due to visions of them from his namesake eye he gained from a magic ritual gone wrong in his Trials, but he never managed to succeed at this goal by the time of his death.

• Our Founder: The original founder and grandmaster of the Witcher School of the Viper.

• 0% Approval Rating: Not quite as bad as Cat School, but their icy, pragmatic dispositions and quarrelsome, hostile natures earn them this from most folk they encounter, even among fellow Witchers, to the point they only seem to get along with the like minded Skelligers, and it was part of the reason fed up villagers attacked their keep to drive them off the Amell Mountains in the first place, preferring to share the mountain with the monsters than the Witchers.
• Bears Are Bad News: They are bears thematically, but the image fits, especially due to the case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder that is inherent to the school, as well as their general aggressiveness.
• The Big Guy: They tend to be much bigger than other Witchers, described as huge, broad-shouldered, and bearded possibly because they were headquartered in the Grim Up North.
• Blood Knight: They are generally a downplayed version of this. While they don't go around looking to fight with people all the time or slaughter anyone, don't take contracts on people, being the most coldly neutral of the schools, they end up in many fights with others anyways from their hostile, aggressive manners getting them in trouble, and many seem to take active enjoyment from it all the same, part of why Skellige seems to be their favorite place to take contracts.
• Combat Pragmatist: They're the only school besides the Cat to use the Crossbow in their hunts.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: One of their biggest flaws among themselves as a school, their lack of loyalty and care for one another, the first major instance being their betrayal of the Order of Witchers and breaking away from them, and another such incident when Bear School was established fittingly resulting in the birth of the School of the Viper, along with the School of the Manticore.
• The Dragonslayer: Like Griffin School they have no problem when it comes to slaying Dragons, unlike most of the Witcher schools. It is an ironic similarity, given their contempt for the knightly virtues of the Griffin School.
• Grim Up North: Their headquarters of Haern Caduch is a very cold place; so cold in fact, Bear School students had to either huddle up by hearth fires or to sleep under layer upon layer of furs. And this is before you get to the never-ending battle to remove snow from the fortress courtyard.
• Had to Be Sharp: Due to the extremely low temperatures they live in and their particular Training from Hell, Bear School Witchers have much higher endurance than other Witchers.
• I Work Alone: Witchers under the School of the Bear are true loners and always work alone; crossing paths with one is almost always deadly.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Abandoned their school and all went their separate ways when it was attacked by an army of fed up villages banding together against them, pragmatically seeing no reason to fight for the frozen keep and partake in a senseless slaughter, whatever the outcome of it.
• Manly Facial Hair: Especially prevalent among them, true to the animal of their school, and probably for practical reasons given the frozen location of their school.
• Mighty Glacier: In comparison to other schools, but most certainly the Cat, they wear heavier armor.
• Only in It for the Money: To their guild the entire concept and work to being a Witcher is exactly that, work for profit and nothing more, no romantic idealism or chivalrous virtue to it.
• Training from Hell: Moreso than other Witchers, in order to be inducted into the School of the Bear, students must climb to the peak Mt. Gorgon, and come back with a runestone as proof; most boys would freeze to death.

Ivo

A Witcher that Queen Meve meets and assists with his contract out in the swamps of Angren.

• Badass Longcoat: His witcher's armour is of the long coat variety, which is the Ursine Armour set from The Witcher 3.
• Big Damn Heroes: Not himself, but Meve's army arrives and assists him against a dangerous monster after he is injured carrying out a contract for Nilfgaard.
• Dented Iron: He's been wounded and might have died had Meve not assisted.
• Lean and Mean: In comparison to most Bear School Witchers, who are often considered The Big Guy among Witchers, Ivo's frame is said to be quite slim and agile, more like a Cat or Viper School Witcher.
• Only in It for the Money: He makes it clear that, like all witchers, he is only about the contract, informing Queen Meve he was devoid of emotion, not reason, when she asked him if he wanted a place in her army.

Junod of Belhaven was a witcher from the School of the Bear active in the first half of the 13th century, and a friend of Ivo, to the point of taking his moniker despite not being from Belhaven. He was killed in the Owl Eye Grottos beneath the Tufo vineyard in Toussaint while trying to fulfill a contract, which Geralt eventually discovered.

Gerd was a legendary witcher-adventurer and Gwent aficionado from the School of the Bear who operated a great deal in Skellige, eventually meeting his death after getting caught up between feuding Clans there.

• The Dragonslayer: Slew a Dragon in Skellige, smiling upon the accomplishment, Bear Witchers having no problem with killing such beings.

Arnaghad was a legendary witcher from the Order of Witchers, among the earliest Witchers created, and the original founder and grandmaster of the School of the Bear.

• Hypocrite: For all his hatred of authority and being told what to do, he had no issue with forming his own school and imposing his own views and commands upon other Witchers, just like the Order he despised, instead of simply going his own way.
• I Just Want to Be Free: His contempt for authority and taking commands in the Order of the Witchers led to his violent departure from the Order along with his like minded followers.
• Jerkass: A cold, hard, unsentimental brute of a Witcher who regularly betrayed and brutalized his fellow Witchers for his own gain and despised virtuous, knightly codes, seeing being a Witcher as only work and nothing more, with his introverted, hostile values reflected in the school he founded.
• Large and in Charge: Founder and Grandmaster of the Bear School, and a giant of a man to match.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Twice. The betrayer of the Order of the Witchers who departed to found his own school was later betrayed and maimed by Ivar Evil-Eye and his followers, who split off from the School of the Bear to form the School of the Viper and School of the Manticore, after he had set the standard that betrayal was alright. Then later his school fractured apart because the lessons he taught about not having loyalty to one another led to none of the Bear School Witchers wanting to bother defending their school when it was attacked by an army of fed up villagers, instead abandoning the keep and going their separate ways.
• Our Founder: The original founder of the Witcher School of the Bear, after betraying the Order of Witchers and splitting off from them, the first of the independent schools to form from them and depart.