Witchers (The Witcher)

A Witcher is a title and being that features in The Witcher series.

History

Witchers were a type of hunters that were bred to battle the various monsters that inhabited the lands. They came into existence when the first settlers began to colonise the wild lands of Temeria. Upon settling the Continent, the human settlers in the north began to encounter a vast array of monsters that inhabited the land. In that time, they were poorly equipped to deal with these threats with the northern rulers looking to rectify this issue where they tasked their mages to create magic-wielding warriors to deal with these monsters. This resulted in the creation of Witchers though the initial experiments using adults proved unsatisfactory. It was then decided to use children for future experiments leading to the mage Alzur travelling for weeks where he collected 38 children that he brought with him to Rissberg Castle. In Rissberg, the mages began to conduct experiments that brought about the creation of the first Witcher. However, they proved to have limited magical potential and thus deemed a failure leading to their banishment from the castle. However, a few mages decided to continue the experiment leading to them taking the nascent witchers to the abandoned Morgraig Castle in the Kestrel Mountains to continue their work with their subjects undergoing further training. A new instructor would teach the young Witchers about their duty whilst more members of their kind were created thus creating their order. By this point, they began taking part in their assigned role where they often departed in the spring to hunt monsters across the Continent and returned to Morgraig by winter.

By the modern day, the demand for Witcher services became significantly reduced to the rarity of monsters. This left only a few of their kind travelling the world with no further monster slayers being made. During the infamous attack on Kaer Morhen, the fortress was destroyed and the Witchers residing there were mostly killed thus dooming their kind to extinction as no further successors were being trained. By this point, monsters in the world were a rarity and the use of Witchers fell into significant decline with only a few members of this caste still travelling the world.

Overview

In appearance, Witchers were mutants with certain distinct features that set them apart from ordinary humans. Their bodies had actually experienced changes due to mutagenic mushrooms, herbs and other plant stimulants that gave them superhuman speeds and endurance. A more distinct ability was them manifesting cat-like eyes that allowed them to see in the dark. The combination of mutagens and magic meant that their bodies were resistant to all kinds of disease to the point of having an immunity to them. They gained an accelerated healing factor allowing them to quickly recover from injuries and also gifted them with an incredibly long lifespan as well as prolonged youth. A result of their mutations meant that a Witcher suffered from sterility and an over developed libido.

Witchers were classed as an elite caste of warrior-monks that were tasked with defending humanity from the monsters that lived in the wild. From a young age, apprentices that became Witchers went through pain and dangerous Trial of the Grasses to gain these abilities. To further aid them, they went through training under sorcerers to learn simple combat spells called signs along with developing their craft in magical potions that was used to augment their fighting skills.

Their otherness and unusual abilities along with magical talents meant that Witchers were treated as outcasts and even outright hated by some. They were seen as being repulsive unscrupulous scoundrels without a conscience or virtue. Thus, they had a mixed reaction among human communities that needed them yet at the same time feared them due to their mutant nature along with superhuman powers. Rarely were they a welcomed guest and most contact with their kind was limited to business. During any unrest against magic wielders, Witchers often found themselves the target of pogroms and any social upheaval.

There were a number of schools created to train Witchers with these including:

• Wolf School :
• Cat School :
• Viper School :
• Bear School :
• Griffin School :
• Manticore School :

After leaving their schools keep, a Witcher went down the Path where they left in the spring to travel across the various parts of the Continent in order to hunt down monsters with them expected to return by the winter.

Typically, Witchers were armed with two swords on their backs with one being a steel blade and the other a silver blade. The former was meant for use against mundane beings whilst the latter was reserved for fighting supernatural beasts.

Witchers were provided a special medallion as a symbol of their status and could serve as a means of identifying themselves to people. Typically, the medallion was shaped in the form of whatever school symbol that their user attended for their training. The medallions also served as tools as they reacted to the presence of magic and sorcerous auras in the immediate vicinity. Thus, they warned the Witcher of spells or illusions or even of magical creatures in the area.

They frequently used mixers and powerful potions as they had developed an advanced tolerance to their inherent toxicity.

Another aspect of their training included formal usage of the signs that were low-level yet versatile form of magic that allowed them to cast spells and enchantments with simple hand gestures.

Members

• Vesemir : a member of the School of the Wolf who by the 13th century was the oldest of their number that resided in Kaer Mohan who served as a mentor and leader to the last generation of Witchers.
• Geralt of Rivia :
• Berengar :
• Letho :
• Eskel :
• Lambert :
• Coën :

Notes

• Witchers were created by Andrzej Sapkowski and featured in the setting of the Witcher.
• The term comes from a translation of the word "vedmak"/"wiedźmin" that was a term for a "male witch" in Slavic mythology.

In other media

Television

• In The Witcher, Witchers appeared in the setting of the 2019 live-action fantasy drama television series.

Films

• In The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, Witchers appeared in the setting of the 2021 animated film prequel.

Video games

• In The Witcher, Witchers featured in the setting of the 2007 action role-playing video game.

Appearances

• The Witcher:

External Links

• The Witcher Wiki Entry

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