By Sam Coles:
The Witcher series is something that I have a deep love for
since I first played The Witcher 2 back in 2012, I have all the books that have
been translated into English and I have put substantial play time in the games.
What keeps me coming back is the main protagonist Geralt of Riva; he is a
complex character where he constantly conflicts with his professional work and
personal feelings. I want to talk about The White Wolf for a few paragraphs,
where I go into the complexity of his personality.
When I first experienced The White Wolf it was 2012 when I
played The Witcher 2 and read The Last Wish, and I must say the character is
very different from the game to the book. For one in The Witcher 2 Geralt comes
across as confused and monotone, this is an intentional decision due to his amnesia
with the narrative as he recovers his memories. In the games he is more sincere
where he has more sympathy for people; where as in the first few pages in The
Last Wish he slices someone’s throat open because they call him a freak. It’s
this juxtaposition that had me scratching my head; because they seem like
different characters although that was my initial thought until I played The
Witcher 3 and read Sword of Destiny.
When I first booted up The Witcher 3 I was presented with a
different Geralt of Riva, he was a distort father and lover, where he is
looking for his daughter Ciri and his true love (in my playthrough) Yennefer of
Vengerberg. When on his journey looking for Yennefer Geralt is tortured as he
loves her so much, he has a dream turned nightmare where he is back at Kaer Morhen
where he is bathing while his love is in the corner applying makeup. It’s a
peaceful start but he has to go and take care of Ciri as she is training on her
own, but Geralt with a sly grin doesn’t want to leave Yennefer due to his deep
love. The dream doesn’t end well as The Wild Hunt show up, where Ciri is then
killed but fortunately it was just a nightmare.
It’s here where Geralt’s character from the books (in Sword
of Destiny) and games meet on equal ground, because in The Witcher 3 he tends
to be more sincere and sympathetic, well if you choose to play like that which
I did. The only time he is violent towards other humans in this game is when he
has to defend himself, this mostly stems from the people’s outlook on Witchers
as they see them as freaks and unnatural.
I found that I really cared about Geralt more in The Witcher
3, it’s due to the fact the he is for a lack of better words human. The
humanisation of his character in this game is beautiful, because he really
cares about his daughter Ciri. There was one moment that really got to me in
The Witcher 3 where he finally finds Ciri, but it doesn’t look good as her
mortality is slipping away from her, we see Geralt shedding tears which is
something I didn’t expect from the monster slayer. This really got to me, as it
was the first time in the series that showed that Witchers aren’t always these
heartless killing machines they can love given the right situation. It’s with
Geralt’s love for his daughter that fills her with life, with a touching
flashback when she is a child where they run towards each other and hug; it’s a
moment that really sticks in my mind for The White Wolf’s characterisation.
Not only that his love for Yennefer shows that he can smile
and have passion, yes they both but heads often but that is why the dynamic of
their relationship works because they are both stubborn when it comes to
certain subjects. When conflicts are put aside between the two, they show
nothing but undying love for each other, it’s this sort of chalk and cheese
relationship because Geralt tends to take a more forward approach were as
Yennefer is more methodical and intellectually charged to a situation. However
when they are in a romantic scenario, all disagreements disappear, this is
where we see Geralt act like a teenager who has found his first love as he
loses all feeling in his legs.
Geralt of Riva is a man of many layers, yes first and
foremost he is a professional but his personal feelings conflict with him as a
father figure and lover. He constantly says he has no emotions because of the
mutations, which to quote Regis in the Blood and Wine expansion “Is that what
you say when you are upset”. He always
puts those who he loves first, and in The Witcher 3 we see this sensitive side
of the character which we didn’t really see in the first two games. He is
easily one of my favourite characters in all of fiction, and you should experience
his trials and tribulations in both the books and games.
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