The Witcher is the hero of a computer game, the main character of a series of books, the face of a future series, and so on. Now itās hard to find a person who is interested in cinema and games, who is not familiar with the universe from Sapkovskyās works. Someone read a series of books by a Polish author, another part of the fans got acquainted with the first parts of the games in 2007 and 2012, and someone plunged into the fantasy world only with the release of the last part of Wild Hunt. In the near future, a series from Netflix will be released on this topic. Now is one of the most suitable moments to get to know the world, find out who the witcher is and evaluate books with games.
Character origin
You can interpret the appearance of the hero from several sides. If you move away from the canon of the game and book series, the witcher is a hero of Slavic mythology. By origin, the word "witcher" is derived from "witch". The hero has magical abilities and can turn into wild animals (wolf, horse and so on). All witches are divided into born and learned. Natural born has a small ponytail and an inverted reflection in the eyes. The trained witcher has no specific features from an external point of view.
Origin in books
In the novel of Andrzej Sapkowski, the question of who the witcher is is given a slightly modified answer, although the invented universe did not so far depart from Slavic mythology. The focus of the books is only one witcher - Geralt of Rivia. In the world of Sapkowski, all witches are created in an unnatural way - at a young age they conduct experiments on children with the help of a mutation, thanks to which they gain magical abilities and other skills. In the future, they are taught martial arts and the handling of edged weapons. As a result, the witcher becomes a monster hunter. He performs his work only for money and prefers to remain neutral in personal and political matters.
The usual family life or working lifestyle for the witcher does not work out. Firstly, all witches are barren, and secondly, ordinary people believe that they pose a threat to the population. Therefore, the attitude towards them is extremely biased.
Books about the Witcher
Andrzej Sapkowski has released a series of novels from 9 books, published from 1986 to 2013. Outside the series, the stories āThe Road Without Returnā and āSomething Ends, Something Startsā were written. They are not directly related to the story of Geralt, but represent the story of his parents.
In the center of events of the books is the aforementioned Geralt of Rivia. A lot of charismatic and key characters are gathered around him, on which the main storyline is tied. In addition to involuntary participation in political clashes and the usual orders for monsters, Geralt helps Princess Tsiri, who is a surprise child. Involuntarily, the girl becomes the center of attention for politicians, the box of sorceresses and others. All because the descendant of the princess will be able to predict the fate of the world.
Geralt and the sorceress Jennifer became her adoptive parents and transferred the heroine with sword skills and magic spells. Along with Geralt, Ciri becomes the main character of books. In addition to the two characters mentioned, in the books there are many well-developed side heroes: Buttercup, Zoltan and others.
World of books
Sapkowski's books, where the witcher plays a major role, are very different from the usual fantasy. The author places a more modern model of human behavior in the traditional scenery genre, which creates an interesting combination. Because of this, the reader can easily compare himself with book heroes, where the witcher is not alien to human feelings and doubts, the world is ruled by greed, where there is a clash of strata of the population and races, as well as political conspiracies familiar to everyone, etc.
The coloring of the book world is impressive - at the first reading you can get confused in the number of races, organizations, states, and even more so in their interaction (who āmakes friendsā with whom, who arranges conspiracies, and so on). Because of this, the world is extremely unstable. All key characters are on the powder keg and are afraid of betrayal, murder, assassination attempts.
Against the background of all instability, the author shows that it is impossible to divide the world into āblackā and āwhiteā. All actions can be divided only into shades of gray, therefore there are no completely positive heroes, and in the actions of villains you can also find personal motivation and the reasons for their actions.
The novel was not without a bright love line with intrigue, the constant need for choice, and even with a share of humor. On the whole, Sapkowski shows in his book all the pressing problems, interweaving mythology and fantasy in them, which translates into a whole work.
In 2010, the author announced the continuation of work on the series, as he had new ideas and thoughts that can be embodied in the book universe. In 2013, the last novel, Dream Season, was released. In addition to the main line of books, a comic book series of 6 issues was released. In 2001, a full-length film and a series based on the novel was released, and in 2017, the development of a television series on books officially began. Now the project is at the stage of writing the script and selecting the cast. Andrzej Sapkowski acted as a consultant in its creation.
Game series
In 2007, the Polish CD Projekt RED studio released the first part of The Witcher series. At that time, the developers had no experience in creating games, so the first part received mixed reviews. However, over time, the gaming community recognized the role-playing game, and it became a classic. The project was released in the genre of Role Playing Game.
The plot events develop immediately after the end of the book line. The player begins his adventure in Caer Morhen - the home of all the witchers, where they grow and undergo training. Geralt lost his memory, so he will have to restore and remember all the events on his own and with the help of friends. In addition to this problem, throughout the game you will have to solve the riddle of the Salamander group and look for the stolen witcher secrets.
Part Two: The Killers of Kings
The continuation of the series was released in 2012 with a new engine and with new features. At this time, the developers had a large budget and experience, so the new product turned out to be more beautiful and elaborated. However, poor PC optimization and the lack of mods for The Witcher spoiled the whole impression.
The plot begins after the events of the first part. Geralt still did not regain much of his memory, and after an unsuccessful attempt on King Voltest, he becomes his personal guard. During the next battle, a mysterious assassin in a cassock attacks the king and achieves his goal. Geralt was discovered at the crime scene, as a result of which he was charged with attempt. The witcher does not linger in the dungeon thanks to a tailored escape. From this moment, the search for the murderer of Foltest begins.
"Wild Hunt"
The most popular and largest part of the series The Witcher was released in 2015. A huge free world, the best graphics at the time of release and the continuation of a favorite story with familiar heroes. Wild Hunt has received some of the highest ratings in industry history from most publications and critics.
The game begins with the White Garden, in which Geralt and Vesemir stop for the night. Because of the events in this village, the heroes have to linger and help the inhabitants get rid of the monster, and on the way to delve into the current situation with the war and the parties.
At the end of the chapter, Geralt meets with Jennifer, with which the search for Ciri begins. The entire "Wild Hunt" is tied to stories about Cyril and her adventures. At some point you will have to play for the heroine.
However, the main character remains Geralt. In his company, you explore large cities, help residents, get tasks from politicians, visit a beautiful island and much more.
Summary
Now you know who the witcher is and where he meets. After the release of the third part of the games, the audience of fans of the Sapkowski universe has expanded significantly. Many fans of The Witcher began to read the novels of the Pole, and also got acquainted with the classic parts of the Witcher games. If you are interested in the story of Geralt, then rather buy books or install The Witcher games!