Geralt of Rivia

Fictional biography

Geralt, the central character, is a witcher. Shortly after being born, Geralt was forced (by the law of surprise) to undergo training and, eventually, become a witcher at Kaer Morhen — the stronghold of the Wolf School Witchers. Geralt survived numerous mutations during the Trial of the Grasses (alongside the extra mutations), thanks to which he gained practically superhuman physical and mental abilities with minimal side effects. He resisted the "changes" brought on by the Trial of Grasses better than most, which encouraged his makers to perform even more dangerous experimental procedures on him, making him lose all body pigmentation. Because of his pale skin and white hair, he is also known in the Elder Speech as "Gwynbleidd", the White Wolf.

Despite his name, Geralt does not come from Rivia (although he learned how to mimic a Rivian accent): young witchers were encouraged to make up surnames for themselves by master Vesemir, to make their names sound more trustworthy. He once claimed that his first choice was Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde, but this was dismissed by Vesemir as silly and pretentious. However, it is possible that Geralt made such a claim merely to ridicule overly long names typical for nobility - specifically those of his friends Regis (whose full name is Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy) and Cahir (whose full name is Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach), who were present at that moment.

After completing his witcher training, he received his Wolf medallion (the symbol of Kaer Morhen) and embarked into the world on his horse called Płotka — (literally, "Roach"; he gave the same name to every horse he owned) to become a monster slayer for hire.

Even though Geralt did not believe in destiny, he unknowingly demanded the unborn child of princess Pavetta and her husband Duny as a reward for his services by invoking "the Law of Surprise" (a law that states that if one cannot pay for the services of a witcher, the witcher is entitled to something the debtor does not yet know they have). The child turned out to be a girl, Ciri (otherwise known as Ziri coming from the elder speech word Zireael meaning Swallow). He did not take her because women cannot be witchers. However, fate or blind chance caused Geralt and Ciri to cross their paths thrice, and after the death of her grandmother, queen Calanthe, Geralt ends up taking care of the girl and loving her as his own daughter.

After seemingly being killed by a mob during a slaughter of non-humans at the end of the Witcher saga and taken, with Yennefer, to an island by Ciri, Geralt's story continues in more recent videogames (The Witcher, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt). Geralt returns to life with no recollection of the details of his sudden reappearance, and after Yennefer was captured by the Wild Hunt, he offered himself for her freedom. He was saved once again by Ciri, and left wounded and without memory of his past in the wood near Kaer Morhen. He is rescued by the last remaining witchers in the world and taken back to Kaer Morhen. Sapkowski stated that the games are the work of art of their own and that they cannot be considered neither an "alternative version", nor a sequel, "because this can only be told by Geralt's creator. A certain Andrzej Sapkowski."

Literary analysis and reception

Geralt is described as being emblematic of Polish popular culture's spirit of "neo-liberal anti-politics" in the 1990s. He is a professional, carrying out his duties and unwilling to become involved in the "petty quarrels" of the contemporary politics. Marek Oramus compared Geralt to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. In 2012, GamesRadar ranked him as the 50th best hero in video game history.