The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is arguably one of the best games of this generation. However, if you are unfamiliar with the books and previous games, the third entry can be a bit overwhelming. There are a ton of characters, a lot of backstory, and many things you should pay attention to as you’re playing through Geralt and Ciri’s adventure. If The Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch is your first foray into the Northern Realms, here’s everything about the story you should know before starting Wild Hunt.
For more on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Nintendo Switch, check out our guide covering quick starter tips you should know. We also have a review on the way, but until then, check out our early thoughts about how the Switch port stacks up in the livestream video above.
Major Backstory Of The Witcher
Let’s start with the basics: Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, and a Witcher is a professional monster hunter. To become a Witcher, one is typically taken from their family at a young age and put through rigorous training–including the infamous Trial of the Grasses–where children are pumped full of alchemical ingredients. Most do not survive, and the ones that do gain superhuman reflexes, senses, and abilities. The trade-off is that once a Witcher completes their training, they are allegedly devoid of emotion. Witchers then traditional travel the world hunting monsters for money. But Geralt tends to bend the rules on that time-honored policy because he has a good heart.
So what makes Geralt so unique? Well, not much actually. He’s not some chosen hero destined to save the world and he isn’t more powerful than other Witchers. He’s just trying to help his friends and, through fate, his destiny is inexplicably connected to the most powerful being in the universe, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon–don’t worry, most characters call her Ciri for short.
Unlike the first two games, Geralt’s father-daughter relationship with Ciri drives the plot of the third game. However, Ciri isn’t Geralt’s biological daughter. In fact, due to the trials they undergo, Witchers are infertile. So how did Geralt and Ciri meet? Before Ciri was born, Geralt lifted a curse on her father, a man named Duny. Instead of asking for money, Geralt invoked The Law of Surprise, which means the next surprising thing that happens to Duny must be surrendered to Geralt. To Duny’s surprise, his lover–the Queen of Cintra–was pregnant with a girl.
Six years passed and Geralt returned to collect from Duny and his wife, but ultimately decided not to take Ciri. It wasn’t until Cintra fell to the Nilfgaardian Empire a few years later that Geralt agreed to train Ciri at Kaer Morhen and hide her from Nilfgaard.
You might be wondering: “Why did Geralt hide Ciri from Nilfgaard?” The explanation is linked to Duny. As it turns out, his real name is Emyr Var Emries, aka the Emperor of Nilfgaard. Whether Ciri likes it or not, she is the heir to Nilfgaard’s throne, and she has a birthright to fulfill.
These events bring us up to where the first book in the Witcher series, Blood of Elves, begins. Ciri first trains with Geralt and then with a sorceress named Yennefer (more on her later) before getting separated from them. On the run from Nilfgaard and other nefarious parties, Ciri joins a gang for a good portion of the book series. Meanwhile, Geralt, who has adopted a father-like role towards Ciri, is trying to track her down.
There are a lot more details around these characters in the books, so if any of this interests you, we highly recommend checking them out. We don’t want to spoil the final events of the books in case you decide to read them, so we’ll be vague. But when the series concludes, Ciri inevitably disappears. Despite being such an essential character in the books, she isn’t present in the first two Witcher games. What drives the events of The Witcher 3 is that she has returned, and now it’s up to Geralt and Yennefer to find her at the request of her father, Emyr.
So who is Yennefer then? If Geralt is Ciri’s father figure, then Yennefer is her maternal one. In the short story titled “The Last Wish,” Geralt and his good friend and Troubador Dandelion come across a Djinn (or genie) during their travels. After it attacks Dandelion, Geralt takes him to the nearest town to get aid from a sorceress. That sorceress is none other than Yennefer of Vengerberg. She decides that she wants to tame the Djinn and harness its powers. Of course, this doesn’t go as planned, and the Djinn terrorizes the city. Geralt deals with the Djinn, and in the process, becomes romantically involved with Yennefer. Geralt also uses the Djinn to make a wish, but Witcher series author Andrzej Sapkowski never specified Geralt’s last wish. However, in the context of The Witcher 3, Geralt’s final request seems to have been for him and Yennefer to be together forever–no matter how rocky things get.
It should be no surprise, but things do get rocky. At the start of The Witcher 1, Geralt loses his memory and becomes romantically involved with another sorceress named Triss Merigold, a good friend of Yennefer. Unfortunately, Geralt doesn’t know any better, and he spends a lot of The Witcher 1 and 2 getting to know her. So, if Yen seems a bit cold to Geralt at the start of The Witcher 3, that’s why. Like Ciri, Yennefer isn’t in The Witcher 1 and 2; she’s apparently off doing her own thing.
Triss Merigold of Maribor is the sister-like figure to Ciri. When Ciri was holed up in Kaer Morhen with a bunch of disgruntled Witchers, Triss took care of her. While Geralt and his Witcher pals taught Ciri how to fight, Triss taught her how to behave in polite company. But aside from her relationship to Ciri, one of the more important details about Triss is that she’s genuinely in love with Geralt.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, there’s a lot of history between Yenn, Triss, and Geralt, so keep that in mind when you start The Witcher 3. Remember: Yenn and Triss are friends, and they do talk, so don’t be too reckless with your words as you interact with them.
Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, and Triss may be the most important characters in The Witcher 3, but they certainly aren’t the only notable characters. It would take far too long to go through everyone but, below, we highlight some noteworthy people:
- Dandelion: Geralt’s best friend and the big-mouthed bard
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