50 Fun Facts About The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

In The Witcher 3, what name does Geralt give his horse, the same name as every mount before it?

Roach is named after a freshwater fish, not the insect, and every one of Geralt's successive horses inherits the name.

Which Witcher 3 minigame, a duel between two armies, was later expanded into a standalone free-to-play game?

Gwent beat rival minigame proposals that included a drinking game, knife throwing and ice skating.

Which country's prime minister and president visited the studio behind The Witcher 3 to celebrate its launch?

Poland is home to developer CD Projekt Red, and Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and President Bronisław Komorowski both called in on the studio to mark the release.

Which Game of Thrones actor voices Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, Ciri's father, in The Witcher 3?

Charles Dance, the actor behind Tywin Lannister, voices the Nilfgaardian emperor who orders Geralt to find Ciri.

Which streaming service's Witcher series made The Witcher 3's sales jump 554 percent in December 2019?

Netflix released its first season starring Henry Cavill that month, sending new players to a game that was already four years old.

Which detail of Geralt's appearance changes by itself as in-game days pass in The Witcher 3?

His beard grows from a clean shave into a full, thick beard over time, until one of the barbers found around the world restyles it.

The spectral riders chasing Ciri in The Witcher 3 echo Scandinavian folklore, where which god led the hunt?

Odin led the ghostly procession in Scandinavian tellings, where hearing it pass was a sign of changing weather, war or unrest.

In The Witcher 3, Geralt carries a steel sword for humans and a second sword of which metal for monsters?

Silver works best on creatures and monsters, and neither blade lasts forever: swords in the game wear down with use and need regular repair.

Which winged beast does Geralt hunt at the start of The Witcher 3 to learn where Yennefer has gone?

Griffin and Geralt also appear locked in combat as the statue that came with the game's Collector's Edition.

Which portable console received a port of The Witcher 3 in 2019, co-developed with Saber Interactive?

Nintendo Switch players got the full game with both expansions, with slight graphical downgrades to suit the less powerful hardware.

Which bard, called Jaskier in the original novels, must Geralt rescue during The Witcher 3's Novigrad chapter?

Dandelion is also the voice of the journal: every character entry in the game is written as if by the bard himself.

Which Witcher 3 weapon brings flying monsters down to earth and is the only one usable underwater?

Crossbow bolts drag airborne beasts such as ekhidnae down to sword range, though only the default bolt works below the surface.

Geralt's Witcher 3 medallion, which vibrates when magic is near, shows the head of which animal?

Wolf medallions mark witchers of Geralt's school; a month after launch, downloadable content gave that school its own armor set.

In The Witcher 3, where in a village does Geralt usually pick up new monster contracts and side quests?

The notice board in each town carries witcher contracts, the paid monster hunts that are Geralt's trade, and new notices go up as events unfold in the region.

Which old keep, where Geralt was raised and trained, is attacked by the Wild Hunt in The Witcher 3?

Kaer Morhen comes from an elven name meaning Old Sea Fortress, and Geralt grew up there after his mother entrusted him to the witchers.

Which elderly mentor of Geralt is killed by the Wild Hunt's general Imlerith in The Witcher 3?

Vesemir was a father figure to Geralt, and his killing drives Ciri to unleash her uncontrolled magic and rout the attackers.

Which Velen warlord in The Witcher 3 trades news of Ciri for help finding his wife and daughter?

The Bloody Baron, real name Phillip Strenger, is a self-proclaimed lord who settled in the abandoned fort of Crow's Perch with a band of deserters.

Which roadside markers must Geralt first discover to fast travel on land in The Witcher 3?

Signposts link every region once visited, while at sea Geralt can jump only between harbors he has already found.

Which sorceress and former flame of Geralt leads Novigrad's mage underground in The Witcher 3?

Triss Merigold moved to the city believing it a safe haven, then bargained with the spymaster Dijkstra for money to smuggle the hunted mages out.

Which author's fantasy novels and short stories about a monster hunter are the basis for The Witcher 3?

Andrzej Sapkowski did not write the game, which is not an official continuation of his books; his only direct contribution was its in-game map.

Which archipelago of Norse-inspired clans does Geralt sail to in The Witcher 3 to reunite with Yennefer?

Skellige is home to clans that resemble the Norse-Gaels, and the islands later host the trap where the Wild Hunt is lured for the final battle.

Which American actor voices Geralt in the English version of The Witcher 3, winning a Golden Joystick for it?

Doug Cockle has voiced the monster hunter since the first game in 2007 and came back for a 2019 crossover quest in Monster Hunter: World.

Which elf from a parallel world leads the Wild Hunt as its king and is slain by Geralt in The Witcher 3?

Eredin wants Ciri's gift for crossing between worlds so that he can save his homeworld from a magical cold that turns worlds into frozen wastelands.

In The Witcher 3, what name is given to the three malicious sisters who watch over war-torn Velen?

The Crones, also called the Ladies of the Wood, are named Brewess, Weavess and Whispess and mostly speak through an enchanted tapestry.

Ciri, the young woman Geralt searches for in The Witcher 3, was born a princess of which kingdom?

Cintra gave Ciri the nickname Lion Cub, and it was after the kingdom fell that Geralt accepted responsibility for raising her.

Which Redanian king, whose witch hunters persecute mages in The Witcher 3, can Geralt help assassinate?

Radovid falls in the quest Reason of State, lured onto a Novigrad bridge by a plot from the spymaster Dijkstra, Vernon Roche and Thaler.

The Witcher 3's game director cited which Japanese action RPG as an influence on its combat system?

Dark Souls and its forerunner Demon's Souls shaped the swordplay, while the level designers looked to The Legend of Zelda and Red Dead Redemption.

Which DRM-free store, launched by CD Projekt in 2008, outsold Steam for The Witcher 3's early PC sales?

GOG, short for Good Old Games, had 690,000 copies redeemed by June 2015, more than every other PC download service combined.

What is the subtitle of The Witcher 2, the 2011 game whose story The Witcher 3 continues?

Assassins of Kings left its mark on the sequel: the sorceress Keira Metz is still in hiding from its events when Geralt finds her in Velen.

Which forest monster in The Witcher 3 has a deer skull for a head and summons crows to protect its woods?

Leshen is the games' name for the leshy, and the creature also traps attackers with rootlike arms that it digs into the ground.

Which higher vampire is unmasked as the Beast of Toussaint in The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion?

Dettlaff kills the knights only because a blackmailer appears to have kidnapped the woman he loves; she turns out to be the duchess's exiled sister.

Which stranger, known as Master Mirror or the Man of Glass, is the villain of Hearts of Stone?

Gaunter O'Dimm first turns up in the opening hours of the main story, as a traveller in a village inn who points Geralt toward Yennefer.

Which medic from the first Witcher game returns in Hearts of Stone and takes Geralt to a wedding?

Shani spends the wedding beside a Geralt possessed by the ghost of Olgierd's brother Vlodimir, who borrows the witcher's body for one more night of fun.

In Hearts of Stone, the sewer monster Geralt is hired to kill is a cursed prince in what form?

A giant toad turns out to be a prince of distant Ofier, cursed by Olgierd, the very nobleman who put out the contract on the monster.

What is the name of the Toussaint vineyard Geralt receives as his home in The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine?

Corvo Bianco comes with a majordomo who oversees renovations, and at the story's end a visitor decided by the player's earlier choices turns up there.

Which duchess of Toussaint hires Geralt to hunt the Beast in The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion?

Anna Henrietta, nicknamed Anarietta, comes to fear that the killings are tied to her long-lost sister, who was exiled over a supposed curse.

Which vampire friend of Geralt from the novels, long believed dead, returns in Blood and Wine?

Regis was revived with blood given by the very vampire Geralt is hunting, which is why he doubts his rescuer is killing by choice.

Which sword does the Lady of the Lake award Geralt in Blood and Wine for proving five chivalric virtues?

Aerondight deals more damage with each blow it lands, and the five virtues to prove are honor, wisdom, generosity, valor and compassion.

Uma, the Witcher 3 creature whose name stands for Ugliest Man Alive, is really which cursed elven sage?

Avallac'h is freed only when Yennefer puts Uma through the first stage of the Trial of the Grasses, the ordeal used to create witchers.

Which Redanian city on the Pontar river in The Witcher 3 is famous for the largest academy in the north?

Oxenfurt lives off its students and scholars, and beneath its streets lurks the sewer monster that opens the Hearts of Stone expansion.

The Witcher 3's Hearts of Stone adapts which folktale about a nobleman who signs a pact with the devil?

Pan Twardowski, in legend, tried to outwit the devil with a special clause in their contract, much as Geralt can beat the expansion's villain at his own game.

The Witcher 3's battle sounds come from a re-enactment of which 1410 clash with the Teutonic Knights?

The Grunwald re-enactment supplied marching, blacksmithing and arrow fire, and actors voicing knights wore helmets while recording for an authentic sound.

Which Irish actress, later a star of the Star Wars series Andor, voices Yennefer in The Witcher 3?

Denise Gough recorded the sorceress years before Andor and has won two Laurence Olivier Awards for her stage work.

On which enchanted island in The Witcher 3 does Geralt find the sleeping Ciri alongside seven dwarves?

Isle of Mists borrows from Snow White: seven dwarves shelter there, some echoing Sleepy and Sneezy, while Ciri lies in a deathlike slumber.

Which folk band, named after a gnome in the Witcher novels, contributed music to The Witcher 3's soundtrack?

Percival play reconstructions of medieval instruments, and the game's composer found that most of the group had no formal training and improvised much of the music.

In The Witcher 3's Beast of Toussaint quest, which arena monster can Geralt spare as proof of compassion?

Shaelmaar are blind and find their way by sound, so the trick is to make noise near a wall and let the rolling beast knock itself out against it.

In Hearts of Stone, The Witcher 3's painter van Rogh is really a pen name used by which character?

Iris von Everec sold her art under the name, a nod to Vincent van Gogh that extends to a canvas titled Starry Night Over the Pontar.

In The Witcher 3's Master Armorers quest, which assistant at Crow's Perch is the true master of the forge?

Yoana posed as the dwarf Fergus Graem's assistant because customers would never believe a human woman could make master armor.

The Witcher 3 was the most awarded game of all time until which Sony-published game overtook it in 2021?

The Last of Us Part II took the record from a game that had collected 260 game of the year awards and more than 800 awards overall.

In The Witcher 3, which monster born of a stillborn child can Geralt turn into a guardian lubberkin?

Botchling is the game's version of the poroniec of Slavic folk belief, a spirit said to rise from the improper burial of a stillborn child.