How Geralt Became The Witcher Explained
The Witcher is one of those franchises where timelines and character origins are especially difficult to keep track of, especially due to minor differences between the books, the games, and the Netflix series. And it doesn’t help that the series begins by showing us episodes outside of chronological order, making it very difficult for casual fans to get answers to very big questions. One of those questions is just how Geralt became The Witcher in the first place, and we’ve got the full breakdown of how that happened (and any coins you wish to toss our way are always welcome).
We break down the history of how Geralt went from being a (relatively) normal human boy to a Witcher.
The first thing you should know about Geralt is that while he wasn’t born into being The Witcher, he does come from some strong parents. We know that his mother is Visenna, a powerful sorceress who ends up abandoning Geralt (more on this later). While it is never made completely clear on the page or screen, all hints point to Geralt’s dad being a powerful Nordling warrior named Korin.
It’s impossible to know how Geralt would have turned out if he was raised by both his parents. However, Korin was a wandering warrior who Geralt never met in the flesh, though he sometimes mulled over whether he had inherited his father’s warrior genes.
As for Visenna, she decided motherhood was not for her: she abandoned Geralt at Kaer Morhen when he was young, and it was here that he took his first steps towards becoming The Witcher.
That’s because Geralt was conveniently dropped off at the place designed to train future Witchers. However, his future status as a Witcher was not guaranteed: after joining the School of the Wolf, Geralt eventually decided to take on the Trial of the Grasses. This particular trial is more internal than external, with would-be Witchers eating a series of ingredients that, through alchemy, had the potential to give them fabulous powers.
It’s impossible to know how Geralt would have turned out if he was raised by both his parents.
We say Geralt had the “potential” to become The Witcher at this point because the numbers were stacked against him. For every 10 boys who ate the ingredients, only three of them managed to survive the process. But whether it was due to destiny or just strong genes, Geralt ended up passing The Trial of the Grasses far more easily than most who had come before him.
Unfortunately for Geralt, his early success meant that he had to face additional trials before he could become The Witcher. His body was resistant to some of the more dangerous mutations caused by the ingredients he consumed, and this caused those in charge to further experiment on Geralt’s body.
He became the only one to survive this additional series of experiments, and his body was permanently marked by the silvery-white hair that would gain him nicknames such as “White Wolf.”
While it is never made completely clear on the page or screen, all hints point to Geralt’s dad being a powerful Nordling warrior named Korin.
At this point, Geralt technically had all of the powers of The Witcher, but like the Jedi in Star Wars, he had to pass one more trial before it was official. He successfully completed the Trial of the Medallion, earning his official title as Witcher and earning the cool medallion that you always see him wearing.
Incidentally, if the hair and the cheerful personality aren’t a big enough clue (the alchemical process tends to flatten Witcher personalities), the medallion tells people across the land who–and what–Geralt is.
After Geralt officially became The Witcher, he had access to superhuman skills and even the ability to use magic, but he’s not supposed to use these abilities for simple recreation. Instead, he is tasked with walking The Path, which is cool Witcher slang for wandering the land and killing any supernatural monsters he happens to find. Only time will tell, though, if Netflix subscribers will actually tune in to the adventures of this silver-maned warrior when he’s no longer played by Henry Cavill.
