The world ofTheWitcheruniverse is one of the more unique ones we’ve experienced. It’s set in a faux-medieval era where sickness, savages, and ignorance are rampant. But, at the same time, scholars of magic called Sorceresses or Mages exist, monsters and creatures from fairytales cohabitate with humans, and mutated people called Witchers roam the country killing beasts for coin.
It’s a weird mix of fantasy, grim realism, and a real big touch of power fantasy. But, because both the books and games were created by people from Poland, a lot of the creatures are based on folklore from their region, making them very unique indeed. And with the Netflix seriesdoing amazingly well, it’s a great time to go over some of our favorites we found in the games that people may not know even existed. Fingers crossed that these guys show up in the second season.
10Leshens: Skull-Wearing Forest Spirits
Alright alright, out of everything on here, people probably know about the Leshen’s the most, but we had to start with something recognizable right? People might recognize Leshens as one of the Event monsters they could hunt inMonster Hunter Worldduring theWitcherCrossover event.
As their appearance suggests, they’re forest spirits that hunt those that would harm their domain. They can summon crows, wolves, and even spikelike roots to pop out of the ground. Honestly, they’re insanely hard fights for a large portion of theWitcher 3. So, we recommend either running or spamming Igni and Dragon’s Dream bombs. Also, Moon Dust bombs are more than helpful against them.
9Berserkers: The Skellige Battle Fiends
Werebears, Berserkers, or otherwise known as a type of therianthrope are creatures that frequent Skellige. Basically, they’re werewolves, but instead of the wolf part, they’re half bear. Not much is factually known about these warriors, they’re bedtime stories for kids in Skellige. But, it is said that they transform when in a Battle-raged like state.
Their default form is of a man, of course, but they can also become half and half form as well. What really sets them apart though, is they can also fully transmogrify into a bear form, and it’s in this form that they are at their most powerful. No extra limbs or bipedal stature needed here; they just literally turn into bears. When they’re in their human form, steel works fine. However, silver is their weakness once they switch to bear mode
8Cockatrices: They Don’t Actually Turn You To Stone
Most of the creatures in theWitcherseries have multiple names, and the Cockatrice is no different. It can also be called a skoffin or a kurolishek, but Cockatrice is a bit easier to say. Cockatrices appear often in monster-based games, and their appearance always drastically differs.
Some paint them as giant roosters, others go completely off-base, and some even show them as horrifying chicken-lizard hybrids. For our purposes,The Witcheruses the last depiction. InThe Witcher 3, these beasts can only be found in two locations in the entire game, and are some of the more difficult fights we’ve encountered.
7Pixies: Hidden In Shadow, But Not How They Stereotypically Look
TheBlood and Wineexpansion is one of the most interesting additions to the lore of the franchise. For one, it’s the final DLC for the game that adds an insane amount of features, such as owning your own vineyard or customizing the color of your gear. Secondly, it involves a lot of children’s fairytales and creatures from folklore.
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There’s a lot to cover, but the ones that blew our minds the most were the Pixies. Why would we be so focused on minor creatures that only show up like once? Well, Pixies are commonly seen as tiny winged (mostly female) creatures that exude adorableness and light. But, the ones we fight inBlood and Wineare these goblin-esque shadow creatures that seem oddly obsessed with murder.
6The Caretaker: An Interdimensionally Summoned Servant
Next is the Caretaker, one of the least-known characters in the game yet somehow also an overall fan favorite. This being is in the other DLC,Hearts of Stone, and doesn’t seem that imposing at first.
At first glance, the Caretaker just looks to be a mistreated worker at the Von Everec estate that prefers to hide his face. But, once we fight him, we can see the true horror of his appearance. The image speaks for itself, but yeah, he doesn’t have a face. Apparently, the Caretaker is a dimension or cosmic entity summoned by the Von Everecs to work for them, so that’s pretty cool.
5Gaunter O Dimm: Curious That His Initials Are G-O-D
Gaunter O Dimm is one of our favorite characters in all of theWitcherfranchise, and he’s another one that appears during theHearts of Stoneexpansion. He works as the “Deal with the Devil” character, giving you what you asked for with a slightly dark twist, in return for an unbreakable promise. Olgierd von Everec is his current target, and he contracts Geralt in order to help him get what he is owed.
Throughout the expansion, we see the depths of his powers such as time-stop and mind control, and it’s more than we’ve ever seen from a “human” character before. There are a lot of hints that O Dimm might literally be the devil, so that’s pretty neat.
4Noon Wraiths: The Unexpectedly Daytime-Loving Ghosts
Noon Wraits actually appear a bit more frequently in theWitcher, but they’re a bit unique. Noon Wraiths are vengeful spirits spawned from wives who died brutal deaths right before their weddings. But, as opposed to most other ghosts, Noon Wraiths appear when the sun is at its highest.
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That’s right, a ghost that hangs out in an open field in the middle of the day rather than a tightly packed house in the dead of night. Really subverting all our expectations huh? That said, Noon Wraits are a challenge early on in the game due to them being significantly harder than the standard wraiths we’ve been fighting up until now. So, approach with care.
3Kikimoras: Big Hideous Termites
That’s right, it’s the creature that appears in the first few seconds of the newWitcherNetflix series! It’s a monster that lead Henry Cavillis more than familiarwith. The Kikimora is a “real” creature inThe Witcherbooks, particularly the story “The Lesser Evil”.
According to the developer CD Projekt Red’s Monster Log that came with theCollector’s Editionof the third game, Kikimore’s were based on Termites. They’re social monsters, building colonies instead of acting alone. In theBlood and Wineexpansion, Geralt fights a fair bit of them, with multiple workers always surrounding the mutated mercenary to help support their Kikimora Warrior.
2Chorts: The Sylvans On Steroids
Chorts are like if the Sylvan from the second episode ofThe WitcherNetflix series grew three times more aggressive, four times as big, and with half the intelligence. Chorts cannot speak, cannot negotiate, and cannot stop themselves from destroying everything in sight. Anyone who confuses the two creatures will find themselves either without a farmstead or deep in the Chorts belly. When fighting a Chort, it’s best to resort to the tried and true method of baiting their charge and hoping they run into a wall.
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They can also be poisoned and burned for quite a bit of damage. Chorts don’t require any complicated tactics to fight, but if you manage to take a hit from one and live, you’ll know that they aren’t creatures to take lightly.
1Musicians of Blaviken: A Hilarious Easter Egg Totem Pole
And finally, we thought we’d end on something a bit more…normal. That’s right; normal.
This band of animals is based on a legend from the small town of Bremen in Germany, where a couple of mistreated animals decided to band together and play music. In theBlood and Wineexpansion, they appear as a rooster on top of a cat on top of a dog who is on top of a donkey. And, when approached they disappear in a puff of green smoke. If you’re looking for creatures, and you’re looking for obscure, there isn’t anything weirder than this band of misfits in the game.
NEXT:10 Big Differences Between The Witcher TV Show And The Games
