Ciri marks the beginning of a new Witcher era. How Geralt’s foster daughter became a female witcher, however, is still a big question mark. A YouTuber has combed through the books for answers.
We waited a long time for it and were finally treated to the first trailer for The Witcher 4 at the last Game Awards. In the six minutes, we witnessed a morbid ritual and got a first look at our new heroine: Ciri.
In the trailer, Ciri not only cleans up, but also raises some questions that are hotly debated among fans of the universe.A female witcher, is that even possible?Would Geralt ever have allowed it? And why should Ciri of all people undergo the brutal trials to become a witcher?
A YouTuber has addressed all these questions and delved a little into the books and other works from the Witcher cosmos.
Can there be female witches?
On his channel, the YouTuber Neon Knight has published a video in which he shows what the Witcher lore has to offer on the subject of women as witches (witchers? witches?). As the new main protagonist, Ciri is apparently the first woman to actively serve as a witch. You can see the complete video here, albeit in English:
As a big fan of the series, Neon Knight has already poked his nose into a few topics related to Geralt and friends. So he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to clarify some discrepancies regarding Ciri as a witcher, because there is an uproar in the community. Some believe that there can be no female witcher and that Ciri would therefore disrupt the lore.
In fact, it is not that easy to become a witcher and only a few survive the procedure at all.
The subjects, mostly orphaned boys, have to undergo several brutal tests, including the so-called herb test. During this test, various tinctures made from herbs and mushrooms are introduced to them, which trigger mutations. The goal is to develop quick reflexes, acute hearing, and immunity to disease, but the price is high. Only two out of ten subjects survive the ordeal.
In all the books and games, there is always talk of boys as witch pupils. So far, there is no known female witch besides Ciri who has survived this procedure. But the books also don’t mention that it’s impossible for girls to pass the test.
There are even some indications that experiments were carried out on girls and women to create the witch mutations. In the game Gwent: Rogue Mage by CD Project Red, for example, a sorcerer is mentioned who used women as test subjects to develop the witch trials. However, he only succeeded in making a boy the first successful subject.
Girls are also mentioned as test subjects in the official Witcher tabletop game. However, they became ill more quickly than boys during the experiments and ultimately died. It is not yet known whether a woman before Ciri ever became a witch, but it is certain that it was repeatedly tried.
Ciri as a witch
Ciri apparently took the test during or after the events in The Witcher 3, so not as a child but as an adult. Before that, she underwent the full witcher training program at Kaer Morhen, where she was also given mushrooms and herbal mixtures that the witcher apprentices take to develop their strength.
Ciri would therefore have significantly better conditions to survive the trials than many other candidates. For one thing, at 24 she is no longer a child and, for another, she already has extraordinary abilities.
However, many fans also see a problem in the way these tests are carried out, because Triss believes in the books that this process has since been forgotten in its details. At some point, there was little need for new witches, as there were no longer so many monsters roaming the world, and the procedure was pushed further and further into the background.
In addition, the witcher mutations became increasingly unstable over time and the success rate of the tests continued to decline. This was noted in the latest witcher book from 2024. So how could it be possible for Ciri to become a witcher now?
At this point, no one at Kaer Morhen really knows how the trials are conducted, but the necessary means are still available.
Ciri and Yennefer spent a lot of time in the laboratory in the books and would have had the opportunity to acquire the lost knowledge. Yennefer even performs such an experiment on Uma in Witcher 3. So it’s not impossible that Ciri was able to take the trials.
The question remains as to why Ciri should undergo the dangerous trials to become a witcher at all. As a child of elder blood and through her training, she already has extraordinary and magical abilities.
We can assume, however, that this question will be part of the new saga. In our interview with the developers, you can already see what makes Ciri’s story so special.
Ciri has experienced so much trauma as a young person. She has been on the run for almost all of her life. But you can’t keep running from your life forever. At some point, you have to face it and carve your own path. And that’s exactly what Ciri will do in The Witcher 4.
Sebastian Kalemba, Game Director
Even though Geralt was certainly not particularly pleased that Ciri chose the path of a witcher, it is not illogical that he allowed it. During his own journey, he had to learn to let go and trust Ciri’s own decisions.
How do you feel about the new Witcher saga? What do you hope to get out of the adventures you will have with Ciri? Feel free to tell us in the comments!
