When it comes to morality in The Witcher, whether in the games, the books, or the show, everything is portrayed as a gray area or at least that’s the aim of the medieval dark fantasy. Even so, there are still good guys and bad guys made clear by their motivations. The villains, for that matter, tend to be the cruel, power-hungry individuals whose ideals clash with the main characters.
So yes, the villains in The Witcher are clear-cut. There are only a few of them in the first season, but come the next few seasons of the Netflix show, certain characters are about to show their true colors. In addition to that, there will definitely be additional villains. In fact, we even have a list of some potential ones Netflix might include in Season 2 or later. Their existence in the show is bound to make it a lot more dramatic and exciting.
Oh, and some are spoilers if you’ve never read the books. You’ve been warned.
10 ISTREDD
By now you’re probably familiar with Istredd. He’s been established in the show as Yennefer’s first romantic flame, one that even preceded Geralt of Rivia. Since Yennefer and Geralt’s relationship is unstable (to say the least), she keeps coming back to Istredd while still with Geralt in the books. As such, Istredd is only a villain to Geralt himself.
He’s Geralt’s direct and most serious competition for Yennefer’s love. This even came to a boiling point where the two fought for Yennefer emotionally and physically, culminating in a duel to the death. The show hasn’t gotten to this point yet but it was a rather tense Shakespearean encounter between the two men that’s worth anticipating in later seasons.
9 RIENCE
The Witcher’s ending showed Ciri and Geralt finally uniting. Though it seemed like a happy ending, Ciri is not out of the woods yet — figuratively. She will be hunted down by more men loyal to the Nilfgaardian throne since they know how much power she possesses. One of the men tasked to find Ciri is Rience, a rogue mage who’s used to criminal activity and selling his violent services.
Rogue humans are already dangerous in The Witcher’s world but give them magical capabilities and they become more than a thorn in the main characters’ sides. In his quest to nab Ciri, Rience even kidnapped and tortured Dandelion, believing that the bard knew where Ciri was since he’s also close to Geralt.
8 STEFAN SKELLEN
Yet another shady man who’s after Ciri, Stefan Skellen works directly for the Nilfgaardian throne. He’s even a member of the Nilfgaardian Secret Service, meaning he works for the emperor of Nilfgaard. This was also the reason why Stefan was given the mission of finding Ciri, especially since Cahir kept failing in the first season.
Now, the twist is that Stefan Skellen loves democracy a lot more than Nilfgaard’s tyranny; in actuality, he’s secretly working to overthrow the Emperor of Nilfgaard even while working for the throne’s interests. As such, Stefan made changes to his initial mission of finding and bringing Ciri back alive by planning to kill her instead to ruin the Emperor’s plans.
7 WILD HUNT
Here we go again. Yet another faction that wants Ciri. The Wild Hunt or their leader, Eredin, has long had plans to restore the blood of Lara Dorren to the elven throne at their king’s behest. It just so happens that the only living descendant of Lara Dorren is Ciri herself, which is why she’s carrying immense power in her lineage.
The Wild Hunt was already mentioned in passing at the banquet of Cintra in the first season of the show. While their appearance in the books is rather brief, many fans of the franchise know that the Wild Hunt is usually up to no good, and there is a chance that the show might give them a bigger role. After all, they make for compelling villains given their motivations and background.
6 EMHYR VAR EMREIS
The Emperor of Nilfgaard? That would be Emhyr var Emreis and believe it or not, he’s already appeared in the first season of the show (though not as a villain). Spoiler Alert — he was hiding under the name “Duny.” He is Pavetta’s husband and also Ciri’s father. Emhyr, with the help of powerful friends, was able to ascend to the throne of Nilfgaard. That explains why Nilfgaard is doing everything to get Ciri back.
In the books, however, Emhyr had other plans for Ciri in wanting her back. To put it candidly, he wants to have a child with Ciri because her child is attached to a certain powerful prophecy. That goes to show just how hungry for power Emhyr is. However, he’s still a complex character due to the small ounce of compassion left in him — some fans don’t even consider him a villain though it’s all a matter of perspective.
5 PHILIPPA EILHART
When it comes to straight-cut villains, however, Philippa Eilhart is hard to beat. She’s one of the most driven sorceresses in The Witcher franchise, and will do anything to achieve her goals — which are not exactly benevolent. Philippa pretty much just wants to manipulate the kingdoms in the Continent of The Witcher to better serve the Lodge of Sorceresses, a faction she founded.
Philippa uses everything in her arsenal from magic to cunning to violence, or even sexual favors in order to further the agenda of the Lodge and gain control over the world. She was also present in the second and third Witcher games and was one of the most memorable characters there, meaning her appearance in the show will resonate likewise.
4 FOREST GRAMPS
Forest Gramps is everything wrong with the normal human being in The Witcher franchise. He’s a cannibal and a rapist who lives alone in the forest (hence his name). Ciri was merely unlucky enough to fall into his hands after getting kidnapped and escaping from the factions who were after her.
At first, Ciri thought she was finally safe since Forest Gramps seemed kind enough. That was until he tried to assault her, probably with plans to cannibalize her afterward. Ciri only survived thanks to her sword and her loyal horse. Forest Gramps is one of the most chilling villains ever in the books despite his brief appearance. He might not appear in Season 2, however, as he doesn’t appear until the seventh book.
3 RACIST HUMANS
The typical human being in The Witcher franchise is a racial bigot and supremacist. They hate anything with pointy ears, stunted height, and anything that doesn’t look like a human. This has caused a ton of problems for Geralt and his friends since some of them are nonhuman creatures.
The first season of the show does portray this to a certain extent but not enough to make humans out to be major villains. Regardless, racist humans as regular and even recurring mini-villains in The Witcher show can prove that Geralt has yet to face the biggest monster in his world.
2 LEO BONHART
A man who can kill witchers with ease despite having no powers is a huge threat that sticks out like a sore thumb. Make it so that he’s also after Ciri and you get one of the most frightening and determined villains in the show. His name is Leo Bonhart and he’s one of the biggest menaces in the books.
Granted, he might not appear yet since, like Forest Gramps, he also appears quite late in the books. Still, we do hope that he gets an early introduction. What he did to Ciri and her friends was quite brutal, and seeing Leo early could mean an upgrade in Ciri’s adventures and character development.
1 VILGEFORTZ
You’ve seen Vilgefortz as a heroic battlemage who stood against Nilfgaard despite the overwhelming odds and then suddenly doing a puzzling 180-degree decision by bludgeoning his ally to death. Well, that’s because Vilgefortz might be working for Emhyr var Emreis already. In the books, he’s actually the one responsible for putting Emhyr in power. So, basically, you’ve been fooled — Vilgefortz is as power-hungry as a monarch.
Moreover, he also serves as the de-facto Big Bad in the book series. His goals just kept growing until he wanted to take over the world. Hard to imagine with the current state of Vilgefortz in the show, right? Steel yourselves for the next season then; he’s about to show his true colors.
