Necrophages are among the most iconic and most terrifying creatures a player can encounter in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. These undead beings are a plague found in cemeteries, battlefields, crypts, and places of death.
Yet even the most inquisitive player may not know a lot about these horrific creatures. Where they came from, their strange behavior, and the fact that they’re based on real-life organisms. If you’re interested in learning more about these feasters of the dead then here are some things you may not have known about Necrophages.
10 Based On Real Life Organisms
The word Necrophage refers to any organism that obtains nutrients through the consumption of decomposing organic matter. The most common form of Necrophages is fungi or mushrooms that derive their nutrients from decaying matter.
The only animal that’s an obligate scavenger, meaning 100% of its food intake is from a rotting corpse, is the vulture. These vile birds will congregate around recent deaths and feast upon the rotting corpses, much like a Ghoul or a Rotfiend. Fortunately, there are no humanoid Necrophages in real life, at least that we know of.
9 Burning Bodies Keeps Them Away
Because Necrophages primarily feast on rotting corpses an effective way to avoid their presence is by burning the dead. Anywhere that buries the dead runs the risk of attracting Ghouls or Grave Hags that will set up shop and feast on those lying below the dirt.
This is especially important on the battlefield as the mass of bodies will begin attracting Rotfiends and other Necrophages to what is essentially an all you can eat buffet. While this won’t eliminate the presence of Foglets or Wights, it will minimize the chances of many other Necrophages appearing in the area, so burn the bodies.
8 Don’t Hunt For Sport
An interesting quirk about Necrophages is that by and large, they’re not predatory creatures by default. For example, a Grave Hag residing in a cemetery will be perfectly content with the supply of rotting corpses and have little reason to venture away and attack living beings, it already has a steady supply of food so why run the risk of getting injured? Especially when it’ll need to bury the victim and let the body rot before eating.
Most Necrophages will leave people alone so long as they have an abundant supply of food, don’t feel threatened, and no one enters their territory. It’s only when they’re hungry, injured, threatened, or desperate that they attack, but by all means, feel free to slaughter them when under contract to do so.
7 Most Were Once Human
Except for Foglets, most Necrophages were once humans or a species similar to humans such as Elves. It’s through some tragic or horrific act upon their death or in life that leads to a humanoid being transformed into one of these undead monstrosities.
Admittedly there is some dispute to the veracity of the claim that Necrophages were once human and this is addressed later. But for now, let’s look at the various ways some of these Necrophages are created.
6 Cannibalism Turns Humans Into Necrophages
The main method of becoming a Necrophage is resorting to cannibalism. It doesn’t matter if this is a result of a human trying new things or forced to cannibalism out of starvation and survival, if you consume another human’s flesh you will eventually become a horrifying monster.
This most commonly results in Ghouls, though some players believe Rotfiend are also created this way. It seems the act of feasting on one of your own bears some terrible consequences and subjects you to a life of mindless insanity and an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
5 The Drowners Drowned
The Drowners are a bit different from Ghouls in that they’re the result of a human drowning and somehow reanimating into a rotten corpse. It’s unclear if the waters of The Witcher’s world bear some magical property, if some unknown creature reanimates the corpses, or if, as the souls of the human leave, something takes its place but the act of drowning will sometimes result in a Drowner.
The Beastiary in the game mentions that either the act of drowning will result in a Drowner or if a dead body is cast into the water it will become a Drowner.
4 Water Hags Are Rumored To Be Drowner’s Wives
Folklore in the game suggests that when a man dies and becomes a Drowner his wife will become a Hag. It’s unclear why this would be the case though some players think it has to do with the wife going insane or being the first victim of the recently created Drowner.
A more likely theory is that Hags are the result of women succumbing to cannibalism and insanity. Of course, the final entry hints at another possibility as to where these Hags come from.
3 Criminals Become A Special Drowner
When a criminal is drowned as part of its punishment or the body is cast into the waters, it’s said to become a special form of Drowner called the Drowned Dead. These are much stronger and more hostile variants.
It could be the additional rage a criminal might feel when executed by drowning that may result in this variant. Or whatever process occurs to create a Drowner is simply more effective with villainous personalities. Some players suspect a damned criminal is more likely to make a pact with whatever reanimates these creatures.
2 Foglets May Unintentionally Create New Necrophages
Foglets are nasty creatures that use deception and illusions to lure travelers off the path and to their dooms. Sometimes it’s a matter of luring them into a remote spot before the Foglets attack the weak and weary traveler or they lure them off cliffs where they fall to death or into bogs where they drown.
In any case, it raises the question of how many Necrophages were created due to the actions of Foglets. Are they lost men and women who resorted to cannibalism to survive? People who drowned in bogs and rivers and became the Drowned? Or old women who go insane and become Hags? It’s a frightening possibility that makes Foglets much more problematic.
1 Conjunction Of The Spheres
As promised, this entry acknowledges an event called the Conjunction Of The Spheres, which is a bit of a spoiler for the books and the games to some degree. The Conjunction of the Spheres is a historical event where multiple realms collided, resulting in a single realm populated by beings from various realms such as Humans, Elves, Vampires, and Ghouls.
Many players have interpreted this to mean that all creatures are the result of this collision so Necrophages were not previously humans but transplanted beings similar to Elves. Of course, a second theory is that this Conjunction resulted in acts like cannibalism having magical disastrous consequences supporting the aforementioned methods of becoming a Necrophage. It could also be that both are true with some Ghouls being true Ghouls and some formerly being human. It’s up to you.
NEXT: The Witcher 3: Every Beast Type Ranked, According To Strength
