The Witcher: 10 Side Characters With Main Character Energy
In many ways, Netflix’s The Witcher is one of the most unique fantasy series currently on television. While at first glance it might appear to be a typical genre piece–with monsters, quests, and sorceresses galore–it actually works overtime to subvert many of the conventions of epic fantasy. It also features many exciting characters.
Obviously, Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer occupy the center of the story, but there are also quite a few side characters that repeatedly demonstrate that, though they may not be the protagonists, they still have quite a lot of main character energy.
Tissaia is one of the most powerful characters in the series, and she is also one of its most formidable. As one of those in charge of teaching new mages at Arethuza, she has no patience for those she deems foolish. However, she has all of the complexity that one would expect out of a main character, for while she is often very harsh with Yennefer, she also clearly thinks very highly of her protege and wants to help her become the most powerful sorceress that she can.
There are many intelligent characters that appear in The Witcher, and it’s fairly clear even early on that Vilgefortz is going to be one of these. He’s the type of person who always has some scheme or other in mind, and he’s canny enough not to reveal too much of what he’s up to. It’s precisely his mysteriousness that allows him to become one of the series’ most fascinating creations, and it’s fairly certain that he would be able to carry a series on his own.
Of the many people that Ciri encounters in her travels, Dara is arguably one of the most important and, as it turns out, one of the most complicated. Though he is a relatively minor character, he clearly has a great deal of complexity, as he shows when he works to help Ciri but doesn’t stay with her. What’s more, he also shows that, deep down, he is a moral person, as he ultimately refuses to continue on in his duties as an informant for the spymaster Dijkstra.
Yennefer encounters many important people during her time at Aretuza, but arguably one of the most important is Istredd, with whom she has a long and complicated relationship. Though he becomes steadily more important in the second season, he still remains largely ancillary to the main action.
Nevertheless, with his commitment to knowledge, and his tremendous powers as a mage, he’s the type of person who would make a fascinating show in his own right.
There are few characters who are quite as powerful, or as scary, as Calanthe. A queen of formidable military and political skill, she can be quite ruthless when it comes to the well-being of her kingdom and her family. Of all of the royals that appear in the series, she's the one who has the most main character energy, and a series that focused on her would find much to explore, including her fascinating and complicated family history, to say nothing of her romantic life.
Mousesack is arguably one of the most intelligent characters in The Witcher, and he also happens to be one of its bravest, as he shows when he refuses to give into the invading forces of Nilfgaard. He is incredibly loyal to Queen Calanthe and to Ciri, and though this makes him a great supporting character, it’s also key to his appeal as a potential main character. Any series that focused on him would have a lot to work with, and it could give more information about how he came to be such a powerful druid and why he remained so loyal to the royal family of Cintra.
Stregobor is one of the more ruthless mages that appear in the series. Like several of his counterparts, he’s not the type of person to let sentiment get in the way of his ambitions, or even in his search for knowledge and understanding. At the same time, he is something of an enigma, and the series leaves much of his motivation vague and mysterious.
There’s no doubt, though, that he still manages to be a very captivating and compelling character, exactly the type of person that would make an ideal main character.
Dijkstra is one of the most powerful characters introduced in the second season of The Witcher and, like many of the others, he is a cunning and rather ruthless person. However, there’s no question that he is also a very compelling and charismatic personality (due in no small part to the fact that he’s played by the imposing actor Graham McTavish). It would be quite fascinating to learn about his career as a spymaster, and how he came to be a person with so much influence over the doings of the great and powerful.
Filavandrel is, arguably, one of the most tragic characters to appear in The Witcher. Like the other members of the elves, he has been living essentially in exile, at least until the Nilfgaardians appear and conquer Cintra. Despite the fact that he has been living in grinding poverty, he nevertheless shows a tremendous strength of character and personality, and he manages to dominate almost every scene in which he appears. He would make a very compelling focus for a series in his own right.
Nivellen is another fascinating character to have appeared in the second season and, like so many other people in The Witcher, his is a sad story. While he clearly has a lot of affection for Geralt – which is returned – he also has shown in the past that he is capable of horrendous acts, which leads to his cursed appearance. Still, he manages to be a charismatic person, someone whose story would make for a very interesting series in its own right.