10 Witcher 3 Characters Who Feel Completely Different When You Know the Story

There are countless reasons to want to replay The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but one I highly recommend considering is how your relationship with the story changes.

Unlike your first playthrough, seeing events unfold when you already know the true motivations and backstories of everyone involved makes you appreciate CD Projekt RED's mastery of storytelling.

From the subtle to the retrospectively obvious, entire arcs completely shift in feel once you have the full picture, and this truly helps you appreciate the game's brilliance in terms of narrative and worldbuilding.

Therefore, if you're looking for reasons to enjoy the game again but aren't entirely convinced yet, I recommend reading this article about ten Witcher 3 characters who feel completely different on a second playthrough.

10 Keira Metz

Class Ambitions

Those of us who were already familiar with the members and associates of the Lodge of Sorceresses could well anticipate that Keira Metz was a character we would, at the very least, have to keep a close eye on to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

However, the benefit of the doubt is powerful, and her charisma and long-standing relationship with Geralt led most of us to trust her, especially after everything they went through while exploring Fyke Isle, only to be deceived in the end.

When you discover she hid Alexander's notes and intended to use them for her own benefit and gain Radovid's forgiveness to return to the aristocracy, it's impossible not to feel disdain for her selfishness, yet the multiple paths CD Projekt offers to resolve the situation help you see everything from a different perspective.

If you pressure her or let her take the notes, she ends up dying without further development, though if you spare her and take her to Kaer Morhen, it's not only beneficial because she helps fight the Wild Hunt and cure the Catriona plague, but you also gain an ally who is as human as the rest of the fortress' inhabitants.

A more eccentric and self-centered ally than the others? Undoubtedly, but on a second playthrough, you come to empathize with the character because most of her possible fates are horrific, and it's far more beneficial for everyone that she gets to use her powers for good.

9 Lambert

A Life of Resentment

Speaking of Kaer Morhen residents who evoke strong feelings, Lambert is a real pain in the neck who genuinely tries hard to make us dislike him every time he appears on the screen, but it all makes sense.

As his character develops, you learn the tragic backstory of abuse and coercion inflicted upon him by his father, including the neglect that led him to become a witcher, causing him to hate his fate and everyone connected to it.

When you talk to him, each dialogue ceases to be an annoying satire and becomes the outpouring of a soul trapped in its own life by choices made by others, and it's only through human connection that he manages to come to terms with what his life has become.

Knowing his background doesn't automatically make you like him every time he shows how stubborn he is, though it definitely makes you understand him better and, therefore, motivates you to try hard so that his fate in the story isn't death.

8 Sigismund Dijkstra

A Predator Lurking

Seeing a character like Sigismund Dijkstra raises red flags from the very first encounter, but like any politician, his eloquence and persuasive skills are especially powerful assets in such capable hands.

By chance, working together proves beneficial for a considerable amount of time, until the collaboration crumbles with a final betrayal that, even if you anticipate it, is still utterly despicable.

Once Radovid dies, Dijkstra immediately betrays Roche, Ves, and Thaler, seeking to establish himself as a dictator to defeat the Nilfgaardians and leaving us in an uncomfortable position: let our friends die and allow a new reign of industrial terror, or help them and allow Temeria to become a vassal state of Nilfgaard.

The situation is so negative on so many fronts that, no matter what decision you make, there is no desirable outcome, making Dijkstra's participation in the story so inconvenient that you proceed to perceive the manipulation behind every word he utters and to hate him intensely.

7 Birna Bran

A First-Rate Conspirator

If there are a couple of constants in The Witcher 3, it's that everything related to the Skellige Isles is incredible, and that everything political carries with it a twist of betrayal, as Birna Bran reminds us.

The widowed queen is presented as a grieving figure after the loss of King Bran Tuirseach, but the convenience of this event in transforming the territory's form of government and securing the throne for her son, Svanrige, completely changes the impression she makes.

After experiencing the entire questline and witnessing the lengths to which Birna will go to eradicate the democratic vestiges of Skellige and transform it into a full-fledged monarchy, willing to kill anyone who gets in her way and blame anyone left alive, her image shifts from tragic to Machiavellian.

It's not so difficult to imagine the circumstances are working in her favor, though with the knowledge of the truth at hand, it's fascinating to see in real time how she lies with impunity and, even more so, to uncover her true intentions when you know how and where to look.

6 Vesemir

An Inevitable Departure

After playing countless video games, reading countless books, and watching countless movies, you develop an unconscious ability to recognize which characters are destined to perish in a story, but with Vesemir, it's done in an extraordinarily subtle and elegant way.

When you see him talking about how his kind are no longer necessary in the modern world, contrasted with his dedication to training Ciri, it foreshadows one of the game's most pivotal resolutions: the end of the School of the Wolf and the birth of a new kind of witcher.

Vesemir is a turning point for both the game world and the franchise itself, as each of his appearances is accompanied by a melancholy for what is about to end (his life and the trilogy) that becomes evident when you know everything that will happen.

And it's magnificent, since you might expect Vesemir's fate by simple intuition, though The Witcher 3 does an outstanding job of communicating it progressively and gradually so that it doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere, but also so that it doesn't take you completely by surprise.

5 Emhyr var Emreis

Fatherhood as a Facade

Emhyr var Emreis, especially after reading the books, goes from being a somewhat bland figure I can empathize with to practically a minor antagonist who annoys me more and more every time I hear him talk about Ciri.

It's obvious he's an ambitious politician who will do anything to maintain power, but hiding behind the search for his daughter to gain Geralt's favor, when he really only sees her as a tool for perpetuating his rule, is a very, very low blow.

These are intentions you can see right through, yet there's always some room to accept the possibility that he has a genuine desire for Ciri's well-being, which is completely eradicated once you know he only wants her to become empress and continue ruling with an iron fist.

Nothing I enjoy more than replaying the game and taking all the dialogue options that antagonize Emhyr to see him frustrated or annoyed, as he's such a well-written character that I think I genuinely despise him.

4 Olgierd von Everec

Fighting to Feel

As one of the most dramatic 180-degree turns in how much I care for a character, Olgierd von Everec is among the main reasons why Hearts of Stone is such a magnificent expansion.

Going from seeing him as a cool, immortal bandit to a widower afflicted by the inability to feel is a magnificent transition that truly demonstrates the creativity with which the studio can craft entire narratives.

All the missions related to the character, from creating the best night of his brother's life to visiting his deceased wife in a painted world, build the fractured identity of an individual who sought everything for love and also lost it.

It's difficult to reach the final decision of the DLC and not do everything possible to save him, so that feeling of affection doesn't change much on the second playthrough. However, what does completely transform is the impression his stubbornness and brutishness create, as they're mere covers for an immeasurable pain with which we can only empathize.

3 The Bloody Baron

Tragically Detestable

It's often said The Witcher 3's first main arc is the best in the entire campaign, and with characters like The Bloody Baron being fundamental, I find it tough to disagree.

He remains a wretched, abusive, and manipulative alcoholic who deserves every moral punishment that can befall him, but he's undoubtedly among the game's most complex and difficult characters to categorize.

The moment our actions directly influence his fate is when the judgment of our thoughts becomes an executioner's verdict, and making that leap was among the points that took me the longest to process before deciding on a path.

Given that his options are to hang himself from a tree or watch his beloved succumb to madness, but determined to find a cure, you recognize his years of misdeeds haven't been entirely bleak, and that he's aware that, one way or another, he must pay.

Whether it's with his life or with an endless search carrying the responsibility for his actions without being freed through death, these are images that shape your understanding of the character's mentality, which is as disgusting as it is sad.

2 Avallac'h

A Half-Cooked Plot

Avallac'h is the most enigmatic character in the entire campaign, as you can easily play through his appearance without ever truly being able to predict whether you're facing an ally or an enemy.

If we were to go by the books, you might end up being guided by the latter, but CD Projekt's version is far less ruthless and utilitarian, creating an ambiguity in his intentions that makes him very difficult to decipher.

Nevertheless, the evidence doesn't lie, and when you discover his laboratory, his hatred for humanity, and his morbid obsession with the Elder Blood, the influence of the Avallac'h from the books becomes palpable, as a cold and manipulative entity who only wants Ciri for experimental purposes beyond her knowledge.

However, ultimately, he only appears as an aid to help Ciri stop the White Frost and fulfill Ithlinne's prophecy, which feels somewhat out of character considering his established persona.

Therefore, especially if you read the books, a second playthrough makes it clear Eredin wasn't meant to be the title's final boss (which would explain why the entire fight feels incomplete), but rather it was probably going to be Avallac'h, as everything fits together perfectly.

1 Gaunter O'Dimm

G.O.D.

Despite everything said so far, there is no figure more striking and charming than Gaunter O'Dimm from Hearts of Stone, probably the villain who has intrigued me the most in the history of video games.

In almost every case, villains get some kind of resolution, whether regarding their origins, personality, desires, or objective… But the owner of the initials G.O.D. operates under completely different rules.

You can play Hearts of Stone as many times as you want, and you'll always feel every line of dialogue is a deception, eluding any possible interpretation, though motivating you to keep striving to get a clear idea of ​​who he really is.

You won't discover it, and the furthest you'll get is to theorize along with thousands of people on the internet about his identity, but once you know the extent of his power, his first encounters with Geralt feel extremely more tense and suspenseful.

Whether he's God, the devil, or simply the most powerful entity in The Witcher universe, we don't know, though I have faith one day we will. In the meantime, we'll have to be content with his iconic appearances, which are as few as they are memorable.