7 Weirdest Witcher 3 Enemies (And What They Represent)

By Ashleigh Millman / May 17, 2019

Considering The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now a decidedly ancient four years old, fans have had the chance to really flesh out the bestiary of the Continent. There have been many marvels Geralt of Rivia has seen, killed, and - of course - banged along the way, traversing through the Northern Realms with his repertoire of swords both on his back and in his trousers to prove to us that the world of The Witcher is a particularly dangerous place.

But it's also a fascinating one, steeped in real-world lore from immeasurably intelligent Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, that celebrates mythology from far and wide in the process.

Each creature comes with pages and pages of backstory, lovingly built from the ground up by CD Projekt RED to create that much more of an immersive (if not terrifying) world. From the smallest wrinkle on the tiniest botchling, to the largest antlers on the most impressive chort, there's plenty going on in the world of The Witcher when you start to dig into its Slavic roots, and bountiful lore to be discovered.

In any case, let's crack open this monster manual and take a look then, shall we?

7. Nekker

One from the Ogroid section of the bestiary, Nekkers are a staple of the Witcher universe that have frustrated many an adventuring Geralt, over years of playtime. If you find one, chances are you'll find a hundred of the grotty things, easily able to overwhelm lower-level players or chase them down to their death.

Nekkers themselves are pale, flabby, annoying little monsters with more chins than Jabba the Hutt, living up to their name by their necks being their most notable feature of their physical form. As for their inspiration, the Nekker's namesake is a water spirit in Dutch folklore, widely branching out into Germanic mythology which paints them as something similar to drowners.

Characteristically though, they are far more closely tied to the Irish Puca, which are mischievous nature spirits that shapeshift between forms, though our Nekkers seem to be stuck in their preferred goblin state. Interestingly, noted fairy mythologist Thomas Keightley mentioned these creatures in his works:

"Old people used to say that the Pookas were very numerous in the times long ago. They were wicked-minded, black-looking, bad things, that would come in the form of wild colts, with chains hanging about them. They did great hurt to benighted travellers."

The Witcher's version seems to stay very true to these creatures, though instead of having dark fur, these are emaciated skin bags - perhaps rendered bald and mole-like from their lifetime of burrowing, in place of wandering the plains.