The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is home to all sorts of monsters. Though hideous and grotesque, some of these creatures are closer to humans than one would expect. This is the case for the werewolf, as can be assumed from the monster's mythological origins.
The player comes across multiple werewolves in The Witcher 3. One challenges Ciri as she flees from the Crones and the Wild Hunt, while the rest have to be dealt with by Geralt.
Part Man, Part Beast
Werewolves in The Witcher 3 appear as hunched, bipedal beasts with the features of both man and wolf. Their long, sharp claws make it easy for them to incapacitate their prey and they have a superior sense of smell, even better than a wolf. Given their half-best nature, werewolves often hunt harmoniously with other wolves and canine animals, but they notably dislike werecats.
Werewolves are labeled as cursed creatures in The Witcher 3 and thus have little control over their abilities. They usually change into their beastly form at night and are much stronger during a full moon. In this state, they acquire an insatiable hunger for raw flesh, with no regard as to what their prey is. They’re still capable of human speech in this form, and once the night is over cursed werewolves revert to humans with no recollection of what they’ve done the night prior.
The number of ways a person can be cursed with lycanthropy isn’t specified, although one known cause is being bitten by a wolf. Still, there’s very little chance of this happening. As for lifting lycanthropy curses, the bestiary entry mentions there’s no one way to do this, and that attempting to do so requires plenty of patience.
Despite their classification in the game, not all werewolves are afflicted by the lycanthropy curse. As per The Witcher book series, lycanthropy is also a genetic condition. If someone has a werewolf parent, they’re likely a werewolf as well, and the only difference here is that natural-born werewolves have full control of their abilities. Unlike cursed werewolves, they cannot be cured of their lycanthropy.
Regardless of how a werewolf acquired lycanthropy, these creatures are fearsome enemies in The Witcher 3. They’re strong and agile enough to fight on their own, and they can call on other wolves to assist them in battle. Finally, they are capable of regenerating their health, forcing their assailants to defeat them as quickly as possible.
'Wild at Heart’ in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
In the "Wild at Heart" quest, Geralt is tasked with finding Niellen's wife Hanna, who went into the woods and hasn’t returned. Talking to the man reveals nothing out of the ordinary about Hanna, and her sister Margrit also jumps in to corroborate that Hanna would never leave for this long. The player must ask around the village and investigate the woods. Eventually, Margrit will approach Geralt to ask him to drop the contract and tell Niellen that his wife is dead. To encounter the werewolf, players must decline.
Continuing the investigation will lead Geralt to a hut deep in the woods. Underneath it is a cave system where he’ll have to fight a werewolf. Once the player weakens the beast enough, a cutscene will play where Margrit runs to the enfeebled werewolf, begging the witcher stop harming him. She confesses that she loves him, and she led Hanna to the woods so she could see Niellen’s true form. However, this ended with Niellen ripping his wife to shreds, only to have no idea what transpired after he turned back into his human form.
This Witcher 3 quest ends with Geralt either letting Niellen kill Margrit or stopping him. Whatever the player chooses, Niellen will die. Despite not knowing how Niellen was cursed, this quest portrays a werewolf closest to its bestiary entry.
‘In Wolf’s Clothing’ in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This next Witcher 3 quest with a werewolf features a more debilitating version of the lycanthropy curse. On the island of Skellige, Geralt can accept a contract that asks that he defeat the werewolf Morkvarg that roams Freya’s Garden. What’s interesting about this werewolf is that he is always resurrected upon death and is constantly hungry, though anything he eats turns into ash. He’s tried eating himself, but his own flesh burns his throat.
To complete this quest, Geralt must either lift Morkvarg’s curse or kill him. The quickest way to kill him is to feed him his own flesh, meanwhile curing Morkvarg requires learning the truth of the curse. By reading his journal, Geralt will learn that Morkvarg used to be a pirate, and that it was one of his crewmates who cursed him. Confronting this crewmate and opting not to fight him will reveal that he cursed Morkvarg with a wolf fang pendant. The pendant came from his father, who said that anyone cut by it would suffer a fate worse than death.
To lift the Morkvarg’s curse, Geralt must bring him the pendant. This will make the werewolf change back into his human form permanently, and as a final choice in this Witcher 3 quest, the player must decide whether to kill the human Morkvarg or let him go. Regardless of how the quest ends, “In Wolf’s Clothing” showcases an interesting means of acquiring the lycanthropy curse.
Little Red’s Unique Case
Another werewolf can be encountered in “Little Red.” Though much shorter than the last two quests, this one is interesting as it involves a born werewolf rather than a cursed one. Here, Geralt is tasked with protecting a small village - an otherwise forgettable location in The Witcher 3 - from a group of bandits. Should Geralt agree, he’ll be able to talk to one of the bandits as they scour the village.
Little Red will explain that she only wants to kill Bertram, who fooled both her group and the villagers. If the witcher agrees to let them take Bertram, the quest will end. However, choosing to fight them will prompt Little Red to change into a werewolf and attack. This is the only instance in The Witcher 3 where Geralt meets a born werewolf.
All-in-all, werewolves are complicated monsters with nuanced origins. This makes it difficult to create a general rule on how to deal with them, so as usual The Witcher 3 leaves that decision up to the player. It's just one of many ways that CD Projekt Red succeeded in making natural forms of player agency in its acclaimed title.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
