The Witcher has gained popularity with the open-world fantasy game The Witcher 3, released in 2013. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's novels of the same name, the Netflix series got a lot of attention with the success of its first season, its perfect casting choices (Henry Cavill as Geralt Of Rivia), and storylines. Its second season proves to be just as compelling for fans as the story delves into darker themes with many Easter eggs from the games.
The Witcher Universe is crawling with many dangerous and interesting monsters like the Bruxae, the Basilisk, the Wild Hunt, and so on. However, one of its most memorable monsters that are a fan-favorite seems to be the Leshy/Leshen, a Forest Spirit that roams and hunts for prey usually at night and in darker areas of the forests. For a popular monster, there are a few fun facts fans may want to know from The Witcher 3.
5 The Leshy Comes From Slavic Mythology
The Leshy is a rarely mentioned monster in Andrzej Sapkowski's novels and during the few times that the term does appear, it is usually under a list format or in a casual conversation the protagonist, Geralt has with others. For instance, in Blood Of Elves, the Leshy is briefly mentioned when a witcher's duty is explained to Ciri.
Despite the fact that the Leshy in question never physically appears in the books, Sapkowski did draw inspiration from the Slavic Mythology. In fact, the term "Leshy" actually means "forest" in Slavic, which is accurately fitting since the creature was considered a tutelary deity of the forests and its wildlife to the Pagans.
4 Game Appearance
Since Sapkowski's Leshy was never physically described in his books, it is only natural that the famous monster's appearance is interpreted differently from one source material to another. In the game, The Witcher 3, the Leshy, or Leshen, is a spirit-like creature that tends to be taller than men and wears deer skulls on its head. They have tree-like limbs and seem to be wearing brown, maybe bark-colored ripped clothing. The Ancient Leshen have some moss covering their shoulders and wear a belt of various small skulls.
This physical representation reassembles a lot to the one of a Wendigo, an Algonquian mythical creature known to roam the Canadian forests in the Great Lake Region and other parts of the United States in search of prey. There are many variations of what this creature is said to look like, but one of the most common versions is that it has antlers or horns on its head while being extremely tall and skeleton-like.
3 Netflix Appearance
While Lauren Schmidt Hissrich worked closely with the novel, she noticed that there weren’t many encounters with monsters. She once said to Sci-Fi and Fantasy magazine, “Blood of Elves lacks monsters. There are just not very many. But we know from the games that people really like to see Geralt battling monsters, so we continued adding more monsters to Season 2.” Therefore, she gave us her take on one of the game’s most famous monsters –– the Leshen.
Although the Leshy's appearance in the show resembles more to a humanoid tree than anything else (probably to blend into the forest a lot easier), it still possesses horn-like features like the one encountered in the game as well as the impressive height. Furthermore, Hissrich brings something new to the plot by making the monster undergo some sort of mutation that makes it even more dangerous, which isn't explored in either of the books or the game.
2 Leshies Are Resistant To Axii
In the game, the Leshen is resistant to the Witcher's magic, and the only way to get rid of one is to either use some Dimeritium bombs, Relict oils, or Igni to weaken its defenses before striking it with a sword. The Leshen's back is also more vulnerable if a player can get there safely by dodging attacks.
However, in the Netflix series, using the sign Igni to heat the blade to a scorching temperature is enough to kill a Leshy, like fans as seen Geralt do in Episode 2 of the season.
1 A Leshy Uses Their Environment To Fight
In The Witcher 3, the Leshen tend to hang in the forests or woods of Velen and Skellige, so one of their method of fighting is to employ its surrounding wildlife. A sign that one may be near a player is when their character, Geralt, is suddenly attacked by a pack of wolves or a swarm of crows. Then it is only a matter of seconds before one of them appears and kills Geralt with just a hit, depending on the player's experience level. A Leshen can go into a "smoke form", which will temporarily protect them from the player's attacks.
The Leshies also have great range since they use their roots to attack and keep the Witchers from getting too close to them, as fans have seen in the game and the Netflix series. However, wrapping a root around a Witcher's neck is only something the Netflix Leshy can do.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.