The Witcher 4 Reveals Why Ciri Is Protagonist and Not Geralt

The Witcher 4 made its grand debut at The Game Awards, and one of the biggest aspects of the reveal was that Ciri would be taking over as series protagonist from Geralt. As the first of a new trilogy set after The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it makes a lot of sense for Ciri to be the one stepping into the starring role, especially if you ended up going with one of the most popular endings to The Witcher 3. In a new interview with IGN, Executive Producer Małgorzata Mitręga and Game Director Sebastian Kalemba provided some insight on the decision for Ciri to take the lead, with Mitrega saying that Ciri was “the very organic, logical choice.”

“It was always about her, starting from Saga when you read it in the books. She’s an amazing, layered character. And of course, as a protagonist we said goodbye to Geralt previously,” Mitrega said. “So this is a continuation. I guess for all of us it’s like she was meant to be. That was always her.”

Kalemba said that because Ciri is younger than Geralt, players will have a bit more freedom in defining her character as the series moves forward, as opposed to Geralt who was pretty much defined from the outset, and this also frees up developers to explore other aspects of the character as well.

“She’s actually about to become the Witcher,” Kalemba said. “She’s about to actually form her own codex, but on her own terms. The way she actually deals with the monsters, the way she deals with quests, the adventures, it’s her own unique way. And also I think that she gives more room to be able to tell different stories here and there. Of course, we want to give the opportunity for the player to explore more nuance because this is what we do. But she deserves that.”

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As for any potential backlash from the choice of Ciri as series protagonist, Mitrega and Kalemba said this was always the way they were planning to go, citing conversations they had 9 years ago about who would be next in line.

“There was an intention behind this choice,” Kalemba said. “It was far from roulette. It wasn’t random. I remember we had discussions nine years ago, we were talking about who’s next? The very, very instant answer was Ciri. There are many reasons behind that. We’ve already mentioned a few. But she really deserves a stage and we want players to really experience her story because she has so much to tell, so much to prove. The amount of challenges that are in front of her give us so much amazing energy and fuel to create an epic saga that we had no choice but to go with it. We all felt that this is the way. I believe this is the super right choice.”

Right now there’s no release date for The Witcher 4, but we’ll keep you posted when we know more.

Are you excited for Ciri to step into the spotlight for Witcher 4? You can talk all things gaming and Witcher with me on Bluesky @KnightofOA!