In The Witcher franchise, the age of Geralt of Rivia has long been something of a mystery. Various pieces of Witcher media have been vague about it, but an official answer has finally been provided. Andrzej Sapkowski’s most recent Witcher book was released in Poland a few weeks ago, titled Rozdroze krukow (which translates to Crossroads of Ravens). The book serves as a prequel to the rest of the series, and takes place in the year 1229. As reported by Redanian Intelligence, the book states that Geralt is 18 years old. Since the final book in the series takes place in 1268, that means that Geralt is only 57 when the series reaches its conclusion!
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While Geralt looks pretty good for his age, it should be noted that, as a Witcher, his mutations keep him from aging like everyone else. The character does have white hair, but that’s actually a result of the mutagens he’s been exposed to throughout his lifetime, and not his natural aging process. At the end of the day, the character’s physical age isn’t all that important, but it does add some interesting context to the character, and the world of the books.
The revelation of Geralt’s age is pretty surprising, as many Witcher fans had assumed the character was significantly older. Sapkowski may have finally given us an age for Geralt, but it probably won’t have much of an impact on media outside the books. As Redanian Intelligence notes, the Netflix series has its own timeline, and Geralt should be 108 by the time the final season comes to an end. Meanwhile, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt similarly suggested that the character was at or around 100 years old. However, the game never did give a clear number, so that can probably be ignored by players.
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Whether or not this gets addressed in The Witcher 4 will be interesting to see. The actual canon nature of the games has always been a topic of debate, and it’s possible CD Projekt Red could simply ignore this new revelation. It’s also worth noting that Geralt will not be the protagonist in the next game anyway; instead, that role will be played by Ciri. We do know that Geralt will be in the game in some capacity, but it remains to be seen how large his role will be. Some Witcher fans are a bit upset that they won’t be stepping back into the role of Geralt, but the decision to focus on Ciri instead makes a lot of sense, as it picks up on one of the endings from the previous game.
Are you surprised by Geralt’s (relatively) younger age? Do you think it makes more sense for the character to be over 100 instead? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
