The Witcher 3 is an incredibly compelling game across the board. Be it the story, visuals, music, gameplay, lore, or whatever else, it excels in every category and puts it all together to make an incredibly enjoyable experience. One aspect of the game that may be overlooked is the quality of its villains.
Between the main campaign and DLC, The Witcher 3 has its fair share of baddies to take down. While not all of them allow the player to face them head-on, that doesn’t make them any less compelling. A good villain can draw players in with their motivations and actions – and for the ones they can take on, a memorable fight also helps make their case. As we take a look back at this classic RPG experience, let’s look at the best villains in the game and how they rank.
Updated December 22, 2022, by Kath Leroy: The next-gen edition of The Witcher 3 recently came out, providing both first-time and experienced players with an ideal opportunity to get into the world of Geralt of Rivia, his friends, and enemies. Even though the game originally came out in 2015, it remains one of the most talked-about fantasy RPGs and continues to attract players thanks to its wide world and memorable characters.
Not all of them are such good people, though. Besides the protagonist, The Witcher 3 creates a lot of great villains that the players love to hate. Some of them stand out from the rest, making the game even more impressive.
14 The Caretaker
We start things off with a villain that appears in the Hearts of Stone expansion. Though he doesn’t play a major role in the story, The Caretaker certainly manages to make an impression on Geralt and the player – causing the former to momentarily lose his composure.
The Caretaker’s design and ominous air are what stand out the most. The battle against this terrifying foe is pretty enjoyable and really stands out on its own. Not the most nuanced villain, sure, but memorable nonetheless.
13 Morkvarg
Morkvarg doesn't have as much space in The Witcher 3 as other villains or such an impact on the game's storyline. His greatest contribution to the story is that he kills the man who could provide Geralt and Yennefer with important information about Ciri. Luckily, Yennefer solves the problem by using the frowned-upon art of necromancy. Morkvarg's quest, on the other hand, has an interesting backstory. If the player takes the time to explore his current place of residence, they discover that Morkvarg was cursed into becoming a werewolf after he'd killed local priestesses.
Even if Geralt breaks the curse, Morkvarg shows no remorse and plans to continue murdering people. The good news is that Geralt can still kill Morkvarg even after breaking the curse and learning the location of Morkvarg's valuable property that Geralt can later get for himself.
12 Cyprian Wiley
Better known as Whoreson Junior, Cyprian Wiley is one of the four crime kings of Novigrad. But unlike his colleagues, Wiley doesn't have a single positive character trait. After killing his own father, he begins his reign of terror, murdering prostitutes in his spare time. His men try to kill Ciri as well, something Geralt isn't happy about.
Wiley's reach is limited; that's why he ranks lower than other villains. It's also because his character isn't as complex. Even so, Whoreson Junior is one of the multiple characters the players love to see die or become destitute, depending on Geralt's choices in the game. That's how despicable Wiley is.
11 Radovid V
What makes Radovid so terrifying is the immense amount of power he holds, along with his unhinged mental state. It’s a pretty horrifying combination and really plays into how players grow to hate his character more and more the more they interact and hear of him.
Radovid’s witch hunts brought out some truly horrifying scenes. Though he was a brilliant strategist, Radovid was past the point of no return when it came to his psychosis. He was never meant to be a character that players sympathized with. As he got worse throughout his appearances, he cemented his status as one of the game’s most despised villains.
10 The Crones
Also known as the ladies of the Wood, The Crones are a trio of Witches that really rub players the wrong way from the get-go. They were made to be disliked, and though it’s nothing major, they do play a role in the main plot.
That familiarity with these twisted sisters eventually builds into a desire to see them get what’s coming to them. It has a pretty good payoff in the end, and in the meantime, players can appreciate just how fearsome they are as enemies.
9 Dettlaff van der Eretein
Dettlaff is a character that players can sympathize with to some degree. Despite this, it’s not hard to see that he is ultimately a bad guy in the grand scheme of things. And he doesn’t exactly try to play himself off as anything else.
Ultimately revealed to have been manipulated by his former lover, Sylvia, Dettlaff isn’t without some decent traits. But ultimately, Geralt and the higher vampire just can’t see eye to eye. He’s a compelling villain because of how much background we’re given on him, and to a degree, that allows us to feel bad for him. However, the player's sentiment may change after his boss fight.
8 Bloody Baron
Bloody Baron is one of the most complex characters in the game. While The Witcher 3 clearly suggests he has done heinous things in the past, at the same time, he's helpful to Ciri and shows genuine remorse for his past actions. That's more that can be said for a majority of the game's villains.
The Bloody Baron is a drunkard who used to beat his wife when he flew into a rage and also set the stables in his castle on fire. That could have resulted in multiple deaths if Geralt and other men hadn't interfered. Just like with other characters, the player gets to decide the Bloody Baron's fate - he either dies or gets a chance at redemption and leaves to try and cure his ill wife.
7 Caleb Menge
Caleb Menge might not have special powers like other The Witcher 3 characters, but that doesn't make him any less villainous. Menge controls the Church of the Eternal Fire and resides in Novigrad. His first encounter with Geralt suggests that Menge has the city under his thumb, and when they reunite again, it's not a happy meeting.
Menge is a fanatic who enjoys torturing witches, as he demonstrates by having his men torture Triss while he's talking to Geralt. Unlike other villains, Menge has no redeeming qualities, and he uses his intelligence to run the Church of the Eternal Fire, a well-oiled machine of hate and bigotry. As such, the players mostly feel relief when Triss or Geralt finally kills him.
6 Olgierd von Everec
Yet another character who is a little harder to gauge, Olgierd really has some solid character development throughout the Hearts of Stone expansion. Though initially presented to the player as the antagonist, the role – depending on their choices and how they view the situation at hand – can eventually be thrust upon another character we’ll be covering later on.
Olgierd’s story gets more interesting the more players uncover it, and the situation surrounding his character gets grayer and grayer. He’s not excused from his actions – he isn’t given a free pass – but he can be seen differently depending on how the player decides to interpret the unfortunate events surrounding him. That’s what makes him so interesting.
5 Eredin
The commander of the Wild Hunt and the root antagonist of the game series, Eredin isn’t really a likable character at all. While some other villains are presented in a more forgiving light to allow the player the opportunity to re-evaluate them, Eredin is just bad to the bone.
Though his reasons for hunting down Ciri are somewhat understandable, he is presented in a way that makes us unable to sympathize with him. For Eredin, the ends justify the means, and he doesn’t really care who he has to take out to make that happen.
4 Sylvia Anna
Sylvia Anna, better known as Syanna, is a much more relatable character – but that doesn’t affect how good she is in her role as a villain. As another part of the Blood and Wine expansion, Syanna is the sister of Anna, born into an unfortunate situation and penalized as part of the stigma surrounding her as a child due to her birth during the Curse of the Black Sun.
She’s conniving, malicious, and determined to look after herself. Though she can be redeemed as a character, this is hard to do. One wrong choice can lead her right back down the wrong path – which only goes to show how well-crafted her character is.
3 Gaunter O'Dimm
Gaunter O'Dimm, aka Master Mirror, aka Man of Glass, is one twisted baddie that instantly leaves an impression on players. O’Dimm is often cryptic and has a heavily mysterious aura that surrounds him – it’s what makes his character so interesting and the biggest warning sign that he means trouble.
O’Dimm is pretty much evil incarnate – and while the player can side with him to some degree, it’s hard to overlook just how much trouble this guy is. He isn’t the most boisterous villain, but he sticks with players in ways most just don’t manage to.
2 Imlerith
One of Eredin’s generals in his army, Imlerith stands out from his superior because of one major event; the death of Vesemir. This action alone makes him one of the most notable villains in the game, as it greatly affects Geralt and especially has a major impact on Ciri’s character development towards the tail end of the main quest.
Imlerith is as imposing as players would expect, and much like Eredin isn’t really all that sympathetic – nor does he try to be. These types of narratives need guys like Imlerith. It makes rallying against the bad guy all the more enjoyable.
1 Emhyr var Emreis
One thing most of the other villains had in common up to this point was that they weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. It was possible to fight them or involve them in some sort of conflict during the narrative. But not the White Flame.
It’s Emhyr who kicks off the search for Ciri, and while he is responsible for and demands some of the most impactful actions in the game, Emhyr does it all in the background. It’s understandable – he’s emperor – but seeing one man grasp for so much control while being protected by legions of followers just rubs players the wrong way after a while. He may not be the ultimate evil, but he is up there with some of the game’s better villains.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.