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As one of the most popular games in recent memory that players keep returning to even after seven years since its release, The Witcher 3 has a lot to offer. It possesses a complex story and creates a rich world that many games lack. Even though the game centers on Geralt of Rivia and his search for Ciri, there's much more to The Witcher 3.
Some NPCs leave a strong impression as well, even though they only appear for a brief period of time and once they're gone, the game doesn't return to them. Since the world of The Witcher 3 can be cruel, it's easy to feel sympathy for some of the game's NPCs who have the saddest lives.
5 Lambert
Lambert might seem rude at times, quick to anger people or insult them. However, if Geralt takes the time to actually listen to his fellow Witcher, he learns that Lambert despises the life that has been forced on him while he was still a child. Unlike other Witchers, Lambert never found his peace with becoming one and has never dealt with it. And considering how long Witchers usually live, that meant that for decades, Lambert was forced to lead a life he didn't want.
Luckily for Lambert, things seem to turn around for him - if he and Keira Metz both survive the game, they get together and Lambert is at least no longer alone. Of course, the darker scenario plays out when the Wild Hunt kills Lambert during the battle at Kaer Morhen, assuming that Keira's already dead and Geralt fails to save him.
4 Skjall
Skjall appears in Ciri's questline when she goes to Skellige. He and his family help Ciri when she's injured and weak. Ciri befriends Skjall who likes her and even has the option to give him his first kiss. Unfortunately, Skjall doesn't survive. First, his people cast him away because they misinterpret his actions during the Wild Hunt's attack. They think that Skjall ran when he was just helping Ciri get away from her enemies.
To reclaim his lost honor, Skjall goes to face the cursed werewolf Morkvarg but dies. To make it worse, his people don't even give him a proper burial, and it's up to Ciri to fix things and make sure that Skjall gets a grave. Skjall's life, or the portion of it the players see, is full of misfortune and humiliation, making it easy to feel sorry for the young man who still had his entire life ahead of him when he died.
3 The Bloody Baron's Family
The entire family of the Bloody Baron leads sad lives. The Bloody Baron sees the horror of war and becomes an alcoholic. So even though he loves his family, he spirals more and more, resulting in violence committed against his wife. His wife Anna has to put up with her husband's beatings and the fact that he killed the man she loved. And their only surviving child, the daughter Tamara, sees what her father is doing to her mother, and if Geralt makes the wrong choice, loses both of her parents.
So even though the family doesn't lack money, food, and other material advantages, they're far from happy most of the time. Not to mention the loss of the Baron's and Anna's child, who becomes the dangerous creature botchling until Geralt steps in and performs a ritual to change it into a guardian spirit - or kills the botchling instead.
2 Iris Von Everec
It'd be possible to argue that Iris's husband Olgierd also hadn't had an easy life, but he still committed multiple crimes. Unlike Iris who was the innocent party in this. Iris marries the man she loves, but her happiness soon turns bitter because of the deal her husband made with the demonic Gaunter O'Dimm. Olgierd loses the ability to love his wife, he kills her father while she watches, locks her in their manor, and finally leaves Iris for good, letting her wither and die.
When Geralt visits the manor, it's a dark and haunted place, with Iris's spirit still roaming its halls. As Iris herself says at one point, quoting: "I am sadness." That's made even truer by the fact that, unlike other NPCs who also lead sad lives, there's no second chance for Iris. She's already dead by the time Geralt gets to her manor so no matter which option he chooses in the end, it won't bring Iris back.
1 Annabelle
Annabelle turns into a murderous spirit, in the end, one that tricks Geralt into releasing her into the world, if he's not careful enough. Despite that, her fate as she describes it is tragic. Annabelle is eaten alive by rats after the angry villagers storm her family's tower and kill the family. She takes a potion to make it look like she's dead so that the villagers wouldn't kill her too. Unfortunately, the potion works too well and Annabelle is unable to move, yet fully aware of what's going on when the rats eat her.
To make matters worse, she goes to her death with the assumption that the man whom she loved had betrayed her, leading her to her death. It's easy to understand why Annabelle's spirit is so bitter and hellbent on revenge. The good news is that Geralt has the chance to send her into the afterlife, to free her. The bad news is that it means her beloved Graham has to die as well, but just like in multiple quests of the game, there is no clear good and evil in this quest, only various shades of gray.