The Witcher series is known for a lot of things, whether its the varied cast of bloodthirsty monsters, the Witchers themselves and the lore behind them, or especially its worldbuilding. But what this franchise has always nailed is its characters. Whether it's in the books, the game, or the Netflix adaptation, the characters surrounding Geralt are incredibly memorable and equally powerful.
The primary example is Yennefer, the love of Geralt's life. Yennefer is an incredibly powerful Sorceress who acts as a perfect foil to Geralt's quips, sarcastic nature, and flippant attitude. She's strong-willed, absurdly sassy, and overall quite terrifying. So, we figured we might as well go over all the things she can do that our main man Geralt can't.
10 Perform Real Magic
First and foremost, Yennefer is a Sorceress. Witchers can use a bit of magic thanks to the signs, yes, but only the most basic of basic spells and most Sorceresses simply scoff whenever they see it performed. No, Yennefer can pull from Chaos itself to perform her spells and they all require a much higher degree of education, preparation, and training in order to perform feats exponentially greater than a simple Quen or Yrden.
Yennefer is one of the most powerful Sorceresses in the series, and the depths of her Magic abilities are still largely unknown to the audience.
9 Get Anywhere With Ease
One thing that is a constant problem in a setting without cellphones is information gathering. How do you tell a king his country is about to be attacked if it takes a month on horseback to get to them?
Well, Sorceresses get to circumvent this issue with handy-dandy portals. Making these things is one step beyond what Geralt is capable of, and even if the Wolf of Rivia could make them, he wouldn't since they give him motion sickness. We can see how useful they can be in the Netflix adaptation where Yennefer jumps through a series of them all to get away from an Assassin after Queen Kalis.
8 Play The Political Game
Whether you played The Witcher 3 or watched the Netflix show, it was obvious from the first second that Geralt is not the type that would serve a king or queen in a traditional manner. He's just really bad at showing respect if he doesn't want to. In the show he mouths off to Queen Calanthe almost immediately. In the third game, the first chapter after the tutorial has you acting up to Niflgaard's King, Emhyr var Emreis.
Geralt is stubborn and doesn't really adapt his attitude or personality to the situation. Yennefer does because that's what Aretuza taught her to do.
7 Connect With Non-Humans On A More Personal Level
The world these Witchers live in is one full of mystical creatures, unfairly treated demi-humans, and beings from another realm thanks to the Conjunction of the Spheres. There are a lot of complex issues regarding said Conjunction and the ones who taught humans magic in the first place, the Elves, are now oppressed. The Elves have a very deep connection to the Source of all magic and to Chaos. This connection, as it turns out, is part of the reason why Yennefer is so powerful. The girl from Vengerberg is 1/4th elf and this bond allows her to connect to demi-humans on a deeper level than Geralt.
Usually, Geralt just bonds with them in a "well, we're both freaks" sort of way (something that isn't all too consistent) but Yennefer actually has a bit of genetic kinship to back her up.
6 Teach Magic To Others
Geralt is a Witcher first, magic-user second. His combat skills are what he trains the most, and the signs, while useful, are basically second nature to him at this point and don't require training. As such, he doesn't exactly need to know the fundamentals of magic and he sure wouldn't be qualified to teach it to anybody else.
This is a bit inconvenient since Cirilla has magic power beyond belief, so much so that it's difficult for her to control. This is where Yennefer comes in, another magic-user who allows her emotions to contribute to her spellcasting, making her likely the most qualified person in the realm to teach Ciri control.
5 Name Her Horse Anything Other Than Roach
Geralt is known for doing this with every horse he owns, naming each and every one of them "Roach." It's a cute but admittedly weird little gimmick since he rides so many different steeds due to his profession. In the games, Geralt usually just has the same horse throughout, but in the other source materials, he switches quite often.
Then again, so does Yennefer, but she never really makes it a point to get attached to any of her mounts. Seems easier to not even name them right? So why does Geralt do it and draw attention to it so often?
4 She Channels Chaos To Siphon Life And Knows Necromancy
For those who haven't read the books, a good magic system usually requires give and take. In exchange for performing supernatural miracles, the act of casting magic uses the Sorceresses' stamina, life force, or the life force of living objects around them as fuel. This is "channeling Chaos" and it's why Yennefer's school uses their failed students as "batteries."
It's also why Yennefer usually kills all plantlife around her whenever she performs a big bombastic spell. In fact, in order to perform the taboo art of Necromancy in Skellige, Yennefer has to draw upon all the energy of the sacred garden they're currently in, earning them quite a bad reputation with the surrounding villages.
3 Rocks A Skin Tight Dress
Who are we kidding, Geralt could probably rock a cocktail dress as well, but no one does it quite like Yennefer. The woman is known for always dressing in black. It takes a lot of creativity in what you wear to restrict yourself to one color yet always please a crowd with your clothing choices.
Yennefer has a couple of costumes in the games, even more in the books, and a few more to top things off in the Netflix show. Geralt might be built like a tree trunk and stereotypically handsome, but his sense of style is mediocre at best and his best outfits usually aren't black.
2 Switch Sides To Suit Her Needs
Yennefer is out for her #1, herself. Does that make her selfish? Probably. Does she really care all that much? Not at all. Yennefer wants to have a child, wants to find Ciri, and wants to protect Geralt (even if she won't admit it). Outside of those three things Yen really doesn't have any strong ties to a nation, a group of people, or even faith.
While on the other side, Geralt has always ended up picking a side and sticking to it. For the most part, he has his ideals and usually works for people with outlooks similar to his own. Yennefer is a chameleon, which is something the games nail from the books, and Geralt, in contrast, is a lone wolf.
1 Hide Her Scars
Geralt has a few very obvious identifiers in his appearance. The first of which are his eyes, those glowing orange spheres that are sometimes cat-like, sometimes dilated depending on the source material. Next are his silvery-white locks that earned him the nickname of White Wolf. Lastly, Geralt has his scars, and quite a few of them to top it off. The guy has fought every sort of monster out there, and he rarely comes out of a hunt unscathed.
Meanwhile, Yennefer usually attacks from afar with magic as you'd expect and can also use magic to hide any and all scars she may collect over time. White the art of fully "changing" the appearance of a Sorceress is usually only possible at the Academy, Sorceresses can make minor and sometimes major changes to their appearance with a simple incantation.