The Witcher series is easily one of the most iconic fantasy role-playing franchises of all time, with the story of Geralt pretty much etched in the annals of gaming history due to its sheer brilliance. The humble beginnings of CD Projekt Red since the first game in The Witcher series are truly astounding to look back on, with the final game in this trilogy being nothing short of an absolute masterpiece. Most people would agree that the reason why this franchise became mainstream in the first place was because of the games and their immense quality.
Various new and important characters from the books made their first appearance in the games, with Ciri being a notable example of this. The child of the Elder Blood was on the run from The Wild Hunt for the longest time and watching her fight against the odds to combat this threat while simultaneously protecting the Continent from the White Frost is an amazing spectacle. Fans of the books are quite familiar with this character indeed, with the following ten things about this character being knowledge that's exclusive to the novels.
Updated on September 8, 2023, by Ritwik Mitra: The Witcher is one of the greatest video game series ever made featuring some truly magical moments that will remain in the minds of players long after they're finished playing through the trilogy. The prospect of playing new Witcher games is still incredibly tantalizing to this day, and fans can't wait to get their hands on the remake of the first game to see how Geralt's journey in the realm of video games started in the first place. People who've read the books are intimately familiar with most of the characters in the series, including how Ciri got to meet Geralt and eventually grew into an independent and powerful lady.
18 Her First Impression Of Yennefer Wasn't A Positive One
Ciri takes a while to trust anyone early on in the books, which is understandable given the trauma she went through. After being sent by Geralt to the Temple of Melitele, Ciri was educated in the ways of the world before eventually meeting Yennefer. The sorceress was requested by Geralt to help Ciri learn the art of spellcasting while also protecting her from any pursuers who might be tailing her.
When Ciri met Yennefer for the first time, she was jealous of her beauty and hated how the sorceress talked down to her. The raven-haired beauty used to call her 'ugly one', which irritated Ciri to no end. It took some time, but Yennefer eventually gained Ciri's trust as she educated her before they set off to the Isle of Thanedd.
17 She Thought She Couldn't Perform Magic Because She Was A Virgin
Ciri had some misconceptions about the world, being cooped up in Kaer Morhen and raised by a bunch of men before Triss came to give the witchers an earful while helping her understand how to take care of her more womanly needs. However, she was still pretty gullible in many ways, and it didn't help that the children in Melitele's temple teased her relentlessly, jealous of the attention that Yennefer showered on her.
When the sorceress tried to teach her how to cast spells, Ciri commented that she was unable to do the same because the children in the temple chastised her and said that virgins couldn't channel magical energy. This amused Yennefer to no end, who teased her relentlessly about this statement before telling her that having sex had nothing to do with casting magic.
16 Her Exact Age Is A Mystery
It's hard for an author to keep every detail consistent in a story that is absolutely brimming with details, making it easy to see why Sapkowski messed up some fine details in the books. One particular fact that was goofed up in the novels stems from Ciri's age and the lack of a concrete answer in this department.
Both Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt are pretty consistent with her age, with Ciri being thirteen during the first novel before aging a year in the next. However, following these novels, her precise age is all over the place as fans have absolutely no idea how old she really is! That being said, this is a minor discrepancy that doesn't take away from the quality of the novels in the slightest, with most fans not even realizing this mistake unless they read up on it.
15 Calanthe Asked Mousesack To Kill Geralt And Negate The Law Of Surprise
After Ciri's birth, Calanthe was obstinate about the fact that the child wouldn't be given away in the Law of Surprise that was established with Geralt a few years back in a different incident. In fact, Calanthe went to great lengths to ensure that Geralt wouldn't lay a hand on Ciri.
She outright asks Mousesack to kill Geralt so that the Law of Surprise is canceled. Of course, given how powerful the Witcher is, it was a given that such an act wouldn't stop him in any way.
14 Pavetta Absolutely Adored Ciri
Not a lot is known of Ciri's mother, given the fact that she passed away at sea with her husband. However, there's one thing that book readers are sure of — she loved Ciri with all her heart.
Their relationship could've developed in such a meaningful way, but Pavetta was cruelly usurped from this world before this could happen. This left a five-year-old Ciri an orphan with only her grandmother left to take care of her.
13 After Pavetta And Duny's Deaths, Calanthe Became Extremely Protective Of Ciri
Calanthe was incensed at the fact that her daughter and son-in-law had passed away so frivolously. She was especially angry at Crach en Craite, who had allowed the couple to sail out in the first place.
She made Crach en Craite swear that he would personally see to Ciri's wellbeing and forbade the girl from visiting the Skellige Isles after news of Pavetta and Duny's death. However, most of these promises and rules were forgotten later on, with Calanthe understandably calming down and coping with this sad news.
12 Ciri's Nanny Told Ciri About The Law Of Surprise, Against Calanthe's Wishes
Calanthe was still pretty firm about the stance that Geralt would never get Ciri, regardless of the Law of Surprise. In fact, she even went so far as to hide this fact from Ciri altogether.
However, Ciri's nanny decided to tell the girl the nature of her destiny, which angered Calanthe to no end. The damage was done — Ciri had accepted her fate to be under Geralt's wing.
11 Geralt Assumed That Ciri Was A Boy After Seeing Her For The First Time
When Geralt finally came knocking to invoke the Law of Surprise, Calanthe wasted no time in trying to bamboozle him. She placed Ciri with a bunch of boys near the entrance to make it look like she was nothing more than common folk.
This group caught Geralt's eye, who made the obvious assumption that all the children were boys. He did notice Ciri within the group but didn't understand how important the child was until later on.
10 Triss Recommended The Witchers Not To Feed Her Too Many Potions
During her training at Kaer Morhen, Ciri was given a generous dose of potions and other such drugs in order to help her body evolve to handle the pressures of combat.
However, Triss ended up putting a stop to this by saying that Ciri's athletic body would come at the cost of an extremely small bust, which she claimed would be detrimental to her.
9 She Was Jealous Of Triss When She Was Courting Geralt
A rather disturbing chain of events in the books stemmed from Ciri's jealousy towards Triss, who was fooling around with Geralt in Kaer Morhen quite a bit.
Jealousy aside, it's fair that Ciri was questioning this dynamic — after all, Triss herself was spiking Geralt's food and drinks with a love potion in order to force him to develop feelings for her, which is quite disturbing indeed.
8 Yennefer Was Jealous Of Ciri Due To Her Importance In Geralt's Life
This train of disturbingly jealous thoughts carries forward to Yennefer as well, who was actually insecure with the fact that Ciri was so close to Geralt all the time — something that shouldn't have been an issue in the first place... especially given Ciri's age and her dynamic with Geralt!
Thankfully, Nenneke ended up giving Yennefer a verbal lashing and told her how Ciri was pretty much her child, and thinking of her as competition was a new low for the raven-haired sorceress.
7 It Was Planned For Her To Be Used As A Pawn By The Lodge Of Sorceresses
Given the fact that Ciri has the power of the Elder Blood, it was a given that she would be a target for many powerful organizations and malicious people who wanted to use her gift for their own selfish desires. The Lodge of Sorceresses was no exception to this.
The Lodge genuinely wanted Ciri to become a ruler who would only heed their advice. If that wasn't bad enough, they also wanted Ciri to basically birth a child — at an extremely young age, no less — who would be raised by the Lodge, which is an absolutely ridiculous thing to expect from anyone.
6 The Scar On Her Eye Came As A Result Of Being Hit By An Orion
The iconic scar on Ciri's left eye has its origins steeped in the books, being inflicted as a result of a ranged attack by a Nilfgaardian agent named Stefan Skellen. The agent was tasked with capturing Ciri alive... regardless of the means.
So, when Ciri was about to evade his grasp, Stefan thought that the best course of action he could take to stop her... was to aim an Orion — a throwing star — at her face. The scar that was inflicted was quite deep, and the games had to pretty up this scar and her face to make it more appealing than her hideous book counterpart.
5 She Joined A Rather Murderous Group Of Young Criminals Called The Rats
After losing her surrogate parents and being forced through some massive tribulations, Ciri ended up finding solace within a group of young upstarts called The Rats.
This headstrong band of criminals quickly developed a murderous reputation in the books, leading to Ciri experiencing a number of dark and twisted situations while she was a part of this group.
4 She Changed Her Name To Falka
After being given permission to tag along with the Rats, Ciri was asked for her name — something she hadn't revealed up to this point. Given the fact that this was a new chapter in her life, Ciri decided to use a new name to embark on this journey.
She settled upon the name Gvalcha'ca, which meant "falcon" in the elder tongue. Since this name was obviously hard for the rats to pronounce, they started calling her Falka instead.
3 She Was Put In An Extremely Uncomfortable Situation By This Group
Ciri was accepted into the Rats because of her efforts to save another member of the group named Rayleigh and the impressive skills he showcased with a sword. However, Ciri realized that her stay would not be comfortable from the very first day.
During the first night she spent with the group, she woke up in the middle of the night to see Rayleigh — the same boy whom she saved — trying to force himself on her. Thankfully, he was booted away by another girl named Mistle... who decided to inappropriately touch Ciri after "saving" her.
2 She Delved So Deep Into Her Dark Side That She Even Kicked A Dog
During her adventures with the Rats, Ciri performed some truly deplorable actions, ranging from killings to torture and everything in between.
However, the worst thing she did as a member of this group was undoubtedly kicking a dog out of sheer frustration — a move that is absolutely despicable and certainly puts a major dent in Ciri's character in the books.
1 She Was Able To Travel Between Worlds At Will By The End Of The Novels
By the end of The Witcher books, Ciri was so adept at using her powers that she could travel to and from worlds at will.
While she's able to accomplish the same in the games as well, one has to admit that she's not exactly adept at world-hopping, which makes most book readers wonder what happened to this ability in the games.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released on May 18, 2015, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.