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Witcher 3's Hero Geralt Is a "Relatively Handsome Man," Dev Says

CD Projekt Red responds to the idea that Geralt of Rivia might be too handsome.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt developer CD Projekt Red has addressed the handsomeness of main character Geralt of Rivia. Is Geralt supposed to be good-looking? Is that what The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski envisioned when he created the character?

"The truth is, [Geralt] was a relatively handsome man," CD Projekt Red's Michal Platkow-Gilewski told Eurogamer. "He could have love affairs with a lot of women--that's in the books, and the same happens in our games." If Geralt was depicted as a nastier man, "you couldn't achieve that," Platkow-Gilewski said.

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Platkow-Gilewski acknowledged that previous installments in The Witcher series weren't as kind to Geralt from a looks perspective. "Maybe we were looking for a perfect proportion of his face [in The Witcher 3] and in previous installments we weren't there," he said.

He went on to say that "there is no canonical Geralt face," and this was the first time someone had addressed the possibility that Geralt was potentially too handsome for a man who fights monsters in all manner of deadly environments every day.

Eurogamer also asked Platkow-Gilewski if making Geralt handsome in The Witcher 3 could help bring more people to the series. "It was not like, 'Hey guys, let's make him super-handsome.' We were just looking for this look where he is strong, he looks like a predator, especially with his eyes," he said. "Maybe the beard is doing the job."

The Witcher 3 launches in February 2015 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Earlier this week, CD Projekt Red released a gorgeous new trailer for the game, which you can watch right here.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

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Dragon_Nexus

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Always figured Geralt was meant to be an ugly bugger. Not, like...hideos, but not particularly attractive either.

That CGI opening for Witcher 1, I think, had him looking at his best. I kinda prefer seeing him with a more eastern european style face with the somewhat more exagerated features. In Witcher 3 he looks too American, I feel.

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darthvandersag

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Anyone think he looked creepy in the first game? Eyes were a lot more prominent and the textured scar and the mouth looked odd too..

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Alfaraabi

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<< LINK REMOVED >> yea he is creepy

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dani_i89

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Not creepy...just kinda devoid of character.

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isshiah

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I'd love to look like him.


I guess that's s resounding yes.


Coincidentally, a playlist i'm listening to just started playing music from the Witcher 3 E3 trailer.

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Dragon_Nexus

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Except this kind of thing fits within a male power fantasy. Whereas overly sexualised women fit within...a male power fantasy.

So it's not *quite* the same.

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Am_I_Tuna

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The struggle is real

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Boogy32

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<< LINK REMOVED >>
Let's get our pro-patriarchy banners and let's hit the streets!

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Gamer_4_Fun

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I can feel the oppression from home

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shahdeewasahoe

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Well that's the polite way to put it. I'd say he's a total pu$$y destroyer.

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ryancyc

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What? I always thought he looked awful, like somebody's weird uncle. While playing Witcher 2 I thought his nose might jump out of my screen at some point and beat the sh*t out of me.

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Dragon_Nexus

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<< LINK REMOVED >> You're a weird guy.

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eva02langley

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Geralt is the kind of person to be a realistic mood killer... he always says whatever he wants... I wonder how CDP think he might be a Don Juan, because in the books, he is not.

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bigrod69

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The ladies say I'm pretty handsome.


But the ladies will say whatever I want as long as I'm paying them enough.

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Pelezinho777

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He looked just as he should in W2. They kinda fu**ed him up in Wild hunt, looks as a sissy.

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streamline

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CD Projekt Red stop being so sexist and make the women better looking, too!

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Boogy32

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<< LINK REMOVED >>
No no. That would be sexist apparently. This is the first time I've heard about a male character, that looks too good. It's good that these people are branching out and not only saying that women look too good, but how about not bitching about it to begin with?

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deactivated-58b0b257815cf

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This is the one bone I have to pick with CD Projekt. He's not handsome. At all. He wasn't in the books or the first two games, and I fear their desire to enter the western market means they'll tone things down here, pretty things up there. Geralt is unique because he's not your typical handsome alpha male. He's a mutant and loner. If he gets laid a lot it's because he has the libido of a tiger and is a curiosity for the ladies.

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Omojo

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That means something. He's going to pork with every lass he passes! Day one buy for me!

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streamline

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Ah, the good old days.

It was a little weird to do the werewolf girl .

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vadagar1

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also hunting monsters does not mean u have to look like SH!T

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vadagar1

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well if he gets a military buz cut... yah I'd tap that ... but honestly he is not my type :P

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deactivated-61d91d42c39df

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well obviously as the graphics have improved since witcher 1 and witcher 2 his face has become more defined

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Thanatos2k

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Yeah, take off his armor and then say how handsome he is with his back covered in giant scars.

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deactivated-5da4c0387991d

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As a tall, handsome white guy with a beard, beautiful eyes, and reserved emotions, I can confirm that we are capable of fighting monsters. I did it in Iraq for a few years. BA-DUM-CHING!!!

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Pelezinho777

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???????

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deactivated-5da4c0387991d

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Don't hate me' cause I'm beautiful.

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FoxBat_Prime

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Women dont care how men look they want a man who knows how to take charge and has a huge dong and let's just say Geralt carries a third sword.

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darthvandersag

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<< LINK REMOVED >> "Why 2 swords does he lose them often?" " 'It's actually 3, kid.' *nudge nudge wink wink* "

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Pelezinho777

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Well said!

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CaveManCobb

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Everyone needs something to complain about. God I hate the gaming community.

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TehUndeadHorror

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I guess your need is complaining about people complaining.

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CaveManCobb

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yep.

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FoxBat_Prime

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Then why are you here?

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CaveManCobb

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I don't know to be honest with you. The "Everything sucks and nothing is cool" attitude is really starting to get on my nerves.

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deactivated-5bf0349aba610

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Welcome to the club mate. I'm also tired of reading the same comments on the same subjects by the same people, it's like they spend more time complaining and hating games and "corporations" then actually playing them.

It's way too much negativity on gaming sites.

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EnTyme53

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I believe Cracked.com said it best (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here): If gamers had been around when God said "Let there be light", they would have called the light gay.

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4KGamer_LMXXX

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F*** Geralt, I can't wait to screw Triss in 4k this time... HEHEHE!!! *drools*

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Pelezinho777

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When you can't in real life, hey, why not?

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MrSutnak

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who cares? i am not going to sleep with him....also he always reminds me of sabertooth from xmen

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BrunoBRS

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almost every woman geralt came across wanted to bang him. i'd imagine he would be quite handsome. plus, that old man grit ;D

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JustBeFahad

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Yeah, he's definitely a handsome man. Too handsome? Nope, he looks like a strong, tough dude but I think they neglected the fact that he also has prominent monster-like features. He looks too human maybe? lol

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Stiler

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@justbefahad Geralt is a human.

Witchers are created, they take people at a young age, give them all sorts of training and also have them take all kinds of alchemical potions and mutagens, infect them with various things.

Many of them do not survive this but the ones that do end up obtaining many special abilities, extremely fast reflexes/speed, heightened senses, better sight/night vision and long lifespans, among other things.

It has drawbacks, they become sterile and can't have kids or anything of their own.


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BrunoBRS

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<< LINK REMOVED >> in the books he doesn't have monster-like features. his hair is white, his eyes are yellow and kinda cat-like, aaand that's it. hell, the whole "i'm not human, i'm a mutant" thing is only in the games, geralt found himself perfectly human (even if still an outcast because not everyone is fond of witchers) in the novels.

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JustBeFahad

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Oh, thanks for clarifying that. I've only played the games and haven't read the novels, they've always depicted him being beyond human in the games.

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BrunoBRS

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> yeah, no. can't be a ladies' man if you're not a sexy, sexy person anyway :P

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yeah_28

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The issue was never about him hunting monsters and looking good, at least I never read something like that, but I have read several times that the fact that he is a weird mutant maybe isnt too represented in his new look.

Its not just the shape of his bones, the color of the skin was whiter, the scars were more prominent, more red, I think he even had more scars, the cat eyes were easier to notice, etc.

Geralt was supposed to be kind of handsome but at the same time sort of a monster, so thats were questioning of the new art direction came from.

This situation happened with TW2 as well, and the negative feedback was large enough for RED to change Geralt's pre-alpha face for the final one in the game.

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