Games

The Most Evil Decisions In The Witcher 3

Published

1 month ago

October 14, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Geralt’s decisions in
The Witcher 3
can have significant consequences on the story and his relationships with other characters.
Players face morally questionable choices such as refusing Ciri’s wishes, betraying allies, or releasing dangerous entities for personal gain.
The game challenges players with nuanced dilemmas, showcasing the complex and morally ambiguous nature of the fantasy world.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most acclaimed open-world RPGs of all time, and with good reason. The game possesses a large and beautiful open world which players can spend dozens of hours exploring, as well as an enticing storyline where they play as Geralt and must gather his ‘family’ together, all while fighting an outside threat of the Wild Hunt, an elite squad of Aen Elle elves posing as wraiths and spirits.

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The Witcher 3 is not the most traditional RPG, as there is a preset main character, Geralt of Rivia. He has an established personality and was a character in a series of books, which means he has an established moral compass and is not as free in his decisions as a created character from another RPG. While Geralt is traditionally a good character, there are some morally questionable, if not outright evil decisions that he can make.

8 Refusing To Pay A Visit To Skjall

Denying Ciri An Opportunity

Skjall is a minor character in the game and has a rather unfortunate fate. After Geralt and Yen travel to Skellige to look for Ciri, they encounter a village that was ravaged by the Wild Hunt. There they learn about the Craven, a young man who abandoned his people and was therefore dishonored upon death. However, it is soon revealed that he did it to save Ciri.

After Ciri learns he died, she wants to visit Skjall’s grave. Geralt can offer her support and be her company, or he can coldly deny her that opportunity. This breaks Ciri’s heart and contributes to unlocking a bad ending, resulting in a strain in the relationship between her and Geralt, as well as players missing out on the opportunity to make peace with the past.

7 Killing The Baron’s Child

Forcing The Stillborn To Suffer

The Bloody Baron questline is one of the most nuanced and morally gray stories in the game, touching on topics such as abuse and miscarriage. Geralt becomes a participant in the story of a broken family and, at one point, has an opportunity to dig up the Baron’s dead child and use it to locate his wife and daughter.

One way of doing this is turning the botchling that the child becomes into a benevolent spirit that will guide the Witcher’s path. However, players can also murder the child right in front of its father’s eyes, and while it is arguably necessary, it ends up re-traumatizing the Baron and hurting him even more.

6 Accepting The Payment For Ciri

Making A Fool Of Geralt

Witcher 3 - Emhyr Looking Sternly At Geralt

Another Ciri-related decision is taking her to see Emhyr var Emreys before hunting Imlerith in Velen. While taking her is not a negative in itself, if the player chooses to do so, they are faced with another choice: Whether to accept the coin Emhyr promised for finding Ciri. If Geralt refuses the coin, Ciri is very proud.

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However, if Geralt accepts the coin, Ciri feels as if she’s being sold to the Emperor and betrayed by Geralt. The scene itself is prolonged as the coin is being counted, almost written to humiliate the Witcher and make the player regret this choice. It plays into getting a negative ending with Ciri at the climax of the main quest.

5 Forcing The Godling Out

Refusing The Peaceful Solution

During Geralt’s visit to Novigrad, he seeks the help of a woman named Corinne Tilly, but there is a problem: She suffers from unending nightmares. The Witcher sets out to investigate and finds that a Godling by the name of Sarah is responsible for them. She now lives in Corinne’s home and conjures up those dreams.

The Witcher can communicate with her and find a way to solve the situation peacefully, but the player can also choose to oust her by using some burdock. This leads to Sarah leaving the house and retreating to the swamp, cursing Geralt and calling him a tactless oaf. This is a pretty ruthless decision when a peaceful alternative was available.

4 Choosing Both Triss And Yen

Adultery

Witcher 3 - Still Frame From Cinematic Where Geralt Tries To Have Both Triss And Yennefer

Yennefer and Triss are the main love interests in the game, and while everyone has their preferences and reasons for choosing one or the other, the game also allows the player to confess to both of them in their respective quests. While at first, it seems like a genuine possibility, the outcome is not so bright for Geralt.

Just before setting out to Skellige, Geralt gets an invitation for a threesome with both Yen and Triss, but they end up tying him to a bed and leaving him overnight, with Dandelion eventually coming to the rescue. Despite Geralt’s opportunity to settle down, he can choose to become an adulterer and betray both Triss and Yen, ending up alone.

3 Freeing The Tree Spirit

Aiding An Ancient Evil

When Geralt encounters the Crones, they give him the task of destroying an ancient evil trapped underneath an old tree. Eventually, when Geralt discovers the creature, he hears a proposition: To free the spirit from its prison and set it free, so it can free the children that the Crones are about to eat, and then enact its revenge.

While the spirit keeps its promise and frees the children, it also annihilates the nearby village along with all of its people. It remains at large, and can still cause harm with no opportunity to stop it down the line, meaning Geralt released a very dangerous foe in exchange for only a few saved lives, making it a questionable choice.

2 Dooming Olgierd

Condemn A Soul To Torture

Olgierd and a sculpture in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

In Hearts of Stone, the storyline focuses on a man named Olgierd von Everec, a morally questionable and even reprehensible person at first sight, a merciless warlord who has harmed members of his own family in the past. However, the player learns more context which allows them to sympathize with Olgierd, including the details of the contract he made with the mysterious Gaunter O’Dimm.

Geralt of Rivia during a Witcher 3 Wild Hunt cutscene

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The culmination of the expansion is meeting Olgierd atop a secluded place where Gaunter tries to take his soul. The player can save Olgierd from his curse and allow him to seek redemption for his actions, but they can also stand aside and allow Gaunter to force Olgierd into a life of eternal suffering and agony.

1 Killing Keira Metz

Slaughtering A Friend

witcher-3-fan-shows-off-keira-metz-cosplay

Keira Metz is a friend to Geralt, Triss, and Yen from the books. She is encountered in Velen and has a story-related questline attributed to her. It includes investigating the Tower of Mice and helping her find some notes from an old sorcerer. Eventually, it can lead to a date and a small romance between Geralt and her.

However, Keira ends up stealing the notes from Geralt and abandoning him. This culminates in an encounter between the two, and if Geralt acts rudely and provokes Keira, they enter a battle in which Geralt kills one of his friends, depriving himself of a powerful ally, all over an unresolved misunderstanding.