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- Image of Ciri from the Witcher 4, courtesy of CD Projekt Red.

The Witcher 4’s Intriguing Leading Lady Ciri was Chosen as CDR’s Next Witcher Protagonist a Full Decade Ago

Originally posted on Total Apex Gaming
By Natalie Harris | Last updated May 28, 2025 4:33 PM ET

As more information drops about The Witcher 4, though there is still no news on a release date beyond ‘not 2026’, fans are creating a bit of controversy over the new protagonist of the series, Geralt’s adopted daughter Ciri. While Geralt has been the much-loved driving force behind the series since the first game in 2007, the devs have confirmed that his story concluded with the Blood and Wine expansion pack for The Witcher 3.

So, of course, there is a gaping narrative hole to be filled with the next game, and while some fans have praised Ciri as the next logical choice for The Witcher 4’s lead considering she was given the same witcher treatment as Geralt as well as bringing her own Elder Blood into the mix, others have called for the development of a new character in a brand new story, or perhaps even an original character generation program like Bethesda’s Oblivion.

Are They Ciri-ous?

At the end of the day, this is an RPG, and the story of an RPG carries just as much weight as the gameplay, the gorgeously rendered backgrounds, and the bespoke technological advances most often found in these big releases. For The Witcher 4, Ciri is a protagonist who’s been carefully considered since the conclusion of the Blood and Wine expansion for The Witcher 3 that was released in 2015, and it’s not hard to see why the devs got excited. CD Projekt Red’s Chief Financial Officer had this to say about the decision:

“We believe that Ciri is a great choice for the new saga, because she gives us many possibilities – both narrative and artistic”

The cinematic trailer that recently dropped in December 2024 showed a much different Ciri to the young woman that Geralt has the power to rescue in The Witcher 3. Having finished her witcher training, Ciri is out in the world making a name for herself and following in her father’s footsteps, but with Elder Blood making her a target for the various creatures that roam The Continent, the whole business with the Wild Hunt making her somewhat infamous and the allies and foes she made when she was running from said Wild Hunt, there is already a lot of pre-established narrative complication for the devs to pull on.

A character generation game like Bethesda’s Oblivion would be a lot of fun, particularly with the immaculate world-building of The Witcher, but the result wouldn’t be a Witcher game at all. The hard-hitting emotional punches that Geralt takes along his way, resulting from his decisions, give the player a sense that they’re actively shaping a story-book protagonist, and that is endlessly thrilling. Already, CD Projekt Red has highlighted the importance of choice in The Witcher 4, and with Ciri’s long-standing, already interesting history, surely it will be exciting to be able to have a hand in her development just as much as it was fun to have a hand in Geralt’s.

A Completely Different Fighter

Image of Ciri from the Witcher 4, courtesy of CD Projekt Red.

Ciri, of course, is built completely differently from Geralt, and asking Ciri to express the same playstyle as her esteemed predecessor would be like asking Lara Croft to step into the shoes of Kratos in God of War; those hits just won’t carry the same weight at all. The Senior Communications Officer at CD Projekt Red, Pawel Burza, also recently commented, with notable enthusiasm, on how different Geralt feels to Ciri, saying:

“He’s nimble, but he feels like a block in some sense. She’s like liquid compared to him.”

Such intelligent attention to detail does rather put to rest the rumours that Ciri was only chosen as the protagonist to make The Witcher 4 ‘woke’. To put a further damper on that theory, it seems like the devs have decided to take a nerf gun to our new heroine, though they haven’t given details of exactly how. It is likely that her Elder Blood powers will be hidden for the sake of the story, or there will be an opportunity to re-unlock them as the game progresses and Ciri finds herself more in tune with her new witcher abilities.

The prospect of building a character that can wield cooler magic, particularly following the showcase of the stunning magic Ciri fired off in the December trailer, really does get the blood pumping for this game. What will CD Projekt Red come up with for Ciri? And if Geralt got three games, does that mean Ciri will too?

Not Everyone Will Be Happy

While you can only please some of the people, some of the time, a lot of thought has gone into making Ciri the protagonist of Witcher 4. Our weavers of gaming fate over at CD Projekt Red have been actively considering her role since Geralt’s story came to its final conclusion at the end of Blood and Wine, and it will be very interesting to see how Ciri will be able to carry the series in Geralt’s absence.

Hopefully, we’ll see a sneak peek of the developing gameplay at upcoming events, perhaps a demonstration of that new fighting style that has been so lightly teased. Regardless of who mans the helm of The Witcher 4, it’s safe to say that the world will still offer all the rich lore we’ve come to know and love. It will be a privilege to get to see that newly rendered Continent and how it’s changed in its ten-year absence.

This article first appeared on Total Apex Gaming and was syndicated with permission.

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