An albino spellsword with freakish inhuman eyes, known far and wide as the White Wolf, armed with a quick temper and an acid tongue with a penchant for becoming embroiled in political and military conflicts far larger than himself. He wanders a world brimming with fantasy trapped by the double edged blade of his own abnormally long life, originally sustained through the use of magical substances and esoteric rituals, finding himself caught in the schemes of political figures and powerful villains hoping to use his powers for their own purposes.
Sound familiar? Thing is, I didn't actually describe Geralt there, I described the little known character by Micheal Moorcock, Elric of Melnibone
Many characters across fiction draw inspiration from Elric very obviously, like Arthas from Warcraft, Rhaegar Targaryen, Brynden Rivers, Kaine from Legacy of Kain and Drizzt from the Dungeons and Dragons mythos, but Geralt is the only one I would actually call a blatant ripoff.
- Both have strong anti-hero tones about them, although Elric takes it into anti-villain sometimes
- Both are known to be peerless swordsmen, as well as being capable of using magic to boot. The only difference is Elric is a full blown sorcerer
- Both act as mercenaries through much of their series
- They share a similar aesthetic, bleach white hair and pale skin with abnormal eyes
- Both are called the The White Wolf.
- They both fall in love with a dark haired beauties. Cymoril to Elric and Yennefer to Geralt.
- Both are known to be womanizers despite their strange, inhuman looks
- Their naming scheme is the same. Geralt of Rivia. Elric of Melnibone
- Elric uses witch sight to augment his senses....Geralt uses Witcher sense
- Both use potions as a mainstay of their character
- Both blatantly refuse to accept destiny, burdened by their status in life and respective responsibilities
- Both often manipulated by very powerful people as part of the main plot of their story
- Both part of a race that is dying out, a relic of times past
What speaks more of Sapkowski guilt than any of this though, is that he refuses to admit even the surface similarities of these characters, despite admitting the Witcher took influence from several popular fantasy series banned in soviet controlled Poland, even after being allegedly served papers by Moorcock's lawyers. This is like if I were to write a book about a group Gnomes on an adventurer on a quest to destroy the One Necklace to Control Them All, and then had the sheer audacity to deny that Tolkien at least inspired it.
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