When The Witcher was the first, and it blew fans away, producing a high-quality, detailed show that imagines Henry Cavill in a whole new light, while bringing a long-beloved series of books and games, at last, to the screen.
As with any adaptation, The Witcher is subject to the interpretation of the showrunners -- characters that have spent years on pages and video games were completely reimagined for the show. Here is what the colorful cast of The Witcher should really look like.
Renfri
Renfri appears early on in the first season of The Witcher; she represents the first real moral dilemma that Geralt encounters. It is his encounter with her that inspires the famous line: "Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling." In the show, she's fierce, manipulative, and highly skilled with a sword. In this, she matches up pretty well with her literary depiction. The only real difference between the show and the original source material is that Spakowski describes Renfri as being as tall as Geralt, with "straw-colored hair." Renfri's adaptation is one of the most accurate of the entire show.
Jaskier
The bard and Geralt's closest companion, Jaskier quickly became one of the most popular characters on the show. He added a much-needed layer of charm and humor to a show that, otherwise, could have been a little too dark. His adaptation is mostly accurate, though in the games, he is called Dandelion, which is believed to be a translation of Jaskier, which means buttercup. In the games, he also sports a goatee and some rather garish attire.
Yennefer
Yennefer of Vengerberg is definitely one of the most important characters of the Continent. She is an exceptionally powerful sorceress, and in addition to her prominence in the games and books, has been set up to be even more prominent in the second season of The Witcher.
Her adaptation from page and game to the screen was essentially impeccable. In the books, she is described as someone who is beautiful but threatening, with sharp cheekbones, a slender waist, and raven-black hair. The games changed virtually nothing about her character, and the show followed that tradition, with Anya Chalotra bringing the terrifying sorceress to life.
Ciri
As the show is more so an adaptation of the books than the games, Princess Cirilla's story and appearance in the show is markedly different from the games. We see the Lion Cub of Cintra begin her journey; when the season ends, she, at last, finds Geralt. In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the introduction involves Ciri as a child, training at Kaer Morhen with Geralt. She is described in the books as being tall for her age with mousy blonde hair and massive emerald eyes -- attractive to some, but not beautiful. The games play true to that description, and so too does the show, though Ciri's eyes are not green.
Mousesack
Mousesack, a skilled and intelligent Druid also serves as an advisor to the throne of Cintra. In the show, he demonstrates a relatively decent level of skill in sorcery and sacrifices himself to ensure Ciri's escape. His death is one of the more tragic ones of the show, as a shapeshifter takes on his appearance in order to hoodwink and capture Ciri. In the books, he is described as a thickset man with a bushy beard -- show Mousesack matches that almost perfectly. In the game, though, Mousesack's beard is far longer, his clothes are garishly colored, and he sports an exceptionally odd hat.
Tissaia
Tissaia De Vries provided the showrunners of The Witcher an opportunity to truly create and embellish a character. She only appeared in the games by mention and played a minor role in the books, where she was described as having dark hair, in addition to being Yennefer's mentor. You could say that Netflix nailed it, though there wasn't much to nail.
Fringilla
Fringilla is one of the more interesting characters on the show. Through chance, she winds up as the advisor to Nilfgaard, where she seeks to enhance her own field of influence by leading their invasion as the second most powerful sorcerer on the Continent.
She was one of the more controversial casting decisions of the Netflix show, as she is described in the books (and portrayed in the game) as being light-skinned with green eyes. The showrunners of the Netflix adaptation did their best to diversify the cast as best as possible, and though the show-version of Fringilla is different from the original source material, it is by no means worse.
Vilgefortz
Vilgefortz is similar to Tissaia in that he also does not appear in the video games. In the books, he is described as having brown hair and eyes -- really the only difference between book Vilgefortz and show Vilgefortz is the hideous scar he has over his eye.
Triss
Triss Merigold provides another example of a controversial casting decision made by the show. In the books, Triss is described as having pale skin, chestnut-red hair, bright blue eyes, and a scarred chest. In the games, she looks slightly different, with ginger-red hair and bright green eyes instead. In the show, however, her skin is dark, as are her eyes and hair. Similar to Fringilla, this casting decision simply furthers the diversification of the cast but does not damage the character whatsoever.
Geralt
Geralt's adaptation is the most complex adaptation of any character in the show. He looks completely different in the games compared to the books, and the show compared to the games. In the books, he is described as being skinny and entirely unsettling, with pale skin and hair, shaven cheeks, an unpleasant voice, and a heavily scarred visage. The games made him look a bit more buff, and a bit less scary, reducing his level of scarring and general ugliness. The show cast Henry Cavill in the role, raising the buff level from normal to 'super' human, eliminated the scarring entirely, and certainly removed any level of his unsettling aura. All in, we like Netflix's version best.