Do Witchers have human emotions ?

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Do Witchers have human emotions ?

I am kind of confused, because there were several references in the game that Witchers do not have emotions. So I was wondering wether Witcher have human like emotions or not ?
 
The first game addresses it extensively and well. Basically, emotion gets in the way of being an effective Witcher, and Witcher training seeks to set aside emotion. Insensitivity training, if you will. Presumably it works better for some Witchers than it does for others, but it certainly did not work that way for Geralt or Berengar. The Grandmaster recognized this and tried to correct it. Since we don't get a chance to sit down, have a drink, and talk shop with a Greater Brother, it's a little difficult to say whether he succeeded.
 
Well, that is because Geralt is six feet and a hundred and seventy pounds of concentrated thunderbolt, not because he's a doubt-ridden mutant relic :p

Ciriously, Geralt takes great pride in being able to grasp and solve human problems and in drawing his sword only when necessary. Being emotionless would be a terrible disability for him. On the other hand, there are other witchers who are crippled by their emotions (Berengar) or very good at subordinating feelings to their purpose (Letho).

I think it's easier to be an effective Witcher without having to think too hard about what you are doing, and really easy to wind up dead if you think at the wrong time. Which did happen to him.
 
Think its more a stereotype and vile propaganda from some wizards more than anything else.

Also it could have been that the first witchers might not have had emotions but that the process of making them into witchers might have been improved and made more humans.
 
Which is interesting, regarding the fact that Geralt is supposedly the most effective Witcher.

Geralt's emotionalism seems different from that of regular human emotions.

First he has much greater self control than the average human in combination with his empathic accuracy.This all works for him as Witcher who has to deal with so many people on a regular basis.

Geralt isn't flimsy.I'd say a witcher needs that in his work.To read through liars, understand urgent situations etc etc...

I love it when geralt reads through one NPC in mission and says "start at the beginnig" or something to that extent.Sensing that valuable information is being hidden from him.

His only weakness is when you get close to those he holds dear ,but other than that he is emotionally intelligent, perceptive , patient and wise.That is how I like to play Geralt and see him as a character.
 
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Witchers have emotions. It's just that they're seen as emotionless monsters, capable only of killing by supersticious folk. (Monstrum: A portrayal of Witchers.) At the start of the first game, all witchers were upset at the death of one of their own. They mourned him. Why would they if they don't have emotions.

Geralt is a very calm human being by nature, and he's perceptive. That was probably part of the witcher training, but i'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been a dumb hothead without it.

The Grand Master / Azar saying that witchers shouldn't have emotions doesn't have to be fact. That was just their view of things.
 
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Huh.

Well, there you go. Here I was, thinking that Witcher lost all their emotions because of the Grass Trials or something. And that Geralt still had emotions, because he was subjected to even more mutations, but he's trying to hide that fact in order to be more like a Witcher.

Guess I misunderstood that. Or maybe I didn't? I don't fucking know. It doesn't explain why Berengar acted the way he did so I guess all Witchers do have emotions. Though I always just assumed that he acted on reason, rather than his feelings. Bah. I want to play the Witcher 3 now! :p And see if any answers are provided there.
 
Huh.

Well, there you go. Here I was, thinking that Witcher lost all their emotions because of the Grass Trials or something. And that Geralt still had emotions, because he was subjected to even more mutations, but he's trying to hide that fact in order to be more like a Witcher.

Guess I misunderstood that. Or maybe I didn't? I don't fucking know. It doesn't explain why Berengar acted the way he did so I guess all Witchers do have emotions. Though I always just assumed that he acted on reason, rather than his feelings. Bah. I want to play the Witcher 3 now! :p And see if any answers are provided there.
Yeah. I'm just as confused as you are, and that's why I asked the question. I can never hear any emotion in Geralt's voice except anger or sarcasm, and that is once in a blue moon. He never sounds happy or sad. Yet his actions sometimes indicate that he still has human emotions, and some examples would be sparing the villager who killed him in the books, Willing to give his life for Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Dandelion, and Zoltan, telling Triss that he felt a bond between them at the start of Witcher 1, his relationship with Alvin, stating that War is never justified at the start of Witcher 2 meaning he values human life, his regret and statement if you choose to kill the Dragon which is "before the sorceresses broke the creatures will, it was noble and beautiful" and saying that he had to kill it because she would have killed more people unwillingly, feeling empathy for the non-humans, wanting to save his dignity by proving that he did not kill Foltest, abandoning everything in order to find Triss when she was kidnapped, and so on.
Even Letho seems to value the fact that Geralt saved his life many years ago and the fact that they were friends. Letho could have killed Geralt in the elven baths , but he did not . He even took care of Yennefer, when he thought Geralt was dead; so he was not taking care of a mad woman (Yennefer) for any kind of expectation that Geralt would return the favor, since he thought Geralt was dead. He was simply doing it to honor their friendship. He also did not kill Foltest in front of his children, even though he himself can never have children nor he ever had a father or mother. So he has never experienced the relationship between parents and children, but he can feel how awful it would be for the children to see their father's death. He also let Foltest greet his children before killing him, so he empathized with him as a father who has not seen his children for 6 months.
My take is that they all try to hang on to their human side as much as they can.
 
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He seems different, but in reality is so similar. Our paths have been the same: we survived the Trials, endured the same training and have slain so many monsters that we no longer keep count. So many men, also. The difference is in the details – when I see him moving in combat, I want to laugh, but I also see that he is just as effective, if not more so. There is, however, one critical difference I cannot describe adequately. He has a goal, he is committed to something. He doesn't wander the world as if blown about by the wind. I believe he feels emotions at a level I cannot attain, yet these emotions are not typically human. Is it an illness of some kind? I think he teeters on the brink of instinct and emotion, and that he uses up a lot of energy to maintain his mental health. I hope I get a chance to know him better and learn from him. Nothing specific – just life.

I think it was about Geralt.
 
Emotions are always complicated, the lines are always blurry, and the colours of the moral compass are forever grey.

Witchers are supposed to be neutral for some reason(to avoid being considered a threat to humans and their schemes and affairs?) never to meddle in the business of humans or factions, yet they choose themselves. Geralt chooses for himself.

Witcher are mutants and considered thus, yet there are persons from all kind of the fence(elves/humans,pro/anti some cause) that tries to get Geralt over to their side. They try to appeal to his 'human' or 'non-human' side, to his good and better senses, or outright command him to do their bidding. The 'lesser evil' speech. The most important things I got from Witcher universe is that monsters aren't always monstrous(no more than humans at least), and humans are mostly the worst creatures out there. Anyone remember Nivellen from Last Wish? Geralt was adamant that he wasn't a monster and he sure wasn't.

But what we're talking about here is rumours or reputation. People's opinions of what witcher are, not the truth of it. Ever stumbled upon 'The Witchman' entry in Bestiary journal?

"A witchman is by some called a witcher. Summoning him is dangerous, yet he must be called at times. When none can stand against an accursed monster, a witchman will. Do not touch the witchman, for you will become mangy. Remember also to hide the lasses from him, for the witchman is lecherous beyond imagination. Though the witchman craves silver, never pay him more than the following: a silver penny for a drowner, two silver pennies for a werecat, four silver pennies for a vampire."

As well as: "Witchmen roam the roads where monsters live; they spend winters in their keeps, where they plot and perfect their swordsmanship. Witchmen never get ill and tend to be resistant to venoms and charms, for they are themselves enchanted beings. They run from the sound of church bells; their greed for women is only surpassed by their greed for silver. A witchman is a master of the sword and sinister sinister spells. They are skilled alchemists, they create potions that make their eyes glow in the dark."

Some things are true, potions, swordsmanship, and witchers residing in a keep during winter months and so on, but even more aren't true.

My opinion? Witchers, though mutated, still have human emotions and they all have to deal with the troubles that comes with that aspect. Being better, faster and more resilient than normal humans does not account for much when you're still unsure of who's your enemy or ally, and when the 'right thing to do' isn't that straightforward. And it usually isn't.
 
the games didn't present the witchers as emotionless entities and the novels neither.

Just go to the novel's fan translations and read the couple of chapters about kaer morhem. Compare theirs behavior with emotionless character in other fictions. If sapkowsky tried to paint them as emotionless, he did a bad job. These chapters show friendship, compassion, anger, joy and several other emotions.

-polygons everywhere-
 
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Sure they have. Even animals have basic emotions such as fear or rage. I think the entire debate or misconception was concerning higher, purely human emotions such as compassion, for example. I don't think it was anything specifically witchery here, it depends mostly on formative circumstances. The witchers were raised like in a permanent boot-camp, without family attachments and national allegiances. Some of them sure turned out emotionally stunted, but I doubt it was because of any mutations. Geralt is perfectly fine though. In the books he experiences the full range of emotions, including rage, frustration, moodiness, animosity, and so on.
 
This is like the Witcher code that Geralt call when he got moral problems, which does not exist, or like that a vampire need to suck blood to live, lies and stories, maybe Geralt and all the witcher have a low scale of emotions, but in the books they feel, like his crazy love for Yennefer and Ciri.
 
Wanna see emotionless? Look at the tranquil in Dragon Age: Origins. Witchers burst with emotion compared to them.
They were more expressionless than emotionless.

I think what they mean by witchers being emotionless is that they are less passionate than normal people, not that they literally have no emotions. If you look at Geralt, he doesn't really react like normal human. He is more reserved, just compare his reaction and reaction of Roche to what happened with blue stripes. Roche almost flipped, Geralt was calm.
Normal witchers are driven more by logic then emotons, Geralt isn't really best example because he is unique. But look at letho and conversations with him. Look at his face just after he killed foltest. Also there was only one moment in the books when Geralt laughed out loud. It was in the new book.
 
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Tranquil literally get stripped of emotion. Thats the whole point of becoming tranquil. Demons have no desire to posess an emotionless human being.

I think what they mean by witchers being emotionless is that they are less passionate than normal people, not that they literally have no emotions..

Well, emotionless literally means without emotion. So witchers aren't emotionless. They mourned Leo and have a bond together, as shown at the start of the first game. Emotionless people don't do that.
 
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