How to tell who's who in the Netflix series?

[Mystikast]

Hello all,

Played Witcher 2 & 3 along with Gwent for awhile, just picked up the TV show on netflix -- and despite knowing every character in the universe -- I am having difficulty registering who is who on screen.

The major problem I'm having is that the characters in the TV series don't look like they do in the games. Triss does not have her fiery red hair and green eyes, instead she has brown hair and brown eyes. Fringilla has brown hair and brown eyes, rather than the jet-black hair and blue eyes she has in lore. In addition, both characters have dark, as opposed to pale, skin.

Does anyone know why decisions were made to deviate so heavily from the lore in a way that confused hardcore fans?

I am perplexed why they would do this. Any insight is appreciated. Has anyone had any luck with subtitles, perhaps to show the name first? I hate subtitles as I often focus on reading them rather then enjoying the series, but this is getting nuts.

Thanks all!

Sincerely,

MystiKasT

 

[SMiki55]

I believe by "Yennefer" you mean "Triss". And the actress playing Triss is actually surprisingly fitting, it seems that only the characterization was f*d up. I mean, she had her hair painted reddish brown in real life, why does it look almost black on TV?

 

[Hoplite_22]

Hello all,

Played Witcher 2 & 3 along with Gwent for awhile, just picked up the TV show on netflix -- and despite knowing every character in the universe -- I am having difficulty registering who is who on screen.

The major problem I'm having is that the characters in the TV series don't look like they do in the games. Yennefer does not have her fiery red hair and green eyes, instead she has brown hair and brown eyes. Fringilla has brown hair and brown eyes, rather than the jet-black hair and blue eyes she has in game. In addition, both characters have dark, as opposed to pale, skin.

Does anyone know why decisions were made to deviate so heavily from the lore in a way that confused hardcore fans?

I am perplexed why they would do this. Any insight is appreciated. Has anyone had any luck with subtitles, perhaps to show the name first? I hate subtitles as I often focus on reading them rather then enjoying the series, but this is getting nuts.

Thanks all!

Sincerely,

MystiKasT

i think the problem is that you don't know who anyone is. Triss Merigold has red hair, Yennifer has dark hair and violet eyes, in the game anyway.

The second problem is that these are not based on the games but the books. the games depictions are some one else's interpretation of how they look (close/nothing like i am not sure) the show has a different interpretation, partly because it has to cast real people in parts and the deciding factor can't just be looks.

 

[Mystikast]

i think the problem is that you don't know who anyone is. Triss Merigold has red hair, Yennifer has dark hair and violet eyes, in the game anyway.

The second problem is that these are not based on the games but the books. the games depictions are some one else's interpretation of how they look (close/nothing like i am not sure) the show has a different interpretation, partly because it has to cast real people in parts and the deciding factor can't just be looks.

Oh no, I know who everyone is; mind is just a bit scrambled with the holidays right now.

The books explicitly say that Triss has red hair, with Yennifer even calling her a ginger.

Post automatically merged: Dec 22, 2019

I believe by "Yennefer" you mean "Triss". And the actress playing Triss is actually surprisingly fitting, it seems that only the characterization was f*d up. I mean, she had her hair painted reddish brown in real life, why does it look almost black on TV?
View attachment 11025212

She looks nothing like Triss; that is a problem.

 

[Iuliandrei]

She looks nothing like Triss; that is a problem.

She did to me, when she first appeared in episode 3 and took off that hoodie i knew that was Triss before introducing herself.
I think that actress did a fine job.

 

[Mystikast]

She did to me, when she first appeared in episode 3 and took off that hoodie i knew that was Triss before introducing herself.
I think that actress did a fine job.

Why change her so dramatically to begin with is my question...

 

[Iuliandrei]

I don't see it as a "dramatic" change, however that red hair from the games doesn't naturally exist.

 

[SMiki55]

It is actually chestnut in the books, which is broadly halfway between brown and red.

 

[Mystikast]

I don't see it as a "dramatic" change, however that red hair from the games doesn't naturally exist.

You don't consider changing someone from red-haired, green eyed, & pale skin to brown-haired, brown eyed, and brown skin to be a major change?

 

[Evangium]

Best thing you can do is forget everything you already know and enjoy the show for what it is. Given that it's an adaption (much like CDPR's games), I wouldn't expect it to follow the books too closely. As it is, we've already seen new characters that either don't exist in the books (Dara) or are very different from their book counterparts (Cahir) and events and timelines changed (Yennefer's backstory; the fall of Cintra and Geralt seeing it first hand). If the rumours are true, then Netflix wants this to be their GoT, so it maybe they end up doing much the same thing as GoT, and take the story in another direction.

 

[DRK3]

Actually the casting and look of Triss does not even enter the top 5 worst casts (based on looks) on this show and 1st season...

 

[dragoonzen]

To me the worse is either Vilgefortz and Foltest.

Vilgefortz is just a disgrace in the show's depiction.
My favorite character is Regis, I can't wait to see how they depict him.

 

[SMiki55]

brown skin

How is Triss brown? I know, "brown" is just a racist term for "tanned", but it's ridiculous. Black people may have "brown" skin in the literal sense (like the show's Fringilla), Triss just looks like a light-skinned woman after a sunbath.

 

[4RM3D]

This whole discussion already started on thin ice and now it's cracking. Before anyone falls in, let's just end it here... peacefully. To have to discuss this further is going to break the forum regulation sooner rather than later and nothing good will come of it.