Human Monsters

Tales of monsters have been used to frighten and entertain people from the introduction of the most primitive cryptozoological legends to the era of modern horror filmmaking.  In the world of The Witcher, stories of monsters are often quite true, serving as warnings to the inhabitants of the Continent.  The recent streaming adaption of the book series shows several of these animals.  In fact, they are directly relevant to one of the show's strongest themes.

Although The Witcher addresses issues like racism, the "lesser evil," and concept of destiny, perhaps The Witcher's primary theme is the blatant contrast between the monstrous natures of the creatures Geralt kills and the monstrous natures of many of the humans he encounters.  The amoral instincts of a beast are, in one sense, far less dangerous than the selfishness of a human who disregards reason and justice in favor of taking what he or she wants from others.

Just as a lion has not violated any moral obligations by killing other beings (on the Biblical worldview), a hirikka has not committed any "sin" by attacking humans it comes across.  The same cannot be said of the queen or king who rules without regard for anything more than their self-interest or immediate desires.  That a animal can take a course of action without committing any moral offense does not mean the same is true of humans--yes, humans are animals when the latter is defined in the broadest sense, but humans are objectively different from other animals.

A human who violates their moral obligations to other humans, in one sense, has done something far worse than the actions of any animal.  It is not that every individual human is more immediately dangerous than any given animal, but that the animal has done nothing other than act upon natural impulses, having a lesser intellect than humans (as the striga exemplifies in The Witcher).  Human monsters have far more to cast aside when they choose to allow nothing besides their present impulses to lead them.

Strigas, kikimoras, and dragons are beings to be wary of, but humankind produces the most devious monsters of all.  There is Yennefer, the sorceress who makes men and women commit sexual acts in front of her for her pleasure while under mind control, robbing them of their consent.  There is Jaskier, the bard who slanders an entire group of Elves to provide material for his songs, demonizing the remnants of a race that has already suffered from illicit discrimination.  Then there are the ordinary people who shun witchers based on injurious myths they have latched onto.

While The Witcher never comes anywhere near the same kind of portrayals of human viciousness as Game of Thrones, to which it has been predictably compared, the human capacity for malice and selfishness is a significant part of its thematic content nonetheless.  It is human monsters, after all, that each generation would do well to fear, not the creatures of unverified tales.  This certainly does not mean that any human is doomed to commit monstrous behaviors, for no sin is inevitable.  Individuals choose how vile or righteous they become.  All the same, it is humans, not the animals of myth or experience, that display savagery of a kind that surpasses that of a dragon or troll.