While Geralt of Rivia has claimed the spotlight asThe Witcherfor decades, the time has finally come for the bigger, badder, and more brutal school of Witchers to get in on the action. And now thata Witcher from The School of The Bear has crossed Geralt’s path, he’s living up to his title already.
As just one member of the ever-dwindling monster-hunters in the franchise’s universe, Geralt’s title as ‘The Witcher’ typically supersedes the distinction that he was trained in The School of The Wolf (signified by his iconic, magical wolf medallion). But in the aptly-titled new comic seriesThe Witcher: The Bear and The Butterfly, Geralt’s travels bring him into contact with a colleague. Abreed of Witcherrarely seen in the series, making his debut a historic one.
Stepping into Issue #1 of the series,the ‘Bear School’ graduate is a hulking, bearded, and mohawked warriorof few words, giving fans exactly the kind of warrior they have been waiting for. But at the same time, raising as many questions as answers.
The School of The Bear’s Witcher Lives Up To The Hype
Images of ‘Bear School’ Witchers Have Mainly Been Shown inGwentCard Game Art
The origins, alliances, and rivalries of the Witcher ranks is one of the most unexpected (and unexplored) facets ofThe Witcherworld originally created by Andrzej Sapkowski. The novels, video games, andNetlfixWitcherseriesall show Geralt’s fellow Witchers enjoying some sense of fraternity, butThe School of The Bear stands apart. Founded by a Witcher who betrayed his brothers, teaching students to be as hard, hulking, and unheroic as they would need to be to survive not only monsters, but one another on the road.
As one might guess, this reputation for Witchers of The School of The Bear precedes them, describinga class of monster hunter who fights through sheer force, in heavy armor, with absolutely terrifying berserker rage. Players of theWitchervideo games (upon which the Dark Horse comics are based) may only know of these warriors by seeking out their in-game Ursine armor set. Demonstrating the hardiness of the men through their formidable and fur-accented gear, the comic Witcher keeps this style intact as well.
Given Geralt’s level of fame, and considering how massiveformerWitcherstar Henry Cavill was in the role, theBear and The Butterflycreative team of Si Spurrier, Stephen Green, and Jose Villarrubia have raised the stakes. Since Geralt is already a large, strong, and lethal in hand-to-hand combat,the School of The Bear Witcher is a towering viking nightmare, with thought of nothing else except the vampire he’s hunting. Their shared quarry is sure to be a problem, since this Witcher is visibly more than Geralt can handle on his own.
While the original novels suggest only three Witcher ‘schools,’ video, tabletop, and card games have introduced The Schools of The Wolf, Bear, Viper, Cat, Manticore, Griffin, Lynx, and Crane.
What This Means: The Bear Witchers Are Coming
The Games Have Shown Their Epic Armor, But It’s Clear We Need More Bear Witchers
To say that fans ofThe WitcherandGwentgames have been waiting to see more members of ‘Bear School’ would be an understatement. Seen primarily in card artwork for the in-universe gameGwent, what few tales we have of their ranks are almost all epic in nature. Trained atop mountains, and bred to survive bitter cold, and the hardiest beasts who live within it,Witchers from The School of The Bear are likely the most imposing, intimidating, and powerful versionsin the franchise. And so far, only a handful are even known to have existed.
It’s still unclear if this hulking man sharing the title ofThe Bear and The Butterflyis one of these known Witchers, or a new addition to the game canon. It’s also unknown if his sense of morality is just as flawed as the traitorous founder of his order. To learn that will mean reading the entire four-issue series, to see if this titan will help Geralt on his mission… or prove to be just as dangerous an opponent.
The Witcher: The Bear and The Butterfly#1is available now from Dark Horse Comics.
