Complete Origin Story of Yennefer | MojoPlays
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VOICE OVER: Riccardo Tucci
WRITTEN BY: Jarett Burke
Yennefer of Vengerberg: she's the sorceress that stole Geralt's heart (along with the hearts of many gamers), became a mother figure to the young Ciri, and converted many long-time Triss Merigold fans over to Team Yennefer with her strong personality, stunning beauty and ceaseless wit. She's also one of the main characters in Netflix's upcoming “The Witcher” series, scheduled to release sometime in 2019, which is based solely on The Witcher books by Polish author Andrzej Sepkowski.
Yennefer of Vengerberg: she’s the sorceress that stole Geralt’s heart (along with the hearts of many gamers), became a mother figure to the young Ciri, and converted many long-time Triss Merigold fans over to Team Yennefer with her strong personality, stunning beauty and ceaseless wit. She’s also one of the main characters in Netflix’s upcoming “The Witcher” series, scheduled to release sometime in 2019, which is based solely on The Witcher books by Polish author Andrzej Sepkowski. But, when discussing the origins of the Yennefer character in general, there is some key information from the games that helps flesh out this powerful female sorceress that aren’t found in the books alone. So, for the sake of depth, this origins story will look at both the books and the video game series to attempt to gain a better understanding of Yennefer. Keep in mind that all background information is from the books unless otherwise stated. Lastly, of course, there will be spoilers from the books so consider this a spoiler warning.
Yennefer was born on “May Day” or “May Night” – a special festival that celebrated fertility – in 1173 in the city of Vengerberg. As the capital city of the Aedirn Kingdom, Vengerberg was diverse and heavily populated, and Yennefer’s parents were of mixed race, as her mother was part Elf. Thus, Yennefer was born Quadroon, with one quarter Elven blood, and was originally named Jenny (only later choosing to change her name to Yennefer). Her childhood was a miserable one, as she was born a hunchback into an abusive family. Her father despised the fact that Yennefer was born deformed, and he blamed her mother for the deformity on account of the mother’s Elven blood and impure womb from a prior abortion. Yennefer’s mother tried (but failed) to protect her from her father’s abuse, but the father soon grew tired of his family and deserted them. Knowing Yennefer was the sole reason the father left, the mother never forgave Yennefer and thus came to abuse her herself, leaving Yennefer no escape from the endless abuse. As Dandelion reveals in his compendium to “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” the toll of Yennefer’s early years led her to attempt suicide at a young age, but she would survive the ordeal and eventually find a welcoming community in the magic school of Aretuza where she would go onto excel. It was also during her first year of study at Aretuza that her deformity and scared forearm were healed via higher magic, thus producing the striking brunette sorceress we know today.
The books further reveal that, due to her exceptional abilities in magic and sorcery, Yennefer became the youngest member in the Supreme Council of Sorcerers (the lower assembly of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers) and was later recruited by the all-female Lodge of Sorceresses once the Brotherhood had collapsed; but, she refused to join the Lodge due to their repeated persecution of Ciri, and thus Yenn become known as somewhat of a rebel in the mage community. Her magical prowess also led her to rise within society as well, where she at one time occupied an unrecognized consultant position for the king of Aedirn. Despite her successes after managing to survive a cruel childhood, Yennefer remained unhappy as she longed for a child, but couldn’t have one on account of the fact that sorceresses are sterile. Even through magic, Yennefer found herself unable to have a child of her own.
During the events of author Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher story "The Last Wish" when Yennifer's fate and very life is bound to that of Geralt of Rivia. Yennifer, who has not only become a powerful sorceress, but an overly ambitious one and she sets out to capture and tame a Djinn or "Gini", as we would call it. The Djinn is already bound to Geralt when he and his companion Dandilion accidently released it, and the Djinn owes Geralt three wishes. Geralt accidentally pisses the Djinn off with his first wish, and now the Djinn is on a serious rampage. Yennifer underestimates both the Djinn's enraged power and fails to tame the being, nearly dying in the process. Geralt uses his 'last wish' to both save Yen and exile the Djinn. We never know exactly what Geralt wished for, but we do know that his wish bound her and Yen's fate together for as long as they live.
Thus, after falling in love with Geralt, she readily accepts the motherly role as Ciri’s guardian and treats this young girl as if she is her own.
Unfortunately, after an eventful and... 'complicated' relationship, Yennifer is fatally wounded and Gerlt is killed trying to protect non humans from a rioting and bloodthirsty mob. This is where the books end, but for fans of the series, the video game series by CD Projekt Red pick up from where the books, seemingly permanently, left off.
Ciri manages to rescue his body – along with the ailing Yennefer – and sweeps them away to the Isle of Avallach. On the island, Yennefer is able to heal while Geralt is brought back to life. Yennifer, Geralt and Ciri become separated, with the first two games focusing almost exclusively on Geralt, leaving fans to wait for the third game in the series to resolve Yen and Ciri's fates. Ciri is being pursued by an evil, otherworldly group called 'The Wild Hunt'. Geralt's quest to find and rescue Ciri reunites him with Yennifer, and their fate, and romance is left largely up to the decisions of the player. Geralt has the option to resume his relationship with Yen or through a sidequest, sever his bond created through his 'last wish' with Yennifer permanently.
And, this is where Yennfer’s arc stands at the moment.
Since the upcoming Netflix adaptation won’t include the story of the games (at least not at the current moment in time), expect Anya Chalotra’s portrayal of Yennefer to be somewhat different to the character we’ve come to know and love while playing “The Witcher 3.” But, since Yennefer is not in the first video game, and only briefly mentioned in the second, what we know about her is quite scarce. So, here’s hoping that Chalotra’s portrayal of the powerful sorceress allows us to understand Yenn’s overall character on a much deeper level moving forward.
Yennefer was born on “May Day” or “May Night” – a special festival that celebrated fertility – in 1173 in the city of Vengerberg. As the capital city of the Aedirn Kingdom, Vengerberg was diverse and heavily populated, and Yennefer’s parents were of mixed race, as her mother was part Elf. Thus, Yennefer was born Quadroon, with one quarter Elven blood, and was originally named Jenny (only later choosing to change her name to Yennefer). Her childhood was a miserable one, as she was born a hunchback into an abusive family. Her father despised the fact that Yennefer was born deformed, and he blamed her mother for the deformity on account of the mother’s Elven blood and impure womb from a prior abortion. Yennefer’s mother tried (but failed) to protect her from her father’s abuse, but the father soon grew tired of his family and deserted them. Knowing Yennefer was the sole reason the father left, the mother never forgave Yennefer and thus came to abuse her herself, leaving Yennefer no escape from the endless abuse. As Dandelion reveals in his compendium to “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” the toll of Yennefer’s early years led her to attempt suicide at a young age, but she would survive the ordeal and eventually find a welcoming community in the magic school of Aretuza where she would go onto excel. It was also during her first year of study at Aretuza that her deformity and scared forearm were healed via higher magic, thus producing the striking brunette sorceress we know today.
The books further reveal that, due to her exceptional abilities in magic and sorcery, Yennefer became the youngest member in the Supreme Council of Sorcerers (the lower assembly of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers) and was later recruited by the all-female Lodge of Sorceresses once the Brotherhood had collapsed; but, she refused to join the Lodge due to their repeated persecution of Ciri, and thus Yenn become known as somewhat of a rebel in the mage community. Her magical prowess also led her to rise within society as well, where she at one time occupied an unrecognized consultant position for the king of Aedirn. Despite her successes after managing to survive a cruel childhood, Yennefer remained unhappy as she longed for a child, but couldn’t have one on account of the fact that sorceresses are sterile. Even through magic, Yennefer found herself unable to have a child of her own.
During the events of author Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher story "The Last Wish" when Yennifer's fate and very life is bound to that of Geralt of Rivia. Yennifer, who has not only become a powerful sorceress, but an overly ambitious one and she sets out to capture and tame a Djinn or "Gini", as we would call it. The Djinn is already bound to Geralt when he and his companion Dandilion accidently released it, and the Djinn owes Geralt three wishes. Geralt accidentally pisses the Djinn off with his first wish, and now the Djinn is on a serious rampage. Yennifer underestimates both the Djinn's enraged power and fails to tame the being, nearly dying in the process. Geralt uses his 'last wish' to both save Yen and exile the Djinn. We never know exactly what Geralt wished for, but we do know that his wish bound her and Yen's fate together for as long as they live.
Thus, after falling in love with Geralt, she readily accepts the motherly role as Ciri’s guardian and treats this young girl as if she is her own.
Unfortunately, after an eventful and... 'complicated' relationship, Yennifer is fatally wounded and Gerlt is killed trying to protect non humans from a rioting and bloodthirsty mob. This is where the books end, but for fans of the series, the video game series by CD Projekt Red pick up from where the books, seemingly permanently, left off.
Ciri manages to rescue his body – along with the ailing Yennefer – and sweeps them away to the Isle of Avallach. On the island, Yennefer is able to heal while Geralt is brought back to life. Yennifer, Geralt and Ciri become separated, with the first two games focusing almost exclusively on Geralt, leaving fans to wait for the third game in the series to resolve Yen and Ciri's fates. Ciri is being pursued by an evil, otherworldly group called 'The Wild Hunt'. Geralt's quest to find and rescue Ciri reunites him with Yennifer, and their fate, and romance is left largely up to the decisions of the player. Geralt has the option to resume his relationship with Yen or through a sidequest, sever his bond created through his 'last wish' with Yennifer permanently.
And, this is where Yennfer’s arc stands at the moment.
Since the upcoming Netflix adaptation won’t include the story of the games (at least not at the current moment in time), expect Anya Chalotra’s portrayal of Yennefer to be somewhat different to the character we’ve come to know and love while playing “The Witcher 3.” But, since Yennefer is not in the first video game, and only briefly mentioned in the second, what we know about her is quite scarce. So, here’s hoping that Chalotra’s portrayal of the powerful sorceress allows us to understand Yenn’s overall character on a much deeper level moving forward.
