Numerous beasts, creatures and races co-exist in the world of The Witcher. The following describes the most prominent featured so far.
The series opens with a scene where Geralt encounters the Kikimora in a swamp and a fight ensues. 'In Slavic mythology, a Kikimore is a monster who kidnaps and kills little children. In The Witcher books by Sapkowski, it has a 'spider shape and it lives in swamps,' explains Tomasz Baginski. After several talks and designs by the art department and VFX, the final version of the show’s Kikimora is a monstrous creature, 'somewhere between a child and a very vicious spider,' details Ivan Poharnok, prosthetic make-up artist.
One of the most well-known creatures of Sapkowski’s Witcher saga is the Striga monster. Tomasz Baginski describes it as a child of the Queen Adda transmogrified into a beast. She can be turned back into human form, revealing that the world of monsters and man is not simple.
Beau DeMayo, producer and a writer (episode three) adds, 'When conceptualizing, we kept the idea that this is a baby princess. This is a 14-year-old princess trapped in this beast. To watch Geralt kill a monster is awesome. But watching Geralt attempting to kill a monster inhabited by child and realizing ‘I actually have to try to save this creature’ is infinitely more interesting. Then there were just the fun details of it have an umbilical cord as a tail to keep it alive, having its voice, the growls it makes sound somewhat like a strangled baby and keeping that creepiness and eeriness alive.'
Ivan Poharnok explains, 'We created several full body suits as well as other versions for stunt and acting requirement, including one with radio controlled facial movements.' It was also essential for the prosthetic make up department to adapt the suits to the requirements of the specific action sequences.
The Basilisk is originally a Slavic folk monster. In Episode 6, Geralt accepts a job to kill a Basilisk. Tomasz Baginski explains, 'A Basilisk is something between a dragon and a chicken. It can turn people into stone just by the power of its sight, by the power of seeing.'
Ivan Poharnok adds, 'It is a bird-type creature, like an ostrich but with a crocodile type of skin… it was another very interesting creature, because we had to make a cut-off head of it because in one of the fights you can see the head as it drops to the ground.'
There is very little known about Torque and his species. Tomasz Baginski explains, 'He looks like a devil. He behaves like a devil, like the one from the Christian faith, but he's not. He's a thoughtful creature.' Geralt is recruited by the locals to get rid of Torque, whom they have already tried to poison. Torque has been living in the fields, stealing crops and grain for the elves who live in the mountains nearby.