Often, the monsters ofThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntare found prowling outside city walls, perhaps in the heart of primeval forests or deep in the foggy marshlands. Some, however, exist right under the populace’s noses. These creatures blend into the hustle and bustle of city life, living alongside people who’ve no idea how close such monsters truly are.
Of these hidden creatures, the most difficult to single out is the doppler. InThe Witcher 3, Geralt comes across two dopplers, and one of them becomes a crucial ally in the game’s main questline. To come across these dopplers, the player must travel to Novigrad.
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Hidden in Plain Sight
Dopplers are known by many names— changelings, shifters, vexlings, and more. They’re able to change their form and copy other creatures, so long as said creature is of similar size. This allows them to live in populous cities, like Novigrad, where they can take on the form of any human and live alongside the city folk.
According to the bestiary entry, when a doppler changes its appearance, it doesn’t make use of complex illusions. Rather, it is an “authentic and complete metamorphosis.” In other words, the doppler alters itself to, quite literally, become what they’re changing into — no magic involved. This is whydopplers can live alongside humans without any mages, Witchers, or witch hunters ever detecting them. That is, unless their façade slips.
One interesting thing to note about dopplers is that they don’t just copy a person’s physical appearance. They also adopt the person’s personality, while still retaining their own cognitive abilities. This allows them to believably act as the person they changed into but still think for themselves.Since the bestiary describesdopplers as having incredible intellect and cunning, it comes as no surprise that they’re able to live among humans without raising any suspicion.
The bestiary also reveals that dopplers are kind-hearted by nature. Because of this, they prefer to avoid bloodshed whenever possible. That said,these creatures can still put up a fightwhen left with no choice. InThe Witcher 3, when Geralt is met with a hostile doppler, it assumes his form and attacks in a similar, yet less aggressive fighting style. Additionally, it gains some of Geralt’s abilities, as it can use the Quen and Igni signs in battle.
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The Dopplers in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This potentially hostile doppler can bemet in the contract quest“An Elusive Thief,” where Geralt will have to search for what his client described as an imp. However, the thief is no imp but a doppler taking the form of a large cat. This becomes clear as Geralt finds a short letter that speaks of how “Janne” should stop stealing as a cat. Geralt hunts the doppler down and defeats it. After which, the player will be given an option between letting it go or killing it.
Regardless of what the player chooses, the short letter makes it clear that there are more dopplersroaming the streets of Novigrad. In fact, the author of the letter seems to be a doppler as well since they write that they’ve been “walking around as a beggar for three years now and no one’s batted an eye.” Unfortunately, Geralt never crosses paths with this beggar doppler (or he does and is unaware of it), but he does meet with another one — Tellico Lunngrevink Letorte, or Dudu for short.
Dudu and Geralt have met long before the events ofThe Witcher 3took place. They first come across each other in “Eternal Flame,” a short storyin Andrzej Sapkowski’s bookSword of Destiny. Here, Dudu ambushes and impersonates a merchant named Dainty Biberveldt. However, Dudu doesn’t kill him, leading to a wild goose chase involving him, Dainty, Geralt, and Dandelion.
At one point in the story, Dudu takes on Geralt’s form and tries to fight off the Witcher but fails. Geralt knows this is because dopplers don’t have the courage to understand the bad in people, only the good. Dopplers’ benevolent hearts cannot grasp the nature of evil. Thus, Dudu changes again,this time into Dandelion, and flees.
Eventually, the trio catches Dudu, and they talk to him about what he’s been doing as Dainty. At this point, Dainty realizes that Dudu has been making good of his business.The doppler’s decisions to buy and sellhave brought back massive returns. As such, Dainty agrees to let Dudu take on his form and pass off as his cousin. In the end, Geralt lets the doppler go, unwilling to kill Dudu as he was against killing “intelligent races.”
InThe Witcher 3, Dudu and Geralt meet again. The Witcher asks Dudu to help free Dandelion from captivity before he is executed. To do this, Dudu must take on the form of the commander of the Temple Guard, Caleb Menge. Though hesitant, Dudu agrees, and Geralt manages to free Dandelion, who thenassists the Witcher in finding Ciri.
A Type of Monster or a Different Race?
An interesting quote from “Eternal Flame” comes from Dudu, right after his clash with Geralt: “You gave dwarves, halflings, gnomes and even elves the modest possibility of assimilation. Why should I be any worse off?” Indeed, non-human races are often discriminated against by humankind. However, they’re still given the chance to live among them. The same, however,cannot be said of Duduand other dopplers.
Dopplers are seen as monsters inThe Witcherworldand are hunted down simply because they are viewed as such. Though, as Geralt believes, these creatures are intelligent, able to reason and rationalize. They’re even capable of assimilating with humans so well that no one realizes they’re there. Given this, it would seem the notion that all dopplers are monsters seems horribly outdated.
All that said, the very existence of dopplers serves as an unfortunate reminder of the humans’ disposition towards racism. Dopplers are unlike the human race and, therefore, do not warrant the same level of respect. Granted, there are dopplers who do wrong against humans - manipulating and stealing from them - but they have little other choice. At the end of the day, it may be time for the people of theWitcherworld to rethink the definition of “monster.”
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
