Geralt of Rivia & the Importance of Disabled Protagonists

A Thread.

Geralt of Rivia is disabled.

That statement always surprises people, even fans of the series. But it's true. It's just that people only remember how Geralt is shown in- 1/20 Geralt of Rivia from CDPR's The Witcher 3Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia from Netflix's The Witcher sh
the CDPR videogames - a grizzled but able-bodied monster hunter - without realising that CDPR removed that disability.

'It's only a disability, it's not that important' you may say, but it's actually VERY important. Geralt becomes disabled shortly towards the end of novel- 2/20
Time of Contempt after taking a severe injury that shatters his elbow and his thighbone and leaves him screaming in agony and delirious until the Dryads help him.

'But he was healed by the Waters of Brokilon!' I hear you book fans decry and you're right, Geralt was healed- 3/20
in Brokilon Forest by its magical waters, but the healing doesn't negate or lessen his disability. In fact, after healing, Geralt finds a lot of the things he used to do has become more difficult.

He complains of severe aches and pains in his sword arm (specifically the- 4/20
elbow) and his leg (specifically about the knee and sometimes his hip) throughout the books after Time of Contempt and onwards. It affects his gait, causing him to walk with a limp that increases in severity depending on the weather. He finds that riding Roach for long- 5/20
periods is very uncomfortable. He is restless sitting down because suddenly his knee will seize and needs to stand up again to stretch it out. Sometimes the pain is so bad he drops his sword because his elbow can't take the impact, and he can't always fight in the typical- 6/20
Wolf School sword style (it involves a lot of pirouettes) because of his knee and hip.

In Baptism of Fire, we get the first clear address of Geralt's condition in a conversation between him and Regis (pics below). Regis explains that Geralt's body has- 7/20
experienced a complete upheaval of the nervous system and everything is out of alignment now despite the broken bones having healed.

This is an accurate portrayal of not only chronic pain from lasting injuries, but also nerve damage and arthritis (particularly- 8/20
osteoarthritis).

Why is it important that Geralt is disabled?

It adds a lot to Geralt as a character and a protagonist. When you think about Geralt of Rivia, you think about a strong and capable (if sometimes reluctant) hero. 9/20
That isn't something you see very often in fantasy novels or the genre as a whole and as someone whose disabilities include osteoarthritis and nerve damage, it meant the world to see someone like me be a famed and powerful monster hunter. When Geralt becomes disabled- 10/20
he isn't portrayed as his life 'suddenly being over', he is still just as capable and strong and learns to compensate his sword fighting techniques to work *with* his disability.

When I read the novels, I saw a lot of myself in Geralt because he had some of the same- 11/20
disabilities as me and it meant an awful lot to see a character I admired going through the same things I was. He'd get angry/frustrated with his disability, the pain would sometimes be too much for him... these were all my lived experiences too.

Geralt becoming disabled- 12/20
and dealing with the frustration, the pain, and eventually coming to terms with it helped me, a disabled reader, come to terms with my own disability.

Geralt isn't treated like his life is suddenly 'over' because of his disability and his friends don't treat him as any- 13/20
lesser for it. In fact, *he* was the one pushing his friends away out of his own frustrations with himself. Him coming to terms with and accepting his own disability helped me accept my own, helped me realise that I shouldn't be pushing away the people who cared about me. 14/20
It's so very important that disabled heroes/protagonists exist, and it was hurtful to see CDPR just take that out of the games even though the games occur after Geralt becoming disabled. A part of Geralt I loved and resonated with on a very deep and personal level was- 15/20
taken in exchange for two brief throw away lines where Geralt can sense the weather changes (a trait of arthritic folks).

I understand the whole 'but it wouldn't fit into the game design' argument - a truly trashy excuse for disability erasure, btw - but they so easily- 16/20
could've designed his armour sets to include an elbow and a knee support/brace. The Witcher is set in pseudo-medieval Western Europe (particularly on lands that would later become Poland and unified Germany) and joint supports and braces did exist then (pictured below)! 17/20
It's so very important that media normalises disabled heroes/protagonists and stops erasing the disabilities of those who were already established as being disabled. It's damaging.

There are disabled people out there who, like me, need someone like Geralt of Rivia to- 18/20
relate to, to remind them that their experiences are valued and that they aren't going through them alone.

I truly hope that when the time comes in the story, @witchernetflix, @LHissrich and Henry Cavill don't make the same mistake CDPR made. 19/20
Geralt of Rivia is disabled and a hero and it's important we don't erase that part of him.

/end.
(And if the Witcher TV show gang are ever looking for an experienced disability consultant with the same disabilities as Geralt, I'm more than happy to offer my services!)
If you enjoyed this thread, here are 2 more!

Darth Maul & Disabled Villains:

Cyberpunk and (lack of) Disability:
Also! I work on the official The Witcher Pen and Paper tabletop rpg (#ttrpg) published by @RTalsorianGames! Check it out!

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More from @mustangsart

9 Nov
I want a cutscene in the next Witcher game where Geralt stands up and his joints all snap and pop like a glowstick please lmao
He also has to do the very long drawn out 'HNNNNNNNNN' sound from sitting down too long
Geralt spending a minute having to pace around and bend his arm and knee into ridiculous positions whilst mumbling "Just fucking snap" to himself is what I crave in life
Read 6 tweets
8 Nov
Okay! This is a fun one, so strap in:

Cyberpunk as a genre deals with prosthetics and cyberware used to make people 'more than human', but they lose their humanity along the way, becoming more machine than person. A really big example of this outside of the Cyberpunk brand- 1/10
but within the cyberpunk genre is Shadowrun, in which there is an actual address of this concept in a mechanic form 'Humanity' - the more cyberware one gets, the less human they are perceived to be.
Now, why is this an issue?
Cyberpunk, both brand and genre, hasn't ever- 2/10
truly accounted for disabled people despite having prosthetics be a part of its culture. You're probably thinking 'well, if cyberpunk has prosthetics, it must have thought of disabled people!' and that's where you're wrong.
Cyberware and prosthetics, both in genre and- 3/10
Read 12 tweets
7 Nov
1) Buddy, the thread is about how we shouldn't be making villains who are only evil because they are disabled and want to hurt others because of it. The thread covers that yes, Maul was evil before, but his grudge against Obi-Wan wasn't about Obi-Wan amputating his lower body 1/5
but about how his defeat cost him his position as a Sith Apprentice.

2) When able bodied people try to 'explore' the experience of disability it always falls into pitfalls of ableism. Consider, for example, the fact that Darth Vader's suit is *deliberately subpar* in order- 2/
to keep Vader in constant chronic pain to fuel his anger and make him continue to be evil. Boy howdy, Mr Lucas, that sure does smack of ableism! Disabled people don't want to hurt others because of their disability. That's gross.

3) My use of 'ableism' is absolutely fine in- 3/
Read 5 tweets
6 Nov
Darth Maul & Disabled Villains

A thread:

I get asked a lot about #ttrpg #dnd villains and disability. In popular media, you often find villains who are disabled because disfigurement and "body horror" are staples that usually connote 'bad' or 'evil'. 1/23 Darth Maul from Star Wars: ...
The horror genre is built on fear of the 'other'. We are expected to fear things that are different from ourselves - therefore able bodied people have fear of the disabled. Villains in stories and media are made to be feared. We as an audience are expected to fear them as- 2/
much as the heroes of the story, if not more so. With media being dominated by white, cisgender, able bodied folks, it's unsurprising then that disability is an aspect frequently shown through villainy. The problem lies in disability being used as a driving force for the- 3/
Read 24 tweets
6 Nov
Disabled/chronically ill/neurodiverse/mentally ill ARTISTS!

I'm looking to compile an online document of you all so that when job openings for #ttrpg art come around at companies/publishers, I have a comprehensive list of folks to pass around to my contacts.

Reply with info! 💜
Once I've compiled the document, I'll also share it here on twitter so any smaller/independent companies can find some artists looking for work!
IMPORTANT:
You don't need to disclose your disability or illness to submit your work. If you identify with any of the illnesses/disabilities (visible and invisible) listed above, you are more than welcome to submit art!

ALSO:
Don't worry if your style isn't what 'typically'-
Read 4 tweets
7 Aug
The Combat Wheelchair (v2.0) for 5e #dnd
New upgrades, cleaner rules, sleeker design, FAQs and more - and still completely free! You have access to a book and a dyslexic-friendly font version!
drive.google.com/drive/folders/…
#disability #dnd
(audio available soon)
Art: @claudiopozas A greyscale drawn image of a wheelchair using warrior deflec
I hope you all enjoy it 💜
Yeah, I spent my time away hyper focusing on making the combat wheelchair even better lmao
Read 12 tweets

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