Vernon Roche

Vernon Roche is a Deuteragonist (along with Iorweth) in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and a major support character in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. He is the commander of the Blue Stripes, the special forces of the Temerian military. As a Temerian, he had great respect for King Foltest. He is also a skilled fighter.
He was voiced by Mark Healy.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Vernon Roche never met his father. He spent his childhood living in poverty. With no money to support the family, his mother was forced to work as a prostitute on the street. Because of this, the other children hurled insults at him, calling him "the son of a whore"; Roche has since reacted aggressively to this particular insult.
Vernon admits that if it weren't for King Foltest, he would have ended up on the street either a tramp or a drunk.
Roche served four years in the Blue Belts unit. For his dedication and effectiveness, he was twice awarded the Order of Courage. He was also a veteran of the Battle of Brenna.
According to Iorweth, he is responsible for the destruction of many elves, women and children. Roche also led the "pacification" of Mahakam.
Thanks to his abilities, he became Foltest's right hand and had great power and influence in Vizima.
===The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings===
In the prologue, he interrogates Geralt about Foltest's killer and comes to believe that Geralt had nothing to do with the murder of the Temeria king. An unnamed "contact" later revealed to be Dandelion provides information on the true Kingslayer's whereabouts.
At the beginning of Chapter I, Roche, Geralt and Triss encounter Iorweth, who attacks them due to the ongoing hostility between the Scoia'tael and the Blue Belts. After rescuing Zoltan and Dandelion, Roche and his men occupy the building next to the inn. While Geralt is off quests, Roche continues his hunt for Iorveth and the Kingslayer, culminating in a three-way battle between the Scoia'tael, the Blue Belts, and Letho. During this battle, Geralt has the option of freeing Iorveth and giving him his sword, or allying himself with Vernon and the Blue Belts. Failure to help him leads to Iorveth's capture by Roche. If in Chapter I Geralt decides to side with Roche, he will lead an infiltration to kill the corrupt and treacherous commander of Flotsam.
In Chapter II, it is revealed that Roche is behind the plot against King Henselt. After discovering the plot, King Henselt, on the advice of the mage Dethmold, orders the execution of all the Blue Belts, except for Ves, whom Henselt rapes. Geralt and Roche escape from the Kaedwen camp to intercept Sheala in Vergen, which is besieged by Henselt's Army. The Sorceress manages to escape the city, but Henselt and his Royal Guard, who were also looking for her, are defeated by Geralt. Roche is then either convinced that killing Henselt would only help the Kingslayers and make him just as much a murderer as they are, or Geralt allows him to kill Henselt in revenge for the execution of the Blue Belts.
In Chapter III, Roche is one of the few remaining humans who can still act in Temeria's interests, and he tries to prevent the dissolution of his country in Loc Muinne. By guaranteeing Geralt, he manages to gain the witcher's access to the city, bypassing the Order of the Flaming Rose, even if Geralt stood against them.
Meeting with Radovid V, Roche discovers that Anais La Valette has been captured by Dethmold and agrees to rescue her and deliver her to Radovid. If Geralt decides to help him, Roche will either keep his word to Radovid and provide him with the bastard Foltest, in which case he dons Redanian colors and declares that he will serve Radovid as he will turn Temeria into a protectorate believing it best. to protect Foltest's legacy, or he will be persuaded by Geralt to send Anais to Jan Natalis, in which case he will do anything to protect her and Temeria will remain independent. Either way, Dethmold is brutally murdered by Roche.
If Geralt decides to save Triss, Roche will successfully save Anais on his own, but will be unable to kill Dethomold, in which case Temeria will either be divided between Redania and Kaedwen if Henselt remains alive, or fall into civil war.
===The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ===
Immediately after the events in Loc Muinne, Vernon Roche ran to the front line and joined the 2nd Temerian Army under the command of Natalis, where he took up defensive positions on the Dol Blathanna - Carbon line in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Nilfgaard. However, after three days, the Nilfgaardian soldiers broke their ranks and the Temerians dispersed. Hearing King Radovid's call to arms near Novigrad and his promise to fight for a free North, Roche took his remaining forces and fought his way west, breaking into the Pontar Delta in hopes of enlisting Redanian support. Unfortunately, to his despair, Radovid was no different from Emperor Emhyr, and therefore Roche finally decided to go into guerrilla warfare.
Still wanting to free Temeria, he formed an alliance with former Redanian spy Sigismund Dijkstra and former Temerian spy Thaler. Realizing that Radovid had no interest in Temeria's sovereignty at all, the group began planning his assassination. In addition, Roche made contact with Nilfgaard, who promised to make Temeria an independent, vassal state of the empire in exchange for killing Radovid and stopping partisan attacks on his forces. In this way, Roche ordered his men to weaken the Redanian support in the area without attacking the Nilfgaardian troops. Similarly, Nilfgaardian soldiers were ordered to leave the partisans alone, supposedly under the pretext that they were no longer a threat.
When Geralt started looking for the Motherfucker Junior in the area, Dijkstra sent him to Roche, who was now camped in a large cave near Oxenfurt. After a short conversation, Roche informed Geralt that he was in a bit of luck as he was going to talk to an informant through whom he could learn more about Junior. In Oxenfurt, Roche revealed that his informant was none other than King Radovid V. After talking to the king, Geralt and Roche left, and Roche said that Radovid was getting more and more mad and asked the witcher to come to him in his spare time.
Later, after the successful escape of the mages from Novigrad, Roche meets Geralt in Passiflora with Dijkstra. They reveal their plan to assassinate Radovid and that their contact, who is vital to the plan, has not come forward; this contact turns out to be Thaler, the former head of Temerian intelligence.
The personal matter in which Roche needed help turned out to be Ves, who openly defied Roche's orders and attacked the Nilfgaardian camp without his consent. If Geralt agrees to help Roche, they discover that Ves is preparing an ambush to execute the inhabitants of Jawornik. After killing the Nilfgaardians and rescuing Ves, she and Roche get into an argument over her disobedience. Geralt can express his opinion. During an argument, they learn that a Nilfgaardian officer survived. The two argue about whether to kill him or not, and again Geralt offers his input in the whole situation.
If Geralt helped Roche with Ves, he can recruit him to help in the Battle of Kaer Morhen against the Wild Hunt. Roche agrees and says he'll go immediately once he's done some important business.
When Geralt returns to Kaer Morhen with Ciri, he has the opportunity to engage in dialogue with Roche and Ves about the fortress, the status of the guerrillas, and their view of the outcome of the war. If Letho of Gulet has been invited to the stronghold, an automatic cutscene will trigger instead. The conversation will proceed as normal until Letho interrupts it, commenting that he met some "old friends". Roche and Ves are angry with Geralt for bringing the man who killed Foltest to the keep and refuse to talk to him.
Later, when Geralt goes after Philippa Eilhart, if he does not break Djikstra's leg, he can optionally take part in the assassination attempt, alongside Roche's partisans.
== Journal Entry ==
=== The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings ===
: "There is a man like Vernon Roche in every monarch's retinue. Brave and determined, ready to execute any command, and thoroughly hated at court, he knows that only allegiance and service to the king keep him in his position. Roche was the leader of the Blue Stripes - King Foltest's special forces - renowned, among other things, for battling the Scoia'tael and quelling many a rebellious nonhuman community. It was under his command that the unit rose to fame. Vernon earned Foltest's favor and trust through his deeds. One word from the King and he would jump headlong into fire, asking only how long he was to stay there and hold his ground. That's the kind of man Vernon Roche was at the time.
: Vernon proved to be perceptive when he refused to flatly believe Geralt's guilt. Too many things needed to be explained, and the Blue Stripes' commander decided risking cooperation with the suspect to get his hands on Foltest's real killer. Thus he remained loyal to his king even after his death.
: Continuing his private investigation, Vernon headed for the Temerian-Aedernian border, where he expected to find clues the kingslayer's whereabouts. Thanks to his very best informant, Roche knew that the man could have been hiding among the Scoia'tael located in the vicinity of Flotsam, a trading post. Thus way the royal hound, Vernon Roche, was on the hunt once more..."
:
: "The list of Vernon Roche's achievements and heroic deeds was almost as long as the list of the atrocities and depravities he had allegedly committed along the way. It is a fact that, as the scrawlings on the wall of the University of Oxenfurt say: Pacifying nonhumans is like wallowing in mud – everyone gets dirty, generally with blood."
=== The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt ===
: "As commander of Temerian Special Forces - an elite squadron known as the "Blue Stripes" - Vernon Roche had been one of King Foltest's most trusted subordinates. Time and time again Roche proved himself loyal, effective and a thorough professional. Few could match his skill at subduing revolves, fighting off Nilfgaardians or snuffing out bands of Scoia'tael. At the start of our story, however, he had lost his king, his men and his homeland, and so had resorted to waging a guerilla war against the overwhelmingly occupying forces. In his war of assassinations, ambushes and night raids, Roche depended on Redanian help, though it was clear he took no pleasure from working with Radovid. Some time later it was revealed that Roche had took part in a conspiracy to assassinate Radovid. He had realized that once the war was over this mad king would offer no prospect of a free Temeria, making Roche himself a liability and a potential foe."
==Gallery==
File:Tw2 full Vernon 1.webp
File:Gwent cardart northern vernon roche.webp
File:29edd4e3cf68c41999b1c4492f2e0cd1.jpg
File:Tw3 cardart northernrealms vernon roche.webp
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