Geralt of Rivia

Geralt of Rivia is the main character in The Witcher series across the books, games and TV series. He has been played by Michał Żebrowski in Wiedźmin (The Hexer) the 2002 Polish TV show, and Henry Cavill (S1-S3) and Liam Hemsworth (S4-S5) in the Netflix adaptation of the books.
==Canon==
===Books===
As a young child, Geralt was given to the Witchers of Kaer Morhen to raise, with the expectation he would finish the tests and become a Witcher. Part of this process requires undergoing mutations, which are viewed negatively by the majority of the population. During this time, his teachers encouraged the young men to make up surnames to better fit into the general population. It was then that he selected "of Rivia", despite not being from the country. 
Geralt successfully survived the mutation process, and went into the world to work as a Witcher (generally slaying monsters). Witchers age more slowly than normal, and as such Geralt has developed a variety of relationships over the years with those who respect him as a friend and not merely a mutant, such as Nenneke, a priestess of Melitele, Triss Merigold, and others. During a battle, he saved Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia. She promptly knighted him, and he earned the appellation "of Rivia" in truth, much to his amusement.
===Games===
===Netflix Adaptation===
Some of the main differences noted by viewers of the Netflix adaptation are: 
* Geralt is much more stoic and monosyllabic than in the books or the game, due in part to Henry Cavill's acting choices.Netflix's The Witcher Is Based on a Fantasy Book Series With a Few Key Differences, Popsugar.co.uk article by Mishal Zafar, posted on Dec 23, 2019.
* Geralt's relationship with Jaskier features more prominently; for example, Jaskier is the reason for Geralt's presence at the banquet during which Geralt ends up bound to Ciri by Destiny. 
===Geralt's Appearance===
Geralt's appearance is perceived by many to be more (too?) appealing in the show than it was thought to be from the books' descriptions.Netflix’s Witcher vs. The Games vs. The Books, unleashthegamer.com, Jan 15, 2020. As a result, Geralt is the object of much fandom thirst. 
However, readers have noted that the book descriptions of the character might not have been fully accurate: 
==Fandom==
===Shipping===
In 2018, before the release of the Netflix adaptation, the main Geralt ships were Geralt/Yennefer (canon pairing) and Geralt/Emhyr (due to the influence of astolat's stories.) Current juggernaut ship Geralt/Jaskier did not even rank within the fandom's top 10 pairings on AO3. 
Post-Netflix adaptation, the number of fics being written skyrocketed. Now the vast majority of shipping involves pairing Geralt with Jaskier and Yennefer of Vengerberg. Jaskier's is the juggernaut ship, because slash.
Character 	Pairing 	Ship name
Jaskier 	Geralt/Jaskier 	Geraskier
Yennefer of Vengerberg	Geralt/Yennefer 	Yeralt
Both 	Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer	Geraskefer
When the two are added together, pairing Geralt with a Reader-Insert or Original Character is extremely common as well, slightly more so than Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer. (See Geralt/Reader.)
Less common, but not rarepair ships, include:
Character	Pairing 	Ship name
Emiel 	Geralt/Emiel	
Eskel 	Geralt/Eskel	
Emhyr 	Geralt/Emhyr	
==Common Tropes==
* Alpha!Geralt or Omega!Geralt in A/B/O AUs (Top!Geralt vs Bottom!Geralt)
* sub!Geralt 
** Praise Kink
* Geralt learns to talk about his emotions
** Geralt only says "Hmmm" or "Fuck"
** Geralt has to beg and crawl to get Jaskier to take him back
* Dad!Geralt (see Ciri & Geralt & Yennefer)
* Geralt's Massive Dick
** Won't Quit
* Horse girl!Geralt
* Touch-starved!Geralt
** Bathing
* Scent kink
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
====Art Gallery====
File:White-Wolf_by_Inna-Vjuzhanina.png|White Wolf by Inna Vjuzhanina
File:GeraltJaskier haflacky Youremydestiny.jpg|You're my destiny by haflacky
File:Tumblr oqyesaA6jl1tgmof1o1 1280.png|by antisorum
* Geralt, Eskel and Lambert :) by paticmak (2016)
* father & daughter by mariedisgrace (2016)
* Steamy by statisticsfag (Geralt/Emhyr, NSFW, 2017)
* Geralt of Rivia by thislearts (July 2020)
* portrait with your past self or with your future one, i guess:) by daryshkart (Aug 2020)
===Fanfic===
* His Touch by Sevent, Geralt/Jaskier, 6k. As of Sept 2020, the most kudos-ed Witcher fic on AO3 with 13k kudos for 85k hits. (2020)
* The Accidental Warlord and His Pack] series by inexplicifics, Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/Jaskier/Eskel, 235k, multiple podfics available. (2020)
* Misethere by astolat, Geralt/Emhyr, 46k, podfic by Cabloom. (2017)
===Podfic===
* Cursed by quietnight, Geralt/Emhyr, 50 minutes (2017)
* The War of Silver and Ash by annapods, Geralt/Emhyr, 1.5 hours (2018)
* i'll lay you down by greedy_dancer, Geralt/Jaskier, 13 minutes (2020)
* The Accidental Warlord and His Pack (Podfics) by AceOfTigers, Geralt/Jaskier, Geralt/Jaskier/Eskel, WIP, 30+ hours (2020)
* A history of dragons in popular culture by reena_jenkins, Geralt/Jaskier, Jaskier/Yennefer, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer, 2 hours (2020)
* the ballad of pots and pans by barbex, chantress, kess, luninarie, Geralt/Jaskier, 1 hour (2020)
===Fanvids===
* The witcher | Geralt of Rivia by TheOriginalHybrid100, uploaded to YouTube Jan 6, 2020
* The Witcher || War Pigs by Grable424, uploaded to YouTube Jan 9, 2020
==Resources & Fannish Links==
* Witcher Wiki: Geralt of Rivia
* Archive of Our Own: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia
* Tumblr tag: Geralt of Rivia
==References==
Category:The Witcher Characters