Theory About Witcher Schools
Here’s a theory about Witchers for a change! As I’ve been writing my Witcher/Marvel crossover, which is also my first long Witcher fic, I’ve been thinking a lot about Witchers, reading the wiki a lot, and applying my logical brain to the fandom. Because of that, I have a theory for you!
Only men become Witchers. Everyone knows this. The thing is, everyone also knows that Witchers take children of surprise to turn them into Witchers, and a decent portion of those children are girls. (Two of the known child surprises given to a Witcher in canon are girls!)
My theory is that yes, only men become Witchers, but not all Witchers start out as boys. Like how Strigas are always female (as far as we know) the magic that drives the Witcher transformation will only work on boys, no matter what kind of bodies they have. Any children of surprise that Witchers acquire always end up as boys, or are boys at least part of the time, so they can become Witchers. (Sometimes that means the trials are put off for a day or two while they wait for someone to be a boy before they start, but the mortality rate for girls or anything else is 100%, so it’s best not to have any more deaths than they have to)
Of course, some Witchers come from abandoned children that they rescue (like Geralt) and a lot of those would be girls (probably quite a few, because between a boy and a girl, a lot of families in that day and age would probably rather have a boy). If the trials have a 100% mortality rate for anyone not a boy, then where do the girls and more non-binary children go? Of course, they would all get trained the same before the trials, because they don’t know which of them will be boys by the trials, but after the trials, my theory is that all the children that haven’t had the mutagens would help out around the fortress. Things like taking care of the children, teaching classes, training horses, repairing things, farming. Of course, they would all also be very good at fighting, being trained by Witchers, if not Witchers themselves, so they would probably also keep the area around Kaer Morhen clear of minor monsters, hunt for food, maybe go out into the world as mercenaries. (In the games they actually trained someone as a Witcher after all the mutagens were gone, so it isn’t completely out there to have individuals trained by Witchers that don’t have the mutagens)
If that is the case, then the trials would be almost like a combination of a puberty blocker and hormone treatment (especially if the trials happen around the ages of eleven to thirteen), but probably also make it so they could actually produce the amount of testosterone that is ordinary to cis men. The trials do change their bodies so dramatically that it makes a lot of sense. It would be great for the trans boys, but not quite as good for the more gender-fluid children.
That would mean that Diedre, Eskels child surprise in the games, was likely trans, and that could explain why, when Eskel avoided the place he lived in just to avoid destiny, (and maybe also because they didn’t have the mutagens anymore, to give him what transition was possible) then decided not to give him asylum in Kaer Morhen, he flew into a murderous rage. He could have had the very peak of acceptance in that time period, yet he didn’t get the chance to, because Eskel avoided him.
That would also make Ciri likely trans, and I can’t help but imagine her coming out to the Witchers, Yennefer, and Jaskier. She says that she’s actually a guy, nervous that they won’t take it well, then Geralt says, “I should have expected that from a Witcher’s child of surprise. Do you want us to use a different name?” Then goes back to reading. All of the Witchers would be incredibly casual about it. Jaskier would be a lot more confused, might think that it’s to hide her from Nilfgaard (because he knows some women bards that dressed as men to keep themselves safe) but would come to understand eventually.
Of course, there are two canon women Witchers, but it is entirely possible that their gender just changed after the trials, or maybe they’re gender-fluid. Anything’s possible really.
If gender is known and understood to be fluid by Witchers, then young Witchers would be so much more likely to be able to properly explore their gender identity. With so many good examples, and with the kind of acceptance that the fortresses would have, it would be a real haven for queer people. (And they likely wouldn’t care about sexuality either, due to their acceptance of genders changing)
But the thing is, if a lot of Witchers were trans or gender non-conforming, they would be an even bigger target for humans, who would take that as proof that Witchers are unnatural mutants. And the loss of the fortresses, and all the Witchers and trainees that died in the pogroms... it’s the loss of an entire community, almost like how the AIDs epidemic decimated populations of gay people. ...and now I’ve made myself sad. Whoops.
Please tell me if I got anything dramatically wrong! You can also find the theory on my AO3, just below!
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