Character of the Week - Zoltan Chivay
Updated: Mar 27, 2020
In preparation of our Stripped review on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, our character of the week is Zoltan Chivay. Zoltan is Geralt's best Dwarven friend. Zoltan and Geralt go back long before the Witcher games take place. Geralt's sword Sihil was actually a gift from the Dwarf Zoltan himself.
The first time we meet Zoltan in video game form his face looks like the south bound end of a north bound cow. If you can tolerate looking at him in the first game, Zoltan is really quite the cool guy. He plays dice with you and gives you the "whats-what" around the outskirts of Vizima.
Zoltan's character really starts to flesh out once you hit the second game. You find him and Dandelion about to be hanged in Flotsom for collusion with the Scoia'tael (The non-human resistance group). Being a Dwarf loyal to old friends after you save him from the gallows Zoltan comes with Geralt even if you pick Roche and head for Henselt's camp.
If you really want to see Zoltan shine in the second game you need to take the story path with Iorveth. Zoltan's got friends in the Scoia'tael, if you played through The Witcher 2 with Roche the first time try it again with Iorveth so you can see a little more of Zoltan.
The third installment of the Witcher is when the developers realized just how cool Zoltan is. He plays Gwent with you, is heavily involved in a bunch of Novigrad quests, and has his own hilarious Dwarven lines to throw out at you.
Whether it's searching for rare Gwent cards to help him pay off a gambling debt or setting up an ambush of Dwarves to break Dandelion out of prison, Zoltan is a main player in why The Witcher 3 is such a fantastic game.
In terms of supporting characters it doesn't get much better than Zoltan. The guy is about as loyal as it gets, hes a badass Dwarven soldier, and he's got a hilarious gambling problem from Dice to Gwent. If you haven't played The Witcher 3 yet, it's worth it for this character alone, but luckily it's got a plethora of characters like him. Check back for our Stripped on TW3 later this week.