Here Is Why Humans Hate Elves in The Witcher

The world of Witcher is home to many races. All races were forced to coexist after the event called “The Conjunction of Spheres” happened. The Conjunction introduced humans to the Continent, a world already inhabited by so-called “elder” races dwarves, gnomes, and elves. Over the course of books, series, and games we’ve seen that elves are treated unkindly by humans and other races alike. They are prosecuted, live in poverty, and are hated everywhere they go. There is a perfectly logical explanation for this and to uncover it, we’re going to have to take a look at the history of the Continent to understand it. Before we start analyzing more complicated racial and historical issues, let’s answer the most basic question of all, why do humans hate elves in the Witcher?

Humans hate elves in Witcher because elves are racist and the two races have been locked in war since the humans arrived to the Continent. Elves see themselves as the superior race and hate humans for their ability to produce many offspring in a relatively short amount of time, and for being better strategists and warriors. Better reproductive capabilities and warfaring abilities allowed humans to assume the position on the top of the food chain, and this alone led the elves to commit many atrocities on humans.

Of course, the history of the two races is more complicated than this and every side of the conflict has its own story tell. If you’re interested in the in-depth analysis of the hatred between humans and elves in Witcher, stay with us and keep reading!

When and how did Elves arrive on the Continent in the Witcher?

Even though the elves are counted among the “elder” races on the Continent, they are not native to the world much like humans aren’t. The only difference is, elves arrived much earlier.
Elves were originally native to another world but were forced to abandon that world due to a series of catastrophic events. They split into two branches of elven race Aen Seidhe and Aen Elle. Aen Seidhe migrated to the Continent in the event called the Age of Migration, this took place 2500 years before the humans will arrive on the Continent. Aen Elle made their home elsewhere.

Aen Seidhe arrived to the Continent on white ships and quickly set up the first society that will remain unchanged for thousands of years. They fit in with the local gnomes and dwarves nicely and the two developed an amicable relationship. The elven society was mostly built in harmony with nature. They are mostly oriented toward hunting, gathering, and living off the land, when needed they are warriors skilled with ranged weapons and blades.

When and how did humans arrive on the Continent in Witcher?

Humans arrived on the Continent 2500 thousand years after the elves during the event called Conjunction of the Spheres. This event merged several planes of existence and brought humans, magic, and monsters to the world. Humans were short-lived but managed to conquer numerous lands and displaced the elder races which led to several wars and much bloodshed. Humans couldn’t live in harmony with nature the same way the elves and order races lived due to their rapidly increasing population.

So they set about changing the environment and claiming lands for themselves that previously belonged to other inhabitants of the Continent. They pushed elves further east, claiming almost the entirety of Northern Kingdoms and creating new kingdoms and cities on top of the ruins left over by the Aen Seidhe elves.

Why do humans hate elves?

The relationship between the two races is understandably strained, to say the least. Elves generally take on a racist approach toward the whole issue claiming that humans are inferior to them due to “evolving” as opposed to being created like the elves. Elves believe themselves to be superior, and consider humans to be a bit more advanced forms of apes.

Elves are also biologically inferior when it comes to reproduction. Due to their long lifespans, they are not able to reproduce in great numbers. Only young elves can reproduce and even that is not successful most of the time. This naturally curbs the population of elves and stops them from putting strain on the natural resources, but puts them in a disadvantageous position when compared to humans that have shorter lifespans but are able to reproduce in large numbers.

Elves were already outnumbered by the humans at the start of the conflict, the situation was further made worse by Aelirenn. Aelirenn was an elven warrior that gathered young elves male and female alike and led them to a battle, that can be considered a suicidal attack, against the Nordlings. The whole “army” was crushed and much of the young elven population was lost which left elves unable to replenish their numbers.

The overall desperation and impotence of elves to organize themselves into a meaningful army and strike a true blow to the humans led to the creation of Scoia’tael. Scoia’tael was an organization of non-human guerillas composed of elves, dwarves, gnomes, and other non-human races.
Where honest warfare failed, war crimes began and so Scoia’tael committed extreme atrocities against humans.

Elves also deliberately destroyed their cities when they were forced to abandon them. Although, the greatest human cities such as Novigrad, Vizima, and Beauclair are built on the ruins of once-great elven civilizations.

Remember the aforementioned Aen Elle elves? They frequently used the Wild Hunt to plunder other worlds and kidnap humans to use as servants. Mountains of human bones were discovered in the world of Aen Elle elves speaking as proof of unspeakable crimes committed against humans.

As you can see, the relationship between the two races is incredibly strained, and all races are equally guilty of discriminating against each other. Elves considered humans inferior so it was a difficult pill to swallow when they lost like 90 % of their territory to them. Humans likewise practically stole the elven civilization and lands, making their homes and displacing them in great numbers.

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