‘The Witcher’: What Is the Monster That Can Smell Elves? Meet Jackapace

The first part of ‘The Witcher‘ Season 3 kicked off with a bang. Geralt of Rivia, one of the most notable monster hunters in fiction, has returned, and what is the monster hunter without abominable creatures to slay? Nothing, and so the series’ bestiary keeps on expanding. From ghouls to spirits to fused abominations, we’ve seen plenty of creatures over the course of the series, but in episode 1 of the third season, we’ve seen something interesting, to say the least, because Rience the fire sorcerer employed one bizarre monster to track down series – Jackapace. So we’ve decided to explore everything about it. 

Jackapace is a monster specially bred to be able to track down elves. It’s extremely violent and is fed with meat or human remains when those are available. Jackapace is a show-only monster, which means that it doesn’t appear in the books (or the games). However, ‘The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine’ expansion did add a monster similar to Jackapace, a Shaelmaar, an armadillo-like monster completely blind that uses echolocation to navigate the world once it finds itself on the surface. 

Now that we’ve covered in short what Jackapace is, it’s time to explore it in a bit more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

Jackapace was bred to sniff out possible elves and deal with them 

Episode 1 of Season 3 of ‘The Witcher’ showed us that Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt practically have no respite from the fact that the whole Continent is looking for Ciri. She is either to be a political pawn or a part of some terrible and ancient prophecy, either to bring doom to the land or prosperity. 

Rience, the fire-wielding sorcerer, is just one of the people looking for Ciri, and he is employing some monstrous methods to find her, leaving behind him, more often than not, a trail of destruction. 

And so Rience found himself at the one monster tamer, who is, as Geralt so eloquently put it, “stupid enough to deal with Jackapace.” 

We saw Jackpace being fed, and it did not sound pretty, so imagine what the monster could do unleashed.

Apparently, according to the show, Jackapaces were bred to track down elves and deal with them. It’s just one more remnant of the period from when Elves and Humans were at war with each other and shows us the long history of animosity between the two races. 

Jackapace is completely blind and presumably uses only his smell to locate his targets; since Rience had Ciri’s blood and Ciri is half-elven, it doesn’t surprise us that the monster was able to find her in record time. 

Jackapace resembles a giant armadillo and is able to curve up in a ball and uses this as its preferred method of movement. The monster is also protected by its thick shell. It’s terrifying, but luckily Geralt managed to deal with Jackapace in record time.

Is Jackapace a monster from ‘The Witcher’ books or games? 

Jackapace is not from the books and games. It’s a completely original monster created for the show, as it seems, although there are similar monsters plaguing the Continent. Since Jackpace doesn’t appear in the games, we can’t tell you how to deal with it officially, but the players that played through ‘Blood & Wine’ expansion most likely remember one monster that Jackpace was probably based on.  

Jackapace is similar to Shaelmaar 

‘Blood & Wine’ expansion for ‘The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt’ added more monsters to an already impressive bestiary. Although much of the focus of expansion was on vampires, still, we’ve got to see some interesting “side-monsters” from it. 

During the quest ‘The Beast of Toussaint’, Geralt is in the arena, and he is supposed to fight an armadillo-looking monster called Shaelmaar. But what are Shaelmaars? 

Shaelmaars are classified as relicts. They are monsters that spend the majority of their lives underground and, due to that, are rendered completely blind. Shaelmaars use echolocation to navigate the terrain and, due to that, can be distracted if their opponents are making a lot of noise. 

For instance, banging your metal sword against the shield would confuse Shaelmaar’s echolocation sense since the soundwaves would bounce off other objects in the vicinity. They are protected by thick shells and are known to curl up in a ball just like Jackapace, and in that position, they charge at their opponents. They can be lethal in an instant if they charge with full force. 

Shaelmaar’s are a menace for the occupants of Toussaint because they are known to make tunnels really close to the surface, causing tremors, and sometimes even whole buildings can collapse due to the extensive network of tunnels that the Shaelmaars dug up. 

They are clumsy and cannot control their movements in the most precise ways when they are charging, so the players can turn this weakness to their side. Bombs, as well. You can always use bombs.

Shaelmaar’s feed on kikimore eggs and giant centipedes depend on the steady flow of other creatures who, in turn, feed on Shaelmaar droppings. 

They rarely bother people, but when they do, it can result in catastrophe. Playing through the ‘Blood & Wine’ expansion, you will encounter 2 Shaelmaars in total. One during ‘The Beast of Toussaint’ quest, and another Shaelmaar is encountered during the quest ‘The Monster of Tufo.’ 

You are hired to explore the strange case of earthquakes underneath the house, and the “disturbance” ends up being an older Shaelmaar matriarch destroying everything in her way.