We all know that one of the things that makes The Witcher popular is its roster of different supernatural monsters. Of course, the role of a Witcher is to hunt and kill these monsters, especially if they threaten humans. One of the monsters that we saw early on in season 2 of The Witcher is a Bruxa, which was Geralt’s main enemy in episode 1 of the second season. But what exactly is a Bruxa in The Witcher?
A Bruxa is basically a subtype of a vampire with different abilities. However, they are like any other vampire in the sense that they have to drink the blood of humans to survive. But bruxae are usually beautiful girls that used to be witches that turned into vampires after living out their mortal lives.
The thing about The Witcher is that many of the monsters that appear in it came from different types of mythologies and folklore. Of course, the bruxae are the same in the sense that they are actually inspired by Portuguese folklores. That said, vampires and all types of monsters exist in The Witcher. And knowing more about it will make us appreciate this masterpiece more.
What Is A Bruxa In The Witcher?
It isn’t a secret that The Witcher is a story about a man belonging to a secretive group of monster slayers. So, if there is a monster slayer, it only follows that there are monsters that need to be killed. As such, The Witcher, in all its forms, has a lot of different monsters.
In season 2 of the live-action version of The Witcher, we were immediately introduced to a new type of monster that we didn’t see in season 1. And the first episode of the second season focused more on that monster, all while contributing a bit to where the story was headed, much like how Renfri had a minor contribution to the flow of the story back in season 1.
When the story of Geralt and Ciri continued in the first episode of season 2, we saw the Witcher and his child of destiny traveling a snowy plain on their way to Kaer Morhen, the secret keep of the Witchers hidden deep in the mountains far north of the continent. However, because they needed to find shelter, Geralt and Ciri had to make a detour to a mansion found in the forest.
Geralt wanted to go to that mansion because he said that it belonged to an old friend. His old friend appears in the form of a beastly creature. However, the creature was still the same old friend that was able to recognize Geralt and told the story about how he was cursed to become a beast. In a lot of ways, episode 1 of The Witcher is very similar to the timeless tale of Beauty and the Beast.
However, one of the things that Ciri noticed in the mansion while staying there was the fact that there was something else hiding in it. This thing manifested itself in the form of a beautiful young girl named Vereena, who was seemingly friendly towards Ciri but still had ulterior motives. However, as the episode progressed, Geralt realized what this creature was and identified it as a bruxa. But what exactly is a bruxa?
A bruxa is actually a subspecies of the vampire race. In short, like all vampires, a bruxa has superhuman strength and speed. It also needs to suck the blood out of its victims to survive. And the fact that Vereena was feeding on other humans was what drove Geralt into hunting and eventually slaying the monster, to the dismay of his friend who loved the creature.
While most of the vampires we know are almost always in their human form, a bruxa is a large winged bat-like creature that can transform into a young girl. It is said that bruxae were actually just witches that lived out their mortal lives and became bruxae when they were turned into vampires.
What Are A Bruxa’s Powers?
A bruxa, as seen in The Witcher, is a very powerful vampire that is capable of a lot of different abilities that are beyond superhuman.
Aside from its superhuman strength and speed, a bruxa is capable of transforming from its winged creature form into a human and vice versa. This is how bruxae are capable of hiding amongst humans.
One of the most notable things about a bruxa is that this is one of the few races of vampires that are not affected by the sun. That means that you cannot kill a bruxa by waiting for the sun to rise. The other vampires that are not affected by the sun are alps, mulas, and Higher Vampires.
Finally, in episode 1 of season 2 of The Witcher, we saw how the bruxa was capable of telepathic communication when, after the Witcher beheaded her, she spoke to Ciri and told her that Geralt will also killer her some time in the future.
Is Vereena A Bruxa Or Higher Vampire?
As mentioned, Vereena is the aforementioned vampire that we saw in episode 1 of the second season of The Witcher. However, is Vereena a bruxa or a Higher Vampire?
Vereena is actually a bruxa, which is a lower form of vampire despite how powerful bruxae are. Meanwhile, Higher Vampires are entirely different subspecies of vampires in The Witcher’s lore.
While bruxae are winged creatures in their true form, Higher Vampires look like humans and cannot be distinguished from them even if a Witcher uses his medallion. Higher Vampires also have unique abilities that bruxae do not have. And, unlike other vampires, Higher Vampires do not need to drink blood to survive, even though they still drink it for the experience.
Notable Bruxae
Aside from Vereena, there are two other bruxae in The Witcher books and games. They are Orianna and Queen of the Night.
Orianna was a bruxa living in Toussaint before she met her death at Geralt’s hands. Meanwhile, the Queen of the Night is often called a higher vampire not because of her species but because of her status. However, she is still a bruxa, who you can either choose to slay or spare in the Witcher games.
