Who Is Chief Druid Balor in The Witcher: Blood Origin? Meet Lenny Henry’s Character

Witcher: Blood Origin is set to be released on December 25th, the show will serve as a prequel to the Witcher series, and it’s set around 1200 years before the events of the first season of Witcher. This means that we will follow a mostly new group of characters. We’ve covered the seven outcasts that will serve as protagonists of the series, and now it’s time to touch upon a possible antagonist. Chief Druid Balor was introduced as the authoritarian ruler. He is played by Lenny Henry and has some pretty sinister lines in the trailer. Let’s see who Chief Druid Balor in the Witcher: Blood Origin is.

Chief Druid Balor is an authoritarian Chief Sage of Xin’trea. Balor was originally orphaned and was a low-born elf that the royal family took in due to his vast knowledge and skills of magic. He has some pretty extreme views on elven society, and it’s possible that he will try to abuse his powers in the future to reach his goals. Chief Druid Balor is played by Lenny Henry, best known for being an iconic British comedian, actor, singer, television presenter, and writer. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics of Lenny Henry’s character, it’s time to investigate it in a bit more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading!

Who Is Chief Druid Balor in the Witcher: Blood Origin?

We know that the upcoming Netflix show Witcher: Blood Origin will be set 1200 years in the past. The show will finally shed some light on the mysterious event referenced constantly but poorly explained – the Conjunction of Spheres. The Conjunction of Spheres introduced humans, chaos magic, and monsters to the world of the Continent, so we’re likely witnessing the creation of the first Witcher as well. 

As you can see, since there are no humans currently on the Continent, it means that the society is generally made out of so-called “elder races” – elves, dwarves, and gnomes. 

During the events of Blood Origin, we’re going to see the peak of elven civilization, a golden age. During this time, elves were divided into many clans. We’ve seen how three of the seven outcasts belong to certain clans. Éile was born into a Raven Clan, Scían was born into a now-extinct Ghost Clan, and Fjall Stoneheart was born into a Dog Clan. 

While the society is divided into clans, the current elven society has its royal family as well. The royal family is situated in Xin’trea and serves as a guiding light for all elves and presides over many clans. One character introduced early to the show is Princess Merwyn as well. 

But not all high-ranking individuals in the elven world are considered royalty, and this brings us to our next character to be introduced, Chief Druid Balor. Chief Druid Balor was born as a common elf, a lowborn. He was orphaned at a young age, but as soon as his great potential with magic was recognized, he was adopted into the ranks of royalty and quickly rose to the station of Chief Sage. We’ve already introduced two other sages that are set to appear in the show, Zacaré, and Syndril, celestial twins. It is unknown whether they are connected to Chief Druid Balor in any way. 

Balor being Sage means that he is talented with elemental and elven magic. This type of magic differs from chaos magic that we’ve seen Triss, Yennefer, and other sorcerers use. Sages played an important role in the elven society. They served not only as powerful casters but also guarded secrets related to dimensional travel, Elder Blood, and the gene of Lara Dorren. 

Even though Balor has a humble past, he managed to rise through the castes of elven society, but he feels like he still doesn’t have the respect he deserves. It’s visible from the trailer that he has some pretty authoritarian views and feels that he was slighted in some way. He is on a path of vengeance, and it’s quite possible that we will see him in the role of an antagonist as the show progresses.

Who is Lenny Henry, the actor behind Chief Druid Balor? 

Lenny Henry is a 64-year-old British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and writer. He rose to prominence during the late 1970s and early 1980s. His African-Caribean roots often inspired comedy sketches, and Lenny somewhat managed to become a household name. When we talk about his acting career, which is the primary focus today, he managed to stand out in the roles such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Pirates: Band of Misfits, Chef, and Penelope.

Most recently, we had the pleasure of seeing Lenny Henry in the role of Sadoc Burrows in The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. Besides his prominent movie roles, Lenny appeared in numerous TV series and comedy programs and has a productive writing career. For his accomplishments and contribution to British culture, Lenny was knighted in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours and appeared on the list of the top 100 most influential black Britons in 2016. 

Summary 

Lenny Henry is set to appear in the role of Chief Sage of Xin’trea. He was a lowborn elf that managed to climb ranks quickly due to his vast talent in druidic elven magic. It’s possible that Balor will serve as an antagonist in the series and will, through some means, try to wrestle the power away from the royal family to himself. To find out more, we’re going to have to wait for December 25th, when Witcher: Blood Origin is set to be released on Netflix.