The Witcher has become immensely popular over the last decade, with CD Projekt Red's games and Netflix's series introducing Andrzej Sapkowski's books to an audience that might have otherwise never experienced them. The success of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and, especially, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt led to the novels receiving English versions, which contain great tales filled with mages. While Geralt might not qualify as one, powerful mages make up a large portion of the character roster, and they are almost all pretty impressive.
Power comes in many forms, not all of them in the form of talent or natural ability. Mages who find themselves in the courts of royalty play games and machinations to better themselves, all for power and influence. While even a mediocre mage with enough charisma and strategy may do well within the courts of kings in The Witcher 3 franchise, the most powerful and influential are often those with the greatest political clout, intelligence, and magical ability.
Updated November 23, 2025 by Mark Sammut: Netflix's The Witcher recently ended its fourth season, and it will be followed by a final batch of episodes. Crucially, and more importantly, CD Projekt Red is working on The Witcher 4, although the RPG likely has a long way to go before it hits store shelves. These upcoming releases could reset the balance of power; until then, here are the most powerful mages in The Witcher.
21 Lara Dorren
The Original 'Elder Blood'
- Appears in multiple books and the Netflix series. She is mentioned in the games, but does not make a physical appearance.
Lara Dorren is a character not talked about a ton in The Witcher games, but she's one of the significant characters in it, given that without her, Ciri wouldn't exist. All of Lara Dorren's descendants are known to be magically gifted because they have the 'Elder Blood'. The blood Lara carried and her predisposition to magic were rare, even among elves, which is why her falling in love with the human sorcerer Cregenan of Lod was even more of a faux pas from both human and elven society.
So much so that when she was looking for anyone to help her as she was giving birth to her child, she was rejected and even directly harmed by anyone she came across, until eventually, she gave birth to her daughter on a hill in the forest, dying shortly after doing so. There's almost no literature that goes into how powerful she was exactly, but given what players know of the Elder Blood and what they see of Ciri's abilities, Lara was very likely exceedingly gifted in magic.
20 Sorel Degerlund
Ortolan's Assistant
- Appears in "Season of Storms" novel
First up is a name that very few fans of even The Witcher books will recognize, Sorel Albert Amador Degerlund. Sorel was the assistant of Ortolan, a name that will be elaborated on further down this list, and he was a man who worked very hard, but often on taboo or forbidden rituals and magic. For example, Geralt himself encounters Sorel as a result of a job he takes on to 'get rid of a demon' that Sorel was believed to have summoned.
After stumbling upon an unconscious Sorel, Geralt wakes him up only to fall for Sorel's lies and get poisoned by Sorel so he can use Geralt in more experiments before eventually killing him. After escaping from Sorel's capture, Geralt eventually tracks Sorel down and kills him for his crimes, a deed that would only get Geralt into more trouble at the hands of Ortolan.
19 Istredd
Yennefer's Intelligent Ex
- Appears in "Baptism of Fire" novel, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, and Netflix series
This next character is a pretty unique case, as those who watched the Netflix series are more familiar with this character than book readers are. Istredd is known as the sorcerer with a keen interest in Archaeology and monoliths in the Netflix series. He was Yennefer's closest friend and romantic partner during their time at Aretuza, and the show shows a lot more of this character than the books ever seemed to.
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Regardless, Istredd was a very capable sorcerer, and one of the rare few in the franchise to actually keep an interest that isn't dark like 'experimentation' or 'delving into the taboo', he just likes history and archaeology. Of course, Istredd wasn't notable enough to be among the strongest sorcerers, but he absolutely knew his way around mage as a whole.
18 Assire var Anahid
A Well-Known Sorceress of Nilfgaard
- Appears in multiple book, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and the Netflix series
Starting this off with a Nilfgaardian Sorceress, Anahid is often one that a lot of Witcher fans either entirely forget about or underestimate. While she doesn't have many moments in the lore, the books, or the games where she gets to show off her prowess, people need to remember that Anahid is trusted by Emhyr var Emreis AKa the Emperor of Nilfgaard.
Nilfgaard usually treats its mages as lower-class citizens or even as tools, so being well-respected as a mage in a country that typically looks down on practitioners of magic is a great achievement.
The only way this could really have happened was if Assire var Anahid proved herself in combat during the iconic Nilfgaardian war. On top of all this, she's also one of the founding members of the Lodge of Sorceresses, so it's safe to say she's absolutely earned a spot here.
17 Margarita Laux-Antille
The Rector Of Aretuza
- Appears in multiple books, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and the Netflix series
Spoiler alert, just about every member of the Lodge of Sorceresses is going to be on here somewhere, even the ones readers/players know very little about, as the Lodge are the magic-users seen the most over the course of the Witcher stories. And, one such magic user who doesn't have a lot of information on her is Margarita Laux-Antille, another founding member of the Lodge.
She seems to be of a similar age to Yennefer, but while Yennefer is out-and-out doing whatever she pleases, Margarita becomes the rector of Aretuza, which is just about the most notable magic university out there. And, one doesn't become the head of a school like this without a whole lot of magical prowess, so it's safe to say Margarita was at the very least capable if not obscenely powerful. All that said, she did need to be saved by Yennerfer and Geralt in The Witcher 3, so it can really go either way when it comes to how 'strong' she is.
16 Alzur
The Founder of the Witchers as a Whole
- Appears in Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. He is mentioned in multiple books due to his importance to the lore, but he cannot physically appear in any of them. The same goes for The Witcher game.
Next up is a mage who arguably had the most impact on the course of history in The Witcher series, Alzur. Alzur, the only name of his that remains (no surname or title), was a renowned mage who was known worldwide during his time. He started as a lonely and downtrodden orphan who was adopted by the nobles of Maribor City due to the implication of him being one of their 'illegitimate children'.
Not only did Alzur create multiple spells of his own including Alzur's Double Cross, Alzur's Thunder, and Alzur's Shield, but he was also the one who did the majority of the work creating the Witchers themselves.
And, while his early life was sad and depressing due to the lack of love and constant bullying from his siblings, Alzur only became more virtuous in response, apparently. He eventually started to actively look for ways to prove his valor and ideals, which usually left him beaten within an inch of his life at the hands of bandits. But, eventually, Alzur comes to discover his magical abilities, is then taken in by a powerful mage, and quickly grows into his power.
15 Artorius Vigo
The One Who Brought Fairytales to Life
- Appears in the Netflix's series, but he is mentioned in The Witcher 3's "Blood and Wine" expansion, along with "The Lady of the Lake" novel
Yet another character who looked widely different in the Netflix series (at least compared to his Gwent card art) is Artorius Vigo. In The Witcher games, Vigo was mostly known for his position as one of the best Toussaintois mages, with a specialization in illusion magic. He, along with his niece Fringilla Vigo, were very much unlike other mages of their time who were either performing horrifying human experiments for the sake of magic or killing and betraying to further their political power.
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Instead, Artorius lived a nice life in Toussaint and eventually created the 'Land of a Thousand Fables' for the sake of his family which players who explored the Blood and Wine expansion in The Witcher 3 almost unanimously fell in love with.
14 Ortolan
An Old Man Who Made Time Stand Still
- Appears in "Seasons of Storms" novel
Ortolan was the Grandmaster at Rissberg Castle, the place where it is thought the concoctions that mutated people into Witchers first originated (which is why many speculate about his connections to Alzur). Not only that, Ortolan is the one who invented the elixir that stops the aging process that both mages and sorceresses would utilize for ages to come. But, because he was so old by the time he created it, it didn’t return his appearance to a younger age, but rather just stopped his aging altogether, which must have been a bit of a bummer but in the end, an elongated life is still an elongated life. Ortolan was an eccentric dedicated to his work, so much so that he thought the de-aging elixir should be and actually was made public to everyone.
But, as it turns out, Ortolan was fooled by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers into believing this lie, as his potion was seemingly only used by mages and sorceresses.
When it comes to Geralt, Ortolan helps his lover and assistant Sorel in catching Geralt, but eventually dies from a stroke when he finds out the Witcher succeeded not only in escaping from Sorel but in killing him as well.
13 Sabrina Glevissig
The Martyr Saint Of The North
- Appears in multiple books, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, and Netflix's series
The Lodge of Sorceresses, by design, was intended to have its members integrated throughout every corner of the realm, and Sabrina Glevissig was the member who represented Kaedwen in the North. Not only was Sabrina every bit as hardy and outspoken as those in the Northern Kingdoms tend to be, but she also knew how to use her beauty to her advantage as well, apparently. Now, this information might surprise some, as the Sabrina seen in the Netflix series looks nothing like the one seen in The Witcher games, and is a lot meeker comparatively.
In any case, players can either visit the site of Sabrina's burning at the stake in The Witcher 2 or actually meet her themselves with the Price of Neutrality premium module for the first Witcher game. In either case, Sabrina quickly proves that she lives up to her reputation as one of the most powerful sorceresses of the North. In fact, Sabrina was so powerful that during an integral battle, she summoned a meteor storm onto the field, which ended up killing both friend and foe indiscriminately, leading to her losing her position as King Henselt's advisor and ultimately being burned at the stake. Thankfully, some did see this action as one that was necessary, and that Sabrina herself was a martyr for the sake of her fellow countrymen, so her popularity only rose after her tragic death.
12 Francesca Findabair
The Elven Queen
- Appears in multiple books and Netflix's series, along with being mentioned in The Witcher 2 and 3 games
The Queen of Dol Blathanna, Francesca Findabair is all over the place in terms of her loyalties and the people she’s worked with. She sides with Nilfgaard during the coup on Thanedd Island, which is what led her to rule over Dol Blathanna in the first place, yet she hates humans in general. In fact, her disobeying her father and fighting in a rebellion against humans when she was younger is a big part of the reason elves were so ruthlessly persecuted and slaughtered after the Conjunction of the Spheres. Luckily, during her appearances in the books, she has already learned more about how to play the political game.
Sadly, when she finally reclaimed the Valley of Flowers after the war with Nilfgaard (during the Cintrian Peace Agreement), the people leaving the Valley burned the country down as they fled it, leaving the elves with a 'Valley of Ashes' instead. Her story is tragic, but one thing that should never be looked down upon is the Queen's power as one of The Witcher's most notable mages.