Witcher: Every Beauty and The Beast Reference In Season 2

The Witcher Season 2, introduced Nivellen, a monster-looking human, share various similarities from the plot of Beauty and the Beast, a classic tale.

The Witcher Season 2 entails various references from the movie Beauty and the Beast. The Witcher Season 2, released on Netflix, picks up from the point where Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) and Princess Cirilla, Ciri (Freya Allan) are going to Kaer Morhen. In their path, various horrifying monsters attack, and Geralt, a Witcher, fights with them to protect Ciri. During the encounter of various monsters, Geralt seeks the help of his friend, Nivellen, to take refuge under him.

The introduction of Nivellen in the Witcher Season 2 series is an overarching narrative; however, the following events depicted are taken from classic literature – Beauty and The Beast. In this article, we will be sharing all the inspirations and influences Witcher Season 2 has taken from Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the Beast Characters Similar to Witcher Season 2

The apparent similarity lies in the appearance of the witcher season 2 and Beauty and the beast characters. Nivellen, a monster-looking human being, is similar to the Beauty and the beast cast, the Beast.

The noses of both the characters, Nivellen and the Beast, are turned into a hog-Esque snout. The mouth is similar too, jowl containing the upward fangs like a boar. The Witcher’s character Nivellen isn’t as blessed as the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

At the end of the episode, including Nivellen, her true love dies, whereas, in the classic tale, both the Beauty and the Beast’s Human version lived happily ever after. Nivellen’s dressing sense, shown by the team of the Witcher, mimics that of the Beast. Apart from the appearances, the strength of the character Nivellen matches that of the Beast.

Monster Living in The Castle Outside the Village

In the Witcher Season 2, Nivellen’s character lives in the same place as the Beast did from the Beauty and the beast movie. Nivellen lives outside a populated village, isolated from everyone because of his monstrous looks. He is living in a mansion, not a castle, but the mansion is a pretty big house to live in by himself.

Similarly, like Beauty and the Beast, Nivellen is cursed to look like a monster and living alone locked in his house. Same way, in the movie Beauty and the Beast, the show on Netflix portrays that the villagers are scared of Nivellen as he looks like a monster, and they think of him as a dangerous being.

The Witcher Borrows Beauty and the Beast’s Snow Castle Grounds

If we talk about the presentation of Nivellen’s house, the Witcher falls very close to the style of Beauty and the Beast, along with its setting. When Geralt and Ciri seek Nivellen’s help and come to his house to be safe, it is the time of winter, and like the movie beauty and the Beast, the courtyard of Nivellen’s mansion is covered in snow and have some statues. The comparison can be made where Geralt and Ciri enter Nivellen’s mansion on Roach, the horse, with the scene of Belle entering the castle on Philippe.

Nivellen’s Magical Fireside Welcome

The entrance of Geralt and Ciri into the mansion is similar to that of Belle and Belle’s father. Nivellen welcomes Geralt and Ciri to his home and tells them to warm their cold feet by lighting fire for them. In the Beauty and the beast movie, Lumiere asks Belle’s father, “You look soaked to the bone, monsieur. Come, warm yourself by the fire.” However, Nivellen and Vereena don’t really burst into welcoming the guests, but a warm vibe to give them comfort is sensed in the series.

Beast & Vereena Creeping Around their Castles

Similarly, like Beauty and the Beast, when Belle enjoys the warm welcome, a beast creeps around the castle; in witcher season 2, Ciri and Geralt enjoy the hospitality of Nivellen, something moves around the mansion. Both the fictional stories focus on the horrors of a beast; however, the Witcher is heavier into the horror part. Later, as Belle comes face to face with the Beast, Ciri too encounters Vereena, a burax.

Nivellen’s Golden Bath is Like Beast’s Bath

Disney’s animation movie Beauty and the Beast and Netflix’s Witcher has shown the same golden bath. In the Witcher Season 2, Nivellen conjures a bath for Ciri to wash all the filth, remembering the famous Witcher’s bathtub trope. In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast is bathing in the tub where Lumiere is cleaning up the Beast to meet Belle. Various similarities predict that the Witcher series was inspired by Beauty and the Beast, a Disney movie.

Ciri is Gifted a Dress, Just Like Belle

While Ciri is washing up the filth from her journey, Vereena sneaks into the room and replaces her old torn clothes with a beautiful gown in the witcher season 2. Similarly, in the Beauty and the Beast premiere, Belle was given a beautiful dress she wore with grace in the end. Initially, Belle refuses to wear the gown as she is trying to escape Beast’s Castle. Ciri doesn’t refuse in the witcher series, but she rudely leaves without returning the gown.

Nivellen’s Enchantments in the Witcher Season 2

In the Witcher Season 2, when Nivellen was introduced as a monstrous being who was cursed because of raping a priestess in a temple. The curse gives a positive side to the character, the magic abilities. The magic was limited to a few tricks only like lighting candles, producing meals out of thin air, and conjuring warm fires. The Prince, Beast in the Beauty and the Beast, got a terrible deal from the witch who cursed him. The Prince doesn’t have magical powers, but his servants were turned into household objects like candles, footstools, crockery, etc., that cater to all of his needs. Nivellen mentions that he accidentally killed his servants in his transformation into a beast in the first year. The plot shown by the Witcher might be the Witcher’s version of Beauty and the Beast.

Gaston Attack and Vereena’s Death

If the similarities of the Prince, the Beast are with Nivellen and Belle’s qualities are shared by Ciri and Vereena, so that means Geralt is like Gaston? The Beauty and the Beast has a climactic ending loved by everyone, where the Beast climbs onto a pillar and confesses his love to Belle. The climax starts when Gaston sneaks up behind the Beast and stabs him in the back. In the Witcher Season 2, when Vereena, badly injured, comes face to face with Nivellen, confesses her love. At that point, Geralt, who can be seen as Gaston, sneaks up on Vereena and kills her.

Nivellen’s Curse Lifted, Just Like The Beast

The major depiction is a curse-lifting scene in the fictions Beauty and the Beast and the Witcher. Nivellen confesses his doings that he raped a priestess in the Temple of the Lionheaded Spider, where he was cursed with monstrous looks. The priestess said the curse would be lifted only when he experienced true love, similar to the backstory of the Prince. Before Geralt kills Vereena, she confesses her love to Nivellen, which leads to breaking the curse and making him human again. In the Beauty and the Beast premiere, Belle confesses her love in the Beast’s final moments, and the Beast becomes the Prince, and all the wounds are healed.

Vereena’s Backstory in the Witcher Season 2

The first time Nivellen runs into Vereena, a burax, is when he travels through the woods. He saw the burax injured and didn’t scared of her appearance; rather, he took her to his place to help her. When Vereena got better, she chose to stay with Nivellen, and during that time, Nivellen fell deeply in love with her. In the Disney premiere, Beast and Belle met in different circumstances, but living together made both of them fall in love with each other. The Beast gets hurt while rescuing Belle, but Belle takes care of him while making a romantic connection between them.

The Witcher Season 2: Final Duny Twist

The Witcher Series is inspired a lot by the Beauty and the Beast plot, apart from Nivellen’s scene. Duny, Ciri’s father, was cursed and looked like a porcupine. When Ciri’s mother Pavetta confessed her love to Duny, it broke his curse, returning his human form. The whole Pavetta and Duny’s curse-breaking love confession was shown in the Witcher Season 1.

One part that wasn’t in the Beauty and the Beast movie was that the Prince never did any monstrous deeds; he was cursed for his pride. In the Witcher Series, Nivellen and Duny were shown to do various evil things. Nivellen raped a priestess, and Duny, the villain shown in the series, attacked the Northern Kingdoms as he was the white flame. Getting their human forms back doesn’t postulate that they are not monsters.