Chatting With the Original Geralt of Rivia Designer — Przemysław ‘Trust’ Truściński
Geralt of Rivia is easy to picture today: well built, Wolf medallion, two swords, scar over one eye, and long white hair in varying styles depending on one’s persuasion in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But this image was less easy to conjure in the early 2000s, when we at CD PROJEKT RED were preparing to release our first video game. Instead, only a rough idea of what Geralt looked like — or should look like — circulated intake people’s minds, until artist Przemysław Truściński, known as Trust, put pen to paper.
The design that came next — that served as the foundation of Geralt’s entire character and Witcher franchise overall — is now on show to the public at Centrum Komiksu i Narracji Interaktywnej (Center for Comics and Interactive Narrative) at EC1 in Łódź, a city in the center of Poland. Trust is hosting a special exhibit — TRUST the Process — to showcase much of his incredible artwork, including many Witcher pieces. Available to visit until March 8, 2026, it even features a sneak peak at something brand new, as Trust returns to The Witcher franchise after two decades.
We caught up with Trust to discuss his exhibit in Łódź, the six month process behind bringing the famed White Wolf to life back in the early 2000s, and how working on The Witcher forever impacted his artist mindset.
“When I first heard it was going to be Geralt, it really hit me how big the responsibility was — and what I was actually taking on,” Trust said when we caught up with him ahead of his exhibition. “I’d never had that thought before, and honestly, never again after that moment. On one hand, you’re looking at an entire team and the whole world they’ve built, and you have to design a main character for whom all of this exists. On the other, I was thinking about everyone who had read or seen anything related to The Witcher.”
The Witcher series of video games is set in the universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski, who told his stories of Geralt through a number of short stories and novels. While these aren’t visual formats, “each person had their own version of Geralt in their head,” Trust said. “I had to create something that merged hundreds of thousands of those visions into a single image — allowing each and every person to accept this is their Geralt.”
Trust started with the books, and worked to build a version of Geralt that matched. “We put a lot of emphasis on the face,” he explained. “Being handsome is one thing, but this had to be a hero, and that’s not easy to capture. I’d say his face is fairly classic — handsome, in my view — but it also needed to command respect. At the same time, it had to be the face of a man who doesn’t struggle with his sex life. He had to be attractive in a very specific way.”
I had to create something that merged hundreds of thousands of those visions into a single image — allowing each and every person to accept this is their Geralt.
Visual details were just one part of it though. Trust also studied how Sapkowski portrayed Geralt’s actions too, with every instance of detail being analyzed and executed. “For example, a description would say something like: ‘the witcher reaches for a vial, drinks it, and suddenly moves a hundred times faster.’ For me as an illustrator, I want to know where that vial came from. A witcher doesn’t carry a backpack full of bandages, aspirin, spare daggers, and fifty different potions. So I realized I had to build something into the design that clearly showed where Geralt keeps his extra gear.”
This didn’t just involve adding pouches here and there; Trust considered how each item on Geralt’s person could and should work in a way beneficial to a monster slayer. “This guy had to be autonomous, able to handle any situation on his own, without relying on anyone else,” he said. “I started thinking of him as a modern soldier, but a fantasy version. That’s why, in the very first sketch, I added the crossed straps on his chest — I needed something to hang the pouch from.”
“That’s something Adam Badowski taught me: how important the physical logic of a character is, and how something that looks great in a drawing doesn’t necessarily work in 3D. When I came back with the first drawing, I was incredibly excited — partly because I’d made it on time, but also because I genuinely thought I’d created a badass Geralt. I brought the drawing in and, to this day, I remember Adam’s expression when he said, “Almost.”
Adam Badowski, now our Joint CEO, was Head of Art on the original The Witcher game. Both being from Łódź, and both being comic book fans, he and Trust were longtime friends. While Badowski pursued video games, Trust pursued comics, and after graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, he began his career as a comic book artist. Trust went on to create many successful works, and it was at a Cool Kids of Death concert in 2004 that Badowski offered him the job of designing Geralt.
Some time later and he was “almost” finished. “I went back to Madalińskiego, where I lived in Warsaw, with less than a day and a night left. Maybe one day there’ll be a plaque saying ‘The Witcher was designed here’,” Trust said. “I reworked the jacket, simplified it, kept the straps, and refined the pouch. And I allowed myself one small bonus: I added a butcher’s hook! Geralt’s constantly carrying severed heads, which is hardly sterile. How does he clean his gloves afterward? I figured the hook would come in handy. And besides — it just somehow suits him.”
These original Geralt designs can be seen Trust’s exhibit in Łódź, alongside something new for The Witcher fans to enjoy — Trust is teaming up with our Franchise Creative Director Bartosz Sztybor to create a new comic set in The Witcher universe. The art is, of course, being handled by Trust, while Sztybor — who won a Hugo Award for Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams — is writing. Those who attend TRUST the Process can see an exclusive first glimpse at this new comic in person.
Returning to a character after 20 years can be difficult, but Trust isn’t approaching the process the same way he did for the original game. “This project is a bit different,” Trust said. “I’m extremely creative by nature — if my job were only to draw worlds, characters, monsters, and locations created by someone else, I might actually struggle with that. But I know that anything that already exists has to be treated with absolute respect. Of course, we’re not revisiting a design I made decades ago. We’re building on Geralt’s look from The Witcher 3 — the version everyone knows.”
Trust’s drawings defined the direction and set the tone for the first Witcher, but even after all these years, we still like to return to them.
That’s not to say Trust’s original design of Geralt has disappeared. Each iteration of the famed monster slayer has evolved from it, from The Witcher through its sequels and eventually even The Witcher 4. But its influence is still felt throughout the studio, even on projects outside of The Witcher franchise.
“Trust’s drawings defined the direction and set the tone for the first Witcher, but even after all these years, we still like to return to them,” said Paweł Mielniczuk, our Art Director on Project Hadar. “And not only when we’re working on The Witcher, but also Cyberpunk, to remind ourselves where we come from and to draw inspiration from real art — raw, punk, rebellious — with a unique character and atmosphere. This is something that’s become increasingly hard to find in contemporary pop culture.”
Sztybor, Trust’s partner for the upcoming comic, couldn’t agree more, calling him the “natural choice” for a partner. “His collaboration with CD PROJEKT RED goes back to the very beginnings of the company,” Sztybor said. “But, even though the choice felt obvious, I never really saw Trust working in the format of classic American comic book issues.
"For a long time, I’d been thinking about something more epic: a long-form story, closer in narrative scope to a novel, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations —a medium in which Trust is a true master — that could really resonate in the right format. That’s why we’re working on a comic that’s different from anything we’ve done before — broader in scope, lavish and expressive in its visual style, and something only he could pull off.”
The comic will still be classically Witcher, however. “I can’t say much, obviously — I don’t want to spoil anything — but I think there’s something particularly appealing here for Witcher fans,” Trust said. “They get to face yet another version of Geralt, one who is simply human.
“In this one-shot story, Sztybor managed to include the entire world I created while keeping it compatible, and without interfering with, the official visual or narrative canon of The Witcher. The result is another Geralt adventure that gives readers real comfort. They don’t have to wonder how it fits into the games — they can fully focus on Sztybor’s writing and my art.”
For a long time, I’d been thinking about something more epic: a long-form story, closer in narrative scope to a novel, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations.
Returning to Geralt after so much time has created a unique opportunity to reflect on the journey undergone since, and Trust still feels the impact of that design more than two decades later. “I didn’t expect that designing a game character — despite years of experience creating many other things — would turn out to be such an intellectual and creative challenge,” he admitted. “I have enormous respect for everyone who builds worlds in games. I know how much effort it takes, how hard your brain has to work to create something meaningful — something the world can truly claim as its own.
“Since designing Geralt, I can honestly say I went through a complete shift — a real revolution in how I think. I’m very grateful to Adam for that. It changed my entire approach to creating characters and worlds, and I hope that everyone who visits the exhibition — which is huge, incredibly professionally created, and deeply integrated with my work — can see that.”
TRUST the Process features The Witcher — called Wiedźmin in its native Polish — as its centerpiece, in homage to the impact it’s had on Trust. Badowski opened the exhibit with a speech, in which he shared his appreciation for Trust’s ability to keep moving forward, experiment, and embrace new challenges.
“Adam said something that really stayed with me,” Trust said. “He said that, despite the excellence, dedication, and craftsmanship of everyone who worked on The Witcher over the years, that very first drawing already defined its character. I don’t know whether it would have been better or worse if someone else had designed the first witcher — but it would certainly have been different.
“This Witcher is still with me. And that’s a huge pleasure.”
TRUST the Process is open until March 8, 2026, with tickets available on the EC1 Łódż website. The exhibit is being held at Centrum Komiksu i Narracji Interaktywnej, ulica Targowa 1/3 (entrance from the intersection of ulica Dowborczyków and ulica Tuwima). CD PROJEKT RED is a partner of TRUST the Process and a strategic partner of Centrum Komiksu i Narracji Interaktywnej.
