Yennefer of Vengerberg (TV series)

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Base Breaking Character
Full Name	Yennefer
Alias	Yennefer of Vengerberg Yen Yenna Piglet
Origin	Netflix's The Witcher
Powers/Skills	High intelligence Excellent usage of magic
Family	Unnamed biological father Fletcher (stepfather) Kaveri (mother) Ciri (adopted daughter)
Allies	Geralt (lover) Jaskier
Enemies	Cahir Voleth Meir
Goals	Recreate her life by becoming a sorceress. (succeeded) Get her magic back by sacrificing Ciri. (abandoned) Regrow her relationship with Ciri and Geralt.
Why Do Some People Love The Character?	Some like Anya Chalotra's performance. Her story is compelling and interesting including her relationship with Geralt. She has a tragic backstory of being abandoned by her family. Some see her storyline inspiring for women due to her rebellion against a patriarchal system.
Why Do Some People Hate The Character?	Fans hate her for misrepresenting Yennefer's characterization in the books and video games. They feel Anya Chalotra is not a good fit to play the character. Many detractors started to despise her because, in season 2, she tried to sacrifice Ciri's life to get her magic back.
Type of Base Breaking Character	Poorly Adapted Character

Yennefer is one of the main protagonists of the Netflix's original series, The Witcher, an adaptation on the Andrzej Sapkowski books of same name.

She is played by Anya Chalotra.

What Makes Her a Base Breaking Character?

What Do People Like About Her?

• She has a tragic story of being mistreated by her father due to her condition of having a hunchback. Her father, Fletcher, sold her to a sorceress named Tissaia, for four small pieces of metal, and her mother could not do anything about it. After being taken to the magic school of Aretuza, she developed a cynical view on herself and the world with the idea she must fight in order to survive. Yennefer goes through surgery of her own choice to get rid of her hunchback, but this cost her ability to give birth. Later on, she became disillusioned with the system that is placed upon her and tries to rebel against it.
• Yennefer showcases a cool set of powers, which impress viewers in many ways.
• Some people like Anya Chalotra's performance as the character.
• Her relationship with Geralt is viewed as complex and interesting.
• Some people view Yennefer's story as inspiring for women because Yennefer is standing up against a patriarchal system that has been placed on her.

What Do People Hate About Her?

• Yennefer's characterization is deeply hated by fans of the books, they argue that the show completely misunderstands Yennefer while being unrecognizable at the same time. It got to the point where she is viewed as an in-name-only character.
  • In the books, Yennefer is introduced as a dislikable mage that Geralt is oddly attracted to but when he finds out her deeply tragic story of being abused by her parents and the insecurities of being infertile, led Geralt to deeply sympathize with her, leading to their romantic relationship. Detractors felt introducing Yennefer's story much early in the story made it artificial to sympathize with her especially after her later actions.
  • Many fans will point out that Yennefer is a very complex character in the books, which is something that the show lack. In the books, her life is defined of being a sorceress and her infertility, though she is proud of her power, she grew an extreme feeling of wanting a child of her own, leading much of her insecurities. Despite her arrogance and ego, she does love the people she is close to like Geralt and Ciri. In the show, however, Yennefer is constantly yelling at people and making decisions that only benefit herself. Her suppose love or care for anyone seem very insincere and her relationships are extremely toxic.
• Anya Chalotra is viewed as a miscast as she does not looks like the character at all and her performance is not really good in many detractors eyes. Yennefer has been described of being a young looking women but is incredibly old in terms of age but the actress they selected for the show makes her look way too young.
  • Some felt uncomfortable of the age gap between Geralt's actor, Henry Cavill, who is 41, and Anya, who is 28 or 29. This led some people to question if the actors ever felt comfortable with this relationship.
• A lot of fans deeply despise her actions in season 2 where she tried to sacrifice Ciri to get her powers back. The season tries to paint it as if she's going through an identity crisis but the show does not do a good job at it because it makes her seem incredibly selfish. All of that is later thrown out the window when Yennefer tries to become a motherly figure to Ciri even though she tried to kill her for personal gain.
  • Fans of the books have mention many times that Yennefer is supposed to be a motherly figure for Ciri and deeply cares for her safety. Even though Ciri isn't connected to her by blood, the bond is all they share as a family. The fact that her Netflix counterpart tries to kill Ciri for the sake of getting her powers back completely makes her irredeemable in many detractors eyes.