Cahir

Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, usually just Cahir, is an officer of Nilfgaardian intelligence and a count from a noble family of Vicovaro. People call him “the Nilfgaardian” all the time, and he corrects them every time: he is from Vicovaro. For years he was Ciri’s nightmare, the black knight in the winged helmet who carried her out of burning Cintra. By the end of the saga he is one of the most loyal companions Geralt ever had.

Cahir in The Witcher 3
Cahir died years before the events of the games, so he never appears in The Witcher 3 or its expansions. His likeness lives on in the Nilfgaardian Gwent deck, where he has his own card.

In the books
During the Slaughter of Cintra, Emperor Emhyr ordered Cahir to capture Ciri. When Queen Calanthe sent her granddaughter out through the burning city with a few soldiers, Cahir’s men caught them, and he carried the terrified girl to safety, only for her to slip away while he slept. Emhyr threw him in prison for the failure and gave him one last chance.

In Time of Contempt he comes to Thanedd Island with Rience and a Scoia’tael commando. He corners Ciri, but her training at Kaer Morhen kicks in: she slashes his hand, leaving two fingers crippled for life, and spares him when she sees the face under the helmet. Geralt spares him too, after Cahir says he saved Ciri at Cintra.

Branded a traitor by Nilfgaard, Cahir is handed over tied up in a coffin in Baptism of Fire. Geralt, Dandelion and Milva free him, and he follows them uninvited, offering to help find Ciri. He wins his place by saving Milva from a mob, and joins the company alongside the vampire Regis. Geralt later wrongly suspects him of treachery and the two come to blows until Milva breaks it up with her belt, but after a night hiding in a mountain cave, the witcher finally understands how much Cahir cares for Ciri.

In The Lady of the Lake, the company storms Stygga Castle. Cahir faces the bounty hunter Leo Bonhart and is killed, but his stand buys Ciri and Angoulême time to escape.