Vernon Roche

The tough, fiercely loyal commander of Temeria’s Blue Stripes, fighting on as a partisan leader after his king and country fall.

Vernon Roche is the commander of the Blue Stripes, the special forces of Temeria, and a man who lives by one rule: Temeria comes first. He never knew his father and grew up in poverty, the son of a woman forced to sell herself on the streets, and he still reacts badly to being called a whoreson. He credits King Foltest with saving him from life as a vagrant or a drunk, and he repaid that debt with total loyalty. Brave, efficient and ruthless, he has a list of deeds almost as long as his list of enemies, with the elf Iorveth at the top.

Roche in The Witcher 3
After Nilfgaard crushes Temeria’s army, Roche leads the survivors as partisans from a cave near Oxenfurt. He first hoped Radovid would fight for a free North, but soon realised the Redanian king would never allow a free Temeria. When Geralt is searching for Whoreson Junior, Roche takes him to meet the king in person. He and Dijkstra then ask Geralt to find their missing contact Thaler in A Deadly Plot and reveal their plan to assassinate Radovid. Roche also needs help with his second-in-command Ves, who has defied orders to attack the Nilfgaardians in Mulbrydale. If Geralt helps and Ves survives, both come to fight in The Battle of Kaer Morhen. If Geralt also brings Letho, the man who killed Foltest, they are furious with him.

What happens to Roche?
Everything hinges on Reason of State. If the plot goes ahead, Roche’s partisans save Geralt from the executioner and Philippa kills the king. At the celebration afterwards, Thaler reveals their deal with Nilfgaard: Temeria becomes an independent vassal state in return for Radovid’s head. Dijkstra will not accept it and surrounds them with his men. If Geralt walks away, Roche, Ves and Thaler are killed and Dijkstra takes over Redania. If Geralt fights, Dijkstra dies, Roche survives, and Nilfgaard wins the war while Temeria gets its promised independence. If Radovid is never assassinated, Roche’s fate is left unknown. Our Witcher 3 endings guide explains how this affects the whole Continent.

In the earlier games
In The Witcher 2, Roche interrogates Geralt over Foltest’s murder and soon comes to believe he is innocent. They hunt the kingslayer around Flotsam, and if Geralt takes Roche’s side, the two become firm allies. King Henselt later executes the Blue Stripes, and at Loc Muinne Roche can rescue Foltest’s daughter Anaïs and hand her either to Radovid or to the Temerian regent John Natalis.

Across the games

In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Vernon Roche commands the Blue Stripes, King Foltest’s special forces known for fighting the Scoia’tael. Rather than accept Geralt’s guilt in Foltest’s death, he chose to work with the witcher to find the true killer, staying loyal to his king after the king’s death. Following leads from his best informant, he traveled to the area around Flotsam. When he discovered Bernard Loredo‘s treason, he devised a plan to remove him, and with Geralt’s help succeeded. If Geralt sided with the Scoia’tael instead, their paths separated, though Roche still saved the witcher’s life when it mattered.

Roche was one of the architects of a plot against King Henselt, conceived while Foltest still lived. When it was exposed, Henselt had his men massacred, turning Roche into a wanted man in Kaedwen and setting him on a path of revenge against Henselt and Dethmold. Depending on events, he killed Henselt to avenge his soldiers, or traveled to Loc Muinne with Geralt and killed Dethmold there.

After freeing Anais La Valette, heir to the Temerian throne, Roche faced a weighty decision. In one outcome he accepted Radovid’s reasoning and placed the girl in the Redanian king’s care. In the other he backed John Natalis and entrusted her to him, remaining faithful to the Temerian crown.