Yarpen Zigrin

A tough, plain-spoken dwarven warrior and dragon hunter from Mahakam, and one of Geralt’s oldest dwarven friends.

Yarpen Zigrin is a dwarven warrior, adventurer and dragon hunter from Mahakam, and a vice-starosta there. He leads a small company of dwarves who roamed the Continent hunting large and dangerous game, and legend has it they once slew a dragon. Stocky, blunt and fond of a drink, Yarpen has yellow, crooked teeth, a broad sense of humour and no patience for fools. He is one of Geralt’s oldest friends among the dwarves, even if the two have not always stood on the same side.

Yarpen in The Witcher 3
Yarpen does not appear in person in The Witcher 3. His portrait decorates a Northern Realms Gwent card, and in the Novigrad quest Of Swords and Dumplings a dwarf recognises Geralt as an old friend of Yarpen’s. He survived the third war with Nilfgaard.

In the earlier games
The first game only mentions him: Dandelion tells guests at Shani’s party that Yarpen was there when Geralt supposedly died, and his portrait hangs in a Vizima brothel, apparently in honour of a valued customer.

In The Witcher 2, Yarpen has joined Saskia’s cause in Vergen and sits on its war council. He drinks at The Cauldron with Zoltan Chivay and Sheldon Skaggs, where Geralt can take him on at arm wrestling. On Iorveth’s path he, Zoltan and Sheldon go down with Geralt into the necrophage-infested mines, fighting through the nests and killing a bullvore to reach the immortelle Philippa needs to save Saskia. On Roche’s path, Geralt finds him guarding the Mahakam gate.

In the books
In Sword of Destiny, Yarpen and his dwarves join King Niedamir’s dragon hunt. They side with Boholt’s Reavers, tie up everyone who objects and knock out Yennefer, only to be beaten by the golden dragon Villentretenmerth. Yennefer never forgot it and later chased him out of Gors Velen.

In Blood of Elves he escorts a Kaedweni convoy, and Geralt, a very sick Triss and Ciri travel with it. Caught between humans who distrust him and Scoia’tael who call him a traitor, he tells Ciri he wants to live in a way that never needs forgiveness. The convoy turns out to be a trap set by King Henselt to test his loyalty, and two of his dwarves die in the Scoia’tael ambush. In The Lady of the Lake he fights at the Battle of Brenna and is with Geralt’s friends in Rivia when the pogrom breaks out.

Across the games

In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Geralt encounters Yarpen Zigrin and his dwarves working in secret for King Henselt of Kaedwen, escorting a hidden cargo. Although their own circumstances were grim, they helped the witcher, showing once again the dwarf’s loyalty to his friends.