The Witcher just introduced one of its most evil monsters to date, and it’s not even a mythical beast — it’s a human.
Played by Sharlto Copley, Leo Bonhart is introduced in Season 4 as a legendary, almost mythic bounty hunter and assassin. Bonhart’s gained infamy on the Continent as a Witcher-killer, collecting Witcher medallions as trophies. This reputation terrifies even the bravest warriors, and for good reason. “He’s the unstoppable force he appears to be,” Copley tells Tudum. “He doesn’t mind if he dies, and there’s nothing worse than fighting someone who doesn’t care if they die.”
With the season seeing several characters slaughtered by Bonhart’s sword, it's all but certain that his future in Season 5 will be as bloody, making it a good time to become familiar with our heroes’ newest and deadliest foe.
Emhyr var Emreis (Bart Edwards), Emperor of Nilfgaard, is obsessed with capturing Ciri (Freya Allan), his biological daughter. According to prophecy, Ciri’s Elder Blood lineage is key to securing Emhyr’s legacy and the future of his empire — it promises a ruler born of Elder Blood will reshape the world. So, Emhyr marrying Ciri would legitimize his claim over Cintra and the Continent, and ensure that his heir would possess the powerful magical lineage of Lara Dorren.
Ciri, however, has escaped Nilfgaard’s clutches and is traveling with the outlaw gang of young misfits known as the Rats. Nilfgaardian agents, including Stefan Skellen (James Purefoy), have failed to apprehend her. Frustrated and under pressure to fulfill the prophecy and his political ambitions, Emhyr instructs Skellen to use more extreme measures. Skellen, following Emhyr’s orders, recruits Bonhart to track down the Rats. His orders: Find and capture a girl with “green eyes and ashen hair,” known only to him as “Falka,” Ciri’s alias. Bonhart’s brutal reputation gives Emhyr confidence that Ciri will finally be delivered to him, no matter the cost.
Bonhart’s introduced in a chilling sequence by casually killing a Witcher, establishing his skill, brutality, and gruesome “trophy collecting” habit. From the first few seconds of meeting Bonhart, a terrifying characteristic is evident: He’s a predator who hunts for pleasure as much as for pay.
Copley makes Bonhart look effortless on screen, but the reality was far from easy. Taking on the role meant not only handling the physical demands but also navigating the unsettling darkness of such a brutal character.
“I don’t particularly enjoy playing villains, particularly if it’s this level of brutality when you’re playing against female actors,” Copley says. “But you have to take the roles that you get that are interesting. Getting into the character was just an interesting role to see if I could make something that’s a little bit more fun to watch than just a standard horrible psychopathic villain.”
The actor even asked for edible saliva so he could drool on cue, turning Bonhart’s presence into something animalistic. Still, Copley didn’t want Bonhart to be one-note. Instead of only leaning into the cruelty of the character, he looked for ways to layer in something unexpected. “I like to play characters that are entertaining,” the actor shares. “This genre allows you to play someone dark and twisted without taking it 100% seriously. You can dial it back a bit and add some fun and entertainment. Making the character a little more charismatic and darkly funny makes him more entertaining and interesting to watch.”
What resulted was a terrifying and oddly charming new Witcher monster, true to the vision of the creative team. “Leo Bonhart is one of the darkest, craziest villains of this continent,” producer Tomasz Bagiński tells Tudum. “That’s the Leo Bonhart I wanted to see, but that’s the Leo Bonhart I never want to meet.”
Bonhart begins his search for the Rats — Ciri (as Falka), Mistle (Christelle Elwin), Kayleigh (Fabian McCallum), Reef (Juliette Alexandra), Giselher (Ben Radcliffe), Iskra (Aggy Adams), and Asse (Connor Crawford) — by following rumors, witness accounts, and the trail of chaos left by their crimes across the Continent. His obsession with the hunt is palpable — he’s methodical, patient, and takes pleasure in the challenge, especially when he realizes Ciri is a force to be reckoned with. Using his villainous reputation to his advantage, he violently interrogates people along his journey to piece together information about the Rats’ movements, staying fresh on their tail throughout the season.
As the Rats’ notoriety grows from their high-profile robberies and killings, their faces — along with Ciri’s — appear on wanted posters. They become gossip on the Continent, eventually leading to a tip that they’re heading to the town of Jealousy, hoping to find a quiet place to regroup and spend their loot. Armed with this information, Bonhart makes his way to the dusty town ahead of the Rats’ arrival, setting up a trap to ambush the young outlaws. When the Rats arrive at Jealousy, Bonhart is more than ready to give them a twisted welcome.
Even worse. Bonhart confronts the Rats outside of Jealousy’s Chimera’s Head Inn, their planned destination. He offers them a choice: surrender and be taken alive for a bounty, or resist and face death. The Rats — true to their nature — refuse to back down, attempting to outmaneuver Bonhart. Unfortunately for the gang, they’re far outskilled by the experienced Witcher-hunter, making the fight brutal and one-sided.
It’s a bloody spectacle of violence, Bonhart mercilessly killing each Rat with personalized sadistic flair. Asse is slaughtered, Reef is gutted, and Iskra has her throat cut. Giselher is struck down as he tries to protect Iskra, and Kayleigh is forced to search his own cut-open stomach for a bomb before it explodes and kills him. With each death, Bonhart throws taunts and laughs at their weak resistance. Even worse, Ciri is forced to watch each member of her new family get murdered, leading to his final kill: Mistle, Ciri’s lover and closest friend.
Mistle, the only Rat to show any resilience against Bonhart, attempts to use the chaos of the attacks to catch him off guard. As she leaps to ambush him, dagger in hand, Bonhart reacts with near inhuman speed and flips her on her back, stabbing her. After an unsuccessful rebuttal from a distraught Ciri, Bonhart further desecrates Mistle’s body in front of her, reveling in Ciri’s pain. In the most heartbreaking moment of the season, Bonhart saws off Mistle’s head, effectively breaking Ciri’s spirit before dragging her away and successfully taking her captive.
Capturing Ciri is only half of it. Bonhart’s mission is to bring her to Skellen and, ultimately, Emhyr. Bonhart — still unaware Falka is actually Princess Cirilla of Cintra — is not loyal to any cause. If he finds out Ciri’s true identity, it’s not certain if he’ll betray Nilfgaard or move forward with his own plan.
Though he leaves Ciri broken by the end of the season, she’s still defiant. When Bonhart demands to know who she is, she spits and curses at him and whoever sent him, unaware that he was sent by her biological father. The psychological dynamic between them is complex — will he end up breaking her, or will she break him?
“He sees her as a strange kindred spirit and is excited by her talent, which is why he doesn’t kill her,” Copley says of the finale. “He’s normally not excited by much other than fighting and killing, but Ciri is different — a test and a challenge.”
Whether Ciri defeats Bonhart or becomes his next victim is a mystery for Season 5.
Watch the next chapter unfold. All four seasons of The Witcher are streaming now, only on Netflix.
