Emhyr var Emreis

Emhyr var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd (In the Elder Speech - the White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of his Enemies), is the current Emperor of Nilfgaard, King of Cintra, lord of Metinna, Ebbing and Gemmera, sovereign of Nazair and Vicovaro in the novels, tv series, movie and the games. He is publicly favourable to the Elder Race, in stark contrast to the Northern Monarchs. As of the Witcher 3', Emhyr has also adopted the title Ruler of the North and South''', after his conquest of both Aedirn and Temeria during the Third Northern War.

His rule of Nilfgaard is highly aggressive, similar to his predeccesors; with large expansionist policies. This led to the two wars against the North described in the novels. Emhyr var Emreis is an intelligent and brilliant ruler. He picked his people well and crushed all plots against him. He was ruthless toward traitors and moved towards his goals with determination.

He is the father of Ciri and husband of the late Pavetta, having gone by the alias of Duny before assuming his rightful place as emperor.

He ruled from 1257 when he took the throne from the Usurper until 1290 when he either died of natural causes, or by abdication or assassination if he loses the Third Nordling War. The throne goes to Morvran Voorhis or/with Ciri depending on the player's choices in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which means that he ruled for 33 years.

Early life
When Emhyr was thirteen years old, a usurper to the throne of Nilfgaard, imprisoned and tortured his father, in hopes the emperor would cooperate. The usurper was unsuccesful, so he hired a magician to curse Emhyr, in order to gain leverage. The magician not lacking a sense of humor, and since the word eimyr in Elder Speech stands for hedgehog, turned the young Emhyr into a Hedgehog (hence the title "Urcheon"). Although the transformation of the boy was relatively successful, the tactic also failed to break his father so in frustration, the usurper had the emperor killed and exiled the cursed Emhyr into the wild to be hunted down like an animal, assuming he would be caught quickly. The magician though did not completely succeed since Emhyr would turn back into a human from midnight until dawn.

Emhyr did elude his hunters and eventually regained his throne and his destiny. Once back in Nilfgaard he had the wizard who had cursed him captured and brought before him. He then decided to use logic similar to the wizard's for the choice of punishment. The wizard's name was "Braathens" and as luck would have it, that was quite similar to the Nilfgaardian term for "deep fried". When Geralt first met Emhyr, he went by the alias of Duny, claiming to have been cursed since birth, never knowing the reason for it, nor who had cast the spell. From midnight to dawn, he was a normal man, but from dawn, he turned into a creature with a bristly muzzle which resembled something like a cross between a hedgehog and a boar. As the people in Maecht were very superstitious, his father wanted to hide him because spells and curses known to afflict the royal family could prove fatal for the dynasty. One of the king's knights took Duny away from the court and brought him up as his own, wandering the world until the knight died, leaving the young man alone in the world.

He had been told that a child-surprise could free him from the curse. One day he found King Roegner of Cintra wounded in a ravine and as a reward, King Roegner promised him "whatever he had left at home without knowing or expecting it", in effect creating the perfect conditions for this surprise child.

Relationship with Pavetta of Cintra
Although princess Pavetta was to be wed when she was fifteen years old, Duny visited her one year before, and they secretly fell in love. When the following year, the queen gave a party for Pavetta's birthday, he appeared at the feast and announced that from her birth, the princess had belonged to him, and that he had now come for her.

After Pavetta confirmed her wish to be with him, an uproar erupted. In the ensuing fight, Geralt saved Duny's life, and later, because of this Duny promised to give up his own child to be trained as a witcher.

When the fight was over, and the mood had calmed down, Queen Calanthe gave in and agreed to their wedding. When the sun rose, and Duny did not transform into a beast, and so he knew that the curse had been lifted. After thanking Geralt, he and his future wife were surprised with the news that Pavetta was pregnant, and Duny was soon to be a father.

When the child was born, they named her Cirilla.

Return to Nilfgaard
While still in Cintra, though he maintained the illusion of being simply Duny, when the chance came, he tried to take Pavetta and Cirilla with him to Nilfgaard, where he was the rightful heir to the throne. He intended to do that by sailing across the Sedna Abyss, from which he was to be transported by the sorcerer Vilgefortz. However the plan didn't succeed, as Pavetta found out about it and left Ciri safely back on land. She and Duny argued and as a result, Pavetta fell overboard (possibly pushed over by Emhyr himself in his anger).

When Emhyr finally got back to Nilfgaard, he took back his legacy and became the Emperor of Nilfgaard, beginning his conquest of the North. He tried to kidnap Ciri at all cost and twice ordered Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach to find her. But Cahir failed both times and the task was finally given to Stefan Skellen.

Despite the fact that Ciri was his daughter and only child, he wanted to marry and have a child with her, because as Ithline's prophecy said: Emhyr would rule half the world and Ciri's son would rule all of it. He did however abandon this plan after meeting Ciri at Stygga Castle and instead let her go with Geralt and Yennefer.

Emhyr var Emreis was an intelligent and brilliant ruler. He picked his people well and crushed all plots against him. He was ruthless toward traitors and moved towards his goals with determination.

Duny was played by Dariusz Jakubowski.

Episodes

 * 6: "Calanthe"

Emhyr is revealed to be the true mastermind of Letho's regicides in The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings. The Emperor hired Letho to assassinate the Northen Kings as the first step of his plan to invade and conquer the North. In exchange, Emhyr promised to give Letho land where Witchers could live free of prejudice and hatred from normal humans. However, this never came to be after Geralt foiled Letho's plot.

Emhyr var Emreis learnt from his spies that Ciri had returned to this world and decided that as his daughter he would offer her the throne of Nilfgaardian Empire as his successor. However, he required help to find her. Having captured Yennefer of Vengerberg along the witchers of the Viper School previously, he made her an offer in exchange for her finding Ciri.

Emhyr's empire launched a large invasion of the Northern Kingdoms conquering Temeria, Lyria and Rivia, Aedirn, and part of Kaedwen. Shortly after the conquest of Vizima he moved his court to the capital and sent Yennefer to find Geralt of Rivia to aid in locating Ciri. Geralt upon arriving in Vizima was summoned to Emhyr who then informed the witcher of Ciri reappearing and offered him a contract to locate her and bring her to him, more than the usual sum.

After Geralt chased down leads in Velen, Novigrad and Skellige did Emhyr send Nilfgaardian troops to retrieve him for a progress report. The witcher had brought with him a diminutive creature called Uma. Geralt explained to the Emperor that he and Yennefer suspected that Uma may be a transformed Ciri or maybe the key to finding her. Emhyr turned to Yennefer, asking if she can lift the curse on Uma. Yennefer stated that after a great deal of research that she believed she could and Geralt added he knew a phrase in Elder Speech that Ciri told Dandelion that would be the key to accomplishing it. Emhyr then gave Geralt the first half of his reward, promising the other half once Ciri is brought before him.

If Geralt chooses to seek out allies against the Wild Hunt, he can speak with Emhyr, explaining that he had found Ciri's location but as soon as he gets to her, the Wild Hunt will attack, so he planned on bringing the battle to Kaer Morhen. Emhyr and Geralt ultimately disagree on who should command Nilfgaard's forces and so nothing comes of this, despite his obvious desire to aid in protecting Ciri.

After the battle of Kaer Morhen, Yennefer concluded that magic is needed to fight the Hunt and discussed with Emhyr the plan to reunite the Lodge of Sorceresses in exchange for amnesty.

Should Geralt encourage Ciri to meet with Emhyr, the Emperor will cordially greet his daughter by addressing her by all her titles. He then offers Geralt his reward for fulfilling his contract. Geralt can refuse or accept, which would affect his relationship with Ciri. Emhyr would also provide a black Nilfgaardian horse to Geralt. He then asked to speak privately with Ciri, in which he tried offering her the throne of Nilfgaard. Ciri felt insulted at what seemed like bribery and left.

By the time Geralt, Ciri, Avallac'h and the Lodge arrived in Skellige, Emhyr launched his navy in preparations to invade the Isles. This prove beneficial for the witcher for two reasons. Firstly, it allowed him to parley with Emhyr to release Fringilla Vigo, a member of the Lodge of Sorceresses, in order to help the others fight the Wild Hunt. Secondly, with the Nilfgaardian navy present, they would have no choice but to help in the fight against the Wild Hunt, when they were summoned.

Depending on the choices Geralt made, Emhyr could be betrayed and assassinated by his subjects, due to his inability to defeat Redania and other foes. However, should he defeat Redania, he will be able to focus on domestic threats and destroy those who plot against him.

Provided Geralt brought Ciri to Emhyr and he wins the war then he will name Ciri as his successor.

Should Geralt choose not to bring Ciri before Emhyr and she survives the White Frost, he will falsely inform the Emperor that she had died. Emhyr then tells Geralt that he never wants to see him again. When Geralt later meets with Ciri, he tells her that he's unsure that Emhyr believed him.

Personality
Emhyr is first and foremost an ambitious man. Hugely driven and determined, regardless of the ending, under his rule the Nilfgaardian Empire extended to its greatest reach and with the correct ending can end in command of the known world. Emhyr is a cold and calculating; his name The White Flame That Dances on the Barrows of his Enemies is testament to his strength and ruthlessness, as well as hugely intimidating for all those around him. That said, in person he is cordial and polite, though fierce. He possesses a sense of authority that clearly fills the room and commands the respect of those around him. The Emperor is fundamentally noble; he quickly rejected his plan to marry Ciri and offered his daughter the throne as his successor, free of ties save the fact he truly believed it was her birthright. He appreciated Geralt's part in lifting his curse and although he never opened up to him, thanked him. He would suffer slights that it was unlikely would be tolerated from anyone else (except Ciri of course.)

Trivia

 * , Vernon Roche gives his name as "Emhyr var Emreis, spice merchant" during the quest "A Rough Landing". Which the guard off-handedly dismisses as a lie; saying: "A spice merchant? Not likely."
 * In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Emhyr is voiced by famous British actor Charles Dance, who played Tywin Lannister on the HBO series Game of Thrones in the English version.
 * He came from the Nilfgaardian House of Emreis.