In The Witcher IV
The Imperial Manticore appears in The Witcher IV's Unreal Engine 5 tech demo from June 2025. The demo opens with a group of men from Korviso transporting salt shipments at night. The Manticore attacks, lifting a full wagon into the air. Ciri is later tasked by a Valdrest local with investigating the missing men and hunting the creature.
CDPR described it as "one of the world's oldest and deadliest monsters" and "a more terrifying and dangerous version of the Griffin," a creature players fought frequently in The Witcher 3. Ciri discovered the aftermath of the attack and picked up a coin as proof of the smugglers' fate.
Creature design
The Imperial Manticore blends parts of a lion, a bat, and a scorpion. It is a large flying predator with bat-like wings, a lion's body, and a scorpion tail tipped with a venomous stinger. According to the tech demo narration, it could "likely eat an entire horse in a single meal."
In Witcher lore
Manticores are established creatures in the Witcher bestiary. In the books, they inhabit mountain caves and dense woodlands. Their stingers use the poison of the Bohun Upas tree through a mechanism not fully understood by scholars. They can reportedly devour up to 20 people per moon. Their claws never stop growing, so they scratch hard surfaces to keep them short.
Geralt fought and killed manticores in the novels, including one near the town of Dorian in 1267. Scholars at Oxenfurt Academy believe manticores have three rows of teeth, though this has not been proven.
The Imperial Manticore is a specific variant found near the Armush Mountains, on the border of Cintra and Sodden. It appeared briefly in The Witcher 2's animated flashback sequences.
Development history
Manticores were originally planned for The Witcher 3 during 2013-2014 development, intended for the mountains near Kaer Morhen. They were cut from the final game and replaced with forktails. The Witcher IV marks the first time players can encounter and fight a manticore in a mainline Witcher game, over ten years after the creature was originally designed.