Featured Article
This article has been recognized for its exceptional quality and comprehensive coverage.
In The Witcher IV
Kelpie is Ciri's horse companion in The Witcher IV, serving a similar role to Roach in The Witcher 3. She was first shown in the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo at the State of Unreal in June 2025, where Ciri rode her through the mountains and forests of Kovir en route to Valdrest.
The tech demo used Kelpie to showcase UE5's animation capabilities. CDPR implemented multi-character Motion Matching, meaning her gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop) blend smoothly between states. The demo highlighted realistic muscle deformation under the skin during movement via the Chaos Flesh solver, with visible musculature shifting in her shoulders during a gallop.
Book origins
Kelpie first appeared in Andrzej Sapkowski's novel The Tower of the Swallow, the sixth book in the Witcher saga. The mare originally belonged to a merchant named Hotspurn, an associate of the Rats, the criminal gang Ciri ran with under the alias Falka.
Ciri first saw Hotspurn riding the black mare across a river and was immediately taken with the horse. When Hotspurn was killed shortly after Ciri left the Rats to travel with him, she inherited the mare.
Ciri named the horse "Kelpie" after the shape-shifting water spirit of Scottish and Irish folklore that sometimes takes the form of a horse. The choice was inspired by the mare's appearance and her ease in running through water.
Supernatural qualities
Kelpie is not an ordinary horse. In the novels, she can be summoned by rubbing a magical bracelet, though Sapkowski never clarifies where the horse goes when unsummoned or how she became bound to the bracelet. Her connection with the bracelet, unusual strength, intelligence, and exceptional speed imply she is something more than a normal mare. Fan theories suggest she may be part-kelpie (the actual mythological creature), originate from another world, or have been created by elven magic.
In previous games
Kelpie appeared briefly in The Witcher 3 during one of Ciri's playable sequences, but she was not a persistent companion. The Witcher IV is the first time she fills the full-time mount role.
Gameplay role
As the primary mount, Kelpie provides traversal across The Witcher IV's open world. The tech demo showed fluid transitions between speeds and responsive terrain navigation through narrow forest paths and rocky mountain trails. The riding mechanics appear more polished than The Witcher 3's Roach, who was notorious for getting stuck on fences and spawning on rooftops.