The Toad Prince

Template:Infoboxbestiary2The Toad Prince is a large monster appearing only in the Hearts of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Hearts of Stone Expansion

Geralt of Rivia takes a contract from Olgierd von Everec to slay a monster in the sewers of Oxenfurt. He runs into Shani, who came down with a group of soldiers to collect venom from the so-called Toad "Prince". In their search for the beast's lair, they find bodies of its victims, men who thought they could slay it and women who thought to break its curse with a kiss and win a prince.

Geralt confronts the Toad "Prince" and eventually slays it by slicing its underbelly, though he passes out in the attempt from the toxic slime just as the toad reverts into the form of a man before dying. An unconscious Geralt is then taken prisoner by a group of Ofieri, and learns in the brig that the man was an Ofieri prince and his subjects had come to cure him. But since they failed, which put their honor at stake, they decided to take Geralt back to their homeland so their king can execute him for the prince's death.

After being freed by Gaunter O'Dimm, Geralt later learns from O'Dimm and Olgierd that the latter's beloved, Iris, was to be married off to the prince when Olgierd's family lost their estate and fortune. In anger, Olgierd desired to kill his rival but soon decided it was too simple and managed to inflict a curse upon the prince, transforming him into the hideous creature Geralt slayed. Geralt can later speak with Olgierd at the Alchemy, who admits that he uttered the curse out of anger, and recalls how the Ofieri prince once told Iris of a tale of a frog prince.

Bestiary entry

The girl walked up to the edge of the pond. There, squatting amidst the fragrant lilies and broad lily-pads, she saw a most unusual sight: a small green frog with a golden crown perched on its warty head. Charmed by this curious little creature, the girl picked it up and gave it a kiss. Immediately the little frog transformed into a handsome prince. Overcome with gratitude, he asked the girl to be his wife.

– folk tale, author unknown

Timeless tales always carry within them a grain of truth. The legend of the frog prince is no exception, or at least that’s what the folk of Oxenfurt wished to believe when they found out a monstrous toad lurked in their city sewers. The women who hunted it in search of romance and a better life, however, found their tales had a most unhappy ending. The creature they encountered was no small, sweet frog but a bloodthirsty beast, who not only did not let them in for a kiss, but instead greedily devoured them and anything else that strayed into its slime-covered lair.