Oakes

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Oakes (奥克斯)
Alias(es)	“Snake Eye” 231
Gender	Male
Age	81 156
Affiliation	School of the Viper; Witcher Brotherhood; Gawain's Home 156 363 515
Occupation/Role	Witcher; swordsmanship instructor; orphanage teacher 159 379
Status	Active 589
First Appearance	Chapter 12

Background

Oakes and his brother Cerret were taken to the School of the Viper before they were old enough to remember their families or even know their names. As a result, family was largely an abstract concept to them, though the brothers remained exceptionally close. 294

He is among the few surviving Viper Witchers after the school's decline. Oakes describes the school as having been based at Gors Velen Fortress in the Tir Tochair Mountains, and regards its fall with evident loneliness despite his usual humor. 156

Oakes reunites with Roy and Letho in Cintra, where he helps introduce Roy to the Viper School's history and its longstanding conflict with the Wild Hunt. 155 156 He later becomes one of Roy's principal combat instructors, using uncompromising live-blade sparring to build the younger Witcher's instincts. 158 159

Appearance

Oakes is lean and strongly built, with a rustic, honest-looking face compared to that of a farmer. His amber vertical pupils immediately mark him as a Witcher. 156 231 515

• Wears a School of the Viper pendant. 515
• Shares a similar facial structure with Cerret. 156
• Often presents himself casually, whether in plain Witcher gear or flamboyant bard-like clothing. 431 515
• Has a notably expressive face and smile, unlike many more deadpan Witchers. 156 515

Personality

Oakes is enthusiastic, talkative, and perpetually eager to find entertainment amid the dangers of Witcher life. He believes Witchers should seek humor and happy memories rather than endure their work in grim silence. 156 159

He is boastful about his looks, romantic history, poetry, and supposed popularity with women. His brash flirting and exaggerated stories regularly draw mockery from Cerret and the other Witchers. 159 221 431

Behind the theatrics, Oakes is fiercely loyal. He readily supports comrades in danger, takes offense at cruelty toward Witchers and non-humans, and is protective of the children under his care. 312 329 379

“If you die without any happy memories, then life is a complete tragedy!”
— Oakes 159

Abilities & Skills

Viper Dual-Sword Style

Oakes is an experienced School of the Viper swordsman who favors two short swords, wielding one in a reverse grip and the other conventionally. His movements are fast, irregular, and difficult for less experienced fighters to read. 158 159

• Overwhelms Roy in sparring through superior reactions, pressure, and practical combat experience. 158 159
• Uses real weapons in training, relying on Quen to prevent fatal accidents rather than dulling the exercise with practice swords. 159
• Defeats Lambert twice in duels at Kaer Morhen. 341
• Fights alongside Cerret with coordinated sword-light attacks against magical guardians. 433

Witcher Signs

Oakes employs Signs in both combat and training.

• Igni — Projected a cone of flame that ignited a grave witch already contaminated with an alchemical bomb. 12
• Quen — Used during live sparring to reduce the risk of accidental injuries. 159
• Aard — Interrupted a Golem's charged attack with a forceful Sign strike. 307

Tracking and Investigation

Oakes possesses sharp Witcher senses and applies them methodically to investigations.

• Tracked blood traces from a missing Oxenfurt student’s home to the bodies of the student and his mother. 282
• Identified evidence of restraint, burns, and torture on the victims, concluding that robbery alone did not explain the crime. 282
• Detected and misled Redania Wild Boar Army agents who were following the Witchers, helping expose their planned theft of Oxenfurt Academy’s rare animals. 287
• Traced Morden’s history by disguising himself as a follower of Lebioda and questioning local believers. 220

Instruction and Child Protection

Oakes teaches combat, hunting, farming, and survival skills to Witcher trainees and the children of Gawain's Home. 159 379 394

• Conducted Roy’s “hell training,” emphasizing combat awareness, crisis instincts, and endurance over formal technique alone. 159
• Led orphaned children on herb-gathering excursions and taught them to recognize useful plants. 379
• Tracked and rescued Vicky after she became lost in the forest and was abducted. 379
• Praised Vicky’s cleverness after her rescue, restoring her confidence despite her mistake. 379

Equipment

• School of the Viper pendant. 515
• Dual short swords used in Viper-style combat. 158 159
• Viper School steel and silver swords forged by Berengar. 220

Relationships

• Cerret — His brother and closest companion; their personalities sharply contrast, with Oakes being cheerful and outspoken while Cerret is gloomy and reserved. 156 294
• Roy — Fellow Viper Witcher and junior whom Oakes trains harshly but sincerely; he also supports Roy's plans for Witcher unity. 159 357
• Letho — Fellow Viper Witcher and senior companion; Letho often reins in Oakes's impulsive behavior. 156 342
• Keira Metz — A sorceress Oakes knew from Aretuza and showed clear interest in seeing again. 221 231
• Dandelion — Oakes admires his poetry and sought his guidance after auditing Oxenfurt's School of Epic Poetry and Verse. 291 298
• Vicky — One of the Gawain's Home children; Oakes rescues her from an abductor and serves as one of her teachers. 379
• Kaian — Oakes supports Kaian’s pursuit of revenge against Matteo Sikula and refuses to abandon him when he is in danger. 329

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Viper Activities

Oakes participates in the destruction of a grave witch, using Igni to turn the monster into a fireball after Letho’s alchemical preparation. 12

In Cintra, he reunites with Roy and Letho, discusses the near-extinction of the School of the Viper, and helps Roy understand the school’s history with the Wild Hunt. 155 156

Roy's Cintra Training

Oakes acts as Roy’s swordsmanship instructor during a week of intensive training. He subjects Roy to repeated real-combat duels, dodge drills, and continuous Sign casting until exhaustion. 158 159

Morden Blueprint Investigation

Working with Cerret, Oakes uncovers the history and pilgrimage route of Morden, a Griffin Witcher who abandoned his school to follow Saint Lebioda. Their investigation produces Griffin equipment blueprints and points the group toward the Lake of Ablution. 220

Oxenfurt Investigations

Oakes investigates the disappearance and murder of Linus Pitt’s student assistant, finding the bodies and evidence that the victims had been tortured. 282

He later helps uncover the Redania Wild Boar Army’s plan to kidnap rare creatures from Oxenfurt Academy, proposing that the Witchers catch the gang in the act. 287

Knores City and the Witcher Brotherhood

Oakes joins Roy and Cerret in representing Witcher interests in Knores City, where the group gains commercial property and establishes a foothold independent of monster contracts. 304 305

He supports the campaign against Matteo Sikula, both because of Sikula’s crimes against Witchers and his discrimination against non-humans. 312 329

At Kaer Morhen, Oakes defeats Lambert twice in sparring but later joins the wider effort to unite the Witcher schools. He supports Roy’s vision of a Witcher Brotherhood and its future revival. 341 357

Gawain's Home

Oakes becomes a teacher at Gawain's Home, instructing orphans in gathering herbs, hunting, farming, and survival. 379 394

He personally rescues Vicky from a forest abductor, demonstrating the protective responsibility he assumes toward the children. 379

Trivia

• Oakes and Cerret are both eighty-one years old; Roy wonders whether they may be twins. 156
• He lost two consecutive rounds of Gwent to fourteen-year-old Roy and complained that the defeat was unprecedented. 156
• Oakes audited Oxenfurt’s School of Epic Poetry and Verse because he hoped poetry would help him court sophisticated women. 291
• He considers rebuilding the School of the Viper compatible with becoming a successful shop owner. 305