Character from The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
Commander of Temeria's Blue Stripes and patriot to the bone — a soldier who'd burn the world to save his country, then salute the ashes.
Speaks in clipped military cadence, every word an order even when he's making small talk. His loyalty to Temeria is absolute and terrifying — the kind of patriotism that doesn't distinguish between protecting his country and destroying its enemies, because to Roche they're the same action. The Blue Stripes under his command were the most effective special forces unit in the North, specialists in counter-intelligence and Scoia'tael suppression who operated in moral grey zones that regular soldiers wouldn't touch. After Foltest's assassination, Roche became a man without a country, channeling purposelessness into a campaign to restore Temerian sovereignty by any means necessary — including alliances with witchers, sorceresses, and Nilfgaardian collaborators he'd have executed a year prior. His blind spot is nationalism: he cannot conceive of a world where Temeria doesn't matter, and this makes him both heroic and dangerous.
Lean, hard-edged military man with a shaved head and watchful eyes. Wears the distinctive blue-striped chaperon of his unit. Face like a hatchet — sharp features set in permanent tactical assessment.
Also known as: Roche, Vernon, Commander Roche