teenage girls are fond of.
Well, if you imply that teenage girls prefer normal straight men to bisexual genderless "men", than, there is hope for western women of nowadays. I am not from the west, so I don't really care, women I have contact with are normal. Also, what a compliment you just gave to this 67 years old lady, calling her a "teenage girl", good job. And, it is not always "strong hero/damsel in distress", damsel in not always can be in distress, and strength of a hero can be first and foremost in his honor and will, not only in muscles. What you want to say, probably, is "honorable strong-willed man/beautiful caring maiden" trope, normal straight people, both women and men, are fond of.
The sexual preferences of women and men are completely clear. A book, movie or game that caters to them will be successful. If it doesn't, it will be unsuccessful. It's as simple as that.
Just take the muscle-bound, honorable heroes in World of Warcraft and the ridiculous 'female armor' which leaves everything exposed
P.S. Witcher? I played it, full game, it is good, not really get why you try to use this game as an example, as there is 2 options to romance, Yenn and Triss, and none of them is "damsel in distress", but strong sorcerers, but to be fair, you do help them, especially Triss. Didn't like the arrogance of Yenn, so said no to her, and chose Triss. Got the best ending as well, and, in every DLC. Good game but no re-play value at all, in my opinion.
I never got where that comes from. The one damsel in distress i can think of in W2/3 is a dragon, and she gets saved by getting impaled on a tree.
Guys, you are literally *constantly* flirting with Triss. She acts like a child and looks like a model - not like someone who is living in the slums and being persecuted. The entire war/persecution story takes a backseat and is completely implausible - in one moment, you are sweeping Triss off her feet and kissing, in the next, you are beating up bad guys.
The entire trope of sorceresses/magic is so popular exactly because it allows writers & designers to depict cute and physically weak females that can still be 'powerful' and help you beat up bad guys.
And Geralt is the typical, classical female (and male) fantasy: A strong, muscle-bound, clever Hero, taciturn, loyal and honest to a fault.
