List of Discworld characters
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This article contains brief biographies for characters from
Characters are listed alphabetically by name.
71-Hour Ahmed
A Klatchian warrior who accompanies Klatchian envoy Prince Khufurah on a diplomatic journey to Ankh-Morpork in the novel
He got his nickname by killing a man (guilty of poisoning a well) one hour before the traditional D'reg three days of hospitality, during which even great enemies should be shown respect.
He is later revealed to be the wali of Klatch, equivalent to Vimes's position as Commander of the City Watch. Educated at the Assassins' Guild, his clove-chewing habit and broken Morporkian were meant to act as a disguise. He confounds Vimes by his fond memories of Ankh-Morpork, even
Adora Belle Dearheart
Adora Belle Dearheart is cynical, angry and a heavy smoker. Her father Robert Dearheart, founded the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company and was conned out of it by Reacher Gilt. Adora was forced to work and obtained a post at the Golem Trust. She appears in Going Postal, Making Money and Raising Steam after beginning a tentative relationship with Moist von Lipwig in Going Postal. By the time of Making Money they were engaged. Miss Dearheart can see through most of Lipwig's conman tricks, amazing him; he names her "Spike" out of fondness. Adora wears what she claims are "the pointiest heels in the world" which she uses to deal with unwelcome advances. In Raising Steam, Adora and Moist are married and living in Scoone Avenue, Ankh. Adora has returned to running the Clacks service as her father did and no longer smokes.
Archchancellor
The head of Unseen University is the
The archchancellor of UU is considered the leader of all wizards on the Disc (by those at the UU), the first among equals (i.e. the other eighth-level wizards). There are eight eighth-level wizards and the number becomes progressively higher as the level decreases. It is common to ascend through the ranks by assassinating superiors. This has been known as the tradition of "dead men's pointy shoes." Unseen University has existed for thousands of years and the average Archchancellor remains in office for about eleven months.
The current archchancellor, Mustrum Ridcully, assumed the post in Moving Pictures and held it for the rest of the novels. Unlike his predecessors, Ridcully seems to have had a very successful and, above all, injury-free career as Archchancellor. He finally put a halt to the traditional method of promotion simply by being indestructible. This is related to his habit of springing up behind would-be assassins, shouting loudly at them and banging their head repeatedly in the door. He is also known as Ridcully the Brown (a possible reference to "Radagast the Brown" from Lord of the Rings).
When he became archchancellor, he had not been seen at the university for forty years. Having become a Seventh Level Wizard at the exceptionally young age of twenty-seven, he left to look after his family's land. He loves hunting, owns several crossbows and is much given to using the corridors of Unseen University as a shooting range. He was a Rowing Brown for the university in his youth (a parodic reference to the Blue at Oxford and Cambridge Universities).
Since wizards traditionally favour sports such as Competitive Eating and Extreme Napping, other wizards find him very tiring to be around. He is not stupid but finds it very difficult to deal with unexpected information. He generally ignores it until it goes away or becomes someone else's problem. He holds the view that if someone is still trying to explain something to him after about two minutes, it must be worth listening to and if they give up earlier, it was not worth bothering him with in the first place.
Ridcully showed the occasional flash of magical skill. In Moving Pictures, the Bursar was surprised to discover Ridcully's adeptness at using a magic mirror, which, like most Discworld
He gets on best with Ponder Stibbons. He never seems to understand what Ponder is saying and Ponder never expects him to, but the young man is at least doing something, more than can be said for the others. He is also quite fond of the
His father was a butcher (Unseen Academicals) and his brother is Hughnon Ridcully, High Priest of Blind Io and Ankh-Morpork's religious spokesman. While priests and wizards are traditionally at odds due to philosophical differences, neither Ridcully is of a particularly philosophical frame of mind and they tend to ignore this.
In Lords and Ladies we learn he had a relationship with a young Esme Weatherwax, some fifty years before he become Archchancellor. The book suggests that in one of the many parallel universes adjacent to the one on which the Discworld novels take place, Ridcully and Esme Weatherwax are married and have children; though it also implies that they were all probably killed by the Queen of the Elves. He is deeply affected by her death (The Shepherd's Crown).
In the
Bloody Stupid Johnson
Bergholdt Stuttley 'Bloody Stupid' Johnson is an inept engineer and landscape artist, famous for a single-minded approach to his craft best be described as 'demented'. B.S. Johnson creates some of the Disc's most impressive, dangerous and unusual works of architecture, art and engineering: the Johnson Exploding Pagoda and a chiming sundial that explodes every other day around noon. His most famous housing project, Empirical Crescent, tends to drive residents insane.
At the outset of the Discworld series, B.S. Johnson while well-remembered, is long-deceased.
Brutha
Brutha was an Ommnian novice in Small Gods. Omnia is an autocratic theocracy that believes in one God named Om. Brutha is a faithful and dutiful lad, word perfect on Omnian religious texts on account of his eidetic memory but unable to read or write. He finds a tortoise in his melon patch who is actually the God Om afflicted with temporary amnesia, which recedes in the presence of Brutha. Brutha is the only true believer of Om, as all other "believers" only go along with the state religion either out of habit or fear of torture.
After the failed Omnian occupation of Ephebe and the mobilisation of the armed forces of all the other countries along the Klatchian coast against Omnia, Brutha resolved the conflict and became the Cenobiarch of Omnia, and the Eighth Prophet and Prophet of Prophets of Omnianism. Reforming the Church along tolerant, humanist lines, he reigned for a hundred years.
Bursar
Professor A.A. Dinwiddie, DM (7th), D.Thau., B.Occ., M.Coll. first appears in Faust Eric as a quiet, reserved person. He took the post of university treasurer because of his affinity for numbers. (The Archchancellor describes him as "one of those idiot servants") There was less competition for the role than for other faculty posts.
The previous Bursar, Spelter, was killed trying to save the library from destruction in Sourcery. Dinwiddie expected a relatively safe office to hold since nobody else actually wanted to be bursar and dreamed of spending the rest of his life quietly adding up rows of figures. Unfortunately, shortly after he became Bursar, Mustrum Ridcully became Archchancellor. Ridcully's personality wore away at the Bursar, whose idea of excitement was a soft-boiled egg and throughout the books his sanity decreased until, by the middle of the series and the events of Reaper Man, Dinwiddie was almost completely insane.
He was kept barely functional by experimental dosages of dried frog pills, though the effect was sometimes erratic. Since the pills are hallucinogens, the other wizards hope they will cause him to hallucinate being sane. An improper dose causes catatonia or disorganized schizophrenia.
Canting Crew
The 'Canting Crew' is an informal name for a group of Ankh-Morpork beggars who are too anarchic for the Beggars' Guild, which has a tendency to constrain them with rules. Members of the group can often be found beneath Ankh-Morpork's Misbegot Bridge and are normally accompanied by the talking dog Gaspode. Death joins the crew in Soul Music where he takes the name, Mr Scrub. Death is successful at taking coin and enhancing the group's earning power where he also becomes known as the Grateful Death.
Foul Ole Ron
Excessively seedy, momentously dirty, overpoweringly smelly and entirely incomprehensible, Foul Ole Ron is the best-known member of the crew. He is often accompanied by Gaspode, the world's only Thinking Brain Dog (as opposed to a "Seeing-eye dog"). Ron's smell has become strong enough to not only melt earwax but to acquire a separate existence. It is referred to in the text as almost another character entirely, who occasionally arrives ahead of Ron, opts to stick around for a while after his departure.
His "
Coffin Henry
Sometimes spelt 'Coughin' Henry'. He habitual cough gave him his name and is described as sounding 'almost solid'. Like Ron, he has a verse in Where's My Cow?, as adapted by Vimes to fit city life. In it, Henry goes "Cough, gack, ptui".
While Ron asks people for money to stop following them, Coffin Henry makes money by not going anywhere. People send him small sums to not turn up at their parties asking people to look at his interesting collection of skin diseases. He also wears a sign saying "For sum muny I wont follo yu hom".
Altogether Andrews
Altogether Andrews is a mass of many personalities, none of them named Andrews. Most have considerably higher social status than him; these include Jossi, Lady Hermione, Little Sidney, Mr Viddle, Curly, the Judge, and Tinker. An eighth personality simply known as Burke, was only seen once by the canting crew (though not in any narrative) and they had no desire to ever see him again. The other seven personalities are very careful to keep him buried.
The Duck Man speculates that Andrews was once a mild-mannered psychic, mentally overwhelmed by the other souls. He is generally regarded as one of the most consistently sane of the group, Since at least five of his personalities can hold a sensible conversation with other people. His personalities 'voted' on whether to act as street vendors for the The Ankh Morpork Times (in The Truth) and Andrews held up five fingers to indicate the outcome of his personalities' decision.
The Duck Man
The Duck Man, the intellectual of the group, appears to be relatively sane. He seems unaware of the duck on his head and has little memory of life before he joined the Canting Crew and calls it "when I was someone else". Possibly once rich and well educated at some time, he wears the tattered remnants of an expensive suit. As a boy, he "messed around in boats".[2] Somebody apparently wants him dead, as the price on his head at The Assassins' Guild is $132,000.[3] but there's a chance he put that contract on himself. The Duck Man appears in several of Pratchett's books, including Hogfather, Soul Music, The Truth and Feet of Clay.
Arnold Sideways
A member noted for being completely legless. Literally; a cart ran over his legs several years ago and he now gets around on a wheelbarrow, usually pushed by the Duck Man. He carries an old boot on a stick, so muggers desperate enough to try to rob the beggars often find themselves being kicked on the top of the head by a man 3 feet tall.
Carcer
The villain of
Carcer has a talent for unnerving people, an annoying laugh (written as 'haha' in the book) and a perpetual conviction of his own innocence despite his many crimes, which include at least two murders. He claims his original crime was stealing a loaf of bread[4] although, Vimes says, Carcer would have murdered the baker and stolen the whole bakery.
Commander Vimes chases him along the rooftops of Unseen University in a magical thunderstorm, and both Carcer and Vimes are transported thirty years into the past, about a week before the Glorious Revolution of the Twenty-Fifth of May. After murdering Pseudopolitan watchman John Keel (forcing Vimes to assume that identity and role as mentor to his younger self), Carcer climbs through the ranks of the Unmentionables, Homicidal Lord Winder's secret police, until he is brought back to the present by Vimes after pursuing him with a death squad under the orders of the new Patrician, Lord Snapcase. Carcer is captured by Vimes at the end of Night Watch and likely sentenced to death.
Christine
Christine is a pretty, thin blonde chorus singer at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House, who wears white and uses exclamation marks at the end of every sentence. She is an extraordinarily untalented singer, but the Opera House management favours her because of her beauty and because the financing her father provided for the purchase of the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. She lip-synchs onstage to the voice of
The "Phantom" in the story accidentally tutors Agnes instead of Christine when Christine runs away from the ghostly voice emanating from her mirror. Agnes realizes what is happening and, in order to continue her training for a second night, slips some herbs into Christine's hot milk to make her sleepy.
Christine's father once told her that a "dear little pixie" would help her career and she thinks that Agnes might be that pixie.
Cohen the Barbarian
Ghenghiz Cohen, known as Cohen the Barbarian, is a hero in the classical sense, i.e., a professional thief, brawler and ravisher of women. His name and character are an obvious echo of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Genghis Khan, and of the common Jewish surname Cohen.
The man who introduced the world to the concept of "wholesale" destruction, Cohen is the Discworld's greatest warrior hero, renowned for rescuing maidens, destroying the mad high priests of dark cults, looting ancient ruins, and so on.
He first appears in the series as an old man already, but still tough enough to handle anything. His opponents often underestimate him because of his age, then realize too late that a man who does what Cohen does and nevertheless survives to such an age must be very good at it indeed. Cohen does not know his exact age. In The Light Fantastic, he says he is 87 and in later books guesses that he is between 90 and 95.
A skinny old man with a long white beard that reaches below his loincloth and with a patch over one eye, Cohen's distinguishing feature is his smile, showing off his dentures made of troll teeth which are pure diamond. Cohen has outlived the heroic age and finds himself in a world where great battles and astonishing rescues rarely happen except in stories. Ironic, given that Discworld runs on narrative. One of the rare Discworld short stories, "Troll Bridge", tells of Cohen setting out to slay a troll, but ending up reminiscing with it about the good old days when everyone respected tradition. As a barbarian hero, he has great difficulty interpreting empty bravado. A man of his word, he assumes that anyone who says something such as'I would rather die than betray the Emperor' fully means it. This led to the deaths of several guards and courtiers in the Agatean Empire.
In
Cohen has quite a lot of children; in The Last Hero he casually mentions that he has dozens. Only one is mentioned by name in the novels, Conina in Sourcery. She wishes to be a hairdresser, but genetics keep getting in the way, causing her to instinctively kill people who threaten her. She was last seen in an amorous relationship with Nijel the Destroyer. She says she knew Cohen and that he took an interest in her education—such as how to set a variety of traps in a length of corridor.
In The Light Fantastic, Cohen helps the other two protagonists, Rincewind and Twoflower, to save a seventeen-year-old girl named Bethan, who was to be offered as a sacrifice. Cohen and Bethan fall in love, mainly owing to Bethan's patience and skill at curing Cohen's back problems, and decide to get married, despite Rincewind's apprehensions about their age difference. At the end of the book they are not present, and it is assumed that they have left for their marriage.
Actor
, and was broadcast on Easter Sunday and Monday of 2008. In the miniseries, Bethan and Cohen show up at the docks, already married, to bid Twoflower goodbye as he heads back home. Twoflower gives them a box of Agatean money as a wedding present, which he believes to be inconsequential but which, Rincewind comments out of earshot of Twoflower, was enough to buy a small kingdom.Conina
The daughter of
Corporal Strappi
Corporal Strappi is a character in Monstrous Regiment, a thin, shouty soldier who loves to terrorize new recruits. Partway through the book he disappears with a lot of the Regiments's personal possessions. Sergeant Jackrum correctly suspects that Corporal Strappi is not what he seems; the end of Monstrous Regiment reveals him as a "political", an officer who informs on other soldiers, who holds the rank of Captain.
Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler
Claude Maximillian Overton Transpire Dibbler, usually known as Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, C.M.O.T. Dibbler, or simply Dibbler, is a bit character described as Discworld's most enterprisingly unsuccessful entrepreneur, a 'merchant venturer' of Ankh-Morpork, most famous for selling meat by-products to unsuspecting passers-by.
His name originates from his catchphrase '... and at that price, I'm cutting me own throat.' He was also an unscrupulous moving pictures producer/director, an agent for a 'Music with Rocks In' group, and editor of the Ankh-Morpork Inquirer (a tabloid published by the Guild of Engravers) for which he fabricated news stories. He also sold a strange green liquid made according to an ancient recipe by monks living on a mountain. Lance-Constable Carrot questioned this, but it turned out to be quite true. But the monks who make the liquid have no idea what Dibbler does with it.
He has also been known to sell '
When Dibbler's businesses fail, he falls back on selling (mostly) '
The wizard Rincewind had a theory that equivalents of Dibbler are everywhere. This theory is borne out by the appearance of several versions of Dibbler throughout the Discworld series:
- Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala sold suspiciously fresh Agatean Empire (Interesting Times). He discusses with Rincewind the possibilities of trade between Ankh-Morpork and the Empire. As tea and silk could be acquired from Klatch, Rincewind suggests the trade of gold, a rare metal in Ankh-Morpork but a ubiquitous one in the Empire.
- Fair Go Dibbler sold the archetypal pie floaters on the lost continent of Fourecks (The Last Continent).
- Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah sold disturbingly live Discworld II computer game, his name is spelt D'blah and he gives secrets about pyramid power in Djelibeybi.
- Al-Jiblah, a merchant in Klatch (Jingo).
- May-I-Never-Achieve-Enlightenment Dhiblang; mentioned in The Last Continent.
- Dib Diblossonson sold topless-bottomless smörgåsbord in the Hubland barbarian fjords.
- May-I-Be-Kicked-In-My-Own-Ice-Hole Dibooki apparently only gathered whale meat after a conveniently beached whale had exploded into bite-sized chunks of its own accord.
- Swallow-Me-Own-Blowdart Dhlang-Dhlang sold green beer, location unknown but suspected to be tropical rain forest, possibly Howondaland.
- Point-Me-Own-Bone Dibjla, an Aboriginal Dibbler from Fourecksin the Discworld II PC game.
Other Dibbler equivalents include Ratonasticthenes from
Dibbler appeared in the
In Good Omens, after Crowley's Bentley bursts into flames over the M25 motorway a crowd gathers. There is also a man selling hot dogs, possibly a reference to Dibbler.
The Cretaceous conifer species Sulcatocladus dibbleri is named after CMOT Dibbler.[5]
Daniel "One Drop" Trooper
The Ankh-Morpork official Hangman and executioner, Trooper specialises in Death by Hanging; his skill with a noose allows him to simulate an execution but leave the victim alive, as he did with
Dean
Dean of Pentacles/Archchancellor Henry of Brazeneck College is a senior wizard, archetypically argumentative and lazy, but when occasion arises, among the more enthusiastic and competent of his peers. The Dean is particularly susceptible to occult or semi-magical occurrences, fads, or trends – most notably in Soul Music.
He is described as obese and Ridcully nicknames him "Two Chairs" in The Last Continent. Unseen Academicals describes a custom double-width chair formerly owned by him. Unseen Academicals, also reveals that The Dean leaves UU to become Archchancellor of the new Brazeneck University, the first person to voluntarily resign from the university, something previously considered unthinkable;[6] Ridcully regards him as a traitor despite their long friendship. On the Dean's first visit to UU, Ridcully cannot decide how to address him and eventually remembers his name is Henry [7] By the end of the novel Ridcully is comfortable enough with The Dean's presence to refer to him as 'Dean', which Henry ignores.
Didactylos
Meaning "
There is not much mention of Didactylos before
He appears to be an homage to the
Doughnut Jimmy
Universally known as Doughnut Jimmy, Dr James Folsom is a highly proficient horse doctor that Samuel Vimes brought in under threat to treat Vetinari in Feet of Clay. Vimes knew that any human doctor would be contracted to guilds (who all resent Vetinari to some degree) and that horse doctors treat animals worth considerable amounts of money and so faced considerable trouble if their patients die. Due to his lack of experience with humans, much of his advice was flawed ("walk him round a bit on loose rein...and no oats"). A former jockey, he won a lot of money by not winning races and was highly skilled at achieving results.
D'regs
The D'regs, a nomadic and warlike people who inhabit the desert regions of hubward
They share many similarities with the Tuareg people of North Africa.
Drum Billet
Edward d'Eath
Ella Saturday
The daughter of
Eric Thursley
A thirteen-year-old demonologist and the title character in Eric, he lives at 13 Midden Lane, Pseudopolis. Eric inherited most of his demonology books and paraphernalia (as well as a talking parrot) from his grandfather; his parents, apparently convinced he was destined to become a gifted demonologist, allowed him free rein over his grandfather's workshop. Eric was relatively unsuccessful as a demonologist until, with some unknown assistance, he managed to summon Rincewind from the Dungeon Dimensions while trying to summon a demon to grant him wishes: mastery of the kingdoms of the world, to meet the most beautiful woman who ever lived, to live forever, and a large chest of gold. These wishes are granted in a journey across Time to the Tezumen Empire, the Tsortean War, and the beginning of the universe, albeit as forms of ironic punishment. Eric was last seen escaping from Hell with Rincewind.
Eskarina Smith
Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre
Daughter of King
Findthee Swing
Captain Swing is the head of the Unmentionables in the Ankh-Morpork of the past of Night Watch. Swing attempted to control crime by ordering all weapons confiscated, reasoning a decline in crime figures would follow, but failed to acknowledge that criminals do not obey the law and greatly enjoy a lack of weapons in a society.
He is described as a thin, balding man in a long, old-fashioned black coat with large pockets who supports himself on an opera cane, in reality a poorly concealed
Swing carries with him a large set of calipers and a steel ruler, to measure the facial characteristics of those he meets, to determine their personal traits (phrenology). The reliability of the paradigm is questionable; it says that Vimes has the eye of a mass murderer (Vimes says he indeed does... in his other suit).
Vimes kills him during the fire at the Unmentionables' headquarters. He tries to apply phrenology to determine Death's character, but finds that Death has no characteristics he can measure.
The name Captain Swing has long been associated with civil unrest, being the pseudonym of the (possibly mythical) leader of the Swing Riots.
Gaspode
Gaspode first appears in Moving Pictures. Named for the Gaspode who faithfully stayed by his master's grave and whined, he and a number of other animals gained sapience and the ability to speak when the Holy Wood Dream escapes and is compelled to travel to Holy Wood to break into the nascent film industry.[8] Gaspode does manage to become an agent for both Victor Tugelbend and Laddie, successfully renegotiating their contracts with a ten per cent commission. He and Laddie blow up the Odium picture-throwing pit during the disrupted premiere of Blown Away to kill a creature from the Dungeon Dimensions, and destroy the portal created by the "click"; left for dead, he climbs out of the wreckage and reverts to a normal dog when the Holy Wood Dream ends.
In Men at Arms, Gaspode has regained his sapience and ability to speak after too much time sleeping by the High Energy Magic Building at Unseen University. He assists newly-recruited werewolf Watchwoman Angua in the Night Watch's investigation of a plot involving a 'gonne', the Discworld's only firearm, and avoids run-ins with the Dogs' Guild, a pack of feral dogs led by Big Fido. He reveals that when he was a puppy, he was put into a sack with a brick and thrown into the River Ankh. Its unwater-like qualities allowed him to chew through the sack and escape. Gaspode both resents canine subservience to humanity and yearns for masterly companionship. He is able to shout commands at dogs as would a human, much to his disgust. After lying about being a family pet, he quickly abandons the family given to him as reward for foiling a plot against Lord Vetinari after they attempt to wash him and give him a collar.
In Feet of Clay, he has become Foul Ole Ron's Thinking Brain Dog and part of the Canting Crew. In The Fifth Elephant, Gaspode helps Captain Carrot to track Angua down after she flees back to her native Überwald, where he explores his lupine nature.
In The Truth, the existence of a talking dog has become a well-known rumour as is the existence of a rightful King of Ankh-Morpork walking the streets of the city (both of which are true). Gaspode assists the newly-created Ankh-Morpork Times's investigation of a plot to incriminate Lord Vetinari as an informant (going by the name "Deep Bone") and a translator for Lord Vetinari's dog Wuffles, a key witness.
Glenda Sugarbean
A plump, over-breasted girl who runs the Night Kitchen in the Unseen University until the events of
Hex
First appearing in
Previously, other "computers" on the Disc consisted of druidic stone circles. Programmed by 'Softlore', Hex runs and evolves under the watchful eyes of
Hex has its origins in a device that briefly appeared in
Librarian
The Librarian first appeared in the second novel of the series,
He reacts violently to being called a "monkey"; technically, he is an ape. His vocabulary consists primarily of the single word Ook (originally Oook), inflected for simple affirmations and negations. Nonetheless, most people seem able to understand him.
The Librarian is only referred to by his title not a name. If his name were known, he could be changed back into a human, and since The Last Continent he has carefully excised his name from the records of the university. The Discworld Companion hints and The Art of Discworld confirms that the Librarian was Dr. Horace Worblehat, and that his fears of turning back into human are baseless at most. Rincewind is apparently the only wizard who still remembers the Librarian's name, but has agreed not to tell anyone.
The Librarian served a brief stint in the
The Librarian is a member of a small elite group of senior Librarians of Time and Space who have the knowledge and ability to travel through L-Space, an
- Silence.
- Books must be returned no later than the last date shown.
- Do not meddle with the nature of causality.
The Librarian spends his leisure hours at the Mended Drum, drinks quietly unless provoked, eats prodigious quantities of peanuts, and plays a ruthless game of
The Librarian appears in orang-utan form in the video games
Lord Sir Harry King
One of Ankh-Morpork's most successful businessmen, Harry King appears in The Truth, Making Money and Raising Steam, is referred to in Going Postal, and is briefly mentioned in Night Watch by Lu Tze. He started out as a mudlark and developed his career from there. His core business is "night soil" removal but he is also does rubbish collection and recycling. His basic philosophy is that there is nothing that someone will pay to have removed that someone else will not pay to acquire. The sign outside his yard reads "King of the Golden River, Recycling Nature's Bounty." This replaces, at his wife's insistence, the original: "H. King, taking the piss since 1961." His wife's name is Euphemia "Effie" King (his petname for her is "Duchess") and their daughters are Daphne and Herminone, who have made Harry King a grandfather.
"King of the Golden River," probably is not a reference to the River Ankh, brown from centuries of dumped sewage, but it may be a scatological reference, as suggested by the previous sign. It may also refer to the classic fairy tale of 1842 written by John Ruskin, particularly since the Ruskin work is written for Euphemia "Effie" Gray, and may also possibly play on the mystical "King of the Silver River" character in the Shannara series by American writer Terry Brooks. Harry King employs most of the city's gnolls, who spend all their time picking up trash, never forgets a debtor and needs to take two baths just to elevate himself to the rank of dirty.
Harry keeps ferocious mongrel guard dogs on his property. He would not 'buy posh foreign dogs when he can buy the crossbreeds'. Harry likes it when burglars break in, as he then does not have to feed the dogs.
In
At the end of the book King is given a peerage.
Evil Harry Dread
Evil Harry Dread is the villainous counterpart to Cohen the Barbarian; an old fashioned
In The Last Hero, he joins the Silver Horde on the quest to 'return fire to the gods' by blowing up the mountain. Harry betrays them; as a villain, he must. When they confront him they praise him for still being a reliable Dark Lord to the end. He was last seen descending from Cori Celesti with the Silver Horde's bard, whom they had kidnapped to chronicle the quest.
Herrena, the Henna-haired Harridan
Her name says it all really. She is an ex-opponent of Cohen, and his sometime lover. Inspired by Red Sonja of Conan fame, she has a prominent role in The Light Fantastic and a small cameo in Eric.
Hodgesaargh
Castle
Hodgesaargh is based on a real-life keeper of birds of prey named Dave Hodges, who lives in Northamptonshire. He is also the author of The Arts of Falconrie and Hawking.
Hrun the Barbarian
In
Hrun's fate after this is unknown. Interesting Times, says that he eventually became commander of the Watch in an unnamed city. This could imply that Hrun split up with Liessa.
Hrun also has some fame, because Twoflower gets very excited at the prospect of meeting Hrun the Barbarian.
Imp Y Celyn
In
J.H.C. Goatberger
Ankh-Morpork publisher whose company printed The Joye of Snacks by A Lancre Witch and the Ankh-Morpork Almanack. Mr Goatberger prints his Almanacks on thin paper, as many families keep old editions in their privies.
In
His name is a play on
Miss Iodine Maccalariat
Miss Maccalariat is a receptionist in Going Postal, whose voice is like that of the worst of schoolteachers.
John "Mossy" Lawn
A doctor in Ankh-Morpork, he first appeared in
After his successful delivery of Young Sam, Vimes gave him a large piece of land in the Goosegate area of the city. In Going Postal this is the Lady Sybil Free Hospital. He says that when he dies, he wants a bell on his gravestone so he can be free to not get up whenever people ring. Dr. Lawn is based on an actual retired GP of the same name in West Yorkshire.
Jonathan Teatime
Juliet Stollop
In
Lavaeolus
The Discworld equivalent of
He appeared in Eric and is briefly mentioned in Pyramids.
Lewton
Lewton appears in the third Discworld computer game,
Lewton's life changed forever when Carlotta Von Uberwald came into his life. She used him to find Mundy (whom she said was her lover but was really an informant for her cult). After he discovered this, they argued, and Carlotta kissed and bit Lewton, turning him into a werewolf. Using his new wolf abilities, Lewton managed to stop Carlotta's cult and save Ankh-Morpork from a giant god of destruction.
Lieutenant Blouse
Polly Perks' platoon commander in Monstrous Regiment, Blouse is a rather effeminate aristocrat who previously worked as an administrator in the Quartermaster-General's Blanket, Bedding, and Horse Fodder Department, with no previous experience of field command, He was transferred as a result of Borogravia's ever-decreasing supply of combat-ready men. His remarkable talent for mathematics and technology, allowed him to give William de Worde several options for improving the clacks system, despite never before having encountered the 'Abomination Unto Nuggan'. Despite his rather feminine manner and distinct lack of martial prowess[15] he is one of the few genuinely male characters, and respectfully admires the women when he learns their true sex, citing examples of female warriors in the history of the Klatchian continent; he informed their captors that "[he] would not trade them for any six men [they] offered [him]". Blouse's ambition to have an item of clothing or a food named after him as famous military men did was eventually fulfilled when a fingerless glove is given his name. A major by the end of the book, he contrasts with Jackrum directly. In one scene, he misdirects enemy forces with a signaling device Jackrum would simply have smashed, a sign of Discworld warfare changing as intelligence and technology began to replace bravery and fighting skill.
Liessa Dragonlady
Liessa Dragonlady, daughter of the lord of the Wyrmberg, and leader of the dragonriders. An archetypal fantasy barbarian woman,[16] she has curves and chestnut-red hair, and wears almost nothing but a chainmail harness. After successfully poisoning her father, a traditional mode of transfer of power in her family, she still cannot become lord of the Wyrmberg as a woman and faces intense rivalry from her two brothers. But a man she married would become lord of the Wyrmberg, and she could wield real power behind the throne. As she plans this, Rincewind, Twoflower, and Hrun the Barbarian pass nearby. Hrun interests Liessa, who sees in him a strong but slow-witted warrior. She tests him by trying to stab him in his sleep, but Hrun grabs her wrist and nearly breaks it. Convinced, she tells him that if he defeats her brothers she will marry him. Hrun puts her brothers out of commission but refuses to kill them. Liessa agrees to banish them instead and tells Hrun tenderly that she did not expect such mercy from him.
Liessa seems to have genuine feelings for Hrun but still has one more test for him. She strips naked to see how much passion he truly has for her, but before anything intimate can happen, Rincewind and Twoflower, riding the dragon Ninereeds, snatched Hrun up and fly away. Liessa summons her own dragon and pursues them. Ninereeds nearly outruns her but vanishes when Twoflower loses consciousness. Everyone falls. Liess catches Hrun, and they share a passionate kiss.
Liessa isn't seen or mentioned after this. Her kingdom probably did not survive, since in the later books, the barbarian way of life has all but vanished.
Liessa appears in The Colour of Magic, and Karen David played Liessa in the Easter 2008 Sky One adaptation of The Colour of Magic.
Lobsang Ludd
Lobsang (born Newgate Ludd) was raised by the Ankh-Morpork Thieves' Guild, but discovered by Soto of the History Monks when Lobsang performed the Stance of the Coyote,[17] to save his own life after he fell from off a roof, which would have killed him. He was sent to and raised in the Temple, where he confounded his teachers by knowing too much without knowing how he knows it, and still not knowing what he knows it until he is asked a specific question. Eventually he is apprenticed to Lu-Tze after his teachers cannot teach him. Due to internal politics, the monks hoped they would "break" one another. Lu-Tze theorised that time's hold on Lobsang was "loose". For example he could demonstrate a negative reaction time—moving towards something before it starts moving, though this theory eventually proved wrong. In this time he demonstrated several unique powers: he could sense the direction of a time disturbance, balance the load of time to less than a second after a Time Crash and reacting to the Mandala, a visual display of Time, and having it react to him. After the time crash, he goes into the world to stop the second Glass Clock being constructed by his then-unknown temporal double, Jeremy Clockson, under the pretext of learning the Way of Mrs Cosmopilite.
After time stopped he made his own time, and paired up with Susan Sto Helit to stop the Clock. He finds out about his "brother" (who is actually him but having led a different life), and, after they touch, they combine; it is then revealed that he is the son of Wen the Eternally Surprised and the personification of Time. After fusing with Jeremy, Lobsang inherits Time's powers and eventually takes over her role. Even before these events, Death could not see him, and he lives outside the influence of Death.
At the end of Thief of Time he shares a "perfect moment" with Susan Sto Helit also a human who inherited qualities from an anthropomorphic personification. Lobsang inherited his powers directly from his parents, and Susan, indirectly from her foster grandparent, Death. But unlike Susan, who is mostly human, Lobsang is "mostly not" human — he has the mindset and "infuriating smile" of a God, and thinks in 18 dimensions — he claims that even seeing in only 4 is hard, and makes it hard to maintain a solid form. His incarnation of Jeremy had romantic inclinations toward Myria LeJean, the first embodied Auditor, who shared his feelings but was unable to express it and thus committed suicide with a 10,000-gallon vat of chocolate at the end of Thief of Time.
Lord Downey
Head of Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild.
Lord Snapcase
The Patrician who came to power after Lord Winder following the Glorious Revolution of the Twenty-Fifth of May. Also known as Mad or Psychoneurotic Lord Snapcase. During his reign, he was considered "eccentric" rather than mad by the upper classes, but he is now known by most Morporkians, including the nobles, as the Mad Lord. He was sadistic, and extremely fond of torture, much like his predecessor.
Lord Snapcase was succeeded by Lord Havelock Vetinari. There are very few historical records of Lord Snapcase's tyranny. This may be because of Snapcase's mental disorder, which caused him to be very secretive while trying to spy on everyone else.
His obsession with his own security left him no time to govern or affect history. His one recorded act (
Lord Winder
Patrician of
He was deposed as a result of the
Lupine Wonse
Former childhood friend to
Lu Tze
Lu-Tze first appeared in the novel
People to whom Lu-Tze was a vaguely glimpsed figure behind a very slow broom would have been surprised at his turn of speed, especially in a man six thousand years old who ate nothing but brown rice and drank only green tea with a knob of rancid butter in it (p.317).
His name is an allusion to the Chinese legendary figure
Lu-Tze has a more substantial role in Thief of Time, in which we learn that he is not a monk at all, but "merely" a sweeper at the Monastery of Oi-Dong. The lack of a formal title, in fact, gives him fewer restrictions than his contemporaries. In fact, he uses the same trick (that no-one notices a sweeper) in the monastery as he does when out in the world, and has learnt as much about the nature of time as some of the higher monks simply by tidying up the classrooms. Everyone knows Lu-Tze's name as one of the best monks on the field, but few realise who he actually is. He is generally referred to just as "Sweeper". This is in part a reference to Martin, the pessimist philosopher and sweeper in Voltaire's Candide.
He is exceptional at martial arts when he needs to be and is the only known master of "Déjà fu", in which the hands move in time as well as space. This is best described as 'the feeling you've been kicked in the head this way before'. Generally he relies on the fact that no-one notices a sweeper, a well-honed ability to talk his way out of anything, and "Rule One", which states "Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men", since such a person is almost always a highly trained martial artist due to the Disc's
Lu-Tze also appears in Night Watch, Unseen Academicals, and Raising Steam in a small—but significant—role. A sweeper is also referenced in The Fifth Elephant and Going Postal.
He is a devout follower of The Way of Mrs. Cosmopilite, a way of life of his own devising which he created after lodging with
Ly Tin Wheedle
Ly is arguably the greatest philosopher on the Disc, although he is usually the one arguing for this. He comes from the
In addition to
Magrat Garlick
- See Magrat Garlick
Marietta Cosmopilite
Mrs Marietta Cosmopilite is a dressmaker, who appears in
She is briefly mentioned in
Mavolio Bent
Mr Mavolio Bent is the Head Cashier and all but in charge of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork. He was introduced to the discworld series in the book Making Money. He has been in employment at the bank since he was thirteen, when he came to the city with a group of travelling accountants. He was born as a clown (Charlie Benito), but his first time performing was severely affected by the audience laughing at him. He fled the show, and he happened upon a group of travelling accountants, and discovered his talent for numbers. From then on, he renounced his clowning heritage, and went to work at the bank.
Mr Bent eventually accepts his clown heritage after having a mental breakdown because (among other things) he made his first mathematical mistake. It appears that he remains at the bank though, in an attempt to honour his clown heritage, he returns to work wearing a red nose.
Mr Bent resided in Mrs. Cake's Boarding House. This has likely changed since marrying a 'Miss Drapes' at the Fool's Guild Chapel of Fun by Reverend Brother "Whacko" Whopply, in a 'whitewash wedding'.
He is possibly inspired in part by John Major who was born the son of a music hall performer, but left to join a bank, eventually becoming Prime Minister of the UK 1990–1997. Andrew Rawnsley said that he "ran away from the circus to join a troupe of accountants."[18]
Mr Hong
Mr Hong never appears in any of the books, having (apparently) died before the start of any of the stories, but appears to form an important part of Ankh-Morpork's collective memory. In several Discworld books, a character is admonished to "remember what happened to Mr Hong when he tried to open the Three Jolly Luck Takeaway Fish Bar on the site of the old fish god temple in Dagon Street on the night of the full moon." This incident appears to act as a deterrent for Morporkians against meddling with the occult or supernatural or doing something that is patently stupid. Though it is never satisfactorily explained exactly what happened, in Jingo it is revealed that only his kidney and a few bones were found; in the game Discworld Noir his shop was used as a location for one of the murders. The shop found boarded up, deep investigation revealed that a local thespian from the Dysk theatre was eaten there.
Mr Pin
Mr Pin is the brains of the New Firm, a duo of interloping criminals in The Truth. In general Mr Pin makes the plans and decides where they are going to go and what they are going to do, but he is open to suggestions from his partner. Both men can become violent, but Mr Pin's violence is more directed and instrumental. The background of Mr Pin is much more vague than his partner, Mr Tulip. After having an iconograph taken of him by Otto Chriek using dark light (light on the opposite side of darkness), Mr Pin experiences guilt and extreme paranoia for the various crimes committed by the New Firm.
He comes to a rather sticky end when he is impaled by the desk spike of William de Worde in the offices of The Ankh-Morpork Times after being trapped in a cellar with molten lead raining from the ceiling as the building burned, killing Mr Tulip to use his body as a raft and to steal his potato (which he believed granted its possessor a path to reincarnation). Mr Pin is then reincarnated into a potato resembling his face in a look of surprise, which is chipped and deep fried.
Mr Pin and Mr Tulip are very similar in many respects to Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, a violent duo in Neverwhere, written by Neil Gaiman. The two authors have collaborated before in Good Omens, and sometimes make reference to each other's works. However, Pratchett has denied any conscious reference in this case.[19]
It is possible that Mr Pin and Mr Tulip are taken as analogues of the Marvel Comics characters, the Kingpin and the Rose, organised crime figures.
Mr Salzella
The Director of Music at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House in Maskerade, most notable for an absolute hatred of opera. He embezzles money and murders the people who find out, blaming the murders on the Opera Ghost.
Salzella is eventually found out and proves to be just as "infected" with operatic romanticism as everyone else in the building. Due to the Discworld's rather literal adherence to the laws of narrative convention, this is not an entirely mental issue: He is killed in an extremely operatic duel with the Ghost and spends two pages on a final monologue before keeling over. He only had a sword theatrically thrust under his armpit, but, according to the witches present, failed to notice this.
Mr Slant
Mr Slant is the president of the Guild of Lawyers, a position that he has held for a long time owing to his being a zombie. He is also one of the three founders of Morecombe, Slant, and Honeyplace, Ankh Morpork's leading legal practice. Considering that Mr Slant is a zombie and that Mr Morecombe and Honeyplace are both vampires, they are old enough to have been around when many laws were first written up. Promotion is also an unlikely prospect in the firm. He is the undisputed head of any legal action in the city and is one of the major members of the civil council. But Mr Slant has also been involved in more sinister affairs. He has attempted to aid in deposing Lord Vetinari from power several times, but only through serving other clients and not from an actual desire of his own to depose of Vetinari.
He became a zombie after having been convicted of a crime and decapitated but, since he defended himself, refuses to pass on until his descendants pay the legal fees.
Mr Tulip
Mr Tulip is, along with Mr Pin, a member of the New Firm, a duo of interloping criminals in The Truth. He is something of a contradiction: a remorseless killer with the refined soul of a true fine-art connoisseur. He is differentiated from a common criminal by his habit of removing works of art from houses before committing arson, the ability to distinguish between priceless works of art and common forgeries, an encyclopaedic knowledge of hundreds of years of great artists and artisans and their works, and a refusal to use any artworks as blunt weapons or to profit from their ultimate destruction. He would not, for example, use a candlestick to knock someone out cold or steal it for its silver content. He is the muscle of the New Firm and, though an instinctive killer, recognises Mr Pin's cognitive skills and leaves the thinking to him. He also suffers a mild speech impediment, causing him to insert "—ing" mid-sentence (the suffix of an action verb without the verb itself). His primary skill in the New Firm is the application of his apparently unlimited supply of unspecific anger; Tulip has turned mindless violence into an art form.
Mr Tulip has a tendency to buy and consume anything sold in little bags in an attempt to acquire drugs. These tend to be rather common inert items such as chalk, pickles, and corned-beef sandwiches. The few times he's actually acquired real narcotics, they have been suitable only for trolls.
It is hinted that Mr Tulip's past was dark and fearful, a place that even Mr Tulip is afraid to remember. The place where he lived had been in the middle of a war zone. At the last, even their own soldiers were killing farmers, desperate to find any food.
He also has a superstition that those who die while holding a potato will be reincarnated. This belief, which is quite firm, is based on hearing his grandmother saying, during a famine, "You will be alright if you have your potato." He is killed by Mr Pin near the end of the novel and used for a life raft as molten lead flows around the pair. Unfortunately, Mr Pin also steals his potato shortly before killing him, but Mr Tulip manages to retain the memory of a potato in the afterlife. Death, perplexed at the concept of a soul having a strong but completely vague belief, allows him to reincarnate as a woodworm. His final thought in the novel is, 'This is —ing good wood!"
Lord Mortimer, Duke of Sto Helit
"Mort", short for Mortimer, is the title character in
Mort starts off at the bottom, learning to accept his position while
After the events of Mort, Mort leaves Death's service and marries Ysabell. The couple are given the title of
In
In the
Nijel the Destroyer
Nijel the Destroyer, son of Harebut the Provision Merchant, is a would-be barbarian hero, appearing in Sourcery. Nijel meets Rincewind in a snake pit and they escape together. He falls in love with Conina (a barbarian heroine who wants to be a hairdresser but cannot due to her genes) at first sight, and she with him. He is a clerk who wants to be a Barbarian Hero and is currently half-way through a book on the subject, which includes a table of wandering monsters and tends to resemble a Dungeons & Dragons manual. In addition to the standard loincloth, Nijel wears woolen long underwear—his mother insisted.
Olaf Quimby II
A past Patrician of
As far as
Quimby's reign ended when he was killed by a disgruntled poet during an experiment to test the truth of the saying "The pen is mightier than the sword". In his memory, it was amended to read: "The pen is mightier than the sword only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp".
It has been noted that many Ankh-Morporkians tend to have a certain literal mindedness. It is not known if this is the result of Quimby's rule, or simply a natural trait that reached its peak in him.
Polly Perks
The main character in
By the end of the book, Polly is a seasoned soldier, and it turns out, not the important one in the unit. At the end of the book, Polly has left the army, but rejoins as a sergeant when Borogravia is invaded again.
Ponder Stibbons
Head of Inadvisably Applied Magic, Praelector and Reader in Invisible Writings, the Master of Traditions, the
Princess/Queen Kelirehenna (Keli)
Daughter of King Olerve the Bastard of the
Queen Keli still ruled at the time of
Was voiced by Alice Hart in the
Pteppicymon XXVIII (Teppic)
His Greatness the King Teppicymon XXVIII, Lord of the Heavens, Charioteer of the Wagon of the Sun, Steersman of the Barque of the Sun, Guardian of the Secret Knowledge, Lord of the Horizon, Keeper of the Way, the Flail of Mercy, the High-Born One, the Never-Dying King of
Ptraci I
Queen Ptraci I of Djelibeybi. Pteppic's half-sister and successor. A former handmaiden, she was originally condemned to death for not voluntarily dying in order to serve the previous king in the afterlife (effectively on Dios's orders as Teppic wished to grant her clemency). The Djelibeybian priests thought she would be easy to control. They turned out to be very wrong. Like her half-brother she is keen to get in some decent plumbing. Appears in
Reacher Gilt
Reacher Gilt appears in the novel
Rincewind
Roland de Chumsfanleigh
Pronounced "de Chuffley" (which, as Pratchett says, is not his fault). Son of the Baron of the Chalkland. First introduced in
Roland's father eventually fell very ill, and his two scheming aunts used their new position as his guardians to rob his family blind. Roland fought back as far as he could, in the process learning a great deal about surviving sieges and the art of insurgency. When his aunts block up his bedroom door to stop him from leaving, he muses that he has only been left with a false panelled hidden door, a passage behind a tapestry and a trap door in his floor. He has also been hoarding food, and rescuing much of the castle's silverware and paintings.
In
By the fourth book in the series,
Ronald Rust
An Ankh-Morpork nobleman, he first appears in
Lord Rust makes more sizeable appearances in Jingo and Night Watch, wherein he appears over-bred and arrogant; a brief subsequent appearance in Monstrous Regiment suggests he still has some of the intelligence of his earlier portrayal. Lord Rust's most defining characteristic, along with his arrogance, is his unsurpassed military and strategic incompetence (or, at least, his ability to achieve goals only by simultaneously sustaining devastating losses; he is described as operating on the theory that a battle was a glorious victory if enemy casualties outnumber friendly casualties, coupled with the inexplicable ability to be repeatedly chosen to command large armies and similar organizations, hence his description as "The god's gift to the enemy, any enemy, and a walking advertisement for desertion." He is ridiculously brave, often simply charging while the weapons just miss him, every time. Also notable is his method of dealing with unpleasant occurrences. He simply mentally edits them out. In Snuff, he is portrayed as an elderly man in a wheelchair, with a sunken look. His son, Gravid, is an entrepreneur involved in a scheme in which goblins are captured in the Shires (a border region between Ankh-Morpork and Quirm) and enslaved on Howondaland tobacco plantations with the resultant cigars and snuff (as well as assorted troll narcotics) being smuggled into Ankh-Morpork; after this was discovered, Gravid is disinherited and exiled to Fourecks.
Rosemary Palm
Head of the Guild of "Seamstresses" (actually prostitutes). Her establishment is used as a place to stay by Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg in
Rufus Drumknott
Secretary to Patrician
In the TV adaptation of Going Postal, Drumknott is portrayed by Steve Pemberton.
Sacharissa Cripslock
The daughter of an engraver (who possibly appeared in
As of Making Money, she seems to have become the Times' chief liaison to Moist von Lipwig, and she has developed a talent for asking devious questions that, if answered thoughtlessly, would make for interesting and embarrassing news headlines. Moist, for his part, regards the interviews with her as a guaranteed thrill requiring him to think quickly on his feet.
In the TV adaptation of Going Postal, Miss Cripslock is portrayed by Tamsin Greig.
Pratchett has stated on Twitter that she is married to William de Worde, retaining her maiden name for professional purposes.[20]
Seldom Bucket
Seldom Bucket was a big man in
Sergeant-Major Jack Jackrum
A character in Monstrous Regiment, Jackrum is an immensely fat, hard-bitten Borogravian sergeant major with decades of military experience. He is known, either personally or by reputation, by practically every soldier in the Borogravian Army, and boasts that he is probably quite well known by the soldiers of the enemy armies too. Jackrum has, over the years, been the sergeant in command of (or under) a number of young soldiers who then rose up to the Army's high command, and thus wields considerable influence. It is stated on several occasions that Jackrum should have actually retired long ago, with his official resignation papers constantly following him around by mail, but he always finds some excuse to get out of them; at one point in the book, he resigns his commission so that he can brutally assault an enemy soldier without dealing with military protocol and is subsequently re-enlisted afterwards. Jackrum trains Polly Perks and gradually earns the respect of all the recruits.
When confronting the heads of the Borogravian army, Jackrum reveals (after asking the other two-thirds to depart the room) that almost a third of the commanders are women, whom he uncovered during his time in the army, something that became something of a hobby for the sergeant. Ironically, Jackrum turns out to be a woman as well, having joined the army in her youth along with her lover, who died in battle, leaving the young Jackrum pregnant, something that she covered up by taking her considerable accumulated leave. When the novel ends, Jackrum has reunited with her long-lost son on the advice of Polly, although she has apparently introduced herself as his father rather than his mother, on the grounds that a fat old woman showing up claiming to be his mother would just be an inconvenience, but a distinguished sergeant-major claiming to be his father would be something to be proud of.
Stanley Howler
One of the two remaining employees of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office prior to Moist von Lipwig being made Postmaster. Raised by
However, following the events of Going Postal, in which the destruction of his collection coincided with the invention of the postage stamp, he redirected his obsession to
In the TV adaptation of Going Postal, Stanley is played by Ian Bonar.
Susan Sto Helit
Tacticus
General Callus Tacticus was a soldier of the Ankh-Morpork Empire, and is widely proclaimed to be the greatest general of all time. In fact, on the Discworld the word 'tactics' was derived from his name. He has been dead for nearly 2000 years by the start of the Discworld series. In Jingo his name is given as Gen. A. Tacticus. In Wintersmith, however, his first name is given as Callus.
Tacticus conquered a large area of the Discworld, both around the city of Ankh-Morpork and well into the rimward continent of
When
Tawneee
Tawneee (pronounced with each "
Theda Withel
A Holy Wood actress in
Tolliver Groat
One of the two remaining employees of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office prior to Moist von Lipwig being made Postmaster. A very old man in a cheap wig, Groat had spent most of his career in the Post Office as a Junior Postman, since until von Lipwig's arrival none of the other Postmasters appointed by Lord Vetinari had survived long enough to promote him. Groat does not trust doctors, which is perfectly understandable since there are very few reliable doctors in Ankh-Morpork. He instead treats himself with a variety of apparently dubious "natural" home remedies (later revealed to be, in actuality, extraordinarily effective), including concoctions made with sulfur or arsenic, and a poultice made of bread pudding. He is a habitual speaker of Dimwell Arrhythmic Rhyming Slang, the only known rhyming slang in the universe that does not actually rhyme. In Going Postal, Groat tells Moist von Liping about his hair that, "It's all mine, you know, not a prunes". Explanation reveals that in Dimwell slang, "syrup of prunes" means wig. (In Cockney rhyming slang, the expected derivation would be "syrup of figs.") Another example given in the text is "cup-and-plate"—no definition is given, but "He's a bit cup-and-plate in the head" implies it means "not quite right."
Tolliver also had a very small part in Wintersmith. The wintersmith approaches him to take some sulfur, so that he would become a man. This incident was reported in The Ankh Morpork Times, and a widow approached him, swayed by 'a man who knows his hygiene.' It is now believed that they are enjoying a relationship, as she was seen walking with him. His trousers and socks are confirmed as being highly explosive, as a result of the gunpowder-like solution they are treated with. His wig is believed to be sentient, and is certainly self-mobile, having escaped from a locked cupboard in the hospital. In Making Money, Groat was left in charge as acting-Postmaster General while Moist von Lipwig assumed his de facto position as chairman of the Royal Bank of Ankh Morpork.
In the TV adaptation of Going Postal, Groat is portrayed by Andrew Sachs.
Trevor Likely
A worker at the Unseen University's candle vats, though he seldom does any work, leaving most of it to the affable goblin (actually orc) Mr. Nutt. Instead, he prefers to kick a tin can around, something at which he has gained an almost magical proficiency. Although seemingly destined for the game of football, he refuses to play, on account of his Mum, who saw his father, the only player to score four goals in a career, die during a game. But his mind begins to slowly change after an encounter with the lovely Juliet Stollop, and after the tactical substitution of the ball with a tin can, scores the winning goal in the inaugural game of the new football league. Appears in the book Unseen Academicals.
Twoflower
Twoflower is a native of the Agatean Empire, on the Counterweight Continent, living in the major sea port of Bes Pelargic where he works as an "
He is described as having "four eyes" by a beggar at the docks early in the events in
His adventures begin in The Colour of Magic, when he decides to visit the city of Ankh-Morpork, where he meets the inept wizard Rincewind whom he hires as a guide. Throughout the first two novels, he is followed by the Luggage, a homicidally vicious travel chest which moves on hundreds of little legs, carrying his belongings.
Twoflower is the optimistic but naive tourist. He often runs into danger, being certain that nothing bad will happen to him since he is not involved. He also believes in the fundamental goodness of human nature and that all problems can be resolved, if all parties show good will and cooperate. Rincewind, of course, remains immovably convinced that Twoflower's IQ is comparable to that of a pigeon. He has no understanding of the Agatean/Ankh-Morpork exchange rate and often overpays, primarily because even the smallest denomination of Agatean coin is made of pure gold, and, thus, often pays for small items and minor services with enough wealth to buy a sizable fraction of the city. However, he introduces the concept of insurance to Ankh-Morpork (in particular to the landlord of the Broken Drum, which would prove fortunate as the city and tavern were both consumed by flame (albeit not entirely by accident)—the policy allowed the Broken Drum to be rebuilt as the Mended Drum.)
Twoflower also has a rich imagination as he is able to summon a dragon through his mind. The dragon, which he calls "Ninereeds" after his unimaginative master when he was apprenticed as a clerk, is very obedient to him. With the help of Ninereeds he rescues Rincewind and escapes the Wyrmberg.
The book relating his journey across the Discworld is considered a revolutionary pamphlet in his native land as it is traditionally believed (and officially decreed) that the world outside of the Empire is a hellish wasteland populated by "bloodsucking vampire ghosts", resulting in him being imprisoned in the Forbidden City. It is revealed that he is a father and a widower; his wife died after tax collectors attacked Bes Pelargic, with his recollections of the event being the only times he has displayed anger. He attempts to avenge her by challenging the
He appears in the books The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic and Interesting Times and in the computer game NetHack as the quest leader for the tourist class. He is played by Sean Astin (alongside David Jason as Rincewind) in the two-part television adaptation.
Verence II of Lancre
King Verence II of
In Lords and Ladies Verence and Magrat finally marry. Verence had gone through much of the story subtly trying to deal with a major problem, namely that he was not quite sure how to actually consummate the marriage. He ordered a book on the subject ("The one with the woodcuts,") from Ankh-Morpork, only to discover (in what would have otherwise been a horribly embarrassing scene) that he'd been mistakenly sent a book on MARTIAL Arts instead (he quickly recovers from the shock and presents the book to Shawn Ogg, the castle's only guard, as if that had been his intention all along). Near the end, he consults with Casanunda, a 'ladies man' dwarf that had assisted in the defense of the kingdom. In Carpe Jugulum they have a daughter; Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre.
Verence II is a very well-meaning king, who takes running a kingdom very seriously (he takes most things seriously, having learnt at a very early age that being a Fool was no laughing matter), but things seldom turn out the way he might want. The most noticeable results of his attempts at modernising the kingdom have been a Parliament that no-one attends and an invasion of vampires due to a diplomatic gaffe. It has been suggested that while his subjects appreciate his attempts to make life better, they would really prefer a king who orders them around and carouses a lot because they would know their place under such rule.
Verence was voiced by
Victor Tugelbend
Student wizard turned actor, and protagonist of
Victor is also notable for being actively lazy; he kept himself fit because it was less effort to do things with decent muscles, and put a lot of work into avoiding work (as his University career illustrates). He was looking for a job that was romantic, but did not involve hard work, which Holy Wood provided. In "Moving Pictures", a summary given about him is a reference to Fred Astaire.
Vorbis
The antagonist of Small Gods, Vorbis is the Head of the Omnian Quisition, an Exquisitor who believes he is destined to become the Cenobiarch and Eighth Prophet of Omnianism, as the Great God Om has told him. However the Great God Om grows weak from the waning of belief in him, and now only the truly faithful Brutha can hear him. Vorbis plans a bloody holy war for the glory of Om on Klatch and has orchestrated the conquest and annexation of Ephebe with the death of missionary Brother Murduck as a casus belli, and has caches of water already set up in the desert to allow the Omnian Divine Legion to invade Ephebe from this unexpected direction of the undefended.
Vorbis justifies his actions as guided by dogma and "fundamental truth". Brother Murduck was killed by Ephebeans unwilling to convert, he says, expressing immovable unfounded beliefs: that the Discworld is a perfect sphere, for example, and that steam-powered machines cannot exist since they do not have minds or muscles.
Sergeant Simony follows Brutha and Om through a storm with the philosopher Didactylos and his apprentice and nephew Urn. Brutha and Om find a catatonic Vorbis washed up on a desert shore and carry him back to Omnia to tell everyone what he has done, even though Om keeps saying that Vorbis is a burden who does not deserve to be saved. Once they are within sight of the citadel, Vorbis knocks Brutha unconscious, and abducting him, returns to the Citadel to be ordained as the Eighth Prophet. Vorbis tells everybody he led Brutha through the desert; Brutha questions this but Vorbis states a "fundamentally truth" he led Brutha through a "desert of the soul".
Vorbis commissions a heatable iron turtle for the instruction of those who question the shape of the world, then sentences Brutha to be tortured upon it for disrupting his ordination. Vorbis reveals to Brutha in a private conversation that he doesn't truly believe in Om. Men, not Om, create the Church and its empire, Vorbis says.
Om falls from an eagle's claws into Vorbis' head.[23] To his horror Vorbis learns that what he had thought was the voice of Om was just his own voice echoing in his head, plunging him into despair. Brutha brings him before the generals of the invading anti-Omnian alliance in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent war. "It takes a long time for people like Vorbis to die" Didactylos says, because of their impact on the world.
Brutha becomes the Eighth Prophet and Prophet of Prophets, and eventually dies after a hundred years in power. In the afterlife he encounters a catatonic Vorbis lost in a wasteland and taking pity on him, guides him through it to face judgement.
Wallace Sonky
Wallace Sonky, an Ankh-Morpork tradesman who owns Sonky's Rubber Goods, and makes Sonky's Preventatives. His "sonkies", as they are known, sell for a penny a packet. Vimes considers him a saint, because without Sonky, the overpopulation and housing problems in Ankh-Morpork would be even more dire.
He manufactures a replica of the Scone of Stone in
Walter Plinge
Walter Plinge, an odd-job man at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House, an awkward nervy figure in a beret who has an Opera Ghost alter-ego.
William de Worde
A professional scribe as
It is suggested that by Going Postal William may have married his friend and editor, Sacharissa Cripslock.
William also appears in
Willie Hobson
Willie Hobson runs Hobson's Livery Stable, which stables other people's horses and also rents and sells horses. For some reason it is a popular location for circumspect meetings. Hobson is a large man with a direct sense of humour when it comes to putting people with smart mouths on unbroken horses. Hobson is a large man who looks like a shaved bear. He appears in Going Postal although the stable was a setting in The Truth. His name is a reference to the real stable-owner Thomas Hobson, best known as the name behind the expression Hobson's choice.
Lady Ysabell, Duchess of Sto Helit
Ysabell is the
Ysabell first appears in
BBC Radio 4 adapted Mort in 2004. Carl Prekopp voiced the title character and Clare Corbett voiced Ysabell.
See also
- Craig Shaw Gardner
- Discworld characters
- International Discworld Convention
- The North American Discworld Convention
- Robert Asprin
- Turtles all the way down
References
Notes
- dwarfsand trolls.
Citations
- ^ APF Chapter 3: Discworld Annotations retrieved 20 September 2007
- ^ Pratchett, Terry. The Truth, p.240. See The Wind in the Willows
- ^ Discworld Assassins' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000
- ^ a nod to the protagonist of Les Misérables),
- ^ Watson, J., Lydon, S. J. and Harrison, N. A. (2001)."A revision of the English Wealden Flora, III: Czekanowskiales, Ginkgoales & allied Coniferales". Bulletin of the Natural History Museum (Geology Series), 57(1), 29–82.
- ^ people usually left 'in disgrace, in a box or, in a few cases, in bits'
- ^ after musing that "'Archchancellor' was out of the question, 'Dean' too obvious an insult, 'Two Chairs' ditto with knobs on, and 'ungrateful, backstabbing, slimy bastard' took too long to say."
- ISBN 9781935618386.
- ^ a b Rix, Stephen (14 February 1998). "Letters : Ants online". New Scientist. Vol. 157, no. 2121. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ a b French, Emma (27 April 2017). "Best librarian characters in fantasy fiction". OUPblog. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ Night Watch
- Welshfor Holly).
- ^ a clear reference to Kirsty MacColl's song "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis".
- ^ also a reference to the Kirsty MacColl song.
- ^ the expression "a big girl's blouse" is British slang for a wimp,
- ^ and an affectionate parody of the late Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern series,
- Wile E. Coyote'sability to pause in mid-air for comic effect
- ^ "Love Tory". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Annotated Pratchett File: Annotations for The Truth
- ^ @terryandrob (10 November 2011). "@SarahJoHarden Sacharissa Cripslock married William de Word but keeps her maiden name for professional purposes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum, Doubelday, London 1998
- ^ Terry Pratchett, Jingo, Corgi Books 1998 (paperback), p. 206.
- ^ a reference to the apocryphal account of the death of the Ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus