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This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Many Discworld characters also have their own pages. For a list of them see the category list.

Contents

71-Hour Ahmed

A Klatchian warrior who accompanies the Klatchian envoy Prince Khufurah on a diplomatic journey to Ankh-Morpork in the novel Jingo. He speaks with a heavy accent and has a penchant for chewing on cloves. Following an attempt on the prince's life by an unknown assassin, he is suspected of killing the Watch's prime suspect, provoking Vimes and other Watch members to pursue him back to Klatch.

Apart from belonging to a vicious but honorable warrior clan known as the D'regs, he is later revealed to be a Klatchian equivalent of a watchman on par with Vimes. It also turns out his obsessive clove-chewing and broken Morporkian are in fact a disguise meant to delude foreigners into falsely assuming he is nothing but an uncivilized barbarian.

He got his nickname after killing a man (guilty of poisoning a well, killing a number of villagers, and a number of very valuable camels) one hour before the traditional D'reg three days of hospitality, during which even your greatest enemy should be shown respect, would have run out.

Achmed the Mad

Writer of the Necrotelecomnicon, which he wrote after drinking too much Klatchian Coffee. He is also the writer of Achmed the I Just Get These Headaches' Book Of Humorous Cat Stories (a title which contains the name by which he preferred to be known), which supposedly started his madness.

He is a parody of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, in the Cthulhu mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.

Anghammarad

Anghammarad is a minor character in the novel Going Postal. He is a golem, almost nineteen thousand years old, having been baked by the priests of Upsa in the Third Ning of the Shaving of the Goat. He was also given a voice. However, Upsa was destroyed by the explosion of Mount Shiputu. He then spent two centuries under a mountain of pumice, before it eroded away. He then became a messenger for the Fisherman Kings of the holy Ult.

More recently, he delivered the decrees of King Het of Thut. That is, he delivered them until the land of Thut slid under the sea. He then spent nine thousand years in the deep ocean, before being netted by a fisherman. While having returned to civilization, he still carries the message warning Het that the sea goddess is angry, and hoped to deliver it (golems believe time is cyclical, and Anghammarad thought that if he waited long enough, he'd be able to get it right the second time around).

He worked for the Ankh-Morpork Post Office (in the honorary position of Extremely Senior Postman) before being destroyed when the building was burnt down.

Adora Belle Dearheart

The daughter of John Dearheart, founder of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, Adora Belle Dearheart (featured in Going Postal) is cynical, miserable and a heavy smoker. There are hints in the novel that she is beginning a relationship with Moist von Lipwig (see below).

B'hrian Bloodaxe

The first Low King of the Dwarfs, and a great cultural hero. His life is told in the opera Bloodaxe and Ironhammer. He was the lover of Ironhammer, who forged the Scone of Stone (a reference to the Stone of Scone, the ancient throne upon which the Kings of Scotland were crowned). Ironhammer killed himself (all dwarves are called 'he,' even females)when falsely told of Bloodaxe's death. Bloodaxe was subsequently killed at the Battle of Koom Valley. Accorging to legend he killed 57 trolls there, and a loaf of Battle Bread that he supposedly wielded has become a cultural icon and is in the Dwarf Bread Museum in Ankh-Morpork. However, in Thud! it's revealed that he was trying to prevent the battle when a flash flood trapped him in a sinkhole. The Battle Bread found next to Bloodaxe's body casts doubt on the authenticity of the A-MDBM loaf, unless of course he carried more than one.

Bloodaxe was first mentioned in Feet of Clay, and his full history was revealed in The Fifth Elephant and Thud!. His name is possibly based on Brian Bloodaxe, a computer game character from the 1980s. The character is also possibly based on Brian Boru, a 10th century Irish king.

Brick

Brick is a young troll who has a role in Thud!. He is described as being emaciated by troll standards, and having a texture and pattern to his skin that makes him resemble a brick wall (due to being made of "metamorphorical rock" and having been born in Ankh-Morpork). Samuel Vimes, upon seeing him, classified him as the loser's loser. Brick regularly used troll drugs bummed off of the few gutter trolls who didn't run him off when they saw him--and he knew how to make Scrape, a low-class troll drug. Eventually, Sergeant Detritus of the City Watch takes in Brick and seems to unofficially adopt him. Detritus was convinced of Brick's potential after Brick was found still conscious, and, what's more, still walking after having a few mugs of a potent troll beverage, the name of which translates to Big Hammer.

Brutha

Originally an Omnian novice in the Citadel of Kom, noted only for being a simple boy with an apparently perfect memory. Brutha was the main character in Small Gods, in which he found himself Chosen by the Great God Om because he was the only person who really believed in the god. He went on to become the Eighth Prophet of Om and Cenobiarch of Omnia, and transformed Omnianism into a religion of tolerance and understanding. He died 100 years later, although exactly when these 100 years occurred is a matter of some confusion.

An example of Brutha's memory is given when he says that his earliest memory is that "there was a bright light. Then somebody hit me." referring to the slap a doctor gives a baby after it is born to make it breathe.

Brutha seems to be Terry Pratchett's idea of a genuine saint.

Carcer Dun

The villain of Night Watch. Described by Vimes as "a stone-cold killer. With brains." A psychopathic killer, who seems to believe that nothing he does is really wrong (" 'Who? Me? What did I do?' "), but seems to be able to control his impulses sometimes ("There was one thing about Carcer. He wouldn't shoot you in the back if he thought there was reasonable chance of cutting your throat later."). Enjoys letting people's imaginations work (" 'I can see your house from up here!' "), and seems to feed on that moment of dawning comprehension when someone realizes what's coming. Carcer has many of Vimes's qualities, only in reverse--for example, a belief of how useful brass knuckles and blackjacks and coshes can be, and a decided lack of fighting fair. Carcer's last name was shown in a preview of Night Watch, but never revealed in the final version.

Christine

A chorus singer at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House, Christine is a pretty, thin blonde with a tendency to wear white and use an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. She is actually an extraordinarily untalented singer, but the management favors her for her beautiful appearance and has her lip-synch onstage to the voice of Agnes Nitt. She is friendly and kind but not particularly bright and can be unintentionally slighting. Christine is named after Christine Daaé from The Phantom of the Opera but does not bear much of a resemblance if one compares the two.

Chrysophrase

Chrysophrase is the local godfather of the Breccia troll organised crime family and owns the troll hotel known as the Gritz and the Cavern nightclub. He is more obviously at home in Ankh-Morpork than most trolls; his features are deliberately polished smooth, and he wears a suit, rather than the usual loincloth and lichen. His understanding of civilised behaviour is that violence is barbaric, but paying other people to do it is business. He also wears diamond jewelery, apparently made from the teeth of trolls who moved against him. He considers himself a fine example of a troll achieving great success in a foreign culture and is the head of the Silicon Anti-Defamation League, which seeks to raise the issue of discrimination against trolls by humans and dwarfs in Ankh-Morpork. He is first mentioned in Wyrd Sisters (as "Chrystoprase"), and appears in Soul Music and Thud! The Light Fantastic briefly features a troll called Krysoprase, who may or may not be the same character.

Conina

The daughter of Cohen the Barbarian and a temple dancer. From her mother she inherited gold-tinged skin, white-blond hair, a voice that can make "Good morning" sound like an invitation to bed, and a very good figure. From her father, she inherited sinews you could moor a ship to, muscles as solid as a plank, and reflexes like a snake on a hot tin roof (from relevant pieces of description in Sourcery). She also acquired from Cohen suitable heroic instincts (that is, strong urges to fight, kill, and steal) and an ability to use anything as a deadly weapon. These traits rather get in the way of the profession she really wants to have--hairdressing.

Count Giamo Casanunda

A dwarf (though more noticeable than most because of his colossal powdered wig). The moral equivalent of Nanny Ogg. His visiting card says "World's second greatest lover. Finest swordsman. Outrageous liar. Stepladders repaired." He claims to be the Disc's Second Greatest Lover, usually noting, "I try harder" immediately afterwards. He also claims he performed a small service - although not that small - for Queen Agantia of Skund, for which he received his noble title. However, since Skund is a virtually uninhabited forest with no known rulers, his story lacks a certain credibility. Known for also being the fastest thing on the Disc, when in a nunnery (the second fastest thing on the Disc is the .303 bookworm). First mentioned in a footnote to Reaper Man, he subsequently appeared in Witches Abroad and Lords and Ladies. He is referenced in Soul Music and had a brief cameo in Carpe Jugulum where he reflects upon a fellow highwayman being killed by the Magpyrs. Notable line: "Kneel and deliver!" His name, and aspects of his personality, are a play on Giacomo Casanova, although, as a dwarf, he obviously stands more "unda" than "ova" his conquests.

Dios

High priest of Djelibeybi; largely responsible for its creation, its culture and its religion, not to mention its hundreds of pyramids. Rendered immortal by the pyramid in which he sleeps, Dios remained for hundreds of generations the self-appointed guardian of the traditions and values of his country, most of which he invented. He performed the rituals and rites to the gods so many times that, come their alotted hour, his mind would automatically go through them even if physically doing so was imposible. He believed he may be 7000 years old, though by the end of Pyramids his unhappy fate reveals he is actually far older than that, if indeed he could be said to have an age at all. It also raises the question of whether it was indeed Dios who created the pyramids, or the other way around.

Doctor Lawn

Dr John "Mossy" Lawn is a doctor in Ankh-Morpork. He first appeared in Night Watch, as a backstreet "pox doctor", offering medical assistance to "seamstresses". He had trained in Klatch, where he had learnt techniques other Morporkian surgeons distrusted, but which kept patients alive for longer than it took to pay the bill. He also gave free treatment to those who needed it, including those who had been tortured by the Cable Street Particulars. He is a quiet but sarcastic man, and almost unshockable.

Following his successful delivery of Young Sam, Samuel Vimes gave him a large area of land in the Goosegate area of the city. In Going Postal this is the Lady Sybil Free Hospital (possibly a parallel to the real-life St Bartholomew's Hospital). Dr Lawn's preferred method of dealing with the nursing staff is to throw a handful of chocolates in one direction and run in the other as fast as possible.

Doughnut Jimmy

A highly proficient horse doctor who treated Vetinari in Feet of Clay. However, due to his lack of experience with human patients, much of his advice was flawed ("walk him round a bit on loose rein"... "and no Oats") Formerly a jockey, he won a lot of money by not winning races. Highly skilled at achieving results, he treated Dire Fortune and it did not fall over until the last furlong. A miracle perhaps, considering the fact that the horse had dropped dead coming up into the starting line.

Drum Billet

A wizard who starts the events of Equal Rites by bequeathing his staff to Eskarina Smith. He is later reincarnated as an apple tree, with fruit that goes "from stomach-turning sourness to wasp-filled rottenness overnight" (see Scumble). Later in the book he's left the life of a tree for the life of an ant living under Unseen University, though it was more than he could have hoped for.

Edward d'Eath

One of the major villains in Men at Arms, he is an impoverished aristocrat whose ancestors lost all the family money through drinking and gambling. A hopeless romantic, he dreams of restoring the Ankh-Morpork monarchy; when he discovers that Carrot Ironfoundersson is a descendant of the Ankh-Morpork royal line, he conspires to give him the throne. When he obtains Leonard of Quirm's "gonne" (the Discworld's first gunpowder-fired weapon), he becomes progressively more insane, and wreaks a trail of destruction until killed by Dr Cruces, the Master of the Assassins' Guild.

Ella Saturday

The daughter of Baron Saturday of Genua and Mrs Erzulie Gogol. She appears in Witches Abroad as an attactive young woman with brown skin and blonde hair. Seemingly her entire life has been controlled by her fairy godmother, Lady Lilith de Tempscire, to ensure that she marries Lady Lilith's pawn, the Duc (actually a frog). She spends much of her time in the palace kitchens, apparently because she enjoys being helpful, rather than because she is mistreated. Because she helps lay the fires, the palace cook nicknamed her "Embers" (she is, of course, the Discworld version of Cinderella, although the full nickname "Emberella", while never explicitly written, is referred to as sounding "like something you'd put up in the rain"). At the end of Witches Abroad, she became the Baroness of Genua.

Eric Thursley

A thirteen-year-old demonologist, Eric appears in the novel 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 that their son was destined become a gifted wizard, allowed him free reign 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.

Eric was last seen escaping from Hell with Rincewind, and it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.

\"Esk\" Eskarina Smith

The main character in Equal Rites, where she became the Unseen University's first (and only) female graduate. Esk was last seen inventing a new kind of magic based on not using it at all, in the company of wunderkind wizard Simon. Although she was the pivotal character in Equal Rites, she has never been seen or mentioned again.

Evil Harry Dread

Evil Harry Dread is the villainous counterpart to Cohen the Barbarian; an old fashioned heroic-fantasy type annoyed with how the Discworld has changed. He's proud of being a Dark Lord (albeit a minor-league one; he had a Shed of Doom) and the heroes don't bear him any grudges; after all, he always lets them win and, in return, they always let him escape (see the Evil Overlord List).

He appears in The Last Hero, where he joins the Silver Horde on their quest. And betrays them, because that's his job.

Findthee Swing

Captain Findthee Swing is the head of the Unmentionables in the Ankh-Morpork of the past in Night Watch. He is described as a thin, balding man dressed in a long, old-fashioned black coat with large pockets, and supports himself on an opera cane (which is in reality a swordstick).

He always carries with him a large set of calipers and a steel ruler, with which he measures the facial characteristics of people he meets in order to determine their personal traits (phrenology). He moves and speaks in anerratic, jumpy fashion, in bursts... and sputters ratherthan a continuous flowof movement or sound.

He is killed by Vimes during the fire at the Unmentionables' headquarters.

The name Captain Swing has long been associated with civil unrest, being the pseudonym of the (possibly mythical) leader of the Swing Riots.

Galder Weatherwax

Cousin of Granny Weatherwax, Galder is the Chancellor in The Light Fantastic, and a real wizard traditionalist. In The Light Fantastic, he is referred to as Chancellor, but Ridcully upgrades him to Archchancellor in Lords and Ladies when he chats to Granny Weatherwax.

General Tacticus

General Tacticus was a soldier of the Ankh-Morpork Empire proclaimed to be the greatest general of all time. In fact, on the Discworld the word 'tactics' was derived from his name. Though he is dead at the time of the events contained in the series, his legacy lives on.

He is an amalgamation of various historic characters, including General George Patton, Alexander the Great, Marcus Aurelius and Julius Caesar, which latter can be seen in the title of his autobiography, VENI VIDI VICI: A Soldier's Life. "Veni Vidi Vici" - "I came, I saw, I conquered" is arguably the most famous thing Julius Caesar ever said and "A Soldier's Life" seems to be a popular title for a number of military biographies and autobiographies. Tacticus' name, as well as being a pun on 'tactics', suggests the Roman historian Tacitus. Much of the advice in the autobiography reflects Sun Tzu's The Art of War, as well as comments made by Patton. His later career suggests that of General Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, later King Charles XIV John of Sweden.

Tacticus conquered a large area of the Discworld, both around the base city of Ankh-Morpork and well into the southern continent of Klatch. At one point, the far-flung city of Genua, having run out of royalty of their own, asked Ankh-Morpork for a Duke. Tacticus was made a Duke and sent there. Immediately upon becoming a Genuan citizen, he evaluated the military threats posed by other nations, and declared war on Ankh-Morpork.

When Vimes got a copy of Tacticus' autobiography from the Librarian, he formulated a very Vimes-like opinion as to why history did not particularly like Tacticus (because he didn't get a huge number of his men killed out of his own arrogance and incompetence). Snippets of Tacticus advice turns up in various Discworld chronicles, and it can be gathered that he was a very realistic general (The section of his autobiography entitled "What to Do When One Army Occupies a Well-Fortified and Superior Ground and the Other Does Not" begins with the sentence "Endeavour to be the one inside.")

Harry King

One of Ankh-Morpork's most successful businessmen, Harry King appears in The Truth. He started out as a mudlark, and developed his career from there. His core business is that of "night soil" removal, but he is also involved in general rubbish collection and recycling. His basic philosophy is that there is nothing that someone will pay to have removed that someone else won't 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". Also of note is the fact he employs all Gnolls in the city (a race that spends 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.

He keeps ferocious guard dogs on his property that are crossbreeds. He wouldn't 'buy posh foreign dogs when he can buy crossbreeds'. Moist Von Lipwig mistakes the dogs for Lipwigzers, a particularly savage breed of dog from his home country Uberwald and is quite worried to find out that they are not after facing them in the 'ultimate test' to join the Ankh-Morpork Order of Postal Workers Benevolent and Friendly Society. Harry prefers it when burglars break in so he doesn't have to feed the dogs.

Hodgesaargh

Castle falconer at Lancre, Hodgesaargh is not his actual name, but some misunderstanding has been caused due to his birds' habit of attacking him when people speak to him. i.e. "Hello, my name is Hodges...ARRRRRGH"

His ceremonial outfit of red and gold with a big floppy hat is usually supplemented with about three sticking plasters. One of the birds he breeds and trains is the wowhawk, or Lappet-faced Worrier, which is like a goshawk only more so - it prefers to walk everywhere and hates the sight of blood.

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.

Imp y Celyn

A bard from the decidedly Cymric country of Llamedos. In Soul Music he was possessed by "Music with Rocks in" and became the Disc's greatest musician under the name Buddy in the Band with Rocks In along with Cliff and Glod, before dying in a cart crash (an admitted reference to Buddy Holly—Imp's name in fact translates as "bud of the holly"). The timeline in which this happened has, however been eradicated following Death's intervention, and he was last seen working in a fried fish stall in Quirm. He looks a bit elvish.

Jason Ogg

Eldest son of Nanny Ogg. First mentioned in Wyrd Sisters. Like his father before him he holds the office of Lancre blacksmith, which brings with it the obligation to shoe anything, and the concommitant ability to shoe anything: he has shod an ant, a unicorn, and (at regular intervals and with specially reserved metal) Death's horse Binky. He also knows the Horseman's Word, a secret to pacifying belligerent stallions he has to shoe (though, as Granny Weatherwax discovered, the "Horseman's Word" involves threats to apply a large hammer with great force to certain parts of the stallion's anatomy).

He is also the leader of the Lancre Morris Men, who treat Morris dancing as something between a contact sport and a martial art.

J.H.C. Goatberger

Publisher in Ankh-Morpork. Books published by his company include The Joy of Snacks by A Lancre Witch and the Ankh-Morpork Almanack. He appears in Maskerade, where he makes a great deal of money out of Nanny's book, and is surprised she wants some of it.

He also has a sort of appearance in Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, in the form of a series of notes drawn to appear pinned to some of the pages. These form a discussion between him and the head printer, Thomas Cropper, about the book. After previous experience with Nanny Ogg's writing he is anxious to avoid innuendo, but is not entirely successful. His nephew has a similar exchange with Cropper in the pages of The Discworld Almanak.

His name is a play on Johann Gutenberg.

Laveolous

The Discworld equivalent of Odysseus. He was the finest military mind on the continent of Klatch. His genius consisted of realising that, if there has to be a war, the aim should be to defeat the enemy as quickly and with as little bloodshed as possible - a concept so breathtaking in its originality that few other military minds have been able to grasp it, and it shows what happens when you take the conduct of a war away from skilled soldiers. He was a hero of the Tsortean Wars, which he ended by bribing a cleaner to show him a secret passage into the citadel of Tsort. It is possible that he is the ancestor of Rincewind as his name means "rinser of winds".

As another nod to Odysseus, he was assured by Rincewind that he would make it home alright. Indeed he would become famous for getting home...

He apeared in Eric.

Lezek

A farmer in Sheepridge, in the Ramtops. The father of the title character in Mort. Reportedly dead by the time of Soul Music (by one who should know).

Lieutenant Blouse

A significant character in Monstrous Regiment, he is Polly Perks' (see below) platoon commander in the novel. A rather effeminate aristocrat, he previously worked in the Quartermaster-General's Blanket, Bedding and Horse Fodder Department as an administrator, and had no previous experience of field command. He has a remarkable talent for mathematics and technology.

Ironically, despite his rather feminine manner and distinct lack of martial prowess, he turns out to be one of the few characters in the novel who is genuinely male (while the fearsome Sergeant Jackrum turns out to be a woman).

Blouse's ambition is to have an item of clothing or a food named after him, in the manner of many famous military men. One can only assume that he succeeds in this ambition.

Lord Downey

The current head of the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild. He succeeded Dr. Cruces after his death; before that he was his deputy. He is a kindly looking, distinguished old gentleman with white hair, eminently professional and seemingly unflappable. Certain evidence suggests, however, that he is not quite as intelligent or in-control as he thinks himself. He was at school with Havelock Vetinari, where he was a bully and something of an imbecile, with a propensity for calling everyone scags, including Vetinari, whom he also referred to as dog-botherer. Allegedly, Lord Downey's preferred method of inhumation is poisoning, though no deaths have yet to be attributed to him. Pratchett suggests this is probably due to the fact that he is very good at his job. His special recipe for humbugs, submitted to Nanny Ogg, calls for "arsenic to taste", though, since arsenic is actually very traceable, this is likely a slight bit of misinformation on his part. One current tradition he maintains is inviting certain students to his office for tea. Given the nature of most Assassins' Guild traditions, this could be seen as a kind of impromptu "pass or fail" examination.

In the Sky One adaption of Hogfather Downey is to be played by David Warner.

Lord Rust

An Ankh-Morpork nobleman, whose full name is presumably Ronald (Ronnie) Rust. He first appears in Men At Arms, in which he is one of the nobles who doesn't take D'Eath seriously. In this novel he seems to have keen political instincts; it is stated that the Rusts have survived by not being romantic.

Lord Rust makes more sizeable appearances in Jingo and Night Watch, wherein he appears overly-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), coupled with the inexplicable ability to be repeatedly chosen to command large armies and similar organisations. Also notable is his method of dealing with unpleasant occurrences. He simply mentally edits them out. The logic is, 'That sort of thing cannot happen, therefore, it did not just happen. It couldn't have.'

Lupine Wonse

Former childhood friend to Samuel Vimes and later secretary to Lord Vetinari. As the Grand Master of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, he summoned a dragon intending it to be killed by a king, whom he would then control. This failed and he found himself personal assistant to the Dragon King. Following a confrontation with the City Watch, he was killed by a metaphor, or possibly the ground, after then-Constable Carrot Ironfoundersson literally "threw the book at him" and sent him stumbling over a ledge.

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 Counterweight Continent, home of Rincewind's friend Twoflower. In his home country he is regarded as a great sage because of his peculiar smell, and his many sayings advocating respect for the old and the virtues of poverty are frequently quoted by the rich and elderly. He is first mentioned in The Colour of Magic.

He has also theorized on a means of faster-than-light transmission of information based on royal succession. This theory is based on the traditional demand that there can only be one king, with no gap between kings. The succession, he claims, must be carried out instantly by a fundamental particle known as a kingon (or possibly queon), unless it is struck in flight by an anti-particle, or republicon. The means of communication he proposed to take advantage of this, by means of carefully torturing a small king, was never fully explained because at that point, the bar closed.

The Magpyr family

A family of vampires who attempted to invade Lancre in Carpe Jugulum. They all parody vampirism in different ways:

It is implied that older members of the family were closer to vampires in the original legends. As befits a family of their status and condition, they are served by an Igor (who frequently feels put upon by the less traditional Magpyrs).

Mightily Oats

Appears in Carpe Jugulum. More properly called The Quite Reverend Mightily-Praiseworthy-Are-Ye-Who-Exalteth-Om Oats (it is shorter in Omnian), he is a priest of the Omnian faith who performs the naming of Esmeralda Margaret Note Spelling, Princess of Lancre. It's his nerves that cause him to mistakenly speak the final two words of her name out loud, although this is not (apparently) the first time this has happened at a royal naming (Nanny Ogg cites a past ruler of Lancre, King Ye-Gods-He's-Heavy the 1st). He is also, quite literally, in two minds about everything, much like Agnes Nitt, since he combines a strict religious upbringing with a logical mind that tends to think too hard about such things.

At the start of the book he appears to be very much the stereotypical Anglican priest, constantly ensuring both sides of the argument are heard, and being painfully tolerant of others' views. After spending a long journey with Granny Weatherwax however, he changes quite a lot, and regains his religious fire. His current location is unknown, but presumably somewhere in Überwald. While he is considered a minor character, it is almost certain that Granny would have died without his assistance, even if no one will admit it. Due to him hearing her talking with Death and with herself while fighting off the Vampyre bite, and also through his direct conversations with her, he may well understand Granny better than anyone else.

Mightily Oats's name may be a reference to Titus Oates, a 17th century British clergyman and fraud, and possibly to If-Jesus-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon.

Modo

A dwarf, he is the gardener at Unseen University. He is a conscientious gardener, but its location on the campus of a major magical faculty means that his handiwork has a tendency to be disrupted by supernatural events. Modo believes in compost in much the same way that humans believe in gods (dwarves aren't religious, exactly). It is unknown what he puts in his compost but it certainly brings up the roses. His personal theory is that they want to get as far away from the compost as possible. His compost also, for one brief moment in Reaper Man, came alive, and it took a whole bottle of Wow-Wow sauce to stop it.

Moist von Lipwig

A former conman, now Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster General. The main character in Going Postal. He was invited to take up his new position of his own free will by the Patrician (the offered alternatives being hanging or suicide, again of his own free will), and managed to revive the Post Office by applying the principles of the con to honest work. He wears a golden suit with a wingèd cap when on duty, and, without it, looks like someone you wouldn't really notice. He is in something approaching a relationship with Adora Belle Dearheart. As of January, 2006, he is set to star in the forthcoming novel Making Money. As a confidence trickster in a book which sometimes can be said to criticise the unfettered free market, his name could be meant to mock the views of Austrian School economist Ludwig Von Mises.

His most notable trait is that he is unnoticable. He is unrecognisable and uses this to his advantage by donning a selection of easily removable distinguishable features. He's about twenty or thirty and between 5ft 9 and 6ft 2 according to the numerous descriptions handed in to various watches across the plains however it's revealed in Going Postal that he's actually 26 (or so he says).

He's an expert forger and uses a wide range of inks and papers that he stores in what he calls "Mr. Robinson's Box"; he uses these supplies to make the post office stamps impossible to forge. He seems to have tendencies towards kleptomania as he just can't help helping himself to items left lying around by honest if careless businessmen.

The Monks of Cool

An order found near the Hub, in the area known as "Enlightenment Country." Their monastery is found in a laid back valley in the lower Ramtop mountains. They are a reserved and secretive sect and believe that only through ultimate coolness can the universe be comprehended, that black goes with everything, and that chrome will never truly go out of style. To become a fully accepted Monk, an apprentice is given the following test. Several outfits are laid out in front of him and the tester asks, "Yo, my son, which of these outfits is the most stylish thing to wear?" The correct answer is "Hey, whatever I select." The Monks of Cool have been mentioned in Lords and Ladies and Thief of Time.

Mort

Mort, short for Mortimer, is the title character in Mort. He is first seen as the overly-thoughtful son of a farmer in the Octrine Grass Country, near the Ramtops. Having proved himself unworthy as a scarecrow he is chosen by Death to be his apprentice. Mort is described as being very tall and skinny, with muscles like knots in string. He has a shock of bright red hair, and looks as if he is made entirely of knees. Mort starts off at the bottom, learning to accept his position while mucking out the stables, and trying to ignore Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter. When Death feels in need of a break, Mort takes over The Duty. Unfortunately for Mort, his feelings for a teenage princess get in the way of his job and he starts off a chain reaction of events. Reluctant to tell his master he tries various methods to fix the situation, including the appointment of a wizard to help people recognise the queen. Mort eventually leaves Death's service and marries Ysabell. The couple are given the title of Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, and later become the parents of Susan Sto Helit.

In the Cosgrove Hall animation of Soul Music, Mort is voiced by Neil Morrissey. In 2004 BBC Radio 4 adapted Mort, with the title character voiced by Carl Prekopp.

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. This incident appears to act as a deterrent for Morporkians against meddling with the occult or supernatural. Though it is never satisfactorily explained exactly what happened, in Jingo it is revealed that only his kidney and a few bones were found and in the game Discworld Noir he was apparently eaten.

Mr Pin

Mr Pin (other names unknown) is a villain in the Discworld novel The Truth. He is the brains of the New Firm, his name for the criminal group consisting of himself and Mr Tulip. In general Mr Pin makes the plans and decides where they're going to go and what they're going to do, but he is open to suggestions from his partner.

Both men can become violent, but Mr Tulip has a seemingly unlimited supply of it, which was one of the main characteristics that attracted him to Mr Pin as a partner in crime.

He comes to a rather sticky end when he's impaled by the desk spike of William De Word 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.

The New Firm have been compared to several criminal duos, including Vincent and Jules from Pulp Fiction, but they are closest to Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere TV series.

Mr. Salzella

The Director of Music at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House in Maskerade, most notable for an absolute hatred of opera (although he was really as "infected" with operatic romanticism as everyone else in the place). He was embezzling money and murdering people who found out, blaming the murders on the Opera Ghost. He was finally killed in an extremely operatic battle with the Ghost.

While the character is seemingly based loosely on Ambrose D'Arcy from the 1962 Hammer Horror version of The Phantom of the Opera, his name is based on Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri ("Salieri" means "seller of salt"): it is presumably intended to be pronounced "salt-seller" in the Italian fashion.

Mr Tulip

Mr Tulip (other names unknown) is a character who features in the novel The Truth.

Mr Tulip is something of a contradiction, at once a remorseless killer and an art lover. He is differentiated from a common criminal by his habit of removing priceless works of art from houses before committing arson, and he recognises great art works all over Ankh Morpork, being an instinctive connoisseur of the arts. He also suffers a mild speech impediment, causing him to often insert "—ing" mid-sentence. One major problem with Mr Tulip is not that he has a drugs habit as such, but that he wants to have a drug habit, having a tendency to desire anything sold in little bags. Unfortunately for this desire, in a city where on any street any number of Discworld drugs are available, he would unerringly find the one man who was selling oven cleaner or calcium carbonate. His primary skill in the New Firm (himself and Mr Pin) is his literally unlimited supply of anger. He has in fact turned mindless violence into an art form.

He is the sidekick of Mr Pin, and though an instinctive killer, recognises Mr Pin's cognitive skills, and leaves the thinking to him. Unlike Mr Pin, he has the possibility of redemption, and so at the end of the novel he is reincarnated as a woodworm: the only woodworm to say 'this is —ing good wood!'

His speech impediment may, in fact, be a joke referring to both a certain popular curseword and censorship, especially seeing as how it is mentioned in the book that he simply says "ing" without adding any previous verbs to it.

He is killed by Mr Pin and used as a life raft as molten lead flows around the pair. There are resemblances to George and Lennie from 'Of Mice and Men' especially as Mr Pin kills Mr Tulip with a spring loaded crossbow to supposedly save him from a terrible fate and Lennie was shot by George to prevent the revenge of Curley. Apart from this, he and Mr Pin also resemble the Old Firm from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, for example in the art appreciation (though their Neverwhere counterparts are considerably less sympathetic characters).

Mrs Cake

A diminutive spiritualist (or "small medium"), Mrs Evadne Cake is introduced in Reaper Man. A very forceful personality, she doesn't so much dabble in the spirit world as "march in and demand to speak to the manager". She has precognition, and often answers questions before people ask, unless she remembers not to. Her daughter Ludmilla is a werewolf. In Men At Arms we learn that after Ludmilla left home, Mrs Cake opened a boarding house for the undead.

Mrs Cake is very religious, usually picking a religion, bullying her way into complete control of all traditional "lay-woman" work, then getting into a huge row with the priests and abandoning it, resulting in chaos. Priests of lost temples in Klatch are terrified she might find them.

She is listed twice on the sign outside the Ankh-Morpork Post Office as one of the things that will impede these messengers about their duties.

Myria LeJean

Appears in Thief of Time. She makes her entrance as a stunningly attractive woman with long black hair, eccentric mannerisms and seemingly unlimited wealth. Myria, in fact, turned out to be the first of The Auditors to inhabit a human body for the purposes of manipulating Jeremy Clockson to stop Time, and to gain an understanding of humans.

She initially gave a distinct impression of being inhuman despite her looks, but as time passed she not only learned to be a better mimic, but began to be lured into humanity. Both terrified and fascinated by such things as individuality (something that had been completely foreign), the subconscious, flavor, culture and emotions, Myria gradually gave up her Auditorial traits.

As Jeremy's project neared completion, Myria had proceeded from discarding her vessel when not required to experimenting with eating. She found herself increasingly dismayed with, and eventually in open rebellion against, the 'collective' of The Auditors. Forming an unlikely alliance with Susan Sto Helit and Lu-Tze, she contributed her knowledge of her former 'race' to the trio. Susan immediately recognized Myria's name as a crude pun on "Myriad and "Legion" and partially overcame her hatred of the Auditors to rechristen her Unity.

While the Auditors were foiled, Unity was left a traitor, unable despite all her attempts to understand a species she had joined as an adult without any kind of childhood, and with Jeremy, the object of her affections, permanently out of the picture. Her soon-following death was a suicide in a giant vat of chocolate (with some assistance of the personification of Chaos), and she seemed to be the first and perhaps only Auditor to truly die. She reported that the sensory stimulation from eating a piece of toast almost killed her, so it remains unclear if she drowned, or if the taste of all that chocolate did her in. Afterward, she was met by Death, indicating that she had become a genuine person.

Nijel the Destroyer

Nijel the Destroyer, son of Harebut the Provision Merchant Mighty, is a would-be barbarian hero, appearing in Sourcery. Nijel met Rincewind in a snake pit and they escaped together. He fell in love with Conina at first sight, and she with him, and Pratchett's patented irony shows in their matching. 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, while she is a Barbarian Heroine who wants to be a Hairdresser but can't due to her genes. In addition to the standard loincloth, Nijel wears woolen long underwear- his mother insisted.

Olaf Quimby II

A past Patrician of Ankh-Morpork referred to in The Light Fantastic, Olaf Quimby was noted for his interest in honest and accurate descriptions as well as proper standards for everything, particularly metaphor. As Patrician, he used his power to enforce laws against creative exaggeration in writing. For example, no bard was allowed to say of a hero that "all men spoke of his prowess" on pain of death; he should instead add that some people spoke ill of the hero and that still others did not know of him at all. Similarly, the phrase "her face launched a thousand ships" could only be used to describe a beautiful woman if relevant shipyard records were produced or, failing that, evidence that the woman's face resembled a champagne bottle. As far as standardization was concerned, Quimby instituted the Ankh-Morpork Bureau of Measurements, in which is kept the standardized Blunt Stick (originally a Sharp one was on display as well, but very few things were found worse than a poke in the eye with it), the recipe for the Pie that It May be As Nice As, Two Short Planks and the stone used in the original Moss-Gathering Trials. This Bureau is maintained by the current Patrician, Lord Havelock Vetinari, on the grounds that the sort of people whose minds work like this ought to be kept busy, or they might do anything.

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.

Otto Chriek

Otto is one of the "Black Ribboners", vampire "teetotallers" who have forsworn drinking human "b-vord". Due to the supernatural nature of their "addiction", Black Ribboners must replace their craving for blood with something else; in Otto's case, he has become obsessed with light and photography. Since very bright light reduces vampires to dust until someone administers a drop of blood, the flash salamander he uses constantly causes Otto problems. He now carries a small vial of blood on a chain around his neck, which smashes and reconstitutes him if his salamander goes off too brightly. Otto experiments with "dark light", the light you find when you go out the other side of darkness, but this has its own unique problems, such as not necessarily illuminating the present to the imp inside his camera (which paints the pictures he takes). Most other people also object to being photographed with it, out of beliefs of it being "Unholy" or simply being uncomfortable with feeling "like your head has been opened up and icicles have been pounded into your brain", as William de Worde puts it.

Otto maintains a ridiculous and overly stereotypical vampire appearance (with a few concessions to his art) as opposed to the downplaying of these aspects that most Black Ribboners go for. By ensuring people find him funny, he is able to ensure they do not find him threatening.

Polly Perks

The main character in Monstrous Regiment. A Borogravian girl, of 17, who joined the army under the name Oliver Perks to rescue her brother Paul and save her family's inn. She chose her false name, Oliver, because it corresponded with the folksong, Sweet Polly Oliver, which is about a girl running off to join the army. As a member of the Cheesemongers, Private 'Ozzer' Perks serves with the colorful Sgt Jackrum, a reformed vampire of ambiguous gender named Maladict, a troll called Carborundum, an Igor, and a few even stranger people, who are, in fact, just humans.

Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre

Daughter of King Verence II and Magrat Garlick, Princess Esme made her appearance in Carpe Jugulum. Her unusual middle names are the result of a Lancre tradition that whatever the priest says at the naming ceremony is your name (Thus, Lancre once had a King Ye-Gods-He's-Heavy the First, and James What the Hell's That Cow Doing in Here Poorchick). Magrat owed her own name to a combination of this tradition and her mother's inability to spell "Margaret", and was determined it wouldn't happen again.

Princess Keli

Daughter of King Olerve the Bastard of the Sto Plains kingdom of Sto Lat, and the last person between the Duke of Sto Helit and the throne, she was saved from assassination by Mort. Became Queen Kelirihenna I, Lord of Sto Lat, Protector of the Eight Protectorates and Empress of the Long Thin Debated Piece Hubwards of Sto Kerrig.

Queen Keli still ruled at the time of Soul Music, when she ejected the Band with Rocks In from the city by royal proclamation. Sto Lat still had a queen by the time of Going Postal, though she isn't mentioned by name. If it is her, she would be the first person on the Disc other than the Patrician to have her face on a stamp.

Pteppic

King Pteppicymon XXVIII of Djelibeybi (lit. "Child of the Djel", the Disc's version of Egypt) is the main character in Pyramids. The first king to leave the kingdom, he was trained at the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild. He passed his final exam by a fluke, having already decided he wasn't going to kill anyone. His cosmopolitan nature clashed with the hidebound traditions of the kingdom and the even more hidebound high priest Dios, and after saving Djelibeybi from destruction and shaking up its traditions, he abdicated.

Ptraci

Queen Ptraci I of Djelibeybi. Pteppic's half-sister and successor. A former handmaiden, 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 Pyramids; by the end of the novel she is enthusiastically embracing many of the stranger regimens, such as bathing in ass's milk, favoured by Cleopatra.

Pump 19

A golem who appeared in Going Postal. More commonly referred to as Mr. Pump, he received his name from his previous position, where he spent over two hundred years operating one of a series of underwater pumps. He has since entered the employ of the Patrician, who uses him as a parole officer. He has been extremely successful in this, as he can follow his target anywhere by tracking their Karmic signature, and golems never need to stop, or rest, or eat: as the Patrician put it "Four miles an hour is 672 miles in a week. It all adds up."

Quoth

A talking raven. He is seemingly an associate of the Death of Rats. His name derives from the famous line in the poem by the poet Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven ("Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'.") except this raven "doesn't do the N word". He got his name because his previous owner, a wizard, had no sense of humour. At times he acts as steed and interpreter for the Death of Rats and he has a constant craving for eyeballs- a species characteristic (which, he recalls, resulted in an unfortunate end to ravens working under Blind Io, the king of the Discworld Gods, who has innumerable floating eyeballs which float around his head...quite tempting for a raven). He was originally one of the ravens from the Tower of Art.

He was first seen in the Discworld novel Soul Music, and since then has made appearances in all novels involving Susan Sto Helit. In the Sky One adaption of Hogfather he is to be voiced by Neil Pearson.

Reacher Gilt

Head of the Grand Trunk Clacks company in Going Postal. A ruthless businessman with a piratical appearance, including an eyepatch and a parrot (actually a cockatoo that, instead of repeatedly saying "pieces of eight", repeatedly says "twelve and a half percent"). He is in many ways similar to Moist von Lipwig, only exaggerated: Gilt is a shameless con-artist and fraudster who pulls many of the same scams Moist does, but on a larger scale, described as "three-card Monte with entire banks". However, this ambitiousness proved to be Gilt's downfall.

Ronnie Soak

A milkman who sells all matter of dairy products and rather extraordinarily for Ankh Morpork businessman, he is always punctual and all his products of a high quality. In Thief of Time it is revealed that he is actually the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse, who left before they became famous. As a horseman, he drove a chariot, wielded a sword of such coldness it burned and was the anthropomorphic personification of Kaos (chaos). It is due to his unique powers that he is always punctual and delivers the best products, as he can exist out of time and thereby deliver on time, use the milk from animals that have long since disappeared and use his sword to keep things chilled.

Rufus Drumknott

Secretary to Patrician Vetinari of Ankh-Morpork, following the death of Lupine Wonse. First appears in Men at Arms. Commonly seen entering and leaving the presence of the Patrician bearing either paperwork or verbal information on the activities of other denizens of the city, or the Discworld in general, Drumknott seems not to think much about the political implications of the information he works with, believing in filing for its own sake. During The Truth he was seemingly attacked by the Patrician, and by the time of Going Postal was responsible for relaying the orders of the Patrician in assigning tasks to other clerks.

Sacharissa Cripslock

The daughter of an engraver (who possibly appeared in Maskerade, working for Goatberger) she became a reporter for the Ankh-Morpork Times, having originally arrived at the print works to complain about the invention of moveable type. Appears in The Truth and Going Postal. In the latter work she is married, presumably to William de Worde, although she still addresses herself as Miss Cripslock.

The Selachii family

A noble family in Ankh-Morpork, featured in several of the books. They are known for being assassins, and are traditional rivals of the Venturi. They are named after the Selachimorpha as a play on the Sharks in West Side Story

Sergeant Jackrum

A character in Monstrous Regiment, Jackrum is an immensely fat, hard-bitten Borogravian sergeant with decades of military experience. Jackrum trains Polly Perks (see above) and gradually earns the respect of all the recruits. Ironically, Jackrum turns out to actually be a woman (as it transpires, this is quite common in the Borogravian army), while the effeminate Lieutenant Blouse (see above) is the only actual man in the platoon.

Shawn Ogg

Youngest son of Nanny Ogg. First appears in Wyrd Sisters as a guard at Lancre Castle. Since then he has become Lancre's entire standing army (except when he's laying down), as well as the civil service and most of the palace staff. According to Nanny Ogg's Cookbook he has been granted the Order of the Lancrastian Empire.

The Smoking GNU

A trio of clacks hackers, so far seen only in Going Postal, consisting of "Mad Al, Sane Alex, and Adrian who says he's not mad but can't prove it." They worked for the Grand Trunk Company when it was owned by the Dearhearts, and were involved in the short lived Second Trunk. They are instrumental in pulling the Company out from under Reacher Gilt.

Alex Carlton and Al Winton are clacks engineers. Despite Alex's nickname, it is Al's opinion that he's mad as well, because nobody normal would organise screws by size. (Jeremy Clockson had the same kind of "sanity", and many Discworld villains have similar afflictons.)

Adrian Emery is an alchemist, and has a number of ideas for improving the clacks with chemicals that change colour (and hardly explode at all). His eyes are constantly looking in different directions.

Their name is a reference to talk of a "smoking gun" in some conspiracy theories, and as such they parallel The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files. Also likely to be related to the open-source "GNU" operating systems, also popular amongst modern-day hackers. (In clacks jargon "GNU" is code for a fast message sent through the whole system, G standing for Move on, U for turn around at the end of the line and N for Not logged.).

Stanley Howler

One of the two remaining employees of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office prior to Moist von Lipwig being made Postmaster. Raised by peas (no further explanation is given), Stanley has a tendency towards obsessive behaviour. He used to be one of the more obsessive of Ankh-Mopork's large number of pin collectors, to the point that all the other collectors thought he was "a bit weird about pins". 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 stamp collecting and philately.

Stanley's surname was not revealed in the book, but is given in various peripheral material relating to Discworld stamps. It is a play on Stanley Gibbons.

Tawneee

Tawneee (pronounced with each "e" as a separate syllable) is an exotic dancer, introduced in Thud! Tawneee is, in fact, merely her stage name; her real name is Betty. She is Nobby Nobbs's girlfriend for most of the book; they met when Nobby caught her eye while slipping an IOU into her garter belt. Despite her profession, she is as humble as a caterpillar, and has about as much brains. She was completely innocent about sex, and was completely unaware that her job could be considered "acting like a floozy"; in the end, Angua and Sally explain the facts of, well, everything. Meanwhile, Nobby considers letting her down gently because she didn't know her way around a kitchen.

Theda 'Ginger' Withel

A Holy Wood actress in ''Moving Pictures. Using the name Delores De Syn, she starred in several movies with Victor Tugelbend, usually as the maiden to be rescued. She is likely descended from the High Priestess of Holy Wood, and while sleeping, she was repeatedly possessed by an unknown force, possibly the priestess. This force used Ginger to attempt to awaken the Holy Wood guardian, which would have put a stop to the Holy Wood magic and prevented the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions from breaking through to the Discworld.

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 doesn't trust doctors, which is perfectly understandable since there are very few reliable doctors in Ankh-Morpork. However, he instead treats himself with a variety of dubious "natural" home remedies, including concotions made with sulfur or arsenic, and a poultice made of bread pudding. He is a habitual speaker of the only known rhyming slang in the universe that does not actually rhyme.

The Venturi family

A noble family in Ankh-Morpork, featured in several of the books. They are traditional rivals of the Selachii. They are named after the Venturi, as a play on the Jets in West Side Story.

Victor Tugelbend

Student wizard turned actor, and protagonist of Moving Pictures. Victor's uncle left a legacy to pay for Victor's tuition at Unseen University, provided that Victor never scored below an 80 on an exam. Victor, however, decided that being a student wizard was greatly preferable to being a wizard, because as a student he could live a relatively safe and comfortable lifestyle. Therefore, Victor studied extremely hard and, when finals came around each year, carefully and competently scored an 84 -- four points above the minimum to continue receiving the legacy, but four points below the passing grade of 88. Eventually this caught the attention of the Bursar, who arranged for Victor to receive a special test consisting of only one question: "What is your name?" By this time, however, Victor had left Unseen University to become an actor in Holy Wood, under the stage name Victor Maraschino. He films several movies with Ginger Withel (aka Delores De Syn), and eventually uses the magic of Holy Wood to defeat the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions with Ginger's help. Victor has not reappeared in any subsequent Discworld books.

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.

Vincent the Invulnerable

Committed "suicide" (by Ankh-Morpork's extremely lax standards, i.e. "walking alone in the Shades at night is suicide, asking for a short in a dwarf bar is suicide") by walking into the Mended Drum and announcing that he was called "Vincent the Invulnerable."

Vorbis

In Small Gods, deacon Vorbis is the head of the Quisition, and later (for a very brief time) the Cenobiarch of Omnia. He's a frightening character, bald by design, with completely dark eyes.

Vorbis' character combines a strange mix of apparently religious mania with a fervent desire to spread the Word/Empire across all the Disc. The character of Vorbis is one that may interest any reader interested in questions regarding institutional religion, heresy, and the direct communication between God and Man. Vorbis has a reputation for being a man touched by destiny (and perhaps something else) and as being one of the most devout Omnians in the Empire ('Vorbis could humble himself in prayer in a way that made the posturings of power-mad emperors look subservient') yet in the end the reader finds that the only voice Vorbis has been listening to is his own.

The Vorbis audio codec is named after this character.

Wallace Sonky

An Ankh-Morpork tradesman, owner of Sonky's Rubber Goods, and maker of Sonky's Preventatives. His "sonkies", as they are generally known, sell for a penny a packet. Without them, the housing problem in Ankh-Morpork would be even more pressing.

He is killed in The Fifth Elephant. He is known to have had a brother in Überwald.

Walter Plinge

The odd-job man at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. Plinge was an awkward, nervy figure in a beret, extremely similar to Frank Spencer from the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. However he had a secret identity as the suave and sophisticated "Opera Ghost" (i.e. the Phantom of the Opera). (This is a play on the fact that Spencer was played by Michael Crawford, who went on to play the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical.) Convinced by Agnes Nitt that he was wearing his mask on the inside, he became the director of music, following the death of Salzella. He writes popular operas with tunes you can hum. His name is a reference to the theatrical pseudonym.

William Scuggins

When Samuel Vimes was in his youth, William Scuggins was the child that was always tormented. He was mentioned briefly in Feet of Clay with the following description of how he was treated:

He'd been pretty good at [hopscotch]. Of course, they played it by the Ankh-Morpork rules. Instead of kicking a stone they kicked William Scuggins.

Willie Hobson

An Ankh-Morpork businessman who runs Hobson's Livery Stable, a multi-storey construction which sells and hires horses, as well as stabling other people's horses. For some reason it is a popular location for circumspect meetings. According to rumour, Hobson employs an Igor with a talent for taking body parts of different horses, and stitching them together into a "new" animal (see chop shop).

These rumours are rarely uttered in the presence of Hobson, who is a large man with a direct sense of humour when it comes to putting people with smart mouths on unbroken horses. He appears in Going Postal, although the stable had previously appeared in The Truth.

Hobson's name is a reference to the real stable-owner Thomas Hobson.

Windle Poons

Windle Poons was a wizard at the Unseen University until the age of 130, whereupon he died and unwillingly became one of the undead, due to Death's absence. After his 'death', his senses are quite enhanced from their 130-year-old state although his appearance is somewhat unsettling, mostly from a failed attempt at preventing rotting via an advanced form of biofeedback (basically, controlling the reactions of your organs voluntarily). After numerous attempts to take his own life...or after-life...he joined a band of undead misfits and eventually helped to defend the city of Ankh-Morpork against the additional lifeforce on the Discworld. Before Reaper Man, Windle Poons appeared in one other Discworld novel, Moving Pictures. His physical and mental state then could be described as "invalid, deaf, wandering of mind and hot on the ladies' behinds in his wheelchair".

Like most of the University staff, he has also made an appearance in the Discworld computer games, mainly voicing a paranoid fear of having his staff taken away and, when engaged in conversation, constantly returning to the subject of pickles.

He also appeared in the opening and closing of Discworlds 2: Mortality Bytes, much like in the book, his funeral is spoilt by the non-arrival of Death.

Wolfgang von Überwald

Wolfgang is the psychotic brother of Angua, the only werewolf on Ankh-Morpork's city watch. He appears in The Fifth Elephant, where he tries to interfere in the crowning of the Dwarf's new Low-King. He murdered his sister Elsa for being a Yennork: a werewolf who cannot shapeshift, and presumably would have done the same to his brother Andrei- another Yennork- had he not escaped. He is his mother's favourite over Angua, whom she views with disgust for trying to be human, though it is hinted that his mother is also afraid of him. That said, he is afraid somewhat of Angua, partly because she is a better fighter than him.

Wolfgang- unlike the rest of his family- remains naked when in his human form, seeing it as natural beauty. He continues the families bloodsport of chasing humans through the woods, known as "The Game" though unlike the rest he does not abide by its rules (eg. the humans don't actually have to take part). Though Angua tells Carrot that he's not stupid, she later accuses him of not being smart enough to mastermind the Dwarf plot by himself (ie. his mother helped him). He is killed fighting Vimes, who fired a signal rocket over his head, triggering his canine impulse to catch it, whereupon it exploded.

William de Worde

A professional scribe who in The Truth became the editor of the Disc's first newspaper, The Ankh-Morpork Times. He has an obsessive dislike of lying, which he has learned to work around in the name of journalism. In self-imposed exile from his background of wealthy noblehood, William works hard (and with varying degrees of success) to cast off the influence of his father, Lord de Worde, an arrogant speciesist (the Discworld equivalent of a racist) and bully.

William also appears in Monstrous Regiment, reporting on the war in Borogravia, and is mentioned in Thud. His name is probably a play on the first two printers in England; William Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde.

Willikins

Butler to Commander Vimes and Lady Sibyl, Willikins was in his youth a member of the Shamlegger Street Rude Boys street gang where his weapon of choice was a cap brim sewn with sharpened pennies. We discover in Night Watch that he has been in the service of the Ramkin family for most of his life. His only absence from this employment was during the events in Jingo when he joined the army during the war against Klatch. He has proven himself more than once to be a competent fighter as well as a dutiful butler.

Ysabell

Ysabell is the adopted daughter of Death, who saved her as a baby when her parents were killed in the Great Nef desert (no explanation has been given as to why he did this, Ysabell said that 'He can't feel pity, but he may have thought it'). When first encountered she is a sixteen-year-old girl with silver hair and silver eyes who, it transpires, has been sixteen for thirty-five 'years' (no time passes in Death's Domain). When Mort first encountered Ysabell, he was given the impression of "too many chocolates". She also has a fixation for the colour pink.

Ysabell first appeared in The Light Fantastic, where sheo met Rincewind, and was surprised to learn that he was not actually dead. This situation might not have lasted very long if The Luggage had not intervened. During the events of Mort it became clear that Ysabell was competent in carrying out the work of her father including The Duty and doing the nodes. Before Mort arrived she shared her home with Albert, Death's manservant. Ysabell later married Mort, and together they became the Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, and parents of Susan. She was killed, along with her husband, in a coach crash at the start of the book Soul Music.

See also

The Discworld
Characters: Albert - Angua - Carrot Ironfoundersson - Cohen the Barbarian - Fred Colon - Death - Detritus - Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler - Gaspode - Greebo - Igor - Bloody Stupid Johnson - Leonard of Quirm - The Librarian - Lu-Tze - The Luggage - Mort - C.W.St J. Nobbs - Susan Sto Helit - Rincewind - Twoflower - Havelock Vetinari - Samuel Vimes - The Witches - Ysabell - Discworld gods - more...
Locations: Ankh-Morpork - Agatean Empire - Borogravia - Death's Domain - Dungeon Dimensions - Ephebe - Genua - Klatch - Lancre - Muntab - Quirm - Sto Lat - Überwald - Unseen University - XXXX - more...
Other: Calendar - City Watch - Clacks - Guilds - Magic - Post Office - Stealth Chess - Minor Discworld concepts

 

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