Characters and locations from the Discworld novels

The following is a list of frequently recurring characters and locations from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels .

Places and scenes

Ankh-Morpork

Ankh-Morpork Coat of Arms

Ankh-Morpork is the largest and most important city in the Discworld with around one million inhabitants. It consists of two individual cities that have grown together: the stately Ankh, with the invisible university and the patrician's palace , as well as the run-down Morpork with the shadows , a highly dangerous district in which the darker figures of the big city cavort. The city takes its name from the Morpork owl , a native species, and the Ankh River. The city is located in the Sto plain close to the mouth of the river in the Runde Sea. Direct neighboring cities are Sto Helit, Sto Lat, Pseudopolis and Quirm.

The city's atmosphere is a mixture of ancient Rome, Renaissance Florence and modern London. In addition, various allusions are made to other cities. The New York of the 19th century is present through the intersection "Five Paths", which represents the " Five Points ", and the nickname "Great Wahooni". The Wahooni is a prickly, foul-smelling, inedible fruit and satirizes the New York nickname "Big Apple".

In ancient times, Ankh-Morpork was a monarchy . The last king, Lorenzo the Nice, was executed by Mumm, the then commander of the city guard. There was clear evidence that the king was a sadistic pederast . Old stone face Mumm , an ancestor of today's Samuel Mumm, then ruled with his revolutionaries for a few months before he was killed in turn. Then it came to the patriciate , which is still the form of government Ankh-Morporks today. The predecessors of Lord Havelock Vetinari were predominantly characterized by incompetence and even complete mental derangement. This dark part of the history of Ankh-Morpork is repeatedly outlined in brief interjections; In Die Nachtwächter, however, a very detailed picture of this time is drawn for the reader.

In defense of the city gate, which is always open, there is only a sign "Thank you for not conquering our city", which says a lot about the mentality of the population. Invasions by foreign armies are usually expressly welcomed by the residents, provided that the conquerors bring enough money with them. The enemy soldiers usually find themselves in a dark alley with a fat head, empty wallet and no boots within a few days of entering.

Residents

Ankh-Morpork is a real multicultural society. In addition to human inhabitants of different religions and ways of life (from workers to wizards) there are also trolls , gnolls , dwarfs , gnomes , golems , goblins , black men (English: bogeymen ), goblins, gargoyles , igors, an orc and undead such as Zombies , vampires and werewolves . These differ in some cases drastically from the archetypes known in various stories.

politics

Coat of arms of the Vetinari family

The ruler of the city is the patrician Lord Havelock Vetinari. The city is dominated by a classic “one citizen - one vote” type of democracy . Lord Vetinari is the citizen and he has the vote.

The second most important power factor are the guilds , in which every professional activity must be organized. In addition to "normal" guilds such as the bakers' and butchers' guilds, there are also the assassins ' guilds, the thieves' guilds , the beggars ' guilds , the fools' guilds, the seamstresses' guilds (which, however, mostly deal with affection for sale) and the dog's guild.

Ankh-Morpork has been a sister of Wincanton in Somerset since 2002 .

Army and police

Ankh-Morpork does not need an army. That was not always so. Under the famous General Tacticus, the city and its army ruled over an entire empire and perished financially.

Since then, other customs have prevailed. Ankh-Morpork meets enemy conquerors and invaders with the business skills of its inhabitants. The city gates are always wide open and welcome everyone, provided they bring money. Foreign armies quickly succumb to the morbid charm of the city and its beauties. They also get to know their ruinously high prices. In the end, this always means for the conqueror, except for his underpants, to sneak home or to integrate.

If a war is actually threatening, the military council takes control of the city. It consists of the commanders of the regiments that have to be financed by the aristocratic upper class, the Lords (see: Flying scraps ).

The city guard is responsible for the city's police duties. It is led by Commander Samuel Mumm . His executive body is Captain Carrot . The guard is now recruiting from all of the city's ethnic minorities, so that not only people but also trolls, dwarves, zombies, golems, werewolves, vampires and one of the “We are the greatest!” Clans get their chance. The modern city watch has a special department for forensics as well as a forensic department and a police doctor.

The Ankh

This river is so polluted that its water level is higher than the surrounding city. It is possible to walk on the surface without any problems, but it is harmful to health. It is customary for innkeepers in Ankh-Morpork to throw drunken unconscious guests at the ankh; most wake up in time before they sink. The residents of Ankh-Morpork never tire of praising the extraordinary cleanliness of the river. "What has flowed through so many kidneys can no longer be dirty" . In addition, the "water" is said to be harmless to health, as pathogens do not survive in it for long. According to another argument, the water must be healthy, otherwise there would not be so much life in it.

Invisible university

The invisible university as a model

The Invisible University in Ankh-Morpork is the local training center for magicians. It is the largest, oldest and most venerable facility of its kind on Discworld. The Invisible University was founded about 1,500 years ago by Alberto Malich , the current majordomo of death . As the founder and supreme magician, Albert first claimed the title of Arch Chancellor, as did his 304 successors after him.

Most of the university's architecture is invisible. Outsiders only see the entrance hall with the large black gate, the library and of course the art tower, which, although unused and dilapidated, is still the tallest building in the city.

A building that has been using magic for centuries within its walls naturally has awareness and its own personality. However, it first took a witch, in this case Esmeralda Wetterwax , to determine this fact and to appreciate it accordingly (see: The Legacy of the Wizard ). Wizards lack the necessary touch of sensitivity and intuition for such discoveries. The Invisible University, in any case, usually feels like a big, good-natured animal just waiting to roll onto the roof for someone to scratch its stomach. In exceptional situations, for example when a creative magus is on the march, she can be so frightened that her walls begin to tremble (see: The magic hat ).

The general invisibility of the architecture enables interesting spatial configurations. There is never a shortage of space in its walls, as most buildings are many times larger inside than outside and, like the library, can extend in several dimensions.

The Institute for High Energy Magic is the only new building at the university. It stands at the point where a former Arch Chancellor once wanted to build a tennis court. In the IHM, under the direction of Ponder Stibbons , innovative experiments in magical particle research take place and this is also where HEX , the first magical computer of the Discworld, has its home.

The university complex is surrounded by large, well-tended gardens, which the dwarfish head gardener, Mr. Modo, is responsible for maintaining their excellent condition.

The cellars and basements of the university are a very special chapter. This is where kitchens, washrooms, the heating system and various production systems such as the candle dripping facility are hidden. In the realm of Mrs. Allesweiß, the chief housekeeper, the hard backbreaking work is done that enables the wizards to eat three to seven warm meals a day and sleep in clean sheets at night.

Official anthem

The anthem was created in collaboration between Carl Davis and Terry Pratchett, a parody of the song “ Rule, Britannia! ". Sung on official occasions by a soprano who wears a sheet and holds a torch and fork, this song was not composed by a resident of Ankh-Morpork, but by the traveling vampire Count Henrik Shline von Überwald.

What is particularly interesting about the hymn is that it has a second stanza, which officially consists of incomprehensible mumbling. The Graf von Überwald noticed that people who try to sing their national anthem never remember the second stanza and therefore decided to make it easier for them.

The actual text of the hymn is as follows:

When dragons belch and hippos flee
My thoughts, Ankh-Morpork, are of thee
Let others boast of martial dash
For we have boldly fought with cash
We own all your helmets, we own all your shoes
We own all your generals - touch us and you 'll loose.
Morporkia! Morporkia!
Morporkia owns the day!
We can rule you wholesale
Touch us and you'll pay.
We bankrupt all invaders, we sell them souvenirs
We ner ner ner ner, hner ner hner by the ears
Er hner less ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner
ner ner ner ner
ner, ner hner ner ( etc.)
Ner hner ner, your gleaming swords
We mortgaged to the hilt
Morporkia! Morporkia!
Hner ner ner ner ner
We can rule you wholesale
Credit where it's due.

Borograwia

Borograwien (see Lewis Carrol's poem Jabberwocky ) is a small country in the mountains, 2300 miles from Ankh-Morpork. Its immediate neighbor is Zlobenien, with whom it is in constant, mostly armed conflict. The currency of Borograwia is the silver shilling. Due to the general shortage of metal, only shillings printed on paper have recently been in circulation.

The country is nominally ruled by Duchess Annagowia. However, she has not left the seat of government, the old castle Prinz-Marmaduk-und-Pjotr-Albert-Hans-Josef-Bernhardt-Wilhelmsberg, for 30 years and it is assumed that she is dead. The military and priests have since interpreted their orders.

According to an old tradition, clothes or dishes are often named after famous officers in Borogravien. Great heroes like General Puhlower, Brigadier General Galosche or General Ahnorak have left their mark in history in this way.

Borograwien's military personnel are, with a lot of goodwill, stubborn. The word surrender is alien to his mentality. At least a third of the military are women in disguise as men because, according to the Book of Nuggan , women in pants are an abomination.

In Borograwia people firmly believe in Nuggan , a god that Commander Vumm has benevolently understated as "irritated". In the Book of Nuggan , a ring binder, the irritated God brings the believers up to date and explains the most recent abominations. In addition to chocolate, garlic, cats, dwarfs or cheese, there are also more complicated abominations, such as babies or the color blue. The common folk have become used to praying to the Duchess instead of Nuggan .

The text of the national anthem of Borograwia reads:

“Wake up, you sons of the country!

No longer tastes the wine of sour apples.

Forest workers, take your axes!

Farmers, kill with the tool you used to lift turnips earlier!

Destroy the endless ruse of our enemies.

Singing we march into the darkness

Against the whole world in arms.

But see the golden light in the mountain tops!

The new day is a big big fish! "( Weiberregiment , p. 16)

Cori Celesti

Cori Celesti is a ten mile high mountain in the middle of the Discworld. On its top lies dignity , the home of the gods. The mountains themselves are the source of the Discworld's magic. In the valleys at the foot of the Cori Celesti extends what is commonly called the land of enlightenment.

Here is the monastery of the listening monks, who listen to the echo of the word that the Creator uttered at the moment of creation (cf. cosmic background radiation ). This is where the Kühl brothers live, who strive to meet the challenges of the universe with coolness, and in their temple with ropes the balancing monks check the tension of the world.

In the highest valley, however, is the Oi Dong monastery , where the struggling history monks make sure that there is a tomorrow. The most famous history monk (The Time Thief) is Lu-Tze, the sweeper. His name is likely derived from Laotse , old master .

Djelibeby

Djelibeby (from "Child of Djel", in English a play on words with "jelly baby" = English for gummy bears ) is a small, Egyptian-influenced kingdom that extends along the Djel River. It was ruled by the high priest Dios for 7,000 years. Although officially a pharaoh always ruled , he was always a puppet of the high priest.

Djelibeby used to be a great power that also shaped its neighbors culturally. However, the immense costs of traditional pyramid construction forced the rulers to sell land again and again. In the meantime, the empire has shrunk to the immediate vicinity of the river. It serves as a buffer zone between Tsort and Ephebe. In the book Pyramids , building a particularly large pyramid ensures that the whole kingdom tilts 90 degrees into another dimension. Tsort and Ephebe are now right next to each other and immediately begin preparing for war. The new Pharaoh Pteppic prevents the war and brings Djelibeby back to his original position.

Ephebe and Tsort

Ephebe (based on the city of Ephesus ) is a city-state. It is located on the Round Sea next to Djelibeby and Omnien. The population of this ancient Greek nation is divided into free and slaves. Free people are mainly concerned with philosophy and art , slaves do the work when they are not on their day off or on vacation. The ephebic pantheon is many-headed and complex. Ephebe's form of government is a democracy based on the Attic model, i.e. everyone has one vote, except for women, slaves and the poor.

Tsort (based on Troy ) is Ephebe's political rival and his hereditary enemy. After Princess Elenor (based on Helena ) was kidnapped by a tsortan prince, Ephebe took revenge through soldiers hidden in a wooden cow. Just because the small kingdom of Djelibeby lies between the two states does not lead to permanent conflicts.

Counterweight continent

The counterweight continent is "a spot - a spot in the form of a not particularly inviting comma" ( Really magical, p. 49), a rather small corner on the back of the Spitzhorn Mountains. Its name and its function are identical. It forms the counterweight to all other land and water masses and keeps the Discworld in balance. What it does not have to offer in terms of surface area, it has to compensate for with mass, which is why 90% of all gold reserves in the Discworld are concentrated on this spot.

In the Agate Empire, which organizes the continent's inhabitants, gold is omnipresent and is valued about as much as lead elsewhere. The currency of the empire is the rhinu , a piece of gold about the size of a palm .

The Agaten Empire is surrounded by a great wall. Officially, such evil foreign vampires and demons are supposed to be kept away, but in fact it is used to lock the inhabitants in the country. Thousands of years of bondage have made the inhabitants of the Agaten Empire extremely polite and obedient. You've got the knack in your head now. If revolts do occur, demands are made in sentences such as: "Let us gently break the power of oppression".

Hunghung, the capital, lies in the heart of the Achatean Empire. "Bes Pelargic is the most important seaport ... You can reach it if you sail for a week from the Brown Islands." ( Colors of Magic p. 31)

The empire is ruled by an emperor who, as so often, is only the puppet of his grand vizier. The emperor always comes from one of the five constantly warring noble families: Hong , Sung , Fang , Tang or McSweeney . After the "Gray Horde", led by Cohen the barbarian, took power, the empire is now experiencing the varieties of enlightened Cohenism. The Achatean Empire is not only reminiscent of the Chinese Empire because of the Great Wall.

Gennua

Gennua extends in the delta of the river Vieux. The city used to control the river and thus gained considerable wealth. Now only swamp surrounds the small metropolis and supplies the impoverished residents with questionable ingredients for their famous cuisine. Gennua is a barony. After the intervention of the Lancre witch trio (see: Totally Bewitched ), Baroness Ella rules the city. The national dish is gumbo, a kind of stew. Following the example of the Venetian Carnival, Gennua celebrates Big Noon once a year , based on Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday). The witches in Gennua, especially Ms. Gogol, derive their power mainly from voodoo-like rituals.

gossip

The Klatschian continent extends towards the edge of the Round Sea. Originally this name stood for an old empire , today it is used for the entire region ruled by Al Khali. Large parts of the country consist of desert, in which warring tribes fight for supremacy.

Al Khali is the capital of gossip, this is where the ruling Prince Khufurah resides. The previous ruler, his brother Cadram, had tried to centralize government, but failed because of the bitter resistance of the various desert tribes, above all the D'regs.

Gossip is still trying to restore its former empire and is therefore the largest buyer of the Ankh-Morporkian arms industry. Payments are made in Ankh Morpork Dollars as the Clatchian Wol, a silver-based currency, has a miserable exchange rate.

Klatsch has an impressive list of cultural accomplishments. Everything that begins with Al was invented here. So Al-gebra, calculate with sums and letters for those who are not intelligent enough for numbers. Al-chimie, sulfur and such, or the alcohol.

In Ankh-Morpork, gossip is the synonym for everything foreign. Gossip has some similarities with Arabic cultures around the world (writing, robes, figure names, etc.). The most common Morporkian swear word for the Klatschians is towel head . The people in Gossip are predominantly darker skinned. Their exotic cuisine is characterized by a variety of spicy curry-based dishes. The Ankh Morporkians still believe they are vastly superior to gossipers.

Gossip is seldom spoken in Ankh-Morpork, but used as a synonym for curses of all kinds, which goes something like this: "Damn shit - excuse my gossip" . This is reminiscent of the English expression Pardon my French . Gossip was once part of the empire that General Tacticus had conquered for Ankh-Morpork; the ruins of the city of Taktikum in the desert are a reminder of this.

Chalk land

The chalk land is a hilly stretch of land at the foot of the Spitzhorn Mountains, which consists of chalk in which flint stones are embedded. The chalk country is ruled by the baron or his son Roland and his wife Lätitia (who could be a witch if she weren't the baroness). The people who live here are sheep herders and the tribe of goblins that live here are the We-are-the-greatest . Tiffany Weh, a witch and grandma Weatherwax's favorite pupil, comes from the land under the wave and enjoys great respect there. It is based on the landscape in the south of England.

Koom Valley

The Koom Valley plays, not only in KLONK , an essential role within the Discworld universe . For both trolls and dwarves it is a mythical place that is referred to everywhere. The legendary battle in the Koom Valley took place here, strictly historically speaking about twenty-three times. This is where the dwarves ambushed the trolls or vice versa, and this is where the legendary dwarven warrior king B'hrian the blood ax and diamond, the troll king, made their last appearance. The Koom valley was sung about in songs, operas were composed about it and, not to be forgotten, Methodia Schlingel painted his famous painting of the battle in the Koom valley, 15 meters long and three meters high. Enough material to give the Koom Valley an aura that is only found in a few places in the Discworld.

The Koom Valley is large, about 250 square miles. It is about three day trips from Ankh-Morpork and forms the transition from the Sto plain to the Spitzhorn Mountains. At the end of the valley is the largest settlement, a town called Koomfurt. Because of the limestone, the valley is full of ponors and caves and the course of the Koom changes every hour. The Koom valley is therefore not a place for contemplative walks, but clearly a landscape with character. If you look closely, the valley is only partially suitable as a battlefield and, after all, it wasn't, as the astonishing discovery of the King's Cave in KLONK has proven.

Krull

Krull is an old, wise island kingdom and is very close to the edge. The highest point on the main island even protrudes a little over the edge of the Discworld. This favors astronomical research and makes it enormously successful. Several centuries ago, Krull built the perimeter fence. Over a length of 10,000 miles, i.e. a third of the circumference of the pane (sic!), They have constructed a net barrier and regularly check its stability with seven repair fleets.

The nation lives on everything that, instead of being washed over the edge with the seawater, gets stuck in the fence. Planks, ships, barrels of wine, balls of cloth and castaways whose tongues are cut out after they are rescued before they are enslaved.

The Krullians are a highly civilized people ruled by clever scholars. Art, research, and magical sciences are well advanced. Although their somewhat backward religion still calls for one or two human sacrifices, they are otherwise characterized by eminent courtesy and hospitality.

In The Colors of Magic , the arch astronomer of the Krullians strives to solve one of the greatest mysteries of astrobiology: The question of the sex of Great A'Tuin, the giant carrier tortoise (genus: chelys galactica) of the Discworld. With the help of a kind of rocket, the Mighty Traveler, two Chelonauts are supposed to fly over the edge and see what is and what is wrong with Grand A'Tuin. The fact that in the end the tourist two-flowered and Rincewind the magician fly over the edge with the mighty traveler should only be mentioned here and certainly does not really surprise anyone.

Lancre

City of Lancre

Lancre is a tiny kingdom, about 40 miles long by no more than 10 miles wide. It is located high in the Spitzhorn Mountains and is ruled by King Verence II, the former court jester . The common descriptions of Lancres emphasize that there is a lot of flat land there, but that it is mostly vertical. Lancre is a kingdom of its own. The country wants to be loved, both by its monarch and by its people. Verence's predecessor, the usurper Lord Felmet, hated the land , which was bad for the king.

There are at least three witches in the country who enjoy high social standing. They take care of births, nursing and, ultimately, funerals. To incur their anger or anger is not recommended. Lancre is divided into different districts, which are looked after by the witches Oma Wetterwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Knoblauch. Magrat later marries King Verence and gives up the witchcraft, then Agnes Nitt takes her place. Other witches only appear in marginal notes; only a certain Diamanda is of greater importance.

King Verence II is the first ruler in Lancres history to take a serious look at the business of government. Not born as heir to the throne, he learns the art of governance from books. Verence thinks little of classic monarchist tyranny and initiates reforms in all possible areas. He reformed agriculture (which the farmers tacitly ignored), hired scholars and even established a parliament (but this annoyed his subjects, who believe that governing is his job. The MPs are therefore only present if nothing else is currently present). In literary terms, Pratchett satirizes the more enlightened absolutism with the figure Verence II .

Leshp

The sunken island of Leshp lies in the sea, right in the middle between gossip and ankh-morpork. She emerges from the sea in flying tatters and provokes a war between these two nations. Both countries claim ownership of the island, even if nobody knows what to do with it. The island is covered with strange ruins and buildings of various architectural styles. Both Ankhmorphic and Klatschian elements are detectable. The eerie motifs of squid-like creatures (an allusion to Cthulhu and R'lyeh from HP Lovecraft's novels ) seem really threatening . Strange noises from inside the dark and somewhat slimy buildings cause the explorers (fishermen of both nations) to spend the night in their boats. There is no wood or fresh water.

Most of the island is made of pumice stone . In the cavity under the island, which is painted over and over with signs, digester gas collects, which caused the island to rise. After about two weeks, when the gas has escaped, the island sinks again. This process is repeated regularly at long intervals.

Sto level

The Sto plain forms the hinterland of Ankh-Morpork. It is spacious, flat and is used exclusively for agriculture , for growing cabbage . The largest cities on the plain are Sto Lat (Polish hundred years, the beginning of a popular birthday song ) and Sto Helit. Keli, the ruler of Sto Lat, escaped her predetermined end with the help of Mort (Tod's apprentice). In gratitude, she made Mort Duke and his wife Ysabel Duchess of Sto Helit. Susanne Sto Helit, the heir to the throne, works as a governess, teacher and also as a temporary substitute for her grandfather's death.

Überwald

Überwald (from Transylvania ; Latin trans = beyond, in old German place names also: über, silva = forest) is the home of dwarfs, igors, vampires , werewolves and cuckoo clocks . "People are hardly a background noise in the story of Überwald" (The Fifth Elephant) . The capital of the region is Burums (pronounced: Bums) , where three potentates share power. Rhys, the Low King, rules underground, Lady Margalota (vampire) and the Baron (werewolves) over it. In the underground of Überwald there are large deposits of fat, which make the rather inhospitable territory a political area of ​​interest for various nations.

In Bad Blintz, rats and humans live together peacefully, but that costs a lot of paperwork (see: Maurice the Kater ). The first clock that was supposed to capture the time was built in Bad Schüschein (see: The time thief ). The Überwaldische language, as far as indicated in the novels, is similar to the German , but often lacks the umlauts. In older original editions of the Discworld novels the spelling “Uberwald” can also be found. Überwald is a literary cocktail from the Black Forest , Transylvania and Russia (the cherry orchard).

XXXX

There is a mysterious, undiscovered continent on maps and models of the Discworld, marked XXXX. This Terra Incognita is an extremely hot place, predominantly reddish in color and largely covered by sand. A certain similarity with Australia cannot be denied. The drought can be explained by the fact that there has been a fixed high above the mainland for thousands of years, which does not allow any precipitation. This, in turn, is due to the fact that this continent, a kind of extension anyway, has not yet been completed by the Creator. It lacks the crucial twist to anchor it in the intended location. This task is taken over by Rincewind (in Heiße Hüpfer ), whose extended stay in Viericks we owe all further knowledge. On his Xxxian odyssey, Rincewind had the humiliating experience that all of the people he spoke to thought rain was a fairy tale told to children in order to scare them. When it finally rains for the first time, it gives him great satisfaction.

Everything that XXXX, or Viericks, has to offer in terms of flora and fauna is deadly or at least highly poisonous, with the exception of a few horses and sheep. The corruption of Terror Incognita is definitely justified.

The capital of Viericks is Mistauch, a port city with an opera, a university, several breweries and the annual parade. The system of government of XXXX is parliamentary democracy, with the subtle difference that all elected heads of government are put in jail immediately after the election, where they would later end up anyway. The country's currency is the octopus.

The residents of Viericks fall into three categories: natives (ultra-black boomerang throwers), locals who have earned their native status (dwarfs, humans, kangaroo-like people, crocodile-like people), and strangers who jumped from a piece of driftwood and the locals take away the work.

All residents love thin beer, which some barbers claim that the name of the continent was derived from the Australian type of beer XXXX (pronounced: Four-x), which is produced by the Castlemaine Perkins Brewery . The brewery uses X to indicate the alcohol content. Before Rincewind initiated the decisive change for the better, he gave the country a new, self-developed spread similar to the popular Australian Vegemite or the British Marmite .

The witches

In the Discworld novels, a strict distinction is made between sorcery and witchcraft. While sorcery is practiced (almost) exclusively by men and requires a degree, witchcraft is reserved for women and is passed on from one generation to the next. Magic is only used as a last resort. Witches enjoy a certain reputation among the population; for example, they are active in nursing, obstetrics and wake.

A trio of Discworld witches consists of Grandma Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlic. Magrat is replaced by Agnes Nitt in the later novels. Pratchett dedicates five volumes of the disc world novels to the witch Tiffany Weh.

Esmeralda Weatherwax

Esmeralda Wetterwax is from Lancre. Her friend Nanny Ogg calls her Esme and a select few, like Tiffany Weh, are allowed to call her "Grandma". Although not married, she insists on being addressed as "Ms. Weatherwax".

You can clearly see from her ancient, sparsely furnished hut that it has served as a home for several generations of witches. Huts are passed on from witch to witch.

Esmeralda Weatherwax would never claim to be the most powerful witch in the Discworld, any more than she is the chief witch. The following short dialogue makes this very clear:

"Mrs. Weatherwax is the chief witch, isn't she?"

"Oh no!" Protested Ms. Level, shocked. “Witches are all the same. We have no chief witch or anything like that. That would go completely against the spirit of witchcraft. "

"Oh, I see," said Tiffany.

"Besides, Ms. Weatherwax would never allow such a thing," added Ms. Degree.

In a magical duel with the Arch Chancellor of the Invisible University, she has at least achieved one draw, but she prefers to work with persuasiveness, which she calls psychology or headology . Hardly anything can withstand the penetrating stare of weatherwax.

Her greatest talent is to put her mind in the mind of other beings. She calls it borrowing . The borrowed being hardly notices her presence while she hears and sees what is happening. In the meantime Esmaralda Wetterwax can even borrow a swarm of bees , of which, contrary to her other kind, she is actually quite proud. During the borrowing, she lies at home in her hut in a very deep trance, which the ignorant could easily mistake for her passing. In order to avoid the mishap of being buried alive, which almost happened in "The Magician's Legacy", there is always a sign around her neck that reads: "I'm not dead!"

The character of Esmeralda Wetterwax undergoes a considerable transformation over time. She begins her Discworld career in Blödes Kaff , a hamlet that is about 15 miles away from Ohulan Cutash , after all a collection of about 100 houses. In The Magician's Legacy , she acts there as a rather narrow-minded, quirky, bad-tempered village witch. Through a number of trips, always unwillingly undertaken, she clearly gains in profile and depth. Not that she will eventually become a cosmopolitan, Lancre is and will remain the place of her choice, but during her stay in Ankh-Morpork she at least toyed with the idea of ​​settling there permanently.

Esmeralda Wetterwax is the first and only female lecturer at the Invisible University. Her subjects are herbalism and witchcraft. However, the students have to accept a healthy country stay in Lancre in order to benefit from their knowledge.

Because of her great power, Esmeralda Weatherwax, like all weather waxes, has to contend with proximity to the dark. Her permanent bad mood may be explained by the fact that she has to constantly check whether she is not starting to cackle . Cackling is the state witches use to describe a total loss of sense of reality. Regardless of her grim character, she has a big heart, which she would deny on the spot. For some time now, a white kitten named Du has been sharing the hut with Grandma Weatherwax. The animal is a secretly loved but reluctantly accepted gift from Tiffany Weh. You are the only creature that can transform Greebo (see Nanny Ogg) into a fearful whimpering creature in no time.

Gytha "Nanny" Ogg

Unlike the other witches, Gytha Ogg does not live in a remote hut, but in a cute, ultra-clean new building in the middle of Lancre. What we can learn from is that habits (inheriting huts) are by no means laws.

The always cheerful looking Nanny Ogg is, in contrast to her best friend Grandma Weatherwax, a very sociable person. Like them, Nanny largely avoids the use of real magic. During confrontations, because of her simple, uncomplicated nature, she prefers to use subtle means such as punching, alcohol or her broomstick.

She was married three times and in her youth, but also in the more sedate age, was never averse to acquaintance with men. Though she constantly claims to be past that age, nothing prevents her from starting a romantic affair with Casanunda , Discworld's second best lover. She is magically attracted to alcoholic beverages, and she is notorious for extremely slippery song performances, mostly performed on bar tables.

Nanny is the best midwife Discworld what they finally qualified to even the time (sic not twins!) At the birth of their simultaneous sons to help. Because of her huge family, Nanny Ogg is considered the informal ruler of the small kingdom of Lancre. As Mater Familias, she can rule not only over her own children but also over an army of daughters and sons-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The family conflict and coalition situation of the Ogg clan is highly complex and not transparent to an outsider. Male offspring, as long as they are still in the sticky stage, are pampered and pampered by Nanny.

Daughters, whose names Nanny strives not even notice (it's just the girls ) have per se a difficult position. You need a regular rotating shifts keep the house in order, and woe if bungled it. The whole family is aware that nanny's favor can only rise slowly, but fall very quickly. This is not the only reason why your house overflows with children's drawings, souvenirs and souvenirs. Your cat Greebo is an ugly, voracious, insidious and aggressive animal. He is always ready to fight against everything and everyone. Even bears and wolves avoid Greebo, the father of all Lancre cats. For Nanny, he's still the helpless, fluffy kitten that she took under her covers years ago.

Nanny Ogg is also a world famous writer. Not under her name, but under the pseudonym A Witch from Lancre , she wrote the erotic cookbook Froide for the palate, and not just for it , which is now in its 127th edition.

Magrat garlic

Magrat Knoblauch enjoyed her training at Gütchen Wemper. In keeping with the spirit of her instructor and that of the hut, she is a research witch. She questions everything, reads books and, due to her better knowledge of herbs, is the best healer of the trio of witches. However, this does not help to raise their low self-esteem. As the youngest of the three, she is only allowed to make tea, serve cookies and look blank. She never gets an answer to the really important questions.

With her helpless search for her own self, Magrat is the parody of the New Age witches of our time. She is a vegetarian and a militant advocate of healthy living. She is gentle, understanding, and believes in the power of aromatherapy. Without magical jewelry, talismans, scented candles and colored stones, no spiritual atmosphere is conceivable for them. To increase her self-esteem, she learns martial arts techniques with the help of a brochure.

Magrat's appearance, in her own estimation, is well - problematic. Her hair cannot be styled and her figure resembles an ironing board with two peas on it. In addition, she often has a cold. To compensate, Magrat has a romantic nature. In Total , she becomes a fairy herself through the death of the witch and fairy godmother Desiderata Holig and plays her goddaughter at the coronation ball in Gennua. In this way she can prevent the fairy Lily Wetterwax from finally taking control of the city. She wants to be courted and believes that elves are happy beings. At least until, on the day of her wedding to Verence II, the elf queen invades Lancre and kidnaps her future husband. Wearing the weapons and armor of Ynci, a historical lurking warrior, she confronts the intruders and turns out to be astonishingly violent. Following this slaughter, Margrat says goodbye to witchcraft and marries the king and former court jester.

Magrat's name was originally supposed to be Margarete. The priest to whom her mother gave the slip of paper with the name unfortunately suffered from dyslexia and misread the name. Occasionally Magrat suffers from her false name. Meanwhile (since the novel Ruhig Blut ) Magrat has a daughter. In order to avoid the mistake of her own mother, she noted the following on the slip of paper that the priest presented at the naming ceremony: Esmerelda Margarete, pay attention to the correct spelling . That's the name of her little one now.

Agnes Nitt

Agnes is a well-behaved, shy, young woman. In order not to have to call her fat, it should be noted that it would certainly not be difficult for her to tuck two piglets under her arms. In Lancre, this is a very effective qualifier for marrying a local farmer. She really wants to avoid this foreseeable fate, because she is also a pretty intelligent young woman.

Her first attempt at escape (Lords and Ladies) leads her to Diamanda's circle of young witches and ends in a tragicomic. What remains of this is the interesting name Perdita, which she got back then and the knowledge that she had a talent for magic. However, she rejects cautious advances on the part of the established witch trio, as she finds the manipulative and high-handed behavior of the old hags repulsive.

Nature has not only blessed Agnes Nitt with a luscious body, but also with a magical voice. In “Mummenschanz” she decides to use this talent and succeed as a singer in Ankh-Morpork at the opera. A vocal range of three octaves and the ability to duet with yourself make them the music director's favorite. The opera house owner, however, has other figurative preferences and determines a well-formed, but vocally completely untalented blonde to be a diva. Perdita, as she calls herself again, has to project her voice onto this person from the second row and the blonde gets the applause. Agnes cannot satisfy this in the long run and she returns to Lancre. There she becomes, after Magrat's "Ascent", the third witch in the league.

In Ruhig Blut it finally turns out that the metaphorical sentence: “In every fat girl there is a thin girl who wants to get out”, has actually taken shape in Agnes. The thin girl in Agnes is called Perdita and is a highly independent personality who embodies her exact opposite in character. Cheeky, cheeky, self-confident, cynical and extremely mean to the fat guy . In extreme situations, when Agnes is overwhelmed, the rebellious Perdita takes over her body and solves the problems. Agne's original desired name was Perdita X. Dream , in English Perdita X. Dream . The phonetic similarities to the extreme are certainly not accidental.

Tiffany woes

Terry Pratchett dedicates five volumes of his disc world novels to Tiffany Weh (English Tiffany Aching). In the first four he lets us participate in her development from a nine-year-old precocious brat to a sixteen-year-old adolescent teenager.

Tiffany Weh comes from the chalk land and the chalk land is sheep land. She is the granddaughter of Grandma Weh: her little Jiggit , which in Yan Tan Thetra , the old counting language of the shepherds, meant 20. Even after her death, she was unofficially considered the best shepherdess in the country and absolute authority on all matters as long as they were about sheep. Grandma Weh was probably a witch who'd never told anyone she was. She didn't have to use magic to help people. Instead, she made people help themselves - an indication of a really good witch. From Grandma Weh, Tiffany learned the formative motto: someone has to speak for those who have no voice.

Tiffany Weh is the chalk country witch, the only one, as she emphasizes. In Little Free Men , Tiffany, only nine years old, is introduced as a witch. Armed only with an iron frying pan, she drives the fairy queen out of her land. In addition, she saves her brother Willwoll and Roland, the baron's son, from her clutches. The witch seeker, Miss Tick, who discovered Tiffany by chance, can hardly believe it, because according to the current theory, soft chalk can neither produce a witch nor support her in her actions. She has to let Mrs. Weatherwax teach her better. The core of the chalk in the chalk land is the hardest flint and this is what Tiffany's power is based on.

She has power, as it soon turns out. She completed the first part of her apprenticeship in Lancre (hat full of stars) with Mrs. Grad. Carelessness and ignorance lead to an ancient, powerful and immortal being, a hawker , nestling in their consciousness. First she fights it, but then she realizes that this being is unspeakably fearful and seeks protection. She gives him the name Arthur and, at his request, hands him over to death.

Next, Miss Treason takes Tiffany under her wing (The Wintersmith) . This time her youth and impulsiveness lead to a tricky situation. During the autumn morris dance, she dances with winter and is mistaken for the summer woman he desperately desires. After a series of rather inhospitable incidents, she redeems the country and herself from winter with a hot kiss. After her grandma Weatherwax put the finishing touches to her training by showing her how to take the pain away from people, Tiffany returns to Chalk Country.

Tiffany Weh wouldn't be Tiffany Weh without her special relationship with We-are-the-greatest! , the race of rowdy goblins who live in the old burial mounds of the chalk country. From them she learns that her name Tiffany sounds like Tir-far-thionn , which means land under the wave . For a few days she was the clan's kelda, which is roughly equivalent to a queen. Since then she has been under their constant protection and constant observation.

After her return to the chalk country, Tiffany tends the sick baron until his death (The Midnight Dress) . Your liaison with Roland, the baron's son, goes completely wrong. After the baron's death, Roland marries the daughter of a neighboring duke. Lätitia, although blonde and blue-blooded, also has a tendency to be a witch. But Tiffany Weh finds the man in her heart in Preston, an aspiring doctor.

“The Shepherd's Crown” (2015, published posthumously) is considered to be Sir Terry Pratchett's “farewell novel” from the Discworld, in which Tiffany, now a fully-fledged witch, has to save it and is supported by several other well-known Discworld characters.

More witches

• Alison Wetterwax, called Die Schwarze Alice (English: Black Alyss ), was the grandmother of Esme and Lily Wetterwax. Her name is a reference to the classic witch from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm . Whether she tragically ended up in an oven like this is unclear. Esme assumes that she has never really switched to the dark side, but rather malicious slander has earned her this reputation (lords and ladies) .
• Lily "Lilith" Wetterwax is Esme Wetterwax's sister. She was originally a fairy godmother, but has completely lost her mind because of too much mirror magic. Everywhere she tries to make fairytale scenarios real. Under the name Lady Lilith , she rules Gennua and stages the Frog King there, but is stopped by her sister. In a final showdown, the two sisters fight each other and ultimately merge into one person, who is still Esme Weatherwax.
• Mrs. Gogol is the voodoo witch from Gennua. The source of their magic is the swamp. Your greatest power is manifested in the creation of zombies. She was the mistress of the late Duke of Gennua and tries to get his daughter Ella to the throne. With the help of the three witches from Lancre, she can finally prevail against Lily's mirror magic.
• Miss Tick (English Miss Tick , play on words with "mystic" = mystic) is a traveler and witch disguised as a teacher. She travels because she is one of the few witch seekers. If she finds a promising girl in any place, she finds him an apprenticeship with an elderly witch, mostly in Lancre. Like every witch, she wears a pointed hat, which, however, for camouflage reasons, only takes its shape when required by means of a spring.
• Ms. Evadne Kuchen is actually not a witch, but a medium and a clairvoyant. Mrs. Kuchen runs a guest house in Ankh-Morpork. Mainly the undead live there, including Angua from the city guard. Her daughter Ludmilla is a werewolf, which explains the choice of her favorite guests. For some inexplicable reason, Mrs. Kuchen is particularly feared by the postmen of the Royal Mail. The priests of any religion, on the other hand, are unnerved by their rigorous religious subtleties.
• Ms. Degree is a witch - with two bodies. As they keep saying, the two degrees are not twins. Different types of work are made considerably easier and faster due to their duality. She spent her youth in the circus, where she as Topsy and Tipsy astonished the audience with various tricks. Ms. Degree is an extremely friendly and helpful witch. With her, Tiffany Weh learns the basics of the witchcraft - hard, boring and dirty work. The violent death of one of her bodies initially gives Ms. Degree a severe shock. But after she has learned to use her second, now virtual body as usual, this increases the respect of her customers immeasurably.
• Miss Verrat was 113 years old when Tiffany Weh began the second part of her training with her (The Winter Blacksmith) . As it turns out at her death, however, she is only 111. Fräulein Verrat passed herself off as 113 because 111 sounded so “youthful” to her. She is what could best be called a justice witch. People come to her to have their disputes settled. Their reputation and bad mood are legendary. A verdict from Miss Treason is absolute and unimpeachable. Miss Treason is blind, but sees through the eyes of the two ravens who are sitting on the armrests of her chair to the left and right (an allusion to Hugin and Munin , Odin's two ravens). The chair stands in front of a large, clacking loom on which Miss Treason makes all kinds of cloth goods. Miss Verrat's house is crammed full of creepy objects from cellar to roof. Skulls, dripping candles, cobwebs are omnipresent. At some point it turns out that all of this comes from the catalog of Boffo, a joke article retailer, but it still has its effect. Another hallmark of Miss Treason is her watch. A hulking mechanical device that reminds the passing of time with unmistakable KLONGKLANG. The vernacular claims that Miss Treason had her heart exchanged for this clock and only dies when the clock stops ticking. In fact, Miss Treason dies in the course of the novel, but people don't believe she is dead until the clock stops and falls silent at the funeral. After her death, Annagramma takes over the hut from Miss Treason, a student of Miss Earwig.
• Ms. Earwig ( pronounced Oor-wm by herself ) is the snob among witches. She looks down on the village witches and their dirty work with infinite contempt. Ms. Earwig attaches great importance to her appearance and demeanor. A meter-high hat adorned with stars, very black clothing and plenty of magical jewelry should ensure respect. She considers traditional witch magic to be unworthy nonsense and tries to familiarize her students with the use of written magic formulas. She published her collected findings in a book The Higher Magic by Letiza Earwig, Witch . All of this makes her the intimate enemy of Esmeralda Wetterwax.

wizard

Rincewind

The untalented magician Rincewind is the main character in various Discworld novels and the protagonist of the first novel . In him the prototype of the cynical coward is manifested, whose greatest talent is running away. As the most important character in the game of the goddess of luck, he succeeds several times in saving the Discworld from destruction by involuntarily facing his fear.

As a magician, Rincewind notoriously fails. His magical abilities approach zero - from below. However, the lack of talent seems innate to him. His horoscope says that he was born under the sign of the Little Boring Group of Pale Stars , which lies between the Flying Mouse and the Knotted Cord . An extremely unexciting constellation, which is usually associated with checkerboard joiners, onion sellers and manufacturers of plaster of paris with little religious significance. In addition to this interstellar handicap, his difficulties with magic can also be traced back to the fact that one of the eight Great Spells of the Octave has lodged in his head and scares any further formula. Nevertheless, Rincewind graduated from the Invisible University and clearly documents this on his hat with the word "ZAUBBERER" (in the original "WIZZARD").

Rincewind is linguistically gifted and is considered the most widely traveled person in the Discworld. He's been everywhere, even if often only briefly and running through. He knows XXXX only too well, has revolutionized the Achaten Empire and tried on the Cori Celesti to dissuade Cohen the barbarians from bringing fire back to the gods. He has already crossed the edge twice, visited hell and the dungeon dimensions. Because of this, he wants nothing more than a boring and, above all, safe life.

His career as a globetrotter began after the patrician had ordered him to act as a kind of travel guide for Zwelum, the first tourist to the Discworld. Zwelum's farewell present for loyal service was a chest , a suitcase made of intelligent pear wood. Since then, Rincewind has not gone anywhere without a chest following him on his foot or, in this case, on hundreds of tiny feet and protecting him. A questionable treat, because Chest is an unhealthy mix of a bad-tempered bag and a psychopathic serial killer. Chest's only real advantage: loaded dirty laundry comes out clean, ironed and with a light lavender scent in no time.

In the short breaks between his unwanted adventures, Rincewind works as an assistant to the librarian at the Invisible University. After Rincewind has once again saved the world by uttering the eight great spells of the octave , Mustrum Ridcully has appointed him Unheard-of Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography and receives six other titles for which no one feels responsible.

Arch Chancellor Mustrum Ridcully

Ridcully the Brown is the youngest of the 305 Arch Chancellors of the Invisible University. He was originally appointed to this post as a temporary solution. It was assumed that, like his predecessors, he would not stay in office long. At the time, murder was regarded by magicians as a highly legitimate means of clearing up a traffic jam. To everyone's astonishment and horror, however, the farmer's son Ridcully developed considerable skill in thwarting all assassinations and in giving the murder planners themselves a proper lesson. This led to stagnation within the university hierarchy, which is ultimately responsible for the current state of peaceful inertia. The country's top wizards turned into a bunch of fat-eaten elderly gentlemen who discovered that debates over procedural motions can be as deadly as a poisoned dessert.

Mustrum Ridcully is the only athletic wizard. A jogging program every morning is just as much a part of his everyday life as frequent hunting and fishing trips. As a student he was involved in the rowing team of the Invisible University, and when The Invisible Scholars Club has to set up a football team, Mustrum is of course their storming captain.

At first and second glance, Ridcully appears to be shirt-sleeved, coarse, uncouth and slightly restricted. But the third look shows that he is a pretty clever power politician who has been washed with all hands and a very good magician. Everything else is posture with which he intimidates and misleads his competitors. Incidentally, assuming management positions seems to run in the family. His brother, High Priest of Blind Io, has become the official religious spokesman for the great Morporkian pantheon of priests.

Although Arch Chancellor, Ridcully has a deep dislike for the chancellor's hat, which is actually mandatory. He claims that he keeps chatting to him, which is probably true. For this reason, too, he made his own hat, which has since been modified several times. In addition to a bottle of brandy, there is also space for a small crossbow.

At a young age, during a holiday in the Spitzhorn Mountains, Ridcully got to know and love Esmeralda Wetterwax. A romance seemed to be on the way, but then the vacation was over and she didn't reply to his many letters. When he meets Grandma again at the wedding of King Verence and Margrat Knobloch in Lords and Ladies , Ridcully speculates how her life would have been if he hadn't become a wizard and she hadn't become a witch. Grandma Weatherwax therefore thinks he's a sentimental fool.

Ridcully is a parody of the nature-loving, animal-speaking magician Radagast the brown from The Lord of the Rings . It is not without reason that the name is also close to the word “ridicule” , which means mockery or ridicule in English, as well as “ridiculous” , ridiculous.

The Treasurer

The Treasurer is the Invisible University's finances and he's totally nuts. Which may be due to the fact that no one can manage the university's finances and keep their minds together at the same time. As a naturally nervous personality, the quaestor is also severely attacked by the arch-chancellor's tone and behavior. The rumbling, shirt-sleeved Ridcully likes to trample on the quaestor, even if only in a figurative sense, which is quite sufficient for notorious bundles of nerves.

In order to be able to reasonably normal thinking, the Treasurer has to take dried frog pills. Since this is an experimental drug, the effects vary depending on the dose. Sometimes this is why the Quaestor thinks he can fly and because he is a magician he can actually do it. His colleagues tolerate him because of his mathematical talent and because he does the work that nobody else wants to do, namely keeping the finances in order. However, they avoid giving him anything other than wooden cutlery at mealtimes.

Diaper Poons

Windle is the second oldest living wizard in the Discworld. Only Albert is older, although his life as a butler in the House of Death, which has now been around 5000 years, hardly passes as life. Windle can best be compared to the mad Polterer from the Gray Horde . Not only do they both use a wheelchair, which is more likely to be classified as a heavy combat vehicle, their mild dementia and severe hearing impairment make them true brothers in spirit. Windle always lives at least five minutes after the now and is constantly annoying with the question of "WHAT IS?"

Windle Poons and his wheelchair play a not insignificant role in two disc world novels. In Voll im Bilde , Windle steers the completely overloaded wheelchair while transporting the crank, that is, the cameraman who creates the magic of Holy Wood so that Victor can finally bring about its end heroically. Even more important is his contribution to Alles Sense . After 130 great years, Windle Poons dies, but at the worst possible time. Since Tod has been retired by the auditors and no successor is available yet, one cannot die on Discworld at the moment. Life energy accumulates, everything goes haywire. Windle involuntarily returns to the world as a zombie, which leads to various entanglements. Its enormous zombie power ultimately contributes significantly to the destruction of the city parasite that has invaded Ankh-Morpork and disguised itself as a glittering shopping mall full of special offers. At the end of the novel he dies for good and, as is usual with magicians, is accompanied by death personally into the afterlife.

The librarian

The Invisible University librarian used to be human. While the octave at the beginning of The Light of Fantasy had to change reality in order to save Rincewind and thus the eighth Great Spell, the librarian turned into an orangutan, as it were as magical collateral damage.

He has since preferred this figure and effectively defies all attempts to transform him back. The advantages of his new body are obvious. He has a lot more power, which makes it easier to deal with the more dangerous grimoires and is also not a disadvantage in tavern fights. Since climbing is his nature, he no longer needs a ladder to reach the upper rows of shelves. After all, agonizing deliberations about menu or food sequences are no longer necessary, a bunch of bananas is enough.

His ability to speak has been reduced to the two sounds "Iiek" and "Ugh" (English "Ook"), with which he can, however, communicate very differently. In any case, Captain Karotte and Rincewind understand him perfectly. In Heiße Hüpfer he suffers from chronic morphic instability and turns into a thick book bound in hairy red leather, which is entitled "UGH" and which is printed with "ughs" up to the last page. The librarian accepts it as "monkey" (English ape to be addressed). However , if you call it "animal" (in the original monkey ), you should be able to run as fast as an animal. Anyone who gets away with an indulgent warning after an "animal" may regard this as a sign of special sympathy.

With the status of a special constable, the librarian is a member of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard. He wears his badge on a string around his neck. In another part-time job, or as a hobby, the librarian makes music. Since it has a total of twenty finger-like limbs, it is perfect for playing on the organs of the totally crazy Johnson .

The librarian is an avid theater-goer, whose taste even the dramaturges now take into account. Whenever possible, but also when impossible, they add cream cake throwing scenes to their pieces. If a piece doesn't like a piece, the librarian pelts the actors with peanuts. Of course, the librarian also eagerly visited the theaters that showed the new moving images (fully in the picture) . He is sitting in the Odium at the world premiere of Blown Away by the Wind . When the beings break out of the dungeon dimensions in the form of a gigantic woman from the canvas, the librarian is kidnapped by them. In a parody of King Kong , the giant woman climbs the art tower with him in her fist.

Based on the language of the librarian, there is the programming language Ook! , in which exclusively with the words Ook. , Ook! and ook? is programmed.

Ponder stibbons

Ponder's name comes from the English to ponder , which means “to ponder” or “to think”. He begins his career at the university as an ambitious young magician. In the course of the novels he worked his way up to the head of the department for "Unruly Applied Magic". He researches in the tract for high energy magic (English High Energy Magic Building ) and is considered the first reader of invisible writings . Ponder played a key role in the development of HEX. Although he, as one of the few magicians, has at least some idea of ​​what he is doing, his explanations, drafts or suggestions are not taken seriously because he is too young. Actually, Ponder suspects that one should be able to explain the world without resorting to magic. When he meets the god of evolution in Heiße Hüpfer , he believes he is finally getting closer to this goal - a mistake, as it turns out.

Stibbons explains many phenomena in terms of modern physics. The Arch Chancellor either ignored these attempts or deliberately misunderstood them. In this regard, Ponder shares the fate of the real physicists who broke with classical physics in the early 20th century. The round world - the world we live in - is the result of a magical experiment carried out by Ponder.

Unlike most magicians, Ponder Stibbons does not have a beard. In Paul Kidby's drawings , he bears amazing resemblances to Harry Potter . Ponder's figure can be read as a parody of the typical nerd .

The Supreme Shepherd

In a footnote in Alles Sense it says about him: “The position of the Supreme Shepherd was as unusual as the title. In some educational institutions, the Supreme Shepherd is considered the spiritual or spiritual father, while in other places he looks after cattle. The Supreme Shepherd of the Invisible University is a philosopher who looks like a horse; in this way he meets all definitions. "

More magicians

• Galder Weatherwax (English Galder Weatherwax ) was the 301st Arch Chancellor of the Invisible University and a cousin of the witch Grandma Weatherwax . He owes his demise to an unfortunate encounter with Chest.
• Simon, a young magician who comes to Ankh-Morpork with a caravan. He is very susceptible to health (hay fever, allergies) and, like Ponder Stibbons, represents very modern theories ( curvature of space, etc.).
• The dean, the only magician who can sit on two chairs at the same time. The meanwhile former dean is now arch chancellor at the University of Brazeneck in Pseudopolis.
• The lecturer in new runes.
• Eskarina Schmied, the first female student at the Invisible University. Due to a mistake, the staff of a magician is inherited from her, which forms the basis for a career as a magician. Since the university does not accept female students, Eskarina is an “undercover student” who learns the subject matter while cleaning the lecture theaters.
• Knallwinkel, the 303rd Arch Chancellor of the university and strict opponent of the admission of female students, but who ultimately gives Eskarina the status of a magician and on top of that tries to persuade Grandma Weatherwax, as a lecturer at the university, the other magic (witchcraft) to the students at irregular intervals to explain.
• Münze, the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son, a rare exception because wizards are celibate. For good reason, because Münze is a creative magus who does not have to make do with the magic available on the Discworld, but brings new magic to the Discworld. He is more powerful than death and the gods. After its publication, Münze is "elected" as the 304th Arch Chancellor and instigates one of the infamous magic wars. However, he is largely controlled by his embittered father, whose self is in Münze's wand.
• The professor of indefinite studies.
• Adrian Rübensaat is a student at the Invisible University. To the alarm of his fellow students he entered the question "Why?" In HEX, whereupon HEX replied: "Therefore!"
• Victor, probably the longest-serving student at the Invisible University. He is very lazy, which is why he preferred not to become a magician as it would involve work. In order to still be able to continue his student life, he just failed all exams so that he could not be de-registered. One day the wizards considered making a decision by asking just one question on an exam. However, Victor was pulled out of Invisible University by the call of Holy Wood, and Ponder Stibbons, then his fellow student, was given his assignment sheet.
• Trymon, a young, scheming, ambitious magician who, after Wetterwax's death, allows himself to be proclaimed the 302nd Arch Chancellor.
• Dr. m. Phil. Ladislaw Pelc, prehuman professor of morbid bibliomania. It deals with words and the curvatures in space that they cause. He built a book finder for students and can often be found in the library.
• Kropf, posthumous prophet of morbid bibliomania. He's practically dead, but his ghost is kept in an empty peanut butter jar so you can keep communicating with him. Spirits preserved in this way enter a world in which one eats dinner all the time.
• Dr. John Hicks is the director of the Institute for Postmortem Communication. He conjures up the late Prof. Flett, an expert on the ahemian culture.
• Prof. Flett bequeathed his soul to the Invisible University. He is a bit grouchy and, despite his immaterial condition, quite receptive to feminine charms.
• Spelled spelled was the predecessor of the current treasurer. He was killed by coin.

HEX

HEX is no longer the only, but the most powerful calculating machine on Discworld. It was originally built to help simplify many differentiated magic formulas and to develop meta-formulas from them.

HEX originally consisted of a few glass tubes through which ants ran in search of sugar juice. In the meantime it has become a highly complex structure, in which a ram's skull is placed because of the occult transformation, gears and springs are built in because ants do not understand differential equations very well, a cuckoo acts as a false clock, an aquarium and a number of carillons are unknown but important Take over functions, and a mouse that has built its nest in the middle of the apparatus. Ponder Stibbons secretly blames them for the occurrence of the dreaded “no more cheese” error. However, removing the mouse leads to a complete malfunction. The long-term storage of HEX is done by a colony of bees that hold an astonishing amount of information in the honeycomb. Like every modern machine, HEX naturally has a sticker that reads “Anthill inside”, which translates as “anthill inside” - obviously an allusion to the similar-sounding advertising slogan “Intel inside”.

The keyboard is almost as big as HEX and offers space for many levers and fittings. The keys drop small wooden boards with holes in them, forcing the ants to use other routes. So that even a DaU (dumbest user to be accepted) like the Arch Chancellor can use HEX, an old ear tube has been installed for voice input and a pen plotter prints out the answers in writing. Meanwhile, HEX can perform spells in a very short time that would otherwise occupy dozens of wizards for years.

Ponder Stibbons, who is significantly involved in the development of HEX, repeatedly emphasizes that HEX does not think. After all, an apparatus cannot think. Still, he has his doubts. After one of his assistants, more of a joke, asked HEX the general question: “Why?”, Everyone expected that the machine would answer “?????”. Instead, the ants worked like crazy and produced the result: "That's why." When asked: "Why everything?", HEX intensified the ants' performance and replied: "That's why everything." , nobody knows why he is sending messages.

In any case, HEX developed a kind of personality over time and Ponder is sure that he is secretly expanding himself. Apparently he wants to correspond to a figure that seems to exist as a multidimensional idea. So far, neither Ponder nor the Snow Father have been able to fulfill the machine's desire for electricity.

Pex

The computer at the Brazeneck University in Pseudopolis works with chickens instead of ants. They are very proud of the additional benefits of the eggs that are produced over the long term. Like any new technology, this also has an unknown side of danger. After a 20-meter-tall chicken terrorizes the city at the end of The Invisible Scholars Club , people there are seriously considering a return to more traditional ant technology.

Employee of the Invisible University

• Ms. Allesweiß is the university's top housekeeper. Her position of power is indisputable, after all, she manages and organizes all the things that wizards have no idea about. The art of removing embarrassing stains is just as much a part of it as the composition of multi-course menus. Anyone who annoys them must either expect to run out of white sheets anytime soon, or, worse, to be sentenced to a general cleaning of their room several times a week. Frau Allesweiß is superstitious. Every form of fortune-telling, from reading coffee grounds to tarot cards to seeing crystal balls, puts you in ecstatic excitement. Grandma Weatherwax is richly rewarded for this. On the one hand, with good, well-worn clothing, on the other hand, by bringing Eskarina, the only sorceress in the Discworld, disguised as a housemaid, into the university through the back entrance, so to speak. Ms. Allesweiß has a pronounced class consciousness. While she brings subordinates to work in the sharpest tone, she whistles sentences to higher-ups that sound like: "I apologize if I have done something wrong."
• Modo, the gardener, is a dwarf and responsible for the dirty work at the university. He's a kind of caretaker and a maid for everything. He used to work in the patrician's garden, but he finds it much more interesting with the magicians. His greatest pride are black roses, which he grew in the garden of the Invisible University with the help of residual magical radiation. His second passion is taking care of his exceptionally active compost heaps. It is said that the only reason his plants grew so fast was that they didn't have to be so close to the compost that was spread.

The city guard

The city guard protects Ankh-Morpork from all possible dangers - initially preferably from those who are outnumbered, unarmed and obviously unconscious.

Samuel guts

Sir Samuel Vimes , Duke of Ankh, is the commander of the city watch. Accordingly, he is often present as the main character when a disc world novel is set in Ankh-Morpork. His titles as knight and duke were bestowed on him by Lord Vetinari for outstanding service in the city guard. However, the fact that he is descended from “stone face” Mumm may also have played a role. Mumm is secretly quite proud of his legendary ancestors. Stone Face investigated the last king of the city, Lorenzo the Nice . He discovered abundant evidence of child abuse and murder, but no court wanted to convict the king. Thereupon Stone Face Vimes took the law and his ax into his own hands. Briefly and painlessly, he beheaded the king, who deserved a much more agonizing ending. For this courageous but outrageous act, Stone Face Mumm was later hanged and quartered. His title of nobility was stripped from him, all the family's possessions were confiscated and the Mumms coat of arms banned. After that, however, there was never a king in Ankh-Morpork again.

Sam Mumm is married to Lady Sybil Käsedick. The two have a son, Samuel junior. After his wife gave him the Käsedick fortune, Sam is the richest man in Ankh-Morpork. Intercourse with the so-called upper class is, however, extremely unpleasant for him. That's why he uses every opportunity to hunt down criminals like in the old days. According to his wife Sybil, he is "his own class enemy".

Sam Mumm is the widespread belief among police officers that there are no innocents. The policeman in him never sleeps and no matter where he goes, the crime is already here. Mumm is characterized by straightforward thinking. He doesn't like it when a scenario becomes political. So he tries, if at all possible, to define every problem as a crime in order to then identify and imprison a culprit. Within this logic he arrested a dragon, the patrician Lord Vetinari and even two hostile armies. He accuses them of “behavior that endangers peace”, “unauthorized camping in the desert”, “suspicious loitering” and “carrying hidden weapons”.

In the course of the novels, the character of Mumms gains astonishing complexity. At first he was an alcoholic ; who, however, described himself as a drunkard because he was too poor for an alcoholic. He developed with Carrot's entry into the guard and after his marriage. He no longer drinks, is gaining competence and is becoming a formidable leader. It goes so far that when in The Fifth Elephant Colon leads the guard because of Mumm's absence and plunges them into total chaos up to and including a strike, the thieves' guild holds back extremely. She knows when Vimes comes back, and he'll come back if he wasn't happy. "And when a commander of the guard is not happy, he tends to spread his misfortune everywhere with a large shovel." (P. 298) As with the patrician, the Assassin's Guild no longer accepts an assignment for Sam Vimes. His death would destroy the existing system of the city and thus damage the guild itself. Vimes himself regrets this, as he has the feeling that he is doing something right as long as someone is trying to kill him.

The basic tendency is Mumm is xenophobic . He doesn't like dwarves, trolls and especially the undead, especially vampires. But that doesn't prevent him from working very successfully with them at the station. He is of the opinion that through his intensive coexistence with these species he deserves not to like them. If others, especially members of the upper class, express xenophobic views, Mumm sees red. Mumm is a real Morporkian. He knows his city inside out. He can even use the cobblestones through the soles of cheap boots to locate his current location with his eyes closed. However, he reveals extensive ignorance about everything that lies beyond the city limits. Geography, languages, local customs and traditions, he has to laboriously acquire everything if he is to leave his beloved city. When he realizes that Carrot, who has been in town for much shorter time, is now fluent in Gospel, it leads to rather self-critical reflections on his own understanding of the world.

The relationship between Mumm and the patrician is very special. The multi-track thinker Ventinari often uses the single-track guts like a battering ram to remove obstacles that stand in the way of the city's development. And he uses Vimes special sense of justice and duty by giving him orders that he knows Vumm will do the exact opposite. In the end, it's always guts that upset people while Ventinari washes his hands in innocence and exploits the results of Mumm's furor. Thanks to his definitely undiplomatic, but nevertheless astute, way of approaching problems, the patrician relies on guts, even as a diplomat. In women's regiment he ends the war between Borograwia and Zlobenia, in The Fifth Elephant he secures the coronation of the lower king, and diplomatic receptions are much more successful thanks to his unconventional contributions.

Though he strictly denies it, Vimes in Klonk was briefly possessed by an ancient, vengeful entity called the Calling Darkness . Not that she had controlled him, his inner guts, the guts that oversee the outer guts, locked her in a very special prison. What remains is a scar in the form of the rune, which depicts the calling darkness . In addition, he can now see in complete darkness and speaks the language of the goblins, who, like the dwarves, are also a cave species.

Mumm distrusts everyone, but above all himself, and that's why he constantly checks. For example, he always keeps a half-full bottle of schnapps in his bottom desk drawer in order to permanently test whether it is really dry. The cruelty of criminal everyday life means that Mumm sometimes just wants to kill the crooks. His worst fear is that one day he will actually lose control and grossly disregard the rights of an arrested criminal. The question: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes , that is: Whoever monitors the guards, is clear to Mumm: He does it himself. If you ask him who is monitoring him, the answer is the same: He does it himself. This division of labor works very well, even the Calling Darkness could not corrupt Vimes .

Carrot iron founder's son

Carrot Eisengießer son (Engl. Carrot Ironfoundersson ) is one of the most important figures in the Discworld oeuvre. In no novel does he have the explicit main role, but wherever the guard appears, carrot plays an essential part.

Carrot is a foundling. Dwarves found and adopted him, making him the largest dwarf in the Discworld. His nickname among the dwarves is "Kzad-bhat", roughly translated as " headbumper" (in the English original "headbanger") , which is not surprising with a body height of two meters and almost as broad shoulders. Together with his healthy skin color and short red hair, the appearance of a carrot is created, which explains his name sufficiently. Carrot is introduced as a person with outstanding physical powers with which he can stand up to trolls; however, their importance diminishes as the stories progress.

When Carrot falls madly in love with a dwarf for the first time and receives a rebuff, his stepfather realizes that he will not be happy with dwarfs. He explains his foundling status to him and sends him to “the big ones” in town. On its way from the Kupferkopf to Ankh-Morpork, carrot accompanies an ancient volume in which the city's laws are written down. Since the trip was completely uneventful, he had enough time to study this book of the law and what Carrot once knew he knew forever. The customs prevailing under the patrician in Ankh-Morpork are therefore completely incomprehensible to him at first. One of his first official acts after joining the guard is consequently to arrest the head of the thieves' guild in his own guild house and to drag him tied across the whole city to the guard house. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the city has been waiting for carrots. Before long he knows everyone and has the names, age, place of residence, marital status and the complete biography including likes and dislikes in his head. As Karotte's professional competence grows, his orthographic skills seem to decline. The first letters to his parents are still in correct Morporkish. In the later novels, Pratchett turned this writing into a kind of dyslexic running gag, and not without good reason - even the best man needs a flaw.

Humor, irony and cynicism are alien to him, like all dwarfs. He takes everything literally and understands no metaphors (the request to let a criminal feel “the full force of the law” is interpreted as throwing his code of law at the forehead of the said criminal with full force); nevertheless he is unearthly personable. Carrot is free of prejudice to the core. Whoever he meets, he or she is initially viewed and addressed as a nice person with a good, decent nature. The inexplicable carotid charisma leads to the fact that those addressed actually behave that way, at least as long as he is around. It is his sincere interest in people that gives him power over them, which is why he is able to tame even angry trolls and dwarves by exhorting them to "be good". Nobody wants to disappoint carrots.

He and his colleague, the werewolf Angua, are lovers. Regardless of Angua's permanent doubts, her wolf nature doesn't bother him at all. Carrot makes a strict distinction between important and personal things. After Angua was lured onto a ship by a potential gossip killer and agent and kidnapped, he first reports where the suspect is now. That was important. Then he follows his personal interests and chases after him.

In various places ( guards! Guards! And Helle Bards ) it is strongly suggested that carrot is actually the rightful king of the city. He has a birthmark in the shape of a crown, a solid, completely unmagical sword, a weathered signet ring and - charisma. However, all of this is of little interest to Carrot himself, because he can best serve the city in the very job he has. And after all, service is the main task of a good king.

Sergeant Detritus

Sergeant Detritus is a member of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard and appears as a strong supporting character in all disc world novels where the guard plays a role. He is one of the few characters whose name has not been translated. The English "detritus" means rock debris and crushed organism remains, which describes its essential properties. Detritus is a troll , which means that it is made of living rock and has a silicon brain.

Before Detritus hired the guard, he worked in various jobs as a ripper (kind of like a bouncer, but trolls use more power). Most recently in Holy Wood (fully pictured) , where he met his girlfriend Rubin, who attached great importance to a troll with a regular income.

Trolls are generally considered to be strong, but stupid, which is a speciesistic prejudice, because the intelligence of trolls is essentially temperature-dependent. The colder it gets, the smarter the troll is because the electrical resistance of the silicon decreases. In Helle Bards, detritus is trapped in the city's frozen future pig store. It's so cold there that his brain becomes superconducting and within a short time he solves all the mathematical puzzles in the world and invents a few new ones. Later, Corporal Knuddel, a dwarf, gave him a self-made, pull-up ventilation helmet for cooling.

While on duty, Detritus is armed with a siege crossbow called a "peacemaker" (in the original piecemaker ). The gun and himself are so feared that unruly citizens calm down as soon as his name comes into play.

Further

• Sergeant Frederick Colon , just called "Fred" for short, a human. He's had a functioning marriage for years, based on notes he and his wife leave behind when they go to work (she works during the day, he at night. Still, they must have grown closer here and there because they have three children). Colon is a negative example of a simple-thinking cop. Before his time as a police officer, he was a soldier in the regiment "The Pheasants" because the regiment once looted a pheasant farm. In this capacity he probably also committed war crimes, such as torturing prisoners. However, he suppresses these memories as best he can. He is xenophobic and quite conservative. After his engagement in gossip, however, he changes a little, at least he doesn't want to drink “Zum Klatschianerkopf” in the pub. In general, he doesn't think much about his views and he's a decent guy at heart. Due to his services to the patrician during the war with gossip, he is assigned road safety as a reward. In Klonk! he is listed as a special constable because he is not to be retired.
• Sergeant Delphine Angua von Überwald , generally just called "Angua", a werewolf , born in Überwald. Her father is the Baron von Überwald, but she detests their way of life as werewolves. Even in human form she has a superhuman sense of smell. Angua is a vegetarian and does not tolerate the smell of blood well. The guard avoids her a bit and taunts when she becomes active in wolf form. She is the friend of carrot iron founder's son.
• Corporal Cecil W. St. J. "Nobby" Nobbs , carries identification from the patrician that he is likely human. Full Ankh-Morpork shuns him, except Lady Sybil, who considers him a lovable rascal ( it has grandfather his leave grandfather once flogged - linking). He steals everything that you don't watch out for, but he's actually relatively honest. Commander Vumm once said: “You could trust Nobby with your life, if not a cent”. He mostly goes on patrol with Fred Colon, who is also his best friend. Nobby is a kind-hearted person who often pronounces the obvious like a court jester and is laughed at for it. In Hollow Heads , he is mistakenly raised to the nobility because the guilds want to use him as a puppet king. In Klonk! For a short time he has the beautiful dancer Bronzaleh as a friend, for the sole reason that, because of her extraordinary beauty, no other man has dared to speak to her.
• Corporal Grinsi Kleinpo (English Cheery Littlebottom ), first self- confessed dwarf of the Discworld. Guard alchemist and forensic scientist .
• Corporal Reg (Reginald) Schuh , a zombie who once proclaimed the Republic of Syrup Mine Road.
• Knuddel Tiny , a gnome plagued by dangerous inferiority complexes . He is responsible for aerial reconnaissance, using various birds.
• Dorfl , a talking golem . Discworld's first self-determining golem because he managed to live without “words” in his head; therefore, after its destruction, Captain Carrot had him repot and gave him a tongue (which is considered blasphemous). He is therefore the first speaking golem in Ankh-Morpork. Dorfl is an atheist, but is ready to believe in any god whose existence is proven in a logical conversation (hurled lightning bolts do not convince him because of his ceramic body).
• Corporal visit-the-unbelievers-with-explanatory-brochures , also called "washing pot" by Nobby, a person from Omnien, feared because of his constant attempts to bring the Omnian faith to other people. If he walks down the street, he can make sure that the lights in pubs are turned off and everyone lies down on the floor.
• Drain , a gargoyle . World champion in motionless observation, would like his pay in the form of pigeons.
• Igor , an "Igor", a figure modeled after Frankenstein's assistant. Guard paramedics and coroners. Comes from Überwald and consists of the body parts of many other Igors that are repeatedly inherited or passed on. The guard's Igor is a very modern-minded Igor who sometimes even forgets to lisp.
• André , a person. He only appears briefly and is a member of the special group Ankertaugasse , a unit that is supposed to fight “secret” crimes outside of the guild work. In Mummenschanz (Masquerade) he is tasked with clearing up the secrets of the operatic spirit and for this purpose works as a pianist in the opera house. At the end of the novel, however, he decides to remain employed at the opera.
• Ned Coates , a human member of the Morphic Street Conspiracy.
• John Keel , person, guts mentor, teacher and role model, whose role he has to take on in an alternative timeline.
• Salacia Deloresista Amanita Trigestrata Zeldana Malifee (...) "Sally" from Humpeding , a vampire who wears the black ribbon, a sign that she no longer drinks blood. She will be in Klonk! and has an ambivalent relationship with Angua due to the traditional hostility between werewolves and vampires. Her name is decidedly longer, but is only hinted at in the novel until the person speaking or reading it breaks off (turning a few pages).

The gods of the Discworld

origin

There are innumerable gods on the Discworld, the so-called "minor gods", who are everywhere but have no power. Only when they win believers through some event do they become more powerful. The more faith, the more power. In doing so, they take on the shape that people give them (for example Offler). If a god is powerful enough, he is admitted to the Cori Celesti, the mountain of gods, which rises in the middle of the Discworld. Since people are fickle, it can also happen that they lose faith and thereby disempower a god (see “Simply Divine”).

Important gods

One of the most powerful gods is the blind Io , who is worshiped as the god of thunder by almost all peoples in different forms and under different names. His role corresponds to that of most of the main gods, such as Odin or Zeus. One of the oldest gods is the crocodile god "Offler" (a human body with a crocodile head, which is probably borrowed from Egyptian mythology), who is less intelligent than the modern gods, but has so far managed to keep faith in himself. Other important protagonists are Fate ( anthropomorphic personification), the little god Om (see Simply Divine ) and "The Lady" (anthropomorphic personification of the last desperate chance of 1 in a million or simply just happiness), who also often participate in the participate in big game. Rincewind is one of the lady's favorite characters.

Death and his servants

death

Death as a sculpture

Motto: E S ARE NO G USTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME .

Death , an anthropomorphic personification, is one of the most famous Discworld characters, as he makes at least one brief appearance in each part of the series and is one of the main characters in several books. He is the parody of some other personifications of death , such as the grim reaper or the reaper . Like her, he appears as a skeleton in a black robe, with a scythe and a sword, which is reserved for monarchs and the magically gifted. Unlike the roundworld personifications, however, death has a personality.

His voice is shown in the English original as speaking in small caps to demonstrate his absoluteness. Actually, he doesn't really speak, but just lets his voice pop up in the other's head. In the German translations this is shown in such a way that his verbatim speech IS IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

Death is efficient but not cruel. He sees his work as a necessary public service and speaks of the fulfillment of the OBLIGATION . Death keeps emphasizing that he does not kill people; People don't die of death. He takes care of the souls. The memory of death is unique. He can remember everything, whether it happened in the past or in the future. In Rolling Stones , Death tries to learn to forget, but neither the Clapping Foreign Legion nor huge amounts of alcohol allow him to enjoy this unique human ability.

Death is fascinated by people and becomes more and more "human" over the millennia, as the novels progress, which leads to some curious results. Death likes cats who, unlike humans, always see him. He likes spicy curries . Of course, he doesn't have to eat or drink, but he does enjoy it. His house in the dark domain is full of curiosities like a bathroom and non-working alarm clocks next to the beds. The house, the meadow, the garden: everything is black, gray or dark purple. Only the fields that he creates at the end of Alles Sense are golden-brown in color and seem to move in the wind. These means death: H ERR, WHAT SHOULD THE E HORNED hope UNLESS THE I INTEREST OF S CHNITTERS ?

Guided by compassion, one day he adopts the orphan Ysabell, a decision that he regrets again and again, but to whom he owes many interesting experiences. The magician Rincewind has evolved into a kind of hobby of death over time. If he was still angry in the early novels that Rincewind never kept his appointments with Tod, he now always carries his life clock with him in order not to miss an opportunity for a little chat with his special protégé. “Tod was always very busy, but nevertheless he decided to get a hobby. It was called Rincewind ” (The Colors of Magic) .

In the 1996 animated versions of Rolling Stones and MacBest , the death of Christopher Lee was spoken. Death also appeared in the real-life adaptations Hogfather (2006) and Color of Magic (2008), in the latter of which Lee spoke again.

Auditors

In many of the novels in the Tod series, the auditors appear dressed in gray robes made from clouds of smoke. They are insubstantial or massless, and there are infinitely many of them. Your goal is to capture everything and quantify it in order to complete the revision and be in order. Since life is complex and more than the sum of its parts, it is a disruptive factor for them and spreads disorder that they do not like.

They are the accountants of the universe who make sure that everything runs as the laws of physics dictate. Thanks to them, gravity exists , elementary particles have a spin and suns have a corona . Feelings, fears, desires and fantasies are unquantifiable annoyances for them, which is why they repeatedly deal with the elimination of life.

Auditors abhor individuality and generally appear in groups of at least three who monitor each other. If an auditor appears to be developing personality, it leads to his immediate termination. This happens again and again when an auditor z. B. says " I mean ..." instead of " we mean ...".

Albert

Albert appears in all disc world novels that have death as their theme. He is the caretaker and butler of Tod's domain. Albert, who founded the Invisible University as Alberto Malich , wanted to live forever. With a trick by performing the "AshkEnte Rite" - the rite for conjuring up death - backwards, he came into the world of death about 5000 years ago. Impressed by Albert's cleverness, Death kept him with him as a servant.

He had about three months of real life left, which he slowly used up on short but necessary excursions into the world of the living. He has to go shopping or organize the installation of Tod's bathroom. In the meantime, Albert has shortened his remaining time to a few seconds, which he is extremely careful with. Albert is a specialist in fried breakfast. His fried oatmeal leaves every follower of healthy nutrition in shocked disbelief.

Mort

Mortimer is an intelligent and inquisitive, but also rather clumsy young man. In the novel Grim Reaper , Mort enters Tod's service as an apprentice. However, his successful attempt to prevent the death of a princess brings him into conflict with his master. He is therefore dismissed from Tod's service, but is allowed to marry Ysabell and becomes Duke of Sto Helit.

As a duke, Mort made a career in the Sto plain, where, with infinite diplomatic patience, he prevented dozens of small wars between the individual cities. As the father of Susanne, he attaches great importance to minimizing the contact between death and his granddaughter and ultimately preventing it entirely. He fears that this relationship could negatively affect his daughter's mental health. Mort and Ysabell die together in a carriage accident.

Ysabell

Ysabell is Tod's adopted daughter. She appears for the first time in The Light of Fantasy . Furthermore, she plays an important role in Gevatter Tod (English edition: Mort ). As a teenager she had serious weight problems and the color choices of her wardrobe (stark pink) left hard to be desired. She marries Mort, Tod's clumsy apprentice, becomes a duchess and is Susanne's mother. She dies with Mort in a carriage accident.

Susanne Sto Helit

Susanne Sto Helit plays a leading role in three disc world novels, in Rolling Stones , in Pig Gallop and finally in The Time Thief . Susanne is Tod's granddaughter and has been an orphan since she was eleven. Her mother was Ysabell, Tod's adopted daughter, and her father was Mort, Tod's former apprentice. The two died in a tragic traffic accident.

Susanne Frau Anstands has been attending boarding school for young girls in Quirm since she was six. There she learns logic, common sense and enjoys education. Unfortunately, these achievements are of little help to her than the magical reality of the Discworld permeates her over the years. Susanne is outraged when she runs into a tooth fairy for the first time. She meets the Valkyries with disbelief and at first she doesn't even want to know who her grandfather is.

The disc world-specific genetics ensured that Susanne Sto Helit inherited some interesting traits from Tod, even though he is only her grandfather through her mother's adoption. As he has the skills with D ER S TIMME , so in small caps to speak, to walk through walls, becoming invisible to step out of time and see what does not want to see other people. Actually, Susanne only wishes to be able to lead a completely normal life and therefore works first as a governess and later as a teacher. Due to her genetic disposition, she has to represent her grandfather several times and take on his duties . Only that she is allowed to ride Binky makes these representations bearable for her.

There is something strict about Susanne's appearance as a teacher, which is not surprising when it comes to her career choice. Otherwise, she looks like an ordinary, energetic young woman who is in litigation with her hairdresser. Her hair is white with a single black strand and prefers to stick out in all directions than to conform to a hairstyle.

Susanne's greatest weakness are pralines from Wienrich & Böttcher. She treats herself to a cheap box of their exquisitely expensive chocolate products once a month and can supposedly stop after the first layer - if she wants. Love did not pass by carelessly to Susanne either, even if she maintains a decidedly temporal relationship. There is a walk-in closet for writing materials in her classroom. Here she occasionally meets Lobsang, the son of time, who is also half divine and half human.

The rat death

The birth of the rat death takes place in the novel Alles Sense (Eng. Reaper Man ). There the death of the Discworld is declared mortal because of too much sympathy. He stopped work in protest, and in the transition period until the new, inhuman death occurred, his power was split into a myriad of individual deaths.

Separate deaths arise for each species, including the rat death. His area of ​​responsibility also extends to mice, guinea pigs and other small rodents. After the true death has conquered the new death, it reunites with all smaller "deaths". Only rat death and flea death can save themselves.

Since then, at least the rat death has played a cute supporting role in many disc world novels. As a full-fledged death, he also has the ability to speak in small caps . Since he only speaks the rat language, his contribution in a conversation is limited to an ambiguous Q UIEK! In order to be able to communicate better, the rat death is usually accompanied by his best friend, mount and interpreter, the talking raven Quoth. Quoth means as much as language (in the German translation also the name of the raven), an allusion to the poem Der Rabe by Edgar Allan Poe . There it says repeatedly: Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.” In German, for example: Spoke the raven, “Nevermore.” Under rats, rat death is also referred to as the “big bone rat”.

Binky

After some extremely unpleasant incidents with bony horses, which regularly lost important parts of their anatomy, or fire horses, which set fire to the stables, Tod learned something new. His preferred means of transport is now the common, mortal riding horse . Well, not totally ordinary. It must be the best, most powerful, and brightest animals that death chooses for his use.

His current horse is called Binky, a white stallion. Binky, because Death uses it, can ride anything a magical bonehorse could do, carry as much payload as necessary, or move into other dimensions. Saddle and bridle are superfluous with Binky. If he lets someone on his back, they won't fall off.

Binky actually belongs to Susanne, Tod's granddaughter. He gave it to her, but since her circumstances preclude keeping a horse, he can continue to use it. But if Susanne needs him, a whistle is enough and he is at her disposal. This horse is the only reason why Susanne does not strive one hundred percent to finally lead a "normal" life. The idea of ​​never riding Binky again causes her distress.

Further

• Bill Door (orig. Bill Door ), Tod's pseudonym in Alles Sense , an allusion to Bill Gates
• The flea death

More characters

The patrician

Lord Vetinaris family coat of arms

Lord Havelock Vetinari, the patrician of Ankh-Morpork, is an integral part of the city. Without him she would sink back into the chaos that had reigned before he took power. The patrician is an extremely pragmatic, forward-looking and clever politician. His character changes in the course of the disc world novels from a relatively crude tyrannical ruler to a more ironic and subtle ruler. In the early novels Vetinari simply used the scorpion pits, later he only thinks about it half aloud and still achieves the desired results.

The trick that the patrician used to make the city work is to organize everyone and everything in guilds. Starting with the beggars to thieves, murderers and prostitutes, everyone is organizationally bound and is primarily responsible for strictly adhering to maximum and minimum quotas. His motto is: If you can't eradicate crime, at least organize it. This functionality that Vetinari has given the city, which is profitable for everyone, is the reason why the Assassin's Guild no longer accepts orders for the patrician. He's simply irreplaceable, and everyone knows it.

Vetinari himself was trained in the Assassin's Guild. His specialty there were poisons and camouflage measures, although he was inexcusably absent from the latter (which was the opinion of the instructors. In reality, he simply disguised himself so well that they never noticed him). Several of his former schoolmates are now heads of various guilds. Like the assassins, Vetinari always dresses in black, which emphasizes his thin figure. He always wears a small skull cap in public. He limps slightly and uses a stick because his left leg has become a bit stiff after being hit. Nothing is known about the patrician's private life, if there is one, - persistent rumors, however, say that he had a relationship with Lady Margolotta von Überwald. However, he took in the old terrier Wuffel and, after his death, Mr. Quengler , the dog of the deceased bank director, and took it into his heart. The only hobby the patrician professes is solving the Times Saturday crossword puzzle . For him it's a matter of minutes and he wages a secret private feud with the newspaper's chief puzzle designer.

As part of the reorganization of the city, the patrician originally planned to let the guard, a bunch of drunk and stupid useless people, deteriorate even further. Their main task was to roam the streets at night, ringing a bell and shouting "All is well" . With the arrival of Captain Carrot and the arrest of the dragon, that changes (guards! Guards!) .

Vetinari states that it is quite useful to have a stubborn police force, bound by instructions, who can set fire to the buttocks of the sometimes overly high-handed guilds and the corrupt nobility if necessary. Commander Mumm in particular now has massive support and is expanding the guard into a group of really efficient investigators. Mumm only serves the law and acts quite independently in its interest. Even if he never protests against the patrician's instructions, Mumm often acts against what Vetinari knows and exactly wants. Drumknott, Vetinari's secretary, once said of Mumm: If it didn't exist, you'd have to invent it.

Vetinari is the permanent host of the universal genius Leonard von Quirm and is always inspired by his ingenuity. The patrician is characterized by a high degree of curiosity and willingness to take risks. He is open to innovations and has a very good understanding of people. The use of the convicted fraudster Feucht von Lipwig - first as post minister, then as head of the bank - brought the city the postage stamp and banknotes and as a result a noticeable economic dynamic.

Vetinari's rule arises from the precise information he gathers through his extensive network of informants. He surprises negotiating partners or opponents with small details of their life that, in their opinion, absolutely no one could have known. His well-informedness enables him to weigh up the various interests perfectly and ultimately turn everything around for the good of the city. He sees himself as her servant and lives extremely humble personally. Seen in this way, the patrician is not a tyrant in the strict sense of the word, but rather a puppeteer, on whose puppet strings all others hang. He hates unnecessary use of force, but does not hesitate to use necessary force.

Vetinari has appeared twice in Discworld film adaptations: in Color of Magic he is played by Jeremy Irons , in Going Postal by Charles Dance .

Lady Sybil Käsedick

Lady Sybil (English Lady Sybil Ramkin), a woman in her prime, is of Valkyrie-like shape and has an engaging nature. The last descendant of the ancient Ankh-Morpork noble family of the Käsedicks is married to the Duke and commander of the city guard, Samuel Mumm. They have one son, Samuel jun. The family lives in a slightly dilapidated villa in the most expensive area of ​​the city, on Teekuchenstrasse. There are also the kite stables in which Lady Sybil, sometimes to the annoyance of her neighbors, pursues her hobby of breeding swamp kites. Under her full name Sybil Deidre Olgivanna Käsedick she published the book Dragon Diseases , a bestseller among dragon breeders .

Sybil Käsedick is very busy: In addition to breeding kites, she runs the sunshine home for needy swamp kites and spends part of the day in the free hospital on Bodenbienenstrasse.

For decades she has corresponded with her former classmates from the boarding school for young women in Quirm, who have now married rich and influential men all over the Discworld. This makes organizing the trips that Käsedick occasionally has to take with Samuel Mumm much easier.

Sybil Käsedick is a kind-hearted person and has the peculiarity to see the good to the best in others too. In this she resembles Hauptmann Karotte und Zweiblum, the first tourist to the Discworld. This consistently positive attitude apparently evokes an analogous response from her counterpart, so that Lady Sybil actually rarely meets bad people. If that happens, she will quickly turn into a fiery fury and will not let anything stop her.

TMSIDR snapper

Drive-myself-to-ruin Schnapper (English Cut-My-Own-Throat Dibbler ) embodies two prototypes: that of the self-made man who wants to prosper through his own efforts , and that of the deceived cheater. Schnapper sells everything in Ankh-Morpork and is an excellent seller with a good instinct for sales-relevant events of all kinds.

His business roots are in the sale of sausages and pies, which he offers with the slogan "Guaranteed no rat meat, all pork parts shaved clean before cooking" at any time of the day or night and for which he demonstrates great sales skills. His name also results from this activity, as he sells the sausages with the comment "And with that I am driving myself to ruin". He took the sentence from Samuel Mumm ( Die Nachtwächter ), because it seemed appropriate and true to him.

In the meantime he can show visible success and big income, for example as manager of Rolling Stones , the first rock band of the Discworld, and in Voll im Bilde as operator of a film studio in Holy Wood and a cinema in Ankh-Morpork. At the end of a story, however, he is at the beginning again.

Terry Pratchett uses the figure of the snapper as an archetype for a certain breed of people who appear all over the world. As a kind of universal customer of Schnapper, Rincewind got to know his various incarnations and acquired and consumed their respective specialties:

• the ancient eggs from SmedBa (slit-me-honor-your-belly-open) Schnapphala in Hunghung,
• the gourmet pie in pea soup from fair business Schnapper on XXXX,
• Al Schnappler's most suspect couscous,
• the horrible yak butter tea from May-I-never-experience-enlightenment Schnapplang,
• the questionable Smörgsbord by Schnapp Schnappersonson,
• the terrifying chunks of bacon from Man-push-me-into-my-own-ice-hole Schnapooki and finally everything with it
• the green beer from Swallowed-my-own-blowpipe-arrow Schnang Schnang, washed down.

Imp y Celyn

Imp y Celyn, a young man of Druid descent from Llamedos , is the protagonist in the novel Rolling Stones . Translated into common understandable Morporkisch, his name means as much as bud Holly (Engl. Bud of the Holly ), a reference to Buddy Holly .

Imp is a professional harpist who moves out after a heated argument with his father to become Discworld's most famous musician. When he arrived in Ankh-Morpork, he quickly learned that only those who were part of the musicians' guild are allowed to make music there. The membership fee exceeds his cash, but in the guild's waiting room he meets the dwarf Glod Glodson and the troll Lias, who are in the same position and with whom he forms the band Mit Steinen Drin .

After the harp is accidentally destroyed by Lias, Imp y Celyn buys a guitar in an obscure shop. This makes him the first rock guitarist in the Discworld and his " Musik Mit Steinen Drin " brings the audience to previously unknown emotions and behaviors. So they adopt strange habits, dress in questionable fashion and immediately want to make music with stones in them themselves.

Tod's granddaughter Susanne Sto Helit falls in love with Imp and discovers that his new guitar is possessed by some kind of music demon. As a result, Imp does not play the instrument, but it plays him, which would result in his death. Out of consideration for his granddaughter, death changes the musician's fate. As a new employee in a fish fry, Susanne gets to know him again.

Glod Glodson

Glod Glodson is a dwarf male and a musician by profession . Glod is the horn player of the "Band Mit Steinen Drin" and is always concerned about the income. Even by dwarf standards, Glod is considered very small. His most famous saying goes : "A musician's dearest desire is to be paid." He appears in the book Rolling Stones .

Lias bluestone

Lias is a troll and the third member of the "Band Mit Steinen Drin". He creates his music by rhythmically striking stones of different sizes against each other, giving the band and the genre its name. Later he decides to perform under the stage name Klippe ( Cliff ).

Lu-Tze, the sweeper

Lu-Tze appears as a minor character in various Discworld novels. The time thief , however, sees him as a main character. He is 800 years old and the chief sweeper at Oi Dong Monastery, the residence of the history monks. He is an old, fuzzy little man who always wears threadbare clothes. His hobby is growing bonsai mountains. He is particularly proud when he succeeds in causing volcanism.

Like other wisdom seekers who walk thousands of miles to get to the land of enlightenment, Lu-Tze left it to await enlightenment in the distance. He found the way of the sweeper at Frau Marietta Kosmopilit, Quirmstrasse 3, Ankh-Morpork, rooms to rent cheaply. In the three months that he spent there, he gathered all the wisdom that he found worth remembering in his not exactly short life span. Including as essential as the universal answer to the why question: Therefore ! Or more profound like: It doesn't get better when you scratch yourself! And: if you wait long enough, you get everything! Cheeky novices who do not understand the sweeper's path or even think that such phrases can be found on slips of paper in fortune cookies, he explains unmoved that it is his path.

Although sweeping is an extremely lowly, even despised, activity, Lu-Tze enjoys a legendary reputation and his unofficial status comes suspiciously close to that of the abbot. Lu-Tze's achievements are seen by the novices as a synonym for the impossible that has become possible. The specialty of the history monks, the cutting of time - whereby a minute can be stretched to hours or even days - the sweeper masters like no other, with the exception of Lobsang Ludd. Incidentally, he relies on his cunning and the effectiveness of rule number one: Never behave carelessly towards small, bald, and wizened-looking old men!

"A good rule, rule number one," comments Lu-Tze and ensures that as many people as possible learn and observe this rule.

Maurice the cat

Maurice, the cat , is the main character of the disc world novel , which is also titled. Mr. Wunder Maurice is a mud-brown, piebald street cat with a scarred face and rather tattered ears. He can speak and, along with the rat clan, Gaspode and the raven from "Rolling Stones", is one of the few animals in the Discworld who have acquired this remarkable ability. Maurice fears that thinking and speaking have gotten to him after eating one of the new, intelligent rats that lived on the Invisible University rubbish heap and constantly consumed magically contaminated food. Since he's now working with these rats, he even knows their name, it was called preservatives.

The changed , as the rat clan also calls themselves, follow a dream. You want to build a real rat civilization on a desert island. Maurice, who as a real street cat knows exactly how the world works, convinces them that they need money for it. Under his direction he starts a profitable business with the rats and with Keith, a stupid looking boy. The clan consists of about 100 members. As soon as they come to a new city, they first stage an impressive plague of rats, pee in the cream, swim in the bathtub, steal the seniors' teeth. Such brazen intrusiveness quickly arouses the need for a solution to the rat problem in the citizens. Then Maurice and Keith, the flute player, show up and offer their expensive services. After they have collected the money and divided the earned money equally by three, the rat piper lures the rats out of town and the squad disappears, never to be seen again.

Since Dangerous Beans , the rat philosopher, considers their actions to be unethical, Bad Blintz , a health resort in Überwald, is the end of the line for the pied piper trick . There they uncover a vicious conspiracy by the local pied piper and destroy a vicious rat king. The rats finally agree with the population on peaceful coexistence between rats and humans. Maurice is of course the negotiator in these talks. The rat clan becomes a tourist attraction in Bad Blintz and everyone lives happily ever after, except for - Maurice. All of this is clearly too sentimental for that. So he goes out into the world again and looks for the next stupid-looking boy to do with him what cats do best: recognize people's dreams and manipulate them.

Nutt

Mr. Nutt is an experiment, both physically and mentally. During the Dark Times in Überwald, orcs were artificially developed and assembled by the Igors as living weapons or perhaps even concocted in vats. Their combat strength is said to be overwhelming and they must have been extremely difficult to kill. Anyway, the word orc continues to evoke fear and horror all over the Discworld.

As one of the few surviving orcs, Nutt is found and freed by the Omnian sub-dean Pastor Himmelwärts (see: Lords and Ladies ). He had been chained to an anvil for seven years from birth.

Himmelwärts gives the orc into the care of Lady Margolotta von Überwald, who gives him a universal training. He can read everything in her castle, ask anything, seek any help. He is a fast, comprehensive and good learner, meaning that he speaks 16 languages ​​and is proficient in various handicrafts including blacksmithing, leatherworking and alchemy. He is a universal genius who, however, is extremely unsure of himself. He constantly doubts his worth and tries to give himself more value through good performance. The phrase that drives him is: The world should have become a better place when you finally leave.

At the request of Lady Margolotta, Nutt is smuggled into the city and the university by Vetinari in order to round off his education. To camouflage his true nature, he pretends to be a goblin and initially works as a candle dropper in the underground vaults of the Invisible University. After an interlude as a successful soccer coach for the university team (see: The Club of Invisible Scholars ) he goes back to Überwald with his girlfriend Glenda Zuckerbohne to support Pastor Himmelwärts in the search for other surviving orcs.

With the introduction of orcs and goblins, Terry Pratchett draws heavily on the great legacy of JRR Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings in the newer books . The suggestion of a dark ruler who created creatures like the orcs also point in this direction.

Cohen the barbarian

Cohen is a very old hero and has appeared in several Discworld novels. In Echt Zauberhaft , he plays the lead role, accompanied by the Gray Horde and Rincewind, the magician. Cohen is old, but that just says he has a lot of experience getting his way and surviving. Age and its ailments have not left Cohen without a trace. He has back pain, a lot of niggles, a hemorrhoid ring hanging on his saddle and lisps because his teeth are missing. In The Light of Fantasy , he finally has a set of teeth made from the splinters of a troll's tooth, from flawless diamonds. Despite all the signs of age, he is still an invincible fighter who can only be stopped by an unforeseen lumbago.

In Hunghung, the capital of the Achaten Empire, Cohen conquers the throne with the Gray Horde (a group of retired heroes). He rules as Emperor Cohen and actually thought that he had retired in this position. He has it all, but as it turns out, that's not enough. He's getting bored. People who are bored come up with stupid ideas. Old heroes are no exception. After Mazda , the first hero, stole the fire from the gods, Cohen, as the last hero, so to speak, wants to bring the fire back to them ... but with interest! (True heroes) . He's not particularly interested in the fact that this would bring about the end of the world, especially because he has no idea about it. Only an adventurous SEK , consisting of Captain Karotte, Leonard von Quirm and Rincewind, explains the situation to him. But only after the bard has made it clear to him that there will be no one left to sing the great saga about his heroic deeds, let alone hear it, does Cohen distance himself from the assassination plan. Unfortunately, the bomb is already armed. The Gray Horde therefore overthrows the Cori Celesti with the bomb. The explosion at the foot of the mountain is huge, Cohen's fate seems clear or not?

The uncertainty principle leaves doubts open. After all, no corpses were found and it has been guaranteed that later some old men on flying horses visit the rock to which Mazda has been tied for 10,000 years and where an eagle eats its regenerating liver every morning. They cut his chains, shake hands, and leave behind a very sharp sword.

Terry Pratchett was inspired for the character of Cohen by Conan the barbarian , which he enriched with the thought of how Conan would approach the world as an old man.

Hrun the barbarian

Hrun the barbarian appears mainly in the stories with Rincewind. The barbarian comes from the central areas of the Discworld and is a full-time hero . In The Colors of Magic he has a black sword called Kring, which was forged from lightning and can speak.

Twoflower

Zwelum plays the main role in several volumes of the disc world novels, mostly alongside Rincewind. He is a risk analyst for an insurance company and comes from the Agaten Empire. He has two daughters with his wife, who has since been murdered by Lord Hong. After he decided to spend his vacation on the other side of the Great Wall, he is considered to be the first tourist in the Discworld. With a chest in tow, he arrives in Ankh-Morpork, meets Rincewind, who becomes his guide and translator, and together they experience the city and the country from a completely new perspective.

The tourist's worldview differs from that of normal people and follows four iron laws:

• § One - Nothing bad or dangerous can happen to tourists because they are just spectators.
• § Two - If, contrary to expectations, you should get into a sticky situation, it will dissolve in favor of § one.
• § Three - There's nothing ugly, dirty, or disgusting in the world, because
• § Four - Everything the tourist sees, hears, smells or tastes is, in the worst case, picturesque, folkloric, picturesque or ethnic.
• § Four b - As a tourist, if you only speak loud and clear enough to foreigners, they have to understand.

Later, after his return home, Zweiblum wrote a kind of travel report in which he describes his experiences and impressions (genuinely magical) . His harmless text How I spent my holidays quickly became a martial script in the Achaten Empire. It was secretly, by hand, copied thousands of times. A guerrilla movement and revolutionary uprisings were formed. In the end, Cohen the barbarian took over the orphaned throne and appointed Twoflower his grand vizier.

In the film "Color of Magic" Zwelum was played by Sean Astin .

Leonard of Quirm

Leonard von Quirm is a universal genius and appears in many disc world novels as a major supporting character. His interests range from mechanics, alchemy and physics to the fine arts and botany. Everything is interesting to him.

Such a genius, coupled with a certain naivete, can be dangerously abused. The patrician therefore keeps Leonard under lock and key in an attic converted into a laboratory. That doesn't bother him as long as he can go about his work.

While he is working on practical things like the machine-which-makes-coffee- (when naming his creations, Leonard's genius unfortunately fails completely) or draws a pretty portrait, in his notes, by the way, construction plans for the deadliest war machines appear, with list of materials and assembly instructions. He largely ignores this collateral benefit of his work and only comments laconically: “Nobody would dare to build something like this. Why should you do this to other people? ” Vetinari values ​​Leonard's company. He speaks objectively and analytically about life outside his laboratory, as if about another world. Accordingly, he is the ideal conversation partner for the patrician.

On two occasions Ventinari lets his Leonard off the chain. When the island of Leshp emerged from the sea (Flying Tatters) and a war between gossip and Ankh-Morpork loomed, he operated the safe-beneath-the-sea-surface-travel device , in short, The Boat , to bring the phenomenon closer to study. To prevent the end of the world from happening, his second excursion with a self-constructed aircraft, the Milan , takes him to the Cori Celesti, the seat of the gods. Both missions end successfully and each time Leonard voluntarily returns to Ventinari's custody. The people outside are definitely too crazy for him.

Terry Pratchett satirizes the figure of Leonardo da Vinci with Leonard von Quirm .

Giamo Casanunda

The dwarf Giamo Casanunda appears in various disc world novels, provided they are set in Lancre or the Spitzhorn Mountains. There, in the little kingdoms, he is a welcome guest. Since the landlord is strangely mostly absent during his visits, he indulges his passion - love - with the help of a stepladder if necessary.

Casanunda is a completely out of style dwarf with a slight tendency to claustrophobia . He firmly believes in the art of seduction and often develops a dwarf-typical attention to detail. He claims to be the second best Discworld lover. The best, no, then he wouldn't have to bother anymore. In times of need he acts as a mugger and occasionally pretends to be a count. On his business card, the following is noted next to the status of a lover: We never sleep! Skilled swordsman! Adventurous mercenary! Insolent liar! Repairs stepladders!

In Lords and Ladies , Casanunda meets Nanny Ogg and is fascinated. He arranges to meet her on a Tähtatäht in the Goat and Bush tavern . With Nanny, the dwarf learns to appreciate completely new, surprising qualities of a candlelight dinner.

Casanunda's name is an allusion to Giacomo Casanova and in English a play on words with the word pair over - under .

Absolutely daft Johnson

The real name of the absolutely crazy Johnson is Bergholt Stuttley Johnson. Perhaps, in the name of this character, Pratchett is hiding an allusion to the English landscape gardener Capability Brown . In contrast to Leonardo von Quirm's universal genius, the Absolutely Crazy Johnson is a total ungenius.

The difference between the two lies in the result. “Nobody knew exactly what forces were tapped into the designs of the madman Johnson, but the result was as follows: the ringing sundial often exploded; the mosaic pavement had committed suicide; the cast iron garden furniture had already melted thirteen times. "(Really magical)

Johnson is prone to computational errors, which resulted in, among other things, a 0.5 mile long and a half inch wide trout pond and a habitable spice rack. The wheel where Pi equals 3, which Johnson built into the mail sorting machine, leads to the ultimate collapse of the postal service. The volume of delivery material increased immeasurably as the machine spat out letters “ that hadn't been written, perhaps would or should be written, or letters that people swore they had written once, even though they had was not the case at all  [...] ”.

Since Johnson failed everywhere, but did not want to admit his failure, there is hardly an area of ​​life that he has not made happy with one of his designs. A bathroom in the Invisible University is also part of it. It was nailed up for a long time and given an unmistakable warning sign for good reason. Archchancellor Ridcully - typically magician - wanted to know why. Just so much: after the second bath, when he tried a certain tap, he had it sealed again. (Pig gallop)

A real specialty of the crazy Johnson are his organs. There are a few specimens of it on Discworld. The invisible university and the castle of Count Elstyr in Überwald are certified locations. The mere fact that there are several models at all suggests that Johnson cannot have done everything wrong when it came to organ building. Lovers of obscure sounds and original sound effects definitely appreciate his constructions.

Horrible group

The Ghastly Group is a community of really poor beggars. The group, or at least parts of them, appear in almost every disc world novel that is set in Ankh-Morpork. That is not surprising, after all, the hideous group lives at the Ankh under the Bad Bridge. Work is not very popular with the Ghastly Group. She comes closest to this questionable activity when they distribute the first copies of the Ankh-Morpork Times in "The Full Truth" for a fee .

The hideous group is so hideous that the Beggars Guild refuses to accept them as members. She is even more likely to consider getting the hideous group out of town. Ultimately it never comes to that because even beggars need someone to look down on.

Members of the Ghastly Group

• Arnold sideways

  Arnold Sideways has no legs and is pushing himself through the streets on a cart

• Smelly old Ron

  The stink of Stinking Old Rons has a personality of its own.

• Henry cough

  Nobody can cough as profusely as Henry Cough.

• Overall Ingobert

  Overall, Ingobert embodies eight members of the ghastly group with his multiple personalities.

• Duckman

  A duck sits on the duckman's head, but he doesn't seem to notice it.

• Gas pod

  Gaspode is a mangy terrier who can talk. He's the brains of the Ghastly Group and he's very brave. After all, he once bites a werewolf in the most important parts and survives (The Fifth Elephant) .

• death

  For a short time while on vacation, Tod was also part of the Ghastly Group (Rolling Stones) . The other members called him Mr. Monotonig .

Moist from Lipwig

Damp Lipwig (Engl. Moist of Lipwig ) is the main character of the novels from the post , Making Money and Raising Steam (Engl. Going Postal , Making Money and Raising Steam ). Originally he is a crafty crook, fraud, impostor and counterfeiter. Lipwig was convicted and hanged under the name Albert Spangler, one of his many pseudonyms . At the last second, one of Lord Vetinari's secret rehabilitation programs rescues him. Given the choice between actually dying or taking over the post of post minister, the decision is easy.

Accompanied by Mr. Pump, a golem and his probation officer, Feucht von Lipwig starts work - for the first time in years under his real name - and it is enormous. His three predecessors all fell victim to strange accidents, and the whole postal system was reduced to the dilapidated post office and two obscure employees. After whipping up the shop and inventing the postage stamp, Feucht von Lipwig begins to get bored.

Vetinari, who foresaw something like this, offers him a new job as head of the royal mint. Feucht is hesitant, but in the end cannot help but accept the position of deputy bank director. His boss is Mr. Quengler, a sausage-shaped terrier that the late bank director Tüppi Üppig bequeathed to Feucht von Lipwig, including 51% of the bank shares. Against the bitter resistance of the rest of the Üppigs, Feucht rehabilitated the ailing banking system, invented the banknote and gave the Ankh Morpork dollar the new gold golem standard.

His fiancée, Adora Belle Liebherz, chain smoker and golem liberation activist, marched into town with 4,000 golden golems at the height of the bank rescue battle. Strangely enough, they obey only Feucht von Lipwig, who orders them to dig in outside the city and wait for new orders.

In the third book, Great Steam Ahead , Lord Vetinari instructs Feucht von Lipwig again to take on a newly emerging problem in the city: This time it is the newly invented railway and the newly founded railway company.

The calling darkness

The Calling Darkness is an entity feared by all cave people. In “Klonk” a dwarf who is betrayed by his clients and left dying in the dark writes the runes of the calling darkness on a door with blood. The calling darkness has no body by itself and therefore takes possession of other beings who are ruled by anger. Then she ensures justice, which, however, kills the host of the calling darkness. Sam Vimes is the only person who ever managed to defeat the Calling Darkness.

Creature

living Dead

The undead only belong to the "living beings" category to a limited extent, as they are actually dead. However, since they continue to exist and are among the living, they literally sit "between stools". There are four large groups of undead, each of which embodies highly specific characteristics:

• Vampires are a very long-lived, parasitic life form. They feed on blood (usually human), can transform into bats, have excellent hearing, and are very physically strong. The modern-minded vampires are involved in the "league of abstinence", compensate their blood dependency with another obsession and wear a clearly visible black ribbon as a sign of their affiliation.
• Werewolves are a long-lived, morphologically unstable form of life and are forced to change their shape during certain phases of the moon . They have unnaturally good regenerative properties , an extremely good sense of smell, are physically very strong, gradually lose their intelligence in wolf form, have major problems with their hair and various dog diseases . Silver basically works as a deadly antidote to werewolves.
• Zombies are immortal because they are already dead but did not want to accept this fact. They are very dry, mummified figures who actually only react sensitively to fire. However, lost body parts can easily be sewn back on. The most prominent zombies Discworld are Corporal Reg shoe and the lawyer Mr. inclined .
• Banshees are largely unexplored, airworthy beings who herald the impending death of other living beings with their hideous screams. They often do this themselves.

Trolls

Discworld trolls are a silicon-based life form. They regularly argue with the dwarves who the older species is, and the argument is far from over. Trolls are potentially highly intelligent beings, but the comparatively high ambient temperature affects the conductivity of their brains. In Helle Barden , Sergeant Detritus , locked in the cold store of the future slaughterhouses, solves the mathematical problems of the universal formula . Returned to normal temperature, he looks stupid as ever.

Trolls differ from each other based on the rock they are made of. This is usually expressed in their naming. This ranges from coprolite to asphalt and bricks to Sergeant Detritus. Very rarely does a troll emerge from a pure diamond. He automatically becomes the king of all troll clans and calls himself Herr Schein (see: Klonk ).

Igors

Terry Pratchett introduced the concept of "Igors" with the Discworld novel Carpe Jugulum (Calm Blood) . These are people from a large group of servants of the same name - male "Igor", female "Igorina" - from Überwald who work as assistants and servants for eccentric or rather insane masters, which can also include vampires or werewolves.

They are a mixture of Frankenstein's assistant and Frankenstein's monster in appearance and form, with the knowledge of Dr. Frankenstein themselves. As they continuously improve themselves with body parts of the deceased, they are experts in transplant medicine. All igors lisp and limp because they believe it should be, but refrain from doing so when expressly requested.

Over time, a young Igor - with ambitions in the field of genetics - has become a member of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard.

Goblins

Similar to the orcs , the goblins have not been among the inhabitants of the Discworld for very long or have probably led a very hidden existence. In his last novels, Terry Pratchett increasingly draws on characters and ideas from the Tolkien universe (see: Club of Invisible Scholars and Stiff Pinch ).

In Stiff Breeze the goblins are introduced as a life form. They are the only living beings that are unanimously seen as vermin by everyone else. Over the centuries this has led to an extremely fatalistic attitude among goblins who consider themselves unworthy of life. Your greeting is "persevere", which means something like "survive". They live in clans that hide in places where no one else can or wants to live.

Their religion, the Unggue Had, stipulates that the most important physical deposits, such as ear wax, cut fingernails and toenails and snot, are to be regarded as belonging to the body and to be kept. Only in this way can a whole body be buried at the end of their life. For the purpose of storage, they make beautiful pots from valuable materials that repeatedly provide grounds for robbery and theft from the goblins.

At the end of “Steife Prize”, Samuel Mumm demands all the favors that are owed him so that all relevant rulers of the Discworld recognize the goblins as living beings worth protecting. Last but not least, the fact that they heard a beautiful harp symphony played by a goblin in the Ankh-Morpork Opera House may have changed their attitude forever.

Golems

Golems are creatures from an ancient culture with a human-like shape that were burned from clay. There is scripture in their head with sacred texts through which they come to life. This font is called CHEM. The figure pays homage to the golem from Prague folklore (see also golem ). She also has a piece of paper in her head called Schem, which in turn is short for HaSchem . Golems are understood and used as machines, although people usually treat them with suspicion. If a golem is assigned a job, it will not stop until it is finished. This led to golem incidents that had been forgotten.

The first golem in the disc world novels is called Dorfl and appears for the first time in the book Hollow Heads . In the course of the plot, three important events happen that lead the golem from the machine to an independent being.

1. The Golem is bought by Carrot Eisengießersohn, who puts the purchase receipt in his head instead of the Chem, which frees the Golem.
2. The Chem is torn out of Dorfl's head during the fight, whereupon it no longer works at first, but then comes back to life, this time completely without Chem.
3. Dorfl is destroyed during a battle and, on the instructions of Commander Vumm, is burned again, this time with a tongue. The golem can then speak.

Dorfl joins the city guard in order to use the money to buy and free more golems. Later in the book Ab die Post there is the Golem Foundation for this purpose, which is administered by Adora Belle Liebherz.

Well-known golems are:

• Village
• Pump 19, also called Mr. Pump
• Anghammarad

Orcs

Like the goblins , the orcs have not been part of the Discworld inventory for very long. For reasons only known to himself, Terry Pratchett increasingly draws on characters and ideas from the Tolkien universe in his last novels (see: Stiff Pinch ). If goblins are the most despised species, the orcs are genuinely unpopular and, in fact, almost extinct. For historical reasons, the word orc evokes fear, horror and lust for murder all over the Discworld. In the Dark Ages the orcs were cobbled together from different races by the Igors and then bred in vats. So the wildest, most aggressive and most resilient characteristics of the different species added up to really vicious and almost impossible to kill fighting machines - the elite force of the Dark Lord.

The Club of Invisible Scholars lives in large part from the entanglements that arise in the discreet introduction of orcs into Ankh-Morporkian society. Whereby the plural is the wrong grammatical form, it is initially only about one orc , namely Nutt . As a child, this Nutt was chained to an anvil for seven years before he was freed by Pastor Himmelwärts and placed in the care of Lady Margolotta . The lady conducts a daring experiment with the little orc . She gives him a very comprehensive education. He can ask everything, read everything and try everything, so that he finally becomes a kind of universal genius. He speaks 16 languages ​​and has mastered various handicrafts such as blacksmithing, leatherworking and alchemy.

You could say the experiment was a success. Even when, towards the end of The Invisible Scholars Club, the physical aspects of Nutt's orc nature break through - retractable claws, superhuman strength, etc. - that doesn't change his basic niceness. His motto is and remains: "The world should have become a better place when you finally leave".

Web links

• DiscWiki An online reference work on Terry Pratchett's Discworld

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Guardian , 06/04/2009, p. 10.
2. ↑ Terry Pratchett: Watch, Watch! Munich 1998, p. 194.
3. ↑ Terry Pratchett: Watch, Watch! Munich 1998, p. 31, 139-142.
4. ↑ Terry Pratchett: Off the Post . Munich 2007, p. 177.