Minor Discworld characters: Encyclopedia - Minor Discworld characters

Minor Discworld characters

This article details minor Discworld characters; characters from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett who only appear in the background, or who have only had a brief starring role.

Minor Discworld characters - 71-Hour Ahmed

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

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Anghammarad

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

More recently, he delivered the decrees of King Het of Thut. That is until the land of Thut slid under the sea. He then spent nine thousand years in the deep ocean, before being netted by a fisherman. Upon returning to civilisation he still carries the message warning Het that the sea goddess is angry and hopes to deliver it.

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

Minor Discworld characters - Achmed the Mad

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Drum Billet

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

Minor Discworld characters - B'hrian Bloodaxe

The first Low King of the Dwarfs, and a great cultural hero. His life is told in the opera Bloodaxe and Ironhammer. He was the lover of Ironhammer, who forged the Scone of Stone (a reference to the Stone of Scone, the ancient throne upon which the Kings of Scotland were crowned). Ironhammer killed himself when falsely told of Bloodaxe's death. Bloodaxe was subsequently killed at the Battle of Koom Valley. Accorging to legend he killed 57 trolls, however it has since been shown that he was trying to prevent the battle when a flash flood trapped him in a sinkhole. A loaf of Battle Bread, supposedly wielded by Bloodaxe at Koom Valley, has become a cultural icon and is in the Dwarf Bread Museum in Ankh-Morpork. However, in Thud!, Koom Valley is revealed not to have been a battle at all, and the Battle Bread found next to Bloodaxe's body casts doubt on the authenticity of the A-MDBM loaf.

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

Minor Discworld characters - Brick

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

Minor Discworld characters - Brutha

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

"there was a bright light, then someone hit me" a line by Brutha describing the first thing he ever remembers. Small Gods

Brutha seems to be Terry Pratchett's idea of a genuine saint. A true holy man.

Minor Discworld characters - Count Casanunda

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

Minor Discworld characters - Imp y Celyn

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

Minor Discworld characters - Sacharissa Cripslock

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

Minor Discworld characters - Death of Fleas

The Death of Fleas is a small Entomomorph (just like Anthropomorph, but referring to insects), created in Death's absence to herd the souls of dead fleas. It, and the Death of Rats, were the only Deaths not to become part of the real Death at the end of Reaper Man.

Minor Discworld characters - Death of Rats

Death of Rats was created to herd the souls of dead rodents (and occasionally rodent-like humans) during Death's absence in Reaper Man. He continued to exist following this, because Death liked the company. He resembles a rodentine skeleton on its hind legs, wearing a black robe and carrying a tiny scythe.

He seems to find it easier to think his way around the Rules than Death, and has assisted Susan in Soul Music, Hogfather and Thief of Time. He rides a raven named Quoth and may carry the rarely seen Death of Fleas.

The everyday vocabulary of the Death of Rats consists of one word, always in small caps: Squeak.

Minor Discworld characters - Duck Man

A companion of Foul Ole Ron, and likewise a reject from the Ankh-Morpork Beggars' Guild, the Duck Man seems to be a reasonably sane, well-mannered, and likeable fellow, dressed in expensive but rather old and tattered clothes. However, this is almost entirely mitigated by the fact that he has a live duck on his head. The Duck Man is apparently unaware of the duck, and whenever people bring up the subject, he always says something like "What duck?"

Minor Discworld characters - Carcer Dun

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

Minor Discworld characters - Drumknott

Secretary to Patrician Vetinari of Ankh-Morpork, following the death of Lupine Wonse. First appears in Feet of Clay.

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

Minor Discworld characters - Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre

Daughter of King Verence II and Magrat Garlick, Princess Esme made her appearance in Carpe Jugulum. Her unusual middle names are the result of a Lancre tradition that whatever the priest says at the naming ceremony is your name. Magrat owed her own name to a combination of this tradition and her mother's inability to spell "Margaret", and was determined it wouldn't happen again.

Minor Discworld characters - Foul Ole Ron

Excessively seedy, momentously dirty, overpoweringly smelly and entirely incomprehensible, he lives in Ankh-Morpork as the best-known member of a group of beggars that not even the Beggar's Guild will have anything to do with. He owns the world's only Thinking Brain Dog Gaspode, and is a physical schizophrenic; his smell has become strong enough to not only melt earwax but to acquire a separate existence. In fact, it outclasses him. Along with Gaspode, his associates include Arnold Sideways, Alltogether Andrews, Coffin Henry, and the Duck Man.

He appears in Men At Arms, Soul Music, Feet of Clay, Hogfather and The Truth, and is referenced in several other novels.

He is well known for his "catchphrase", "Bugrit, millennium hand an' shrimp...", which is the result of Pratchett feeding a random text generating program with a Chinese takeaway menu and the lyrics of Particle Man by They Might Be Giants.

Minor Discworld characters - J.H.C. Goatberger

Publisher in Ankh-Morpork. Books published by his company include The Joy of Snacks by A Lancre Witch and the Ankh-Morpork Almanack. He appears in Maskerade and is referred to in some of the "peripheral" Discworld books that are meant to be books from the Disc (e.g. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook). His name is a play on Johann Gutenberg

Minor Discworld characters - Stanley Howler

One of the two employees of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office prior to Moist von Lipwig being made Postmaster. Raised by peas (no further explanation is given), Stanley has a tendency towards obsessive behaviour. He used to be one of the more obsessive of Ankh-Mopork's large number of pin collectors. However, following the events of Going Postal, in which the destruction of his collection coincided with the invention of the postage stamp, he redirected his obsession to stamp collecting and philately.

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

Minor Discworld characters - Hodgesaargh

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

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

Hodgesaargh is based on a real-life keeper of birds of prey named Dave Hodges, who lives in Northamptonshire. He is also the author of The Arts of Falconrie and Hawking.

Minor Discworld characters - Kaos aka Ronnie Soak

An anthropomorphic personification. Fifth horseman of the apocalypse who left before they became famous. Rides a chariot. Wields a sword so cold that it has negative heat – it radiates cold. In Thief of Time, changes from the ancient Kaos of old to a slicker, altogether more modern and mathematical Chaos.

When not heralding the destruction of all that is (or saving it from the Auditors), he runs a very fine dairy.

Minor Discworld characters - Princess Keli

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Doctor Lawn

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Lezek

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

Minor Discworld characters - Moist von Lipwig

A former conman, now Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster General. The main character in Going Postal. He was invited to take up his new position of his own free will by the Patrician (the offered alternatives being hanging or suicide, again of his own free will), and managed to revive the Post Office by applying the principles of the con to honest work. He wears a golden suit with a wingéd cap when on duty, and, without it, looks like someone you wouldn't really notice. He is in something approaching a relationship with Adora Belle Dearheart.

Minor Discworld characters - The Magpyr family

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

• The Old Count, Count Magpyr's uncle. Very much a stereotyped cinematic vampire, it is no coincidence that his first name is Bela. He kept his castle full of drapes that could be cast aside and ironwork that could be shaped into religious symbols. Because it was so easy to kill him temporarily, no-one ever went to the effort of doing it permanently.

• Count and Countess Magpyr see themselves as modern "vampyres" unshackled by superstition. They are partially unaffected by the traditional vampire weaknesses (due to extensive psychological training), and keen to avoid stereotyping. They see taking blood from villagers as "The Arrangement"; just an unusual form of taxation.

• Vlad Magpyr also sees himself as a modern vampyre, but has become another stereotype; the romantic Anne Rice-type vampire. He has a ponytail and wears fancy waistcoats.

• Lacrimosa Magpyr embodies a reversal of "lifestyle vampires"; an actual vampire who wears bright clothes and stays up until noon. Some of her friends call themselves names like "Pam", file their teeth blunt and even drink... wine.

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

Minor Discworld characters - Modo

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

Minor Discworld characters - Nijel the Destroyer

Nijel the Destroyer, son of Harebut the Provision Manager Mighty, is a would-be barbarian hero, appearing in Sourcery. Nijel met Rincewind in a snake pit and they escaped together. He fell in love with Conina at first sight, and she with him, and Pratchett's patented irony shows in their matching. He is a clerk who wants to be a Barbarian Hero and is currently half-way through a book on the subject, which includes a table of wandering monsters and tends to resemble a Dungeons & Dragons manual. She is a Barbarian Heroine who wants to be a Hairdresser but can't due to her genes. Nijel wears a thick, wooly loincloth that is actually a pair of underpants that he wears because 'mother insisted'.

Minor Discworld characters - Jason Ogg

Eldest son of Nanny Ogg. First mentioned in Wyrd Sisters. Like his father before him he holds the office of Lancre blacksmith, which brings with it the obligation to shoe anything, and the concommitant ability to shoe anything: he has shod an ant, a unicorn, and (at regular intervals and with specially reserved metal) Death's horse Binky. He is also the leader of the Lancre Morris Men, who treat Morris dancing as something between a contact sport and a martial art.

Minor Discworld characters - Shawn Ogg

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

Minor Discworld characters - Polly Perks

The main character in Monstrous Regiment. A Borogravian girl who joined the army under the name Oliver Perks to rescue her brother Paul and save her family's inn. As a member of the Cheesemongers, Private 'Ozzer' Perks served with the colorful Sgt Jackrum, a vampire named Maladict, a troll called Carborundum, an Igor, and a few even stranger people.

Minor Discworld characters - Pteppic

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

Minor Discworld characters - Ptraci

Queen Ptraci I of Djelibeybi. Pteppic's half-sister and successor. A former handmaiden, the Djelibeybian priests thought she would be easy to control. They turned out to be very wrong. Like her half-brother she is keen to get in some decent plumbing. Appears in Pyramids; by the end of the novel she is enthusiastically embracing many of the stranger regimens, such as bathing in ass's milk, favoured by Cleopatra.

Minor Discworld characters - Pump 19

A golem who appeared in Going Postal. More commonly referred to as Mr. Pump, he received his name from his position operating one of a series of underwater pumps. He has since entered the employ of Patrician Vetinari, who uses him as a parole officer. He has been quite successful in this, as he can follow his target anywhere, and golems never need to rest or eat.

Minor Discworld characters - Quoth

A talking raven. He is seemingly an associate of the Death of Rats. His name derives from the famous line in the poem by the poet Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven ("Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'.") except this raven "doesn't do the N word". He got his name because his previous owner, a wizard, had no sense of humour. At times he acts as steed and interpreter for the Death of Rats and he has a constant craving for eyeballs. He was originally one of the ravens from the Tower of Art.

He was first seen in the Discworld novel Soul Music, and since then has made appearances in all novels involving Susan Sto Helit.

Minor Discworld characters - Lord Rust

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

Lord Rust makes more sizable appearances in Jingo and Night Watch, in both of which he appears as overly-bred and arrogant, a brief appearance in Monstrous Regiment suggests he still has some of the intelligence of the earlier portrayal. Lord Rust's most defining characteristic, along with his arrogance, is his unsurpassed military and strategic incompetence (or, at least, his ability to achieve goals only by simultaneously sustaining devastating losses), coupled with an inexplicable ability to be repeatedly chosen to command large armies and similar organisations.

Minor Discworld characters - Mr. Salzella

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

While the character is seemingly based loosely on Ambrose D'Arcy from the 1962 Hammer Horror version of The Phantom of the Opera, his name is based on Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri ("Salieri" means "seller of salt").

Minor Discworld characters - The Selachii family

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

Minor Discworld characters - Esk Eskarina Smith

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

Minor Discworld characters - The Smoking GNU

A trio of clacks hackers, so far seen only in Going Postal, consisting of "Mad Al, Sane Alex, and Adrian who claims he's sane but can't prove it." They are instrumental in pulling the Grand Trunk Company out from under Reacher Gilt.

Minor Discworld characters - Wallace Sonky

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Findthee Swing

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

He always carries with him a large set of calipers and a steel ruler, with which he measures the facial characteristics of people he meets in order to determine their personal traits (See physiognomy). He moves and speaks in an erratic, jumpy fashion, in bursts... andsputters rather than a continuous flow of movement or sound.

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

Minor Discworld characters - General Tacticus

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

He is an amalgamation of various historic characters, including General George Patton, Marcus Aurelius and Julius Caesar, which latter can be seen in the title of his autobiography, VENI VIDI VICI: A Soldier's Life. "Veni Vedi Vici" is arguably the most famous thing Julius Caesar ever said and "A Soldier's Life" seems to be a popular title for a number of military biographies and autobiographies. Tacticus' name, as well as being a pun on 'tactics', suggests the Roman historian Tacitus. Much of the advice in the autobiography reflects Sun Tzu's The Art of War, as well as comments made by Patton.

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - The Venturi family

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

Minor Discworld characters - Vorbis

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

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

Minor Discworld characters - Galder Weatherwax

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

Minor Discworld characters - Lupine Wonse

Former childhood friend to Samuel Vimes and later secretary to Lord Vetinari. As the Grand Master of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, he summoned a dragon intending it to be killed by a king, whom he would then control. This failed and he found himself personal assistant to the Dragon King. Following a confrontation with the City Watch, he was killed by a metaphor, or possibly the ground.

Minor Discworld characters - William de Worde

A professional scribe who, in The Truth became the editor of the Disc's first newspaper, The Ankh-Morpork Times. He has an obsessive dislike of lying, which he has learnt to work round in the name of journalism. His father, Lord de Worde, is an arrogant racist (and speciesist) bully. William also appears in Monstrous Regiment, reporting on the war in Borogravia. His name is probably a play on the first two printers in England; William Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde.

Minor Discworld characters - William Scuggins

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

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

See also

• History Monks
• Unseen University Staff
• Minor Witches
• Discworld gods
• Ankh-Morpork City Watch

Albert - Angua - Carrot Ironfoundersson - Cohen the Barbarian - Fred Colon - Death - Detritus - Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler - Gaspode - Greebo - Igor - Bloody Stupid Johnson - Leonard of Quirm - The Librarian - Lu-Tze - The Luggage - Mort - C.W.St J. Nobbs - Susan Sto Helit - Rincewind - Twoflower - Havelock Vetinari - Samuel Vimes - The Witches - Ysabell - Discworld gods - more...

Ankh-Morpork - Agatean Empire - Borogravia - Death's Domain - Dungeon Dimensions - Ephebe - Genua - Klatch - Lancre - Muntab - Quirm - Sto Lat - Überwald - Unseen University - XXXX - more...

Calendar - City Watch - Clacks - Guilds - Magic - Post Office - Stealth Chess - Minor Discworld concepts

Category: Discworld characters

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Minor Discworld characters", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki