Ixolite

Referred to in Moving Pictures as the world's last surviving Banshee. Reacher Gilt managed to find another one before his arrival in Ankh-Morpork, which raises the questions a) did Stanley finally make the species extinct, or b) are there more banshees around, hidden in the dark corners of the Disc? An argument against extinction is that children growing up in Überwald are routinely taught what to do in the event of banshee attack.

Mr Ixolite is described as tall and thin with a sad face. He used to be part of Reg Shoe's Fresh Start Club. Too shy and self-conscious to screech on rooftops when someone's about to die, he slides a note that says, 'OOOOeeeOOeeeeOOOOee' under the door.

Annotation

There's an incongruous shift in location during Lords and Ladies when Nanny Ogg remarks to Casanunda that Mr Ixolite is always very good at letting the Witches know when he's going to be about, in order that their broomsticks have clear airspace. This suggests a Banshee resident in Ankh has the capacity to cover a lot of air miles quite quickly, or possibly that banshees migrate seasonally.

Mr Ixolite also manifests himself to Death in his Bill Door persona: on the morning of the Fight to the Death between two contenders. Death remarks to Renata Flitworth that I have received the badly-written note of the Banshee .

It also occurs that in Roundworld mythology, banshees (the name is a corruption of the Irish Gaelic for "death-woman") are invariably female. Is this another reason for Mr Ixolite's sense of awkward not-quite-fitting-in sadness and alienation?