John Hicks

Professor John Hicks (Hix) Professor in Post-Mortem Communication, DThau, Impissimus Holder of the Silver Skull (third class). Professor Hix is currently the Head of the Department of Post-Mortem Communications at Unseen University. Not, it must be stressed, a Necromancer - gods, no! No, they just communicate with those, such as Professor Flead who have passed on to join the great majority. Nothing disturbing about that, eh? What? The fading letters on the door - "NEC..M...."? Just coincidence.

He is also a leading member of the Dolly Sisters Players.

Hicks plays a semi-pivotal role in Making Money, helping Moist von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart work out how to communicate with the Umnian Golems through Professor Flead.

A much put-upon Wizard, Hicks has to bribe his post-graduate students into helping him perform an Insorcism on Flead.

As of Unseen Academicals, John Hicks spells his name Hix because an evil (by University statute) wizard can't pass up an opportunity to have an x in his name. It is also revealed he is allowed to act "evil" and break the rules "within college statutes", apparently all this is done in the basis that the Archchancellor can trust Hix to be untrustworthy.

Annotation

The personality of John Hicks does at times seem to evoke the shade of Bill Hicks, but this may just be coincidence, and the human tendency to seek patterns that are not there.