Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

Cutangle

2023-10-04T13:00:03Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title=Archchancellor Cutangle
|photo=Cutanglemine.jpg|Cutangle by [[User:Darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|name=Cutangle
|age=
|race=

|occupation=Archchancellor of UU
|appearance=Extremely fat with wobbly jowls

|residence=UU

|death=presumed dead
|parents= father [[Acktur Cutangle]]
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books={{ER}}
|cameos=
}}

A former [[Archchancellor]] of [[Unseen University]] and [[Ancient and Truly Original Brothers of the Silver Star|Archmage of the Silver Star]]. He comes from the [[Ramtops]], where his father [[Acktur Cutangle]] lived in the village of [[Brass Neck]] next to [[Esmerelda Weatherwax|Granny Weatherwax's]] [[Bad Ass|home village]].

Under his administration, [[Eskarina Smith]] was admitted as the first female student [[Wizards|wizard]].

There is some evidence that Cutangle entertained a (one-sided) romantic attraction for [[Esmerelda Weatherwax|Granny Weatherwax]] during their briefly accounted acquaintance in [[Equal Rites]]. After all, they got acquainted in an intimate magical duel in the Great Hall, fought out in front of a packed audience of wizards, in which Granny proved herself to be at the very least the equal of an Eighth Level Magus, and following which both participants all but acknowledged defeat at the hands of the other... this is possibly the sort of courtship that can turn an old wizard's head. Granny, however, never mentions him again: while she never had a proper romance at all, the closest she came to one in her youth was with [[Mustrum Ridcully|another wizard of the Ramtops]]...

His immediate predeccessor in the position is not known: however, Cutangle is Archchancellor throughout the events of ''[[Equal Rites]]'', and the position was vacant at the end of the previous book (''[[The Light Fantastic]]'') thanks to the fall of Ymper Trymon (and most of the other heads of the wizarding orders, Trymon's own seizure of power having been brief.) So it seems likely that Cutangle was appointed to fill the vacancy.

His eventual fate is also unknown: no Archchancellor is identified in ''[[Mort]]'', but at the start of ''[[Sourcery]]'', the wizards are getting ready to appoint Virrid Wayzygoose as the new Archchancellor. Since the latter is described as having been patiently waiting his turn for years, it implies a peaceful transition of authority, and thus that Wayzygoose probably did not murder his predecessor for the job - which may or may not have been Cutangle. However since Cutangle never appears again, he can be presumed dead: most likely of natural causes, if indeed Wayzygoose was his successor.
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Wizards]]
[[de:Knallwinkel]]

Virrid Wayzygoose

2018-01-13T13:18:39Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title= Virrid Wayzygoose
|photo= Wayzygoose.JPG|Virrid Wayzygoose, as drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]
}}

The Archchancellor-elect at the time of the coming of the [[Sourcerer]] in {{S}}, Virrid is killed by [[Coin]]'s staff in its relentless hunt for power and revenge on behalf of [[Ipslore the Red]], while preparing for his inaugural dinner. The fate of his predecessor in the job is not mentioned: but since Virrid had been "patiently waiting his turn for years", we may guess that he wasn't believed to be implicated in his predecessor's death or retirement.

{{stub}}

[[Category:Discworld characters|Wayzygoose, Virrid]]
[[Category:Human characters|Wayzygoose, Virrid]]
[[Category:Wizards|Wayzygoose,Virrid]]
[[de:Virrid Festschmaus]]

Archchancellor

2018-01-13T13:14:27Z

JLE: /* Former Archchancellors of Unseen University */

The head of [[Unseen University|Wizarding]] [[Bugarup University|universities]], and official leader of all wizards on the Disc. Long ago, this would have meant that he has the most powerful wizard, but nowadays senior wizards tend to refrain from performing actual magic. They prefer administration and big dinners. The Archchancellors' are rather prone to death caused by upwardly mobile [[wizard's magic|wizards]], and as such, many wizards have never made it past the inaugural dinner without being stabbed, poisoned or shot. The current incumbent for the post at [[Unseen University]] is [[Mustrum Ridcully]]. Since Ridcully took up position as Archchancellor, assassination attempts have fallen, as no one is capable enough to get rid of him.

==Election of the Archchancellor==
The Archchancellor is elected on the [[Eve of Small Gods]]. (Not so much ''elected'', as the wizards have never gotten the hang of voting). It is known that Archchancellors are selected by the gods (which wizards don't believe in). The double doors to the Great Hall are locked and triple barred, and the hopeful incumbent must request entry three times before he is allowed in, thus proving that he was appointed with the consent of wizardry in general.

==The First Archchancellor==

The first Archchancellor, [[Albert|Alberto Malich]] is obviously held in high esteem. His statue in one of the hallways says "We Shall Not See His Like Again".
It seems that the University was founded (which seems to not include The Tower of Art, which was a relic from an earlier period) by the first Archchancellor during the time they had Kings (which suggests a time earlier than the last King, [[Lorenzo the Kind]]).
He briefly returned to the University in ''[[Mort]]''.

==Former Archchancellors of Unseen University==
*[[Bowell]] – noted for the interesting ceiling "[[Archchancellor Bowell's Remembrance]]"
*[[Ezrolith Churn]] – Archchancellor in {{E}}
*[[Cutangle]] – Archchancellor in {{ER}}
*[[Alberto Malich]]; founder
*[[Bewdley]] - Disliked the city, as seen by his statue
*[[Sloman]] – discovered the Special Theory of Slood
*[[Greyhald Spold]] - ? Only referenced briefly in {{LL}} during a conversation between Ridcully and Granny Weatherwax, apparently he was Archchancellor during Ridcully's student days. Must have stepped down voluntarily from the job (unless Ridcully's memory is mistaken about his having held the position at all), since he lived long enough to die during Galder Weatherwax's tenure.
*[[Virrid Wayzygoose]] – who died before his inaugural dinner, in {{S}}
*[[Galder Weatherwax]] – Archchancellor in {{TLF}}

==Archchancellors from other wizarding institutions==
*[[Bill Rincewind]] – Archchancellor of [[Bugarup University]] on [[EcksEcksEcksEcks]], seen in {{TLC}}
*[[Archchancellor Henry|Henry]] – Archchancellor of [[Brazeneck College]] in [[Pseudopolis]], as of {{UA}}

NB: Although [[Krull]] also has a magical university it is not known if the ruler is an Archchancellor or not. The same is true of various other universities or colleges mainly described in various titles and degrees.

[[Category:Wizards]]
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[de:Erzkanzler]]

Greyhald Spold

2018-01-13T13:08:51Z

JLE: Found out why Spold was listed as an Archchancellor, and had to correct this article accordingly. I assume Ridcully's memory is not mistaken.

{{Character Data
|title= Greyhald Spold
|photo= Spald.jpg|Greyhald Spold, as drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]
|name= Greyhald "Tudgy" Spold
|age=
|race= [[Human]]

|occupation= [[Wizard]]
|appearance=

|residence=

|death= {{TLF}}
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books= {{TLF}}
|cameos=
}}

Greyhald "Tudgy" Spold (his nickname is mentioned in {{MP}} and {{LL}}) was Head of the [[Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle]] (a.k.a. the Illuminated Mages of the Unbroken Circle) - one of the [[7a|seven-and-one]] orders of Wizardry at [[Unseen University]] during the events of {{COM}}.

In {{TLF}}, he is reported as being (currently) the oldest wizard in the world. When the senior wizards perform the Rite of AshkEnte, Spold sees [[Death]] looking at him oddly, and creates an extremely magical and complicated hiding place, using many rare and smelly oils, a paste made of powdered mayflies, the eightfold [[Octagram|octogram of Witholding]], red and green candles, protective amulets, and a box made of the wood of the curlyfern pine. Unfortunately, what all his preparations didn't take into account was that the box required air holes, and so the last words he heard were, {{Death|Dark in here, isn't it?}}

In {{MP}}, we learn that as a student he was a friend of [[Windle Poons]] and [[Riktor|"Numbers" Riktor]], and in {{H}}, you can read about [[Spold's Unstirring Divisor]] - of which he is presumed, though not confirmed, to be the inventor.

In ''[[The Discworld Companion]]'' he is listed as having been Archchancellor, although the only evidence to his having held this title is in "Lords And Ladies", in a passing reference during a conversation between [[Mustrum Ridcully]] and [[Granny Weatherwax]] - Ridcully names Spold as the Archchancellor during his own student days. So, if we assume Ridcully's memory is not mistaken, Spold must have been one of the few people to step down voluntarily from the position (or to be ousted from it without violence), since his tenure must have been evidently some years and possibly decades before the appointment of [[Galder Weatherwax]], the incumbent (until his death and succession by [[Ymper Trymon]]) in the first two books. Spold, in fact, dies during Weatherwax's tenure, some seven or eight pages before Weatherwax meets his own demise. This seems unusual since the job of Archchancellor seems to be traditionally "for life", whether the incumbent dies a natural death or (more usually) by assassination or accident.

The film version of {{TCOM}} suggests that Spold would be Weatherwax's likely successor should he outlive Weatherwax, which he does not.

Either way, there was no doubt to his title of oldest living wizard: his death left [[Windle Poons]], his contemporary as a student, as the new holder of that position.

[[Category:Discworld characters|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[Category:Human characters|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[Category:Wizards|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[de:Grauhalt Spold]]

Chrysoprase

2017-06-01T02:21:55Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title= CHRYSOPRASE
|photo=
|name= Chrysoprase
|age= unknown
|race= Troll

|occupation= 'Legitimate Businessman'
|appearance= Less craggy than most trolls, quite well polished.

|Marriage= unknown
|Children= one named son, Jasper

|residence= [[Ankh-Morpork]]

|books= {{T!}}, {{WS}}, {{FOC}}, {{TLF}}
|cameos= {{TT}}
}}

Chrysoprase (also known as Krysoprase in ''[[Book:The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', and Chrystophrase in ''[[Book:Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'') is the ''de facto'' leader of the [[trolls]] disorganisation, the [[Breccia]]. Generally accompanied by several of his thugs (not henchmen, they're not smart enough to hench), Chrysoprase is a feared and well-known presence in [[Ankh-Morpork]].

In the revealed outline for [[Book:Scouting For Trollz|Scouting For Trolls]], we learn that he was, as a pebble, a [[Ankh-Morpork Scouting (and possibly Urban Survival) Federation|Boy Scout]], as Trolls understand the word. As a respectable businesstroll and community representative engaged in good works and charitable donations, he is keen to sponsor an expanded operation with a similar philosophy, aimed at the young people of all sentient races. This is despite the origins of the movement lying in the age-old [[Koom Valley|animosity]] between Trolls and Dwarfs.

Recently, Chrysoprase has been moving out of the troll-drug trafficking trade (in {{FOC}}), and into "property and financial services" (in ''[[Book:Thud!|Thud!]]''), or so he claims. To his merit, he dislikes trolls fighting among themselves (he'd rather have them all working together and fighting dwarfs - later on, he appears to disapprove of even the latter, going out of his way to show that he has nothing to do with the rabble-rousing towards dwarf/troll conflict, on the grounds that it is bad for business), and has great belief in showing respect (particularly to him). Disrespectful thugs rapidly become rockeries and jewellery. He also respects [[Commander Vimes]] for being unbribable and honest.

Chrysoprase also owns The [[Cavern Club]], a nightclub frequented by the cooler types of humans and the nastier types of trolls. He also wears suits, a rare idiosyncrasy for a troll. They fit badly, but that's what happens when trolls wear suits.

It has been rumored that the diamond jewelry that Chrysoprase wears is made from the teeth of other troll gangsters "who have come second in their business dealings with him" (see ''[[Book:The Discworld Companion|The Discworld Companion]]'').

The name Chrysoprase has been given in the fine tradition of naming trolls after minerals, rocks, gemstones, or other geological formations. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysoprase Chrysoprase] is an apple-green to dark green variety of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcedony chalcedony] (a fibrous rock composed of quartz). It is one of the most prized varieties of quartz.

Chrysoprase has a named nephew, [[Jasper Chrysoprase]], famed as the first Troll pupil to be accepted by the [[Assassins' Guild]] School.

[[Image:Mr_chrysophrase_is_upset.jpg|700px|centre]]

...................................................................'''Trouble Brewin'''', as drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]..............................

:
[[Category:Discworld characters|Chrysoprase]]
[[Category:Troll characters|Chrysoprase]]
[[de:Chrysopras]]

Big Yan

2016-01-29T13:40:13Z

JLE: /* Annotation */

'''Chalk Hill's''' biggest [[Pictsies|Pictsie]] (a giant of 8"), Big Yan was tough enough to knock out a horse in two headbutts. He is one of the more senior of [[Rob Anybody]]'s brothers.

==Annotation==
Given the Discly version of a Scottish accent that the Pictsies use, the name Big Yan sounds likely to be a reference to the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who is often known as the Big Yin. In Scotland, this is pronounced with the emphasis on Big, and simply means the Big One. I have read somewhere that he was once introduced in England as the Big ''Yin'' (emphasis on the Yin) as if a Yin was some strange Scottish creature.

Yan is Gaelic for one - still used for counting sheep in Scotland and Northumbria, the [[The Chalk#Culture|Yan Tan Tethera]] system. Yin is used in counting sheep in Yorkshire and Cumbria in the Yin Tan Tetra form of counting.

Yan is also possibly a Gaelic version of the name "John". So, although large by Feegle standards, he's still small by human standards, so he'd be a very small Big John. According to legend, one of Robin Hood's most famous outlaws was an extremely tall man called Little John...

{{stub}}
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Tiffany Series characters]]
[[de:Großer Yan]]

Big Yan

2016-01-29T13:38:25Z

JLE: /* Annotation */

'''Chalk Hill's''' biggest [[Pictsies|Pictsie]] (a giant of 8"), Big Yan was tough enough to knock out a horse in two headbutts. He is one of the more senior of [[Rob Anybody]]'s brothers.

==Annotation==
Given the Discly version of a Scottish accent that the Pictsies use, the name Big Yan sounds likely to be a reference to the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who is often known as the Big Yin. In Scotland, this is pronounced with the emphasis on Big, and simply means the Big One. I have read somewhere that he was once introduced in England as the Big ''Yin'' (emphasis on the Yin) as if a Yin was some strange Scottish creature.

Yan is Gaelic for one - still used for counting sheep in Scotland and Northumbria, the [[The Chalk#Culture|Yan Tan Tethera]] system. Yin is used in counting sheep in Yorkshire and Cumbria in the Yin Tan Tetra form of counting.

Yan is also possibly a Gaelic version of the name "John". So, although large by Feegle standards, he's still small by human standards, so he'd be a very small Big John. There was once, according to legend, an extremely tall Little John...

{{stub}}
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Tiffany Series characters]]
[[de:Großer Yan]]

Big Yan

2016-01-29T13:37:38Z

JLE: /* Annotation */

'''Chalk Hill's''' biggest [[Pictsies|Pictsie]] (a giant of 8"), Big Yan was tough enough to knock out a horse in two headbutts. He is one of the more senior of [[Rob Anybody]]'s brothers.

==Annotation==
Given the Discly version of a Scottish accent that the Pictsies use, the name Big Yan sounds likely to be a reference to the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who is often known as the Big Yin. In Scotland, this is pronounced with the emphasis on Big, and simply means the Big One. I have read somewhere that he was once introduced in England as the Big ''Yin'' (emphasis on the Yin) as if a Yin was some strange Scottish creature.

Yan is Gaelic for one - still used for counting sheep in Scotland and Northumbria, the [[The Chalk#Culture|Yan Tan Tethera]] system. Yin is used in counting sheep in Yorkshire and Cumbria in the Yin Tan Tetra form of counting.

Yan is also possibly a Gaelic version of the name "John". So he'd be a very small Big John. There was once, according to legend, an extremely tall Little John...

{{stub}}
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Tiffany Series characters]]
[[de:Großer Yan]]

Windle Poons

2016-01-29T00:22:45Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title= Windle Poons
|photo=
|name= Windle Poons
|age=Born [[1855 UC]] (130 in ''Reaper Man'')
|race=[[Human]]
|occupation=[[Wizard]]
|appearance=Aged and feeble
|residence=Unseen University
|death=[[1985 UC]]
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=Single
|books={{MP}}, {{RM}}
|cameos=
}}

When we first meet Windle he is a wheelchair-bound old wizard who does not hear much and doesn't do much. He is the oldest wizard in the world - having presumably held that distinction since the death of [[Greyhald Spold]], his contemporary as a student (whom he mentions in a few reminiscences of his youth). Unlike Spold, there is no evidence of him playing any part in University politics or heading any of the 7+1 orders of wizardry, which probably explains his long lifespan. His wheelchair is used in the battle against the creatures from [[Holy Wood]].

In {{RM}}, he is supposed to die, but as [[Death]] is ...not available, he instead turns into a [[Zombies|Zombie]] and joins the [[Fresh Start Club]]. During his time as a zombie, he loses bodily functions, and is forced to make his heart beat, his lungs breathe and his muscles move ''all using his head.''

Freed from the blur that normal living puts on the mind, and from the further encroachments of old age, Windle begins to see the world in a completely new way. He meets people he had no idea existed, and wouldn’t ever have listened to before. He worries away at the “inexplicable phenomena” which are consequences of Death being on leave, a general excess of life force. He realises that among these there is a predator which threatens the city and leads the Fresh Start Club in the resistance to it, rescues the wizards who have been overcome by it, and generally saves the day. Not being at heart a career zombie, having paved the way for the happiness of a trans-species couple, he lurches off to the bridge where he had tried to do away with himself, and has a companionable conversation with Death, who is now back on duty.

“And with great relief, and general optimism, and a feeling that on the whole everything could have been a lot worse, Windle Poons died.”

A couple of Windle's many years are in doubt, since the ''[http://www.lspace.org/books/timeline/dw-timeline.html Discworld Timeline]'' says he was born in 1857, but died aged 130 in 1985 (128 years later).

In {{H}}, we learn that [[Ponder Stibbons]] used his ear trumpet to make an artificial ear for [[Hex]].

==Annotations==

The words with which Windle Poons excuses himself from the luncheon the Wizards are giving the Fresh Start Club — 'I'm just going out, I may be some time' — are almost identical to the last words of Captain Lawrence Oates, uttered just before walking out to die in the Antarctic night in the hope his companions would survive if they didn't have him to slow them down. They didn't. This is almost certainly not coincidental.

His final words alive (pre-zombie) were 'I think I could eat one of Dibbler's meat pies.' This is a reference to former British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, whos last words were 'I think I could eat one of Bellamy's veal pies.'

“You know”, said Windle, “it’s a wonderful afterlife.” (Corgi PB, p. 283). This evokes the 1946 film, It's a Wonderful Life (1946 - see Wikipedia). James Stewart plays a man who is about to commit suicide on Christmas Eve by jumping off a bridge. His guardian angel intervenes. He is shown what life in his town would be like if he hadn't been born, and chooses to live.

[[Category:Discworld characters|Poons,Windle]]
[[Category:Wizards|Poons,Windle]]
[[Category:Undead characters|Poons, Windle]]
[[de:Windle Poons]]

{{Stub}}

Greyhald Spold

2016-01-29T00:15:06Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title= Greyhald Spold
|photo= Spald.jpg|Greyhald Spold, as drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]
|name= Greyhald "Tudgy" Spold
|age=
|race= [[Human]]

|occupation= [[Wizard]]
|appearance=

|residence=

|death= {{TLF}}
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books= {{TLF}}
|cameos=
}}

Greyhald "Tudgy" Spold (his nickname is mentioned in {{MP}} and {{LL}}) was Head of the [[Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle]] (a.k.a. the Illuminated Mages of the Unbroken Circle) - one of the [[7a|seven-and-one]] orders of Wizardry at [[Unseen University]] during the events of {{COM}}.

In {{TLF}}, he is reported as being (currently) the oldest wizard in the world. When the senior wizards perform the Rite of AshkEnte, Spold sees [[Death]] looking at him oddly, and creates an extremely magical and complicated hiding place, using many rare and smelly oils, a paste made of powdered mayflies, the eightfold [[Octagram|octogram of Witholding]], red and green candles, protective amulets, and a box made of the wood of the curlyfern pine. Unfortunately, what all his preparations didn't take into account was that the box required air holes, and so the last words he heard were, {{Death|Dark in here, isn't it?}}

In {{MP}}, we learn that as a student he was a friend of [[Windle Poons]] and [[Riktor|"Numbers" Riktor]], and in {{H}}, you can read about [[Spold's Unstirring Divisor]] - of which he is presumed, though not confirmed, to be the inventor.

In ''[[The Discworld Companion]]'' he is listed - probably incorrectly - as having been Archchancellor, although there is no evidence in the books that he ever held this title. If he ever did, he must have held the position before [[Galder Weatherwax]] and retired from it voluntarily: since he cannot have succeeded Galder even notionally before [[Ymper Trymon]]'s takeover, on account of having died eight pages before Galder. It would seem more likely that the Discworld Companion is in error. The film version of {{TCOM}} sort-of-semi-rationalises this by making Spold be Weatherwax's likely successor should he outlive Weatherwax, which he does not.

Either way, there was no doubt to his title of oldest living wizard: his death left [[Windle Poons]], his contemporary as a student, as the new holder of that position.

:
{{Stub}}

[[Category:Discworld characters|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[Category:Human characters|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[Category:Wizards|Spold,Greyhald]]
[[de:Grauhalt Spold]]

Cutangle

2016-01-28T23:42:56Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title=Archchancellor Cutangle
|photo=Cutanglemine.jpg|Cutangle by [[User:Darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|name=Cutangle
|age=
|race=

|occupation=Archchancellor of UU
|appearance=Extremely fat with wobbly jowls

|residence=UU

|death=presumed dead
|parents= father [[Acktur Cutangle]]
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books={{ER}}
|cameos=
}}

A former [[Archchancellor]] of [[Unseen University]] and [[Ancient and Truly Original Brothers of the Silver Star|Archmage of the Silver Star]]. He comes from the [[Ramtops]], where his father [[Acktur Cutangle]] lived in the village of [[Brass Neck]] next to [[Esmerelda Weatherwax|Granny Weatherwax's]] [[Bad Ass|home village]].

Under his administration, [[Eskarina Smith]] was admitted as the first female student [[Wizards|wizard]].

There is some evidence that Cutangle entertained a (one-sided) romantic attraction for [[Esmerelda Weatherwax|Granny Weatherwax]] during their briefly accounted acquaintance in [[Equal Rites]]. After all, they got acquainted in an intimate magical duel in the Great Hall, fought out in front of a packed audience of wizards, in which Granny proved herself to be at the very least the equal of an Eighth Level Magus, and following which both participants all but acknowledged defeat at the hands of the other... this is possibly the sort of courtship that can turn an old wizard's head. Granny, however, never mentions him again: while she never had a proper romance at all, the closest she came to one in her youth was with [[Mustrum Ridcully|another wizard of the Ramtops]]...

His eventual fate is unknown: no Archchancellor is identified in ''[[Mort]]'', but at the start of ''[[Sourcery]]'', the wizards are getting ready to appoint Virrid Wayzygoose as the new Archchancellor. Since the latter is described as having been patiently waiting his turn for years, it implies a peaceful transition of authority, and thus that Wayzygoose probably did not murder his predecessor for the job - which may or may not have been Cutangle. However since Cutangle never appears again, he can be presumed dead: most likely of natural causes, if indeed Wayzygoose was his successor.
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Wizards]]
[[de:Knallwinkel]]

Ezrolith Churn

2016-01-28T23:20:17Z

JLE:

{{Character Data
|title= Ezrolith Churn
|photo= CHURN.jpg|Ezrolith Churn, as drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]
|name=
|age=
|race= [[human]]

|occupation= Former [[Archchancellor]] of [[Unseen University]]
|appearance= Elderly and wizardly

|residence= [[Ankh-Morpork]]

|death= Many years ago
|parents=
|relatives= Brother, [[Eliaz Churn]]
|children=
|marital status=

|books= {{E}}
}}

Ezrolith Churn was the [[Archchancellor]] during the events of {{E}}. He achieved a great age not through survival, but by not being any trouble to anybody. He had intended to spend his twilight years working on his seven-volume treatise ''Some Little-Known Aspects of [[Ku]]ian Rain-Making Rituals''. Didn't last long, as [[Mustrum Ridcully]] was Archchancellor by the next book in the Wizards Series. It is unknown whether he met his end at the hand of an ambitious wizard trying to climb the ranks: although given that his successor was Ridcully (absent from university for ages, never expected the job, and was actually selected in the absence of any other credible or even ambitious candidate), it is actually possible that Churn died of old age leaving no clear claimant to the top job at all.

{{stub}}

[[Category:Discworld characters|Churn, Ezrolith]]
[[Category:Human characters|Churn, Ezrolith]]
[[Category:Wizards|Churn, Ezrolith]]
[[de:Ezrolith Brodel]]

Brazeneck College

2016-01-28T23:03:51Z

JLE: /* Tentative annotations and associations */

An upstart rival to [[Unseen University]]. Not only having the brass neck to call itself a college of magic and to confer degrees in wizardry when not long ago it was the ''Braseneck School of Conjuring'', it seems to have instigated a Big Thing War between the two institutions.

[[Ponder Stibbons]] is playing this very cleverly so as to get larger grants from the [[Faculty]] for the [[High Energy Magic Building]]. Unseen cannot be seen to lose face nor be out-trumped by the upstart rival. So Ponder's hints that Unseen's '''VBT''' (Very Big Thing, specifically [[Hex]]) might be superseded by Brazeneck's, although it's only a '''QBT''' (Quite Big Thing) now. The senior faculty are concerned that an '''EBT''' (Even Bigger Thing) might be in the works.
Having discovered a way of getting research money out of the senior wizards - "we can't have those buggers at Brazeneck going one better than us!" (M. Ridcully)- you may be sure Ponder is exploiting this to the full. After all, as an additional argument, the Sociology department could get hold of the extra funding and they'd either waste it, or cause trouble, or both.
The next step would be a '''GBT''' ([[Great Big Thing]].) Ponder states that "if we could ever build a '''GBT''', we'd know the mind of the Creator." By the time of {{SOD4}}, Ponder has suceeded in getting his GBT up and running.

Of course, what the '''QBT''' and '''VBT''' actually ''do'' is besides the point - what matters is the prestige for a University in owning one, so that it can beat its collegiate chest and shout at other Universities "Ours is WAY bigger than yours!".

Ponder Stibbons has certainly learnt how University politics works...
Braseneck College also published the ''Journal of Irreducible Research'', much to the UU's contempt; proper wizards don't tell others what they're working on, and they suspect most of the ''Journal'' is for "having written", not for reading, in any event.

In {{UA}}, we learn that this competing institution is based in [[Pseudopolis]] and has systematically been poaching [[Unseen University]] staff, including its [[Dean]] and with the help of [[Adrian Turnipseed]] they have constructed [[Pex]], a chicken powered version of [[Hex]]. However, much to the disappointment of its new Archchancellor, banquets are in short supply due to "Government Funding". In an attempt to attract new applicants Braseneck gives all new students a free crystal ball and a voucher for a free frog or frog-like creature.

===The Faculty & Staff===

*[[Archchancellor|The Archchancellor]] ([[Dean|Henry]])
*[[Adrian Turnipseed|Professor Turnipseed]] - Keeper of [[Pex]]
*[[Able Baker| Dr Baker]] - Director of Blit Studies

==Tentative annotations and associations==

It was at first thought that Ponder Stibbons may have made the competing college up, inspired by a [[Roundworld]] [http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ institution] that is part of Oxford University named after a brass body part, in order to frighten Ridcully into releasing more research money. However, this was prior to the publication of [[Short Story:A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices|''A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices'']], in which it is revealed that not only does Brazeneck, or its alternative spelling of Braseneck, have an independent physical existence, it is - or was - also located in Ankh-Morpork. {{UA}} relocates it to Pseudopolis).

The fact it ''used'' to be called the ''Braseneck School of Conjuring'' suggests that this deliberately reflects what some commentators have described as a watering-down of standards in British higher education. In recent years, what used to be called "polytechnics", the old second tier higher education establishments, have been allowed to recharter themselves as universities, much to the displeasure and disdain of traditional universities who frankly didn't want the competition. Thus the old cheap-and-cheerful Manchester Polytechnic now calls itself Manchester Metropolitan University, and occupies buildings right next to the very long-established Manchester University, much to the latter's collegiate irritation. Even some further education colleges, long thought of as the third division of British HE and ranking even behind polys, have been able to recharter as Universities. This contributor was recently most amused and somewhat disbelieving to drive past the run-down and seedy tech college he used to attend in Wrexham, North Wales, to see it has rebranded itself as "University of Wales, Wrexham". Aston Tech ''still'' looks as shabby, seedy, underfunded and run-down from the outside as it ever did... Braseneck may well be Ankh-Morpork's equivalent of Aston College, Wrexham, elevated to university stature by Vetinari to convey some subtle point over to Ridcully and the wizards... or, offered university status and the chance to relocate to larger premises by the newly-formed Republic of Pseudopolis (which seems to have become a republic at about the same time that Braseneck is reported as being there: both are recorded in ''[[Unseen Academicals]]'') so the city could claim to have a magical university of its own.

The ''Journal of Irreducible Research'' is a take on RoundWorld's [[wikipedia:Journal_of_Irreproducible_Results|''The Journal of Irreproducible Results'']], a magazine with a humorous take on science and math.

Mentioned in {{SOD3}}, [[Short Story:A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices|''A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices]], and {{UA}}.

[[Category:Wizards]]
[[de:Braseneck Universität]]

Brazeneck College

2016-01-28T23:01:13Z

JLE: /* Tentative annotations and associations */

An upstart rival to [[Unseen University]]. Not only having the brass neck to call itself a college of magic and to confer degrees in wizardry when not long ago it was the ''Braseneck School of Conjuring'', it seems to have instigated a Big Thing War between the two institutions.

[[Ponder Stibbons]] is playing this very cleverly so as to get larger grants from the [[Faculty]] for the [[High Energy Magic Building]]. Unseen cannot be seen to lose face nor be out-trumped by the upstart rival. So Ponder's hints that Unseen's '''VBT''' (Very Big Thing, specifically [[Hex]]) might be superseded by Brazeneck's, although it's only a '''QBT''' (Quite Big Thing) now. The senior faculty are concerned that an '''EBT''' (Even Bigger Thing) might be in the works.
Having discovered a way of getting research money out of the senior wizards - "we can't have those buggers at Brazeneck going one better than us!" (M. Ridcully)- you may be sure Ponder is exploiting this to the full. After all, as an additional argument, the Sociology department could get hold of the extra funding and they'd either waste it, or cause trouble, or both.
The next step would be a '''GBT''' ([[Great Big Thing]].) Ponder states that "if we could ever build a '''GBT''', we'd know the mind of the Creator." By the time of {{SOD4}}, Ponder has suceeded in getting his GBT up and running.

Of course, what the '''QBT''' and '''VBT''' actually ''do'' is besides the point - what matters is the prestige for a University in owning one, so that it can beat its collegiate chest and shout at other Universities "Ours is WAY bigger than yours!".

Ponder Stibbons has certainly learnt how University politics works...
Braseneck College also published the ''Journal of Irreducible Research'', much to the UU's contempt; proper wizards don't tell others what they're working on, and they suspect most of the ''Journal'' is for "having written", not for reading, in any event.

In {{UA}}, we learn that this competing institution is based in [[Pseudopolis]] and has systematically been poaching [[Unseen University]] staff, including its [[Dean]] and with the help of [[Adrian Turnipseed]] they have constructed [[Pex]], a chicken powered version of [[Hex]]. However, much to the disappointment of its new Archchancellor, banquets are in short supply due to "Government Funding". In an attempt to attract new applicants Braseneck gives all new students a free crystal ball and a voucher for a free frog or frog-like creature.

===The Faculty & Staff===

*[[Archchancellor|The Archchancellor]] ([[Dean|Henry]])
*[[Adrian Turnipseed|Professor Turnipseed]] - Keeper of [[Pex]]
*[[Able Baker| Dr Baker]] - Director of Blit Studies

==Tentative annotations and associations==

It was at first thought that Ponder Stibbons may have made the competing college up, inspired by a [[Roundworld]] [http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ institution] that is part of Oxford University named after a brass body part, in order to frighten Ridcully into releasing more research money. However, this was prior to the publication of [[Short Story:A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices|''A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices'']], in which it is revealed that not only does Brazeneck, or its alternative spelling of Braseneck, have an independent physical existence, it is - or was - also located in Ankh-Morpork. {{UA}} relocates it to Pseudopolis).

The fact it ''used'' to be called the ''Braseneck School of Conjuring'' suggests that this deliberately reflects what some commentators have described as a watering-down of standards in British higher education. In recent years, what used to be called "polytechnics", the old second tier higher education establishments, have been allowed to recharter themselves as universities, much to the displeasure and disdain of traditional universities who frankly didn't want the competition. Thus the old cheap-and-cheerful Manchester Polytechnic now calls itself Manchester Metropolitan University, and occupies buildings right next to the very long-established Manchester University, much to the latter's collegiate irritation. Even some further education colleges, long thought of as the third division of British HE and ranking even behind polys, have been able to recharter as Universities. This contributor was recently most amused and somewhat disbelieving to drive past the run-down and seedy tech college he used to attend in Wrexham, North Wales, to see it has rebranded itself as "University of Wales, Wrexham". Aston Tech ''still'' looks as shabby, seedy, underfunded and run-down from the outside as it ever did... Braseneck may well be Ankh-Morpork's equivalent of Aston College, Wrexham, elevated to university stature by Vetinari to convey some subtle point over to Ridcully and the wizards... or, offered university status and the chance to relocate to larger premises by the newly-formed Republic of Pseudopolis (which seems to have become a republic at about the same time that Braseneck relocated there, both are recorded in ''[[Unseen Academicals]]'') so the city could claim to have a magical university of its own.

The ''Journal of Irreducible Research'' is a take on RoundWorld's [[wikipedia:Journal_of_Irreproducible_Results|''The Journal of Irreproducible Results'']], a magazine with a humorous take on science and math.

Mentioned in {{SOD3}}, [[Short Story:A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices|''A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices]], and {{UA}}.

[[Category:Wizards]]
[[de:Braseneck Universität]]

Librarian

2016-01-28T22:47:17Z

JLE: /* Biography */

{{Character Data
|title= The Librarian
|photo=librarianmine.jpg|The Librarian by [[user:darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|name= Unknown, presumed "[[Horace Worblehat]]"
|age= Unknown
|race= {{wp|Orang-utan|Orang-utan}}, originally [[Humans|Human]]

|occupation= Librarian of the [[Unseen University]]
|appearance= About 300lb, very long arms, reddish-brown hair (all over).

|residence= [[Library|The Library of the Unseen University]]

|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status= Single

|books={{TLF}}, {{ER}}, {{S}}, {{G!G!}}, {{E}}, {{RM}}, {{MAA}}, {{SM}}, {{IT}}, {{M!!!}}, {{TLC}}, {{TLH}}, {{SOD1}}, {{SOD2}}, {{SOD3}}, {{UA}}
|cameos={{M}}, {{WS}}, {{SG}},{{J}}, {{LL}}, {{GP}}, {{MM}}, {{T!}} {{H}}, {{NW}}, {{MP}},
}}
The '''Librarian''' of [[Unseen University]] [[Library]], where many magical events precipitate. He has the following UU awards; DThau & Professor in L-Space Studies.

==Biography==
The Librarian is a faculty member, and so he must have once been a human wizard. A strong wave of [[magic]], altering reality, transformed the Librarian into an orang-utan, ''Pongo pongo'', native of [[Bhangbhangduc]] and nearby islands; at that time, his colleagues still remembered how he looked as a human ({{TLF}}). Back then, wizards were much too busy to help him get back to his original human form (although there is no record of his asking for help, either). After things settled down, the Librarian's colleagues found that he liked being an orang-utan, and fought all efforts to transform him back to human. The Librarian found out that opposable toes come in very handy when climbing up the book-shelves and sorting books. Also, a very large and strong orang-utan has more plausible arguments when talking about dog-ears and overrun return deadlines. Although the senior wizards looked very hard for one, there are no rules in the university constitution forbidding an orang-utan to be a member of the college council.

In appearance he has the rubber-sack-filled-with-water look of a well grown, 300lb male. He has not, however, developed the overlarge cheek pads that are a feature of the dominant male orang-utan, and this is because, as an ex-officio member of the University [[Faculty|faculty]] he quite rightly regards the [[Archchancellor]] as the dominant male, even though most Archchancellors do not sit high up in trees with leaves on their heads.

Very soon, people forgot how the Librarian looked as a human, or what his given name was (though the latter is true for most other faculty members as well). This was helped along by the Librarian methodically removing, defacing or otherwise altering any and all photographs and records of his name in the University files - and by the constant infighting at the university, especially during the brief but terrible reign of [[Coin]] the Sourcerer, resulting in the demise of a considerable number of such wizards as had known him as a human: part of the premise for the events of ''[[The Last Continent]]'' is that [[Rincewind]] is one of the few remaining wizards to have actually survived University life since before the transformation, and thus is likely to know the Librarian's human name (although the reason for wanting to know it is to cure him of a cold, but by the time the wizards catch up with Rincewind, their accidental holiday has already done the Librarian a power of good, he has made a full recovery and nobody needs to ask Rincewind about the Librarian's identity.) It is rumoured that the Librarian was once Dr [[Horace Worblehat]], but no one utters this out loud. We do know however that he was born in [[Moon Pond Lane]], [[Ankh-Morpork]], and that for centuries his ancestors were upstanding feed-and-corn merchants. Nowadays, only people very new to the University or Ankh-Morpork will find themselves surprised that there is an orang-utan in a University Library, or in a [[The Mended Drum|pub]]. Indeed, if someone were to point out that there is an orang-utan in the library, the wizards would probably ask the librarian if he had seen it.

All the Librarian ever utters is 'oook' or 'eeek', but by now the wizards, and especially [[Rincewind]], are so used to this that they understand the Librarian perfectly. They can even translate the merest 'oook' into full-fledged literary English sentences.

The Librarian is a member of the Librarians of Time and Space, and has the understanding of the power of [[L-Space]], and has used these powers to appear at [[Library of Ephebe|certain times]] to ensure the safety of particular books, bringing them home to his precious Library at UU.

During the events of ''[[The Last Continent]]'', the Librarian's morphic field became highly unstable whilst he was suffering a severe cold. This instability manifested as a tendency, each time he sneezed, to transform into whatever shape best suited his immediate surroundings, e.g. a book ("The Story Of Ook"), a deck chair, a large penguin, a dolphin. Perhaps because his usual and preferred form as an orang-utan so suits his deeper nature, all such alternative shapes retained his luxurious coat of long red hair.

==Character==
When worried, the Librarian tends to hide under a blanket in his book-lined nest in a cubby hole under a desk in the middle of the library. He is generally naked but he does wear an old green robe after he has had a bath. He is also a [[Specials|Special Constable]] of the [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch]]. In his spare time he visits the pub, leaving a trail of peanut shells behind. Now and again he hops over the wall into the [[Patrician]]'s Palace [[Menagerie]] by night and is said to emerge the next morning looking exremely refreshed and relaxed. It is unclear as to what he actually ''does'' in there, as the Menagierie houses no orang-utans of either sex.

Despite his usually easy going nature, it should be noted that the Librarian is an {{wp|Ape|ape}} rather than a [[monkey]] and is extremely eager to correct people on the subject in uncharacteristically violent ways. He can also become physically assertive when enforcing the prohibition against open flame inside the University's library, or when otherwise acting in defense of his literary charges. Tending to books, the Librarian displays an excellent bedside manner, gently stroking distressed or damaged texts to soothe them as he conducts repairs.

The Librarian appears in almost every Discworld book, and is the source for the constant engagement of Terry Pratchett and his fans for the orang-utan foundation. He has yet to be the focus of a Discworld novel; Pratchett admits that an inner monologue that consists entirely of 'ook' is not particularly engaging.

Nicholas Tennant played The Librarian (as well as [[Horace Worblehat|Dr. Horace Worblehat]]) in the TV adaption of {{TCOM}}. He also played [[Nobby Nobbs]] in the TV adaptation of {{H}}.

== An interesting footnote ==

The collective noun for a group of orang-utans is a ''buffoonery''. There may only be one orang in the University [[Faculty]], yet this is the grouping this orang is forced, by circumstance, to associate with and seek shelter within....

==External Links==
[http://www.orangutan.org The Orang-Utan Foundation] 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangutan Orangutan on Wikipedia]

:
[[Category:Discworld characters|Librarian]]
[[category:Supporting characters|Librarian]]
[[category:Serial characters|Librarian]]
[[Category:Wizards|Librarian]]
[[Category:Watchmen]]
[[de:Bibliothekar]]

Daft Wullie

2016-01-28T00:07:21Z

JLE:

Not the most intelligent of [[Pictsies]], '''Daft Wullie''' is nonetheless one of [[Chalk Hill Clan]]'s best thieves, although every mission he been in charge of has been a failure. Often making suggestions like "Can we swim there?" after another has said it's too far to walk, he hasn't many good ideas, but is always trying to contribute, and 'show willin.' He was in charge of the raiding party that needed turpentine, sheep's wool and Jolly Sailor tobacco. He is a brother of [[Rob Anybody]], who often tells Wullie when he has said something foolish. On one occasion, Rob went a little too far in belittling Daft Wullie's intelligence: and when Wullie protested, Rob actually apologised - by saying that contrary to his previous statement, Daft Wullie does have the brains of a beetle, "an' I'll fight any scunner who says different!" In [[Wintersmith]], Wullie adopts [[Horace the Cheese]], the sentient Lancre Blue cheese that was previously something like a pet of Tiffany's.

==Daft Wullie: annotation==

In George McDonald Fraser[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_MacDonald_Fraser]'s autobiographical stories about his time as an officer in the Gordon Highlanders (ie, real-life Feegles in Highland army uniforms) there is a character called "Daft Bob" by his fellows. Bob is a Glaswegian, but so amazingly soft in the heid that he fervently supports neither Celtic nor Rangers but the lowly Glasgow side Partick Thistle. (the parallel is coming from Liverpool and wearing the tangerine scarf of Tranmere Rovers, or residing in Manchester and spurning United or City for Stockport County). Bob also correctly divines that his brand-new commanding officer has, in his first three days with the Regiment, fallen foul of the byzantine rules of the Officers' Mess and ended up on a charge. As well as being daft enough to notice what should not be his concern, he then sets McDonald-Fraser right with well-meant good advice, a thing a private soldier should not normally do to his officer. Hence "Daft Bob" - for either not knowing or not especially caring what the rules are, he just ''is'', and regularly proceeds to say what he's thinking, however daft or ill-advised it is. It is clear that Bob is a khaki ''idiot savant'', a trait he shares with the Feegle Daft Wullie.

There is also a "Wee Wullie", a giant of a man and when sober, a good soldier, but when drunk, capable of such acts as declaring war on the entire United States Marine Corps - and winning. In thirty years' service he has managed promotion to the rank of Private.

[[Rob Anybody]]'s alter-ego in the Highlanders is most probably the dapper barrack-room lawyer Private Fletcher, who serves much the same function for Daft Bob as Rob does to Daft Wullie. (Book: '''The General Danced At Dawn''', Pan paperbacks)

The whole exchange between Daft Wullie and Rob Anybody, over whether Wullie does or does not have the brains of a beetle, is a long-term running gag that Pratchett himself has used at least once before - in an argument between Esme Weatherwax and Gytha Ogg over whether the latter does or doesn't have the morals of a cat. Similar arguments have been used in political debate as well - most recently in the British House of Commons, Labour MP Dennis Skinner describing half the Conservative Party as crooks, and when called to apologise, he said "I withdraw my statement. Half of the Conservative Party are not crooks". Skinner himself would have known of, and was providing his own variation on, a similar story which is attributed (unproven) to, among others, Benjamin Disraeli: describing half of the Cabinet as asses, and when asked to apologise, stating that half of the Cabinet are not asses. (It is not clear whether the party he was referring to was his opponents, or indeed his own.)

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Tiffany Series characters]]
{{stub}}
[[de:Doofer Wullie]]