Talk:Discworld Stuff

Is it maybe appropriate to add Ankh-Morpork Times to the list of Groups and Organisations? William de Worde's Times is a force to be reckoned with on the Sto Plains..

Hmm, how about "companies/businesses"? We've got CMOT Dibbler, the Post Office, the Grand Trunk and the AM Times. Probably a few more. Would make an excellent subcategory I think. --Sanity 21:02, 2 Oct 2005 (CEST)

I added some more guilds as well. I know there are many guilds listed in the Companion. I tried to add here only the guilds that have had at least a supporting role in the stories, or particularly reflects Discworld, or Ankh-Morporkian, mentality.

Humanoids

Igor as a species and Nobbs as one as well? Corporal Nobbs, we know, has human parents. It is possible, of course, that he is somewhere further or backward on evolution. Biologically speaking, until he has successfully married and produced a human child, we cannot be sure that he is human. Anyhow, in Going Postal, Mr. Groat said there's, fortunately, only one Nobby Nobbs, so he can't breed. Given the general opinion of Ankh-Morpork, it seems appropriately humorous to put Nobby as a separate species.

Igor is a different matter. Being an Igor is as a family tradition, a way of life, a culture, almost a religion or nationality, but Igor is not a separate species. We know that Countess Magpyr has had to biologically become a vampire before giving birth to vampire children. We know that a werewolf breeding with either human or wolf produces monstrous wolfmen who cannot control their shapes as well as a true werewolf does. These are evidence that vampire and werewolf each is a species separate from human. Igor, on the other hand, marries ordinary girl and their children are very obviously human until extensive transplant surgeries have been performed. An Igor's daughter marries ordinary man and produces ordinary children. If an Igor baby boy has been left as a foundling at the steps of the Clockmaker's Guild, he will not, at a glance, look any different from other baby boys. When people see an Igor for the first time, for example when the Duke and Duchess of Ankh arrived at the Ankh-Morpork Embassy in Bonk, Uberwald, they perceive the Igor as a man who has suffered a terrible accident, which shows that an Igor looks like a human with a lot of stitches. Stitches do not change one's species. Igor should not be put as a separate humanoid species. --Vsl 16:29, 18 January 2006 (CET)

I agree on both points. Interestingly enough, the amazing medical abilities of Igors seem to be heritable. However, on Discworld this does not really have anything to do with genes (e.g. Death -> Susan). --Jogibaer 20:36, 18 January 2006 (CET)

I think Igors are a seperate species. They have abilities humans have not, such as appearing right behind their master at any given time. They might be able to interbreed with humans, but that doesn't mean they're completely human. Perhaps we could discuss this on a.f.p. or a.b.p. ? --Sanity 22:36, 18 January 2006 (CET)

Scratch that, found this:

Terry Pratchett, 17 jul 2002 18:04 

I repeat: all Igors are human, male and female.  Igorism is cultural.
If the daughter of an Igor takes it into her head to marry a man who
does *not* have stitches all around his head, then that doesn't mean her
children will be half-Igor.  I imagine, though, that the Igorinas go in
rather less for the 'total makeover' look.

Leaving aside any 'informal' methods of acquisition, I'm pretty certain
I said somewhere that if an Igor helps you out, it's considered only
fair to allow him or another Igor to help themselves to any still-useful
bits upon your death.-

-- 
Terry Pratchett 

--Sanity 22:40, 18 January 2006 (CET)

Since this question is now settled, what I am about to say is probably not important. But Igor's "abilities" can both be inherited by, yes, real world genes, and learned as a cultural, family tradition. If an Igor has a son who just can't get the hang of surgeries, he will not appear to others as an Igor (he will probably be kicked out of the family); on and on, people who stay in the Igor family are the boys and men who do not faint at the sight of innards and have deft hands with thread and needles. These traits can be inherited from genes: a less sensitive nose for blood and obnoxious chemicals, less tendency to feel nauseous, a better sense of touch in the fingers, etc. These traits can certainly be acquired or honed with training and practice, and in an Igor family, the father probably starts training his son before the age of five.

Suddenly appearing in the corner behind the employer when the employer calls is a bit more difficult, but such action has also been described as done by Willikins, the Ramkins' butler; he "materialized" when Vimes called him, and "dematerialized" after receiving the instruction; this is around pages 8~9 of Feet of Clay, where an Assassin has just broken Vimes's window and mirror but failed to hit him. Suddenly appearing when called appears to be expected of an ideal butler/manservant.--Vsl 01:13, 19 January 2006 (CET)

Organisations and groups

There seem to be a lot of these so why don't we give them their own category. It would be nice to have all the guilds in one place.--Teletran 17:37, 25 February 2007 (CET)

Devices

Several recent additions are simply things rather than Discworld devices, as defined. I don't see the point of listing any object mentioned in a book; it needs to be peculiar to Discworld, magical or adapted to different Discworld conditions. --Old Dickens 13:24, 13 April 2008 (UTC)