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55-687: The staff usually come in a group in the books in which they appear, though Rincewind initially followed his own storyline, only being a part of the group in the Science of Discworld books and Unseen Academicals , and the Librarian makes solo appearances in several books. Ridcully and Ponder also appeared in Going Postal and Night Watch . Ridcully alone appears in Thud! . The wizards are referred to by their offices (e.g. "ancient runes"), rather than names. There

110-456: A centre of magical learning and the return of Henry (formerly the Dean) to Ankh-Morpork as a rivalling Archchancellor do much to antagonise Archchancellor Ridcully. Parallel to this, the book tells the story of four young people. A candle dribbler named Mr. Nutt discovers that he is not what he thinks he is and must overcome the fear of his race, both by humans and by himself. He is also chosen to train

165-432: A character who's a coward and doesn't care who knows it. Pratchett noted that one of his major problems was that he has a "lack of an inner monologue". The Luggage is a large chest that follows Rincewind literally wherever he goes—even onto Roundworld, which Rincewind initially only visited virtually. It is made of sapient pearwood, a magical, intelligent plant that is nearly extinct, impervious to magic, and only grows in

220-549: A dragon is spotted in Ankh-Morpork, Unseen University's archchancellor sends Rincewind to find the source of the trouble. In the sequel, Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? , Death disappears and the archchancellor puts Rincewind in charge of finding him and convincing him to get back to work. In both games, Rincewind is voiced by Eric Idle . Rincewind has the ability to pick up the essentials of foreign languages quickly and fluency only slightly less quickly, and appears to have

275-607: A few places outside the Agatean Empire , generally on sites of very old magic. As such, whilst considered oddities on the Hubland continent, such chests were commonplace in the Agatean Empire. It can produce hundreds of little legs and move very fast if the need arises. It has been described as "half suitcase, half homicidal maniac". Interesting Times demonstrated that Luggages were capable of reproducing, which Twoflower suggested

330-632: A guide for the tourist Twoflower, who hailed from the Agatean Empire in the Counterweight Continent , across the disc from the 'hub' continent where Ankh-Morpork is situated. He was recruited for this because only he can communicate with Twoflower (they use Be-Trobi as a lingua franca ), Twoflower agreed to pay him in rhinu (large gold coins), and because the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork wished to prevent an Agatean attack on Ankh-Morpork sparked by Twoflower's death. He and Twoflower wandered around for quite

385-541: A harsh critic of the selected stupidities surrounding him, even though he can't help but comply with whatever absurdity that arises. For example, in the computer games starring him, he consistently spotted the ludicrous events around him and would then make jokes and puns to the unaware participants. He also seems to display, despite his apparent failure as a wizard, a fairly extensive magical knowledge, recognizing various spells, magical artefacts and concepts throughout his escapades. Some of Rincewind's talents once stemmed from

440-465: A hole through them—including a wall to a magic shop that had since relocated to another city by magical means. In her review of Night Watch , A. S. Byatt noted the lack of recent appearances of Rincewind and the grimmer presentation of the Witches and Ankh-Morpork as signs of Pratchett's imagination getting darker. While the current release (version 3.0.0) of VLC media player is named Vetinari ,

495-514: A librarian, such as being able to use his hands and feet for re-shelving books. The other wizards have gradually become used to the situation, to the extent that, from Night Watch : "if someone ever reported that there was an orang-utan in the Library, the wizards would probably go and ask the Librarian if he'd seen it." He is known for his violent reaction to most people calling him a " monkey ", as he

550-406: A magic mirror, which, like most Discworld scrying devices, is hard to steer. In Soul Music Ridcully improvises, at short notice and with minimal assistance, a slimmed-down version of the rite of AshkEnte for summoning Death. It is also implied that he has some degree of practical magic knowledge ( The Last Continent ). Lords and Ladies reveals that he and a young Esme Weatherwax were in

605-464: A maker of "jolly good" pies; Juliet Stollop, a dim but beautiful young woman who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been; and the mysterious Mr Nutt, a cultured, enigmatic, idealistic savant . According to the publisher, Transworld, the "on sale" date for the hardback was 1 October 2009 although the official publication date is 8 October 2009. Bookshop chain Borders included

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660-582: A previous release (version 2.1.0) was named Rincewind. Other releases of VLC media player have been named "The Luggage" (version 1.1.0), and release 2.0.0 was named " Twoflower ", the character that gave The Luggage to Rincewind (in The Light Fantastic ). Rincewind and Discworld witch Nanny Ogg appeared on first-class Royal Mail stamps in March 2011. The issue included wizards, witches and enchanters from British fiction, and also included characters from

715-421: A pulsating tongue, red as mahogany". The inside area of The Luggage does not appear to be constrained by its external dimensions , and contains many conveniences: even after it has just devoured a monster, the next time it opens the owner will find his underwear, neatly pressed and smelling slightly of lavender. It is unknown exactly what happens to anyone it 'eats'. One of the most notable features of The Luggage

770-483: A relationship some fifty years before Ridcully became Archchancellor. He is deeply affected by her death ( The Shepherd's Crown ). In the Cosgrove Hall animation of Soul Music he was voiced by Graham Crowden . In 2006's miniseries adaptation of Hogfather he was played by Joss Ackland , and in the 2010 adaptation of Going Postal he was portrayed by Timothy West . Professor A.A. Dinwiddie . The Bursar

825-551: A seat on the Ankh-Morpork council, in which he acts as a magical advisor to the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork . The archchancellor of UU is considered the leader of all wizards on the Disc (by those at the UU), the first among equals . Unseen University has existed for thousands of years, and the average Archchancellor remains in office for about eleven months. As of the final novel, the archchancellor

880-468: A semi-sentient and highly destructive spell that had lodged itself inside his mind and scared off all other spells (mentioned in The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic ; though even without the spell's interference he was still an extremely incompetent wizard). The spell occasionally tried to make itself heard when Rincewind was going through a stressful time; as he was falling to his near-death, he said

935-616: A small set of exclusive Discworld football cards with each book. The title is a play on the names of rugby and football teams in the UK who have or have had a connection to educational institutions, examples being Hamilton Academical and Edinburgh Academicals . The time in between the publication of Unseen Academicals and the previous Discworld entry, Making Money , was over 2 years, making it longest time between Discworld novels since 1983's The Colour of Magic and 1986's The Light Fantastic . However, it made up for this in part by being

990-497: A team made up of previously warring mob football teams including Dimwell and Dolly Sisters competing to prevent the more civilised game from becoming accepted. A proposed two-part television adaptation was to be produced by The Mob for broadcast on Sky1 (and in high definition on Sky1 HD ), with filming set to take place in 2011. It was to have been the fourth in a series of adaptations, following Hogfather , Colour of Magic , and Going Postal . However, by August 2012 it

1045-515: A while, and were chased by everything from the personification of Death to a Lovecraftian creature named Bel-Shamharoth. Rincewind and Twoflower parted ways at the end of The Light Fantastic and Twoflower gave Rincewind his sapient-pearwood Luggage. Rincewind's adventures continued, and he was chased across various regions of the Discworld in spite of, or often driven by, his desire to find somewhere he can relish boredom in peace and quiet. During

1100-539: Is Mustrum Ridcully who assumed the post in Moving Pictures and held it for the rest of the novels. At the time he became archchancellor, Ridcully had not been seen at the university for forty years, having left the university to look after his family's land. Ridcully has shown the occasional flash of magical skill. For example, in Moving Pictures , the Bursar is surprised to discover Ridcully's adeptness at using

1155-450: Is "to go crazy". The Dean of Pentacles/Archchancellor Henry of Brazeneck College . An obese man ( Moving Pictures ) who is generally found in his study reading a grimoire or in the great hall. He attends some of the functions that are held by guilds or clubs around the city on behalf of the university. According to Ponder Stibbons, he is "normally never nice". He is often susceptible to any occult or semi-magical occurrence happening in

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1210-601: Is a necromancer . Since necromancy is officially banned in Ankh-Morpork, he is instead the Head of the Department of Postmortem Communications (although he acknowledges this is just a fancy way of saying necromancy). Hix has one member of staff, a reanimated skeleton called Charlie. He previously had another member of staff, the late Professor Flead, but Hix bound him to a club at the end of Making Money . Hix frequently misbehaves, performs evil deeds and makes comments in bad taste as he

1265-524: Is a fictional character who appears in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett . He was a failed student at Unseen University for wizards in Ankh-Morpork , often described as "the magical equivalent to the number zero". He spent most of his time running away from people who wanted to kill him for various reasons. The reason that he was still alive and running was explained by noting that while he

1320-518: Is a member of the Librarians of Time And Space, a group who have the knowledge and ability to travel through L-Space, an extradimensional space that connects all libraries and other large accumulations of books. The Librarian appears in orangutan form in the video games Discworld and Discworld II . In the 2008 TV adaptation of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic by Sky One , he appears in both human and orang-utan form. His human form

1375-488: Is a quiet, reserved person. He took over the job from the previous Bursar, Spelter, after the latter was killed trying to save the library from destruction in Sourcery . Dinwiddie reacts to the stress of the events in the series by becoming less and less tethered to reality. By the events of Reaper Man , Dr. Dinwiddie is almost completely insensible. The Bursar's insanity has become a byword in Ankh-Morpork : "to go Bursar"

1430-516: Is a slight reference to this in The Last Continent , when the wizards notice that they not only don't know the Librarian's name, but they also don't know the names of one another. In Unseen Academicals , Ridcully has difficulty remembering the Dean's name, despite having started at UU around the same time. The head of Unseen University is the archchancellor , considered an important figure and holds

1485-442: Is an actual mouse. Its "brain" consists of a series of glass tubes filled with ants, which form its processor, and a beehive in a back room, which constitutes its hard drive. It bears a sticker up front saying that there is an anthill inside (a parody of the advertising slogan " Intel Inside "). Initially just a computer, it has gradually developed more of a personality over the course of the series. Ponder Stibbons has by default become

1540-558: Is its ability to follow its current owner anywhere, including places like inside its owner's mind, off the edge of the Disc , Death's Domain , inside the Octavo , the Dungeon Dimensions, and even (literally) to Hell and back. Like all luggage, it's constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down. It has only one way of overcoming obstacles, and that is to simply ignore them and smash

1595-743: Is played by Nicolas Tennant, who had previously played Corporal Nobbs in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather . Professor Stibbons is, among other things, Head of Inadvisably Applied Magic, Praelector and Reader in Invisible Writings, the Master of Traditions, the Camerlengo of Unseen University, the keeper of Hex (the university's computer), and the right-hand man of Archchancellor Ridcully. His entry in The New Discworld Companion states: In

1650-459: Is required to under university statute, a fact which the other members of UU grudgingly accept. He uses the phrase "Skull ring, remember?" as an excuse for his misbehavior, much like the Patrician's use of the phrase, "Tyrant, remember?". Hix may be a parody of Peter Higgs . Hex is the UU's first mainframe computer, though instead of RAM, it is powered by a waterwheel inside a ram skull, and its mouse

1705-456: Is technically an ape . He primarily uses the word Ook , inflected for simple affirmations and negations, though he occasionally uses Eeek in moments of panic or rage. Nonetheless, most people seem able to understand him. As with other members of the UU faculty, the Librarian is referred to by his office and not by a name. There are rumours that, pre-transformation, he was named Dr. Horace Worblehat, though no one speaks about it. The Librarian

Unseen University - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-484: Is the 37th novel in Terry Pratchett 's Discworld series. The novel satirises football, and features Mustrum Ridcully setting up an Unseen University football team, with the Librarian in goal. It includes new details about "below stairs" life at the university. The book introduces several new characters, including Trevor Likely, a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can; Glenda Sugarbean,

1815-490: Is very violent and deaths are common. Thus, in collaboration with the city's tyrant Lord Vetinari, they set out to make new 'official' football rules, based on translations of the rules from an ancient urn, which includes forbidding the use of hands and mandating the use of official footballs as opposed to the makeshift balls the street games use. With the prestige of UU under threat, the rise of Brazeneck College in Pseudopolis as

1870-552: The Arthurian Legend , from J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series, and from the Narnia series of C. S. Lewis . Paul Whitelaw, writing for The Scotsman , felt that David Jason was "clearly several decades too old" to be Rincewind in the film adaptation of The Colour of Magic . The Cretaceous gymnosperm species Phoenicopsis rincewindii is named after Rincewind. Unseen Academicals Unseen Academicals

1925-658: The Chair for the Public Misunderstanding of Magic, and the positions of Professor of Virtual Anthropology, Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography, Reader in Slood Dynamics, Fretwork Teacher, Lecturer in Approximate Accuracy, and Health and Safety Officer. These apparently unwanted positions were awarded to Rincewind provided that he does not receive any salary. Prior to receiving these titles, Rincewind held

1980-437: The Dean leaves to become Archchancellor of the rival Brazeneck College. The Dean became the first person to voluntarily resign from the university – something previously considered unthinkable (as people usually left "in disgrace, in a box or, in a few cases, in bits"). The Librarian appeared in the second novel of the series, The Light Fantastic , where he was transformed into an orang-utan . This had certain advantages for

2035-489: The Disc's best pies . Juliet works for Glenda, has a crush on Trev (despite coming from families that support different teams), is simple and beautiful, and becomes a famous fashion model and the new face of dwarvish micromail (chainmail as soft as cloth). The four of them end up advising the wizards on their football endeavour. The novel culminates in an intense game between the Unseen Academicals and Ankh-Morpork United,

2090-427: The ability to blend in to any situation. During The Colour of Magic , when he was projected into a universe that may or may not have been our own, he assumed the role of a nuclear physicist . In keeping with his nature, the role was as a physicist who specialized in the 'breakaway oxidation phenomena' of certain reactors —or, to put another way, what happens when those reactors caught fire (Terry Pratchett served as

2145-408: The book for his site Boing Boing , Cory Doctorow praised Pratchett's ability to make him like this novel despite his lack of interest in football and rated it one of his top five Discworld novels, while cautioning that the book, unlike previous works, requires the reader to be familiar with the characters and setting. The Guardian 's Harry Ritchie also favourably reviewed the novel, highlighting

2200-416: The condition that he cannot have any salary, influence, or opinions. They do, however, include meals, his laundry done, and (as a result of all the impressive-sounding but essentially meaningless titles that have been bestowed upon him) up to eight buckets of coal a day during the entire year. Pratchett said that Rincewind's job is "to meet more interesting people", saying that there is not much he can do with

2255-652: The events of The Last Hero , in which the Discworld risks being destroyed if Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde succeed in their plan to "return fire to the Gods with interest", Rincewind said that he did not wish to volunteer for a dangerous mission. When asked to explain, he said he merely refused for appearances, because someone was bound to nominate him because of his knowledge of the geography of Cori Celesti or his friendship with Cohen, so even if he refused, somehow events would conspire against him and he would end up going on

Unseen University - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-414: The faculty of Unseen University discover that they must, as per tradition, play a game of football , in exchange for their large financial endowment from the late Archchancellor Preserved Bigger. If not, they will lose 87.4% of the university's food bill, and be forced to have (only) three meals a day. The wizards soon learn that the local version of football (similar to the actual game of mob football )

2365-462: The film version of Hogfather he is portrayed by Ed Coleman . Stibbons also appears in the video game Discworld II , in the High Energy Facility. He is characterized differently than in the books, evidenced by his erratic speech patterns and verbal tics, as well as his denials that he is being adversely affected by working on Hex . Rincewind holds the Chair of Experimental Serendipity,

2420-470: The first seven out of eight words of the spell. In Sourcery and Unseen Academicals Rincewind claims that he never knew his mother as she ran away before he was born. Rincewind has received several titles during his stay at the Unseen University; some of them because nobody else wants them, others to keep him busy doing work unrelated to magic. These titles and their accompanying tenure include

2475-550: The longest Discworld novel, 25 000 words longer than any other book in the series. Between 1986 and 2007, at least one Discworld novel was published every year. This delay was in part due to Pratchett's Alzheimer's diagnosis, which led to a great deal of his time being taken up with interviews and public advocacy. After the centennial Hunting of the Megapode (a satirisation of the Mallard ceremony performed at All Souls College, Oxford ),

2530-420: The mission anyway as he attempted to escape. Raising Steam mentions Rincewind in footnotes, which refer to him as a professor at the university, studying the effects of different flowers on the nervous system. Rincewind is the main character of the text adventure The Colour of Magic , based on the book of the same name. Rincewind is also the player character of the 1995 Discworld video game . After

2585-466: The person in charge of developing and operating Hex, though he admits that Hex largely develops itself. Others include Cutangle ( Equal Rites ), Virrid Wayzygoose ( Sourcery ), Ezrolith Churn ( Eric ), Sloman, who discovered the Special Theory of Slood , and Preserved Bigger ( Unseen Academicals ). Rincewind Rincewind ( / ˈ r ɪ n s . w ɪ n d / RINSE -winn'd )

2640-479: The post of Assistant Librarian, but it is unclear whether or not he retains the office. Rincewind is often concerned with his life, as many people all across Discworld have attempted to take it. In the film version of The Colour of Magic he is portrayed by David Jason . Dr. John Hix – 'Hicks with an X' in Unseen Academicals , after changing his name from Hicks because it didn't suit his position. Dr Hix

2695-466: The press officer for several nuclear power plants before he became a full-time writer). Rincewind speculated on the nature of science, expressing hope in The Colour of Magic that there was something "better than magic" in the world, and speculated on the possibility of harnessing lightning, for which he was mocked by "sensible" Discworld citizens. Rincewind is also fairly streetwise. He is often depicted as

2750-400: The reliability of Pratchett's comedy, especially the figures of speech he regularly used such as a kiss sounding like "a tennis ball being sucked through the strings of a racket". Peter Ingam, writing for The Telegraph , opined that the quality of Pratchett's writing and humour remained as high as ever. Matt Barber, reviewing the book for Den of Geek , concluded that Unseen Academicals

2805-499: The university's team for the big match. Trev Likely, who is Mr. Nutt's coworker and best friend, is the son of Ankh-Morpork's most famous deceased footballer Dave Likely (who had scored a record of four goals throughout his entire career), but has promised his (late) dear old mum that he won't play, but ultimately saves the game. Glenda is a friend of Mr. Nutt and Trev, runs the Unseen University Night Kitchen, and bakes

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2860-464: The university, as well as any fads or trends – most notably in Soul Music . When roused into action he can be very enthusiastic and violent, and is a part-time Watch Special Constable – on the proviso that he not use magic in the course of his duties. He and Archchancellor Ridcully have been friends since their first days at the university. Their friendship is tested in Unseen Academicals , when

2915-470: Was born with a wizard's spirit, he had the body of a long-distance sprinter. Rincewind was portrayed by David Jason in the film adaptation of The Colour of Magic . Pratchett said in an interview that he unwittingly took Rincewind's name from " Churm Rincewind ", a fictitious person referred to in early "' Beachcomber " columns in the Daily Express . In The Colour of Magic , Rincewind acted as

2970-509: Was chiefly the result of what the Luggage learnt in Ankh-Morpork. Its function is to act as both a luggage carrier and bodyguard for its owner. The Luggage is fiercely defensive of its owner, and is generally homicidal in nature, killing or eating several people and monsters and destroying various ships, walls, doors, geographic features, and other obstacles throughout the series. Its mouth contains "lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and

3025-425: Was reported that The Mob's option for the rights was not renewed. It was announced by Discworld Monthly on 29 May 2018 that Audible has created an Audio Dramatisation of Unseen Academicals. The adaptation has been directed by Dirk Maggs , and the cast includes Josie Lawrence , Matthew Horne , Tony Gardner , and Phil Davis amongst others. It will be available to purchase on Audible from 2 July 2018 Reviewing

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