Characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Character details
Full name:	Moist von Lipwig
Description:	Human with no notable physical traits.
Associations:	Ankh-Morpork Post Office, Royal Mint, and Bank
Location:	Ankh-Morpork
Story appearances
First seen:	Going Postal
Also in:	Thud! Making Money
Other details
Notes:	Engaged to Adora Belle Dearheart.

Moist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money. Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is a British fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his Discworld series. ... This article is about the novels. ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... This article is about the Terry Pratchett Discworld novel. ... Thud! is Terry Pratchetts 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America and the United Kingdom on September 13, and it may have been released already in other countries, such as Norway [1] and Denmark. ... For the actual making of money, see Mint for the making of coins and Banknote concerning the production of paper money. ... This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is a British fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his Discworld series. ... This article is about the novels. ... This article is about the Terry Pratchett Discworld novel. ... For the actual making of money, see Mint for the making of coins and Banknote concerning the production of paper money. ...

Background and execution

Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past. He originally comes from Überwald, and became a travelling conman. At some point he befriended Cribbins, another criminal who taught him everything he (Cribbins) knew. But their association ended, and later Lipwig developed a dislike for Cribbins, reflecting that the teaching took "about ten minutes, and a year to forget some of it", and that Cribbins is "the sort that gives criminals a bad name".^[1] In Terry Pratchetts fictional Discworld universe, Ãœberwald is a region located in near the foot of the Ramtops, farther from Ankh-Morpork than Lancre is. ...

During his time as a conman, Lipwig took advantage of the fact that he has no notable physical traits and is easily forgettable. According to the numerous descriptions handed in to various watches across the Plains, he is "about twenty or thirty and between 5ft 9 and 6ft 2". Lipwig uses this to his advantage by donning a selection of easily removable distinguishable features, such as fake moustaches and glasses. He became an expert forger and uses a wide range of inks and papers that he stores in what he calls "Mr. Robinson's Box". See also: Discworld (world) This article concerns the fictional geography of Terry Pratchetts Discworld, featured in the long running series of novels of the same name. ...

He also used a number of aliases, including Albert Spangler. It was under that name that he was captured in Ankh-Morpork and hanged, in the beginning of Going Postal. Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

Civil service

In Going Postal, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork arranged to have Lipwig survive his hanging. When Lipwig woke up, Vetinari offered him to take a job as Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster General of his own free will (the offered alternatives being suicide, again of his own free will). At that time, the city's postal service was failing, the task of restoring it had killed four of Vetinari's clerks, and the competing Clacks network was being run by a conman at the helm of the evil Grand Trunk Clacks Company. Lipwig nonetheless manages to revive the postal service, by applying the principles of the con to honest work and by introducing the postage stamp, and exposes the fraudulent practises of the Grand Trunk Clacks Company, thus ruining it. By the beginning of Making Money, the Clacks network is run by the Ankh-Morpork Postal Service. Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... The clacks in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels is a network of semaphore towers stretching along the Sto Plains, into the Ramtops and across the Unnamed Continent to Genua. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ...

Moist von Lipwig and the post office have a very minor cameo in Thud!. Commander Vimes notices that the Ankh-Morpork Post Office has issued two different sets of stamps commemorating the Battle of Koom Valley, one in which the Dwarfs are winning the battle, the other the Trolls, and he makes an angry remark about "that pea-brain at the Post Office". He also mentions the cabbage stamp with the cabbage scented glue, of which Nobby has confiscated many examples. This article details minor Discworld concepts: concepts and ideas from the Discworld of novels by Terry Pratchett which only appear in the background, or are not well fleshed out. ...

In Making Money, Lipwig is offered by the Patrician the additional job of running the Royal Mint of Ankh Morpork and the bank next door. He refused this offer, but gains the job anyway when the chairwoman of the bank died, leaving all her shares to her dog, and her dog to Moist. Moist then introduced paper money to Ankh Morpork, and popularizes the bank, while keeping it out of the hands of the greedy Lavish family.

Personal life

Moist von Lipwig meets and begins courting Adora Belle Dearheart in Going Postal. By Making Money, the two are engaged. Dearheart plays an important role in Lipwig's life, in that dating her provides him with the thrill he needs in his life.^[2] When she is away, he needs to perform various dangerous activities, such as climbing high buildings and extreme sneezing.^[3] This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ...

Lipwig is not a follower of a particular god. However, a con he perpetrated in Going Postal led to a massive increase in the popularity of the goddess Anoia. In Making Money, he takes up praying to her, on the basis that she "owes" him.^[4] See also: Discworld magic Some of the Discworld gods at Dunmanifestin. ...

References