Characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Character details
Full name:	Rincewind (to rhyme with mince pinned)
Description:	A cowardly wizard who is always running away from various dangers
Associations:	Unseen University
Location:	All over the Discworld, Dungeon Dimensions and Death's Domain
Story appearances
First seen:	The Colour of Magic
Also in:	The Light Fantastic Mort (cameo) Sourcery Faust Eric Interesting Times The Last Continent The Science of Discworld The Last Hero The first three Discworld computer games
Other details
Notes:	Voiced by Eric Idle two Discworld computer games

Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. He is a failed student at the Unseen University for wizards in Ankh-Morpork, often described by scholars as "the magical equivalent to the number zero", and spends just about all of his time running away from various bands of people who want to kill him for various reasons. The fact that he's still alive and running is explained in that although he was born with a wizard's spirit, he has the body of a long-distance sprinter. Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... // This article is about the novels. ... Image File history File links RincewindTLH.png‎ Summary Description: Rincewind as he appears in The Last Hero, illustrated by Paul Kidby Source: Scanned from The Last Hero Copyright 2001, 2002 Terry & Lyn Pratchett and Paul & Sandra Kidby Published 2001 by Victor Gollancz Ltd Date: 2006-05-29 Author: Paul Kidby... Cowardice is a vice. ... The wizards are major characters in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly insane and inane old wizards. ... The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ... In Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, the Dungeon Dimensions are the endless wastelands outside of space and time. ... Cover of the book. ... The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the first of the Discworld series which was published in 1983. ... The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ... Mort is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and also the name of its main character. ... Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. ... Faust Eric (commonly abbreviated F^HE) is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Interesting Times is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... The Last Continent is the twenty-second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1998, that parodies Australian people and culture, as well as the famous Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies, as well as the popular Australian song Waltzing Matilda Synopsis Spoiler warning: After being dumped onto the... The Science of Discworld is a 1999 book written by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. ... This article is about the fantasy novel. ... Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and writer of comedic songs. ... Alice, a fictional character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... // This article is about the novels. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly insane and inane old wizards. ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

Fictional character history

He starts out, in The Colour of Magic, the first book of the series, as a guide for the tourist Twoflower, who hails from the Counterweight Continent, a continent across the disc from the 'hub' continent where Ankh-Morpork is situated. He and Twoflower wander around for quite a while, and get chased by everything from the personification of Death to a Lovecraftian creature named Bel-Shamharoth. The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the first of the Discworld series which was published in 1983. ... Twoflower is a fictional character featuring in some of Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... The Counterweight Continent is a landmass on the Discworld, the fantasy world that is the setting of Terry Pratchetts fantasy novels. ... Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction. ... See also: Discworld magic The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

The first book ends with a literal cliff-hanger when he and Twoflower are thrown off the edge of the Discworld by astronomers who want to know the gender of Great A'Tuin, the turtle upon which the disc rides, and have designed a space-ship (bronze and shaped like a fish) to do so. The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ... The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ...

They both survive, for rather complicated reasons involving the structure of the universe and the necessity of Rincewind's continued existence in order to save the world, and Rincewind becomes a recurring character in the series. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Rincewind is most frequently seen wearing his hat with the word WIZZARD emblazoned across it in sequins (this may be a reference to Roy Wood's rock band Wizzard) and his Luggage, which has hundreds of little legs and follows him everywhere, generally attacking anything it perceives as a threat to Rincewind. Roy Adrian Wood (sometimes erroneously thought to be born as Ulysses Adrian Wood, from a offhand interview comment in the 1960s) (born 8 November 1946 in Birmingham), is a songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article refers to the 1970s rock and roll band. ... The Luggage appears in some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...

Rincewind is widely believed by readers to be an elderly man, although the first two books describe him as being young. This is further complicated by cover paintings on some of the books themselves (one showed Twoflower with four biological eyeballs) and comments made by Death about Rincewind's life-timer. Every living being on the Disc has an hourglass, usually kept in Death's home, that gradually records his life from birth to death. Rincewind's life-timer is described as resembling something created by a glassblower with the hiccups in a time machine; most likely as a result of his constant mishaps involving magic, the nature of reality, and shiftings into alternate dimensions. This represents something of a curiosity to Death who keeps the hour-glass on his desk. As such, even Death himself is unaware of how old Rincewind is supposed to be or when he will die, likening such an exercise as trying to find the starting point on a roll of really sticky clear tape. However Death does tend to show up when Rincewind is in extreme danger, but this has happened to many Discworld entities who have been heavily involved in magic. Death and wizards have many complicated rules and Rincewind, technically, is a wizard. Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ...

Over the course of his adventures, he has turned his cowardice into a fully fledged philosophy of life. He believes that, when running, "to" is never important, what matters is "from". When it was pointed out that running just lands him in more trouble his response was "Yes, but you can run away from that, too." By The Last Hero he's started describing running away as a religion in the valid belief that no one will take it seriously; it might not give you eternal life, exactly, but it certainly gives you more life. Very few of his various travelling companions (who, at various times, include watchmen, barbarians, a tourist, a teenage demonologist, a female member of a female impersonation troupe and a magic kangaroo) take him seriously. This is partially because Rincewind has an unusually pessimistic outlook on life, and partially because bad things seem to single him out for misfortune. Many of his companions have noticed, however, that Rincewind manages to survive everything that happens to him, and suspect that there's a deeper purpose behind this, although he himself insists it's just a coincidence. Rincewind apparently believes in karma, however. From his point of view, he has pre-emptive karma--if it even looks as if something good will happen to him in the future, his karma will ensure that something bad happens immediately, and continues happening so that the good things never come around. This article is about the fantasy novel. ...

A good illustration of Rincewind's pre-emptive karma takes place while he was stranded on an island. He had managed to eke out a comfortable and boring existence, and some Amazon warrior-females found him. Apparently, they needed a man for breeding purposes, as all their menfolk had died from a highly selective plague. Rincewind never seems to grasp what is expected of him, but forms the impression that he was getting "potatoes for life." Just then, the wizards of Unseen University transported him to Ankh-Morpork, so they could send him to the Agatean Empire. There he was chased, knocked out, and nearly killed several times. Rincewind has theorized that in order to balance out the universe, there must be, somewhere, someone to whom nothing but good happens. Someone who saunteres from one comfortable place to the next. Rincewind still hopes to meet him some day, hopefully while carrying a weapon.

In fact, Rincewind has the dubious privilege of being the Chosen of the Lady, the Discworld's most mysterious goddess. It is for this reason that he is constantly finding himself embroiled in unpleasant situations and coming out more-or-less on top. However if he ever realised this, much less acted as though nothing could seriously harm him, then she would instantly lose interest. Besides, having the favour of the Lady, in addition to being unreliable, also means having the very reliable enmity of Fate. See also: Discworld magic The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... See also: Discworld magic The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

He has also developed an obsession with potatoes, which is implied to be a result of misplaced sexual feelings. Interesting Times states that later on in his life he will have to undergo therapy for this affliction, involving a pretty woman, a plate of potatoes and a large stick with a nail in it. Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... Interesting Times is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ...

Rincewind's titles

Rincewind has received the following^[1] 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:

• Egregious Professor Of Cruel And Unusual Geography
• Chair of Experimental Serendipity
• Reader in Slood Dynamics
• Fretwork Teacher (apparently the result of some 1200 year old curse from a dying Archchancellor, sounding very much like 'May you always teach fretwork!' )
• Chair for the Public Misunderstanding of Magic
• Professor of Virtual Anthropology
• Lecturer in Approximate Accuracy
• Assistant Librarian

These titles and their accompanying tenure include 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 winter.

However cumbersome or dangerous the adventures that befall the unwilling Rincewind, it is strongly suggested throughout the novels that he might be one of the few on the Discworld who do not lack common sense or intelligence. Supporting this position is his ability to pick up the essentials of foreign languages quickly (the essentials being how to scream for help, or, in point of fact, how to scream) and fluency only slightly less quickly, as well as the fact that, during The Colour of Magic, when he was projected into a universe that may or may not have been our own, where 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. In addition, Rincewind is considered fairly streetwise. He is often depicted as a harsh critic of the selected stupidities surrounding him, even though he can't help but comply with whatever absurdity that arises. He also seems to display, despite his apparent failure as a wizard, a fairly extensive magical knowledge, recognising various spells, magical artefacts and concepts throughout his escapades. The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the first of the Discworld series which was published in 1983. ...

Some of Rincewind's talents once stemmed from 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).

Name origin

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.^[2] Beachcomber was a nom de plume used by surrealist humorous columnists D. B. Wyndham-Lewis and John Bingham Morton as authors of a Daily Express column called By the Way. The column was written by Wyndham-Lewis between 1917 and 1924 and subsequently by Morton until 1975; it was revived... The Daily Express is a conservative, middle-market British tabloid newspaper. ...

The Luggage, currently owned by Rincewind

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1193, 432 KB) Summary The Luggage from Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1193, 432 KB) Summary The Luggage from Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... The Luggage appears in some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...

Rincewind books

Partially drawn from [1]

• The Colour of Magic
• The Light Fantastic
• Mort (minor appearance)
• Sourcery
• Faust Eric
• Interesting Times
• The Last Continent
• The Last Hero
• The Science of Discworld and sequels
• The first three Discworld computer games: The Colour of Magic, Discworld (The Trouble With Dragons) and Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? (Mortality Bytes! in North America). He is voiced by Eric Idle in the second and third games, where he constantly takes Offler's name in vain.

The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the first of the Discworld series which was published in 1983. ... The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ... Mort is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and also the name of its main character. ... Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. ... Faust Eric (commonly abbreviated F^HE) is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Interesting Times is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... The Last Continent is the twenty-second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1998, that parodies Australian people and culture, as well as the famous Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies, as well as the popular Australian song Waltzing Matilda Synopsis Spoiler warning: After being dumped onto the... This article is about the fantasy novel. ... The Science of Discworld is a 1999 book written by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. ... The Colour of Magic was the first Discworld computer game and so far the only one directly adapted from a Discworld novel. ... Discworld is a graphic adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions in mid-1995. ... Discworld II: Missing Presumed. ... Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and writer of comedic songs. ... See also: Discworld magic The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

Notes

1. ^ The Science of Discworld
2. ^ http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/the-colour-of-magic.html

External links

• Discworld & Pratchett Wiki