Characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Character details
Full name:	The Librarian (formerly Dr. Horace Worblehat)
Description:	A large male orangutan
Associations:	Unseen University, Rincewind
Location:	The library of Unseen University; L-space
Story appearances
First seen:	The Light Fantastic
Also in:	Mort (cameo), Sourcery, Guards! Guards!, Moving Pictures, Small Gods, Lords and Ladies, Men At Arms, Soul Music, Interesting Times, Maskerade, Hogfather, The Last Continent, The Last Hero, Night Watch, Thud!, Discworld (computer game)
Other details
Notes:	Reacts violently if referred to as a "monkey", though his vengeance can be subtly brought

The Librarian of Unseen University is one of the most popular characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, to the extent where pin badges bearing the legend Librarians rule Ook are now available. The character appears or is mentioned in most books in the series. 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 No higher resolution available. ... Type species Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 Orangutan distribution Species Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence and their long arms and reddish-brown hair. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ... Books are the gateway to l-space For the mathematical Lp and spaces, see Lp space L-space, short for library-space, is a fictional dimension described in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ... The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ... Also a term referring to laying brick. ... Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. ... Guards! Guards! is the 8th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. ... Moving Pictures is the name of the tenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1990. ... This article is about the novel Small Gods; for the concept of Small Gods within the Discworld, see Discworld Gods Small Gods is a novel by Terry Pratchett, the thirteenth part of the popular Discworld series. ... Lords and Ladies is the fourteenth Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. ... For the novel by Evelyn Waugh, see Sword of Honour. ... For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). ... Interesting Times is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... Maskerade is the eighteenth novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel 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. ... Night Watch is the 29th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, published in 2002. ... 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. ... Discworld is a graphic adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions in mid-1995. ... Approximate worldwide distribution of monkeys. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ... 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. ...

The origin of the Librarian may have come about because of a sketch in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, where administrators are interviewing a gorilla named Mr. Phelps for a job as a librarian, but discover he's just a man in a costume.^{[citation needed]} Pratchett, however, says he just needed to turn a librarian into something funny, and an orangutan came to mind.^{[citation needed]} This article discusses the series itself. ... Type species Troglodytes gorilla Savage, 1847 distribution of Gorilla Species Gorilla gorilla Gorilla beringei The gorilla, the largest of the living primates, is a ground-dwelling omnivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. ... Type species Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 Orangutan distribution Species Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence and their long arms and reddish-brown hair. ...

Fictional history

The Librarian first appeared in the second novel of the series, The Light Fantastic, in which he was transformed into an orangutan as a side effect of a powerful magic spell. Discovering that being an orangutan has certain advantages for a librarian, he refused to be transformed back into a human, and has remained an orangutan ever since. Most of the grimoires are highly dangerous to people, and sometimes the books even consume them, but the Librarian is no person, and he no longer requires a ladder to reach those tricky high-up shelves. He retained his position as librarian despite his condition because "he's the only one who knows where all the books are" and the fact that he could screw a man's head off with his feet. The other wizards have gradually become used to the situation, to the extent that "if someone ever reported that there was an orangutan in the Library, the wizards would probably go and ask the Librarian if he'd seen it." (Night Watch). The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ... Type species Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 Orangutan distribution Species Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence and their long arms and reddish-brown hair. ... Night Watch is the 29th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, published in 2002. ...

The Librarian is known for his violent reaction whenever he hears anyone refer to him as a "monkey" (orangutans are apes). He speaks an elaborate language whose vocabulary consists of two words; Ook and Eek. Nonetheless, most people seem to be able to understand him. Both his language and his reaction were used separately and together as jokes in the first Discworld game. Approximate worldwide distribution of monkeys. ... Families Hylobatidae Hominidae Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. ... Ook is the only word of the Orangutan language as spoken by orangutans in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett—specifically, by the Librarian of the Unseen University. ... Ook is the only word of the Orangutan language as spoken by orangutans in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett—specifically, by the Librarian of the Unseen University. ...

The Librarian's actual name has never been given in any of the books; he is always simply "the Librarian". If the Librarian's true name were known, he could be changed back into a human, and he has carefully excised his name from the records of the University (since he has special access). The Discworld Companion hints that he may once have been Dr. Horace Worblehat, which goes a long way to explaining why he's happier as an orangutan than as a human. The Art of Discworld confirms that the Librarian was indeed Dr. Horace Worblehat, and that his fears of turning back into human are baseless at most - although with such a name, one could only surmise that he has a past to which he doesn't want to go back. Rincewind is apparently the only wizard who still remembers the Librarian's name, but agreed to not tell anyone. The Discworld Companion is an encyclopedia to all things Discworldian, created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. ... The Art of Discworld is a descriptive book of the world of the Discworld as portrayed in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ...

The Librarian served a brief stint in the city watch during the reign of terror caused by the dragon of Ankh-Morpork, where he helped to rescue Sam Vimes from the Patrician's cell. He retained an honorary position with the Watch, and is considered to be one of the first members of the 'Specials' - the Ankh-Morpork City Militia (Thud!). He also used the Librarianic ability of travelling through L-Space (the extradimensional space that connects all libraries and other large accumulations of books) to save books from the great library of Ephebe in Small Gods. In Soul Music, he joined the Band with Rocks In since his large hands and wide reach make him an excellent organ player, though he did leave before they became famous. Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... Sam Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... 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. ... Books are the gateway to l-space For the mathematical Lp and spaces, see Lp space L-space, short for library-space, is a fictional dimension described in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... EPHEBE is either the anglicisized form (via the French Éphèbe) of the Greek word Ephebos a location of Discworld ... This article is about the novel Small Gods; for the concept of Small Gods within the Discworld, see Discworld Gods Small Gods is a novel by Terry Pratchett, the thirteenth part of the popular Discworld series. ... For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). ... Soul Music is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1994. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ...

The Librarian is a member of a small elite group of senior librarians, who have the knowledge and ability to travel through L-space. The very strict rules that members of these group are pledged to enforce are: Books are the gateway to l-space For the mathematical Lp and spaces, see Lp space L-space, short for library-space, is a fictional dimension described in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ...

1. Silence.
2. Books must be returned no later than the date shown.
3. Do not meddle with the nature of causality.

(Of course, the Librarian has been known to break both the first and third rules on occasion, but he is adamant about the second). It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

He has become a part of Discworld language, in that to go "Librarian-poo" means to go insane (a not-so-subtle reference to Going apeshit).

External links

• Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
• Orangutan Foundation support message