History Characters / DiscworldSpecies

* OneGenderRace: {{Averted}} and gradually deconstructed. They ''seem'' to be an all-male species, but it turns out that female dwarfs just look -- and traditionally ''act'' -- just like male dwarfs, so they have two ''sexes'' but only one ''gender'': dwarf. There's eventually a war when this falls apart.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Every dwarf is expected to be a short, bearded man equipped with an axe and armor. The aversions of this can be counted on one hand.

* OneGenderRace: {{Averted}} and gradually deconstructed. They ''seem'' to be an all-male species, but it turns out that female dwarfs just look -- and traditionally ''act'' -- just like male dwarfs. There's eventually a war when this falls apart.

* AmbiguousDisorder: When werewolves in human form try to describe the smells they experienced as a wolf, it's typically presented as synesthesia, with scent data being reinterpreted in terms of colors and sounds.

* LoopholeAbuse: Their propensity for [[BotheringByTheBook White]] [[ExactWords Mutiny]] is taken directly from the old stories. Some characters (Moist V. Lipwig at least once) go around ordering Golems to think for themselves, leading to newly-liberated Golems who think for themselves on a permanent basis, because the order was never rescinded, in much the same way they'd empty a well because master never specified he only wanted one bucketfull, just "some water."

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The ones who made the Golem King went suicidaly mad with grief and shame when it started killing people, because golems don't kill.

* ThouShaltNotKill: They believe very strongly in this. Though Constable Dorfl is willing to Seriously Prod Buttock if required (and as others note, he changes to ''Will''. A big difference.)

* FantasticRacism: Humans are weirded out by their being entirely quiet. Werewolves and other undead dislike them because even the undead have to look down on the un''living'' (Angua maintains there's a difference).

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The ones who made the Golem King went suicidality mad with grief and shame when it started killing people, because golems don't kill.

* ThouShaltNotKill: They believe very strongly in this. Though Constable Dorfl is willing to Seriously Prod Buttock if required.

* AwesomeButImpractical: These things are not good at taking on physical forms by themselves. They are described as looking like pure BodyHorror, put together with only the slightest idea of how a body is supposed to work. They have parts where they shouldn't be, too many of them or none at all. However, they also ''function'' as well as logically follows from that. Shove one slightly off-balance, and it will likely fall over in a pitiful mess of limbs and take a good while getting back up. Of course, they have other advantages that make this a temporary reprieve at best.

* NotSoDifferent: A very common theme across all the novels and associated media is that no race is inherently "better" or "worse" than the other, and they're all far more similar than anyone would ever admit.

* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: On a good day they'll count as Angels though it's pointed out [[NotSoDifferent there's not much difference between gods and demons]], with it ultimately being the same distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters.

* JerkassGods: '''All of them.''' Things like "mercy" or "empathy" or "thinking this through" aren't concepts they can wrap their heads around. That being said, a ''few'' are eventually shown to be slightly more moral and decent than others (i.e., Om post-CharacterDevelopment and Offler), while others are more [[NotSoDifferent just as clueless and/or out of their depth as their own followers]] (like P'tang-P'tang, the newtlike god of a tiny tribe of 51 fishermen).

* JerkassGods: '''All of them.''' Things like "mercy" or "empathy" of "thinking this through" aren't concepts they can wrap their heads around. That being said, a ''few'' are eventually shown to be slightly more moral and decent than others (i.e., Om post-CharacterDevelopment and Offler), while others are more [[NotSoDifferent just as clueless and/or out of their depth as their own followers]] (like P'tang-P'tang, the newtlike god of a tiny tribe of 51 fishermen).

* LandOfFaerie: There's two; one is a parasitic universe where the queen rules over her subjects, eho can visit the Disc, our world, and other stranger places. The other is on the Disc, where the king dwells in exile. Both are a form of PocketDimension and appear BiggerOnTheInside.

* FairyCompanion: The Nac Mac Feegle, who are probably best considered a pastiche. Yes, they're technically fairies; they just happen to be six inch-high ViolentGlaswegian "Pictsies!". Note, however, that calling them fairies in front of their faces is considered [[http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Suicide suicide]]. Most well known for helping out Tiffany Aching.

* CreativeSterility: They have no proper imagination or real emotions, leading to them kidnapping human artists and musicians to provide entertainment. And if they don't like what the artists create... well, torture's pretty entertaining from the perspective of the elves, to.

* ALienInvasion: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. It's actually stated that nothing that lives in the pocket universe they've set up shop in is actually native to it.

* KillItWithFire: Fire is mentioned as being one effective method of killing a vampire.

* KillItWithFire: Fire is mentioned as being one of their weaknesses. Most notably, [[spoiler:Vimes kills Wolfgang near the end of ''The Fifth Elephant'' by tricking the werewolf supremacist into biting down on a semaphore flare that explodes in his mouth]].

** Once they start living though all the "glands and things" take over and {{avert}} this trope.

* MonstrousCannibalism: Subverted. Goblins practise cannibalism only [[spoiler: as part of a reincarnation ritual when one of their children die so they can put the poor thing in a SoulJar for when things get better]].

* LoopholeAbuse: Their propensity for [[BotheringByTheBook White]] [[ExactWords Mutiny]] is taken directly from the old stories. Some characters go around ordering Golems to think for themselves, leading to newly-liberated Golems who think for themselves on a permanent basis, because the order was never rescinded, in much the same way they'd empty a well because master never specified he only wanted one bucketfull, just "some water."

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* PlantHair: Trolls, being made of rock, often cultivate lichen on their heads, and other places regardless of gender. One character in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' makes money on the side selling starter stock for it.

* LoopholeAbuse: Their propensity for [[BotheringByTheBook White]] [[ExactWords Mutiny]] is taken directly from the old stories. Some characters go around ordering Golems to think for themselves, leading to newly-liberated Golems who think for themselves on a permanent basis, because the order was never rescinded, in much the same way they'd will empty a well because master never specified he only wanted one bucketfull, just "some water."

* OurGodsAreDifferent: They [[RuleOfFunny run the gamut]]. However, it's shown as gods need (and are shaped by) belief: The more belief, the stronger the god. If you only have one believer, well you ''might'' be able to summon a minor thunderstorm over one person's head. The other end is Death, whom ''everything'' believes in. One god seems to get by believing in his own work. They aren't outright cosmic forces thought, like the Auditors, but they are not the subject of worship and have no need for it.
** To further clarify, gods in the Discworld have two main varieties - Proper "gods" and "Creators". Creators are cosmic entities that... well, create entire universe and worlds, such as the eponymous Discworld before letting everything sort itself out [[CelestialBureaucracy since seeing everything through isn't their department]]. Gods as people both on the Discworld and in RealLife would conceive of them are spirits of nature that wander the world and are empowered by mortal belief. The more genuine and widespread the belief, the stronger the god.

* NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossoms: They all have such names, for example, "Tears of the Myshroom" and "Flowers of the Gorse Bush." The older ones consider nicknames to be an insult on par with MaliciousMisnaming, but some of the younger ones are okay with it (or, in the case of the few who've joined the City Watch, realize you need a moniker that can be said with the same breath a comrade uses to say "...Duck!").

* ShapeshifterModeLock: Some unfortunate werewolves suffer from a permanent case of this, being termed as "yennork". They are trapped in the permanent form of either a wolf or a human, and Angua had two siblings that were each different cases of this trope (a brother who now lives as a champion sheep dog, and a sister who was permanently in human form [[spoiler:until her psychotic brothher Wolfgang killed her out of FantasticRacism]]). It's worth noting that they're ''not'' "just" a wolf or a human, they're still a werewolf, just ones "without the switch."