History YMMV / TheFifthElephant

* EvilIsSexy: Wolfgang is ANaziByAnyOtherName who despises non-werewolves and plans to plunge Uberwald into civil war ForTheEvulz. He is also a blond young man in top physical condition who is totally unabashed about going around naked (when in human form).

* TooCoolToLive: Inigo Skimmer and Gavin.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: This is the book that most stresses the difficult question of whether Carrot is an honest idealist who has the laws of [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality narrative causality]] in his favor, or more of a MagnificentBastard / ManipulativeBastard with ObfuscatingStupidity. For instance, [[spoiler: his LetsFightLikeGentlemen approach against a werewolf rather conveniently leads to romantic rival Gavin making a HeroicSacrifice. Though, it must be noted, '''Gavin''' does the wolf-ish equivalent moments later, as if to underscore how similar the two really are.]]

* [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]]: Lady Margolotta and Serafine von Uberwald, [[spoiler: Dee and Rhys.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[AxCrazy Wolfgang Von Uberwald]] is a {{sadist}}ic werewolf. Before the book starts, he murders his little sister, Elsa, because she isn't a bimorphic werewolf and, as such, is "[[FantasticRacism impure]]". He takes the werewolf tradition of [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting humans through a forest]], and adds the cruel twist of [[HopeSpot giving them the illusion that they've escaped]] before ripping them to shreds. He doesn't care about all the political power he and his family can gain through the civil unrest; he just likes being sadistic.

* CompleteMonster: [[SavageWolves Wolfgang Von Uberwald]] is a {{Sadist}}ic [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]. Before the book starts, he murders his little sister, Elsa, because she isn't a bimorphic werewolf and, as such, is "[[FantasticRacism impure]]." He takes the werewolf tradition of [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting humans through a forest]], and adds the cruel twist of [[HopeSpot giving them the illusion that they've escaped]] before ripping them to shreds. He doesn't care about all the political power he and his family can gain through the civil unrest; he just likes being sadistic.

* [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]]: Lady Margolotta and Serafine von Uberwald[[spoiler:, Dee and Rhys.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Inigo Skimmer is (effectively) an Assassin...[[Franchise/AssassinsCreed with an obscenely dangerous sliding knife attached to his wrist.]]

* FridgeHorror: Vimes, watching the clacks at work, thinks that its inventors must be making money hand over fist. [[Discworld/GoingPostal The poor fellows]].

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that the problem actually stem from a completely unrelated source [[note]]Angua's anxieties that she will become more like her family and eventually turn on her non-werewolf friends, and that she can't be accepted by other species because she's neither a human nor a wolf[[/note]]. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in middle age; and Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child, and is unsure of how Vimes will react, or the effect it will have on her health.

* CompleteMonster: [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfgang Von Uberwald]] is despicable. Before the book starts, he murders his little sister, Elsa, because she isn't a bimorphic werewolf and, as such, is [[FantasticRacism "impure"]]. He takes the werewolf tradition of [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting humans through a forest]] and adds the cruel twist of [[HopeSpot giving them the illusion that they've escaped]] before ripping them to shreds. He doesn't care about all the political power he and his family can gain through the civil unrest; he just likes being sadistic.

* [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]]: Lady Margolotta. Serafine von Uberwald and [[spoiler:Dee]] might also count to a lesser extent. Also [[spoiler: Rhys]].
* TooCoolToLive: Ah, [[spoiler: Inigo]], we hardly knew you.
** [[spoiler: Gavin, Gavin, Gavin, Gavin]]... me, bitter? Naaaah...

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that their problems actually stem from a completely unrelated source [[note]]Angua's anxieties that she will become more like her family and eventually turn on her non-werewolf friends, and that she can't be accepted by other species because she's neither a human nor a wolf[[/note]]. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in their late forties; and Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child, and is unsure of how Vimes will react, or the effect it will have on her own health.

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that their problems actually stem from a completely unrelated source [[note]]Angua's anxieties that she will become more like her family and eventually turn on her non-werewolf friends, and that she can't be accepted by other species because she's neither a human nor a wolf[[/note]]. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, then, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in their late forties; and Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child, and is unsure of how Vimes will react, or the effect it will have on her own health.

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that their problems actually stem from a completely unrelated source [[note]]Angua's anxieties that she will become more like her family and eventually turn on her non-werewolf friends, and that she can't be accepted by other species because she's neither a human nor a wolf[[/note]]. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, then, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: while it's never stated, the events of the novel make it clear that Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in their late forties; and that Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child, and is unsure of how Vimes will react, or the effect it will have on her own health.

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that their problems actually stem from a completely unrelated source: Angua's anxieties that she will become more like her family and eventually turn on her friends, and that she won't be accepted by either humans or wolves. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, then, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: while it's never stated, the events of the novel make it clear that Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in their late forties; and that Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child, and is unsure of how Vimes will react, or the effect it will have on her own health.

* FridgeBrilliance: Vimes and Sybil both privately hold the opinion that Carrot and Angua's relationship is under strain because of their concerns about not being able to have children, or producing a CompleteMonster if they do. This is never brought up in either Carrot's or Angua's point of view sections, and it's made pretty clear that their problems actually stem from a completely unrelated source. While it doesn't make much sense to apply this reasoning to Carrot and Angua, it actually makes complete sense for Vimes and Sybil to ''think'' like this, since it's a projection of their own situation: Vimes is afraid that they've missed their chance to have children by marrying in their late forties; and Sybil is afraid because she's just discovered that she's pregnant with her first child and is unsure of how Sam will react, or the effect it will have on her own health.

* HilariousInHindsight: Inigo Skimmer is (effectively) an Assassin...[[AssassinsCreed with an obscenely dangerous sliding knife attached to his wrist.]]

*** Could be CharacterDevelopment as well -- he was raised in a culture that doesn't really grasp irony and put great store by contracts and laws, but by now he's spent years working with Vimes (who manages to at least hold his own against ''Vetinari'' most of the time) and living with Angua (who's got a lot in common with Vimes, personality wise).

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: This is the book that most stresses the difficult question of whether Carrot is an honest idealist who has the laws of [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality narrative causality]] in his favor, or more of a MagnificentBastard / ManipulativeBastard with ObfuscatingStupidity. For instance, [[spoiler: his LetsFightLikeGentlemen approach against a werewolf rather conveniently leads to romantic rival Gavin making a HeroicSacrifice.]]

* FridgeHorror: Vimes, watching the clacks at work, thinks that its inventors must be making money hand over fist. [[GoingPostal The poor fellows]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: This is the book that most stresses the difficult question of whether Carrot is an honest idealist who has the laws of [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality narrative causality]] in his favor, or more of a MagnificentBastard / ManipulativeBastard with ObfuscatingStupidity. For instance, his LetsFightLikeGentlemen approach against a werewolf rather conveniently leads to romantic rival Gavin making a HeroicSacrifice.