Alternative Character Interpretation: There is quite a substantial group of fans who hold the view that Carrot is evil and/or The Chessmaster. It helps that he is almost never the POV character — we get to hear what Vimes or Angua think about him but hardly ever see Carrot's actual thoughts.
He has also set up Vetinari Job Security several times: the most obvious is in in The Fifth Elephant when he leaves to pursue Angua and Fred Colon is left in charge, the watch falls apart. Not surprising given that it's Fred Colon, but Vetinari lampshades that as everyone knows Vimes and Carrot will be back soon, no criminals take advantage of the Watch’s self destruction for fear of their wrath. The book ends with Carrot very politely bullying the collapsed watch back into shape by reminding them they swore an oath to the king to do their duty.
When Vetinari has trouble reading your motives, says things like, "You drive a hard bargain, Captain," and you reply, "I wasn’t aware I was driving a bargain at all, sir," and live, you have to be The Chessmaster, albeit probably a benevolent one.
A Senior Wrangler is a real thing. It is the student who gains the highest overall mark in mathematics at Cambridge University. (People who get Firsts are just Wranglers.) In fact, most of the bizarre practices and terminology at Unseen University are based on real Oxbridge examples.
The "Clacks" system used in the later books is based on a system that was used in Europe during the Napoleonic wars. Semaphore towers were actually built, and the first ever telecommunications scam happened on the French semaphore network.
Prostitutes actually were sometimes referred to as seamstresses, often because that's how they would be recorded in censuses. "Seamstress" was a plausible explanation for many women who worked from home and had an irregular income.
Terry Pratchett's Young AdultDiscworld novels drop anvils labeled "take personal responsibility" so often you think you're being attacked by an anvil-wielding 82nd Airborne.
The "Guns are bad" message in the Discworld novel Men at Arms comes across this way to some readers, particularly those in the United States, which has a different attitude towards gun control than most of the world. The 'guns are bad' message seemed like Crossing the Line Twice, much like the message in Soul Music. It involves the usual phrases against guns and rock music respectively that these subjects got in real life, and the critics are right, but mostly because on the Discworld the guns and rock music are both sentient and actively malevolent themselves. The also rather Anvilicious pro-gun message in Night Watch Discworld seems a lot more applicable to earth.
It's indisputably the case that the "religion is bad / Belief Makes You Stupid" view in The Science of Discworld 3 gets hammered for all it's worth; luckily, only the non-Pterry chapters are preachy, making them much easier to avoid.
Night Watch Discworld does indeed drop the anvil "If you outlaw weapons, only outlaws have weapons, and ordinary citizens can't defend themselves" rather hard, but it is not a pro-gun message. Men at Arms is the only book to deal specifically with guns, and the message in Night Watch Discworld is confined strictly to those weapons which use human strength, such as knives, bows, clubs, etc (and in the Discworld universe, people are pretty uneasy about bows). It also drops the anvil "Sometimes, if you draw a weapon, things escalate and it ends badly for everyone" several times. Hard. The "pro-weapon" message is confined pretty much to self-defence — and even then, it is explicitly stated that it would be preferable to defend yourself "without hurting [the other party] much, if possible."
Snuff wants the 2011 reading public to know that colonial-era slavery is really bad. More relevant issues concerning how not understanding another culture can be used as an excuse to demonize them, or how different cultures can co-exist despite different beliefs and ideas, are eschewed in favor of showcasing a species of goblins that is so special, so magically gifted, so pathetic, and a collection of villains that are so evil for hurting and enslaving these poor goblins, that they make Commander Vimes, the poster child for law and order, break several laws with a I Did What I Had to Do justification (though Vimes does often bend the law, often walking the edge of the temptation to break the law and just make the world clean, getting closer and closer to the edge throughout the books, and is explicitly reminded by Vetinari that they cannot make laws regarding the treatment of goblins apply retroactively, even if it would be morally righteous), and Lord Vetinari, the poster child for stoicPragmatic Villainy, assassinate someone even though he would gain nothing from it.
In the novel Reaper Man several characters are viciously attacked by shopping carts. Consumerism is bad!
Awesome Art: The accompanied illustrations by artist Josh Kirby for the first 26 Discworld books were lush and glorious.
His successor Paul Kidby, who took over on Kirby's death for the remaining 15 books plus supplementary materials, also did great art too.
Also of note are the Discworld Maps drawn by Stephen Briggs. Though Pratchett had previously felt that Discworld couldn't have any maps, he and Briggs sat down and worked on the Discworld geography and created an incredible atlas of an incredible land.
Despite Vimes' almost suicidal urge to be normal in a World Full Of Crazy, he often does things that fall under Refuge in Audacity, such as arresting the military leaders of both Ankh-Morpork and Klatch under charges of Behaviour Likely To Cause A Breach Of The Peace in Jingo.
AE Pessimal. Attacking a troll, of all things, with your teeth is pretty insane, especially when you remember trolls are living rocks. This also manages the nigh-on impossible feat of surprising Lord Vetinari.
Pretty much any scene where the Feegles cut loose. Actually, pretty much anything to do with the Feegles, really... They're just that awesome.
All the stuff that the Death of Rats gets up to. For example, in Soul Music, it manages to completely humiliate Mr. Clete, who had been an annoying thorn in the side of Imp y Celyn's band for the whole book, by coming for his soul after he dies. And then it mocks his laugh.
Creepy Awesome: Mr. Teatime is sometimes considered to be this — he's extremely creepy, but he's pretty damn awesome as he does it.
Granny Weatherwax started out as a supporting character in Equal Rites, but basically took over the book from the real protagonist by sheer force of awesome and ended up being the focus of the rest of the books set in Lancre.
Same with Vimes and the main Unseen University faculty (Ridcully, Ponder and the Librarian) taking over the Watch series (originally meant to be centered on Carrot) and the Rincewind series.
Genius Bonus: Everywhere. From the fake Latin, to obscure historical and cultural references...
Pratchett uses a lot of physics knowhow, especially with regard to the magic system. For instance, wizards have to deal with conservation of energy when translocating objects, and teleportation requires some very complex calculations. And the blue light that comes off Death's scythe, said to be atoms from the air being split? That really happens. It's called Ionized-Airglow.
Ankh-Morpork's awful cuisine, which is referenced particularly in The Fifth Elephant and Thief of Time, is based on two things: firstly, the pop-culture perception of British food being awful and/or British people making awful chefs, and secondly the very real lineage Britain has of low-quality food and ineffective quality control laws. Think the description of Ankh-Morpork chocolate in Thief of Time is awful? In the real world, underhanded British chocolate companies have tried since the earliest times to swindle customers by cutting their cocoa powder and hot chocolate with things like brick dust and red lead.
Makepeace Thomas Bounder, a cabbage-obsessed, potato-hating poet of awful skill featured in the Almanak, is a round-about Joseph Gwyer, a potato-obsessed poet who was so awful that he was described as the McGonagall of Penge.
Glurge: Snuff and onward bends over backwards to portray Goblins as inspirationally oppressed, who despite being treated so poorly that they're legally considered vermin are total savants at any trade they put their hands to, everything from music to technology, with philosophical concepts far in advance of any human society. Pratchett lays it on so thick it's impossible to take seriously.
Iron Woobie: Despite being the perpetual Buttmonkey, Verence always tries to do his job: be a fool and advisor to his king; an enlightened king to his people; and a husband to Magrat.
Lord Havelock Vetinari turned Ankh-Morpork from a broken down, weak city run by a cut-throat, utterly insane monarchy into the most powerful city in the entire Disc, run by a highly efficient government that headed by himself, dominating through cultural and economic might rather than force of arms. Vetinari also happens to be a genius who is the one man who keeps the city in line, knowing without him, it would collapse into chaos, so that none may challenge or remove him. Well aware of how terrible the world can be, Vetinari utilizes trickery and manipulation to better it and will happily manipulate other heroes to deal with threats to his city. While Vetinari does not believe a perfect world is even possible, he will scheme, lie, cheat and manipulate all to improve what he can, and is never not in control of events as they unfold.
Sourcery: Conina the Hairdresser is a stunningly beautiful barbarian heroine whose hardened instincts prevent a simple life as a hair stylist. An impossibly skilled thief who once pickpocketed jewels the victim had swallowed for safekeeping, her theft of the Archchancellor's hat prevents Coin the Sourcerer from gaining its powers. Threatening the cowardly wizard Rincewind into helping her find it a suitable host, she uses her street smarts and weaponized usage of a comb and scissors to lead a journey around the world. During the great magical war in the climax, she outplays an unhelpful genie to force its aid and steals the Four Horsemen's horses to help save the Discworld from an apocalyptic fate.
Wyrd Sisters: King Verence was the beloved lord of Lancre until he was murdered by the treacherous Lord Felmut. Unable to rest, his great vitality in life allows his spirit to manipulate objects, and thus lures and traps the cat of the witch "Nanny" Ogg to guide her to him and plan his vengeance. When Nanny is captured by Felmut, he tries to slay his slayer and rescue her, but is stopped by the wise "Granny" Weatherwax who saves her peer instead. Escaping by having Nanny carry a castle brick, he plots with them to move time forward so he son can age and return to claim his throne. When Felmut hosts a play to denounce the witches, Verence possesses his actor son and reveals the truth for all Lancre to see. This drives Felmut to madness and death and allows Verence to pass on at last.
Sacred Cow: Even the slightest criticisms of any aspect of the Discworld series is met with torrents of abuse online.
Seasonal Rot: The last few books are regarded as being a bit weaker, particularly after Unseen Academicals (though some think the rot may have started earlier) for their muddled stories and more abundant Author Tracts. While the series covering real world issues under a fantasy veneer was hardly new, it had previously done so gracefully, effectively, and in concert with a very good story. After the rot set in, it became much more ham-handed, and usually at the cost of plot. Given that Terry Pratchett was suffering from Alzheimer's at the time, this is understandable.
Stoic Woobie: Without a doubt, Death is the best person for his job, but it clearly takes its toll on him at times, most obviously when he has to collect the souls of his apprentice Mort and daughter Ysabell, at the end of their lifespans, which were significantly shorter than they should ideally have been due to a horrible carriage accident.
All graduates of the Guild of Fools are "sad, beaten young men".
This is one of the reasons Magrat is attracted to Verence. He's even more wishy-washy than she is, and that's no mean feat.
Rincewind, who started out as a Jerkass Woobie in The Light Fantastic, has been smacked around by fate hard enough to lose the Jerkass by Interesting Times.
To put that into perspective: The other recurring protagonists of their respective sub-series, Tiffany Aching, Granny Weatherway, Sam Vimes, have year-long periods of happiness between their books. On the other hand, all of Rincewind's books end with him trapped in some hellish place until the start of his next book. The poor guy cannot get a break. The sole exception to this was the end of The Light Fantastic, where he had at least some peace and quiet until the events of Mort (and from there, until Sourcery happened later). He pretty much never gets anything for his world-saving efforts either.
To Rincewind's boundless relief, his life seems to have gotten blissfully boring again in the wake of The Last Hero.
The Bursar just wanted a nice quiet bean-counting job and went librarian-poo dealing with Ridcully.
Otto. William describes thinking of not hiring him as like kicking a puppy.
Mr. Nutt. Of the iron variety. Despite his past and how people treat him when they discover his species, he continually seeks worth and always sees the brightest potential in those around him.
happened on the French semaphore network.