History Characters / DiscworldVillains

* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: Like any conman, he's good at stringing people along with utter bullshit. At one point, Moist sees some particularly meaningless guff of his printed out in the newspaper, and thinks of the skill at how decent words could be stripped of all meaning by Gilt ("though "synergistically" had probably been a whore from the start.")

* InstantMessengerPigeon: Contacted by messanger pigeon, though the pigeons never come back afterwards.

* ProfessionalKiller: Works as one for Gilt, though unlike most Discword assassins, he doesn't seem to be associated with the [[MurderInc Guild]].

* ReplacedWithReplica: Cosmo pays a lot of money to get his hands on Vetinari's stuff, including clothing. When he wants Vetinari's SwordCane (supposedly made from the iron contained in the blood of a thousand men), his assistant makes one instead, as getting the real is too hard and because the one he makes is closer to Cosmo's idea of the sword Vetinari would have. The ring Cosmo gets is also a replica.

BigBad of ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}''. Dios is a High Priest among High Priests in Djeylibeybi.

* {{Doublethink}}: He's well aware of the various contradictions in the Djeyl worship systems ([[spoiler:some of which he actually invented]]), but he whole-heartedly believes in all them anyway.
* DramaticSitDown: Is so shocked when Teppic refuses to follow the rituals he sits down on a chair that happened to have a model ship on it. And again when [[spoiler:the entire pantheon appears in Djeylibeybi]].

* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:Turns out to be stuck in one. When the energy in the pyramids is unleashed, Dios is sent back to the past when Djeylibeybi is founded with no memory and does all the same things that led to the present]].
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: As Pteppic notes early on, Dios never ever uses the past tense, referring to even Djeylibeybi's long-deceased rulers in the present tense.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Vorbis's final fate -- an eternity in the absolute silence of his own mind, all alone with himself -- is Subverted when Brutha mercifully takes him to the afterlife.]]

* BlackEyesOfEvil: He has this. It's said that it has something to do with his coming from a tribe living deep in the desert, a ShoutOut to Literature/{{Dune}}

* DidntSeeThatComing: Someone acting contrary to his expectations seems to be the easiest way to get an actual emotional reaction from Vorbis -- first when Diadactylos doesn't remain defiant in the face of certain, eventual death and decides to recant his work, and later when Brutha nearly slaps him in front of everyone but doesn't.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Among the many objects declared anathema by Omnian doctrine includes mirrors, but Vorbis has no problem using a pair as part of his plan.

** Later forces the captain of the ship he's sailing on to harpoon a porpoise, because sailors generally believe that killing a porpoise is bad luck; a foolish superstition that must be overcome in the fundamental truth of Omnian doctrine. [[spoiler:The sailors are right; Om is forced to make a bargain with the local sea goddess to spare him and Brutha. Later the ship does indeed sink as a direct result of Om's bargain (though a bit of bad luck and timing was involved), though after Om, Brutha, Vorbis and Simony have all disembarked]].

* PetTheDog: A man comes to Vorbis [[spoiler:bringing word of the proto-tank being built, hoping that it would earn the release of his incarcerated father. Vorbis outright states that he ''knows'' that he would be in league with the rebels if not for his father... and nonetheless orders that the father be released. It appears for a moment that he is [[BaitTheDog Baiting the Dog]] by asking an inquisitor if they know where the man lives, but never follows up on it. Then again, Vorbis may simply not have gotten around to it. He was rather busy from that point until he died]]. [[spoiler:Then again, it may simply be a case of PragmaticVillainy, since screwing over someone who is bringing you useful information will quickly stop people from bringing that information to you.]]

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Though not going quite as far as to discuss racial purity, Swing's invention of craniometrics is sadly very much TruthInTelevision and was employed by the Nazis in their eugenics programmes. The Unmentionables also dress themselves very much like the Gestapo of Nazi Germany and enforce the FascistsBedtime.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Surprisingly played straight in that he puts up much more of a fight than his lackeys do, with Vimes being genuinely surprised that he can actually use his ridiculous cane sword.

* VillainTakesAnInterest: After his first meeting with Vimes-as-Keel, he attempts to recruit the man into the Unmentionables. Vimes, disgusted by such a notion, deliberately pretends to actually be tempted so that Rust will block such a move.

The Patrician before Vetinari, replacing Homicidal Lord Winder. Didn't prove to be much better than his predecessor, ruling the city until everyone got fed up of him, and hung him up by his figgin. Only appears in ''[[Literature/NightWatchDiscworld Night Watch]]''

** As demonstrated in his on page appearances in ''Night Watch'', with even his new secretary privately thinking that he's a smug prick as he pontificates on why he kept said secretary (who worked for his predecessor) on. In that respect, he's clearly a discount Vetinari.

* BadBoss: Aside from all the events of ''Snuff'' which make this a whopping understatement, he's implied to be the son of Lord Rust who shot his servant for mixing up his left and right boots.

* SanitySlippage: Pin starts losing it after Otto took a picture using forces he probably shouldn't be messing with, and he got an eyefull of everyone he'd ever killed waiting for him on the other side of death.

** Mr. Pin has [[Film/PulpFiction "'Not a Nice Person at All' done in pokerwork on his purse,"]], Mr. Tulip at one point elaborates on "get medieval on his arse" at some length (see under NoodleImplements), and Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip discuss foreign food at one point, including "what they call sausage-in-a-bun in Quirm." When discussing whether or not people will take a dog's word as evidence, Mr. Slant points out "A dog has personality. Personality counts for a lot."

* AbusiveParents: Lord de Word was not one for defiance, and William was a particularly defiant son, though he never laid a hand on him personally. He had people to do that for him.

* BegoneBribe: [[spoiler:William pays his father a generous estimate of what it cost to raise him in order to sever any remaining ties between them. The money isn't the thing, as Lord de Worde has gold in his DNA, but instead is based on the Dwarfish tradition in which betrothed dwarves buy one another from their parents to symbolise their independence. Lord de Worde refuses to accept it, telling William to keep it with his blessing, as William has proved that he is "most ''certainly'' a de Worde."]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Bringing a dragon to Ankh-Morpork it taking over the town and threatening to eat everything, including him, renders him into a terrified slave.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: It's noted that in stealing from the University, the Brethren have angered both the Thieves Guild and the Unseen University (pre-Ridcully's tenure, so they were still vicious bastards even after the events of ''Sourcery''); indeed, the Librarian ends up cluing Vimes in on what might have happened during his own investigations.

* EpicFail: Brother Doorkeeper's passwords are so bad that he ''lets in a member of a different secret society'', who doesn't realise the mistake until the meeting is well underway.

* ImperfectRitual: The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night are trying to summon a dragon, and the cult leader orders the brethren to find magical objects to sacrifice. They come up with really low grade magical junk, like a still-fizzing letter from a bar and an amulet the SnakeOilSalesman swore was magical (though, oddly enough, for once he seemed to be telling the truth). As Wonse wearily says, if they get a dragon eight inches long, they'll ''all'' know why. It actually doesn't seem to cause any problems except that they can only summon the dragon for a few seconds at a time before the magic runs out.

* SmarterThanYouLook: Brother Watchtower is noted by Wonse to actually be quite intelligent, or at least less stupid than the rest of the group, and Wonse thus keeps an eye out of him.

* MindRape: Inflicts this upon [[spoiler:Lupine Wonse]] to a horrifying degree, even if [[KickTheSonOfABitch it is deserved to some extent]].

* RedHerring: It turns out Edward d'Eath, despite all the foreshadowing surrounding his unstable mind and, you know, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast family name]], only ever killed one person during the story, and that was quite by accident. The real villain of the story is the gonne itself, and more to the point Dr. Cruces, who takes up d'Eath's cause after murdering him with it.

* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: How does he make coats of arms? He forces animals to pose so the coat can be painted when he could very easily just draw with other references. He's introduced with a yard full of abused and mistreated animals of all types for that purpose.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Is a classist prick who assigns value to people based on their bloodline and makes it clear he finds the task of making Coat of Arms for the NouveauRiche to be beneath him. Despite this [[spoiler: he has no interest in putting Captain Carrot on the throne despite him being the man directly descended from kings, in lage part because Carrot would choose to help the underclass than prop up the aristocracy. He attempts to make Nobby Nobbs the king instead, showing that the worldview he claims to be so devoted to is just an excuse to look down on and belittle others.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Vimes, upon realising that Dragon is too influential for Vetinari to punish, [[spoiler:uses a candle to burn the genealogies which Dragon has worked on for centuries. Since Dragon's influence in the city primarily comes from his ability to flatter the wealthy and powerful and prove their "superior" lineage, this directly takes away much of the influence that was directly keeping Vetinari from just executing him]].

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Werewolves, as beings stuck between humans and wolves, are very doglike, to the point of disliking the words 'bath' and 'vet'. [[spoiler:This gets him killed in the climax when he catches the signal flare Vimes shoots with his mouth.]]

** To most people in Uberwald, since he's a nigh unkillable sadistic psychopath rendered even harder to actually hurt by the fact that silver isn't mined in Uberwald, leaving only fire as a weakness. Even his own mother, who thinks he's as thick as a sack of potatoes, is too scared to assert herself.
** Insofar as he's actually afraid of anyone, he's afraid of Angua, and for good reason -- she off-handedly remarks that she could always send him away howling, intends to break up his 'Game'. This means taking on ''his entire pack'', albeit with Gavin's help (Gavin, by the way, is a wolf). In their one on-page fight (admittedly while Wolfgang wasn't in the best of shape) she kicks the crap out of him and sends him running, getting only scratches in return. The ''only'' thing she's afraid of is what he might do to Carrot.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: After Wolfgang's disappearance, Vimes explains to Sybil why he keeps his guard up by describing Wolfgang as "bottle covey" -- someone who does not quit no matter how soundly he has been trounced. Sybil [[LampshadeHanging remarks]] that it sounds like someone she knows well.

* BoomerangBigot: [[spoiler:Ideas Taster Dee. Dee hates the fact that there are dwarfs who are openly female. The primary reason is that Dee is envious ''they'' could do it while ''she'' can't]].

* SeekingUltimateStrength: Ymper Trymon is a 7th-level wizard of Unseen University who eventually climbs up to the rank of Archchancellor through a series of literally [[KlingonPromotion filling dead predecessor's pointy shoes]] (which was actually legal at the time). However, he got even more unfettered after learning about TomeOfEldritchLore Octavo, and tried to obtain the "greatest concentration of magic on the Disc" for himself. It's not clear what plans he had aside from learning spells nobody before him ever had.

** There's two more abuses here. Ipsilore makes a prophecy that Coin shall take revenge on the Unseen University and the whole world; when Death points out that such prophecies need some way to be averted (because "the lawmakers of Fate demand it"), Ipsilore declares that the prophecy will be voided if Coin ever throws away his staff. Then he gives his staff to Coin and immediately transfers his soul into the staff. Death could easily reap Ipsilore's soul, but doing so will destroy the staff -- which will have the effect of making the prophecy impossible to break, since Coin won't be able to throw the staff away. On top of that, since Coin accepted the staff, destroying the staff requires destroying ''him'', which would mess reality even further.

* DramaticIrony: After tantalising himself with visions of what would happen when he takes over Ankh-Morpork, the narration notes the more likely outcome would be the typical Morporkian would take him for a nob, and mug him.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The captain, Hoggett wants to knock the wizards down a peg as much as anyone, but the mob of cheating bullies he's saddled with disgusts him. He plays along with Glenda's gambit at the end just to deny Andy the victory, then lays him out once it's over.

* BigBadWannabe: A dangerous threat to Trev and co, but not a threat to Vetinari or anyone who isn't actually scared of him.

* FauxAffablyEvil: He affects an oily charm, but it's so transparently hollow and he alternates from faux-chummy to murderous rage at the drop of a hat.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: What she turned Genua into; a shimmering and beautiful city-state with clean streets, clean walls, and clean smiles on all the people's faces. Because nobody would dare frown. Or not whistle while they work. Or not be cuddy and adorable...

* EvilCounterpart: Is this to Granny Weatherwax. It's outright stated that she and Esme have many of the same beliefs (a need for respect, a willful nature, the need to put themselves apart from the communities they serve, the obsessive need to win every conflict), but without Granny's inflexible moral compass. So she actually ''does'' the horrible, unspeakable evil things that Granny only ''thinks'' about doing.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Granny Weatherwax wanted to be the irresponsible evil one, but because her elder sister, Lilly, beat her to the punch on that she felt forced to be the responsible good one. When both sisters are witches, you can see how this complicates family relationships.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Looks frighteningly like her sister, just maybe a little less harsh and better taken care of. The final confrontation with her sister happens in a room full of mirrors and the narration has trouble keeping straight which refletions of the sisters are just reflections and which are one another.

BigBad of ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen'' and the second ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' book, and also an important player in ''Literature/TheShepherdsCrown'', she invaded Lancre when the walls between the universes weakened, and Roundworld when the wizards weren't paying attention. In her spare time she kidnaps human children.

* HypocriticalHumor: Gives a long FinalSpeech about how ridiculous opera conventions like the long FinalSpeech are. This comes not long after he claims to be the OnlySaneMan, using multiple exclamation marks (a sure sign of madness).

* PoeticJustice: Vimes, upon realising that Dragon is too influential for Vetinari to punish, [[spoiler:uses a candle to burn the genealogies which Dragon has worked on for centuries. Since Dragon's influence in the city primarily comes from his ability to flatter the wealthy and powerful and prove their "superior" lineage, this directly takes away much of the influence that was directly keeping Vetinari from just executing him]].

* AntiVillain: Edward isn't a malicious or mean person in the slightest, just desperate to try and restore what he thinks is best for society.

* SanitySlippage: The dragon's hold over him does this to his mind. [[spoiler:He attempts to summon a ''second'' dragon despite the first fairly easily turning Ankh-Morpork into its personal fiefdom.]]

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Despite the spelling, his name is pronounced Teh-ah-tim-eh. Calling him 'teatime', like the time of day, is one of the few things that really irritates him.

* ShadowArchetype: Is this to Vimes. While both grew up in the Shades and are both terribly cynical, Vimes is able to find some hope and righteousness to hold onto, which eventually gets him a happy ending; Wonse develops manipulative and condescending tendencies that backfire on him badly and leave him alone, enslaved and desperate enough to destroy Ankh-Morpork.

* ShadowCounterpart: Is this to Vimes. While both grew up in the Shades and are both terribly cynical, Vimes is able to find some hope and righteousness to hold onto, which eventually gets him a happy ending; Wonse develops manipulative and condescending tendencies that backfire on him badly and leave him alone, enslaved and desperate enough to destroy Ankh-Morpork.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Subverted. Vimes claims to have [[spoiler:put holy water in the wick of the candle that was lighting the room in which he confronted Dragon]], but is implied to be bluffing.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Is a classist prick who assigns value to people based on their bloodline and makes it clear he finds the task of making Coat of Arms for the NouveauRiche to be beneath him. Despite this [[spoiler: he has no interest in putting Captain Carrot on the throne despite him being the man directly descended from kings, in lage part because Carrot would choose to help the underclass than prop up the aristocracy. Instead he attempts to make Nobby Nobbs the king instead, showing that the worldview he subscribes to so much is just an excuse to look down on and belittle those he saw as "beneath" him.]]

* PoeticJustice: Vimes, upon realising that Dragon is too influential for Vetinari to punish, [[spoiler:uses a candle to burn the genealogies which Dragon has worked on for centuries]].

* DiesDifferentlyIntheAdaptation: In the animated version, Lady Felmet, rather than being attacked by the animals of the forest, is instead tangled up in roots and vines animated by the kingdom of Lancre itself. While a crowd of animals appear before her, they do nothing more than give her contemptuous and judgmental looks as she's dragged off to an unknown but certainly lethal fate.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Interestingly, even though it's specifically said that he never gets his hands dirty with violence -- he has men for that -- he seems to be pretty good with a sword in the final confrontation. Of course, facing [[spoiler:a vampire]], that doesn't help him very much... William does mention several times that the one thing the de Wordes are expected to excel at is charging into battle.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Lord [=DeWorde=] is horrified to learn that the New Firm tried to kill William. It doesn't stop him from trying to ship William to another continent to stop his interference, but it's the thought that counts.

* VerbalTic: Tends to s-peak with odd pau-ses in his words, as if his brain and mouth aren't entirely in sync with one another.

-->In a street where furtive people were selling Clang, Slap, Chop, Rhino, Skunk, Triplin, Floats, Honk, Double Honk, Gongers, and Slack, Mr. Tulip had an unerring way of finding the man who was retailing curry powder at what worked out as six hundred dollars a pound.

** There's a running joke that they're all in mortal fear of having their figgin taken out and toasted on a spike, without any of them being entirely sure what a figgin is. (A footnote tells us it's a pastry filled with raisins, and the guards enjoy some later on.)

* LeanAndMean: His asceticism seems to emphasize how much of a genuine fanatic he is, while his power could doubtless have let hime get away with being a hypocritically pleasure-seeking AdiposeRex.

* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: Subverted / deconstructed. Despite being possessed by the Things, he still has a frail wizard body]].
* SquishyWizard: Why the [[spoiler: possessed]] Trymon could still be defeated by Rincewind. Rincewind is more physically fit than the average wizard.

** There's two more abuses here. Ipsilore makes a prophecy that Coin shall take revenge on the Unseen University and the whole world; when Death points out that such prophecies need some way to be averted (because "the lawmakers of Fate demand it"), Ipsilore declares that the prophecy will be voided if Coin ever throws away his staff. Then he gives his staff to Coin and immediately transfers his soul into the staff. Death could easily reap Ipsilore's soul, but doing so will destroy the staff - which will have the effect of making the prophecy impossible to break, since Coin won't be able to throw the staff away. On top of that, since Coin accepted the staff, destroying the staff requires destroying ''him'', which would mess reality even further.

-->'''Ipslore''': And what would humans be without love?
-->'''Death''': [[AC:Rare.]]

-->'''Rincewind''': Grand Viziers are always --
-->'''Cohen''': -- complete and utter bastards. Give 'em a turban with a point in the middle and it just erodes their moral wossname. I cut their heads off soon as I meet 'em, saves trouble later.

* TemptingFate: Near the end when Twoflower stands up to Lord Hong because someone has to, "Whatever happens to them", the villain sneers "Yes, let ''everyone'' see [[SenselessSacrifice what happens]]." Hong is then [[spoiler: blown up by the Barking Dog sent back to counterbalance Rincewind, who had been whisked away by a teleport spell.]]

* {{Determinator}}: The closest he gets to a redeeming trait. Andy will persist in a task - typically the attacking of other people - even when suffering from debilitating pain or having been knocked down by a punch.

** Lady Felmet herself considers him to be "worse" than the rest of the cast - not because he was evil, but because he ''was too cowardly to be as bad as he could have been.''

* CardCarryingVillain: Lady Felmut. Granny Weatherwax tries to MindRape her by "showing her her TrueSelf" - and it doesn't work, because she's already well aware she's a villain, and she's proud of it.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Leonal is a particularly strange example of this. After spending the entire novel driven to mutilate himself out of guilt and tormented by his sinister wife, he finally [[spoiler: stands up to her, stabbing her to death before committing suicide to escape his madness. It was a prop knife so none of it stuck, but when he happens to die moments later from a slip and fall he soon comes back as a ghost. He's overjoyed at the chance to spend his afterlife haunting the castle, free from both his bride and his guilty conscience.]]

* HiddenDepths: Felmet seems to be weak and cracked in the head and entirely under his wife's thumb, but there is a core of frozen madness that approximates sanity, meaning that he has lucid moments, including one where he stands up to Granny Weatherwax and deconstructs the witches plan to pull the RightfulKingReturns, pointing out that any King they installed in his place would live in fear of [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness being deposed in turn]]. If the boy returns in what he presumes to be a decade and a half, so be it - he'll be well-ensconced by then.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Lady Felmet wouldn't have been killed by the [[GeniusLoci angry kingdom]] if she had not escaped her imprisonment]].

* BreakThemByTalking: Combined with NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech. [[spoiler: Granny gives both to Lilith at the same time (pointing out why Lilith isn't suited to being evil and why Granny could do so much better, but doesn't).]]

* DevourTheDragon: Lily eventually feels that she needs her magic for more important things than [[spoiler: keeping the Duc human]].

* FairyDevilmother: Despite being technically a godmother, this is what she truly is: who cares less for the well-being of others and more for making things like stories. (Or possibly a godmother like a god''father'' - do as she says and you won't get hurt.)

* ForcedTransformation: [[spoiler: Lily turning the footmen, who we spent a while getting to know and sympathize with, into beetles. And stepping on them.]]

* TrampledUnderfoot: Deliberately invoked on some coachmen by Lily, who turns them into beetles and stomps on them for failing her. [[spoiler: Also the fate of the Duc, when he reverts to frog form and fatally encounters Baron Saturday's descending foot.]]

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When the wizards try creating Shakespeare, she assumes they're trying to get rid of human imagination. It's more the opposite - they want to encourage it.

* GlamourFailure: Literal, when Magrat defeats the Queen and sees her real self, not the image she projects - a rather small and pathetic figure of alien proportions.
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Gradually, over the course of ''The Shepherd's Crown.'']]

* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: Nightshade's common name, belladonna, translates to ''beautiful lady''.]]

** She [[spoiler: hits Magrat with the full force of her glamour, stripping away the witch's ego... and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass revealing the iron-hard core beneath]].]]

* GenreSavvy: They train themselves to overcome vampire weaknesses, and mock the old count for his Film/HammerHorror style GenreBlindness - easily-opened curtains, objects easily broken into holy symbols and stakes, copious holy water, etc. {{Subverted}} however, when it turns out the Old Count is far more GenreSavvy than his offspring. He deliberately allows humans to exploit his weaknesses so that, being an easily dispatched villain and giving the village boys something to feel good about, he is never KilledOffForReal.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: The Count outright asks the villagers of Escrow to look at him, and then at the newly-resurrected previous Count, believing that the comparison will convince them that he's the better of the two. But VillainousBreakdown ensues when he realizes that being GenreSavvy is considered far, ''far'' worse than the old Count's intentional use of the VillainBall. Vlad gets this too, presumably, since he genuinely believes that the alternative for Escrow that his father offers is better than what it used to be.]]

* IndustrializedEvil: The [[spoiler: orderly and systematic blood-draining that takes place in the villages surrounding the Magpyr estate]] horrifies Agnes more than anything else the vampires do.

** The Old Count inverts this and reminisces about some of the people who have killed ''him'' in front of their descendants - demonstrating that unlike the Count and Countess, he genuinely respects humans.

* StalkerWithACrush: Tragic example; thanks to his BlueAndOrangeMorality and Tiffany [[spoiler: accidentally interfering with the Dark Morris]], he believes she is the Summer Lady and tries to impress her, in the process causing chaos.

* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler: Tiffany manages to defeat him by luring him into a field and tiring them out through a prolonged chase, before having Preston set the field on fire and leaving the Cunning Man, now too winded to save himself, to be immolated in the resulting blaze.]]

'''New Death''': ''You never wanted to rule.''

* DontFearTheReaper: Averted with a vengeance - unlike the regular Death, this incarnation is malicious, cruel and views all life as something to dominate and rule over as a king. Humanity's imagination of how Death should look like is to blame, it seems.

* BigBadWannabe: Clearly assumes he's the brains in the Guild, and while a threat to the Band, he's clearly unprepared for the interference of Susan Sto Helit or Ridcully in his would-be murder attempts. He's also not the chief antagonist - that falls to The Music.

* AxCrazy: He has a wonderful mind, like a shattered mirror - all facets and rainbows, glittering and sparkling. But ultimately, you can't get around that it's something ''broken''.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started out as an orphan taken in by the Assassin's Guild - and at the start, it's mentioned that Lord Downey would later reflect that in retrospect, [[SelfMadeOrphan they should have wondered a bit more about that]]. He then became a murderous psychopath with an extremely high bodycount and ultimately comes ''very'' close to becoming a RealityWarper and existential threat to the world itself.

* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler: The Dragon eventually turns on Wonse and seizes control of events to become the BigBad of the book]]. He ''still'' doesn't learn his lesson after this.

* SanitySlippage: The dragon's hold over him does this to his mind. [[spoiler: He attempts to summon a ''second'' dragon despite the first fairly easily turning Ankh-Morpork into its personal fiefdom.]]

* EvilIsPetty: A lot of their grievances, while driven by their being at the bottom of the Ankh-Morpork hierarchy, are less about "oppression" and more frustration that other people are better off than they are. For one, Brother Watchtower has the Dragon incinerate his brother-in-law's carriage out of spite, while Brother Doorkeeper targets a vegetable seller for irritating him. This is, in fact, entirely the reason Wonse recruited them - he wanted easily-led idiots with "stomachs full of bile" who could be talked into doing what he said.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His reaction to having killed Beano by accident. It led to [[spoiler: him confessing to Cruces, who is implied to have listened kindly at first... then he too got his hands on the Gonne]].

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: In a possible case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, he seems to be the only shown vampire in discworld with wings in his humanoid form - though Dragon is exceptionally old, it's repeatedly noted that the Disc has many different kinds of vampire, and [[Literature/CarpeJugulum the Magpyrs]] have an ancestor whose passing description resembles that of Dragon.
* PoeticJustice: Vimes, upon realising that Dragon is too influential for Vetinari to punish, [[spoiler: uses a candle to burn the genealogies which Dragon has worked on for centuries]].

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: To the point that Vimes initially refuses to believe that he's responsible - though that's more to do with the fact that he refuses to jump on the racist wagon with Rust and the like. Unfortunately, Cadram was counting on that.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Werewolves, as beings stuck between humans and wolves, are very doglike, to the point of disliking the words 'bath' and 'vet'. [[spoiler: This gets him killed in the climax when he catches the signal flare Vimes shoots with his mouth.]]

* BatmanGambit: Wolfgang and the other Game-playing werewolves employ this trope to put [[spoiler: Sleeps and Skimmer]] right where they want them. [[spoiler: Used against him in the climax, when Vimes kills him by playing off his dog-like instincts to get him to catch a powerful firework in his mouth.]]

** Insofar as he's actually afraid of anyone, he's afraid of Angua, and for good reason - she off-handedly remarks that she could always send him away howling, intends to break up his 'Game'. This means taking on ''his entire pack'', albeit with Gavin's help (Gavin, by the way, is a wolf). In their one on-page fight (admittedly while Wolfgang wasn't in the best of shape) she kicks the crap out of him and sends him running, getting only scratches in return. The ''only'' thing she's afraid of is what he might do to Carrot.

* GroinAttack: From Gaspode. Until he's killed, it's the one thing aside from Angua's beating that actually seems to hurt him/slow him down - or at least, make him jump straight up.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Vimes kills Wolfgang with the distress flare from the clacks tower that his pack killed the operators of - the one the men never had a chance to use]]. Also counts as a DeathByIrony. He's an {{Ubermensch}} undone by his own base instincts, [[spoiler: [[MyInstinctsAreShowing namely]] that a dog can't resist fetching a stick... [[GoFetch even when it's dynamite.]] ]]

* NotSoDifferentRemark: After Wolfgang's disappearance, Vimes explains to Sybil why he keeps his guard up by describing Wolfgang as "bottle covey" - someone who does not quit no matter how soundly he has been trounced. Sybil [[LampshadeHanging remarks]] that it sounds like someone she knows well.

* TemptingFate: A subtle example appears in Wolfgang's chosen symbol of a wolf's head biting a mouthful of lightning bolts. [[spoiler: Granted, they're not literal fireworks, but symbolically it rates as this trope.]]
* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler: He’s offed by the fact that his instincts compelled him to ''play fetch with a signal flare'']], a fate anybody would find laughable and pathetic.

* MotiveRant: Dee gives one complaining to Rhys about how they should have kept the old ways but the old ways have fallen to the wayside as more and more dwarves openly admit that they are female. Dee caps this of with [[spoiler: "[[WhamLine I can't!]]"]].

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler: Dee outs herself as female at the end of her MotiveRant]].
* VillainousBreakdown: At the end, Dee is confirmed to have done it all specifically because of the growing [[spoiler: Dwarf Femininity movement in Ankh-Morpork]].
* WhamLine: Near the end of the book, the words [[spoiler:"I can't!"]] turn the nature of the EvilPlan on its head. In that one short sentence, it shows that while the conspiracy was perpetrated by traditionalists, it also showed that [[spoiler: ''envy'' was a significant factor too]].

* FauxAffablyEvil: The polite and chummy façade is surprisingly convincing, right until he stabs you - or unless you make sure to have a good look in his eyes...

* GreaterScopeVillain: Technically this to Carcer - while Carcer's the primary antagonist of the book, Swing is one of the biggest reasons, if not ''the'' biggest, why past!Ankh-Morpork is such a shit place to live. Nevertheless, he mostly stays in the background at least to begin with.

* AmbiguousSituation: The death of Hamcrusher is one - [[spoiler:Ardent reported to Helmclever that Ham had died when the other grags killed him for trying to destroy the device, which they would view as worse than murder (dwarves in general think destroying a book or words constitutes a serious crime). Ardent is certainly willing to kill loyal subordinates and definitely exploited Hamcrusher's death and defiled his body to sell the cover story, but whether he's the one that landed the killing blow is unclear, and the book even notes that as the grags all wear face-concealing robes, it'd be almost impossible to ID the killer.]]
* AndYourLittleDogToo: [[spoiler: Sends men to Vimes' house to kill his wife and son as an ''extremely'' ill-thought out attempt to dissuade Vimes from pursuing him.]]

** To poor, poor Helmclever. [[spoiler: And to the miners who found the Cube under Empirical Crescent, who Ardent and Hamcrusher had murdered by dark guards so they couldn't speak about what they found.]]

* DragonInChief: In Thud!, he technically serves Grag Hamcrusher and the other more venerable grags who accompanied him to Ankh-Morpork [[spoiler: to find the Cube of Koom Valley]], but it's pretty clear he exerts a lot of power over them instead and is the one truly leading the expedition after Hamcrusher's death. He was also pretty quick to establish himself after Hamcrusher bought the farm.

* KnightTemplar: In his eyes, deviating from the word of Tak - as he alone interprets it - is enough to merit death.
* NonActionBigBad: Is an interpreter of dwarf law, not really a warrior. [[spoiler: Grag Bashfullsson is able to defeat him relatively easily using a type of martial art at the end of ''Thud!'' even though Ardent has grabbed an axe from a dark guard and Bashfullsson is unarmed. His coup in ''Literature/RaisingSteam'' is undone pretty much just by Rhys managing to make it back to Uberwald on Iron Girder, at which point what little support he has left dissolves and he's taken into custody.]]

* OhCrap: In Thud!, when Carrot discovers evidence that supports Ardent's claim that a troll got loose in the mine and killed Hamcrusher. [[spoiler: This is because Ardent had made it up in order to try and cover up the fact that one of the other grags had murdered Hamcrusher and so really ''wasn't'' expecting there to be evidence suggesting a troll was in the mine that he had not already planted.]]

* SmugSnake: For all his plotting and smug sense of superiority, he’s quickly reduced to ranting and raving when his plans begin to come undone. [[spoiler: Even when he manages to oust Rhys Rhysson while the Low King is away in Ankh-Morpork in ''Literature/RaisingSteam'', the strain of trying to hold his powerbase together while Rhys is speeding along on Iron Girder back to Uberwald to reclaim his throne sends Ardent into near hysterics.]]

[[folder:Goblin Smuggling Conspiracy - '''Unmarked Spoilers''']]

* MadnessMantra: As Mr. Pin goes progressively crazier from his dose of negative light showing him all the people he's killed waiting for him on the other side of death, he starts frantically muttering how he "wasn't born to fry." [[spoiler: He is reincarnated as a potato, which is promptly made into crisps and chips.]]
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Played with. At first it seems as though Mr Tulip's use of "[=——=]ing" is a 19th-century-style censoring of the F-word, but it turns out that what he's saying is actually just [[VerbalTic a glottal stop and then "Ing!"]] [[spoiler: When Sacharissa decides to try out swearing, she clearly can't reproduce the glottal stop correctly.]]

* VillainousBSOD: [[spoiler: Mr. Tulip, after Death shows him his life "as it flashed before other people's eyes".]]

* BegoneBribe: [[spoiler: William pays his father a generous estimate of what it cost to raise him in order to sever any remaining ties between them. The money isn't the thing, as Lord de Worde has gold in his DNA, but instead is based on the Dwarfish tradition in which betrothed dwarves buy one another from their parents to symbolise their independence. Lord de Worde refuses to accept it, telling William to keep it with his blessing, as William has proved that he is "most ''certainly'' a de Worde."]]

* LikeFatherLikeSon: William doesn't appreciate the comparison. They're both arrogant, single-minded, stubborn jerks. Where they are different, however, is that William tries not to be - and weaponises it to good ends.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Moist thinks this at first glance, when he and Gilt recognise each other for what they are, thinking in awe that he would gladly apprentice himself to Gilt to learn how to do stuff like the three card trick with whole banks. The main sticking point, however, is that Gilt is a bastard and Moist, conman though he may be, is not. [[spoiler: In the end, ''Moist'' turns out to be this, out-gambitting and destroying Gilt with nothing more than words. Gilt acknowledges this by sending Moist his PirateParrot.]]

* PirateParrot: Not actually a pirate, but he dresses like one and keeps a cockatoo called Alphonse, which says "Twelve and a half percent!" repeatedly[[note]]12.5% is 1/8th - [[StealthPun pieces of eight]][[/note]]. [[spoiler:He gives it to Moist after deciding to flee Ankh-Morpork before getting captured by Mr. Pump.]]

** Mixed with GracefulLoser, but he acknowledges Moist's victory as the superior conman by [[spoiler: sending him his PirateParrot.]]

* BodyHorror: As a part of Cosmo's attempts to mimic Lord Vetinari, he wears a copy of the Patrician's ring that is much too small for his hand. [[spoiler: The blood supply to his finger is so severely compromised that the finger eventually becomes gangrenous, only being unnoticed because of the gloves Cosmo wore. We [[TakeOurWordForIt don't get a proper description]] of the result, but it has "green mushrooms" and Moist notes the "colors" and the "wriggling things", and the stench causes a bystander to throw up. Moist tricks Cosmo into exposing the ring to direct sunlight, and the special properties of the metal it's made of cause the ring to get super-hot and burn his finger clean off (saving his life from further gangrene and resulting septicaemia).]]

* FascinatingEyebrow: Cosmo attempts to train himself to emulate Vetinari's use of this, complete with a special device. The results are less than ideal. [[spoiler: He ends up in the "Vetinari ward", where members have eyebrow-raising competitions. He even wins one.]]

* NapoleonDelusion: [[spoiler: In the end, Cosmo is taken to a lunatic asylum which has a whole ward full of people who also think they're Vetinari.]]

* DramaticSitDown: Is so shocked when Teppic refuses to follow the rituals he sits down on a chair that happened to have a model ship on it. And again when [[spoiler: the entire pantheon appears in Djeylibeybi]].

* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler: Turns out to be stuck in one. When the energy in the pyramids is unleashed, Dios is sent back to the past when Djeylibeybi is founded with no memory and does all the same things that led to the present]].

* TimeAbyss: [[spoiler: As a result of the StableTimeLoop, it's impossible to know how old he truly is, and even he's forgotten]].

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Vorbis's final fate - an eternity in the absolute silence of his own mind, all alone with himself - is Subverted when Brutha mercifully takes him to the afterlife.]]

* DidntSeeThatComing: Someone acting contrary to his expectations seems to be the easiest way to get an actual emotional reaction from Vorbis - first when Diadactylos doesn't remain defiant in the face of certain, eventual death and decides to recant his work, and later when Brutha nearly slaps him in front of everyone but doesn't.

* NothingPersonal: A brief glimpse into the mind of one of the Exquisition has this as his reason he finds Vorbis so disturbing - most of the Exquisition are either [[PunchClockVillain Punch Clock Villains]] or people who ''want'' to hurt other people for a living. Vorbis has people horrifically tortured to death on the grounds that they've sinned, but doesn't even grant them the dignity of hating them for it. [[note]]Which, incidentally, isn't too different from the description of the Things From The Dungeon Dimensions, who would destroy the Disc without ever even noticing, which helps to underscore just how ''wrong'' Vorbis comes across to others.[[/note]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: Vorbis pulls a chilling example of this on Brutha as they are about to leave the desert.]]
* PetTheDog: A man comes to Vorbis [[spoiler:bringing word of the proto-tank being built, hoping that it would earn the release of his incarcerated father. Vorbis outright states that he ''knows'' that he would be in league with the rebels if not for his father... and nonetheless orders that the father be released. It appears for a moment that he is [[BaitTheDog Baiting the Dog]] by asking an inquisitor if they know where the man lives, but never follows up on it. Then again, Vorbis may simply not have gotten around to it. He was rather busy from that point until he died]].
** [[spoiler: Then again, it may simply be a case of PragmaticVillainy, since screwing over someone who is bringing you useful information will quickly stop people from bringing that information to you.]]
* ThePlan: [[spoiler:Vorbis's plans, among other things, include invading Ephebe by sending the Omnian fleet to attack Ephebe directly - and getting burned by a giant Ephebian magnifying glass - partly as a justification to his main plan to cross the desert, helped by several expeditions that left caches of food and water along the way. Pratchett referred to it as "planning your counter-attack before your attack." [[XanatosGambit If the first attack works, excellent. If not, it sets up the second.]]]] Vorbis may be the most frightening villain Pratchett has ever created, because he is essentially what Vetinari would be if he were actually evil and sadistic.

* FatalFirework: When transforming one creature into a different creature isn't direct enough, it seems her preferred way of attacking someone is to throw magical fireworks at them. Appropriate for someone who rules over her universe's equivalent of Disneyworld.