History Characters / DiscworldWizards

* CelibateHero: A mix of reasons, mainly age and the fact being able to perform magic apparently makes sex seem kind of dull, but also to prevent any Sourcerers coming about. However, it is repeatedly indicated that most wizards have some vestigial sex drive, such as Rincewind's fairly normal sex drive, the Senior Wrangler's fixation on Mrs Whitlow, the Dean's occasionally expressed annoyance on having missed out on that part of his youth, and Ridcully's holding a torch for [[spoiler: ''Granny Weatherwax'']] of all people.

**

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Don't be fooled by the good-natured expression or the short attention span. There's a reason this man is Archchancellor of a University that acts as Ankh-Morpork's nuclear deterrent[[note]]Although it's less "we'll unleash the wizards on you and then you're screwed" and more "we'll unleash the wizards and then we're ALL going to be cleaning up this mess for the next half a century and don't you think that we won't be sending you the bill with interest!"[[/note]]
** His mind has been compared to a locomotive. Slow to start and given to linear travel, but once it gets going there's not a whole lot that can stop it. In general, [[ObfuscatingStupidity he's much smarter than he pretends to be]].

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Was chosen to be Archchancellor because the other wizards thought he'd be a pushover. Remained Archchancellor by being anything ''but''. It's stated that he once went a few rounds with Detritus the troll, and arm-wrestled the Librarian and 'lost, of course, but still had his arm.'

* BlackSheep[=/=]WhiteSheep (depending on your interpretation of Unseen University): Unlike all the other wizards who start off eager and eventually become lazy and well-fed, Stibbons started off plump and lazy (which everyone agreed was a good start), and then he quickly became the head of the Department of High Energy Magic, which all the Old Guard are ''not'' fond of. And then, to add insult to injury, instead of becoming lazier as time went on, he's become increasingly more ''competent'', something every wizard in his right mind finds [[ThereShouldBeALaw strange, weird, and generally deplorable]].

* CatchPhrase: He's an orangutan, so he can't really speak English. He just says "Ook". Most people seem able to pick up his meaning regardless. Sometimes he also says "Eek!" when offended or annoyed.

* CatchPhrase:

* CatchPhrase: "Skull ring", the badge of office for his department, which he uses as a get-out-of-disapproval-for-saying-something-crass-free card.

* NecessarilyEvil: Under [[CatchPhrase University statute]], Professor Hix is required to partake in acts of evil on a fairly regular basis. Not quite great evil, but still, evil none the less. This allows him to fulfill two important functions:

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Particularly noticeable in ''Lords and Ladies''. Ponder Stibbons tried to explain the concept of AlternateHistory, and Ridcully kept wandering off on tangents until Stibbons gave up. The next day, ''Ridcully'' explained the theory to Granny Weatherwax. He does, however, never quite grasp why he never gets invites to his alternates' weddings.

** Ponder eventually becomes an avid "Ridcully Watcher" and is now under no illusions whatsoever about Ridcully's intelligence. This actually left him completely flat-footed in ''Unseen Academicals'' when Ridcully turned out to be ''actually'' clueless about something.

* Acrofatic: He's significantly fatter than the rest of the rotund faculty members, enough that he sits on two chairs, and in ''Unseen Academicals'' it is observed that once he is removed from the equation [[spoiler: by having become Archchancellor of another university]] the old question of who the 'fattest boy' to traditionally avoid picking for team sports is becomes a matter becomes a matter of fine judgement. Despite this, he's surprisingly mobile, and when the Luggage reappears, he manages to rocket straight upwards into the chandelier.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The evasive reactions of any wizards post-''Sourcery'' to inquiries about what they were doing during the Second Mage War parodies the stereotype of older Germans regarding their activities in WWII. The only exceptions are Ponder (who was a student), Ridcully (who, unlike all the other wizards, really ''was'' visiting family far away), the Librarian (who was firmly against it), and Rincewind (who was directly involved in stopping it - which is part of why none of the other wizards are particularly eager to see him back).

* HatOfPower: The Archchancellor's Hat exemplifies this, being both a literal example, and sentient, thanks to a couple of thousand years being worn by previous Archchancellors. Ridcully observes that he refuses to wear it because it always complains about how good things used to be - and apparently every Archchancellor before him has lodged the exact same complaint. However, as ''Sourcery'' demonstrates, it is also the receptacle of a couple of thousand years of knowledge of wizards who rose to the top via KlingonPromotion, making it incredibly dangerous in its own right - it's entirely willing to freeze people alive if they don't comply, and on the right head, powerful enough to go toe to toe with the Sourcerer.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: The reason for the tradition of KlingonPromotion is that by tradition, the number of wizards of any given rank is fixed. Which means that no matter how good a wizard might be, the only way to get promoted from level X to level X+1 is for someone at level X+1 to die or be promoted to X+2, creating an opening at level X+1 for them to fill. After a while people got tired of waiting for openings to occur naturally.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: One of the ''Science of Discworld'' novels describes that as "chauvinists to a man", though this comes out as them being extremely polite to any woman they meet. Though Rincewind might be an exception, since he has no ''specific'' prejudice against anyone.

* WordOfGay: According to Pratchett, in a deliberate [[TakeThat swipe against]] Creator/JKRowling,

* YankTheDogsChain: Whenever he escapes danger or some scheme he is yanked back in by some improbable circumstance.

[[folder:Mustrum Ridcully "the Brown"]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mustrumridcully.jpg]]

Arch-Chancellor of Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork's premiere WizardingSchool. Combines traits of the traditional wizard with that of the stereotype of the gruff, outgoing huntin'-and-sportin' British gentleman. Far from stupid, but very stubborn and set in his ways. His mind has been likened to a steam engine: powerful, but slow to start and stop, and almost impossible to steer.

First seen in ''Literature/MovingPictures''- others filled the post before him.

* BadassDecay: In the early years of the Discworld saga, the Wizards were beings of great power and great ego to go with it. Over time they evolved into being narrow-minded dodderers whose hobbies are squabbling and huge dinners. It’s heavily implied that this was [[InUniverse deliberately carried out]] in the aftermath of ''Sourcery'', when magical activities nearly brought about the end of the Discworld, and the wizards themselves found that academic squabbling was much less stressful and much more fun. However, thanks to Ponder's innovations and their other explorations in {{Magitek}} and 'Quantum', in some ways they've actually become more powerful - though not politically.

* BadassDecay: In the early years of the Discworld saga, the Wizards were beings of great power and great ego to go with it. Over time they evolved into being narrow-minded dodderers whose hobbies are squabbling and huge dinners. It’s heavily implied that this was deliberately carried out in the aftermath of ''Sourcery'', when magical activities nearly brought about the end of the Discworld, and the wizards themselves found that academic squabbling was much less stressful and much more fun. However, thanks to Ponder's innovations and their other explorations in {{Magitek}} and 'Quantum', in some ways they've actually become more powerful - though not politically.

* FatIdiot: Mentioned as being quite round (several chins), but she's not very bright, and supremely superstitious and gullible. Half the wizards's trouble in ''The Last Continent'' that wasn't self-inflicted is because of her inadvertently trapping them.

-->'''Wizard:''' ''(on Ridcully)'' We used to kill wizards like him.\\
'''Other wizard:''' We used to kill wizards like ''us'' too.

* ChubbyChaser: Develops feelings for both Mrs. Whitlow and the Cheery Fairy who are both described as having rather ample figures, and is also a big fan of the fertility idols created by early humans on Roundworld (implied to be the Venus of Willendorf).

* NoManOfWomanBorn: The [[TomeOfEldritchLore grimoires]] in the Library are full of ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow, not Things ''Ape'' Was Not Meant To Know. An orangutan can read them with no problem, beyond a mild headache. The same goes for the glamour-effect that elves rely upon to cow humans into submission, and the arrows they use to control people (which just annoy himm).

* FatIdiot: Mentioned as being quite round (several chins), but she's not very bright, and supremely superstitious and gullible. Half the wizards's trouble in ''The Last Continent'' that was self-inflicted is because of her inadvertently trapping them.

** The Archchancellor's Hat exemplifies this, being both a literal example, and sentient, thanks to a couple of thousand years being worn by previous Archchancellors. Ridcully observes that he refuses to wear it because it always complains about how good things used to be - and apparently every Archchancellor before him has lodged the exact same complaint. However, as ''Sourcery'' demonstrates, it is also the receptacle of a couple of thousand years of knowledge of wizards who rose to the top via KlingonPromotion, making it incredibly dangerous in its own right - it's entirely willing to freeze people alive if they don't comply, and on the right head, powerful enough to go toe to toe with the Sourcerer.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The evasive reactions of any wizards post-''Sourcery'' to inquiries about what they were doing during the Second Mage War parodies the stereotype of older Germans regarding their activities in WWII.
* BadassDecay: In the early years of the Discworld saga, the Wizards were beings of great power and great ego to go with it. Over time they evolved into being narrow-minded dodderers whose hobbies are squabbling and huge dinners. It’s implied that this was deliberately carried out in the aftermath of ''Sourcery'', when magical activities nearly brought about the end of the Discworld.
* CelibateHero: A mix of reasons, mainly age and the fact being able to perform magic apparently makes sex seem kind of dull, but also to prevent any Sorcerers coming about. However, it is repeatedly indicated that most wizards have some vestigial sex drive, such as the Senior Wrangler's fixation on Mrs Whitlow and Ridcully's holding a torch for [[spoiler: ''Granny Weatherwax'']] of all people.

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: The events of ''Sourcery'' are under a blanket ban. Any wizard who might've been involved swears blind they were visiting relatives at the time, save Ridcully, who actually ''was'' visiting relatives at the time.

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The plural of "wizard" is "war". Even when they're not trying to kill one another, they will pedantically bicker and argue incessantly. Getting them pointing in the same direction is itself a major achievement.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Depending a little on who you ask. He can be a right bastard to his subordinates, and is at least partially responsible for at least one major nervous breakdown, but he's not malicious (the evidence suggests that he didn't intend the Bursar's nervous breakdown, and sincerely attempted to help... unfortunately, his methods only exacerbated the problem), and is known for being generally pleasant towards the common populace. He's even on good terms with Sam Vimes, which is probably deserving of some kind of Mr. Congeniality award.

* GoodWithNumbers: The Bursar is not merely good with numbers, he is ''excellent'' with them. Numbers are in fact the one thing that is unaffected by his madness - it's when he can't do complex arithmetic instantly in his head that Ridcully actually worries about him. Ridcully's time as his employer does appear to have taken its toll, though - by the last books he is no longer actually the college bursar as he began to regard the decimal point as a nuisance. Ridcully seems to believe he's lost his mathematical talents, but [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation it's more likely]] he's progressed beyond mere arithmetic and algebra into far higher mathematical planes.

* FleetingPassionateHobbies: He's always the one to get dragged into the craze of the day, especially Music With Rocks In.

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Ridcully [[spoiler:since they were undergraduates together. Revealed in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', where we also learn his first name]].