Line #114 Literature/Snuff


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snuff_0.jpg]]
2	->''According to the writer of the best selling crime novel ever to have been published in the city of Ankh-Morpork, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse. And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe, but many, many bodies and an ancient crime more terrible than murder. He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered and occasionally out of his mind, but not out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase and there must be a punishment. They say that in the end all sins are forgiven. But not quite all...''
3
4	The 39th Literature/{{Discworld}} novel, published after ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight''. His Grace Commander Sir Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch [[BlatantLies cheerfully volunteers]] for a holiday along with his family in that most dreaded of locations: the countryside. There are always things rustling through the undergrowth, you can never be sure that someone isn't hiding behind that hedge, and [[ArcWords there are no streets]]. Or are there?
5
6	His wife entertaining the local gentry and his son [[ItMakesSenseInContext becoming obsessed with poo]], Vimes [[BreadEggsMilkSquick goes for a walk, visits the local pub, gets into a fight with a blacksmith, and discovers that a murder has been committed]]. No one cares - after all, the victim was [[FantasticRacism just a]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman goblin]]. But to Vimes, a crime is a crime and there must be a punishment. However, he has [[JurisdictionFriction no jurisdiction]], no body, and no clues. His only allies are his wife and his BattleButler. Then the local police, who ''have'' jurisdiction, turn up to arrest him. And his wife ''still'' [[FelonyMisdemeanor won't let him eat bacon sandwiches.]]
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8	Continuing with themes introduced in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', ''Snuff'' heavily deconstructs FantasticRacism. In contrast to the usual Watch novels this is a more Vimes-centric tale à la ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'', although the rest of the Watch do feature sporadically throughout the novel. Nobby Nobbs gets a goblin girlfriend. The second Discworld novel not to feature Death as a character.
9
10	Preceded in the series overall by ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', and in the Watch series by ''Literature/{{Thud}}''. It’s followed by ''Literature/RaisingSteam''.
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12	----
13	!!Tropes:
14
15	* ActuallyIAmHim: The chicken farmer asks "Who do you think you are? Bloody Commander Vimes?" when told the boarders are police. Vimes asks him if he's always this lucky.
16	* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: [[spoiler: Stratford tries to deliberately trick Vimes into this, but Vimes isn't fooled.]]
17	* AlienGenderConfusion: Humans can't easily tell goblin genders and, [[FantasticRacism regarding goblins as vermin]], seldom try. But a rural community becomes somewhat disconcerted when they find out a goblin that had been ruthlessly butchered by a couple of local thugs was female.
18	* AllianceWithAnAbomination: The Summoning Dark, which has attached itself to Vimes, is seen as "tamed" to the cause of law and justice, and offers Vimes its talents and abilities in seeking out murder and greed in dark places: it places its abilities completely at Vimes' disposal.
19	* AmbiguousSyntax: Mr. False is just a complicated chicken farmer.[[note]] As opposed to being just a ''[[DontExplainTheJoke simple]]'' [[DontExplainTheJoke chicken farmer]].[[/note]] That is, he farms ''complicated chickens''. They lay square eggs, for one thing.
20	* ArcWords:
21	** "Murder is murder," usually in proximity to "Murder. The capital crime," or "Not all sins are forgiven."
22	** "Hang", the goblin word meaning survive. Hang tight, hang in there, hang together or hang separately, but most importantly, hang ''on''.
23	** "The Dreadful Algebra Of Necessity".
24	** "The ball dropped."
25	* AristocratsAreEvil:
26	** [[spoiler:The Shires' magistrates, but very averted with the Colonel.]]
27	** Defied by [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard His Grace, His Excellence, His Blackboard-Monitorship, the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Lord of Ramkin Hall]]. And, by the end, [[spoiler:King of the River.]]
28	** Also by Lady Sybil and the Gordons. Mostly averted by the former (she has the SympatheticPOV, but it's a mistake to cross her) while the latter are nice enough if you're in the club.
29	** Lord Rust senior. He's ''incompetent'', yes, but not actually evil.
30	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Vimes completely overturns the Gordon sisters' proprieties, perspectives, and futures, by asking them what it is they actually ''do''.
31	* AscendedExtra: Willikins becomes a full main character in this novel, after largely remaining in the background in the past.
32	* AwesomeButImpractical: Col. Makepeace's old regiment, the Light Dragons, used to breed swamp dragons for use in warfare. It never worked, and inspired him to title his memoirs ''Twenty-Four Years Without Eyebrows''.
33	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: InUniverse, [[spoiler:this leads to the goblins being emancipated.]] Lampshaded by Vetinari: "One song!" [[spoiler:This music even inspires Vetinari to have the villain of the book killed off-screen. While Vetinari has had plenty of people killed for pragmatic reasons, this is the first time he has ever killed someone purely out of moral outrage.]] "Not all sins are forgiven," indeed. And this, from a man who'd always preferred ''reading'' music to listening, as he'd never encountered a musician who lived up to his standards of precision or refinement. As Vetinari says, it touched people's souls, and reminded more than a few people that they actually have one. The fact that it was her own piece may also have been a factor, since the other reason he read his music was that it was closer to the mind of the composer.
34	* BadassBoast: Willikins, while holding a stiletto to his throat, explains to the blacksmith Jethro why he should not mess with Vimes:
35	-->'''Willikins:''' Now, my lad, the commander here is trusted by the Diamond King of Trolls and the Low King of the Dwarfs, who would only have to utter a word for your measly carcass to come under the caress of a large number of versatile axes, and by Lady Margolotta of Uberwald, who trusts very few people, and by Lord Vetinari of Ankh-Morpork, who doesn't trust anybody at all.
36	* BadassBureaucrat: A.E. Pessimal, even though he's only mentioned briefly. He's now the Ankh-Morpork version of the IntimidatingRevenueService, keeping an eye on businesses and ''absolutely terrifying'' them just by showing up.
37	* BadassCreed: The Ramkin's Family motto is "What we have, we keep."
38	* BadassCrew: Basically Vimes's Watch, family (Sybil) and staff (Willikins). Taking Willikins and Detritus on a walk meant Vimes and his son were accompanied by "enough firepower to kill a platoon."
39	* BadassNormal: [[BattleButler Willikins]]' past as a hard-fightin' kid off the streets is well established.
40	* BaitAndSwitch: The scene of Vimes fuming that Vetinari and Sybil are conspiring against him, bewildered that his fellow Watchmen seem to see this as a ''reward'', and determined that no-one will say they had to take his badge from him, are very much played as though he's finally been pushed into retirement, until it turns out that this is his reaction to taking a ''holiday''.
41	* {{Barsetshire}}: The whole setting of the Shires allows Pratchett to introduce the Discworld's analogue of the quiet rural backwater to the big city where nothing usually happens very much. Except for a visiting policeman solving, er, ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' in and around ''Literature/ColdComfortFarm'' and [[Radio/TheArchers Ambridge]] - and every other English rural trope that Pratchett can cram in...
42	* BatmanGambit:
43	** Vimes' impromptu lecture/rant to the Gordon girls turns out to have been one by Sybil for the benefit of their mother, and the whole party was organized around causing it.
44	** Vimes strongly suspects the entire adventure was one by Vetinari but can't prove anything. A strong piece of evidence (that Vimes doesn't know about) is Vetinari confiding to his secretary that he had been ''moved to tears'' when he recently learned the truth about the goblins and their situation in a conversation at the beginning of the book.
45	* BatmanGrabsAGun: In this and other books, Vimes frequently worries that he could become a monster if something ever pushes him to act outside the law, and hoped that he'd never come across something horrifying enough to push him across the line. In this book, he finally does encounter something that, while technically legal, is horrifying enough to make him take action anyway, concluding that a crime is still a crime, even when there's no law against it.
46	* BattleButler: Willikins, showing more of the "battle" side than the "butler" this time. He still finds the time to make a mean cocktail. Without alcohol, at that!
47	* BattleInTheRain: Exaggerated with a battle in [[spoiler: ''a storm'', on a battered ship, on a raging river about to experience a ''tidal wave''.]]
48	* BerserkButton: The devious puzzles of the ''Times''[='=]s new crossword compiler are the only thing that can drive the normally composed Lord Vetinari to what, from him, passes as a rant.
49	%%* BigBad: [[spoiler:Gravid Rust.]]
50	* BilingualBonus: The ''avec'' gag -- The British-derived Ankh-Morporkian characters say that Quirmian ([[FantasyCounterpartCulture French]]) food is good, but uses too much "avec" -- is never explained, but pretty easily found in the dictionary.[[note]] Avec is French for "with", so obviously, it's written on menus and recipes a lot. Saying something was made with too much "with" is kinda silly, and Vimes' insisting on having his bacon sandwich "without ''avec'" is rather hilarious.[[/note]] Of course, we later see "avec" being sold by the jar....
51	* BizarreAndImprobableBallistics: Vimes tells Willikins an anecdote about Pelvic Williams, a snooker player who specialized in sinking balls via this trope.
52	* BlatantLies: ''So'' blatant that even Colon and Nobby spot it, when the tobacconist claims he's barely breaking even while sporting a new diamond tie pin and gold tooth.
53	* BoobBasedGag: Emily Gordon, who "certainly lodged in the mind, and possibly also in doorways". At first, she's the only Gordon sister Vimes can tell apart from the others, thanks to her excessive endowments.
54	* BoobyTrap: Lady Sybil's ancestors took their security seriously, and the Ramkin Hall strongroom has multiple locking mechanisms guarded by some of these. Guillotines are involved.
55	* BookEnds: Early in the novel, Willikins tells how one of Sybil's ancestors bet he could see the smoke rising over Ankh-Morpork from atop Hangman's Hill in the Shires. When Vimes lights a bonfire to draw attention to his proclamation near the end of the book, the ''narrative'' bets it can be seen all the way to Ankh-Morpork.
56	* BrickJoke:
57	** Jane Gordon's novel. ''[[spoiler:Pride and Extreme Prejudice.]]''
58	** Young Sam asks about the naked lady statues that decorate the bridge at the Ramkin estate. [[spoiler:When the damn slam appears behind the ''Wonderful Fanny'', Vimes catches an improbable glimpse of a naked female form within the debris, as it's destroyed the bridge and swept up the statues.]]
59	* BusmansHoliday: As stated in the blurb. [[spoiler:Played with. Vimes is relieved to have a crime to deal with... at least at first.]]
60	* ButchLesbian: Heavily implied with one of Vimes's dinner guests being a {{spinster}}, whose companion is described as "a strict-looking lady with short hair and a man's shirt".
61	* BuxomBeautyStandard: When Sybil tells Sam about the Gordon sisters' concerns about finding husbands, she mentions that one of them is "rather conscious of her enormous bosom"; he doubts she'll have difficulty finding one. When he meets the young lady in question, he suspects men would line up to fight each other for her. He's proven right by the epilogue, in which they're both invited to her wedding to the son of a wealthy industrialist.
62	* CallBack:
63	** It's mentioned that the grounds of Ramkin Hall have a hoho (like a haha, but deeper), as mentioned in ''Literature/MenAtArms''. (As well as a "hehe" and a "ho-hum", though whatever these might be is left to the imagination of the readers.)
64	** Also, Zoons are mentioned for the first time since ''Literature/EqualRites''.
65	** The line "Sybil will go librarian" is a long-established {{running gag}} also appearing as the phrase "going librarian-poo" from an earlier book, which of course is itself a version of "going apeshit".
66	** Merkle and Stingbat's Very Famous Brown Sauce was previously mentioned in ''Literature/GuardsGuards''.
67	** The bridge with the sculptures of artistically naked ladies. [[Literature/{{Thud}} Urns means it's artistic]].
68	** Vimes's comment that he's never drunk starboard echoes a conversation from ''Literature/{{Jingo}}''.
69	** Also, this isn't [[spoiler: Gravid Rust's]] first encounter with the long arm of the law: In ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' mention is made of how [[spoiler: Lord Rust's son]] got into a lot of trouble for shooting servants for putting his shoes on the wrong feet (most likely why he was made to leave Ankh-Morpork proper for the countryside). As Vimes put it then, "He'll have to learn right from left like the rest of us. And right from wrong, too." [[spoiler: Apparently, the lesson didn't stick.]]
70	** The notion of hermits sitting on poles is dismissed as impractical, due to the poor restroom options. In ''Literature/SmallGods'', St. Ungulant solves this dilemma by having a second pole with a privy on it.
71	** Willikins's favorite music-hall entertainer mimics country and farmyard sounds, including that of a farmer whose boot has come off in a dung-coated paddock and who has nowhere to set his unshod foot down but muck. Mort contemplated a similar dilemma ''twenty-nine'' Discworld books ago, or thirty-four if you count the young adult novels.
72	** Vimes mentions that dwarfs allegedly eat horses on the quiet. In ''Literature/SoulMusic'', Gloria was accused of salivating while looking at another student's pony.
73	** Sybil's huge and exhaustively maintained list of friendships have been a running joke since ''The Fifth Elephant'', complete with Vimes thinking that she and the network of women like her wield tremendous behind-the-scenes power if they felt like it. We finally see that in action here.
74	** One of Beedle's books is titled ''The Wee Wee Men''. This is both a reference to the title of ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen'', to the same corruption of the title used in the book itself, and to the Child Ballad ''The Wee Wee Man''.
75	** The picture book with the very frightening picture of the goblin that terrified young Sam Vimes? Other characters it terrified include [[Literature/IShallWearMidnight Tiffany Aching and Letitia]]. It's hinted that [[spoiler:the frightening goblin is Stinky -- the personification of childhood fears of goblins.]]
76	* CheerfulChild: Young Sam, poo expert, [[spoiler:instant friend to goblins]].
77	* ChekhovsGag: Early on, Vimes isn't sure how you can own a mile of trout stream, because surely the bit of the stream that's yours is moving onto your neighbour's land? Much later, Colonel Makepeace reflects that he rents half a mile of stream, but can no longer run fast enough to keep up with it.
78	* ChildrenAreInnocent: Young Sam is practically a saint.
79	* ClusterFBomb: Only by comparison to the other Discworld books, which have generally avoided outright swearing, but the repeated use of "shit" and "bitch" is quite noticeable.
80	* ColdEquation: Brought up specifically in A.E. Pessimal's concept of the "dreadful algebra".
81	* CollectorOfTheStrange:
82	** Inspired by a book, Young Sam begins making his own poo collection.
83	** Back in Ankh-Morpork, a fad for collecting smells has become popular enough that Dave's Pin and Stamp Emporium is extending its sign again.
84	%%* CoolOldLady: Granny Slick / Regret of the Falling Leaf.
85	* CombatPragmatist: There are continual references to the [[ContinuityNod Marquis of Fantailler Rules]] (the Disc's version of Queensbury Rules). Nobody in the book fights according to them. Not even the Marquis fought according to them, [[BlackComedy given how he stabbed his wife to death.]]
86	* ContinuityNod:
87	** The goblins, first mentioned waaaay back and then slightly elaborated upon in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', are fully fleshed out.
88	** Wee Mad Arthur has embraced his identity as a Nac Mac Feegle.
89	** An elderly Lord Rust puts in an appearance.
90	** The Low King apparently even gave him Blackboard Monitor as a real title since ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', and given the dwarven reverence for the written word, it's the highest, er lowest, er let's just say "most important" honor he can bestow.
91	** A.E. Pessimal, the bureaucrat looking over the Watch in ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' is now the Watch's feared forensic accountant.
92	** Events in ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' have left their mark on Vimes.
93	** Vimes' botched one liner reply "Burleigh and Stronginthearm" (to "on whose authority?") in ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'' is repeated more successfully by Willikins.
94	** Vimes's schoolroom had the same book of fairy tales as the Aching family, and he had the same reaction to the goblin on page seven as Tiffany.
95	** The book Vetinari reads at the beginning, whose author is actually willing to acknowledge Goblins having a culture and religion is [[Literature/CarpeJugulum Mightily Oats]], whose religion-inspired liberal views had already been displayed with [[Literature/UnseenAcademicals Mr Nutt]].
96	** This is the second time that a performer's [[Literature/SoulMusic self-composed piece of harp music]] has touched the souls of an Ankh-Morpork audience.
97	** Willikins mentions how Young Sam enjoyed the game of Looking for Dad when they were observing Vimes through a telescope. As mentioned in ''Thud!'' and shown in the Defictionalized ''Where's My Cow?'', Vimes once reduced Young Sam to delighted, squealing giggles by revising the latter to "Where's My Daddy?".
98	** The goblins are a good example of "edge people", as defined by Rincewind in ''The Science of Discworld II''. In this case, they're unfortunately in the process of being pushed ''over'' the edge.
99	** Dr. Lawn has been hiring Igorinas at his hospital. In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', an Igorina enlisted as an Igor because as a female she'd only been allowed to close up after operations, not initiate them.
100	** When Wee Mad Arthur takes on a group of guards at a plantation, he's described as a force that runs up your trouser leg and leaves you in no condition to fight whatsoever. No, not a GroinAttack, but a reference to his very first appearance in ''Feet of Clay'', where he takes down two humans, one of which where he runs up a trouser leg... and breaks the man's knee.
101	** The list of nobles who have invited Vimes and Sybil to balls includes the Duchess of Keepsake. This is Leticia's mother from ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight''.
102	* ContrivedCoincidence: A very special [[SoulJar Unggue Pot]] manages to end up in a cigar which is sold to Sergeant Colon. It's said that this is why Fred and Nobby are still on the (now quite respectable) force -- {{contrived coincidence}}s happen to them ''[[WeirdnessMagnet all the time]]''.
103	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass:
104	** Feeney's badassery even takes Vimes by surprise.
105	** Meanwhile, Vetinari notices just how much [[spoiler: Sybil]] can get done when she puts her mind to it.
106	* DarkerAndEdgier: On par with ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'', ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'' and ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' which are usually seen as the darker ones.
107	* DarkestAfrica: The slave farm is deliberately located in one of the remotest, darkest and most inaccessible places on Disc.
108	* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The gibbet in Dead Man's Copse still has a pile of crumbling bones beneath it as a legacy of this trope.
109	* DeadpanSnarker: The voice of the author himself, when he relays Vimes' thoughts on writers. Stating that Vimes did not have a very clear idea about what authors actually did, beyond a vague impression that they spent the whole day walking around in their dressing gowns, drinking champagne, Sir Terry interrupts himself with a footnote, saying "Which is, of course, absolutely true."
110	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The Gordon girls somehow picked up an idea of what is appropriate to a noble lady that their ''mother's'' generation considered ludicrously outdated and didn't take seriously. They're in a setting culturally equivalent to (a more progressive version of) the late Victorian era, and they all think they're in ''Pride and Prejudice''.
111	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Stinky]]. No explanation is given, but it is slightly implied that [[spoiler:the Summoning Dark]] may have saved him. [[spoiler:The reference to Vimes' picture-book suggests he's a manifestation of childhood scary-goblin fears, like the bears and Scissor Man that Susan intimidated in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''. One that's actually taken an interest in the normal goblins it was imagined to resemble.]]
112	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
113	** The [[spoiler:enslavement]] of the local goblins calls to mind [[spoiler:the Holocaust (the neighbours turn the other way), the African slave trade, and the treatment of Australian Aborigines]].
114	** The tragic experiences of Miss Beedle's mother are similar to those of non-Native children or young women taken in by Native American tribes in the 17th to 19th centuries, only to be forcibly "rescued" and "re-educated".
115	** On a more mundane note, the plot of this book has more than a little in common with ''Literature/FeetOfClay''.
116	** The ominously ticking owl clock that troubles Death/Bill Door in ''Literature/ReaperMan'' is also present in Miss Beedle's cottage to worry Vimes. Like Death looking out over fields of corn, Vimes has an epiphany looking down on the Ramkin land from a high place. Whether he wants to be or not, he is Lord of the Manor and has a responsibility to the land and the people to govern fairly. That means ''everyone'', including Goblins.
117	* DoubleMeaning: Vimes muses that all married couples probably have their own unique phrases they use to send each other covert messages, such as the one Sybil employs to warn him not to antagonize their dinner guests. Sure enough, he overhears one of the couples he'd been antagonizing use such NonSequitur phrases to scold one another as they're departing.
118	* DowryDilemma: Vimes has the concept of a dowry explained to him, after running into a family of young women who worry about not finding husbands for this reason (in addition to suffering from ThinksLikeARomanceNovel). He gets very angry.
119	* DrinkBasedCharacterization: Vimes' and Willikins' growing camaraderie is demonstrated by the latter having devised an alcohol-free beverage which entirely sates the former's lingering taste for booze, if not his body's yearning.
120	* EasyEvangelism: It takes about five minutes for any recurring Watch character to accept that goblins deserve the same rights as any other species, including [[NobleBigotWithABadge Sergeant Colon]] (although with him it takes [[spoiler:having a goblin soul accidentally get shoved in his head]] for a period of time to get him to come to terms with it all). Of course, given the make-up of the Watch (it's mentioned that goblins are pretty much the only sapient species not currently included), they're bound to be more understanding of the odder species on the Disc -- they employ Nobby Nobbs, after all. [[spoiler:The rest of the Disc comes around once they see that goblins can create absolutely beautiful musical works, and therefore are not simply "vermin" to be ignored, enslaved, or exterminated.]]
121	* EatsBabies: ''Everyone'' knows that goblins eat their own young. [[spoiler:They actually do, occasionally. As a MercyKill, when the famines get so bad that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo there is no way the child would survive anyway, and it's the only way for the grieving mother to survive and, hopefully, have another]]. They do save the babies' souls in a SoulJar, however.]]
122	* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: The Goblin language is actually richly textured, with an enormous number of words for emotions, how colors mix together, and the like, but it doesn't necessarily translate well.
123	* EmpoweredBadassNormal: The Summoning Dark from ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' has... ''left its mark'' on Vimes, meaning he can [[spoiler:see in the dark, understand goblin language and have a reliable witness to any events happening under the cover of darkness]].
124	* EntitledBastard: Gravid Rust, who first came to Watch attention in an earlier book for shooting a servant who laid out his shoes the wrong way round. Vimes commented then that [[{{Foreshadowing}} Gravid's learning right from wrong was more important than the servant knowing right from left]].
125	* EquivalentExchange: "Hearts must give", and Vimes must loan his picture of Young Sam for one of Tears of the Mushroom's unggue pots. Both are equally personal, and equally precious to the giver.
126	* EvenEvilHasStandards: "I'm a scallywag, not a damn murderer!"
127	* {{Expy}}: The river "Old Treachery", in pretty much every aspect described -- length, behavior, navigational difficulties, the skills of the navigators, even the nickname -- is the Hooghly/Hugli, of India, transplanted into the Discworld.
128	* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Igor describes a tropical weevil that's been known to lay its eggs in people's brains, entering them through the ears and then exiting their skulls via the nostrils. Also, the NoodleIncident in which a crime was solved because something tried to lay eggs in Nobby's nose.
129	* FantasticDrug: The bad guys are involved in smuggling Crystal Slam, a very dangerous troll drug.
130	* FantasticRacism: In spades, directed towards the goblins. They're officially seen as vermin, and killing them [[spoiler:or even enslaving them and shipping them off to another continent]] is entirely legal. Not surprisingly, the actions that the Goblins are forced to perform just to survive are used to "justify" the fact that they are treated the way they are. The thing is, the goblins are stuck having to perform these acts quite literally because they are hanging on the edge of survival. Let's put this in perspective: if a race is given no means of making an honest living, is hunted zealously wherever they are found, and is only, say, two feet to three feet tall and typically extremely malnourished due to poor diet and lack of a steady food supply, is it any surprise that they turn to thievery, will threaten uninvited strangers on sight, and are extremely "cowardly"? [[spoiler:At the end of the book, most major powers are passing legislations to regard them as sapient and under the protection of common law.]]
131	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Quirm for France, as before.
132	* {{Flanderization}}: Willikins, formerly a model manservant with a perhaps somewhat checkered past (perhaps even a chessed and backgammoned one, at that), now cannot let a paragraph in which he figures pass by without it containing some or several references to his past and his diction takes a similar nosedive. Though at least he only seems to show this side of himself around Vimes.
133	* ForeignQueasine:
134	** Averted, the Morporkians all like Quirmian cooking, but they do use too much avec.
135	** Folks around the Ramkin estate are also partial to a bit of Bang Duck Suck (or Man Dog Suck Po on Sundays).
136	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
137	** At the start, Vimes is given a bucket and spade as a joke by the Watch, even though he's not going to the seaside. He retorts that he wishes it ''was'' the seaside, there's smuggling and piracy at the seaside. [[spoiler:Smuggling proves to be the impetus of the entire plot, and the most holidayish part of his holiday is when he ends up on the Quirm coast with Young Sam, catching winkles. He also commits what is arguably piracy in seizing Captain Murderer's ship, although it turns out not to be, since kidnapping Jethro was illegal even if kidnapping the goblins wasn't.]]
138	** Describing Colon's illness, Angua mentions that he acts as if he's very hot, even though his room is at a comfortable temperature. [[spoiler:The goblin infant whose SoulJar has afflicted him had died in a sweltering slave-shack in tropical Howondaland.]]
139	** Gravid Rust first came to Watch attention in an earlier book for shooting a servant who laid out his shoes the wrong way round. Explaining this to Vetinari, Vimes remarked that there was a lad who needed to know right from wrong as well as right from left.
140	* FreudianSlip: Vetinari of all people has one when he refers to the good ship ''Wonderful Fanny'' as, well... the ''Enormous Fanny''.
141	* TheGhost: Gravid Rust, the man behind the entire evil plot, who is introduced, plans, is arrested, exiled and [[spoiler:assassinated]], without ever appearing on the page.
142	* GoodPolicingEvilPolicing: Commander Vimes, the good cop, finds himself up agaist the police force of the Shires he's visiting in the form of Constable Feeney. Feeney seems to believe a policeman's first loyalty is to the people who hired him, ie the magistrates of the Shires, and follows their orders even as they try to cover up a serious crime and the horrendous actions they condoned to pull it off. Vimes points out that a policeman's first loyalty is to the Law, which means even the magistrates are subject to his authority and admonishes Feeney for thinking they somehow made the law themselves.
143	* HamsterWheelPower: The Old Treachery riverboats are powered by oxen on treadmills.
144	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: The master bathroom's decorators used the ever-popular convenient piece of gauze to prevent its sculptures from becoming pornography rather than art. Why they bothered isn't clear, considering how the same bathroom's frescoes avert this trope. A lot.
145	* HappilyMarried: As usual, Sam and Sybil. If Sybil is ever annoyed at Sam, she's happy again by the end of their next conversation.
146	* HateSink:
147	** For a guy who doesn't appear in person so much as once, Gravid Rust manages to be even more odious than his father ever was. Even ''[[spoiler:Stratford]]'' hates him and wants to turn evidence just to get back at him.
148	** [[spoiler:Stratford]] himself, despite his dislike of his boss, is a repulsive, violent thug with very little self control and a desire to [[WouldHurtAChild target infants]] even when it doesn't benefit his plans to do so.
149	* TheHelpHelpingThemselves: Discussed. The Patrician's secretary Rufus Drumknott is such a scrupulously honest {{Paperworkaholic}} that he can't even bring himself to steal a paperclip from his office, which is why he's one of the very few people the Patrician trusts and treats as a confidant.
150	* HenpeckedHusband: The Colonel. [[spoiler:Until he [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome un-henpecks himself]].]] Also, to a smaller degree, Vimes.
151	* HoldYourHippogriffs: One of the culprits is told he can't expect to be let off [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Feegle]] free.
152	* HorsingAround: Subverted. Vimes expects to make a complete fool of himself when Feeney and he have to ride overland to catch the ''Wonderful Fanny'', but [[spoiler:Stinky does something to his horse to make it cooperate and facilitate Vimes's not falling off]].
153	* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Vimes speculates aloud at the "remarkable coincidence" that [[spoiler:a Burleigh and Stronginthearm Piecemaker Mark IX could wind up in the hands of one of the mob outside Feeney's lockup, when the only one still existent is sealed up in his cellar at home. He knows that ''of course'' it's there, because Willikins and he sealed it up themselves. Just like ''of course'' he knows it'll still be there when he gets home and -- after a suitable delay for Willikins to put it back -- checks.]] Then he offers Willikins a raise.
154	-->'''Vimes:''' You may think you see me lighting a cigar, Willikins, but on this occasion, I think, you eyes may turn out to be at fault, do you understand?\
155	'''Willikins:''' Yes, and in fact I am deaf as well, commander.
156	* InterspeciesRomance: It's mentioned that a troll and a dwarf have struck up a relationship. [[spoiler:Also, Nobby Nobbs gets himself a goblin girl ([[RunningGag though the jury is still out on whether this actually counts]]).]]
157	* TheJeeves: Averted spectacularly by Willikins. He is the old school brutal thug as a butler. But he can act like this when he wants to.
158	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jethro. He's got a huge temper and can be very nasty when provoked (even if if you weren't actually trying to provoke him). He picks a fight with Vimes purely on account of him being a nobleman, though this is because he's spent his whole life seeing nobility take advantage of people they consider below them. This points towards the "heart of gold part": ultimately he ''is'' firmly on the side of the weak and downtrodden and will fight to protect them. [[spoiler:He's one of the few residents of the Shires who considers goblins to be people.]]
159	* JurisdictionFriction: The Shires are ''not'' subject to the law of Ankh-Morpork. Even though Vimes is technically the lord of his lands, he has no jurisdiction as a police officer - that belongs to the [[spoiler:self-]]appointed magistrates. To Vimes, though, the only jurisdiction he needs is that a murder has been committed, because murder is a universal crime. [[spoiler:Subverted in the end; despite being traditionally left to their own devices it turns out that the Shires ''are'' Ankh-Morpork territory, the magistrates ''never'' had legitimate authority, and the Watch arrives in force to take control of the situation.]]
160	* KarmaHoudini:
161	** Defied. Willikins serves the same role as Pepe in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', [[spoiler:when the PsychoForHire escapes from custody again, instead of apprehending and returning him to police and having the justice system hang him, Willikins slits his throat in the night for going after [[OldRetainer young Sam]].]] [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind Vimes wanted]] to, and Vetinari asked if he gave the order, but Vimes' inner Watchman is still in control.
162	** [[spoiler:Gravid Rust. Maybe. Then again, Lord Vetinari's people are watching him, and XXXX is a ''dangerous'' country, plenty of poisonous spiders....]]
163	** [[spoiler:Played straight with most of the magistrates.]]
164	* KickTheDog: Vimes cites a case when a man did something much worse than ''kick'' his dog, which Vetinari took as an indication of [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals his personality]] and ordered his house searched for evidence of worse behavior. The man was hanged, but [[TortureCellar not for the dog]].
165	* {{Kidanova}}: Young Sam is (innocently) quite popular with ladies of every age. As well, Vimes notes he has a habit of taking the hand of any female he meets, one which will "serve him well in later years".
166	* LampshadeHanging: Discussing Jane Gordon's literary efforts, Vimes goes off on a tangent about how an author might examine the psychology of police who must think like the criminals they pursue. Essentially, this is what Pterry has been using Vimes himself to do, all along.
167	* LivingLegend: An in-universe example. Vimes' reputation for being a badass comes in handy several times.
168	* MamaBear: Sybil. [[spoiler:Vimes warns Stratford that if he were to try and harm Young Sam, Sybil will do things to him that even Willikins would think of as extreme.]]
169	* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: [[spoiler:Vimes has a moment like this while taking the ''Black-Eyed Susan'' back to the Shires, where his reflection warns him that Stratford won't stop at killing ''Vimes''.]]
170	* MeaningfulName:
171	** Subverted with Captain Murderer, who is a smuggler. That being said, he's still a horrible person.
172	** Played straight with Arachne, one of Vetinari's clerks who is very fond of spiders.
173	** Col. Makepeace ponders aloud whether his name is Meaningful or Non-Indicative, given his military background.
174	* MeaningfulRename: Mr. Jiminy's pub is called The Goblin's Head. [[spoiler:By the end of the novel, it's become The Commander's Arms.]] ''Very'' meaningful, when you think about it.
175	* MegaManning: Vimes is a quick learner, apparently, but even ''he's'' surprised when he manages to perfectly replicate [[spoiler:a [[IKnowKarate martial arts move]] used on him by Feeney.]]
176	%%* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Wee Mad Arthur]] gives one before doing what he does best.
177	* MortonsFork: Part of the "dreadful algebra of necessity" that drives goblin mothers to eat their young in times of famine is that if they don't do so, the child will surely die anyway of starvation.
178	* MrExposition: Willikins and Sybil act as this for Vimes, who is unfamiliar with how things are done in the country.
179	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: It's mentioned that the Watch "appears to include at least one of every known bipedal sapient species, plus one Nobby Nobbs."
180	* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Vimes suggests Feeney use "the old Bang Suck Cling Buck" on some villains, and Feeney remarks that that's a recipe for shoe polish. Played with when Vimes mis-remembers the name of one of Mrs. Upshot's Bhangbhangduc-style dishes, but the erroneous name turns out to be a different dish that's just not what she's serving ''today''.
181	* MythologyGag: Miss Beedle mentions having written fifty-seven books at the time she meets Vimes. The "Also by" page of ''Snuff'' lists fifty-seven titles, not counting the graphic novel adaptations of the first two Discworld books.
182	* NeverMessWithGranny: Constable Feeney's sweet old mother is right there next to her son waving a broomstick around when a mob has gathered by the lockup to spring a prisoner out. When Vimes arrives on the scene she has already dropped one with a GroinAttack, and he notes just the two of them alone might very well be able to hold their ground.
183	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The [[spoiler:Summoning Dark]] shows up out of nowhere to give [[spoiler:Vimes a way of understanding Goblin language.]]
184	%%* TheNonDescript: Startford, until he gets mad.
185	* NonHumanSidekick: Stinky. Serves as human-goblin liaison, is made special constable, keeps Vimes' secrets and helps him with the horse, and learns how to operate the clacks. He also may or may not be an avatar for the Summoning Dark, or some other supernatural entity.
186	* NoodleIncident:
187	** An account of how Fred and Nobby keep serendipitously stumbling onto major clues includes a case that was solved thanks to something that tried to lay its eggs in Nobby's nose.
188	** At some point in his law enforcement career, someone Vimes was arresting tried to kill him with a [[ShamuFu very large salmon]].
189	* TheNoseKnows: Billy Slick pegs Angua for a werewolf immediately, claiming he can smell it's so.
190	* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Invoked by Vimes, who [[spoiler:gives Stratford a sabotaged crossbow to let him think he has the upper hand.]]
191	* OffscreenKarma: [[spoiler:Gravid Rust]] is strongly implied to be assassinated by one of Vetinari's Dark Clerks in the wake of the exposure of his shady dealings.
192	* OneManArmy: Wee Mad Arthur takes on a batch of slave-owners with characteristic ease. He even comments afterwards that it wasn't a fair fight, as he outnumbered them.
193	* OpenFlyGag: There's a scene at a dinner party where the narrator talks about how long-married couples tend to have code phrases to subtly warn each other about problems such as "exposed in the crotch department" or, in the case of Sam and Sybil Vimes, "You're getting on people's nerves again, Sam". The scene ends with one of the other ladies at the dinner turning to her husband and giving him the "exposed in the crotch department" code.
194	* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: Continuing onward from ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. [[spoiler:Here you have scavenging cave goblins as well as more-or-less-human city goblins]]. Oh, and some of them are ''fantastic'' [[spoiler:musicians]].
195	* OutGambitted: Stratford is surprisingly cunning for a PsychoForHire. Fortunately, Vimes is even more cunning and manages to foil him at nearly every turn.
196	* PapaWolf: Vimes, as usual. Willikins is his backup. Between them and Sybil, Young Sam is the safest boy in the world.
197	* PaedoHunt: Colonel Makepeace, makes a mention in his InternalMonologue, that Honorable Ambrose was an oddity for being sent to lie low in the countryside, because of some trouble with a girl. After a bit of digging, he found out why by a tiny note from an old friend saying simply, "Yes indeed under-aged, hushed up at great expense." The colonel made sure never to shake the man's hand ever again.
198	%%* PintSizedPowerhouse: Wee Mad Arthur is this even more than usual.
199	* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Wee Mad Arthur's response to a slave-keeper on a tobacco plantation telling him there's no law out here? "Guess again."
200	* PrecisionFStrike: Sybil referring to someone as a bitch. It's actually quite jarring, given previous characterization.
201	* PrisonRape: Alluded to by Vimes when explaining why the Watch House lockup is ''infinitely'' preferable to the "Tanty".
202	* PsychoForHire: Stratford, to a tee. Definitely not the brains of operation, but doesn't flinch from killing to get a job done. When he marks Vimes as an enemy, he [[spoiler:tries to [[MoralEventHorizon sneak into young Sam's room]] at night.]] Also something of a deconstruction; [[spoiler:none of his murders or threatened murders are actually called for under his orders, and it is his actions that get Vimes so involved and motivate his terrified allies to give King's evidence just to bring him down, whereas if he'd acted with less gratuitous bloodlust and cruelty the villains might have got away with it.]]
203	%%* PsychoSidekick: Willikins fully qualifies in this one.
204	* PunchClockVillain: Flutter and some of the hirelings count as this, as they're mostly smugglers who have been dragged into a murder and slavery plot, and for the most part give up as soon as Vimes has identified himself. [[spoiler:Brassbound]], however, portrays himself as this but is actually [[spoiler:Stratford in disguise]].
205	* RaisedByOrcs: Subverted. [[spoiler:The Poo Lady]] is the daughter of a woman who was raised by goblins, and was forced to watch as a party of human "rescuers" brutally murdered the entire colony of goblins that had raised her with love all her life. Said child was then beaten, often, by her "rescuers" whenever she spoke in the goblin tongue (the only language she originally knew), did anything "goblin-like", and was forcibly educated to being more "normal". Said child escaped custody the second they let her out of the house.
206	* RiddleForTheAges: The exact nature of Stinky is never explained, but he's clearly no ordinary goblin.
207	* ARoundOfDrinksForTheHouse: Vimes several times buys a round for all the patrons in the local pub, generally as a way to earn their gratitude, and once in an attempt to avert a BarBrawl.
208	* RunningGag:
209	** Vetinari vs. the ''Times'' crossword compiler, carrying over from Moist's books. She seems to be getting to him.
210	** Vimes' tendency to accumulate increasingly-impressive and unwanted titles culminates (sort of), with him being declared [[spoiler:King. But (to his immense relief) only of the River, for his role in bringing the ''Fanny'' in safely.]]
211	** Specific to this book, the fact that any small child will be instantly and enormously entertained by any mention of [[ToiletHumor disgusting bodily functions]].
212	** Vimes mis-naming the various Bhanbhangduc-style recipes that Feeney's grandmother introduced to the region, all of which have names that sound like rude [[WordSaladTitle Word Salad]] in Morporkian.
213	* SavingTheWorldWithArt: [[spoiler:Tears of the Mushroom's stunning harp performance convinces the elite of Ankh-Morpork and many visiting dignitaries that goblins like her are worthy of all the rights and legal protections extended to other sentient races. This saves her kind from ignominy, enslavement, and likely extinction.]]
214	* SexyDiscretionShot: When Vimes decides to take a relaxing bath, Sybil... joins him.
215	* ShamuFu: Apparently, someone once tried to kill Vimes with "a very large salmon".
216	* ShapedLikeItself:
217	-->You learned to smell blood. It smelled like metal. Now, people would say that metal doesn't smell, it does, but it smells like blood.
218	* ShoutOut:
219	** A rather blatant one; a young country noblewoman named [[Creator/JaneAusten Jane, who wants to be a writer.]] The themes of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' are deconstructed by Vimes with ''extreme'' prejudice.
220	** Also a bit of a StealthPun; The [[Literature/PrideAndPrejudice Bennets]] become the Gordons who go on to design and wear Gordon's Bonnets. ("[[StockBritishPhrases Gordon Bennett]]" being a rather British exclamation of surprise or shock.)
221	** Other shout-outs to classic British fiction in a rural setting include, but are not limited to, Stella Gibbons' ''Literature/ColdComfortFarm'', Thackeray's ''Literature/VanityFair'', Trollope's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfBarsetshire'', Orwell's ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' and the long-running BBC radio soap opera ''Radio/TheArchers''.
222	** The surname of Discworld's most famous children's writer, Miss Felicity Beedle, happens to be the name of [[Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard a certain fictitious bard]] created by [[Creator/JKRowling her Roundworld counterpart.]] Commenting on Miss Beedle, Lady Sybil (whose husband is intially quite sceptical about the author but grows to rather admire her later on) says that she "gets children interested in reading, you see?", a claim often made about the said counterpart as well. However, Miss Beedle (who plays a significant and decidedly positive role in the story) seems to target rather younger audience and to write mostly on the subject of various bodily secretions, make of it what you will.
223	** The real-life case of Lord Lucan, who mistakenly murdered his children's nanny thinking she was his wife, and who disappeared without trace, thought to have escaped to Australia or South Africa with the closed-rank collusion of the British aristocracy (who together confounded and snarled up a police investigation by refusing to co-operate), is used here to illustrate the Discworld nobility's refusal to accept they are subject to the same laws as anyone else. Even Sam Vimes had to give up investigating the Marquis of Fantailer's murder and flight to Fourecks in remarkably similar circumstances to Lucan's. Lucan's disappearance, amidst the absurd privilege enjoyed by British nobility, happened in ''1974''. And could so easily happen again tomorrow.
224	** Entrepreneur and SelfMadeMan Harry King has now been knighted, and he enters by throwing someone out of his office and telling them "You're fired!" It sounds a lot like a reference to Sir Alan (now Lord Sugar), of the UK version of ''Series/TheApprentice''.
225	** ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'': At one point, when a sworn-in country lawyer attempts to arrest Vimes, he decides "not to let him do so that day". Immediately after, on his way to see the town constable, he informs Willikins that as a civilian he shouldn't get involved. Willikins tells Vimes that that is "a hell of a thing to say to him."
226	** After being sworn in as a special constable, Stinky tells Vimes that anyone who gets in his way will find he's their worst nightmare. "[[Film/FortyEightHrs A goblin with a badge?]]" (No, says Stinky: "[[Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre Stinky don't need no badges]], fellow po-lees-man! Stinky worst nightmare ''all by himself''.")
227	** Though previously mentioned in ''Thud!'', one of the Watch's more recent constables is named Precious Jolson, a large Howondan-Morporkian woman and possibly a reference to either ''Literature/TheNo1LadiesDetectiveAgency'' or ''Film/{{Precious}}''. (''Snuff'' was written shortly after the film of the latter came to the cinemas.)
228	** Wee Mad Arthur's method of acquiring a steed for his flight to Howondaland is identical to the technique used in Creator/JamesCameron[='=]s ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', though not the first time something like has happened in the series.
229	** One of Sybil's ancestors won a bet by having Hangman's Hill made taller, à la ''Film/TheEnglishmanWhoWentUpAHillButCameDownAMountain''. Another had a run-in with a falling apple which satirizes the pop-culture account of UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton.
230	** "Feeney not only looked pleased as punch, but pleased as [[Theatre/PunchAndJudy Punch, Judy, the dog Toby, the crocodile and, above all, the policeman]]."
231	** The woman who writes the devious crosswords for the ''Times'' (which isn't relevant to the ShoutOut) runs a pet shop and comes from Nothingfjord (which is). As mentioned in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', Nothingfjord is also the home of the Nothingfjord Blue, a breed of swamp dragon with beautiful plumage and a tendency to lie around pining for the fjords. [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus "Dead Parrot Sketch"]] reference, take two.
232	** The goblins working in the city, mainly for Harry King, are explicitly described as living in a ramshackle shanty town outside the city limits built from whatever the City has discarded, have no legal protections, and are explicitly expected to be outside the city limits by a specified time. (Arrest might theoretically follow?) Whether they are expected to carry written work permits or pass-cards is not specifically mentioned, but this sounds reminiscent of a certain [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Roundworld nation]] during UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra.
233	** A fight on a riverboat, where every so often one of the fighters has to break off and make a course correction to steer the ship from hazards, is the basis of a semi-comic episode chronicled by Creator/MarkTwain.
234	* ShownTheirWork: Living entirely on rabbits, as the goblins were doing before Miss Beedle intervened, really does lead to severe malnutrition due to vitamin and fat deficiencies. It's known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation Rabbit Starvation]].
235	* SincerityMode: Vimes is surprised to hear Nobby call a goblin girl a young lady without [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall putting inverted commas around the word lady]].
236	* SingleStrokeBattle:
237	** A fists-only version occurs between Jethro and the ''Queen'''s first mate.
238	** [[spoiler:The fight between Willikins and Stratford]].
239	* SneakySpider: Mentions a "[[ProfessionalKiller filing clerk]]" by the name of Arachne, who is particularly ''[[AnimalAssassin interested]]'' in exotic venomous spiders...
240	* SophisticatedAsHell: Willikins is prone to switching from "gentleman's gentleman" to "street thug" here, especially when it's just him and Commander Vimes.
241	-->'''Willikins:''' No, sir, it's ''your'' house, and since I am your personal manservant I, by the irrevocable laws of the servants' hall, outrank every one of the lazy buggers!
242	* SoulJar: [[spoiler:The "pot of tears" is a literal example; it's used to contain the soul of a {{mercy kill}}ed goblin child. Colon finds one in a cigar.]]
243	* SpitTake: Vimes' reaction to a Quirmian guard telling him [[spoiler:the goblin slaves from the ''Wonderful Fanny'' have been put on the ''Queen of Quirm'', bound for Howondaland.]]
244	-->Never in the field of coffee-making had so much of the stuff been sprayed so far and over so many.
245	* StealthPun: The Gordon sisters... and their interest in bonnets.
246	* TemptingFate: While trying to catch up with the ''Wonderful Fanny'' during a storm, Feeney tells Vimes that they shouldn't have to worry about the storm unless it causes the build-up of a Damn Slam. [[spoiler:Three guesses as to what eventually happens.]]
247	* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Vetinari claims to be "awash with tears" over Pastor Oats' book on goblins, but has to say so because he isn't really. It makes sense, though: even though he occasionally feels human emotions, dramatic outward expressions of them are unlike him.
248	* TitleDrop: Played with. Snuff is mentioned several times. [[spoiler:Snuff is made from tobacco, which is the reason that Gravid abducted the goblins three years ago and set off the plot in the novel. Not to mention that it's also a term for murder...]]
249	* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Vimes chooses good right away, but he does get a bit angsty over it with hindsight. [[spoiler:It is suggested this is the corruption of the Summoning Dark taking hold, as previous books had him firmly on the Lawful side of Lawful Good. In many instances in this book, he's doing outright unlawful things for the greater good.]] The fact that he's out of his jurisdiction might also have been a factor in this.
250	* ToiletHumor: The subject of a RunningGag, with Young Sam's keen interest in poo.
251	* TookALevelInBadass: Feeney goes from a nervous, brow-beaten rookie to doing things that make Vimes explicitly [[{{Expy}} compare him to]] a young Carrot. (Two of Carrot's first acts were to (misguidedly) arrest the head of the Thieves Guild and knock out Detritus. Feeney is just as impressive, achieving both at once by [[spoiler:(misguidedly) arresting Vimes and knocking him flat on his back when he resists.]])
252	* TrojanVeggies: Elderly male goblins were dying of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning rabbit starvation]] until their wives began hiding fruit and veg in the rabbit stew. The males thought their improved health was due to magic.
253	* TrueCraftsman: The goblins take the crafting of unggue pots '''very''' seriously. One of them, having created one that looks beautiful to both Vimes and Feeney, throws it against the wall in disgust and shame because it didn't meet his own standards.
254	* TwistedAnkle: Pleasant Contrast, the goblin whose murder Vimes sets out to solve, stepped into a rabbit snare while fleeing her attacker.
255	* UnfortunateName:
256	** ''Gravid'' Rust. The colonel [[LampshadeHanging considers]] that clearly no-one involved in choosing it knew animal husbandry.
257	** Nor, presumably, did the parents of riverboat captain ''Gastric'' Sillitoe own a dictionary.
258	** Also, Captain Murderer and the riverboat, which Mr. Sillitoe named after his wife Francesca: the ''Wonderful Fanny''. Everyone else is hit in the face by the [[invoked]] AccidentalInnuendo. [[note]] If it's bad enough that American readers will see it as "nice ass", it's even more [[CountryMatters profane in British English]].[[/note]]
259	** Mr. Praise-and-Salvation False feels compelled to explain the origins of his awkward name upon first meeting Vimes, even though they're in an extreme life-or-death situation at the time.
260	* TheUnreveal: It is never revealed what exactly ''avec'' is, but many an honest Morporkian seems quite uneasy about the prospect of encountering this celebrated Quirmian delicacy (ingredient?) on their plate.
261	* VaporTrail: Vimes soaks a wooden tower in brandy and then leaves a trail of brandy leading away from it. He ignites the tower by dropping his cigar in the trail of brandy.
262	* VerbalJudo: Paradoxically, this time using this technique involves Vimes deliberately ''getting into'' a fight. It's just that he makes sure it doesn't have to really get real, and his opponent comes out subdued, if anything more so than if Vimes had just smashed his face in as he could have.
263	* VillainousLineage: Willikins, presuming his own criminal tendencies to be an example of this, speculates that he could find out who his father was by visiting the cemetery at the Temple of Small Gods, shouting "Dad, I'm going to be a copper", and seeing which of the headstones starts revolving. Vimes suggests he'd probably having more luck shouting it at the lime pits behind [[HellholePrison The Tanty]] [[note]] presumably where executed criminals have been buried[[/note]], and Willikins takes this as a huge compliment.
264	* VirginInAWhiteDress: Sybil mentions that a particularly ridiculous tradition (the maids must turn to the wall when being spoken to by a man) happened so the girls "wouldn't feel ashamed of wearing white on their wedding day."
265	* VomitingCop: Vimes comes pretty close while pursuing the ''Queen of Quirm'' offshore, but averts this trope because he finally has bacon sandwiches and ''refuses'' to let seasickness forfeit his chance to enjoy them. [[spoiler:And also, possibly, because Stinky helped him endure it.]]
266	* WhamLine: "Inside that pot is [[spoiler:the living soul of a goblin child]] and it belongs to you. ''[[SarcasmMode Congratulations]]!''"
267	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: What sets off the entire plot. No-one seems to care that a goblin has been killed. For Vimes, on the other hand, [[AvertedTrope murder is murder]].
268	* WhatWouldXDo: Wee Mad Arthur has two instances of this in regards to Vimes' copper teachings.
269	** First, when told [[spoiler:on the plantation]] that the law doesn't exist there, he carefully goes through a list of things Vimes has taught, and judges that it does. So, he attacks the men there to detain them.
270	** After [[spoiler:he opens the huts, finding hundreds of dead or dying enslaved goblins in horrific situations]], he asks himself again and just limits his response to the guards as capturing them with no further action. [[spoiler:Subverted by Vimes himself who tells Wee Mad Arthur, if Vimes was there and did things, Vimes would be brought up on charges of excessive force, police brutality, and other similar crimes]].
271	* WouldNotHitAGirl:
272	** Flutter [[spoiler:doesn't tolerate goblins, but even he was truly horrified when Stratford killed a defenceless goblin girl.]]
273	** [[BattleButler Willikins]] applies this philosophy to every woman except [[TooKinkyToTorture Kinky]] [[BrainsAndBondage Elsie]].
274	* WrittenByTheWinners: For the goblins, all of history is this trope. According to ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', even TheEmpire wrote them off as too stupid and petty to be usefully evil. Pastor Oats' treatise is the closest anyone has gotten to a proper ethnographic description of their culture... because so many people refuse to believe they have one.
275	* YouNoTakeCandle: Subverted. The goblins speak like this in their own language, at least as far as [[spoiler:the Summoning Dark's]] translation is concerned. However, the two goblins we hear speaking Morporkian are both fairly fluent; one talks "as though she was taking the words out of a filing cabinet and carefully slotting them in place", and the other sounds like a typical working-class city boy. It's later explained that the Goblin language is actually quite complex, but the subtleties don't translate at all.

Context Literature / Snuff