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# ''[[Small Gods]]'' (1992 - standalone, History Monks cameo)
# ''[[Lords and Ladies]]'' (1992 - The Lancre witches, Wizards cameo)
# ''[[Men
# ''[[Soul Music (novel)|Soul Music]]'' (1994 - Death, Susan, Wizards subplot)
# ''[[Interesting Times]]'' (1994 - Rincewind, Heroes)
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# ''[[Making Money]]'' (2007 - Moist von Lipwig)
# ''[[Unseen Academicals]]'' (October 2009 - Wizards and new characters)
# ''[[
# ''[[
'''Illustrated novels:'''
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** Vimes' wife right from her first appearance in Guards! Guards! In that one, some Palace Guards come to take her to be eaten by the dragon. She takes exception to being dragged off by a load of guards...with a broadsword. It doesn't work out for her, but two of her pets (Sam Vimes and a most peculiar young male swamp dragon) rescue her later on.
** It is noted on several occasions, as recently as 'Snuff' that Sybil is descended from the kind of old aristocracy that kept its place by being more than able to defend themselves. Hence why even in Night Watch a younger Sybil grabs a ornamental sword (or something else long and metal?) to defend herself when (stranger to her at that time) Vimes comes to the door.
*** There were previous references to the martial activities of Sybil's male ancestors, usually in the context of her even tougher female ancestors looking after everything else, including caring for whatever portions of their male relatives made it back from battle. As well, given the later references to the family apparently never throwing anything away if it could possibly have any use, there's no reason to think that sword wasn't entirely functional. (Given how badly she handles a sword in the chronologically later events of ''[[Guards! Guards!]]'' she probably didn't know how to use it, but that's not important when you consider the kind of help the family tends to hire and the fact that her father might well have been home.)
* [[Brick Joke]]: Happens quite often, even across books in the form of [[Continuity Nod]]s. As one example, in ''[[The Truth]]'', there's mention of someone trying to pass a parrot off as a dog by teaching it to bark and writing "DoG" on its feathers. In ''[[The Last Hero]]'', Leonard of Quirm is shown feeding a bunch of birds, one of which is that parrot.
** Also, a bar called The Broken Drum (You Can't Beat It!) burns down in the first book. It appears rebuilt subsequently throughout later books as The Mended Drum (You Can Get Beaten).
** Bloody Stupid Johnson's handiwork constantly appears around Ankh-Mopork. See [[Bungling Inventor]] for more.
** In ''[[Soul Music (novel)|Soul Music]]'', it's detailed that the Klatchian Foreign Legion is where people go to forget their lives ([[Laser-Guided Amnesia|in the literal sense]]). This is mentioned again as a throwaway line in ''[[Going Postal (Discworld)|Going Postal]]'', '''12 books later'''.
** In ''[[Men
*** Though in ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]'', we're told that most true wolves don't have names so much as descriptions. Gaspode attempts to translate one of these for the rather prudish Captain Carrot. They eventually settle on "Bum," which Carrot can choose to interpret in the way common in the US (vagrant, tramp, hobo) while remaining at least somewhat similar to the more precise translation {{spoiler|"Arsehole"}}.
** Another one crops up in ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'': In ''[[The Truth]]'', one of the newspaper headlines is "CITTY's BIGGEST CAKE MIX-Up!!!". It's a story about cart carrying several tons of flour overturning and causing a cart of carrying a cartload of eggs to overturn, which in turn causes a cart carrying 30 churns of milk to overturn... Anyway, in ''Night Watch'', after Vimes destroys certain siege engine, we find out that it is not the biggest cake mix-up after all. As one of people who ordered siege engine sent against Vimes: "Those oxen were really feisty, sir."
** A character introduced in a book published in 1987 finally makes a second appearance... in a book published in 2010.
* [[Bungling Inventor]]: Bloody Stupid Johnson, whose works tend to warp reality when they're not outright useless: the Colossus of Ankh-Morpork, which fits in a pocket, an exploding sundial, a [[Portal Network]] apartment complex, a tower built with quicksand (it'd be built faster), several pipe organs, a shower that combines with a pipe organ and a geyser, a mail-sorting machine that receives letters from alternate universes...
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* [[Cerebus Rollercoaster]]: The series has gotten darker and more mature over the years, all without quite losing its sense of humor. And yes, Pratchett even plays with this trope, contrasting the dark ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]'' with the moderately lighthearted ''[[Going Postal (Discworld)|Going Postal]]'' followed by the dark ''[[Thud!]]'' followed by the moderately lighthearted ''[[Making Money]]'' followed by the even more lighthearted ''[[Unseen Academicals]]'' followed by the pitch black ''[[I Shall Wear Midnight]]''...
* [[Chalk Outline]]: Invoked rarely, and only for laughs. For example, the Ankh is the only river in the world you can draw a chalk outline on. Also, one of the previous postmasters spied into the sorting machine, and [[Nightmare Fuel|his outline was all over the sorting office]].
** In ''[[The Truth]]'' The probably human Corporal Nobbs drew a chalk outline of a victim, which is all fine and normal for a copper, except he did it in colored chalk, and felt the need to add a pipe and draw some clouds and flowers.
* [[Chameleon Camouflage]]: Susan Sto Helit, Granny Weatherwax and her apprentice Tiffany Aching have powers to do this. The young Vetinari learns this in ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'' [[Irony|(to the point that he nearly fails his Camouflage class for nonattendance)]], and Vimes has an uncanny ability to blend neatly into shadows.
* [[Characterization Marches On]]: Remember when the The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork was obese? Or when Death seemed to actively cause people to die rather than merely collect their souls? Both have gotten excuses, one of which is that Death changed character after Mort, the other that it was a different Patrician. [[Word of God]] denies the latter, admitting it is this trope.
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** Subverted in the case of dwarfs, as they tend to keep tidy homes no matter what sex (if any) they admit to be. Nor do you ever find rats or cockroaches infesting their houses, so long as the residents can hold a frying pan.
* [[Micro Monarchy]]: Lancre, and some of its neighboring kingdoms which are even smaller.
* [[Million-to-One Chance]]: Invoked whenever someone needs a long shot to happen. Most notable in ''[[Guards! Guards!]]'', where the Watch is trying to make an impossibly difficult shot, then deliberately makes things even ''harder'' to raise the odds to exactly 1,000,000 to 1.
** They miss because any attempt to purposely invoke this trope results in only a 987,000 to one chance, not attracting The Lady's favor.
*** That, and they had a 0% chance to hit the very specific target, due to reasons discovered later.
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* [[Puny Humans]]: If anything this is played straighter in the '''''Discworld''''' books than in most fantasy. Most sapient races are flat out ''better'' than humans: dwarfs are tougher, stronger and live longer, trolls and golems are near indestructable and incredibly strong (and trolls are incredibly intelligent when in cooler temperatures), vampires have all their standard strengths and can even learn to replace their lust for blood, as noted above werewolves are extremely capable in combat and have fantastic regenerative capabilities, pictsies are unbelivably strong and ferocious (gnomes are described as being as strong as a human despite being the size of a Barbie doll), Igors (if they count as non-human) are all brilliant surgeons and also great healers and orcs can only be called superbeings.
* [[Real Dreams Are Weirder]]: A stock joke, appearing in ''[[Hogfather]]'', ''[[Eric]]'', and ''[[Small Gods]]'' at least.
* [[Recruiters Always Lie]]: Touched upon anytime armed forces jobs come up, most obviously in ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]'' where one of the markers that the war is going so poorly is that the recruiting party can't even be bothered to try.
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: The eyes of golems glow an unnerving red. A subversion since they're not evil.
* [[Red Herring]]: Pratchett uses this trope a LOT. You see it at least once in every Watch book, and in some of the others as well.
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* [[Smart People Play Chess]]: In the early novels, Vetinari plays chess. Later, when "thud" is introduced and made out to be the Disc's [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|chess analogue]], Vetinari keeps a rare board in his viewing room and plays a friend by clacks.
* [[Spontaneous Crowd Formation]]: This is often called the official pastime of Ankh-Morpork. No matter what the citizenry are doing, if something interesting is going on, they WILL stop to watch it.
* [[Stop Worshipping Me!]]:▼
** The Lady. One of the few examples of this trope in a universe where [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]]. Explained by the fact that everyone believes in luck, even if no one worships it.▼
** The Duchess from ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]''. All the prayers to her have actually turned her into a deity, but as much as she wants to help she's powerless to do anything and just wants to be let off the hook.▼
* [[Squirrels in My Pants]]: It's mentioned in a few books that putting Ferrets (or Weasels) down your trousers is a popular rural entertainment. In ''I Shall Wear Midnight'' there is much disappointment when the man who does it doesn't show up for a fair. [http://www.cracked.com/article_16697_the-8-most-baffling-sports-from-around-world.html This is actually a real "sport".]
** Played somewhat more straight with the Feegles, and in ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'' when the clan fight off a highwayman.
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** Averted by Rincewind and the Librarian. The former has spent the majority of his life running away from things, and the latter is an orangutan. Possibly also by Bengo Macarona,<ref>D.Thau (Bug), D.Maus (Chubb), Magistaludorum (QIS), Octavium (Hons), PHGK (Blit), DMSK, Mack, D.Thau (Bra), Visiting Professor in Chickens (Jahn the Conqueror University (Floor 2, Shrimp Packers Building, Genua)), Primo Octo (Deux), Visiting Professor of Blit/Slood Exchanges (Al Khali), KCbfJ, Reciprocating Professor of Blit Theory (Unki), D.Thau (Unki), Didimus Supremius (Unki), Emeritus Professor in Blit Substrate Determinations (Chubb), Chair of Blit and Music Studies (Quirm College for Young Ladies)</ref> who is athletic enough to be the backbone of the University's football team.
** Although he isn't technically a wizard (as he keeps deliberately failing his final exams), Victor Tugelbend also avoids this out of sheer laziness. (He finds it easier not to carry all that extra weight around.)
* [[Stealth Mook]]: If you want to pass your exam in the Assassin's Guild, then you have to demonstrate the ability to be stealthy like this. And yes, per regulations you have to wear all-black. Veterinari as a young assassin was the exception that proved the rule.
** The Assassins Guild has also long stopped taking contracts on Constable Sam Vimes, because he can see through their stealth and it would not be sporting to shoot him on the street. Instead, they send uppity students after Sam to teach them a lesson in humility.
▲* [[Stop Worshipping Me!]]:
▲** The Lady. One of the few examples of this trope in a universe where [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]]. Explained by the fact that everyone believes in luck, even if no one worships it.
▲** The Duchess from ''[[Monstrous Regiment]]''. All the prayers to her have actually turned her into a deity, but as much as she wants to help she's powerless to do anything and just wants to be let off the hook.
* [[Subverted Trope]]: One of the major themes of the series. Not only for jokes, but people and situations often go in unexpected directions.
* [[Super Doc]]: See [[The Igor]] above.
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{{reflist}}
{{Discworld novels}}
{{Discworld Franchise}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Notable Quotables]]
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