Snuff: Difference between revisions

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** Also defied by [[Try to Fit That on A Business Card|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]].

*** {{spoiler|Don't forget King of the River.}}

** Also by Lady Sybil and the Gordons.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] Willikins becomes a full and developed main character in this novel, after largely remaining in the background in the past.

* [[Badass]]: Sam Vimes kicks ass and takes names even more than usual.

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** [[Discworld/Thud|A.E. Pessimal]] is now the Watch's feared forensic accountant.

** Events in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud]]'' have left their mark on Vimes (see [[Badass Abnormal]]).

** Vimes' botched one liner reply "Burleigh and Stronginthearm" (to "on whose authority?") in ''[[Discworld/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'' is repeated more successfully by Willikins.

** 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.

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: A very special [[Soul Jar|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 -- this happens ''all the time'' to them.

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* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Jethro. {{spoiler|He's one of the few residents of the Shires who considers goblins to be people.}}

* [[Jurisdiction Friction]]: Even though Vimes is technically the lord of his lands, he has no jurisdiction as a police officer - that belongs to the appointed magistrates. {{spoiler|Of course, the magistrates appointed themselves...}}

* [[Knight Fever]]: Harry King, of ''[[Discworld/The Truth|The Truth]]'' and ''[[Discworld/Making Money|Making Money]]'' fame, is now Sir Harold King.

* [[Karma Houdini]]:

** Defied. Willikins serves the same role as Pepe in ''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'', {{spoiler|when the [[Psycho for Hire]] 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 [[Old Retainer|young Sam]].}} [[Battle in the Center of the Mind|Vimes wanted]] to, and Vetinari asked if he gave the order, but Vimes' inner Watchman is still in control.

** And then played frustratingly straight with {{spoiler|Gravid Rust. Maybe. Then again, Lord Vetinari's people are watching him, and XXXX is a ''dangerous'' country, plenty of poisonous spiders...}}

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* [[My Friends and Zoidberg]]: It's mentioned that the Watch "appears to include at least one of every known bipedal sapient species, plus one Nobby Nobbs".

* [[The Nondescript]]: Startford, until he gets mad.

* [[Non-Human Sidekick]]: 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.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: 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.

* [[Not with the Safety On, You Won't]]: Invoked by Vimes, who {{spoiler|gives Stratford a sabotaged crossbow to let him think he has the upper hand.}}

* [[One-Man Army|One Feegle Army]]: Wee Mad Arthur takes on a batch of slaveowners with characteristic ease.

* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: Gravid Rust never makes a single appearance. It's implied that he isn't really even in the area where most of the story takes place. He doesn't have to be. He's an aristocrat of a wealthy and prestigious family and the heir to the title and fortune of the family. He can afford to hire people [[Overly Long Gag|that hire the people that hire the people that hire the people that hire the people that hire the people to do the job for him.]]

* [[Our Goblins Are ~~Different~~]]: Continuing onward from [[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]. {{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}}.

* [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder]]: Continuing onward from [[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]. {{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}}.

* [[Out-Gambitted]]: Stratford is surprisingly cunning for a [[Psycho for Hire]]. Fortunately, Vimes is even more cunning and manages to foil him at nearly every turn.

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Vimes, as usual. Willikins is his backup. Between them and Sybil, Young Sam is the safest boy in the world.

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** Specific to this book, the fact that any small child will be instantly and enormously entertained by any mention of [[Toilet Humor|disgusting bodily functions]].

* [[Sexy Discretion Shot]]: When Vimes decides to take a relaxing bath, Sybil... joins him.

* [[Shout-Out]]: A rather blatant one; a young country noblewoman named [[Jane Austen|Jane, who wants to be a writer...]] The themes of Pride and Prejudice are decontructed by Vimes with ''extreme'' prejudice...

** Also a bit of a [[Stealth Pun]]; The [[Pride and Prejudice|Bennets]] become the Gordons who go on to design and wear Gordon's Bonnets. ('[[Stock British Phrases|Gordon Bennett]]' being a rather British exclamation of surprise or shock.)

** Other shout-outs to classic British fiction in a rural setting include, but are not limited to, Stella Gibbons' ''Cold Comfort Farm'', Thackeray's ''Vanity Fair'', Trollope's ''Barchester Chronicles'', Orwell's ''Animal Farm'' and the long-running BBC radio soap opera ''[[The Archers]]''.

** Adamantium is mentioned briefly.

** 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 law 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.

** The smith's name: [[Jethro Tull|Jethro]] [[Jefferson Airplane|Jefferson]] - although "Jefferson" might, in context of slavery, also refer to [[Thomas Jefferson]].

** Entrepreneur and [[Self-Made Man]] 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 Sugar, of the UK version of ''[[The Apprentice (TV series)|The Apprentice]]''.

** At one point, when a sworn-in country lawyer attempts to arrest Vimes, he decides [[Tombstone|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 [[Tombstone|that that is a hell of a thing to say to him.]]

** 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. "[[48 Hrs.|A goblin with a badge?]]" (No, says Stinky: "Stinky worst nightmare ''all by himself''.")