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Death of Rats
From Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
| Death of Rats | |
 | |
| Name | Death of Rats |
| Age | Ageless, but in existence since Reaper Man |
| Race | Supernatural Entities |
| Occupation | Guiding deceased rodents towards their final destiny |
| Looks | A rat skeleton wearing a black robe, wielding a very small scythe |
| Residence | Death's Domain |
| Death | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | Death |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | |
| Books | Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time, Reaper Man |
| Cameos | |
The Death of Rats appears throughout the series from Reaper Man onwards, whenever a newly deceased rat needs guidance to the next world. The Death of Rats was once merely a part of Death himself, but after the events of Reaper Man, Death decided to keep him on as an independent entity - possibly for sentimental reasons.
Like the Librarian, the Death of Rats can communicate everything in a one-syllable sound: squeak , with the occasional emphasis of an eek-eek , when he is excited. This can only be understood by certain people, Susan Sto Helit in particular; for those occasions when he needs to communicate with others, he employs the help of Quoth, a raven who used to belong to a wizard and has therefore absorbed enough magic to be able to speak. The Death of Rats (occasionally using Quoth as transport) is often responsible for dragging Susan from her 'normal' life into the realm of her grandfather, Death, to assist him in saving the world and other such irritating family duties.
Like Albert, the Death of Rats and his raven can be assumed to be somewhere in the background when the story focuses on Death's house. In The Last Hero, the Death of Rats has no squeaking parts and gets not even a passing mention in the narrative, but the artwork by Paul Kidby clearly indicate that the Death of Rats is there when Death and Albert discuss the uncertainty theory.
Annotations
The Name "Death of Rats" or "GrimSqueaker" is often used as a call sign by the Irish Artist Brian Donnelly
Quoth's name is a joke on the Edgar Allen Poe poem "The Raven", in which most verses end with the line "Quoth the raven: [i.e.: the raven said:] Nevermore." Quoth aggressively refuses to say "the 'N' word'.
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