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Librarian
From Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
| The Librarian | |
| [[Image:|thumb|center|200px|{{{1}}}]] | |
| Name | Unknown, presumed "Horace Worblehat" |
| Age | Unknown |
| Race | Orang-utan, originally Human |
| Occupation | Librarian of the Unseen University |
| Looks | About 300lb, very long arms, reddish-brown hair (all over). |
| Residence | The Library of the Unseen University |
| Death | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Books | The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Sourcery, Guards! Guards!, Moving Pictures, Reaper Man, Men at Arms, Soul Music, Interesting Times, Maskerade, Hogfather, The Last Continent, The Last Hero, Night Watch, The Science of Discworld |
| Cameos | Mort, Small Gods,Jingo, Lords and Ladies, Going Postal, Making Money, Thud!, Making Money |
The Librarian of Unseen University Library, where many magical events precipitate.
[edit] Biography
The Librarian is a faculty member, and so he must have once been a human wizard. A strong wave of magic, altering reality, transformed the Librarian into an orang-utan; at that time, his colleagues still remembered how he looked as a human (The Light Fantastic). Back then, wizards were much too busy than to help him get back to his original human form (although there is no record of his asking for help, either). After things settled down, the Librarian's colleagues found that he liked being an orang-utan, and fought all efforts to transform him back to human. The Librarian found out that opposable toes come in very handy when climbing up the book-shelves and sorting books. Also, a very large and strong orang-utan has more plausible arguments when talking about dog-ears and overrun return deadlines. Although the senior wizards looked very hard for one, there are no rules in the university constitution forbidding an orang-utan to be a member of the college council.
In appearance he has the rubber-sack-filled-with-water look of a well grown, 300lb male. He has not, however, developed the overlarge cheek pads that are a feature of the dominant male orang-utan, and this is because, as an ex-officio member of the University faculty he quite rightly regards the Archchancellor as the dominant male, even though most Archchancellors do not sit high up in trees with leaves on their heads.
Very soon, people forgot how the Librarian looked as a human, or what his given name was (though the latter is true for most other faculty members as well). This was helped along by the Librarian methodically removing, defacing or otherwise altering any and all photographs and records of his name in the University files. It is rumoured that the Librarian was once Dr Horace Worblehat, but no one utters this out loud. We do know however that he was born in Moon Pond Lane, Ankh-Morpork. Nowadays, only people very new to the University or Ankh-Morpork will find themselves surprised that there is an orang-utan in a University Library, or in a pub. Indeed, if someone were to point out that there is an orang-utan in the library, the wizards would probably ask the librarian if he had seen it.
All the Librarian ever utters is 'ook' or 'eek', but by now the wizards, and especially Rincewind, are so used to this that they understand the Librarian perfectly. They can even translate the merest 'ook' into full-fledged literary English sentences.
[edit] Character
When worried, the Librarian tends to hide under a blanket in his book-lined nest in a cubby hole under a desk in the middle of the library. He is generally naked but he does wear an old green robe after he has had a bath. He is also a Special Constable of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. In his spare time he visits the pub, leaving a trail of peanut shells behind.
It should be noted that The Librarian is an ape rather than a monkey and is extremely eager to correct people on the subject in violent ways.
The Librarian appears in almost every Discworld book, and is the source for the constant engagement of Terry Pratchett and his fans for the orang-utan foundation.
Nicholas Tennant played The Librarian (as well as Dr. Horace Worblehat) in the TV adaption of The Colour of Magic. He also played Nobby Nobbs in the TV adaptation of Hogfather.
