Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

Lu-Tze

2013-06-24T13:09:43Z

Britarse:

{{Character Data
|title= Lu-Tze
|photo=
|name= Lu-Tze
|age= at least 800 (as given in ''Thief of Time'', maybe even 6000 ({{DC}})
|race= [[Human]]
|occupation= [[Sweeper]]
|appearance= Skinny, bald, generic foreigner, tends to go unnoticed
|residence= [[Oi Dong]] Monastery, [[Ramtops]]
|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=
|books= {{SG}}, {{NW}}, {{TOT}}, possibly {{G!G!}} & {{GP}}.
|cameos=
}}

[[Lu-Tze]] is a sweeper, but also goes on missions normally reserved for senior [[History Monks]]. That means that he makes sure that history happens the way it is supposed to. His function as a mere sweeper shouldn't allow that, but he has a special relationship with the [[Abbot]] of which little detail is revealed. It appears he has once started training as a monk, but didn't finish and went on to become a sweeper. Everything he learned, he did while sweeping classrooms.

In ''Thief of Time'', Lu-Tze is identified by [[Kaos]] as one of his "''Creatures''". Lu-Tze's appearance is that of a hunched, harmless old man. He is always smiling and when asked a question he simply nods and continues with whatever he is doing. What he usually does is sweeping the floor. Lu-Tze found out that nobody worries about a sweeper. Sweeping practically makes people invisible, and certainly anonymous. And a sweeper can get into the most restricted places, because even those places need to be cleaned. On occasion, however, he finds the anonymity undesirable and feels it is necessary to remind people of [[Rule One]]. While he claims the position of a sweeper, he is widely respected by many who know him, and feared by some. He is something of a legendary hero among the pupils and is the only known master of the art of [[Déjà Fu]].

Lu-Tze is notoriously dismissive of other martial arts; his thoughts on them are as follows:
*Okidoki ('Just a bunch of bunny hops')
*Shiitake ('If I wanted to thrust my hand into hot sand, I'd go to the seaside')
*Upsidazi ('A waste of good bricks')
*Tung-pi ('Bad-tempered flower arranging').
*No Kando ('You made that one up').
It is not immediately clear who on the Discworld practices these arts, though they are mentioned in reference to the monks of time, who are known to practice martial arts in general.

While many ''cosmic harmony'' sort of high-ranking History Monks consider Lu-Tze unenlightened and annoying, and question his status, he is one of the best and most powerful when it comes to operations and training (though he does little of the latter). He's one of the most senior field operatives. He has seen it all, done it all, and still has not lost the interest in the people who make up history as they go along. In ''Small Gods'' Lu-Tze changed the path of history for the better, because he thought humanity could do without another war.

As a young man, Lu-Tze went to [[Ankh-Morpork]] where he saw a sign, and the sign was ''Rooms for Rent, Very Reasonable'' at [[Mrs. Cosmopilite]]'s door. From her he learned [[The Way of Mrs. Cosmopilite]] with wisdom such as ''it only gets worse if you pick at it''. In ''Thief of Time'' he takes his apprentice [[Lobsang Ludd]] to Ankh-Morpork to learn The Way, which turns out to be an excuse to go on a mission to stop the [[Glass Clock]]. The previous one was finished in [[Überwald]] just before Lu-Tze could stop it, a failure which still bothers the sweeper.

Lu-Tze is perhaps 6,000 years old (unless he's not; in daily conversations he claims to be 800 years old). This may be due to circular-aging, the History Monks' method of attaining longevity. It may also be due to the History being broken and then put back together too many times. He likes to grow [[Bonsai Mountains]], which is a hobby that really needs patience and a lot of time (a couple of thousand years). He has his own area, the [[Garden of Five Surprises]], in the [[Oi Dong|monastery]].

In [[Thief of Time]] it is revealed that Lu-Tze has apparently mastered the [[Yeti]] way of "saving one's life" to a time before death. This "saving" is dangerous as you have to die to see if it works and should thus only be used in the most dire situation. Lu-Tze got his head cut off by an avatar of the [[Auditors]] and was able, even in frozen time, to "load" his previous life and re-appear behind the Auditor. By the end of the book it also appears that he has been given additional life time as a gift from his departing apprentice, [[Lobsang Ludd]], the Lord of Time.

==Annotation==

A ''Sweeper'' is also the person with the broom, in a curling rink, who runs a little in advance of the moving stone, sweeping their broom backwards and forwards across its path. This melts a molecular thickness of the surface of the ice, giving the stone more speed and less curl, allowing an experienced sweeper to manipulate where the moving stone will finally come to rest. This is quite a good metaphor (on the [[Lies-To-Children]] level) for what the sweeper '''Lu-Tze''' does during the course of his field assignments for the History Monks...

A martial art called ''sna-fu'' is also mentioned and used by Lobsang in combat with the [[Auditors]], although Lu-Tze does not comment on it. In military slang, '''snafu''' is a widely used acronym for ''Situation Normal - All [[-ing|F***ed]] Up''

The name Lu Tze is close to Laozi, the Cantonese pronunciation of the name of the great Taoist sage Lau Tsu, a person famous for dismissing vanity and ambition and seeking a humble yet harmonious Way.

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Supporting characters]]
[[category:Serial characters]]
[[Category:Human characters]]
[[de:Lu-Tze]]
{{stub}}

Talk:Quezovercoatl

2013-06-24T13:03:28Z

Britarse: /* Blatant plug for my own work */ new section

I am pretty sure I am in the right place to write this, but as it is to do with Hell, and TP goes to a lot of conventions...surely the daemons name could also just be...Que(t)z-over-coatl i.e ques over coats!
:Mja meh, I'm more into the original explanation, Atecs worshipping a feathered boa (stupid piece of clothing), the Tezuman worshipping a more sensible overcoat [[User:Iron Hippo|Iron Hippo]] 22:23, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

:tiny tip Jayonwye; sign every entry on discussion pages with four ~ signs. Four of these, ''tildes'', is automagically rendered as your signature and time&date. It's much easier to kepp track of who said what,not leading to whut she said at our Darrons wedding, PRAY? [[User:Iron Hippo|Iron Hippo]] 22:23, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

== Name Spelling ==

The Roundworld deity is spelled with a tz in the middle, Quetzalcoatl, but in the book Eric, there is no tz, only a z. Why is the correct spelling redirected to the incorrect spelling? It's strange that someone took the time to make it a redirect![[User:Seebs|Seebs]] 20:41, 8 February 2012 (CET)

== Blatant plug for my own work ==

The idea of a fearsome thing turning out to be smaller in the flesh than in dreams can be seen again here: http://cockeyed.webcomic.ws/comics/first/

Quezovercoatl

2013-06-24T12:56:34Z

Britarse:

{{Character Data
|title= Quezovercoatl
|photo=overcoatalmine.jpg|Quetzovercoatl by [[user:darkplush|Kit Cox]]
|name= Quezovercoatl
|age= ageless
|race= [[Demons|Demon]]

|occupation= playing [[God]]
|appearance= a mixture of many beasts

|residence= [[Pandemonium]], [[Hell]]

|death= disembodied due to squashing of physical form
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books= {{E}}
|cameos=
}}

'''Quezovercoatl,''' also known as the "Feathered Boa," is a [[demons|demon]] from [[hell]] who has convinced a tribe in [[Klatch]] to worship him as their [[god]] and perform mass human sacrifices in his honor.

Quezovercoatl has a body shape that is a mixture of many beasts, specifically half man, half chicken, half jaguar, half serpent, half scorpion, and half mad. Some will calculate that this makes him a total of three homicidal maniacs. He is, unlike the monstrous statue depictions, very small. He achieved the appearance of a fierce and impressive god to the [[Tezuman Empire|Tezumans]] by manifesting in priests' dreams so that people could not see how small he was.

Quezovercoatl was inadvertently bodily discarnated by [[The Luggage]]. This is serious; you can't get issued with a new body just like that.<sup>1</sup> The bureaucracy of [[Hell]] make receiving a replacement body it as difficult as getting a new pen out of a bloody-minded secretary who hates her job and holds the only key to the stationery cupboard. This is a drawback for a working demon in the physical universe.

Quezovercoatl appears in {{E}}.

==Annotations==
The name is taken directly from [[wikipedia:Quetzalcoatl|''Quetzalcoatl'']], an Aztec god on [[Roundworld]], with the addition of 'over' in the middle to make it overcoat.

Quetzalcoatl was the principal god of the Aztec pantheon, and played an important role in most Mesoamerican theologies. He was a benefactor, and like his [[Discworld]] counterpart, was supposed to come back to take back the empire. The most common image of him is as a serpent with feathers - or a, er, Feathered Boa Constrictor. A ''feather'' boa is a woman's accessory resembling a long scarf made of plumage, usually dyed a bright colour.

===Footnotes===
<sup>1</sup>[[Anthony Crowley|Crowley]] pointed out the direness of such a situation at a critical stage in {{GO}}, when he and [[Aziraphale]] faced such a fate.

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Supernatural entities]]
[[de:Quezovercoatl]]

Talk:Kirsty

2008-06-21T16:59:42Z

Britarse: rambling

A non-smoking (as yet) version of [[Adora Belle Dearheart]]? Or a resonance accross the [[Multiverse|multiverse]] with the character of [[Susan Sto Helit]]? Just a thought..--[[User:AgProv|AgProv]] 08:39, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Just a "type" that we all recognise, I think. She also has some similarity to Hermione Granger, whom JK Rowling allegedly based on herself. [[User:Britarse]]

Point taken, but ''"She keeps looking at me as if I've answered a question wrong". '' is a wonderful, perfect, description of the essence of Susan Sto Helit...--[[User:AgProv|AgProv]] 08:24, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Let's see: Kin Arad, Liessa, Bethan, Esk (and all witches save maybe Magrat), Rosemary Palm, Ysabell, Conina, Ptraci, Sybil Ramkin, Angua, Susan, Sacharissa, Adora Belle - not a lot of shrinking violets among the featured female characters. Tiffany's about as mild-mannered as it gets and she eats hivers for breakfast. TP doesn't do sweet, winsome heroines; they'll all tend to cut you dead with a look, word, broadsword or skillet. --[[User:Old Dickens|Old Dickens]] 14:20, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, but come on, Susan wouldn't be caught dead believing in crop circles and rains of fish. Not even if she ''saw'' one! Besides, their attitudes aren't really alike, Susan is stern, Kirsty is patronising.

By the way PTerry is slightly inaccurate in his portrayal of Kirsty's speech patterns. in her first appearance she keeps saying ''actually'', correctly spelled and all italicised. Anyone who ever met a stroppy teenage girl in the late '80s or early '90s knows it was really pronounced ''Ack''shully! --[[User:Britarse]]

King of the Elves

2008-06-12T13:53:45Z

Britarse: King of Elves = Horned God

The King of the [[Elves]] lives in a parallel (and parasite) dimension, one of whose entrances is found below [[The Long Man]] in [[Lancre]]. He is summoned by [[Nanny Ogg]] to put an end to the viciousness of his wife, the [[Queen of the Elves]]. He is described as being similar in appearance to a human, but with a stag's legs and giant antlers. Oh, and a certain other accessory that makes [[Casanunda]] the dwarf's mouth drop wiiiiiiide open... This physical appearance recalls the Horned God of old pagan rituals (surviving as Herne the Hunter, not to be confused with the Hunt''ed''). Old gods were often associated with fertility, so he "Doesn't half look like his picture". As Witchcraft (wicca) is often said to be a survival/revival of these old cults it makes sense for the King to describe himself as the God of the Witches (while deploring [[Nanny Ogg]]'s lack of reverence). Of course the new-age witches in the [[Tiffany Aching]] stories have pictures of the big horny blighter on their walls.

His appearance above the skyline of Lancre towards the end of {{LL}} ends the Queen's plans for a takeover of Lancre.

==Annotation==

On [[Roundworld]], the King of the Elves is [[wikipedia:Oberon|Oberon]], who fought with his queen, Titania, and just as here, was able to defeat her without much fuss. Although she is the louder and more prominent in both partnerships, it didn't take much for them to be cowed into submission.

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Supernatural entities]]
[[de:Elfenkönig]]