Discworld Wednesday: Unseen University Staff Part Two

 Here's the second batch of UU "pointies": Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully (My ultimately favourite Discworld character since the first Pratchett book I read) and some of his friends and sort-of-enemies.

 Doctor John Hix, Head of the Department of Necromancy Post-Mortem Communications. He is a generally nasty person due to university statute; Skull ring, remember? Unexpected smacks, cursed household items and so on - but otherwise he's decent cap who often partakes the plays of amateur theatre. His parents were named Hicks, but "evil" wizard can't pass the chance to use X instead, right?

 Ponder Stibbons, the youngest member of the University Council and holder of many important titles. Ponder was quite lazy at the beginning and graduated due to mistake, but has later built career with new generation of magic at the High Energy Magic Building. Is kind of a sidekick to Ridcully after Bursar went completely mad.

 Mustrum Ridcully, the Archchancellor of the Unseen University, is man who ended the tradition of killing upper-level wizards to get their place by being simply impossible to eliminate. He loves hunting and fishing, has fought trolls in bar brawls, is in excellent shape for his age and owns several crossbows. He doesn't usually rely on magic (six-feet long oak staff is usually more effective anyway) but is skilled with it, being able to perform the rite of AshkEnte (summoning Death) quickly without usually needed junk. Most of his dialogue is bellowed, at least on the earlier books.

 Dean, or more precisely Man Formerly Known As Dean, Henry, Two-Chairs or Archchancellor or Brazeneck University on Pseudopolis, is incredibly fat wizard (duck-like, as they say) and very prone to influences, like Music With Rocks In. He is never nice, often first to shoot fireballs, and treated as a traitor by Ridcully after leaving UU to become the Archchancellor of Brazneck. Likes to go hut-hut-hut.

Dr. A.A. Dinwiddie, best known as Bursar, was once a decent wizard if a bit quiet and deeply into maths. Nobody wanted his job despite wizards killing each other all the time. Then Ridcully became the Archchancellor and everything changed. Ridcully's shouting (BURSAAAR) and shooting (the target was at the door of Bursar's office..) drove Bursar completely nuts. He is kept in somewhat sane minds with dried frog pills since then.


-Eero