Character of the month: Moist von Lipwig

Irresistably likeable conman and reluctant servant to the city of Ankh-Morpork, Moist von Lipwig is the star of three Discworld books: Going Postal, Making Money and Raising Steam. In the first book, he is about to be executed as a criminal but is given a reprieve by Lord Vetinari in exchange for getting the troubled Post Office running again. In the second, he runs the Royal Mint. In the third, he oversees the railway.

I like how there is a conflict in Moist’s character. His instinct is always to escape, but he does well when forced into positions of power. He’s not a really bad person, just a clever trickster who needs a bit of excitement. When he gets bored of managing the bank, he even breaks into his own office for fun. One of his talents is to be unmemorable. This allows him to blend into a crowd or disguise himself, very useful for a man of his personality. He’s a different kind of character from previous stand-out Discworld folk, such as Granny Weatherwax, Sam Vimes and Rincewind, but I welcome his relatively late addition to the series and will (tentatively) state that he’s my favourite Discworld character. Sadly there will be no more of his adventures but I like to imagine that Terry Pratchett had more ideas in store… perhaps Moist would even end up as leader of the city.

Check out my previous ‘character of the month’ here.