Eric characters

Appears from the start

The Discworld's least capable wizard, who has spent an unmeasurable stretch of time lost in the Dungeon Dimensions, the formless space outside reality where shapeless Things press against the world. He can perform no magic at all, is a coward on principle, and is pulled back into the world by a summoning meant for something far more impressive. He wants nothing more than to be somewhere safe and boring, and never is.

Appears from the start

A teenage demonologist working out of his grandfather's cellar, self-taught from books and entirely confident that the rules he has read are the rules that apply. He summons a demon in order to claim the traditional three wishes: to rule the kingdoms of the world, to meet the most beautiful woman who ever lived, and to live forever. He is spotty, pedantic, argumentative, and completely unprepared for what any of those wishes would actually be like.

First appears in chapter 2

Eric's parrot, whose vocabulary is small, repetitive and largely obscene, and who accompanies the pair through most of their travels. It has a talent for appearing at moments when a comment is least helpful.

First appears in chapter 8

The current King of Hell, a modern demon who rose through the ranks by administration rather than by cruelty. He has reorganised the underworld away from pitchforks and fire and toward committees, safety notices, mandatory leisure activities and paperwork, on the theory that boredom is a far more efficient torment. He is enormously proud of the reforms, keeps detailed records of everything, and is quietly resented by the older demon lords, who remember how the place used to be run.

First appears in chapter 12

The god of the Tezuman Empire, a jungle people who invented the calendar, take a gloomy view of existence, and are thoroughly tired of the deity who demands their blood sacrifices. Their carvings describe him as part man, part chicken and part jaguar, and he requires a steady supply of hearts cut out on the temple steps, which is the chief reason his worshippers are so tired of him.

First appears in chapter 14

An elderly and determined explorer who has spent his career searching the jungles for the Fountain of Youth, and who has got closer to it than anyone else. Talkative and unshakeably cheerful about the hardships of the trail, he crosses paths with the travellers in Tezuman country.

First appears in chapter 28

The woman whose abduction started the long war between Tsort and Ephebe, and who is therefore, by reputation, the most beautiful woman who ever lived. The siege has now run for a very long time. She has settled comfortably into life in the besieged city, has a large family and a great deal to do, and has no intention of being rescued by anybody.

First appears in chapter 28

The Ephebian strategist who devised the wooden horse and the plan to end the siege of Tsort, and who is tired, underappreciated and mainly concerned with getting home afterwards. He is a distant ancestor of Rincewind, and the resemblance in both name and temperament is not a coincidence.

First appears in chapter 34

The maker of the Discworld, encountered at the very beginning of time while the world is still being assembled. He works from a checklist, is absorbed in the details of coastlines and small creatures, and is mildly interested rather than alarmed to find two visitors present before there is anywhere for them to have come from.

First appears in chapter 40

Rincewind's walking chest of sapient pearwood, separated from him and left to make its own way back across places that were never meant to be walked through. It arrives battered, scarred and in a worse temper than usual, and it is still entirely single-minded about finding its owner.

First appears in chapter 44

One of the oldest of the demon lords, from the era when Hell was run on traditional lines, and a survivor of every regime since. Courteous, ancient and extremely patient, he has watched the new management's reforms with quiet disapproval and has been waiting a long time for the right opportunity.