The Color of Magic

Twoflower, Rincewind’s companion, is a visitor to Ankh-Morpork from the Agatean Empire and the catalyst for the plot. Where Rincewind is cynical, Twoflower is painfully naïve. He is also a magnet for disaster. Rincewind says of him that “if complete and utter chaos were lightning, then he’d be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor and shouting ‘All gods are bastards’” (11), meaning that Twoflower seems to go out of his way to attract catastrophe. But this isn’t intentional; Twoflower is just wholeheartedly convinced that people are generally good and that things will usually turn out all right. In Part 2, after Rincewind tells him about the spell lodged inside of his mind—triggered by the number “eight” and of unknown but potentially catastrophic consequences—Twoflower simply “[pats] him on the shoulder” and cheerfully says there is “[n]o sense in brooding” (104).

Although it’s not necessary to the picaresque narrative, the picaro sometimes has a companion who is more relatable to the reader or who connects the protagonist to the greater society. For Don Quixote, that character would be Sancho Panza; for Huckleberry Finn, it would be Jim. In this story, Twoflower represents the reader’s better instincts—empathy, imagination, and the desire for justice. When they accidentally summon Bel-Shamharoth, the “Sender,” Rincewind is more than ready to leave Hrun the Barbarian to fight the monster alone; Twoflower, however, points out that “it’ll kill him!” (109). When Bel-Shamharoth captures the Luggage, Twoflower bravely runs over to save his enchanted suitcase without hesitation—even though he isn’t a combatant, and arguably makes the situation worse.

Twoflower also provides the impetus for the narrative. Left to his own devices, Rincewind would never have left home. There would be no story. In effect, the reader is a tourist like Twoflower himself, exploring the Discworld with Rincewind as a tour guide to explain what is happening from his more knowledgeable perspective.

Bravd and the Weasel appear in Part 1 and serve as the reader’s introduction to the burning city of Ankh-Morpork (and Rincewind and Twoflower shortly after). They are based on Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, the protagonists of Fritz Leiber’s picaresque sword and sorcery stories. Leiber’s intention was to create characters who were a little more rounded and complex than Robert Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, so Fafhrd and Mouser are sympathetic rogues.

Bravd and Weasel are less noble than Lieber’s characters, more in keeping with Pratchett’s cynicism. According to Rincewind, heroes are “usually suicidally gloomy when sober and homicidally insane when drunk” (35); Bravd and the Weasel, who are unlike typical heroes, are the only ones Rincewind bothers with. The two mainly serve as a vehicle for Rincewind to explain his first encounter with Twoflower and the burning of Ankh-Morpork. Their inclusion in Part 1 also gives the author an opportunity to draw a parallel between Fafhrd and the Mouser and Rincewind and Twoflower, showing Rincewind is meant to be read as a picaro.

Liessa is a nod to Lessa of Pern, the protagonist of Dragonflight, book 1 of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. Beyond the name and the dragons, they are not particularly similar. Liessa appears in Part 3 of The Color of Magic. She is the only daughter of Greicha the First. She and her brothers, Liartes and Lio!rt, are competing for leadership of the dragonriders of the Wyrmberg, but she doesn’t have the physical strength to kill them. What she needs is a barbarian hero to do the job for her: one who has no interest in taking the throne for himself.

Psychologically, Liessa is the strongest of the three siblings, but tradition prevents her from ruling the dragonriders because she is female. Pratchett uses Liessa to call attention to the roles usually allocated to women in fantasy fiction. The Color of Magic was first published in 1983; back then, female characters in fantasy were—and, decades later, still are—often reduced to prizes for the conquering heroes. Liessa’s aggression stems from frustration over the limitations of her role. Pratchett’s depiction of women evolves in later books as his cast of core characters grows larger and features more varied, nuanced women.

Liessa is also an unusually eroticized character for Pratchett. She is described as being “almost naked, except for a couple of mere scraps of the lightest chain mail and riding boots of iridescent dragonhide. In one boot was thrust a riding crop, unusual in that it was as long as a spear and tipped with tiny steel barbs” (126). Once again, Pratchett uses satire to call out the often scantily clad female characters in fantasy. Pratchett has little interest in writing romantic relationships; even Liessa’s attempted marriage is purely a practical arrangement. Romance and physical attraction are usually treated as subtext.