The Librarian (Discworld)
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The Librarian of Unseen University is one of the most popular characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels.
The origin of the Librarian seems to have come about because of a sketch in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, where administrators are interviewing a gorilla named Mr. Phelps for a job as a librarian, but discover he's just a man in a costume.
The Librarian first appeared in the second novel of the series, The Light Fantastic, in which he was transformed into an orangutan as a side-effect of a powerful magic spell. Discovering that being an orangutan has certain advantages for a librarian (such as not requiring a ladder to reach those tricky high-up shelves), he refused to be transformed back into a human, and has remained an orangutan ever since. The other wizards have gradually become used to the situation, to the extent that "if someone ever reported that there was an orangutan in the Library, the wizards would probably go and ask the Librarian if he'd seen it." (Night Watch)
The Librarian is known for his violent reaction whenever he hears anyone refer to him as a "monkey". (An orangutan is an ape.)
The Librarian's actual name has never been given in any of the books; he is always simply "the Librarian". If the Librarian's true name were known, he could be changed back into a human, and he has carefully excised his name from the records of the University (since he has special access). The Discworld Companion hints that he may once have been Dr. Horace Worblehat, which goes a long way to explaining why he's happier as an orangutan than as a human. The Art of Discworld confirms that the Librarian was indeed Dr. Horace Worblehat, and that his fears of turning back into human are baseless at most - although with a name like that, one could only surmise that he has a past that he doesn't want to go back to.
The Librarian also had a brief stint in the city watch during the reign of terror caused by the dragon of Ankh-Morpork, where he helps rescue Sam Vimes from the Patrician's cell. He also used the Librarianic ability of travelling through L-Space (the extradimensional space that connects all libraries and other large accumulations of books) to save books from the great library of Ephebe, despite Brutha having memorised the entire library in Small Gods. In Soul Music, he joined the Band with Rocks In since his large hands and wide reach make him an excellent organ player.
The Librarian is member of a small elite group of senior librarians, who have the knowledge and ability to travel through L-space. The very strict rules that members of these group are pledged to enforce are:
- Silence.
- Books must be returned no later than the date shown.
- Do not meddle with the nature of causality.
(of course, the Librarian has been known to break both the first and third rules on occasion, but he is adamant about the second).