Samuel Vimes

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Template:Infobox Discworld character Sam Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. His full name and title (after his unwished-for promotion to the aristocracy) is His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes. He first appeared in the novel Guards! Guards!.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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Character

Sam Vimes is the Commander of the City Watch, the burgeoning police force of the Discworld's largest city, Ankh-Morpork. His rise from drink-sodden, hopeless street copper to respected member of the aristocracy, and the growth and development of the Watch under his command, have together been one of the major threads of the Discworld series. Born into poverty, he is now a highly reluctant member of the nobility; both a knight and a duke, and married to Sybil Ramkin, the richest heiress in the city. If one could sum Sam Vimes up in a single word, it would be "conflicted." An incorruptible idealist with deep beliefs in justice and an abiding love of his city, he is also a committed cynic whose knowledge of human nature constantly reminds him how far off those ideals are. A self-described speciesist (the Disc's equivalent of a racist), he has nonetheless allowed the Watch to become one of the most species-blind employers in the city, and recognises better than most the value of its non-human members. A cushioned member of the indolent classes, he still has an innate dislike of hereditary wealth and a horror of social inequality, which, ironically, may be hereditary (see below). But by far the deepest and most profound conflict within Sam Vimes is that between his virtuous nature and what he calls "the beast"; the dark upwelling of fury in his soul that, if let loose, would drive him to destroy those he hates.

Vimes can be considered similar to the stereotype of a cop on the edge, though he never lets his idea of right become his own personal form of justice. He protects himself with the symbol of his own badge, which prevents him from becoming the criminal he despises, at least in his own mind.

Despite being viewed by many of the Discworld's more Machiavellian power brokers as easy to fool, Vimes is in fact much more cunning than he appears. Set apart from the general populace of Ankh-Morpork by actually having an IQ, his almost invincible stubbornness, physical strength and experience give him a foundation of hard-headed realism on which he bases much of his more idealistic beliefs. He has thwarted several attempts on his life by Assassins, beaten werewolves in "The Game", and, most usefully, can tell exactly where he is anywhere in Ankh or Morpork just by the feel of the cobbles beneath his feet - although the expensive, good quality (and thick-soled) boots his wife persists in buying for him restrict his abilities in this area.

Vimes's unfortunately firm grasp of basic human nature, and of the Ankh-Morpork psyche in particular, led to him spending some years as a drunk (he wasn't rich enough to be an alcoholic), and Sergeant Colon speculated that this was because his body didn't produce any "natural" alcohol. He estimated that Vimes was about two drinks below par. This meant that when he hadn't been drinking, he was beyond sober - he was knurd. Thus he saw reality as it really was, stripped of the fuzziness and mental illusions that most people construct in their minds to get to sleep at night. This horrifying state of mind would cause Vimes to try to balance it out through drinking, but he would get the dosage wrong and end up drunk. Vimes gave up alcohol after his marriage to Sybil Ramkin (largely at her behest, though also in concern for his own health), and now smokes foul-smelling cigars instead.

Terry Pratchett noted the following about Vimes on the Usenet: "Vimes is fundamentally a person. He fears he may be a bad person because he knows what he thinks rather than just what he says and does. He chokes off those little reactions and impulses, but he knows what they are. So he tries to act like a good person, often in situations where the map is unclear."

The many narrative possibilities of this complex character are perhaps the reason why Terry Pratchett has returned to his story more often than any other in the Discworld canon.

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Background

Sam Vimes was born in Cockbill Street, in the Rimwards part of the Shades, the poorest area of Ankh-Morpork. It was so poor that there was little crime, though Sam was part of a street gang (The Cockbill Street Roaring Lads) with Lupine Wonse (later secretary to Lord Vetinari). At school he was once blackboard monitor for a whole term (An honour his mother paid for, unknown to him at the time).

Sam's grandfather's name was Gwilliam and his father's name was Thomas. His mother told the young Sam that Thomas was run down by a cart, but this was apparently untrue. Whatever happened to him, she raised the young Sam on her own.

The City Watch apparently runs in the Vimes family. It has been suggested that Sam's father was a Watchman, and he is the descendant of Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes, the Watch Commander who, much like Oliver Cromwell, instigated the rebellion against, and subsequent beheading of, Lorenzo the Kind, the tyrannical last king of Morporkia. For centuries after, the memory of Suffer-Not-Injustice has lived on in infamy and, as his descendant, Sam has frequently endured suspicious mutterings from the aristocracy. Vimes and his famous ancestor share a nickname: Old Stoneface. (possibly a reference to the moniker of the 2000 AD comic book character Judge Dredd; 'old stony face')

Sam Vimes was in his late teens when he joined the Watch (about 25 years prior to Guards! Guards!; 30 years prior to the beginning of Night Watch). He was part of that section of the Watch which played a large role in the rebellion against Homicidal Lord Winder. It was around this time he was taught all he knows by Sergeant-At-Arms John Keel, which is where his cynical outlook on life (and, paradoxically, his firm belief in justice) comes from.

(However, in current history, Keel was in fact Sam himself flung back in time thirty years. As Lu-Tze explains it to Vimes in the novel Night Watch, both pasts are true and there was a real John Keel as well as himself teaching his young self, this being the reason why he has to do so. On the other hand, certain details and events point to it having been Vimes all along; it may be that Lu-Tse was simply telling one of the many white lies he admits one must in order to make the mind-shatteringly complex nature of time graspable by those without ten thousand years to learn it- see lie-to-children).

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The Watch

During the first 25 years of his term in the watch Sam rose to Captain of the Night Watch as it dwindled to a tiny stub – while the power of the Thieves' Guild grew. This insult to Sam's sense of justice, together with his being naturally knurd and other events led to heavy drinking which probably came near to killing him.

All that changed when Carrot Ironfoundersson came to the city. This man (raised by dwarfs) joined the Watch and set out to help the city. Around the same time a dragon assaulted the city (not a swamp dragon, a real, big dragon) and the Watch was instrumental in its defeat. The Watch also gained a new headquarters, Pseudopolis Yard, (the childhood home of Vimes's soon-to-be wife, Sybil Ramkin) after the dragon destroyed their original base at Treacle Mine Road.

Later on, the Night Watch under Vimes took on extra staff in the form of a werewolf, a dwarf and a troll. They were instrumental in foiling an attempt on the Patrician's life, and were rewarded. The Watch was rapidly revived and became very important in the city.

Vimes, who was on the point of retiring following his marriage to Lady Sybil Ramkin, was given the resurrected rank of Commander, putting him in charge of the Night Watch and the Day Watch. He also (to his disgust) received a Knighthood.

Sir Samuel took a great interest in the restructuring of the Watch, placing new Watch Houses where they were needed and supervising the creation of both a Watch Academy and a forensic alchemy section. So successful has been his reform of the City Watch, that by Night Watch, Vimes-trained policemen are in high demand in cities across the Disc. They are now so common across the Sto Plains that they are known as 'Sammies' (parallel to real life Robert Peel's 'Bobbies'), even to people who've never even heard of Samuel Vimes. In his expanding international and diplomatic role, Vimes appreciates the fact that police officers from Sto Lat to Genua have been trained to salute him, and, night and day, remain in "unofficial" contact across the Disc.

In the most recent and surprising innovation of the Watch seen so far, in Thud! Vimes finally saw fit to hire a secretary.

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Vimes as Duke of Ankh

Vimes's involvement in preventing a pointless war with Klatch in the novel Jingo led to his being once more "rewarded" with an unwanted title, in this case "Duke of Ankh". He now finds himself in the awkward position of continuing to despise the ruling classes of the city, while actually being a member of them.

In the course of his mission to Überwald as Ambassador, he was disgusted to learn that he was also entitled to be addressed as "His Excellency". While this may have impressed the ruling cliques in Überwald, it did not impress him.

His role as Duke of Ankh largely involves diplomacy (as in, for example, his visit to Überwald in The Fifth Elephant), although he occasionally finds the opportunity to do some police work. His role as Commander largely involves (to the dismay of his wife) the chasing of criminals on important dates in his social life, including his wedding. Despite having extremely competent subordinates, including Captain Carrot and Sergeants Angua and Detritus, Vimes finds it difficult to delegate watch tasks, and is frustrated by the fact that the growth of the watch has left him with less and less time for actual street coppering. In some ways he found it a relief when, in Night Watch, he was transported back to the Ankh-Morpork of his youth, and became a sergeant in the inefficient, paperwork-free and moderately corrupt Watch of that time.

Night Watch also reveals that he is now on the list of people for whom the Assassins' Guild will no longer accept contracts, which suggests that they feel he has become vital to the stability of the city (or, perhaps, that he has proved too difficult a target to assassinate, as previous operations have almost always resulted in injury on the part of the Guild member attempting the job).

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Recent developments

Sam Vimes is, much to his own horror, becoming a politician. However, he remains a copper in his soul. Being a significant figure on the (Disc)world stage just means he finds bigger crimes.

He and Sybil have one small son, Sam Jr, born 25th May 1990 (University Calendar).

Recently, Commander Vimes has seen involvement with:

Terry Pratchett has commented that Sam Vimes has made setting a story in Ankh-Morpork very difficult as it is almost impossible to create a story involving any sort of crime or politics without it rapidly becoming a Watch Book.

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Bibliography

Sam Vimes is the central character in Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch and Thud!. He is a secondary character in The Truth and Monstrous Regiment and has cameos in The Last Hero and Going Postal. He has also appeared in the City Watch Diary and the picture book Where's My Cow?.

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Other media

Guards! Guards! was adapted for BBC Radio 5 in 1992 and starred John Wood as Vimes.

While there have been a number of amateur stage productions of the books, a professional adaption of Guards! Guards! went on tour in 1998. Vimes was played by Paul Darrow, best known for his role in Blake's 7.

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External links

Template:Discworldcs:Samuel Elánius fr:Samuel Vimaire pl:Samuel Vimes

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