OOC- DDD app
This thing is huge. You have been warned.
Player nickname: Orlando
Player LJ: elspeth_vimes
Way to contact you:
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
AIM: Elspeth Vimes
Other: ...Plurk
Are you at least 15?: Y.
Current Characters: Batou, Gesicht, Robert Philip
Character: Samuel Vimes
Fandom: Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Character Notes:
History:
Sam Vimes comes from a long line of Watchmen. His distant ancestor, Suffer Not Injustice Vimes (also known as “Old Stoneface”) was the Commander of the Watch at the time of the last king of Ankh-Morpork, Lorenzo the Kind (who was rather the opposite of kind). In fact, Suffer Not Injustice was directly responsible for the Lorenzo being the last king, it was Suffer Not Injustice who executed Lorenzo. Suffer Not Injustice was later killed himself, when he and his Ironheads were ousted from their brief reign of the city. The city has since been governed by Patricians.
The Vimes line does not like kings.
More recently, Sam Vimes' father, Thomas, was also a Watchman. He died when Vimes was quite young, and as a result Vimes was largely raised by his mother, with some aid from grandparents.
Vime was born and raised on Cockbill Street, an area at the edge of the Shades where people rely on Standards instead of crime, and largely live off their own pride as a result. Vimes attended the local dame school, where he spent one full term as blackboard monitor thanks to his mother's bribery of the teacher. Vimes was not an exceptional student, but he learned better than many. As is common in the Shades, Vimes was part of a gang in his childhood, the Cockbill Street Roaring Lads. This broadened his education to include street fighting.
Vimes joined the Watch as soon as he was able, at the age of 16. As someone of a lower class, he was placed on the Night Watch (generally regarded as useless, as opposed to the Day Watch, the more official guard). Vimes learned quickly, and became accepted as a valuable member of the group. But what made him into a good cop, rather than just another of the corrupt and lazy ones who were common on the Night Watch, was the instruction of one Sergeant John Keel. Keel taught Vimes to be honest, to defend people, to patrol and fight properly, and most of all to do the job that's in front of you. Unfortunately, Vimes had joined the Watch at a tumultuous time, as the reign of Homicidal Lord Winder was being forcibly brought to a close. The efforts against the Patrician included some politicking among the elite which truly brought about the regime of Lord Snapcase (later to be dubbed “Mad”), and an uprising by the people later called the Revolution of the Glorious 25th of May, and resulted in the extremely short-lived People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road. A number of people were killed in the uprising, including John Keel.
During Snapcase's reign, the Night Watch was further diminished, and made more useless. Vimes tried to uphold the law. His efforts were enough to warrant his promotion to Captain. But they weren't enough to have any noticeable impact on reality, other than earning him some enemies who made it more difficult for the Watch to have any effect. And when Lord Vetinari became Patrician and allowed for guilds such as the Thieves, thereby making a good deal of crime legal, Vimes' spirit was broken. At that point, all the Watch essentially did was walk the streets shouting that all was well. If they had the bad luck to run into criminals who were still conscious, they ran away. Vimes dealt with the world by putting alcohol between him and it, and became an alcoholic. By the time Carrot Ironfoundersson came to the city, the Watch had been reduced to the alcoholic Vimes, the oblivious Sergeant Colon, and the petty criminal Corporal Nobbs.
But Carrot's arrival revitalized the Watch, especially inspiring Vimes to pick himself up. As this coincided with a dragon making sudden appearances and terrorizing the city, he had a good challenge to raise himself up against. Vimes determinedly investigated how the dragon came to be summoned, a task which introduced him to the swamp dragon enthusiast Lady Sybil Ramkin. This task also resulted in things like Vimes being temporarily imprisoned, after the dragon was declared King and Vetinari was jailed. The dragon eventually ceased to be a problem, and the Watch took care of the Secret Society which had summoned it. Vetinari, upon being restored as Patrician, allowed the Watch to ask for whatever they wanted.
They wanted a new dartboard, and a small pay raise. They got it. The Watch was also unified into one entity after this point, the Day Watch was effectively eliminated. The events also had the effect of making the Watch a slightly more appealing employer, especially to those with few other options.
Vimes had become somewhat close to Lady Sybil through all these events, and continued to see her afterwards. Sybil proved to be a good influence on Vimes, eventually getting him to give up alcohol (he picked up cigars instead). At some point, Vimes proposed, and Sybil accepted.
Originally, Vimes was going to retire and join the leisured class upon his marriage to Sybil. The arrangement did, after all, make him the richest man in the city (Sybil was both very wealthy and rather traditional in some ways). This plan was made more difficult by the fact that shortly before his wedding and scheduled retirement, Vimes had to deal with new recruits to the Watch, the theft of Discworld's only “gonne,” and attempts on Vetinari's life orchestrated so that there would be room for a king in the Patrician's stead. When these events ended and Vimes left the Watch, he became discontent, left at loose ends. However, the position of Commander of the Watch was revived (it hadn't been used since Suffer Not Injustice), and Vimes was quickly tapped to fill it. The truth is that Vimes is not himself unless he is a Watchman, so this was a very good thing, and fortunately recognized by Sybil as such. It was also at this point that Vimes was given a knighthood.
Vimes continued to oversee the expansion of the Watch. More Watch Houses were added, and came to include such things as plain-clothes detectives and a forensics officer. While he was increasingly left with administrative duties, Vimes continued to take over some cases personally. One such was the poisoning of Lord Vetinari, a case which turned out to tie into a number of other murders and have (once again) the aim of deposing Vetinari and installing a king in his stead. The Watch continued to expand as one of the city's most equal-opportunity employers, hiring golems and zombies in addition to the dwarves, trolls, and werewolf already on the payroll.
During Ankh-Morpork's brief but heated struggle with Klatch over the ownership of the island Leshp, Vimes strove to keep the peace in the city. When war was officially declared and martial law instated (complete with Vetinari stepping down and the idiot Lord Rust becoming the city's temporary leader), Vimes and the rest of the Watch temporarily resigned. They then went to Klatch, partially in order to track down the truth behind a crime which helped cause the war and partially to help one of the members of the Watch who had been, for a given definition of the term, kidnapped. This culminated in Vimes arresting the leaders of the Ankh-Morpork and Klatchian armies for, among other crimes, conduct liable to cause a breach of the peace. Things could have gotten messy, but Vetinari turned up and prevented an international incident. After events calmed down and the city was restored to normal (with Vetinari as Patrician), Vimes was made a duke. He was reluctant to accept this, but ended up doing so under the understanding that his ancestor Suffer Not Injustice would start to be considered in a more favorable light by history. Also, because there was a chance that Sybil would like being a Duchess.
As a Duke, Vimes was drawn even further into politics, and was made the Ambassador to Uberwald in order to negotiate with the new Low King of the Dwarves regarding the fat imported by Ankh-Morpork (Uberwald has significant fat deposits, which are mined by the dwarves). While there, he also had to help the Low King against those trying to delegitimize him through the theft of the Scone of Stone, a very important symbol in the dwarf world. This ended up meaning that Vimes had to fight werewolves (he won) and talk with vampires. The trip to Uberwald was successful in a number of ways. Good relations with the Low King were established, Sybil helped make a favorable trade agreement, and one of the more modern Igors came back to join the Watch. It was during this time that Sybil discovered she was pregnant, and eventually she was able to inform Vimes. Once he found out, he was very happy.
Back in Ankh-Morpork, Vetinari was framed for murder and embezzlement, making it necessary for Vimes to arrest the Patrician. While, for a number of reasons, Vimes was not able to successfully unmask the conspiracy behind Vetinari's framing, Vimes did make sure to nudge the fledgling newspaper editor William de Worde into doing so.
In fact, Vimes became so important to the proper functioning of the city that the Assassin's Guild took him off the register, refusing to accept any more contracts on Vimes' life. Vimes briefly considered appealing the decision, since he found the assassination attempts to be a sign he was making the right people (the rich) angry. Vimes was the second of the only two people in the city to be taken off the register, the first being Vetinari. (Another explanation for the Guild's decision is that they grew tired of dealing with the traps Vimes set for them, which resulted in things like assassins hanging over Sybil's dragon pens.)
A homicidal maniac named Carcer began to cause problems in the city, even killing an off-duty watchman. Vimes himself chased Carcer down on the 25th of May. Unfortunately, the chase occurred during a magically charged storm, over a magically charged building, and resulted in Vimes and Carcer being sent back in time to the week before the Glorious 25th of May. This caused some problems with how history needed to go, since Carcer promptly changed history by killing John Keel. Which made it necessary for Vimes, encouraged by the History Monks, to impersonate John Keel, teach himself everything he knows*, and make sure history happened while trying to have as few people die as possible. After the important events, the Monks sent both Vimes and Carcer back to their proper time, where Vimes finally arrested Carcer.
Though it was difficult, Sybil gave birth to their child, a son. Sybil insisted on naming him Sam (he is generally known as young Sam).
Vimes was for a time separated from his family while he had to act as Ankh-Morpork's Special Envoy to Zlobenia, an ally of Ankh-Morpork engaged in a war with its continually fighting neighbor, Borogravia. Vimes, always fond of helping to put the underdog on equal footing with others, secretly aided the last group of fighters from Borogravia, an action which turned out to be important in ending the war. He then returned home.
Vimes is currently spending his time avoiding paperwork and social functions whenever possible, fighting crime whenever he can get away with it, and reading Where's My Cow to his son every day at 6 PM, no matter what.
Like Vetinari, Vimes will be taken from between the events of Going Postal and Thud!.
*Technically, Vimes was still taught by Keel. Except now that's only in his head, and it was in reality all him. It's confusing, 'cos of quantum. The only person who has definitely connected the dots and knows that Vimes was Keel is Vetinari.
Personality:
Sam Vimes is is a suspicious, cynical, sarcastic, angry man. He is also determined, loyal, and a firm believer in certain ideals. Above all, Vimes is a copper.
Vimes is very aware of things, sometimes painfully so. He is naturally somewhat knurd (the opposite of drunk, a state in which the illusions people have in order to function in the world are stripped away). He knows that people are, overall, petty- unduly concerned with little things like whether their neighbor is taking proper care of the hedge, largely unaware of other people, guilty of some crime, and mostly intent on having the status quo continue. He knows that while people in the lower classes get punished for committing crimes like stealing so that they'll have something to eat while living in their slum, the people in the upper classes don't get punished for committing crimes like creating and owning slums. He knows that the world is unequal, that people hurt each other all the time, and that the upper class largely ignores the law because they believe they make it.
But Vimes still believes in the concept of an equal law, a law for all people, that all people must answer to. Nobody is better than anybody else, and the law should reflect that. The enforcement of the law should reflect that. This is, above all, what he fights for.
Vimes' deep-seated prejudice against authority and the upper classes (which he maintains in spite of joining both groups) is rooted in the knowledge that they get away with big crimes, while the lower classes suffer for little crimes. His marked soft spot for the underdog, which causes him to do things like aid small groups or let certain people off for small crimes, is him trying to level the playing field a little.
On the other hand, he knows that people are able to do remarkably good things. The painful awareness comes into play again with the fact that he knows that many of the most heroic feats are carried out quietly by people that no one notices. So Vimes does his best to notice, and help. While things such as famous last stands are at the best the cause for bitter remarks from Vimes, he has a sometimes overwhelming respect for the heroism some people display just as part of their lives, a mother raising seven children mostly on her own or a copper doing the job that's in front of him. In some cases he can see the good, or at least the tolerable, in people society has mostly given up on (Fred Colon and Nobby Nobbs certainly fall into this category).
Once he has decided that someone is decent, he will go to great lengths for their sakes, often quite willing to sacrifice himself in some way for their protection. In many cases, he'll look out for others before he'll look out for himself. For years, before the proper revival of the Watch, Vimes gave most of his salary to the family members of dead watchmen. He was the widows and orphans fund.
As kind of indicated above, Vimes does not naturally like people. Of any kind. This makes it possible for him to come across as speciesist, since he does not like and will make disparaging remarks about dwarves, trolls, the undead, ect. But the truth of the matter is that he's every bit as biased against humans, a fact which does come out if you pay attention to everything he says. He starts out assuming people of any species are bastards, but people of any species can earn his respect. He will defend the members of his Watch to the bitter end, because they're good coppers, which matters much more than what species they are. Vimes has also demonstrated the fact that his is fully able to change his mind, as shown by the fact that when he learned more about golems, he ceased to be prejudiced against them and came to respect them. The notable exceptions here are vampires and gargoyles. Vimes is, if you will pardon the pun, dead set against vampires. To a large extent this is his populist tendencies at work, vampires are almost always upper class and, in Vimes' view, prey on less fortunate people, whether or not they are actively drinking blood. Gargoyles, on the other hand, Vimes is very well inclined towards, primarily because they stay above the street, don't say much if anything, and the only crimes they could be said to commit are against the pigeon population.
In the end, Vimes views people (of any species) as people, often nasty and sometimes amazing. You can't change them, and you shouldn't try. What you can do is your best to help them do their best, and that's what Vimes tries to do.
Vimes is naturally a pretty angry person. In his default state he is pissed off at the gods for having made the world wrong. Then there are ways to make him angrier. Treating people as less than people (this can be manifest in a number of ways, from exploiting workers to attacking people for their ethnicity to killing people). Underestimating people (especially Vimes) and the rich variety of life. Being stupid and especially displaying a complete lack of common sense. Threatening any of his officers. Worst of all is a threat to his family. You do not want to threaten his family.
Vimes calls the darkest side of his nature “the Beast,” and with good reason. This is the part of himself he lets out in fights, the part that is vicious and wants to hurt the other guy. He tries to keep tight control on that rage outside of life-or-death situations, though when faced with certain things (i.e. torturers) that can be difficult.
Somewhat less extreme forms of anger have him cheerfully yelling at and possibly punching people, or going still and making things very clear.
In spite of all this, Vimes does not believe in killing people when it is at all possible to avoid it. Neither does he believe in torture. Fighting dirty is fine, but the aim is to incapacitate and/or arrest the person, not to permanently damage or kill them. Because you are going up against a person, and a life is never something to be treated casually. He also keeps close watch on himself to make sure he doesn't do anything that he would condemn in another. He tries to make sure that his actions, at least, are good or towards a good end. He uses symbols to help his self control. His shield-shaped badge to reminds him to protect people. The Commander's truncheon (jokes about the spelling of the engraving on it aside) to remind him to keep the peace.
The justice that Vimes believes in, the law that he fights for, is one that protects the innocent. Not one that punishes the guilty.
To a large extent, Vimes' life is his job. Back when he lived in a room at the Watch House, his room was almost entirely empty, with only a map of the city for decoration and a sheet of cardboard providing insight into his priorities (he used it to replace the soles of his boots). His room was for sleeping, he lived in the rest of the Watch House and on the streets. If Vimes has a best friend, it's Fred Colon, mainly through the simple fact that they've worked together for so many years. Even now, Vimes feels the most like himself and in a way may be happiest when he's watching the streets at 2 A.M. in the rain.
But he loves his family, and tries to make room for them, because they're important and do make him happy. He tries to spend a decent amount of time at home, enough that you can say he lives there. Vimes tries to make sure to do things with Sybil, such as having lunch a few times a week (barring something big coming up). He supports Sybil, attending or even trying to be a host (gracious is too much to ask for) for dinner parties with the despised elite, who he will put up with for Sybil's sake. Though he does welcome policework to interrupt dreaded social events. These days he is certain to be home at 6 P.M. to read to young Sam. He will not allow for anything to get in the way of that, because if he rationalizes missing it for a good reason he may miss it for a bad one, and rationalization in one area may carry over to another.
Vimes is, generally, a very honest man. He does not take bribes, and will fire any officer who does. He values the truth, even if the truth is not in his favor. He expects people to tell him the truth, and if necessary he will fight to uncover it. He will tell the truth, even if it causes problems for him. But even more than an honest man, he is a practical one. If he needs to lie, cheat, or creatively misunderstand in order to achieve a goal, he'll do it.
Vimes' tendency to be blunt, his straightforward approach to problems, and that belief of his that everyone is accountable to the law earns him a lot of enemies, especially amongst the powerful. Far from minding this, it's something of a point of pride for him.
Many of his enemies would say that Vimes is not intelligent. Often, Vimes would say that he is not intelligent. But that is not true. Vimes catches on to many things quickly. He makes full use of his experience. He's able to think ahead and plan well. He's often able to anticipate what his enemies will do. He can unravel complex plots, though it may take some time. He knows a lot of tricks, and when they're likely to be used. He can even be a good researcher when it's called for. Just because he prefers to move in a straight line, doesn't mean he can't follow the corkscrew paths some people take.
Vimes' relationships with people are often contentious. The best example of this is his professional relationship with Lord Vetinari. While Vetinari is his boss, and generally Vimes will obey him, Vimes will pull out obfuscating stupidity, deliberate misunderstanding, and occasional flat-out disobedience in order to get what he thinks should be done done (often this is exactly what Vetinari intends, but that's another matter). Vimes will even talk back to Vetinari if he feels strongly enough that it's needed. Vimes also encourages certain levels of contention. He promotes independent thought and initiative amongst his officers, and if they disagree with him they are at the very least allowed to do so to his face. He may even end up agreeing with them. It does, however take a confident officer to speak up, Vimes has a way of being very forbidding.
In his less contentious relationships, he is awkward about showing affection. But he does try regularly.
Vimes has a prominent sense of humor. But it's a dark one, and tends strongly towards the sarcastic. He's known for some dry commentary and sarcastic statements. He is fond of irony.
Other:
Time in Discworld is a difficult thing. It is certain, though, that Vimes is past his mid-forties, and possibly in his early to mid fifties. Anything more specific than that cannot be determined.
Vimes' first addiction is arguably to policework. One of the reasons for his becoming an alcoholic was that policework was in short supply. It was easier for him to give up alcohol when he had policework to do instead.
He keeps a bottle of whiskey in one of his desk drawers as a permanent test. In spite of this temptation, he has not had any alcohol since he married.
Among his quirks- Vimes always blows a smoke ring with his first cigar of the day, he likes the yolks of his hard-boiled eggs a little runny, and when he orders a BLT he will be very disappointed if there is actually L or T in there.
Vimes can tell where he is in Ankh-Morpork by the feel of the street under his boots, as long as the boots are properly cheap with cardboard soles. His feel for the city is such that you can blindfold him, spin him around, and drag him across half the city, and he will be able to retrace the route simply through knowing how it felt under his feet. Now that he is rich, he has proper boots with thick soles. This strikes him as a liability, and Vimes' fight to wear bad boots is one of the little struggles with Vimes on one side and Sybil and the staff of their house on the other.
Another little struggle is Vimes' resistance to certain aspects of technology, namely the Disorganizers (the Discworld equivalent of Palm Pilots) which Sybil keeps getting him and he keeps finding ways to get rid of. Vimes is not against technology per se, he is just against technology that does not work as well for him as old methods (like notebooks).
He always has a notebook and pencil on him, it's very useful for organizing thoughts and noting facts for cases.
His most prized possession is an engraved silver cigar case Sybil gave him for their anniversary.
While he will actually compromise on many things, allowing for such treatment as having his clothes laid out for him, Vimes will never allow another person to shave him.
Vimes prefers to be referred to as “Commander,” or “Sir” if necessary. He hates attention being called to his more aristocratic titles (“Your Grace” is a sure way to annoy him), and at this point will only accept “Mister” from people who he feels have earned the right to a level of familiarity (either by long association or by very respectable service to the Watch and/or Vimes in particular).
There are many things Vimes always says. They include, “Never trust anybody,” “Everybody's guilty of something,” “Someone has to speak for the people with no voices,” “You can't trust Clues,” “When Mr. Safety Catch is not on, Mr. Crossbow is not your friend,” and whatever Vimes says he always says.
His nicknames include “Old Stoneface” (it's in the blood) and “Vetinari's Terrier.” He has come to terms with both.
To his chagrin, he is a favorite subject of the political cartoons in the Ankh-Morpork Times. To his further chagrin, Sybil buys the original of every one of those cartoons and hangs them in the library.
Additional Links:
Wiki
L-Space Wiki
T.V. Tropes
First Person (entry type):
[voice]
This is supposed to be some kind of journal? Ha. It's not much of a journal when just about anyone can read it. Even most idiots are smart enough to keep journals or diaries hidden in a drawer somewhere. This is probably more like those “letters to the editor” you see in the Times, right? People don't share their real thoughts, just the ones they think other people would like to hear. Not that people really want to hear that either. The Times should get rid of it...
So what do people really use this for? Advertising? Complaining? Giving sane people headaches?
Third Person:
Commander Samuel Vimes considered his inbox.
At least, it had begun life as an inbox. Then papers had spilled out around its edges, making more of an in-corner. The latest paperwork hadn't been put on the desk at all, but onto a growing pile next to it.
He picked up a letter that had been dangling half off the desk. Another complaint from the Campaign for Equal Heights about where dwarf officers patrolled. They were insulted if dwarves mostly patrolled the heavily dwarfish areas, they were insulted if anyone but dwarves patrolled the heavily dwarfish areas, they were especially insulted if dwarves and trolls patrolled anywhere together...
With a groan, Vimes tossed the letter back onto a less formal pile a little behind and to the side of his chair, wich could be labeled “things I have better things to do than to bother with.”
Politics. Why did damn politics keep coming into things? Things could be so much simpler...
A sneaky little voice in the back of his head pointed out- not if you're doing it right.
Vimes sighed and picked up another letter from a concerned citizen. The city seemed to have an endless supply of them. They were probably kept sheltered in an attic somewhere only to be brought down in continual waves to start complaining.
He looked at the piles again.
He was supposed to delegate, wasn't he? Vetinari had hinted at that again recently, after Vimes had been involved in another foot chase (they'd caught the man). This probably wasn't what the Patrician had meant, of course, but the man hadn't been specific. Who could this lot be passed on to?
Did anyone deserve it?
Player nickname: Orlando
Player LJ: elspeth_vimes
Way to contact you:
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
AIM: Elspeth Vimes
Other: ...Plurk
Are you at least 15?: Y.
Current Characters: Batou, Gesicht, Robert Philip
Character: Samuel Vimes
Fandom: Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Character Notes:
History:
Sam Vimes comes from a long line of Watchmen. His distant ancestor, Suffer Not Injustice Vimes (also known as “Old Stoneface”) was the Commander of the Watch at the time of the last king of Ankh-Morpork, Lorenzo the Kind (who was rather the opposite of kind). In fact, Suffer Not Injustice was directly responsible for the Lorenzo being the last king, it was Suffer Not Injustice who executed Lorenzo. Suffer Not Injustice was later killed himself, when he and his Ironheads were ousted from their brief reign of the city. The city has since been governed by Patricians.
The Vimes line does not like kings.
More recently, Sam Vimes' father, Thomas, was also a Watchman. He died when Vimes was quite young, and as a result Vimes was largely raised by his mother, with some aid from grandparents.
Vime was born and raised on Cockbill Street, an area at the edge of the Shades where people rely on Standards instead of crime, and largely live off their own pride as a result. Vimes attended the local dame school, where he spent one full term as blackboard monitor thanks to his mother's bribery of the teacher. Vimes was not an exceptional student, but he learned better than many. As is common in the Shades, Vimes was part of a gang in his childhood, the Cockbill Street Roaring Lads. This broadened his education to include street fighting.
Vimes joined the Watch as soon as he was able, at the age of 16. As someone of a lower class, he was placed on the Night Watch (generally regarded as useless, as opposed to the Day Watch, the more official guard). Vimes learned quickly, and became accepted as a valuable member of the group. But what made him into a good cop, rather than just another of the corrupt and lazy ones who were common on the Night Watch, was the instruction of one Sergeant John Keel. Keel taught Vimes to be honest, to defend people, to patrol and fight properly, and most of all to do the job that's in front of you. Unfortunately, Vimes had joined the Watch at a tumultuous time, as the reign of Homicidal Lord Winder was being forcibly brought to a close. The efforts against the Patrician included some politicking among the elite which truly brought about the regime of Lord Snapcase (later to be dubbed “Mad”), and an uprising by the people later called the Revolution of the Glorious 25th of May, and resulted in the extremely short-lived People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road. A number of people were killed in the uprising, including John Keel.
During Snapcase's reign, the Night Watch was further diminished, and made more useless. Vimes tried to uphold the law. His efforts were enough to warrant his promotion to Captain. But they weren't enough to have any noticeable impact on reality, other than earning him some enemies who made it more difficult for the Watch to have any effect. And when Lord Vetinari became Patrician and allowed for guilds such as the Thieves, thereby making a good deal of crime legal, Vimes' spirit was broken. At that point, all the Watch essentially did was walk the streets shouting that all was well. If they had the bad luck to run into criminals who were still conscious, they ran away. Vimes dealt with the world by putting alcohol between him and it, and became an alcoholic. By the time Carrot Ironfoundersson came to the city, the Watch had been reduced to the alcoholic Vimes, the oblivious Sergeant Colon, and the petty criminal Corporal Nobbs.
But Carrot's arrival revitalized the Watch, especially inspiring Vimes to pick himself up. As this coincided with a dragon making sudden appearances and terrorizing the city, he had a good challenge to raise himself up against. Vimes determinedly investigated how the dragon came to be summoned, a task which introduced him to the swamp dragon enthusiast Lady Sybil Ramkin. This task also resulted in things like Vimes being temporarily imprisoned, after the dragon was declared King and Vetinari was jailed. The dragon eventually ceased to be a problem, and the Watch took care of the Secret Society which had summoned it. Vetinari, upon being restored as Patrician, allowed the Watch to ask for whatever they wanted.
They wanted a new dartboard, and a small pay raise. They got it. The Watch was also unified into one entity after this point, the Day Watch was effectively eliminated. The events also had the effect of making the Watch a slightly more appealing employer, especially to those with few other options.
Vimes had become somewhat close to Lady Sybil through all these events, and continued to see her afterwards. Sybil proved to be a good influence on Vimes, eventually getting him to give up alcohol (he picked up cigars instead). At some point, Vimes proposed, and Sybil accepted.
Originally, Vimes was going to retire and join the leisured class upon his marriage to Sybil. The arrangement did, after all, make him the richest man in the city (Sybil was both very wealthy and rather traditional in some ways). This plan was made more difficult by the fact that shortly before his wedding and scheduled retirement, Vimes had to deal with new recruits to the Watch, the theft of Discworld's only “gonne,” and attempts on Vetinari's life orchestrated so that there would be room for a king in the Patrician's stead. When these events ended and Vimes left the Watch, he became discontent, left at loose ends. However, the position of Commander of the Watch was revived (it hadn't been used since Suffer Not Injustice), and Vimes was quickly tapped to fill it. The truth is that Vimes is not himself unless he is a Watchman, so this was a very good thing, and fortunately recognized by Sybil as such. It was also at this point that Vimes was given a knighthood.
Vimes continued to oversee the expansion of the Watch. More Watch Houses were added, and came to include such things as plain-clothes detectives and a forensics officer. While he was increasingly left with administrative duties, Vimes continued to take over some cases personally. One such was the poisoning of Lord Vetinari, a case which turned out to tie into a number of other murders and have (once again) the aim of deposing Vetinari and installing a king in his stead. The Watch continued to expand as one of the city's most equal-opportunity employers, hiring golems and zombies in addition to the dwarves, trolls, and werewolf already on the payroll.
During Ankh-Morpork's brief but heated struggle with Klatch over the ownership of the island Leshp, Vimes strove to keep the peace in the city. When war was officially declared and martial law instated (complete with Vetinari stepping down and the idiot Lord Rust becoming the city's temporary leader), Vimes and the rest of the Watch temporarily resigned. They then went to Klatch, partially in order to track down the truth behind a crime which helped cause the war and partially to help one of the members of the Watch who had been, for a given definition of the term, kidnapped. This culminated in Vimes arresting the leaders of the Ankh-Morpork and Klatchian armies for, among other crimes, conduct liable to cause a breach of the peace. Things could have gotten messy, but Vetinari turned up and prevented an international incident. After events calmed down and the city was restored to normal (with Vetinari as Patrician), Vimes was made a duke. He was reluctant to accept this, but ended up doing so under the understanding that his ancestor Suffer Not Injustice would start to be considered in a more favorable light by history. Also, because there was a chance that Sybil would like being a Duchess.
As a Duke, Vimes was drawn even further into politics, and was made the Ambassador to Uberwald in order to negotiate with the new Low King of the Dwarves regarding the fat imported by Ankh-Morpork (Uberwald has significant fat deposits, which are mined by the dwarves). While there, he also had to help the Low King against those trying to delegitimize him through the theft of the Scone of Stone, a very important symbol in the dwarf world. This ended up meaning that Vimes had to fight werewolves (he won) and talk with vampires. The trip to Uberwald was successful in a number of ways. Good relations with the Low King were established, Sybil helped make a favorable trade agreement, and one of the more modern Igors came back to join the Watch. It was during this time that Sybil discovered she was pregnant, and eventually she was able to inform Vimes. Once he found out, he was very happy.
Back in Ankh-Morpork, Vetinari was framed for murder and embezzlement, making it necessary for Vimes to arrest the Patrician. While, for a number of reasons, Vimes was not able to successfully unmask the conspiracy behind Vetinari's framing, Vimes did make sure to nudge the fledgling newspaper editor William de Worde into doing so.
In fact, Vimes became so important to the proper functioning of the city that the Assassin's Guild took him off the register, refusing to accept any more contracts on Vimes' life. Vimes briefly considered appealing the decision, since he found the assassination attempts to be a sign he was making the right people (the rich) angry. Vimes was the second of the only two people in the city to be taken off the register, the first being Vetinari. (Another explanation for the Guild's decision is that they grew tired of dealing with the traps Vimes set for them, which resulted in things like assassins hanging over Sybil's dragon pens.)
A homicidal maniac named Carcer began to cause problems in the city, even killing an off-duty watchman. Vimes himself chased Carcer down on the 25th of May. Unfortunately, the chase occurred during a magically charged storm, over a magically charged building, and resulted in Vimes and Carcer being sent back in time to the week before the Glorious 25th of May. This caused some problems with how history needed to go, since Carcer promptly changed history by killing John Keel. Which made it necessary for Vimes, encouraged by the History Monks, to impersonate John Keel, teach himself everything he knows*, and make sure history happened while trying to have as few people die as possible. After the important events, the Monks sent both Vimes and Carcer back to their proper time, where Vimes finally arrested Carcer.
Though it was difficult, Sybil gave birth to their child, a son. Sybil insisted on naming him Sam (he is generally known as young Sam).
Vimes was for a time separated from his family while he had to act as Ankh-Morpork's Special Envoy to Zlobenia, an ally of Ankh-Morpork engaged in a war with its continually fighting neighbor, Borogravia. Vimes, always fond of helping to put the underdog on equal footing with others, secretly aided the last group of fighters from Borogravia, an action which turned out to be important in ending the war. He then returned home.
Vimes is currently spending his time avoiding paperwork and social functions whenever possible, fighting crime whenever he can get away with it, and reading Where's My Cow to his son every day at 6 PM, no matter what.
Like Vetinari, Vimes will be taken from between the events of Going Postal and Thud!.
*Technically, Vimes was still taught by Keel. Except now that's only in his head, and it was in reality all him. It's confusing, 'cos of quantum. The only person who has definitely connected the dots and knows that Vimes was Keel is Vetinari.
Personality:
Sam Vimes is is a suspicious, cynical, sarcastic, angry man. He is also determined, loyal, and a firm believer in certain ideals. Above all, Vimes is a copper.
Vimes is very aware of things, sometimes painfully so. He is naturally somewhat knurd (the opposite of drunk, a state in which the illusions people have in order to function in the world are stripped away). He knows that people are, overall, petty- unduly concerned with little things like whether their neighbor is taking proper care of the hedge, largely unaware of other people, guilty of some crime, and mostly intent on having the status quo continue. He knows that while people in the lower classes get punished for committing crimes like stealing so that they'll have something to eat while living in their slum, the people in the upper classes don't get punished for committing crimes like creating and owning slums. He knows that the world is unequal, that people hurt each other all the time, and that the upper class largely ignores the law because they believe they make it.
But Vimes still believes in the concept of an equal law, a law for all people, that all people must answer to. Nobody is better than anybody else, and the law should reflect that. The enforcement of the law should reflect that. This is, above all, what he fights for.
Vimes' deep-seated prejudice against authority and the upper classes (which he maintains in spite of joining both groups) is rooted in the knowledge that they get away with big crimes, while the lower classes suffer for little crimes. His marked soft spot for the underdog, which causes him to do things like aid small groups or let certain people off for small crimes, is him trying to level the playing field a little.
On the other hand, he knows that people are able to do remarkably good things. The painful awareness comes into play again with the fact that he knows that many of the most heroic feats are carried out quietly by people that no one notices. So Vimes does his best to notice, and help. While things such as famous last stands are at the best the cause for bitter remarks from Vimes, he has a sometimes overwhelming respect for the heroism some people display just as part of their lives, a mother raising seven children mostly on her own or a copper doing the job that's in front of him. In some cases he can see the good, or at least the tolerable, in people society has mostly given up on (Fred Colon and Nobby Nobbs certainly fall into this category).
Once he has decided that someone is decent, he will go to great lengths for their sakes, often quite willing to sacrifice himself in some way for their protection. In many cases, he'll look out for others before he'll look out for himself. For years, before the proper revival of the Watch, Vimes gave most of his salary to the family members of dead watchmen. He was the widows and orphans fund.
As kind of indicated above, Vimes does not naturally like people. Of any kind. This makes it possible for him to come across as speciesist, since he does not like and will make disparaging remarks about dwarves, trolls, the undead, ect. But the truth of the matter is that he's every bit as biased against humans, a fact which does come out if you pay attention to everything he says. He starts out assuming people of any species are bastards, but people of any species can earn his respect. He will defend the members of his Watch to the bitter end, because they're good coppers, which matters much more than what species they are. Vimes has also demonstrated the fact that his is fully able to change his mind, as shown by the fact that when he learned more about golems, he ceased to be prejudiced against them and came to respect them. The notable exceptions here are vampires and gargoyles. Vimes is, if you will pardon the pun, dead set against vampires. To a large extent this is his populist tendencies at work, vampires are almost always upper class and, in Vimes' view, prey on less fortunate people, whether or not they are actively drinking blood. Gargoyles, on the other hand, Vimes is very well inclined towards, primarily because they stay above the street, don't say much if anything, and the only crimes they could be said to commit are against the pigeon population.
In the end, Vimes views people (of any species) as people, often nasty and sometimes amazing. You can't change them, and you shouldn't try. What you can do is your best to help them do their best, and that's what Vimes tries to do.
Vimes is naturally a pretty angry person. In his default state he is pissed off at the gods for having made the world wrong. Then there are ways to make him angrier. Treating people as less than people (this can be manifest in a number of ways, from exploiting workers to attacking people for their ethnicity to killing people). Underestimating people (especially Vimes) and the rich variety of life. Being stupid and especially displaying a complete lack of common sense. Threatening any of his officers. Worst of all is a threat to his family. You do not want to threaten his family.
Vimes calls the darkest side of his nature “the Beast,” and with good reason. This is the part of himself he lets out in fights, the part that is vicious and wants to hurt the other guy. He tries to keep tight control on that rage outside of life-or-death situations, though when faced with certain things (i.e. torturers) that can be difficult.
Somewhat less extreme forms of anger have him cheerfully yelling at and possibly punching people, or going still and making things very clear.
In spite of all this, Vimes does not believe in killing people when it is at all possible to avoid it. Neither does he believe in torture. Fighting dirty is fine, but the aim is to incapacitate and/or arrest the person, not to permanently damage or kill them. Because you are going up against a person, and a life is never something to be treated casually. He also keeps close watch on himself to make sure he doesn't do anything that he would condemn in another. He tries to make sure that his actions, at least, are good or towards a good end. He uses symbols to help his self control. His shield-shaped badge to reminds him to protect people. The Commander's truncheon (jokes about the spelling of the engraving on it aside) to remind him to keep the peace.
The justice that Vimes believes in, the law that he fights for, is one that protects the innocent. Not one that punishes the guilty.
To a large extent, Vimes' life is his job. Back when he lived in a room at the Watch House, his room was almost entirely empty, with only a map of the city for decoration and a sheet of cardboard providing insight into his priorities (he used it to replace the soles of his boots). His room was for sleeping, he lived in the rest of the Watch House and on the streets. If Vimes has a best friend, it's Fred Colon, mainly through the simple fact that they've worked together for so many years. Even now, Vimes feels the most like himself and in a way may be happiest when he's watching the streets at 2 A.M. in the rain.
But he loves his family, and tries to make room for them, because they're important and do make him happy. He tries to spend a decent amount of time at home, enough that you can say he lives there. Vimes tries to make sure to do things with Sybil, such as having lunch a few times a week (barring something big coming up). He supports Sybil, attending or even trying to be a host (gracious is too much to ask for) for dinner parties with the despised elite, who he will put up with for Sybil's sake. Though he does welcome policework to interrupt dreaded social events. These days he is certain to be home at 6 P.M. to read to young Sam. He will not allow for anything to get in the way of that, because if he rationalizes missing it for a good reason he may miss it for a bad one, and rationalization in one area may carry over to another.
Vimes is, generally, a very honest man. He does not take bribes, and will fire any officer who does. He values the truth, even if the truth is not in his favor. He expects people to tell him the truth, and if necessary he will fight to uncover it. He will tell the truth, even if it causes problems for him. But even more than an honest man, he is a practical one. If he needs to lie, cheat, or creatively misunderstand in order to achieve a goal, he'll do it.
Vimes' tendency to be blunt, his straightforward approach to problems, and that belief of his that everyone is accountable to the law earns him a lot of enemies, especially amongst the powerful. Far from minding this, it's something of a point of pride for him.
Many of his enemies would say that Vimes is not intelligent. Often, Vimes would say that he is not intelligent. But that is not true. Vimes catches on to many things quickly. He makes full use of his experience. He's able to think ahead and plan well. He's often able to anticipate what his enemies will do. He can unravel complex plots, though it may take some time. He knows a lot of tricks, and when they're likely to be used. He can even be a good researcher when it's called for. Just because he prefers to move in a straight line, doesn't mean he can't follow the corkscrew paths some people take.
Vimes' relationships with people are often contentious. The best example of this is his professional relationship with Lord Vetinari. While Vetinari is his boss, and generally Vimes will obey him, Vimes will pull out obfuscating stupidity, deliberate misunderstanding, and occasional flat-out disobedience in order to get what he thinks should be done done (often this is exactly what Vetinari intends, but that's another matter). Vimes will even talk back to Vetinari if he feels strongly enough that it's needed. Vimes also encourages certain levels of contention. He promotes independent thought and initiative amongst his officers, and if they disagree with him they are at the very least allowed to do so to his face. He may even end up agreeing with them. It does, however take a confident officer to speak up, Vimes has a way of being very forbidding.
In his less contentious relationships, he is awkward about showing affection. But he does try regularly.
Vimes has a prominent sense of humor. But it's a dark one, and tends strongly towards the sarcastic. He's known for some dry commentary and sarcastic statements. He is fond of irony.
Other:
Time in Discworld is a difficult thing. It is certain, though, that Vimes is past his mid-forties, and possibly in his early to mid fifties. Anything more specific than that cannot be determined.
Vimes' first addiction is arguably to policework. One of the reasons for his becoming an alcoholic was that policework was in short supply. It was easier for him to give up alcohol when he had policework to do instead.
He keeps a bottle of whiskey in one of his desk drawers as a permanent test. In spite of this temptation, he has not had any alcohol since he married.
Among his quirks- Vimes always blows a smoke ring with his first cigar of the day, he likes the yolks of his hard-boiled eggs a little runny, and when he orders a BLT he will be very disappointed if there is actually L or T in there.
Vimes can tell where he is in Ankh-Morpork by the feel of the street under his boots, as long as the boots are properly cheap with cardboard soles. His feel for the city is such that you can blindfold him, spin him around, and drag him across half the city, and he will be able to retrace the route simply through knowing how it felt under his feet. Now that he is rich, he has proper boots with thick soles. This strikes him as a liability, and Vimes' fight to wear bad boots is one of the little struggles with Vimes on one side and Sybil and the staff of their house on the other.
Another little struggle is Vimes' resistance to certain aspects of technology, namely the Disorganizers (the Discworld equivalent of Palm Pilots) which Sybil keeps getting him and he keeps finding ways to get rid of. Vimes is not against technology per se, he is just against technology that does not work as well for him as old methods (like notebooks).
He always has a notebook and pencil on him, it's very useful for organizing thoughts and noting facts for cases.
His most prized possession is an engraved silver cigar case Sybil gave him for their anniversary.
While he will actually compromise on many things, allowing for such treatment as having his clothes laid out for him, Vimes will never allow another person to shave him.
Vimes prefers to be referred to as “Commander,” or “Sir” if necessary. He hates attention being called to his more aristocratic titles (“Your Grace” is a sure way to annoy him), and at this point will only accept “Mister” from people who he feels have earned the right to a level of familiarity (either by long association or by very respectable service to the Watch and/or Vimes in particular).
There are many things Vimes always says. They include, “Never trust anybody,” “Everybody's guilty of something,” “Someone has to speak for the people with no voices,” “You can't trust Clues,” “When Mr. Safety Catch is not on, Mr. Crossbow is not your friend,” and whatever Vimes says he always says.
His nicknames include “Old Stoneface” (it's in the blood) and “Vetinari's Terrier.” He has come to terms with both.
To his chagrin, he is a favorite subject of the political cartoons in the Ankh-Morpork Times. To his further chagrin, Sybil buys the original of every one of those cartoons and hangs them in the library.
Additional Links:
Wiki
L-Space Wiki
T.V. Tropes
First Person (entry type):
[voice]
This is supposed to be some kind of journal? Ha. It's not much of a journal when just about anyone can read it. Even most idiots are smart enough to keep journals or diaries hidden in a drawer somewhere. This is probably more like those “letters to the editor” you see in the Times, right? People don't share their real thoughts, just the ones they think other people would like to hear. Not that people really want to hear that either. The Times should get rid of it...
So what do people really use this for? Advertising? Complaining? Giving sane people headaches?
Third Person:
Commander Samuel Vimes considered his inbox.
At least, it had begun life as an inbox. Then papers had spilled out around its edges, making more of an in-corner. The latest paperwork hadn't been put on the desk at all, but onto a growing pile next to it.
He picked up a letter that had been dangling half off the desk. Another complaint from the Campaign for Equal Heights about where dwarf officers patrolled. They were insulted if dwarves mostly patrolled the heavily dwarfish areas, they were insulted if anyone but dwarves patrolled the heavily dwarfish areas, they were especially insulted if dwarves and trolls patrolled anywhere together...
With a groan, Vimes tossed the letter back onto a less formal pile a little behind and to the side of his chair, wich could be labeled “things I have better things to do than to bother with.”
Politics. Why did damn politics keep coming into things? Things could be so much simpler...
A sneaky little voice in the back of his head pointed out- not if you're doing it right.
Vimes sighed and picked up another letter from a concerned citizen. The city seemed to have an endless supply of them. They were probably kept sheltered in an attic somewhere only to be brought down in continual waves to start complaining.
He looked at the piles again.
He was supposed to delegate, wasn't he? Vetinari had hinted at that again recently, after Vimes had been involved in another foot chase (they'd caught the man). This probably wasn't what the Patrician had meant, of course, but the man hadn't been specific. Who could this lot be passed on to?
Did anyone deserve it?