Talk:Inigo Skimmer

I’m curious whether anyone questions that Inigo Skimmer was a human character? When he first meets Vimes there a number of things about the physical description that suggest that Vimes believed he was non+human, as well as possibly a dark clerk. The oddly shaped oversized head that looked squeezed on the bottom but bulbous on the top (which sounds like the shape of a skeletal skull; I think Mr. Bendy the zombie was also described as having a head that looked too big for his body): the “odd way that he walked” as though “there were something wrong with his knees”. (I think either Mr Slant the zombie or perhaps Dragon King of Arms, a vampire, was similarly described as walking this way); the odd speech tic —“was it a nervous laugh, a giggle, an unfortunate way of clearing his throat” (Mr. Slant the zombie, and I *think* also Dragon King of Arms, had a similar throat clearing tic); Vimes throwing an orange to him which bounced off of him — he made no attempt to duck, catch or deflect it, which is weird; and Vimes putting his arm around his shoulders and patting his arms within minutes of meeting him —Dragon King of Arms, a vampire, had wings under his cloak and skinny arms that felt like steel cables). I’ve never been able to quite figure out what Pratchett was trying to convey about Skimmer, beyond Vimes’s Correct suspicions that he was a “dark clerk”. Neither zombie nor vampire quite makes sense in light of his subsequent death, but I think he was something other than human. (unsigned comment by Susan Margolotta, 14 January 2019‎)

I'm reluctant to quibble with two such powerful authorities on the workings of Discworld, but I don't support the hypothesis. It's a slightly intriguing idea, but you'd have to suggest what he was, if not human. Sam may have been a bit suspicious, but he checked and couldn't find anything out of place. Skimmer is described as an odd duck physically and as lacking the social graces expected in an Assassin (probably why he worked for Vetinari: he couldn't expect the multi-thousand-dollar commissions). He could be autistic. I don't see any evidence of any other race; he just seems to be dead, not undead. It seems possible that The Author started out with the idea of making him non-human and then dropped the idea. --Old Dickens (talk) 22:41, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

Anyone care to comment on the Bond villain with the deadly bowler hat? --Lias Bluestone (talk) 09:40, 2 November 2020 (UTC)