Talk:Detritus

I exorcise the evil W- and cast it into the Dungeon Dimensions! {In accordance with the long-standing convention just arrived at in Cuddy.)

Detritus' intelligence

I thought whilst he was stupid, that was only because he was a troll. Vimes seems to consider him moderately intelligent doesn't he? Even if it is more experience than intelligence per se...

I do remember a line like "Detritus was thick, even for a troll". He is very sensitive to heat. With the little fan in his helmet he does get by, and he is intelligent in a kind of no-nonsense straightforward sergeanty way. But definitely not what we'd call "smart". --Sanity 09:25, 29 June 2007 (CEST)

==However...==

I reckon that Detritus has got an awful lot brighter over the series. Vimes regars him with respect, and he often surprises: dealing with Brick in a far more intelligent way than anyone else; knowing 'which way the wind's blowing' in Jingo (even managing to slyly trick Vimes); &c. My trump card: he has Vimes' respect - which is a very rare coin. --Knmatt 22:43, 29 June 2007 (CEST)

Detritus' age

In Men at Arms (Corgi PB page 219) Cuddy asks Detritus how long he has lived in Ankh-Morpork. Detritus replies that he's been in town nine years.

In The Fifth Elephant, there's a dialogue where Vimes asks Detritus how long it is since he was last in Überwald. Detritus replies that his family moved out - he expressly says to the big city - when he was just a pebble.

Depending on how long Troll childhood lasts (how long do pebbles stay pebbles before maturing into full-grown trolls?) nine years doesn't sound all that long, considering Detritus' first appearance in the series is a long time way back - when is he first encountered, chained to the wall of the Drum as resident splatter? Sourcery? Or earlier? I'm sure there's a way around this, but it doesn't feel right. Especially since elsewhere, we are told the prime of life for a mature female troll is 140 years: this is the age assigned to Detritus' wife Ruby when they first meet. Any ideas?--AgProv 19:08, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

There's a problem with the first postulate. When Detritus met Cuddy he had trouble counting beyond "many"; Cuddy then taught him some arithmetic and made his cooling helmet, but at the time nine might have been any big number to Detritus. From parts of the DW Timeline that I can't dispute, he's been in A-M twenty years or more. (I like the timeline puzzles better than anyone, but I don't think there's enough reliable data here.) --Old Dickens 20:19, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

XKCD

Today's XKCD reminds me of the counting scene from Guards! Guards! --Fhh98 13:21, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Not Men at Arms? --Old Dickens 14:08, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes I meant Men at Arms, I blame the mixup on not enough caffeine this morning. --12.2.142.13 15:16, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I made the same mistake in my first full-sized article, I recall. It always feels as if the Watch series has two beginnings. --Old Dickens 16:32, 9 July 2010 (UTC)