# Is Lord Vetinari good or bad? (Discworldcentric) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638 "2003-04-05T04:33:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CaptEgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@CaptEgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptEgo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/41 "2003-04-07T15:39:41Z")
Barbarian, The Medici’s of historical fame, Italian Family, ruthless autocrats. I too did not make the _pun_ connection in a specific fashion. I automatically _associated_ Vetinari with the Medici’s (and the Borgias) but didn’t get the ‘Medicine’ vs ‘Veterinary’ gag…Doh! APF: I suspect they refer to the ‘Annotated Prachett File’ over at L-Space Web. Very worthy. [http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/](http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/) I’m also with Shalmanese: As I was reading the musing (and before I got to Shalmansese’s post I thought _Amoral_ is the word for Vetinari. Labelling him as good or Evil misses the simple fact that Vetinari acts _outside_ the spectrum of good and evil. His obsession with making things work seems to have lifted him clear of those motivations. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/42 "2003-04-07T15:53:28Z")
amoral pragmatist. what AM needs. and he doesn’t like mimes. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/43 "2003-04-07T16:10:39Z")
I agree with the pragmatist aspect of Vetinari. In fact,there’s a generally pragmatic attitude displayed by most of Pratchett’s strongest characters. They all know they have a job to do and if they can do it with as little fuss and pain as possible they will. If not, they’ll do what they must to get the job done and keep things moving in the right direction. Also remember that Vetinari is fond of his dog Wuffles and doesn’t stroke a white cat while making decisions, so he _can’t_ be all bad, according to narrative causality. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/44 "2003-04-07T16:16:20Z")
I agree with the pragmatist aspect of Vetinari. In fact,there’s a generally pragmatic attitude displayed by most of Pratchett’s strongest characters. They all know they have a job to do and if they can do it with as little fuss and pain as possible they will. If not, they’ll do what they must to get the job done and keep things moving in the right direction. Also remember that Vetinari is fond of his dog Wuffles and doesn’t stroke a white cat while making decisions, so he _can’t_ be all bad, according to narrative causality. ---
**Author:** ![Bunnylady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bunnylady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bunnylady)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/45 "2003-04-07T16:31:15Z")
Whatever he is, I’m sure he’s a better ruler of Ankh-Morpork than King Carrot I would be/would have been. Apparently, Carrot agrees! ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/46 "2003-04-08T18:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CaptEgo \* > \*\*Barbarian, > > The Medici’s of historical fame, Italian Family, ruthless autocrats.\*\* Ah, I’ve heard of them. Grazie. ---
**Author:** ![oAMADEUSo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@oAMADEUSo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oAMADEUSo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/47 "2003-08-28T12:25:34Z")
I think vetinari is lgoical and would have no problems with moral questions like “would you kill one innocent person to save 10?”. Think of spock without the emotion! The one exception is his attitude to mime artists. Although we never actual see it,any mime artist performing withing the city is hung upside down in the scorpion pit with a sign saying “learn the words”! On a wider point I think the great point of the characters in discworld is that you cannot pigeon hole them into the whole good and evil boxes. (appart from carrot as he is truly a good man) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/48 "2003-08-28T12:40:08Z")
We see a lot of Vetinari interacting with others, and aside from its being clear that his overriding ethic is the good of the city, we don’t get a lot of insight into the man. But there is one spot where pTerry “draws the curtain,” so to speak, and we get a momentary glimpse of his inner motivations – the interview between him and Carrot at the end of _Men at Arms_. I won’t try to summarize it, even in a spoiler – it’s the product of a couple hundred pages of intricate plot, but it does clearly show us a bit of the man behind the image of the Patrician. ---
**Author:** ![Shortie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Shortie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shortie)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/49 "2003-08-28T14:19:18Z")
Surely the end of _Jingo_ also gives a look at what he really thinks as well? When (I think) Vimes asks him what the point of the whole episode was. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638/50 "2003-08-28T19:50:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by oAMADEUSo \* > (appart from carrot as he is truly a good man) Well, if you haven’t already, go read **Carpe Jugulum.** Carrot isn’t a squeaky-clean caricature – he does have his claws, and knows how to use 'em… 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lord-vetinari-good-or-bad-discworldcentric/166638.md?page=2)