Cohen the Barbarian

Rincewind
Discworld character
Rincewind as illustrated by Paul Kidby in The Art of Discworld
First appearance	The Colour of Magic
Created by	Terry Pratchett
Information
Description	A cowardly "wizzard" who is always running away from various dangers
Associations	Unseen University
Notes	Voiced by Eric Idle in two Discworld computer games Portrayed by Sir David Jason in Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic

Rincewind is a fictional character appearing in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. He is a failed student at the Unseen University for wizards in Ankh-Morpork, and is often described by scholars as "the magical equivalent to the number zero". He spends just about all of his time running away from various bands of people who want to kill him for various reasons. The fact that he's still alive and running is explained in that, although he was born with a wizard's spirit, he has the body of a long-distance sprinter. Rincewind is also reputed for being able to solve minor problems by turning them into major disasters. His unique "skill" is implied to be due to being the chosen one of "The Lady", the anthropomorphic personification of luck (both good and bad).

Rincewind was portrayed by David Jason in the film adaption of The Colour of Magic and Pratchett said in an interview that he unwittingly took Rincewind's name from "Churm Rincewind", a fictitious person referred to in early "'Beachcomber" columns in the Daily Express.

In Rincewind's debut in The Colour of Magic, he acts as a guide for the tourist Twoflower, who hails from the Counterweight Continent, a continent across the disc from the 'hub' continent where Ankh-Morpork is situated. He is recruited for this job because he is the only one who can communicate with Twoflower (they use Be-Trobi as a lingua franca). He and Twoflower wander around for quite a while, and get chased by everything from the personification of Death to a Lovecraftian creature named Bel-Shamharoth.

Even after Rincewind and Twoflower part ways at the end of The Light Fantastic – with Twoflower giving Rincewind his sapient-pearwood Luggage in the process – Rincewind's adventures continue to see him being chased across various regions of the Discworld in spite of, or often driven by, his desire to find somewhere where he can relish boredom in peace and quiet.