History Literature / TheLastHero

-->'''Vetinari:''' Yes, but they may save the world. One ape dies, one world lives. You do not need to be a rocket wizard to work that out, surely?\\

%%%%* NobleDemon: Evil Harry Dread isn't even ''pretending'' he isn't one.

* NoodleIncident: Any combat that the members of the Horde are involved in by this point, [[ShowyInvincibleHero since who is going to win is never even a question.]] Of particular note is the dungeon they plow through on the way to Dunmanifestin. The Heroes are chatting casually about it, and comparing it unfavorably to other dungeons they faced in the past. The Bard, meanwhile, has been reduced to a HeroicBSOD by the events.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: What motivates Cohen and his Horde, for making them so good at that they do that they could live to grow old, weak and see a world that doesn't need them anymore. Averted by Carrot, who's obviously appalled by the deities' attitudes but restricts himself to a StealthInsult.

** Considering [[AscendToHigherPlaneOfExistence what's hinted to happen to them later]], Harry may very well be right.

* NayTheist: The Horde, obviously, to the point that they've decided to {{Kill The God}}s. The Minstrel also becomes this after meeting ''his'' god, Nuggan, and finding him to be nothing more than a short, fat bully with an annoying moustache who imposes petty and pointless rules on his worshippers simply becuase he enjoys making them miserable.

* EveryManHasHisPrice: The bard is offered a substantial bag of ''rubies'' for joining the Horde and writing song about their final adventure. He's well aware that ''rubies'' it's madness to join these ''rubies'' lunatics as they try to ''rubies'' get themselves killed, but harder to ignore the ''rubies'' rubies ''rubies''.

* CoolStarship: ''The Kite''. Untested and still under construction when they left Ankh-Morpork, Leonard still built in many advances features, including Prince Haram's Tiller (an autopilot). Note that Vetinari, being the product of an arts-based education, understands the reference to the Klatchian folk tale but Stibbons -- a scientist -- doesn't.

* TheLastTitle: The Last hero.

* MortonsFork: See the ShoutOut for ''Catch-22''.

** A marginal note in Leonard's drawings mentions "Bird's Eye Maple, 1 1/2d per foot", referencing an old Stanley Holloway monologue "Three Ha'pence A Foot". http://monologues.co.uk/3Hapence.shtml

** A sketch of Rincewind, stripped down to a loincloth, strapped spreadeagle into a three-axis rotation device, and clearly about to hurl, mirrors Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man'' (except for the hurling part).
** The Silver Horde discusses finding [[BlatantItemPlacement maps, keys and first aid kits]] just sort of lying around in the dungeons, and never speculating who'd put them there or why up until that moment. Inexplicably helpful item placement will sound very familiar to anybody who's ever played an old first-person shooter. (Sir Pterry is, of course, an avowed fan of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. And of course, of older adventure games that developed the trope.)

* StealthPun: Read the description of the Nothingfjord Blue. Also, Prince Haram. In Arabic the word means against religious rules, sin, bad for you. On Discworld, Prince Haram is Klatchian folk hero who sailed all over the world. Over here, he is Sinbad the sailor of the seven seas.

* SurroundedByIdiots
** Evil Harry does his on purpose. Because ''it's a rule''. He has a skeleton, two lizard men who are both named Slime because they can't remember more than one name, a troll at room temperature who's stupid even for a troll at room temperature, a jailer guaranteed to wear the keys easily visible on his belt, and a dwarf - which the others congratulate him for. It's actually really hard to find a dwarf sufficiently stupid to qualify for a band of evil minions. (His name's "You're Armpit.")

* ShoutOut:

** One illustration of Rincewind screaming in abject terror with his hands on his face is a ShoutOut to Edvard Munch's "TheScream".

** Some ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' references too, when Carrot searches the hold and finds a [[spoiler:banana]] skin.
*** Leonard's illustration of the Imaginary Hull Borer ("if such a creature invades the ship, vital crew split up in order to search for it") includes the Latatian "Nucleus situm ex orbita, unus certis maximus". In other words, "Nuke the entire site from orbit, ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure."

** Cohen's cutting the dice in half so it comes down as 6+1=7 is a reference to a Viking king who did this to win a bet. The legend implies the dice split on its own, but in ''The Science of Discworld'' Terry Pratchett wondered if he was holding a large axe at the time.
*** Also a double reference, as way back in ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' one of the gods threw their dice and scored a seven, though in this case by using AlienGeometries (the cube-shaped dice had more than six sides). Cue admonition by another god to play fair, please.
** [[Literature/PeterPan "Second star to the right and straight on till morning."]] "That's the worst navigation advice I've ever heard."
*** As they're in a space ship, also counts as a ShoutOut to [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]].

** The Silver Horde discusses finding [[BlatantItemPlacement maps, keys and first aid kits]] just sort of lying around in the dungeons, and never speculating who'd put them there or why up until that moment. Inexplicably helpful item placement will sound very familiar to anybody who's ever played an old first-person shooter. (Sir Pterry is, of course, an avowed fan of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. And of course, older adventure games that developed the trope.)

* SecretLegacy: After it slowly dawns on the Silver Horde that Carrot might be more than he appears to be, one recalls the story of Anhk-Morpork's true King working as a watch-man because he prefers it. Carrot, being Carrot, responds thusly.

* SocietyOnEdgeEpisode: Averted. The Disc endangered once again, thanks to Cohen the Barbarian's RageAgainstTheHeavens. Unlike the previous examples, Ankh-Morpork's powers-that-be manage to keep the peace and work together to confront the problem.

* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Subverted. When the leaders of hundreds of nations pour into Ankh-Morpork to have a say in stopping the Silver Horde, Vetinari lets them form committees, then locks the door and goes to a separate meeting with his usual staff to tell them about Leonard's flying machine.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: On an intellectual level. [[spoiler:The gods know Leonardo de Quirm just built a device that could go to the moon and around the turtle. They think their challenge to paint the ceiling of a great church in 10 years would be a strenuous affair. He had it done in less than a month]].

* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: Numerous times in the illustrations, but particularly one where Rincewind and the others stand on the moon as it rises and look into the continent-sized face of one of the elephants holding up the Disc.

* ClicheStorm: The dungeon the Barbarians fight their way through on the way to Dunmanifestin, quite deliberately. It also makes a few shoutouts, such as mention of a giant walrus.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The Silver Horde are a bunch of old seasoned warriors that are willing to and capable of blowing up Dunmanifestin, and they could easily kill anyone who stands in their way - unless [[spoiler:they're facing a single truly brave hero like Carrot Ironfoundersson. Which makes ''them'' the villains. They realise this when it happens.]]

* ContractualGenreBlindness: Lord Harry Dread always hires stupid (and [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy inattentive]]) minions, builds escapable dungeons and leaves caches of food, medicine and weapons for heroes to find, because that's how things are done, and in return he profits from his ventures ([[EvilAlwaysTriumphsInTheMiddle until the third act]]), [[VillainExitStageLeft always escapes to try again]], and both their reputations are enhanced.
** This is also the stated reason he is the ''last'' EvilOverlord; other than the Silver Horde no-one plays by the Code any more, so they don't escape.
*** Also a ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' joke of sorts, or possibly a ''CMOT Dibbler'' one, with various references to the "Shed of Doom" and so on.

* CupHolders: The Kite has these. Leonard considers them worth mentioning on his diagram of the ship - which also includes such trivialities as the wing jettison, rudder controls, and "Device for Looking Behind You".

We start with Cohen the Barbarian and most of the Silver Horde (minus Old Vincent, who choked to death on a cucumber), last seen in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'', setting out on a quest. You see, Fingers-Mazda, the first hero, [[Myth/ClassicalMythology stole fire from the gods]] and the Horde feel that it is only fair, as the ''last'' of the true barbarian heroes, to return the stolen fire.

So, Cohen's former subjects in the Agatean Empire tell Lord Vetinari to sort it out (as he and the city both have a reputation for getting things done). The solution is devised by the Wizards (after the usual heated debate) and Leonard of Quirm. They build the Kite, Discworld's [[Discworld/TheColourOfMagic second known spacecraft]], powered by Swamp Dragons, to slingshot under the Disc and to try and beat the Horde to Cori Celesti. The craft is intended for three: Captain Carrot (by the logic that a policeman can find a reason to arrest anyone), Leonard (because the ship will need working on even after take off) and Rincewind (because he's met Cohen before and survived, and because he knows [[CosmicPlaything he will end up going anyway]]). Can they reach Cori Celesti in time to stop Cohen and his horde from their misguided crusade?

** One of the birds Leonard is feeding is a parrot with the word '[=DoG=]' written on it. In ''Discworld/TheTruth'', William de Worde offered a reward for Lord Vetinari's then-missing dog, Wuffles...

** The two-page picture of the gods gathered around the playing-board Disc includes a penguin on the shoulder of Patina (a joke from ''Discworld/SmallGods''), and a scarab beetle perched on the hovering mini-sun (in reference to Scrab, a Djelibeybian deity seen in ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}''). Scrab is also referenced in one of Leonard's notes, in which he hypothesises that the Disc's minor planets are balls of dung from the elephants, rolled into spheres by giant spacegoing dung beetles that inspired the Scrab legend.

* ContinuityNod: Rincewind mentions falling off the Disc before, a reference to the end of ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', and then mentions that he couldn't see anything as his life was flashing before his eyes, a nod to the beginning of ''Discworld/TheLightFantastic''. Carrot also remarks that the moon's native dragons resemble Errol, the [[strike: total whittle]] ''throwback'' swamp dragon from ''Discworld/GuardsGuards''.

* MythologyGag: When Ponder Stibbons explains how the end of magic will instantly annihilate the Disc, this is referencing multiple statements from the early books, especially ''Discworld/TheLightFantastic'' and ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', about how the Disc can only exist because it exists in a magic-rich environment, where raw magic can take up the slack for its otherwise weak and underdeveloped physics.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Swamp dragons are rather different to mythological dragons (which appeared earlier in ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'').

*** Also a double reference, as way back in ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'' one of the gods threw their dice and scored a seven, though in this case by using AlienGeometries (the cube-shaped dice had more than six sides). Cue admonition by another god to play fair, please.

* LizardFolk: Evil Harry has "the last two stupid lizard men" working for him. They're both called Slime.

* NeedleworkIsForOldPeople: Zena the Barbarian Princess is encountered as a woman in her seventies who is embroidering a sampler with the legend "Burn This House". She's also said to have slain several heavily-armed assailants with nothing more lethal than a pair of knitting needles.

* WorthyOpponent: Evil Harry Dread is very much one.

However, there is a problem. An explosion as big as they are planning to make on the top of Cori Celesti will collapse the Disc's magic field for several years. Of course, the Disc [[AWizardDidIt runs on magic]], and without it the seas would dry up, the sun would crash and burn, and the turtle and the elephants would probably just stop existing altogether. In the first ten minutes.

* BadassGrandpa: Every single member of the Silver Horde, along with Vena as a Badass Grandma. Every single one of them is at least eighty, but you don't live to be that old in barbarian adventuring unless you're very, very, good at it.

* TheLastTitle: The title.

* NobleDemon: Evil Harry Dread isn't even ''pretending'' he isn't one.

* EveryoneHasStandards: The Silver Horde cares nothing for the laws of gods or men, but they do have a Code they follow scrupulously. Having a Code, they believe, is the difference between being a barbarian hero and some thug in a loincloth.

* MythologyGag: When Ponder Stibbons explains how the end of magic will instantly annihilate the Disc, this is referencing multiple statements from the early books, especially Discworld/TheLightFantastic and Discworld/TheColorOfMagic, about how the Disc can only exist because it exists in a magic-rich environment, where raw magic can take up the slack for its otherwise weak and underdeveloped physics.

Not to be confused with ''Film/TheLastActionHero''.