Commander Sam Vimes

Sam Vimes' full name and title (after his unwished-for promotion to the aristocracy) is His Grace, The Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes. Other titles include His Excellency, Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork, as well as Blackboard Monitor Vimes.

Sam Vimes is the Commander of the City Watch of the Discworld's largest city, Ankh-Morpork. His rise from drink-sodden, hopeless street copper to respected (if unwilling) member of the aristocracy, and the growth and development of the Watch under his command, have together been one of the most impressive feats on the Discworld. Born into poverty, he is now a highly reluctant member of the nobility; both a knight and a duke, and married to Sybil Ramkin, the richest heiress in the city.

Sam Vimes was born in Cockbill Street, in the Rimwards part of the Shades, the poorest area of Ankh-Morpork. It was so poor that there was little crime, though Sam was part of a street gang (The Cockbill Street Roaring Lads) with Lupine Wonse (who later became secretary to Lord Vetinari). Vimes was educated at a dame school. At school he was once blackboard monitor for a whole term.

The City Watch apparently runs in the Vimes family. It is thought that Sam's father was a Watchman, and he is the descendant of Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes, the Watch Commander who instigated the rebellion against, and subsequent beheading of, Lorenzo the Kind, the appalling last king of the city, a sadistic torturer described as 'very fond of children'. For centuries after, the memory of Suffer-Not-Injustice has lived on in infamy and, as his descendant, Sam has frequently endured suspicious mutterings from the aristocracy. He also seems to have inherited an almost phobic reaction to monarchs. Vimes and his famous ancestor share a nickname, Old Stoneface.

Sam Vimes was in his late teens when he joined the Watch. He was part of that section of the Watch which played a large role in the rebellion against Homicidal Lord Winder. It was around this time he was taught all he knows by Sergeant-At-Arms John Keel, which is where his cynical outlook on life (and, paradoxically, his firm belief in justice) comes from. However, on recent information received from an undisclosed source (a wizard), Keel was in fact Sam himself flung back in time thirty years.

During the first 25 years of his term in the Watch Sam rose to Captain of the Night Watch as it dwindled to a tiny stub - while the power of the Thieves' Guild grew. This insult to Sam's sense of justice, led to heavy drinking which probably came near to killing him.

All that changed when Carrot Ironfoundersson came to the city. This man (raised by dwarves) joined the Watch and set out to help the city. Around the same time a dragon assaulted the city and the Watch was instrumental in its defeat. The Watch also gained a new headquarters, Pseudopolis Yard after the dragon destroyed their original base at Treacle Mine Road.

Later on, the Night Watch under Vimes took on extra staff in the form of a werewolf, a dwarf and a troll. They were instrumental in foiling an attempt on the Patrician's life, and were rewarded. The Watch was rapidly revived and became very important in the city.

Vimes, who was on the point of retiring following his marriage to Lady Sybil, was given the resurrected rank of Commander, putting him in charge of the Night Watch and the Day Watch. He also (to his disgust) received a Knighthood.

Sir Samuel took a great interest in the restructuring of the Watch, placing new Watch Houses where they were needed and supervising the creation of both a Watch Academy and a forensic alchemy section. So successful has been his reform of the City Watch, that by Night Watch, Vimes-trained policemen are in high demand in cities across the Discworld. They are now so common across the Sto Plains that they are known as 'Sammies', even to people who've never even heard of Samuel Vimes. In his expanding international and diplomatic role, Vimes appreciates the fact that watch officers from Sto Lat to Genua have been trained to salute him, and, night and day, remain in "unofficial" contact across the Discworld.

If one could sum Sam Vimes up in a single word, it would be "conflicted." An incorruptible idealist with deep beliefs in justice and an abiding love of his city, he is also a committed cynic whose knowledge of human nature constantly reminds him how far off those ideals are. A cushioned member of the upper classes, he still has an innate dislike of hereditary wealth and a horror of social inequality. The Patrician observes that Vimes is anti-authoritarian even though he is an authority figure. A self-described speciesist, Vimes has nonetheless allowed the Watch to become one of the most species-blind employers in the city, and recognises better than most the value of its non-human members, such as dwarfs, trolls, and even vampires, for whom he still admits an innate dislike, probably due to their attraction to power. But by far the deepest and most profound conflict within Sam Vimes is that between his virtuous nature (which at one point identifies itself as "the Watchman") and what he calls "the beast"; the dark upwelling of fury in his soul that, if let loose, would drive him to destroy those he hates.

Since his son's birth, Vimes has discovered a new cause in life; arriving at home every day at six o' clock sharp to read him Where's My Cow?, an obligation that supersedes crime, conspiracy or international negotiations - his thinking being that if he ever missed it for a good reason, he might miss it for a bad reason, and that this might apply to everything he did, such as employing less-than-ethical methods in the pursuit of crime.