Portal:Discworld/Character of the day/1

Character of the day

The Luggage appears in the Discworld novels involving Rincewind. It is a large iron bound chest made of sapient pearwood (a magical, intelligent plant which is nearly extinct, impervious to magic, and only grows in a few places outside the Agatean Empire, generally on sites of very old magic). It has hundreds of little legs protruding from its underside and can move very fast if the need arises. It has been described as "one part trunk, four parts homicidal maniac".

Its function is to act as both a luggage carrier and bodyguard for its owner, against whom no threatening motion should be made. The Luggage is fiercely defensive of its owner, and is generally homicidal in nature, killing or eating several people and monsters throughout the books (including dragging sharks ashore and jumping up and down on them). Its mouth, the feature often remarked upon by those it is about to consume, contains "lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and a pulsating tongue, red as mahogany." The inside area of The Luggage does not appear to be constrained by its external dimensions, and contains many conveniences: even when it has just devoured a monster, the next time it opens the owner will find his underwear, neatly pressed.

One of the greatest features of The Luggage is its ability to follow its current owner anywhere including such places as inside its owner's mind, off the edge of the Disc, and Death's Domain. Like all luggage, it's constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down.