Gaspode the Wonder Dog

Gaspode's first memory was being thrown into... well, onto, the river Ankh, in a sack. The little puppy slowly dragged itself ashore and formed a rather confused relationship with the brick weighing the sack down.

After this inauspicious start, he became one of the many strays haunting the alleyways of Ankh-Morpork, until the otherwordly influence of Holy Wood swept over him, turning him into a 'Wonder Dog' and granting him the power of speech. He tagged along with Vincent, a perpetual student Wizard, who was also captured by the magic of Holy Wood. Sadly, he was upstaged on set by a beautiful, groomed, well trained and golden dog, who was as dim as he was attractive. Gaspode played wise sidekick and helped save the day, losing the power of speech after the magic faded.

After returning to Ankh-Morpork, he had regained the ability to talk, after eating magically contaminated rubbish, from the Unseen University rubbish dump (much like the rats, and - indirectly - Maurice, in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.

He continues to pop up, making snide comments and playing on people's subconsciouses, by voicing comments from around knee level that people assume they must have thought up themselves. He is currently part of The Canting Crew.

Gaspode turns up in seven books so far in the Discworld series, and is becoming a recurring Ankh-Morpork stand-by. In some books he's a main part of the plot, in others he just wanders past and asks for sausages, or looks at people knowingly.

This mangy little terrier is usually found wandering the streets of Ankh-Morpork, near anywhere with foot and often in company with some of the more notorious beggars. At one point he played the 'Thinking Brain Dog' for Foul Ole Ron (like a seeing eye dog... replacing what isn't there!).

Gaspode and Cheery
by *aku-sei on deviantART

Gaspode
by ~IronOutlaw56
on deviantART

He turns up in:
Moving Pictures
Men At Arms
Soul Music
Feet of Clay
Hogfather
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth

"Did I hear things, or can that little dog speak?" said Dibbler.
"He says he can't," said Victor.
Dibbler hesitated. "Well," he said, "I suppose he should know."
-- Dibbler meets Gaspode the Wonder Dog (Moving Pictures)

Moving Pictures

The first book that Gaspode appears in, and the first time that he finds himself talking, is when the old magic of Holy Wood sweeps across Ankh-Morpork, and calls for a Wonder Dog (as well as a few moving picture stars who can possibly sing or dance a little, a talking cat and mouse duo, and a businessman with a real eye for 'cut your own throat' opportunities).

Gaspode has a main role in the plot - he helps keep the rather clueless lead alive and fed, and lands him a role on the big screen, and follows him around complaining for most of the story.

Men at Arms
Men At Arms is the second Watch book and follows the Watch and its culturally acceptable new recruits, as Vimes tries to hunt down a murderer.

Another book in which such characters as Dibbler and Gaspode lurk around the edges. Gaspode only appears briefly here - I'm going to have to go back and reread it to find out where!


Men At Arms by ~Tiznaught on deviantART

Soul Music

Soul Music is quite similar to Moving Pictures - the magic of showbiz sweeps across innocents, setting Ankh-Morpork alight with starlit dreams. In this case, Music With Rocks In takes over Bud, the newfound crush of Death's granddaughter.

This is one of Gaspode's official appearances as Foul Ole Ron ("Millennium, Hand And Shrimp!") and his Smell's Thinking Brain Dog, when Mr. Scrub (Death, trying to learn how to forget) joins up briefly with the Canting Crew. The Canting Crew is a bunch of beggars and outcasts who gather together, and are generally avoided by everyone else - even other beggars. The Crew also includes The Duck Man ("What Duck?"); Coffin Henry ("For sum muny I wunt follo you home. Coff Coff,"); Arnold Sideways (Legless, rides on a cart, and likes asking "Have you got change for a penny?" and profiting from the resulting confusion) and Altogether Andrews (and his eight over-active personalities). They are so odd a crew that they see nothing strange in a talking dog.

Feet of Clay

Another story set in Ankh-Morpork, here Gaspode is one of the recurring and memorable background characters.

Feet Of Clay is another Watch book, and focuses on Golems and their rights.

Hogfather


Woof Bloody Woof by ~IHeartVimes on deviantART

Gaspode appears along with the Canting Crew again - here Death (filling in for the Hogfather) swaps their feast of old boots for a 'real' feast from a fancy restaurant.

The Hogfather is actually a Death and Susan book, as the rather too proficient assassin, Mr. Teatime (that's Tea-AH-tim-EH), has figured out how to kill off the Hogfather himself.

The Fifth Elephant

Gaspode lurks around a lot in The Fifth Elephant, making a nuisance of himself - until Angua disappears, and a rather worried Carrot enlists Gaspode's nose to track down his werewolf girlfriend. Gaspode gets some chicken, lies to a terrified wolf, generally plays unwilling Good Dog and finally ends up getting rejected by scary female wolves in the wolf pack that Angua comes to rescue Carrot with.

This isn't actually the main story - that involves Vimes, politics, a lot of fat, and running around in the snow being chased by werewolves - but Gaspode does get a fairly important role.

"But surely dogs can't talk--" Sacharissa began.
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear," said Gaspode, "Did I say I was talking?"
"Well, not in so many words--"

-- Sacharissa meets Gaspode the Wonder Dog
(The Truth)

The Truth

Another recurring appearance - in The Truth Gaspode plays helpful sidekick to William De Worde, an idealistic editor of Ankh-Morpork's first real investigative newspaper. Going by the alias "Deep Bone" he helps William track down Wuffles, Vetinari's dog , and the only witness to a nefarious plot against the Patrician. The Canting Crew is also hired to sell newspapers.

He plays a small but important part - most of the book is about William and the misadventures of his new printing press, as well as vvarious shady antagonists, such as Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip.