Ronald Rust
An Ankh-Morpork nobleman, whose full name is Ronald Rust. He first appears in Men At Arms, in which he is one of the nobles who doesn't take d'Eath seriously. In this novel he seems to have keen political instincts; it is stated that the Rusts have survived by not being romantic.
Lord Rust makes more sizeable appearances in Jingo and Night Watch, wherein he appears overly-bred and arrogant; a brief subsequent appearance in Monstrous Regiment suggests he still has some of the intelligence of his earlier portrayal. Lord Rust's most defining characteristic, along with his arrogance, is his unsurpassed military and strategic incompetence (or, at least, his ability to achieve goals only by simultaneously sustaining devastating losses; he is described as operating on the theory that a battle was a glorious victory if you can subtract your casualties from the casualties of the enemy and come up with a positive number), coupled with the inexplicable ability to be repeatedly chosen to command large armies and similar organisations, hence his description as "The god's gift to the enemy, any enemy, and a walking advertisement for desertion." Also notable is his method of dealing with unpleasant occurrences. He simply mentally edits them out. In "Snuff", he is portrayed as an elderly man in a wheelchair, with a sunken look.
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