Good Magician Humfrey

Good Magician Humfrey
Species	Human
Talent	Magician of Information
Residence	Good Magicians Castle
Marital Status\Mate	Married to Dara, Taiwan, Rose, Sofia, Gorgon, and MareAnn
Children\Offspring	Dafrey, Crombie, Rosetta, Hugo

Humfrey was delivered in 933. He is the Magician of Information. He resides in his castle, which also serves as his office. He became the seventeenth King of Human Xanth in 952, succeeding Ebnez. He was succeeded by Aeolus when he abdicated the office in 971.

History[edit | edit source]

Humfrey was always a small and grew up in a village close to Castle Roogna without knowing it. Clio would come out of the Castle to babysit him. She was impressed by his inquisitive mind.

Humfrey is an extremely old man whom many consider to be a mean, tiny person. His size causes him to sometimes be mistaken as an elf^[1] or gnome. He has been married five and a half times. He's had four children so far and numerous grand children.

Good Magician Humfrey is instrumental in every Xanth book, but serves as a main character in The Source of Magic. During the NextWave Invasion of Night Mare, he serves as the fourth King of the chain. In Dragon on a Pedestal, he is accidentally exposed to water from the Fountain of Youth, which results in his being turned into a baby. He resumes his preferred age of about a hundred years old in Golem in the Gears, and goes missing (along with his current wife and their son) in the following book, Vale of the Vole. He is searched for by Dolph in Heaven Cent, and then by Ivy in Man from Mundania, in which his whereabouts are discovered by Ivy and Grey Murphy. At his direction, Grey moves into his castle and serves as Magician of Information in his place.

He finally returns to Xanth proper in Question Quest when Lacuna travels to Hell and learns his history of how he became the Magician of Information, thus enabling him to leave Hell for good and arrange for all five and a half of his wives to leave on a temporary basis. The novel also reveals that Humfrey knows about the existence of the characters in Anthony's other books. He has notes which indicate he knows Kelvin, from The Adventures of Kelvin of Rud, slew a golden dragon; Stile, from the Apprentice Adept, is the Blue Adept; Zane, from the Incarnations of Immortality, is Thanatos in On a Pale Horse, and Darius, from Mode, is the Cyng of Hlahtar. Since his return from Hell, Humfrey has resumed his duties as Magician of Information.

He built his castle on the site of the Old Castle Zombie.

Becoming the Magician of Information[edit | edit source]

In Heaven Cent, it is implied that Humfrey's actual magical talent may be no more than that of locating other magic that may be of use to him. Though probably not magical talents, he does have extreme curiosity and a (usually) very good memory, which through the course of his life led him to become a master of information, as he recounted in Question Quest. Further, he recounted that he had believed that his native magical talents were not magician-class, and that he attended Demon University and gained a degree in magic, so that he could deserve the Magician appellation by which he had already become known.

Role as Magician of Information[edit | edit source]

As the Magician of Information, Humfrey has established himself into a rather valuable role for the citizens of Xanth. He has collected a wealth of spells and information over the years that aid him in answering the questions presented to him. As such, many citizens have asked for his help in answering questions. To help ensure that people think hard about whether to ask their question or not, Humfrey requires a year's service in exchange for answering any question. ^[2]

Humfrey also enjoys some level of isolation. To aid in this, he occasionally changes the paths people use to reach him using magic. This helps prevent map-makers from establishing a clear route to his castle.^[3]

People with Magician-caliber talents are generally not required to perform the year's service.

Wives[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married 5 1/2 times.^[4]

Dara Demoness[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married Dara, a demoness, in year 952. She was a demon with a soul, which gave her a conscience. She abandoned Humfrey after the delivery of their son, Dafrey, in year 954. She returned a year later in the guise of Taiwan, his then wife, and they had another son Matt A Door. She later wished to join Humfrey in the real world as a designated wife.

Maiden Taiwan[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married Maiden Taiwan in year 954. She "abdicated" their marriage in year 971 after Humfrey abdicated throne of Xanth.

Rose of Roogna[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married Rose of Roogna in year 972. She is Humfrey's second true love. Rosetta, their daughter, was delivered in 973. Rose was captured and sent to Hell in a handbasket in 1000. After that event, Humfrey took 80 years worth of forget elixir to forget her, which led to events later.

Sofia Socksorter[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married Sofia in year 1000. Crombie, their son, was delivered in 1002. Sofia returned to Mundania in year 1035.

Gorgon[edit | edit source]

Humfrey married Gorgon in year 1059. They met during the Events of The Source of Magic, where he nulled her magic. Gorgon later asked Humfrey a Question: "Will you marry me?" After one year of service, he said yes. Hugo, their son, was delivered in 1064.