Talk:Louis Wu

Oriental Appearance?

Louis is described in Ringworld as he is preparing to depart Earth (and therefore eliminating the body paints, hair dies, and other cosmetic elements of Earth culture) as losing the mandarin eyes and oriental skin color for his natural, and Earth-typical, mixed-race appearance. Recommend updating the description of his appearance to reflect that he is known to cosmetically appear oriental but his natural appearance is mixed-race. Also, owing to his difficult relationship with ARM post-Ringworld in Ringworld Engineers, he is likely to be disguised in both appearance and habit when in society. Kcarlin 05:50, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Just re-read Ringworld's Children. In this book he tries to come up with a fake name that sounds Asian in order to explain his appearance. But in Ringworld he doesn't look Asian at all, he looks mixed-race, like virtually everyone else. I think the author is just inconsistent.Shrikeangel (talk) 00:44, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Not at all. On Earth, it would be hard to tell where Louis was from, because all earthers look alike. On the Ring, Louis would stand out like a sore thumb. Remember, the people he was trying to fool were Earthers trained as both military and investigators, and Louis could not recognize his own son until he became protector and could smell him. When a writer like Niven writes something, it's from the perspective of the characters looking at each other, not the Reader looking at the character. For instance, all Puppeteers look alike to humans until the Fleet of Worlds series where individuals have to be made distinctive from each other. When it's just one Puppeteer (nessus or the hindmost) among humans, it really doesnt matter what it looks like, but when it's one particular puppeteer (Nike or Achilles) among billions of other puppeteers, then it does matter. Same thing with a lone Human on a Ring of oddly shaped not-quite-humans. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.174.83.232 (talk) 23:03, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Louis could tell one Puppeteer from another in Ringworld: "The strange puppeteer pushed its way through a last fringe of hanging scarlet tendrils. (Louis remembered when he had thought of Nessus as "it". When had Nessus graduated to "him"? But, Speaker, a familiar alien, had been "him" from the beginning.) The puppeteer stopped there, just short of the presumed boundaries of the pearly dome. Its mane was silver where Nessus's was brown, and was neatly coiffeured in complex ringlets; but its voice was Nessus's thrilling contralto." -- Resuna (talk) 20:05, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

Pronunciation and Re-Org

This article needs quite a bit of reorganization. I suggest breaking it into at least two sections: Wu's parents and the circumstances of his birth and early childhood, and his life in Known Space and expiditions to Ringworld. I haven't read Niven for many years so I would defer this job to someone more up-to-date. But whoever takes on the task, please include a note that Louis is pronounced in the French style, "LOO-ee", not the Anglicized "LOO-is" (as pointed out in TRE.) Dpiranha 01:17, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

In Ringworld's Children Louis Wu calls himself "Luis Tamarasan" in front of the ARMs, reckoning that "Luis" and "Louis" sound enough alike that if Acolyte forgets Louis' new name, the ARMs won't notice (Acolyte is a Kzin and presumably speaks with an accent). This is inconsistent with Chmeee's (Acolyte's father) pronunciation, "Luweewu". I think Larry Niven is just inconsistent. You would think authors wouldn't forget these kinds of things, especially authors who write for nerds. As for me, I've never written even one novel, much less a series, so I am reluctant to criticize.Shrikeangel (talk) 00:50, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I find it strange that two people here have stated as "fact" that the author made a mistake and "forgot" that Louis pronounces his name as "Louie", but the only thing they're offering as evidence is their own interpretation (probably misinterpretation) of the text. As was pointed out, according to the story Acolyte couldn't be relied upon to remember Louis' alias, so Louis had to pick a first name that was sufficiently close to his real one that the ARMs wouldn't become suspicious if Acolyte forgot and called him "Louie", which is how Louis pronounced his real name. Therefore, whether or not Louis had an "Asian" appearance has nothing to with why he took the alias "Luis". Furthermore, if Louis *pronounced* his name as "Luis", then in what way would "Luis" be an alias? This objection doesn't even make sense. I think the mistake wasn't the author's-- the mistake appears to be readers who aren't paying sufficient attention. BTW Chmeee isn't the only one to call Louis "Looeewoo" or something similar; one of the City Builders calls him something that sounds like that, too.--Lensman003 (talk) 05:55, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

With respect to Lensman who is in the Niven inner circle... Filipinos are Asiatic Hispanics, many of whom are named Luis, and being a Louis myself, dont care how it's pronounced, unless there's a group of Louis-es and distinctions have to be made. I have always read the name Lou-is, and taken other character's pronunciations for what they are. When Speaker called Louis "loowewoo" he was under the effects of a stunner, and slurring his speach. RWE. In Ringworld itself, Speaker never says, Looeewoo but says, Louis. The American spelling of Louie (Louie, Louie) would be known to Niven, and if Niven intended for Americans to read Louis as Louie, he would have done it. He wrote for an American audience, not a French one. (The novel would have originated in French!) Therefore, logically, it's open to interpretation. Niven himself says he says exactly what he means to say, so Lou-is, it is. It is common practice in writing starting with Mark Twain and Chaucer to allow characters to speak with their own voices, separate from the Author's. Therefore, the Reader interprets anything in quotes as he wishes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.174.83.232 (talk) 22:48, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Ringworld natives pronounce his name "luweewu". Examples: "Luweewu, I would give all I have to be a hundred falans younger." (Ringworld Throne) and "Luweewu, some species are more fertile than others." (Ringworld Engineers). -- Resuna (talk) 20:14, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

New Novels

Fleet of Worlds gave backstory to Nessus and the Hindmost, Juggler of Worlds expanded on Sigmund Ausfaller (and detailed the Fafner incident). Expect the 3rd novel to expand on Louis Wu. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.113.80.187 (talk) 07:00, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

My mistake, it's the 4th novel, Betrayer of Worlds. Louis Wu's backstory is hinted at, but not filled in, and his early days are touched on, but not explained in depth, allowing for yet another Louis Wu based novel in the future. PLUS (spoiler alert) Louis' lack of memory is explained away as both drug related, and mechanical brain wipe. Allowing for both fuzzy memories and again, a possible future Louis Wu novel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.174.83.232 (talk) 22:52, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Gridley

When did Wu get a middle name? Or did he always have one and I just never knew without reading the books? --DocumentN (talk) 01:14, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Both "There Is a Tide" and the second chapter of Ringworld specify Louis Gridley Wu.--Lensman003 (talk) 05:51, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Tasp / Wire

This article fails to mention Wu's addiction to the tasp.LorenzoB (talk) 03:10, 7 October 2016 (UTC)