A "reformed con-man" who is one of the major characters of the series,[1] von Lipwig is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal, Making Money, and Raising Steam.

[2] Being an unreliable narrator, the reader is unsure of whether parts of his backstory are true, for example, he is unclear on his age and his living through the breakup of the unholy empire.

Descriptions of his height, appearance and age vary between different characters in the novel, which he uses to his advantage, by wearing disguises such as fake glasses and ear hair wigs.

At that time, the city's postal service had long since ceased operation, the remaining two employees doing useless things punctiliously every day.

Commander Vimes notices that the Ankh-Morpork Post Office has issued two different sets of stamps commemorating the Battle of Koom Valley, one in which the Dwarfs are winning the battle, the other the Trolls, and he makes an angry remark about "that pea-brain at the Post Office" (probably referring to Stanley, the Head of Stamps Dept, who's known to have been raised by peas).

Moist becomes the Master of the Royal Mint, introduces paper money to Ankh-Morpork, and revolutionizes the bank, while keeping it out of the hands of the greedy Lavish family who sit on the board of directors.

Following a palace coup against the Low King of the Dwarves, Rhys Rhysson, Moist is required to fulfil the logistically difficult task of constructing a railway line to Schmaltzberg.

At the Wilinus Pass, it is suggested that Moist secretly, and without authorization, used Ankh-Morpork's Umian golems (brought to the city in Making Money) to somehow convey a train over the ravine.

[7] In a review of Making Money for The Guardian, Patrick Ness describes von Lipwig as "a fresh new character" written "to poke serious fun at City institutions".

[8] Jim Shanahan, in a chapter on Pratchett's works, describes the character as a "reformed con-man" who "drives technological change".