The Characters of Oz — Kiki Aru

When Ozma restricted the practice of magic to only a few trusted individuals, there were notably some who ignored her ruling. However, one Munchkin named Bini Aru decided that even though he'd discovered a powerful charm of transformation, he would obey Ozma's word and stop using it and any other magic. However, he decided to record the magic word "pyrzqxgl" on the underside of a floorboard, just in case he might be permitted to use it again.

Well, Bini and his wife Mopsi happened to have a son named Kiki, and one day when his parents were away, Kiki happened to find that floorboard and discovered the secret it held. Being a cross and disagreeable Munchkin boy who wanted to see the world outside the settlement on top of the steep Mount Munch, Kiki quickly realized he could achieve his much-desired goal of seeing the world outside of his mountain home. Very soon, he memorized and mastered the magic word and flew off over the Deadly Desert to the Lands beyond Oz.

Kiki ventured through Hiland and Loland, then flew over Merryland, toured Noland and Ix, and finally arrived in Ev, where he wound up stealing money to pay for dinner and lodging. This caused him to be noticed by Ruggedo, the former Nome King. Discovering that the boy knew how to work transformations, Ruggedo quickly made him an ally and convinced him to help him return to Oz with intent to conquer.

Upon arriving in Oz, Kiki quickly realized that he was nothing more than a means to an end for Ruggedo's plot to make the animals of the Forest of Gugu revolt against Ozma and the human/humanoid people of Oz. Yet he kept dutifully performing transformations as he expected a reward eventually. In the shape of monkeys with lion's heads with eagle's wings and donkey's tails with gold balls at the end (these were dubbed Li-Mon-Eags), they nearly convinced King Gugu to help them attack Oz.

Until the Wizard and Dorothy happened to show up in the first. Kiki wound up panicking and made some hasty transformations, incapacitating everyone who seemed to be in his way, including turning Ruggedo into a goose and the Wizard into a fox.

Ruggedo managed to get Kiki to transform him back into a Li-Mon-Eag, but now the Nome was trying to discover the magic word for himself. However, before he could master it, the Wizard happened to be hiding in the same hollow tree that Kiki would say the word into, attempting to keep it a secret. After the Wizard managed to get the pronunciation down, he turned Kiki into a harmless mute hickory nut.

After a little while, Ozma had the Wizard restore Kiki to his true form, adding that he would be thirsty so he'd drink of the Water of Oblivion. He was unable to tell Ozma anything before he took a drink. They could tell from his clothes that he was a Munchkin, so Ozma decided to keep him in the Emerald City to give him a fresh, good start. And since Kiki's wickedness was based around being ignored, this should have proved to be an improvement in his character.

Except Kiki Aru is never mentioned again in the Famous Forty Oz books.

Kiki sticks out from Baum's other villains because he is not a wicked sorcerer, he is not an elemental being like the Nome King. He is a simple Munchkin boy. He doesn't like to play with neighbors or other Munchkins, but really, Kiki could be any child. He didn't even want to harm the Oz people. His first real crime—theft—was done from necessity. Perhaps if he had never met Ruggedo, he might have lived an odd but happy life outside of Oz. But after being taken in by the Nome and causing problems in Oz, one could see why Ozma needed to make him forget the magic word.

There is a story in Oziana titled "Much Ado About Kiki Aru" in which Bini Aru finds and claims his son. While I liked that part, if also explains why the Wizard never uses the magic word "pyrzxqxgl" again. While I admit that the Wizard knowing this word makes later stories less problematic (why didn't the Wizard transform the sunken city's support beams in Glinda of Oz?), I've found it fun to think that the word still works and the Wizard is just about the only one who knows it, and he uses this knowledge very sparingly.

Whether or not "Much Ado" is canon or not, I think it's safe to say that Kiki was eventually reunited with his parents. If Dorothy related the story to Mr. Baum, who wrote it as a story, then how did she know Kiki's name?

The Characters of Oz — Captain Fyter, Ku-Klip, Chopfyt, and Nimmie Aimee

One of the big things about The Tin Woodman of Oz is that we get to go back to the story of the Tin Woodman and finally meet some of the characters who were once just part of an anecdote. Baum would rarely go back to old characters who had been left behind. The Good Witch of the North, the Queen of the Field Mice, and even Jack Pumpkinhead vanished or quietly slipped into the background only to receive brief mentions or appearances in the later stories.

You may have noted that Baum took the liberty of revising the Tin Woodman's story in Tin Woodman. While it fits with his very good habit of not leaving audiences in the dark about his characters, this time, the information was crucial to the story. (And also to get the Tin Woodman's backstory otherwise would mean getting a copy of The Wizard of Oz, which was published by a different publisher and Baum had signed over the royalties to pay off debts.) This meant an entire character—Nimmie Aimee's mother—was culled from the proceedings and the Wicked Witch of the East given a larger presence in his tale.

However, as unique and bloody as the Tin Woodman's story was, he discovered that he shared it with another. On his way to find Nimmie Aimee at last, he and his friends found a rusted Tin Soldier, who had a very similar construction. After being oiled, Captain Fyter revealed he also had fallen in love with Nimmie Aimee and was similarly cursed by the Wicked Witch, with his sword chopping off bits of him. While the two Tin Men could have quarreled, they realized that they could allow Nimmie to choose from between them.

Fyter also claimed one advantage over the Tin Woodman: he had brains and a heart. However, he noted that his brains were scraps of tin and when he thinks, they rattle, so he tries not to think. Also, his tin heart is cold and hard.

Captain Fyter joined the Tin Woodman on his quest and they soon found Ku-Klip's shop, where they met the tinsmith who fashioned their tin bodies. Ku-Klip is as kindly and helpful as ever, even offering to make tin legs for the Scarecrow.

However, as the inventor of tin prosthetics, Ku-Klip has a disturbing side. He viewed the creation of the tin bodies as exchange for the "meat" bodies and actually kept them. Remember when I discussed the Tin Woodman's human head in the cabinet? Yep.

The old Tinsmith was seemingly on good enough terms with the Wicked Witch of the East to have her glue a severed finger back on with "meat glue." This compound would join flesh and bones together perfectly, and after the Witch died, Ku-Klip took it. Deciding he needed a hand around the shop, he used the pieces of Nick Chopper and Captain Fyter to create a new man: Chopfyt. He had Captain Fyter's head, Nick Chopper's right arm, but no left arm because Ku-Klip could not find a left one for some reason.

Chopfyt was not much help in the smithy and ate a lot of food. Chopfyt decided to go seek adventure, and Ku-Klip was glad to see him go, giving him a tin arm in good faith.

Ku-Klip was also able to tell the Tin Woodman where Nimmie Aimee went, and sent him off in the direction of Mount Munch. But at Mount Munch, the group found a surprise. Nimmie had met Chopfyt. And married him. Her reasoning is that he reminded her of her lovers as they were before they became tin, and the tin arm reminded her of them afterward.

Strangely, though, Nimmie admits to having forgotten them when she meets them again, so it's a little strange that she'd forget such unusual lovers. But she decided she'd remain faithful to Chopfyt and sent her old loves home again.

And none of these characters reappear in the Famous Forty Oz books. Melody Grandy's Forever in Oz liberates the Tin Woodman's head by giving it a tin body and creates a daughter for Chopfyt and Nimmie, though she notes that Forever is—due to biology—Nick Chopper's daughter. There's a very special ending for Nick, Captain Fyter (who Melody names Feersom), Nimmie, and Chopfyt, but I won't spoil that.

The Characters of Oz — The Yoops

Up and down they went for hours, with nothing to relieve the monotony of the landscape, until finally, when they had topped a higher hill than usual, they discovered a cup-shaped valley before them in the center of which stood an enormous castle, built of purple stone. The castle was high and broad and long, but had no turrets and towers. So far as they could see, there was but one small window and one big door on each side of the great building.
"This is strange!" mused the Scarecrow. "I'd no idea such a big castle existed in this Gillikin Country. I wonder who lives here?"
"It seems to me, from this distance," remarked the Tin Woodman, "that it's the biggest castle I ever saw. It is really too big for any use, and no one could open or shut those big doors without a stepladder."
"Perhaps, if we go nearer, we shall find out whether anybody lives there or not," suggested Woot. "Looks to me as if nobody lived there."
On they went, and when they reached the center of the valley, where the great stone castle stood, it was beginning to grow dark. So they hesitated as to what to do.
"If friendly people happen to live here," said Woot, "I shall be glad of a bed; but should enemies occupy the place, I prefer to sleep upon the ground."
"And if no one at all lives here," added the Scarecrow, "we can enter, and take possession, and make ourselves at home."
While speaking he went nearer to one of the great doors, which was three times as high and broad as any he had ever seen in a house before, and then he discovered, engraved in big letters upon a stone over the doorway, the words:

"YOOP CASTLE"

"Oho!" he exclaimed; "I know the place now. This was probably the home of Mr. Yoop, a terrible giant whom I have seen confined in a cage, a long way from here. Therefore this castle is likely to be empty and we may use it in any way we please."

So the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Woot the Wanderer entered a giant castle, believing it to be abandoned. Mr. Yoop had been encountered in The Patchwork Girl of Oz as a giant in a caged cave. Being unattended, he ate what he could catch, which was pretty much whatever passed by that he could reach. Dorothy, Ojo and their friends managed to get past by letting him catch the Scarecrow and Scraps, who he refused to eat. He was also very gaudily dressed:

...he was dressed all in pink velvet, with silver buttons and braid. The Giant's boots were of pink leather and had tassels on them and his hat was decorated with an enormous pink ostrich feather, carefully curled.

 So, his castle should be abandoned, right?

Wrong.

He had a wife. And not only was Mrs. Yoop a giantess, she was also a Yookoohoo, in her own words, "the cleverest magic-workers in the world," specializing in transformation.

Mrs. Yoop was actually not upset about her husband being captured and carried off far south into the Quadling Country:

"I must admit, however, that Yoop had a bad temper, and had the habit of knocking over a few houses, now and then, when he was angry. So one day the little folks came in a great crowd and captured Mr. Yoop, and carried him away to a cage somewhere in the mountains. I don't know where it is, and I don't care, for my husband treated me badly at times, forgetting the respect a giant owes to a giantess. Often he kicked me on my shins, when I wouldn't wait on him. So I'm glad he is gone."

So he seems to be an abusive husband.

However, with the power of her magic apron, Mrs. Yoop could transform anything into just about anything she wanted. She talks about gathering things from outside the castle and transforming it into food, even mentioning that she made biscuits of some field mice. (So some of the Queen's subjects were eaten by Mrs. Yoop.) She reveals she has turned Polychrome into a canary, and soon turns the Tin Woodman into a tin owl, the Scarecrow into a straw-stuffed bear, and Woot into a green monkey, having made clear to them that nothing she transformed could ever regain its original shape.

Some fans wonder if Yookoohoo magic has to transform an object into something of similar construction. The Tin Woodman can only be transformed into a tin or metal object, whatever the Scarecrow can be transformed into must be stuffed with straw, while Woot and Polychrome can only become other organic creatures. (But what of the field mice made into biscuits?) Other transformations suggest processes of transformations, possibly making slight variations as you go along, such as how Prince Bobo became a goat. (And vice versa.) Polychrome also makes it clear that Mrs. Yoop needs her lace apron to work her magic, so it seems Yookoohoos need talismans to work their magic.

Aside from the messy business of transforming and imprisoning her guests, Mrs. Yoop is an amiable host. However, despite being transformed to be happy with their new forms, the Tin Woodman and his friends escaped anyway when Woot managed to steal the lace apron.

Later, the transformed quartet run into Ozma, who restores most of them, but when it comes to Woot, Ozma realizes that the shape of the Green Monkey must exist in Oz, and she is unable to simply restore him. However, she takes the suggestion from the Scarecrow and Polychrome to transfer the shape of the Green Monkey to Mrs. Yoop. They are able to observe her in a still cauldron making a new apron as she is transformed.

And then, she never reappears in the Famous Forty Oz books.

There was an Oziana story in which she escapes and frees her husband, only for the Green Monkey shape to be transferred to Mr. Yoop and Mrs. Yoop becomes a turtle.

However, recently Paul Dana's The Law of Oz and Other Stories and The Magic Umbrella of Oz, the nature of Yookoohoos—and of Mrs. Yoop—is explored further. Paul confirms that yes, Yookoohoos need to make a talisman to harness their magic with. Mrs. Yoop—who he names Moyna—was not the most skilled Yookoohoo and couldn't revert her transformations. She serves as one of the antagonists in both "Time Travelers of Oz" and Magic Umbrella.

However, Paul leaves Mr. Yoop shut up in his mountain prison, which reminds me of a joke I made once. Mr. Yoop said he once ate a monkey, so if he met his wife in her current form, he might eat her.

And she'd be sure to disagree with him.

The Characters of Oz — Woot the Wanderer

In little corners of Oz, there are people who haven't heard of the latest goings-on in Oz, and so it was that a Gillikin boy named Woot arrived at the Tin Woodman's castle and was surprised to hear that its ruler was a man made of tin, and to see that his best friend was a living Scarecrow.

Peter Glassman—in his afterword to The Tin Woodman of Oz—suggested that Button-Bright or Ojo could have filled Woot's place. Perhaps, but bringing in a new character allowed Baum to prompt a retelling of the Tin Woodman's origin, which the other two characters would have likely heard before.

In addition, Baum's boys are scarcely clones of each other. Woot, with a fresh perspective on the Tin Woodman, sets off the whole adventure by asking why the Tin Woodman didn't marry Nimee Amee. Button-Bright could have thought of this point, but it's unlikely he would have pressed about it as Woot does. Ojo likewise would have thought little of the Tin Woodman's past romance. Woot instead questions the kindness of the Tin Woodman since he won't return to someone he claimed to have loved. Baum needed a new character who would get more involved in the Tin Woodman's story, though it does stand to reason that he could have used a girl instead. But with four girls in Oz who likely knew of the Tin Woodman's origin anyway, perhaps Baum wished to use a boy this time.

I believe I once heard an argument that one of Baum's boys might have been originally intended to be a girl, but I can't recall if it was Ojo or Woot.

Anyway, Woot proves to be a foil to the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, questioning some of the things they do and being key in their escapes from Loonville and Yoop Castle. Even when he's turned into a Green Monkey, Woot manages to save himself from a jaguar, then dragons he finds underground.

After Polychrome is restored and Captain Fyter joins the company, Woot gets pushed into the background. When the story ends, Ozma allows him to continue wandering (as if he needed permission) and promises to look out for him.

Woot never reappears in the Famous Forty Oz books, but he does appear in Eric Shanower's "The Final Fate of the Frogman," and in a story I was working on but since abandoned, he would have been a captive of a creature who guarded a mysterious fountain.

Has Woot wandered into any Oz stories I'm unaware of? Or perhaps one day he'll wander into another one...

The Characters of Oz — Cayke and the Frogman

In a corner of the Winkie Country is the country of the Yips on a high hill surrounded by brambles. Most of the Yips are simple people who live in scattered homes with winding paths between them.

There are—or were—a couple notable citizens among the Yips. There was Cayke the Cookie Cook, who baked cookies for the Yips, but had a secret: her talent for good baking was actually due to her golden, diamond-studded dishpan. So when it was stolen, she had to stop baking cookies. Her first batch without it burned up in the oven, the second one was too tough, and the third one proved edible, but unremarkable.

When the Yips prove to be of no help in finding out who took the dishpan, Cayke goes to the Frogman, who was actually an ordinary frog, but had eaten a magic skosh in his old pond and had grown to man-size. The Yips believed him to be wise, which he decided to maintain. Most of the Yips could be fooled by his talk, but he was no wiser than anyone else.

When Cayke discovered that the Frogman couldn't help her, she decided to set out on her own to find her dishpan. Some Yips (who were quickly dissuaded by the brambles) set out with her, as did the Frogman, who helped her reach Winkie Country proper.

In Winkie Country, the Frogman's pompous nature was soon defeated when he happened to bathe in the Truth Pond and was then compelled to confess to Cayke that his reputation was false.

As they journeyed, the two came to Bear Center, where they discovered that the dishpan was stolen by Ugu the Shoemaker. Being joined by the Big Lavender Bear of Bear Center and the little Pink Bear, they later joined the Wizard's search party for Ozma and assisted them as they could. Finally, Ozma and the stolen items were finally recovered, the dishpan being the last of all.

The Lost Princess of Oz doesn't tell us if Cayke went back to the Yips. It says she was enjoying her visit to the Emerald City and was in no hurry to get back. Perhaps she stayed, the Famous Forty tells us nothing else of her.

Cayke is another strong female character by Baum. She sets out, determining to go alone if she has to. John Bell has pointed out that Neill draws her as rather young, but Baum calls her "dried-up," which suggests that she was older.

The Frogman doesn't have any future Famous Forty roles, but appears in large scenes in the new later Baum books, and Lost Princess says he became a favorite, so perhaps he stayed on still. While outside the Famous Forty, Eric Shanower gives the Frogman a bittersweet tale in "The Final Fate of the Frogman," in which he guards the Truth Pond to prevent anyone who's unaware of what it can do from using it. His reasons are spelled out in the story.

The Characters of Oz — Inga, Rinkitink and Bilbil

This entry is a little odd because originally, these three characters were not Oz characters. They are the heroes of Rinkitink in Oz, which was actually written in 1905 as King Rinkitink. For whatever reason, Baum had held the book back from publication. Most likely, he had realized that it was a better idea not to release too many Baum books each year, and after The Marvelous Land of Oz and Queen Zixi of Ix in St. Nicholas Magazine (and the collected novel edition), he decided to shelve it.

Rinkitink was the first book Baum wrote that featured a group of characters going to the Nome Kingdom to rescue royal prisoners and going through a tough trial to complete their task. This element was successfully reworked into Ozma of Oz. Ozma was in turn adapted into the musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, in which the prisoner was reduced from royalty to a tramp's brother. As the musical was a loose amalgamation of elements from several Oz books, Baum adapted it into Tik-Tok of Oz, adding in an original fairyland on the other side of the world that the characters are temporarily sent to, as well as shaking up the Nome Kingdom's throne and putting Oz proper into the final chapters.

Health conditions and other issues gave Baum little time to produce a new book for 1916, so he decided to see if he had any manuscripts that he might turn into an Oz book. And so, King Rinkitink had its opening revised to mention Oz, and part of its original ending changed to have Dorothy and the Wizard suddenly visit the Nome Kingdom to resolve the plot and facilitate a trip to Oz. Unfortunately, the original version of King Rinkitink is not known to exist, so how our heroes eventually left the Nome Kingdom is anyone's guess.

Inga is main character of the book, and is the prince of island kingdom of Pingaree, which harvests luscious pearls they trade for goods to keep their country thriving. A studious young man, Inga is made privy to the family secret of the three magic pearls by his father. Hidden under a floor tile, the three pearls have magic powers: the blue pearl gives whoever carries it great strength, the pink pearl makes its carrier invincible, and the white pearl whispers words of wisdom or advice.

Inga happens to be in a tree top studying when Pingaree is invaded, enslaved, carried off and devastated by Regos and Coregos and manages to escape imprisonment. Finding the visiting Rinkitink and Bilbil the talking goat, Inga takes lead of the survivors and recovers the pearls at night, later taking them to Regos and Coregos where they use the pearls to drive the king and queen away, despite a few mishaps. They chase King Gos and Queen Cor to the Nome Kingdom, where the Nome King (Kaliko, who acts suspiciously like his predecessor) keeps King Kitticut and Queen Garee of Pingaree prisoner after being paid.

Inga defies Kaliko and uses the pearls to defeat a series of trials for him. Perhaps these trials were enough to win his parents back in the original version, or perhaps the Nome King had another challenge for him. But in the published version, Inga and his parents are freed by Dorothy and the Wizard dropping in with a basket of eggs. After a brief visit to Oz, Inga and his friends and family return to Pingaree, where they find everything rebuilt even more glorious than before.

King Rinkitink rules a small kingdom called Gilgad, where he amiably rules, but feels overwhelmed by his duties. Rinkitink in Oz has him take an unannounced vacation during which he sneaks away to Pingaree and is an honored guest until Regos and Coregos attack. He escapes imprisonment by falling down a well, which Inga and Bilbil rescue him from.

Although always preferring comfort and food and a song (which he writes and sings on the spot, much to Bilbil's chagrin), Rinkitink does manage to give some good advice to Inga, and later helps the boy keep the secret of the pearls, using one himself to get past a few trials the Nome King puts him through.

Finally, the jolly fat king of Gilgad returns home after his adventures, much to his dismay. But he is glad to have had his adventures with Inga.

Bilbil is something of an oddity. In the original version, it was supposed to be a curious thing that he was a talking goat. However, since it was released as the tenth Oz book and just about every animal has talked in the series now, the reader can easily miss that it's supposed to be a mystery as to why this goat can talk.

The gruff, surly goat serves as Rinkitink's steed. Rinkitink is too fat to walk far without tiring and cannot expect to ride a taller beast. Bilbil accepts his duty, but not without complaint. He seems to despise being attached to Rinkitink, even suggesting that Inga leave him in the well. However, Bilbil does pull his weight in the story, helping Inga and even butting King Gos and Queen Cor at great speeds.

After being protected by Rinkitink and his borrowed pearl, Bilbil meets the Wizard, who wonders why the goat can talk, since he's never been to Oz. (Because we've seen talking foxes, donkeys and chickens outside of Oz and now this is a surprise, Wizard?) He then identifies Bilbil as the transformed Prince Bobo of Boboland. (We never discover who enchanted him or why in the Famous Forty.) Returning to Oz, the Wizard and Glinda work hard to restore Bobo to his natural form, and he proves to be an amiable prince, though the last line of the book suggests that he still isn't a fan of Rinkitink's songs.

I recently revamped Bobo's character for a short story in Oziana that ballooned into Marcus Mebes and Jeff Rester's The Royal Explorers of Oz series. In it, I reveal that Bobo is amiable, as long as things go his way. If not, he turns surly and grouchy, much as he was when he was a goat. Marcus and Jeff then whisk the character off a devastating adventure on The Crescent Moon that makes him re-evaluate how he sees things.

Aside from that, I've seen Rinkitink and Bobo appear in small roles in non-Famous Forty tales. Inga not so much, though a couple books have him lend the pearls to the heroes. But the history of Oz is ever-expanding. Perhaps the prince (or now king?) of Pingaree will have another adventure in the near future, perhaps with his old friends.

The Characters of Oz — Blinkie

There were, at one time, many wicked witches in the land of Oz. Some seem to have been more wicked and more powerful than others. It seems, though, that Glinda and the Good Witch of the North put them away or stripped them of their power. The worst were defeated when Dorothy arrived in Oz.

So the question that arises is what's up with Blinkie?

Blinkie appears to be a small-time Wicked Witch who lives in Jinxland and terrorizes the populace with at least three anonymous witches who can turn into beautiful maidens when performing witchcraft. Blinkie's three friends can also fly on broomsticks. Blinkie may act on her own or be hired to do a job.

Blinkie is missing an eye, wearing an eyepatch. This similarity had caused some fans to think she may be a revived or reconstituted Wicked Witch of the West. I personally don't think so as there is little connection aside from that. Perhaps trading in an eye can get a Witch special powers.

Blinkie is actually based on an amalgamation of the Wicked Witch of the West and Mombi from Baum's 1914 film His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. The witch in that film was named Mombi but looked like Denslow's Wicked Witch of the West. Like the Wicked Witch, she enslaved Dorothy to do chores for her, and like Mombi, pursues Dorothy when she runs away. Her fate, however, is entirely original to the film. The Tin Woodman chops her head off and the Wizard traps her in a can and shrinks it. At the end, she appears to be let go after she restores her victims from earlier in the film.

Blinkie was asked by King Krewl to freeze the heart of Princess Gloria so she wouldn't love Pon the gardener's boy. She did so, and also turned Cap'n Bill into a grasshopper with a wooden leg. For this, the Scarecrow punishes her by shrinking her to a tiny size and taking away her powers once she restores her victims.

To be honest, Baum could have replaced Blinkie with Mombi (having brushed up on witchcraft again) if he had been so inclined. However, he let his former villain remain the villain of only one book.

This leaves me with a question: why didn't Glinda do something about Blinkie? In The Scarecrow of Oz, it seems clear that Glinda has known about Blinkie's activities for a while and only sends the Scarecrow to take care of her when Blinkie begins to abuse people from the outside world. In books outside the Famous Forty (but generally considered canonical), Glinda seems to have put two Wicked Witches in the Quadling Country into enchanted sleeps in The Wicked Witch of Oz by Rachel Cosgrove Payes and The Enchanted Apples of Oz by Eric Shanower. Why is Glinda vigilant about these witches but not Blinkie? Why doesn't she go to  Jinxland herself?

Thinking about this, one idea comes up. Maybe Glinda can't go to Jinxland. Or rather, she's not welcome there. Is King Krewl the first king of Jinxland to value Blinkie's services? Perhaps Glinda did try and was forbidden to go back to Jinxland. She makes it clear that by this, she washes her hands of anything that may happen to the people of Jinxland. As pointed out, she only seems to send the Scarecrow once people from outside Jinxland are involved.

Why do you think?

The Characters of Oz — Trot and Cap'n Bill

Of all the characters in this series, Trot and Cap'n Bill were two that took a little deciding on when to cover them. They first appeared in the Oz series in 1915, in the book The Scarecrow of Oz. But Baum writes in his introduction that readers requested that they be "admitted to the Land of Oz," so readers in 1915 knew who they were. However, to a novice reader reading the Baum books for the first time chronologically, these two are strangers.

Trot and Cap'n Bill had actually been introduced in 1911 in the book The Sea Fairies. Mayre "Trot" Griffiths lives with her mother, who boards Bill Wheedles, a retired peg-legged sailor who cares for Trot, serving as a surrogate father as her actual father is often away at sea. Trot is a curious but strongly opinionated little girl, while Cap'n Bill is a grizzled old sun-tanned sailor who fears only what he can't defend Trot from.

The two go exploring together, and the plot of The Sea Fairies finds them being turned into mer-people so they can visit with the mermaids and the sea creatures. They become friends with the mermaids and King Anko, the great Sea Serpent. Trot is even given a ring to summon the mermaids when she needs help near the water.

To attempt to boost sales, Baum's much more substantial sequel, Sky Island, brought in Button-Bright and Polychrome from The Road to Oz, tying the series to the Oz books. Button-Bright arrives via a flying Magic Umbrella to Trot and Cap'n Bill's home. He visits with them and shows them how the Umbrella works. By accident, it takes them to an island in the Sky, where they are made prisoner by the Boolooroo of the Blues. Finally, they escape to the Pink side of the Island, where they are almost executed until Polychrome arrives in the nick of time to save them, using a law that makes Trot the new queen of the Pinkies. With the help of the Pinkies and a little magic, the Blues are conquered, making Trot the "boss." After recovering the Umbrella, Trot, Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright return to Trot's home in California.

The series was not selling as well as the Oz books, forcing Baum to produce The Patchwork Girl of Oz for 1913. Reilly & Britton, the publishers, suggested that Baum alternate between Oz and Trot's adventures, but Baum decided to only produce Oz books. Yet it seems Baum's non-Oz fantasies had its fans, spurring him to make Trot the third and final little girl to visit and stay in the Land of Oz.

There's some debate as to whether or not The Scarecrow of Oz was a revised third Trot book. Oz proper doesn't appear in the story for several chapters, but the book finds Trot and Cap'n Bill being sent underground by a whirlpool. If The Sea Fairies represented the element of water, and Sky Island represented the element of air, did Scarecrow represent the element of earth?

Yet a counter argument rises in that The Sea Fairies and Sky Island take their time to get the story started, while Scarecrow begins with Trot and Cap'n Bill rowing out into the water and being caught in a whirlpool. Yet it is possible that Baum revised the opening and chopped off an opening chapter or two.

Whatever the case, The Scarecrow of Oz finds Trot and Cap'n Bill going underground thanks to a whirlpool and arriving on an island inhabited by a pessimistic old man. With the help of Flipper the Ork, they fly away to the Valley of Mo, and from there meet Button-Bright again, and then fly over the desert to the Land of Oz, unfortunately arriving in Jinxland. King Krewl has Cap'n Bill transformed into a grasshopper while Trot is left to wander around Jinxland. The Scarecrow intervenes and defeats King Krewl and Blinkie the Witch with the help of the Orks, and then escorts Trot and Cap'n Bill to Glinda's palace.

Trot then becomes the third girl from America to live with Ozma in the palace, joining Dorothy and the Wizard's search party to find Ozma in The Lost Princess of Oz. However, she and Cap'n Bill have another adventure in The Magic of Oz as they try to get a magic flower for Ozma's birthday. They have a couple close shaves on the way, and need the Wizard's help to finish the task.

John R. Neill was a little loose about Trot's hair color. She almost looks like Dorothy in some Scarecrow pictures, but seemingly, the generally accepted hair colors by fans of the books are that Dorothy is blonde, Ozma is a brunette, Betsy has auburn hair, and Trot has black. (Remember, generally accepted. Anyone wishing to change this up for their own work or ideas is welcome to.)

Trot and Cap'n Bill generally play minor roles in the rest of the Famous Forty Oz books. Cap'n Bill makes Trot a wooden doll from a tree that princess Peg Amy was transformed into, which is stolen, enlarged, and brought to life by Ruggedo in Kabumpo in Oz, before she is restored to her original form. In The Giant Horse of Oz, looking for a maiden to satisfy Quiberon, Trot is kidnapped by Akbad. She escapes with Benny and the Scarecrow, who were carried away. In the Famous Forty + book The Wicked Witch of Oz, the Witch Singra accidentally turns Trot into a piece of cheese when she meant to do it to Dorothy. (She is, of course, restored by story's end.)

Outside of the Famous Forty, Trot has had more adventures. In the late Marc Haas' The Medicine Man of Oz, many of the Giant Horse crew reunites for a new adventure, including Trot. Eric Shanower originally conceived The Enchanted Apples of Oz as a Trot and Cap'n Bill tale, and later cowrote Trot of Oz with Glenn Ingersoll. Finally, David Tai offers a Trot who is a little more impetuous than her Famous Forty appearances to give her a more distinctive personality. So far, David's only published story with Trot is in Oziana 2008 in "Executive Decisions." He's written more stories that await publication, however, many of which have his take on Betsy and Trot bouncing off of each other.

Scans from The Scarecrow of Oz courtesy Marcus Mebes

The Characters of Oz — Betsy Bobbin and Hank the Mule

So, picture this scene, a stormy night at sea. A young girl is washed overboard, but manages to keep afloat on a piece of flotsam and jetsam with a barnyard animal companion. Soon she washes up near the Land of Ev.

And that's how Betsy Bobbin made her entrance into the world of Oz! ... Except that it's exactly like Dorothy's arrival in Ozma of Oz. And if you remember the last Characters blog, you can likely guess the reason.

Betsy originated from The Tik-Tok Man of Oz musical, which was primarily based on Ozma of Oz. Dorothy could not be used as the stage rights to her character were tied up with The Wizard of Oz extravaganza. So, she was replaced with a character named Betsy Bobbin. A mule named Hank served as a comic companion, like Imogene the calf in Wizard. He also replaced Billina.

Thus, Betsy has often been ignored for other characters after Tik-Tok of Oz and widely considered to be Dorothy with a name swap.

To add insult to injury, poor Betsy gets less to do in Tik-Tok than Dorothy did in Ozma. After arriving in the Rose Kingdom, she's joined by the Shaggy Man, who helps her free Ozga, the Rose Princess. (Mirroring some of the action from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.) After finding Tik-Tok and falling in with the Army of Oogaboo, Betsy is mainly lost in the action as she tags along and falls down the Hollow Tube. Baum does follow her night with the Famous Fellowship of Fairies, which is just about the least plot-relevant chapter. After scaring Ruggedo by requesting eggs, Kaliko puts Betsy and Hank in his private room, where they sit out the rest of the action. Later, Betsy helps search for the Shaggy Man's brother and offers to kiss him.

Betsy appears to be an orphan. We may presume she was traveling with her family in the ship, which caught fire and sank. She seems strangely remorseless if that's the case. Perhaps she was already an orphan and was being sent to overseas relatives. She says she and Hank have nowhere to go, despite indicating that she lived in Oklahoma before. As a result, Ozma gives into Dorothy's request and brings Betsy and Hank to the Emerald City, so Dorothy can have a new girl friend.

Hank is a pretty typical mule, and doesn't speak throughout the adventure of Tik-Tok of Oz. Only when he arrives in the Emerald City does he begin to speak and believes Betsy to be the loveliest girl, while the Lion and Tiger believe it to be Dorothy, and the Sawhorse sticks up for Ozma to have this title. Ozma then rebukes all three for pitting friends against one another.

Betsy and Hank join Dorothy and the Wizard's search party in The Lost Princess of Oz, while Betsy winds up having an adventure in the kingdoms of Ev in The Hungry Tiger of Oz.

Once again I'll break with restricting mentions to the Famous Forty and bring up the Oz stories of David Tai, who gave Betsy a differing personality from Dorothy and the other girl who would soon be introduced to the Oz series. So far, he's only published one story featuring Betsy, in Oziana 2008. "Executive Decisions" sees Betsy take a practical, reasonable approach to her world view, in a contrast to Dorothy's high tolerance.

The Characters of Oz — Queen Ann, Her Army and Ozga

In The Emerald City of Oz, we were shown various little places around Oz that served as their own kingdom. In Tik-Tok of Oz, Baum opens in one of those little places: the Winkie kingdom of Oogaboo, ruled by the young Queen Ann Soforth after her father abdicated and left Oogaboo, his wife following after him.

One of the first things we discover about Ann is that she has a sister, Salye, and they make up the Royal Family of Oogaboo. And the entire Royal Household, as they must also care for their home. The first bit of dialogue in Tik-Tok of Oz is Ann refusing to sweep!

Growing bored with her humble status, Ann decides to assemble an army from the men of Oogaboo to set out to conquer the world. Each of the members of the army was named Jo and their last name was from the crop they grew in Oogaboo: General Jo Apple, General Jo Bunn, General Jo Cone, General Jo Clock, Colonel Jo Plum, Colonel Jo Egg, Colonel Jo Banjo, Colonel Jo Cheese, Major Jo Nails, Major Jo Cake, Major Jo Ham, Major Jo Stockings, Captain Jo Sandwich, Captain Jo Padlocks, Captain Jo Sundae, Captain Jo Buttons, and finally Private Jo Files, the most dedicated fighter of the lot. Jo Candy of Oogaboo refused to go.

If the ranking of the Army seems a little familiar, that's because the Army of Oogaboo was modeled after Ozma's army in Ozma of Oz. Ozma was adapted for stage as The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, which took so many liberties with the plot that Baum adapted it as Tik-Tok of Oz. I can only imagine that Baum saw the appeal of a comic army on stage. However, Ann was not a substitute for Ozma's portrayal in the play. Ann was in the play, as was Ozma, who had a quite different role.

However, Glinda read about Ann's marching out of Oogaboo in the Book of Records and transported them into the wilds of the Land of Ev. Shortly afterward, they were attacked by a Rak, who Files shot, and it landed on the Army. Files managed to get the Rak to turn over and free his superior officers, and it became clear that perhaps conquering the world would be a little more trouble than they thought. Then, they met up with the Shaggy Man, Tik-Tok, Polychrome, Ozga the Rose Princess, Betsy Bobbin and Hank the mule. Files left the Army because he would not fight women, but Tik-Tok took his place, and the rest decided to march with the Army to the Nome Kingdom.

Ruggedo the Nome King activated his rubber country so that the Army bounced through it, but they would not be stopped, so he had the Hollow Tube turned so they would march into it and fall to the other side of the world. The Army met the Famous Fellowship of Fairies, ruled by Tititi-Hoochoo, who sent them back with a dragon named Quox to deprive Ruggedo of his throne and banish him from his kingdom. However, Ruggedo had Ann and her Army caught in a trap, but they found their way into a tunnel that led into the Metal Forest.

It was not easy in the Nome Kingdom, and by the time the Army was discovered, everyone was bruised and their gorgeous uniforms were tearing, and Ann decided to call it quits. She decided that it would be better to go back to Oogaboo and run her humble kingdom than take over the world. Eventually, she and her Army were transported back by the Wizard.

As with many characters in Baum's last eight Oz books, Ann and her army only appeared in this one book. The lack of reappearances gives us little to work with when we try to build a portrait of the character. (Which is why these later blogs aren't quite as good as the former ones...) Oogaboo isn't revisted in the rest of the Famous Forty either.

However, outside of the Famous Forty, there is a book that deals with Queen Ann, and it might seem that I consider it part of my personal Oz canon because a couple friends wrote it: Queen Ann in Oz by Karyl Carlson and Eric Gjovaag. In fact, Karyl has dressed as Queen Ann twice for the Winkie Convention costume contest. (2010 she had a glittering green outfit as Queen Ann visiting the Emerald City. In 2011, she had a pirate costume as Queen Ann on the Crescent Moon.) In their book, Queen Ann goes to seek her long-lost parents with the help of a group of children from Oogaboo. It's a well-done little book and that's why it's part of my personal canon. Being friends with the authors is just a plus.

Private Files was the most well-read of the Army, so he had a better idea of war, but he was coaxed out by refusing to conquer Betsy and the other ladies the Shaggy Man was traveling with. Particularly, Ozga the Rose Princess. She was going to be the ruler of the Rose Kingdom, but the Roses refused to accept her as they wanted a king. Her character was partly based on the Princess of the Mangaboos from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, but she is much more appreciative of the people who set her free. Throughout the adventure described in Tik-Tok of Oz, she and Files become very close and the Wizard sends her to Oogaboo with Ann and the Army.

Ozga is defined as a mortal maid who was a fairy in the book. She officially doesn't have any magic powers, but she is able to ask field flowers the way to the Nome Kingdom, and they sway in the correct direction. So she at least retains a connection to her floral origins.

Source of this scan

Files and Ozga have a new adventure in Melody Grandy and Chris Dulabone's Thorns and Private Files in Oz, but aside from those two books, I'm not sure of any further adventures of our friends in Oogaboo.

The Characters of Oz — The Woozy

"Three hairs from a Woozy's tail" was one of the curious ingredients needed to restore Unc Nunkie and Margolotte, and Ojo was determined to find it somehow. Perhaps Ojo should have realized much earlier that he wasn't Ojo the Unlucky as he soon found the Woozy behind a fence with a sign on it that warned people to beware of it.

Scraps had to climb over the fence to approach the Woozy about its three hairs. What she discovered was a very curious creature, indeed!

The creature was all squares and flat surfaces and edges. Its head was an exact square, like one of the building-blocks a child plays with; therefore it had no ears, but heard sounds through two openings in the upper corners. Its nose, being in the center of a square surface, was flat, while the mouth was formed by the opening of the lower edge of the block. The body of the Woozy was much larger than its head, but was likewise block-shaped—being twice as long as it was wide and high. The tail was square and stubby and perfectly straight, and the four legs were made in the same way, each being four-sided. The animal was covered with a thick, smooth skin and had no hair at all except at the extreme end of its tail, where there grew exactly three stiff, stubby hairs. The beast was dark blue in color and his face was not fierce nor ferocious in expression, but rather good-humored and droll.

 The Woozy revealed that Munchkin farmers had placed him behind the fence due to his penchant for honeybees. Aside from this diet, the Woozy was really quite harmless. He could flash fire from his eyes, but only when he was angry, and he was usually even-tempered.

Scraps got him out by having him burn down the fence, following his suggestion to say "Krizzle Kroo!" which made him very angry because he didn't know what it meant. In exchange for this, he decided to let them have his three hairs, even though they were his only hairs and he considered them his prettiest feature. However, they were impossible to be pulled out by hand. So, Ojo had to take the Woozy along.

The Woozy was very square (fair and reasonable in demeanor). Since Ojo had a replenishing stock of bread and cheese, he gladly shared it with the Woozy, and when Ozma made him part of the curious menagerie in the Palace, Dorothy assured him that he wouldn't have to eat honeybees. The Sawhorse does consider himself superior and kick the Woozy, who claims to be a better steed and offers to burn the Sawhorse, an offer the Scarecrow refuses.

The Woozy doesn't make many notable appearances in the Famous Forty. He does join the grand expedition to find Ozma in The Lost Princess of Oz, most notably being able to walk over thistles thanks to his leathery skin.

Kim McFarland gave the Woozy an origin in A Refugee in Oz, but he doesn't seem to be very active in later Oz stories, instead just being one of the curious creatures you might find in Ozma's palace.

The Characters of Oz — Scraps, the Patchwork Girl

Having a magician for a husband is pretty lonely, particularly when he works on magic powders that take years to create. All there is to do is keep the place clean, cook the meals, and then enjoy yourself.

Dr. Pipt was aware of this, that was why he brought Bungle to life to keep Margolotte company. But what if she was able to have help with the housework? Although Dr. Pipt (probably) never saw the Scarecrow before The Patchwork Girl of Oz began, he was aware that a stuffed man was alive in the Land of Oz. And he knew that the Powder had brought to life Jack Pumpkinhead. So why not make a servant for Margolotte so she could have more time to relax?

Margolotte used an old patchwork quilt that her grandmother had made and used it to create a servant girl. The girl, which she dubbed "Angeline," was a little taller than most Munchkins. Baum describes her pretty well. (Although Neill's illustrations became iconic for the character, note where Neill differed from the text.)

Margolotte had first made the girl's form from the patchwork quilt and then she had dressed it with a patchwork skirt and an apron with pockets in it—using the same gay material throughout. Upon the feet she had sewn a pair of red leather shoes with pointed toes. All the fingers and thumbs of the girl's hands had been carefully formed and stuffed and stitched at the edges, with gold plates at the ends to serve as finger-nails...

The head of the Patchwork Girl was the most curious part of her. While she waited for her husband to finish making his Powder of Life the woman had found ample time to complete the head as her fancy dictated, and she realized that a good servant's head must be properly constructed. The hair was of brown yarn and hung down on her neck in several neat braids. Her eyes were two silver suspender-buttons cut from a pair of the Magician's old trousers, and they were sewed on with black threads, which formed the pupils of the eyes. Margolotte had puzzled over the ears for some time, for these were important if the servant was to hear distinctly, but finally she had made them out of thin plates of gold and attached them in place by means of stitches through tiny holes bored in the metal...

The woman had cut a slit for the Patchwork Girl's mouth and sewn two rows of white pearls in it for teeth, using a strip of scarlet plush for a tongue. This mouth Ojo considered very artistic and lifelike, and Margolotte was pleased when the boy praised it. There were almost too many patches on the face of the girl for her to be considered strictly beautiful, for one cheek was yellow and the other red, her chin blue, her forehead purple and the center, where her nose had been formed and padded, a bright yellow.

 After Ojo and Unc Nunkie arrived, coincidentally the day the Powder of Life would be completed, they got to witness Margolotte put the final touches on "Angeline": the brains. The magic brains were made of powder and would add certain qualities to the servant girl. Margolotte added Obedience first and foremost, then Amiability, Truth, and—on Unc Nunkie's suggestion—a little Cleverness.

Ojo felt sorry for "Angeline" and decided to interfere. He added some of all the qualities to the brains as Margolotte and Unc Nunkie helped Dr. Pipt: Judgment, Courage, Ingenuity, Learning, Truth, Poesy, and Self Reliance.

So perhaps Ojo was to blame for why when "Angeline" came to life the next day, she danced wildly to the music they were playing and caused the accident that proved so pivotal to the storyline of the book. With Margolotte and Unc Nunkie turned into marble statues, Ojo was set off to find the ingredients for an antidote, and the Patchwork Girl and Glass Cat would go off with him.

Except "Angeline" didn't like her name. She instead decided to go by Bungle's suggestion "Scraps" as it suited her quite well. Because with all of those brains, particularly Self Reliance, Scraps was not willing to be told how she should express herself or how to behave. She was her own person and she'd choose who she allied herself with and what she would do. She would sing her own nonsensical but whimsical songs and dance as she wished.

Scraps would assist or sometimes prove to be a bit of a troublemaker on her first adventure. She went in after the Woozy and shielded Ojo from Chiss, but she also got herself kicked out of the mysterious house and later attempted to hide Ojo's picking of a seven-leafed clover from Ozma. To be sure, she did it because she didn't want Ojo to be caught and punished, but it was still a dishonest act, and as the story turned out, it would have been easier if she hadn't interfered.

Scraps also got to meet the Scarecrow, and seeing someone similar in construction to herself, she became rather smitten.

After the adventure in The Patchwork Girl of Oz was over, Scraps stayed in the Emerald City. Although she retained her impetuous and independent spirit, the people of the Emerald City and the Palace accepted her for who she was and they built mutual understandings.

I was once asked to build a dynamic between Ozma and Scraps, and I said that I think Ozma is a little envious of Scraps' carefree spirit, as well as being amused by her ingenuity. Perhaps she keeps Scraps around because of Scraps is a little of who she could be, if she wasn't the ruler of Oz.

Scraps is also a little instrumental in Baum's The Lost Princess of Oz, helping out Dorothy and the Wizard by joining their search party, and also finding the Frogman and merging the two parties.

Ruth Plumly Thompson was obviously quite fond of Scraps, though she rarely had a lead role, her most notable appearance being in The Gnome King of Oz in which she becomes the new Queen of the Quilties, a role she doesn't enjoy. During the events of Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz, she is briefly turned into a bird.

John R. Neill brought Scraps back in a more prominent role in The Wonder City of Oz, in which she has her first ever costume change thanks to Jenny Jump's turn-style, which sets her at odds with Jenny. Later, she is stranded on the planet of the chocolate soldiers.

It is Neill's long-unfinished The Runaway in Oz that finally put Scraps back in the lead role of an Oz story. After Scraps does the wrong things at the wrong time, she runs away from the Emerald City on her Spoolicle and meets new friends has many adventures before finally deciding to return to the Emerald City to apologize. Along the way, she meets Popla the Power Plant, who she forms a devoted relationship with.

Scraps is one of the more popular Oz characters, and given her colorful and open personality, it's easy to see why. As Kim McFarland said once, Scraps and the Scarecrow make a good think tank, Scraps being one who thinks outside the box, even though she's so far from the box, she can barely see it

The Characters of Oz — Bungle, the Glass Cat

So, Dr. Pipt knew how to make a powder that could bring things to life. But if he knew it could do that, he must have used it before, right?

Indeed. It seems he would have had more than one test subject, but the only one we meet is Bungle, the Glass Cat.

Bungle began as a glass ornament shaped like a cat. It featured emerald green eyes, a ruby heart, a spun glass tail, and tiny pink balls in its head for brains. When it was brought to life, the cat adopted a female gender.

The Glass Cat was tasked with catching mice, but she refused to as they would be clearly visible inside her body. Thus, as she wouldn't serve the purpose that she was brought to life for, she was considered a "Bungle," thus her name.

Bungle wasn't an entirely useless creature and would provide company for Margolotte as Dr. Pipt worked. As she did not need to be fed or cleaned up after, she made an ideal pet.

However, Bungle was also a cat and acted as such. Her decision to come when called was entirely voluntary and she often enjoyed going out on her own. Being able to speak, she would express her opinions, her vanity, and her believed superiority, particularly over her pink brains, which would move, leading her to point out, "You can see them work!"

When Dr. Pipt had to send Ojo to the Emerald City, he sent Bungle along with them, thinking that he might be rid of Bungle. Aside from her snarky commentary, Bungle adds little to Ojo's team and is left behind once Ojo reaches the Emerald City. The Wizard changes her pink brains out with clear ones to reduce her vanity, but by her next book appearance, they were pink again.

Perhaps her feline shape mixed with the Powder of Life helped Bungle not break so easily, because she soon began exploring Oz independently, her small size and transparency likely helping her observe without being seen. In this way, she learns many things about the Land of Oz, and it is this exploration that leads to her second Baum role in The Magic of Oz, in which she tells Trot and Cap'n Bill about the Magic Flower and leads them to it. She winds up having to rescue them as well by having to find the Wizard for help. But then, the Wizard needs some help himself when she finds him, which she's able to.

The Glass Cat didn't reappear in the Famous Forty Oz books. Typically, I avoid mentioning other works, but she is the main character of the story "The Ruby Heart" in Oz-Story 5 by Michael O. Riley which finally addresses what would happen if Bungle broke. It's also a very good character piece for her. She also makes a notable appearance in Eric Shanower's The Blue Witch of Oz. Finally, Gina Wickwar's The Hidden Prince of Oz reveals where the Glass Cat was actually made.

Like Eureka, Bungle is once again a feline character based on the way cat owners interpret their cat's personality. Bungle is vain and haughty and has a very high opinion of herself. The fact that she is also an animated glass ornament only ties in with her vanity. Bungle's vanity makes her a little difficult for other characters to work with, but she is not condemned for her attitude: this is simply who she is.

The Characters of Oz — Dr. Pipt

Ojo and Unc Nunkie decided to go to their nearest neighbors: the Crooked Magician and his wife Margolotte.

Baum tells us little of Margolotte. She seems rather content living as she is, though she makes a Patchwork Girl out of an old patchwork quilt her grandmother made so her husband can bring it to life and she can make it do all the work while she enjoys herself. She appears to be a kind woman.

The Crooked Magician was called Dr. Pipt and had been living in the Munchkin Forest for some time it seems. He is an old friend of Unc Nunkie, suggesting that his residence has been lengthy. His body is so crooked that he can stir four kettles with his arms and legs at the same time.

Presumably, Dr. Pipt's main output is the Powder of Life, a substance that takes six years to make. In The Patchwork Girl of Oz, he and Margolotte claim that he made the same Powder of Life that was used in The Marvelous Land of Oz, bringing to life Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse and the Gump.

I suggest that the Powder of Life has only been made twice by Dr. Pipt. The first batch—a large batch, it seems—worked very well, but the charm was activated by the phrase "Weaugh, Teaugh, Peaugh" and making certain gestures. And it seems—though no one tried it intentionally—wishing that the sprinkled item was alive would also work. When Dr. Pipt made his second batch, he revised the formula so no magic words or gestures would be required.

Fans have noted that the surfaces and containers that Dr. Pipt used to make the Powder of Life do not seem to be alive. Perhaps certain objects cannot be brought to life with the powder, due to them not having life-like features or being made of certain materials (a marble table or a golden vial). Or—some posit—these items are alive but are unable to express themselves due to a lack of features that would allow them to move or communicate. (Which is a pretty poor way to live...)

In The Patchwork Girl of Oz, it is said that Mombi gave Dr. Pipt a Powder of Perpetual Youth in exchange for the Powder of Life. The Youth Powder didn't work, and The Marvelous Land of Oz finds Mombi saying, "Why, here is a good chance to try my new powder! And then I can tell whether that crooked wizard has fairly traded secrets, or whether he has fooled me as wickedly as I fooled him." Presumably, the Powder of Youth is the wicked fooling Mombi was talking about.

However, The Marvelous Land of Oz has Tip find some of Dr. Nikidik's Celebrated Wishing Pills, and he says, "I remember hearing her (Mombi) say that she got the Powder of Life from this same Nikidik." So, who was Dr. Nikidik?

Personally, I think that Dr. Pipt marketed his wares under the name and guise of Dr. Nikidik so he wouldn't be bothered while making his powder. A man who could make pills that grant wishes (which must be a simple thing that he can do quickly or Margolotte made them under his instruction) or a powder that can give life to inanimate objects would be a very popular man indeed. So, as to avoid people coming to see him, he used a fake name (and possibly appearance, as Neill's single picture of Nikidik looks very different from Dr. Pipt) so they wouldn't be able to find him and disturb his work.

That would solve this continuity snarl, except The Road to Oz finds the Tin Woodman saying that, "the crooked Sorcerer who invented the Magic Powder fell down a precipice and was killed." His remaining items went to a woman named Dyna who lived in the Emerald City, and she accidentally used the Powder of Life to wish her blue bear (who had been made into a rug post-mortem) alive again, which made it come to life.

Is Dyna actually a relative of Dr. Pipt? Or was Nikidik a magician whose identity Pipt had taken (presumably after the real Nikidik had died or permanently departed Oz)? Or, perhaps the accident in which Nikidik was killed was staged due to Ozma's ban on magic so no one would ask after him, a false home being made so as to sell the idea of his death even further? Did Dr. Pipt himself claim that Dyna was a relative, as he believed her to be harmless? If it was to lay low because of Ozma's magic ban, it certainly seemed to have worked.

Aside from the Powder of Life and the Wishing Pills, Dr. Pipt made the Liquid of Petrifaction, which turned any object it touched into marble. It was useful in stopping some attacking Kalidahs and making certain household items more durable. Unfortunately, it had a downside, as seen in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Among other achievements was creating qualities for manufactured people as powder, Ojo famously remixing the brains that Scraps would be given. He also knew how to enchant food so that it would not run out, which would be quite a boon to the Great Outside World.

At the close of The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Dr. Pipt's magic tools are confiscated and his body is straightened out. He is otherwise pardoned. But what became of him and Margolotte afterward? Did they move? Did Dr. Pipt really stay away from magic afterward? Perhaps Dr. Pipt assists the Wizard. Some stories outside of the Famous Forty pick up on these ideas, but the main series leaves him alone. Who knows, though?

The Characters of Oz — Ojo and Unc Nunkie

Once upon a time, in a Munchkin forest, there lived an old Munchkin man called Unc Nunkie and his nephew Ojo. They leaved very humbly in their home until one day, they ran out of food and journeyed to see their nearest friends.

Okay, is it just me, or does The Patchwork Girl of Oz start like a pretty generic fairy tale?

Baum continues his tradition of telling us little of the back story of these two characters. He does, however, drop a couple tantalizing hints by telling us that Unc Nunkie is the descendant of the former kings of the Munchkins before Munchkinland became part of the Land of Oz. We are told nothing of Ojo's parents. Baum never calls him an orphan, and never mentions his father or mother.

However, the two have their quirks. Unc Nunkie barely says anything, rarely speaking of his own accord, and often reducing what he has to say to just one word. Dr. Pipt calls him "The Silent One." Ojo considers himself "The Unlucky" for a variety of reasons, and the way the story unfolds, he believes himself to be right in calling himself so.

Ojo certainly has it rough. Unc gets turned into a marble statue, forcing Ojo to go on a quest with Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, and Bungle, the Glass Cat, both brought to life to be the servants of the Crooked Magician and Margolotte. Along the way, he faces many hardships, but is able to get through with the help and advice of his companions, including the ones who join him later, like the Shaggy Man, Dorothy, and the Scarecrow.

Finally, the Tin Woodman refuses to let Ojo have the last ingredient to the antidote for the Liquid of Petrifaction, as it would injure an innocent creature. But the Tin Woodman does ask him about his title:

"Why are you Ojo the Unlucky?" asked the tin man.
"Because I was born on a Friday."
"Friday is not unlucky," declared the Emperor. "It's just one of seven days. Do you suppose all the world becomes unlucky one-seventh of the time?"
"It was the thirteenth day of the month," said Ojo.
"Thirteen! Ah, that is indeed a lucky number," replied the Tin Woodman. "All my good luck seems to happen on the thirteenth. I suppose most people never notice the good luck that comes to them with the number 13, and yet if the least bit of bad luck falls on that day, they blame it to the number, and not to the proper cause."
"Thirteen's my lucky number, too," remarked the Scarecrow.
"And mine," said Scraps. "I've just thirteen patches on my head."
"But," continued Ojo, "I'm left-handed."
"Many of our greatest men are that way," asserted the Emperor. "To be left-handed is usually to be two-handed; the right-handed people are usually one-handed."
"And I've a wart under my right arm," said Ojo.
"How lucky!" cried the Tin Woodman. "If it were on the end of your nose it might be unlucky, but under your arm it is luckily out of the way."
"For all those reasons," said the Munchkin boy, "I have been called Ojo the Unlucky."
"Then we must turn over a new leaf and call you henceforth Ojo the Lucky," declared the tin man. "Every reason you have given is absurd. But I have noticed that those who continually dread ill luck and fear it will overtake them, have no time to take advantage of any good fortune that comes their way. Make up your mind to be Ojo the Lucky."

 In the end, Ojo discovers that Glinda knew a way to reverse the effects of the Liquid of Petrifaction, and has instructed the Wizard on what to do, so Unc Nunkie is restored, and Ozma gives them a home just outside the Emerald City. Later, Ojo becomes good friends with Button-Bright after the latter permanently moves to Oz.

Surprisingly, Ruth Plumly Thompson made him the subject of Ojo in Oz (which, as Marcus Mebes points out, should have been titled Ojo of Oz as Ojo is a native of Oz rather than someone who goes there). Being lured out by gypsies who want to turn him over to the sorcerer Mooj, Ojo is kidnapped, but soon makes new friends and embarks on new adventures, discovering that he is actually the prince of Seebania, and he is restored to his mother and father at long last. Unc Nunkie breaks his silence to save Ojo, and it is revealed that his real name is Stephen.

It's odd that Thompson used Ojo when most of Baum's other human male characters got ignored. Perhaps she noted the bit about the Munchkin kings while brushing up on Baum and saved it for a future story.

To be honest, it seems Ojo was rather underused in later books, and as I noted just previously, this would become common for the post-Emerald City of Oz Baum books: several new characters would be introduced in a book and almost never make a reappearance, except for cameos. The major new characters that would reappear would be introduced in Patchwork Girl and the next two books. Ojo wasn't one of them, even though he could easily have taken the place of Woot the Wanderer in The Tin Woodman of Oz.

There are many theories about Ojo. John Bell noted Ojo's behavior and said that he seems to be bipolar. Ojo's appeared in some new Oz stories, most notably Paul Dana's stories that were collected in The Law of Oz and Other Stories. Perhaps future adventures await the Prince of Seebania.