List of Oz characters (created by Baum)
This is a list of characters in the original Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. The majority of characters listed here unless noted otherwise have appeared in multiple books under various plotlines. Oz is made up of four divisions that surround the Emerald City in the center. The country as a whole was originally enchanted by a character named Queen Lurline, who is described in the Oz backstory. Additional characters were added in regions surrounding the Land of Oz as the series progressed.
Aunt Em and Uncle Henry
Aunt Em and Uncle Henry appear in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. They are Dorothy Gale's guardian aunt and uncle. They live a joyless and gray life on a small farm on the prairies of Kansas. Neither of them believe their niece when she tells them she has been to the Land of Oz; they consider her a mere dreamer, as her dead mother had been. This changes when the two later face foreclosure on their farm. Dorothy arranges with Princess Ozma to bring them to Oz, so that they can escape their bleak fates and be safe and finally content. Eventually, in The Emerald City of Oz, they move permanently to Oz and take up jobs there.Betsy Bobbin
Betsy Bobbin is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. Betsy is portrayed with various hair colors throughout the series; in her initial appearances her hair was colored as blonde, strawberry blonde or light brown. Later appearances depicted her as brunette or with auburn hair. Betsy first appears in Baum's 1913 stage play The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, and then in his 1914 novel Tik-Tok of Oz, wherein she teams up with the Shaggy Man and together they go to the Nome King's Caverns.In the book series, Betsy arrives to Oz from Oklahoma with a mule named Hank, and she is shown as a constant companion of both Dorothy and Trot in the later books. In The Lost Princess of Oz, she is said to be one year older than Dorothy Gale. Betsy is more passive than Dorothy, and in one book she is described as shy. Betsy was later made a Princess of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and she also appears as the protagonist of Thompson's The Hungry Tiger of Oz in which she helps a young prince from an Evian kingdom called Rash regain his throne from a wicked uncle.
Billina
Billina is Dorothy's pet hen on the Kansas farm and first appears in the book Ozma of Oz, in which she saves the citizens of Oz from being turned into decor objects by the evil Nome King. She is sassy and talkative; at the conclusion of Ozma of Oz, Billina chooses to stay in Oz and live in the Emerald City's royal palace, later becoming the matriarch of a large colony of chicks. She is a major character in Walt Disney's 1985 live-action film Return to Oz, in which she helps Dorothy save the Land of Oz from near extinction.Boq
Boq is a minor character who appears in the beginning of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He is depicted as a wealthy Munchkin man with a large family who offers Dorothy Gale and Toto shelter after throwing a lavish banquet in Dorothy's honor upon her arrival to the Land of Oz as his house was on the Yellow Brick Road path to the Emerald City.A reimagined version of the character appears in Gregory Maguire's 1995 revisionist parallel novel Wicked, where he is a childhood friend and schoolmate of Elphaba. Boq is reimagined further in the novel's Broadway musical adaptation where he is made a composite character with the Tin Woodman. In the musical's two-part film adaptation, he is portrayed by Ethan Slater and his character arc is expanded upon, complete with him being given the surname Woodsman.
Braided Man
The Braided Man is a bent-over old man with his hair and beard in braids who lives halfway up Pyramid Mountain. He is a great inventor who used to live on the surface of the Earth where he worked with holes until a big one caused him to fall deep underground where he landed on Pyramid Mountain and lived on its spiral staircase since. Since then, he has amused himself by making Flutters and Rustlers.He first appears in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz where he meets Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz when they arrive at his cave and he gives them some of his products. While he states that there is no use of money on Pyramid Mountain, he does accept Dorothy's blue bow.
In The Road to Oz, the Braided Man appears to have made it back to the surface as he was among the guests at Princess Ozma's birthday party. His present to Princess Ozma is the finest Flutters that he has made.
The Braided Man appears in the 1985 film Return to Oz. He made a background appearance at the coronation of Princess Ozma.
Bristle
Bristle is a white rabbit from Bunnybury who first appears in The Emerald City of Oz. He works as the Keeper of the Wicket which is a name given to the Doorman of Bunnybury. He can only admit visitors with an order or letter of introduction from Ozma of Oz or Glinda the Good. When visitors are admitted, Bristle reduces them to the size of a rabbit before letting them into the village itself.Button-Bright
Button-Bright first appears in the 1909 book The Road to Oz. When Button-Bright first appears, he is shown as a little boy who answers most questions with "Don't know." In the story Button's head is temporarily changed into a fox's head by King Dox of Foxville; upon arriving in the Land of Oz, Billina and Tik-Tok took Button-Bright to the Truth Pond so that he could regain his head. He later makes an appearance at Princess Ozma's birthday party.Baum brought Button-Bright back for his 1912 novel Sky Island, where he encounters Trot and Cap'n Bill for the first time. In this novel he is shown to be older and more verbal. Button reveals that he is from Philadelphia, and that his real name is Saladin Paracelsus de Lambertine Evagne von Smith. He was given the nickname "Button-Bright" by his parents as his name is rather long, and because they think that he is "bright as a button". In The Scarecrow of Oz, Button-Bright becomes the first American to accidentally emigrate to the Land of Oz.
In the sequel Oz books, he is often the main character in subplots that deal with him getting lost and being found again. In the non-canon stories of March Laumer, Button-Bright is depicted as an adult and married to Glinda. In the Dorothy Must Die multi-volume series, he is married to Polychrome.
Button-Bright appears in the 1985 film Return to Oz in the background at Princess Ozma's coronation.
Cap'n Bill
Cap'n Bill Weedles is a fictional character who first appears in two of Baum's fantasy novels, The Sea Fairies and Sky Island. Bill was introduced along with his friend Trot; they both later appear in The Scarecrow of Oz which is the ninth book in the Oz series.Cap'n Bill Weedles is an ex-sailor with a wooden left leg from the knee down. His head is almost bald and what little hair he has is grizzled. His eyes are pale blue with a gentle look to them, and his face is round, rugged, and bronzed. He has been Trot's companion from birth as he was her mother's star boarder. Formerly he was captain of a schooner with Trot's father as his mate; after losing his leg, the Cap'n retired, and Trot's father was promoted to captain of the same ship.
Cap'n Bill and Trot also play significant roles in the later Oz books The Lost Princess of Oz, The Magic of Oz and Jack Snow's The Magical Mimics in Oz. Baum borrowed from one of his own earlier characters, Naboth Perkins in Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea, to create Cap'n Bill.
Cap'n Bill appears in the 1985 film Return to Oz, in the background at Princess Ozma's coronation, holding the Magic Flower.
Cayke
Cayke the Cookie Cook is a character who appears in the book The Lost Princess of Oz. She is a Yip, a resident of a remote plateau in Oz who is noted for the delicious cookies she bakes in her diamond-studded gold dishpan. Cayke knows that the dishpan has magic powers; she admits to the Frogman that without it she is a poor cook, and her cookies are "pretty poor stuff and no better than any woman could make who does not own diamond-studded gold dishpan." However, she has no idea that her magic dishpan can carry its occupants anywhere they desire to go. Ugu the shoemaker steals Cayke's dishpan and uses it to kidnap Ozma and steal all the magic in the Land of Oz.When Cayke discovers her dishpan has gone missing, she is greatly distressed, and causes quite a fuss by wailing and screaming. After the Frogman, who is thought to be extremely wise by all of the Yips, tells her that the dishpan has been stolen by someone outside of the country of the Yips, she leaves the plateau where the Yips live and travels the general land of Oz to find it. This trip makes her the first Yip to leave the plateau. Though the Frogman joins her, she was prepared to go alone, showing her courage and determination. Cayke is a relatively simple woman, but she is honest except when the truth will hurt someone's feelings, and seems to be generally good natured, if a little ill-tempered at times.
According to Cayke, the diamond-studded gold dishpan has been passed down in her family, from her mother and all of her grandmothers since the beginning of time; but its origin is never disclosed. Cayke makes a brief appearance in Jeff Freedman's 1994 novel The Magic Dishpan of Oz.
China Princess
The China Princess is a delicate and beautiful figurine made of china who appears in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She lives in the tiny hidden enclave called "Dainty China Country" in the Quadling Country of the Land of Oz. She, like all the other china people, cannot leave their enclave or they will become lifeless and stiff.The China Princess appears in the 2013 film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return voiced by Megan Hilty.