The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is the autocratic ruler of Oz, a man who arrived from another world decades before the novel's main events and seized power in a coup against the Ozma Regent. He governs through a combination of propaganda, terror, and manipulation, maintaining his authority through the secret police force known as the Gale Force and a network of agents that includes Madame Morrible. His reign is characterized by the systematic oppression of Animals, the brutal suppression of dissent, and a relentless pursuit of the Grimmerie, a book of magic he believes originated in his own world.
Origins and Arrival in Oz
The Wizard is not a native of Oz but a man from another world who came seeking the Grimmerie. He reveals to Elphaba during their final meeting that he was a young man "full of ardor and failure" who made "appropriate sacrifices and arrangements" to travel to Oz forty years earlier, not intending to rule but to find the document and study its secrets. He claims that Madame Blavatsky located the Grimmerie in a crystal ball, and that he cannot be held accountable to the "silly conventions of a naive civilization" because he comes from another world. This otherworldly origin is also suggested by the dwarf who guards the Clock of the Time Dragon, who tells Elphaba that she herself is "both of Oz and of the other world" and that the Wizard is her father, a claim the Clock's puppet show dramatizes by showing the Wizard impregnating Melena.
Rule and Methods
The Wizard's rule is maintained through a combination of spectacle and terror. When Elphaba and Glinda first meet him, he appears as a "skeleton of dancing lights" in a storm of rain and thunder, a theatrical display designed to intimidate. He dismisses Elphaba's pleas for justice for the Animals, calling Doctor Dillamond's work "derivative, unauthenticated, specious garbage" and refusing to listen to the word "immoral." He governs through the Gale Force, which "frog-march Animals and collaborators out of town" and "harvest a crop of victims on a monthly basis." He has also established a network of Adepts, young women recruited by Madame Morrible to serve as secret agents, a scheme that targeted Elphaba, Glinda, and Nessarose during their schooldays at Shiz University.
Relationship with Madame Morrible
The Wizard's most important collaborator is Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall. She acts as his agent, recruiting young women into his service and using her position to manipulate events. She tells Elphaba, Glinda, and Nessarose that she has been "charged with a crucial task" essential to the internal security of Oz and that she is empowered by "those whose boot straps I am not worthy to lick." The Wizard later confirms that Madame Morrible "taught me about breaking the spirits of willful young girls" and that it was she who warned him about Elphaba and advised him to have her watched, leading to the discovery of her affair with Fiyero.
Confrontation with Elphaba
The Wizard's final confrontation with Elphaba occurs at Colwen Grounds after Nessarose's death. He appears without disguise, a "plain-looking older man" who speaks of his desire for the Grimmerie. He reveals that he has kept Nor, Fiyero's daughter, as a political prisoner and that Sarima and her sisters are dead. When Elphaba begs him to release Nor in exchange for the book, he refuses, saying "I do not bargain." He admits that Madame Morrible was the one who discovered Elphaba's affair with Fiyero, leading to Fiyero's murder. The Wizard dismisses Elphaba as "only a caricature of a witch" and leaves, having failed to secure the Grimmerie.
Downfall and Departure
After the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy returns to the Emerald City and presents the Wizard with the green glass bottle from Elphaba's room. When the Wizard sees it, he gasps and clutches his heart. Shortly thereafter, he absconds from the Palace in a hot-air balloon, just hours before seditious ministers were to lead a revolt and execute him. His departure mirrors his arrival, and he leaves Oz as he entered it: a mysterious figure from another world, his true nature and ultimate fate remaining unknown.
