Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Characters

Elphaba

"Who are you?" asks the Wizard's giant green head in The Wizard of Oz.The Wicked Witch of the...

Glinda

In our collective consciousness, saturated as it is by exposure to the 1939 movie, Glinda and the...

Nessarose

In the lore of Oz, Nessarose hasn't always had an actual name (like her older sister). She's the...

Fiyero

Fiyero is only featured heavily in Volume 3, but his presence dominates the entire latter half of...

Sarima

The first times we hear Sarima mentioned, it's in rather negative terms, from Fiyero:To be sure,...

Frex

Father figures play a big role in the novel. Frex is one of the only fathers we actually see...

Melena

In many ways, the fabulous floozy and boozy mom is the book's most realistic character. Things...

Nanny

Nanny is always just Nanny. She never has a name, and she never seems to have an identity outside...

Boq

We really do adore Boq. If only he and Elphaba had continued hanging out in middle age. It would...

Madame Morrible

The character of Madame Morrible is like the Voldemort of Wicked – she's the really, really...

The Wizard

He is the book's main villain, but the Wizard is also a kind of sympathetic character, at least...

Dorothy and her Companions

This Dorothy is definitely not Judy Garland, or even the wide-eyed child of Baum's novels. This...

Dr. Dillamond

Dr. Dillamond, our favorite Goat, is the prime representative of Animals in the book. He gets...

Princess Nastoya

Princess Nastoya is, surprisingly, an Elephant in disguise. We have to ask why she got to go...

Liir

Really, we'd suggest reading the sequel to this book, Son of a Witch, if you want the full...

Sarima's Kids: Manek, Irji, and Nor

Sarima's two sons are kind of jerks. Manek especially is a serial killer in the making. He...

Sarima's Sisters

Sarima's sisters never get names: they are either referred to as numbers (in the order of their...

Ama Clutch

Ama Clutch is like a sweet counterpart to Nanny. Rather than gossip about sex with her young...

Yackle and the Dwarf

We have to admit that we have a hard time analyzing these two characters. Yackle and the Dwarf...

Glinda's Friends: Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen

Galinda really was hanging around the "wrong crowd" when we first met her. Her catty, snotty,...

Avaric

Avaric is the classic spoiled rich boy, straight out of an '80s teen movie. Even worse is that he...

Shell

Shell, Elphaba's little brother, barely appears in the novel, which is really significant. He...

Grommetik

Madame Morrible's robot friend/butler is often up to no good, and he (it?) is the one who murders...

Doctor Nikidik

Dillamond's replacement is truly awful, a heartless, uncaring scientist. The scene where he...

Oatsie Manglehand

Oatsie is the guide the Maunts hire to take Elphaba out to the Vinkus region. She seems very...

Miss Greyling

Miss Greyling is the sorcery teacher at Shiz. She's very young and overly enthusiastic, but it's...