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Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
"I'm no savior."
Portrayed By: Adria Arjona
A young Kansas nurse, Dorothy's life is changed completely when she's swept up in a tornado and taken to the Land of Oz.
- Action Girl: Shoots Eamonn to evade capture in "Science and Magic."
- Age Lift: Dorothy is traditionally portrayed as a young girl, but she's in her 20s here.
- Becoming the Mask: Becomes more like an actual cop after dressing like one, specially in regards to keeping Sylvie safe and conducting herself with the Ozians.
- Big Damn Heroes: Shows up at Ev just as the Wizard is about to be executed...with a Stone Giant right behind her.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Wears a black leather police jacket and dark pants for most of her journey through Oz.
- Distinguishing Mark: Dorothy's birth mother recognizes her by a collection of dots on her left hand. It's revealed in the episode "No Place like Home" that the dots are a tattoo, rather than a birthmark.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Dorothy was able to handle herself with just her gun and her wits, and becomes even more of a threat as she becomes even more proficient with the Gauntlets.
- Friend to All Children: She breaks down Tip's bedroom door to help him escape. Later she's seen protecting Sylvie, a Cute Mute girl.
- Guile Heroine:
- She has shades of it. She's not particularly powerful by Oz standards, but she does manage to defeat a Nigh-Invulnerable witch simply by tricking her into shooting herself with a gun.
- She's also not above stealing medicine from the hospital where she works for her aging adoptive aunt.
- Happily Adopted: She dismisses her biological mother in favor of her adopted family.
- Heroes Love Dogs: She hasn't been seen without Toto yet. It becomes an Animal Motif when she chooses a dog mask to wear at the Festival of the Beast.
- Klingon Promotion: Dorothy visits East's castle one episode after having a hand in her death and is made the new Mistress of the East for a short time.
- Literally Shattered Lives: She does this to a couple of villagers who have been Taken for Granite by a young witch, so she can can free said girl.
- Magical Accessory: She inherits East's gold and ruby gauntlets called "the Elements" after her death, which allow for Weather Manipulation.
- Mama Bear: Dorothy acts as this to Sylvie despite not being her mother.
- This is most prominently seen when a pack of wolves threaten to tear Sylvie apart. Sylvie cannot hear Dorothy's screams to run and Dorothy, who wouldn't be able to reach Sylvie in time, summons the Gauntlets and blasts the entire pack away.
- She also nearly strangles Glinda when she realizes that Sylvie is nothing more than a pawn to her in her war against the Wizard.
- When the Wizard shoots Sylvie, Dorothy stalks him through the battlefield with the sole intention of murdering him. She only stops when she sees the other Witches come back to life.
- The Medic: She is a trained nurse, which in Oz puts her far ahead of most of the locals in terms of medical knowledge. In particular, Lucas is her main patient.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She indirectly kills East and hinders Glinda's efforts to take down the Wizard.
- Race Lift: Typically portrayed as Caucasian, this Dorothy is played by Latina actress Adria Arjona.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: In "Mistress, New Mistress" she gets the chance to bathe and put on a gorgeous red gown and a tiara. The effect is quite spectacular.
- Spanner in the Works: She completely disrupts the plans and upends the lives of almost every single person she interacts with in Oz.
- Tranquil Fury: When Dorothy gets angry, watch out.
Lucas
Lucas/ Roan
Portrayed By: Oliver Jackson-Cohen
An amnesiac Dorothy meets on her way to the Emerald City who has been strung up and left for dead. Lucas is the show's version of the Scarecrow.
- Amnesiac Hero: He has no memory of his life before Dorothy finds him. It's assumed that his amnesia is mental trauma from what he's been through. It's revealed that it was induced by Glinda's magic.
- The Atoner: Once he's told of how many men he'd killed prior to losing his memory, he promptly surrenders in remorse at what he's done. He even tells Eamonn to torture him.
- Defector from Decadence: Possibly. He's a member of the Wizard's Guard, and Dorothy discovered him on a cross bearing the name of a town the Guard destroyed. Either he refused to destroy the town and his compatriots crucified him for it, or he participated and was later crucified in revenge.
- The brief flashback of his memory shows that he'd been crucified by the Wizard's Guard, after he was discovered transporting several young witches in secret, under the apparent orders of Glinda.
- Does Not Like Guns: Fears Dorothy's handgun even more so than somebody from our world would, and Dorothy even more for not having the proper training to use it.
- Face–Heel Turn: After Glinda restores his memories, he promptly re-pledges his allegiance (and love) to her, and then hands Dorothy and Sylvie to her custody.
- Friend to All Children: His interactions with Sylvie make him this. It's revealed in "Beautiful Wickedness" that he was escorting at least a dozen young witches to safety, and it was his protection of them that led to his amnesia.
- It's heavily implied that he would very much like to have children of his own, but Glinda as a Cardinal Witch cannot conceive.
- Gentle Giant: While he is a 6'3" former soldier, most of his violence is in self defense and he is very gentle with Sylvie, carrying her or leading her by the hand.
- Heroic BSoD: Seems to be going through a brief one after stabbing Mombi and smashing her skull open in cold fury, only brought out of it when he sees how scared Dorothy is of him.
- Likes Older Women: Once Glinda restores his memory, he remembers that he and she are married and enthusiastically kisses her, in front of a heartbroken Dorothy.
- Love Hurts: Following the restoration of his memories, he finds himself unable to reconcile his feelings for Glinda with his feelings for Dorothy.
- No Name Given: He doesn't remember anything about his life, not even his own name. Dorothy calls him Lucas because he reminds her of home. His name is later revealed to be Roan.
- One-Man Army: According to a guard, he took down ten soldiers by himself before falling. In the present, he takes down four soldiers who tried to capture him before turning himself in.
Jack
Jack
Portrayed By: Gerran Howell
A friend to Tip who tries to aid his escape.
- Ambiguously Bi: He kisses Tip on the mouth, while knowing he is still male on the inside.
- Body Horror: How Jack wakes up on an operating table after his accident.
- Composite Character: Being a companion of Tip and having the name Jack make him the series version of Jack Pumpkinhead, but having much of his body and heart replaced with metal also makes him the Tin Woodman of the show.
- Did Not Think This Through: Didn't seem to think Tip would react badly after he gave him a First Kiss.
- Disney Death: Gets pushed from a balcony after Tip lashes out at him, making the latter think she murdered him, but then gets 'revived' by Jane.
- Friendless Background: There's no mention of Jack having other friends besides Tip. Might overlap with Conveniently an Orphan.
- Handicapped Badass: Several thugs hurt their hands trying to beat his metal body, which allows Jack to dish out several metal blows in return.
- Heart Trauma: Had his heart removed with a mechanical one after his fall.
- Morality Pet: Seems to be turning into one for Lady Ev, as so far he's the only person she's somewhat nice to.
- Not as You Know Them: Fans of the books will recognize Jack as a composite of the Tin Man and Jack Pumpkinhead. In the first two appearances he's fully human and Street Smart to boot.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dishes one out to Lady Ev. He later gives one to Tip, pointing out how Tip left him for dead.
- Tuckerization: Jack is named after Jack Haley, who played the Tin Man in the 1939 movie.
- We Can Rebuild Him: After his fall, Jack is taken in by a 'medic' who replaces most of his body with metal armor.
Tip
Tip
Portrayed By: Jordan Loughran
A young boy kept prisoner by Mombi. After escaping from her, Tip transforms into a girl and ends up under West's care/apprenticeship. Eventually he's revealed to be the long-lost Princess Ozma.
- Benevolent Mage Ruler: He sets out to be this once he becomes Queen, hoping to rule with love and Mistress East's magic coursing through his veins.
- Chastity Dagger: He uses Mombi's knife as such against one of the Wizard's guards.
- Childhood Friends: He states in "Beautiful Wickedness" that he and Jack grew up together.
- Color Motif: Blue.
- Consummate Liar: Assuming it really was Tip and not an impostor, he lied to West about Dorothy's escape in "Everybody Lies" and gets away with it scot-free.
- Cross-Cast Role: Both Tip's male and female forms are played by actress Jordan Loughran.
- Cruel Mercy: Instead of killing Eamonn for murdering her parents, he uses his magic to erase Eamonn's existence from the minds of his wife and two children, before banishing him from Emerald City.
- Deadpan Snarker: In "Science and Magic," his response to Glinda's and West's respective pitches to selecting a path is "So my only choice as a girl is nun or whore?"
- Driven to Suicide: He was going to throw himself off a bridge after Jack's death, but instead gets taken in by a seemingly friendly stranger who secretly works for Glinda.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When Mombi's potion wears off, Tip's hairstyle changes from short and straight to long and curlier.
- First Law of Gender Bending: Zig-Zagged all over the place. Although Tip was born female, he's spent so much time under the effects of Mombi's gender-disguising potions that he identifies as male and feels an intense sense of dysphoria when the potions wear off. He spends much of the series looking for a way to transform back. Once he finds a way in the form of East's magic, society and politics conspire to keep him in a female form. The people of Oz will rally behind the return of the lost Princess Ozma, beloved daughter of King and Queen Pastoria, especially if she has command of magical powers and lesser witches. They won't take so kindly to a scrawny teen boy who shows up out of nowhere claiming to be the heir to the throne.
- Gender Bender: Mombi's potion kept him a boy. Without it, he turns female. Armed with East's magic, Tip is able to switch between the two forms with relative ease.
- Gender Bender Angst: Tip was turned into a boy as a baby using magic. He's transformed back as a teenager, but he's shown being very uncomfortable with living as a girl. He still sees himself as male.
- Girl in the Tower: He wasn't allowed to leave Mombi's house while under her care.
- Guile Hero: He wasn't fooled by West's shapeshifting, and bargains for her magic.
- Heroic BSoD: He has one after finding out that he was born as a girl and Mombi had used magic to make him live a boy his whole life. It culminates in Tip accidentally killing Jack after he tries to kiss him.
- I Am Who?: Princess Ozma.
- Lost Orphaned Royalty: He's eventually revealed to be Princess Ozma, the lost heir to King and Queen Pastoria.
- Meaningful Name: West tells Tip his birth name Ozma means "Leader of Oz".
- Pimped-Out Dress: He wears one when he changes to his Ozma form to impress the witches West freed from the Prison of the Abject. Also crosses over into She Cleans Up Nicely.
- Rejected Apology: When he next sees Jack after nearly killing him, he tries to apologize for his violent outburst and goes so far to say he loves him, but Jack rejects his apology. Lady Ev makes Tip know exactly what he's responsible for by making Jack reveal his new mechanical body to him.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Tip has no issues with being turned (back) into a girl in the books. Here, a lifetime of being male leaves him understandably upset and confused at the transformation and he struggles to adjust to his new body.
- Took a Level in Badass: Upon imbibing East's spells, Tip comes to wield the powers of a Cardinal Witch making them, in West's words, "a force to be reckoned with". He proves this when he releases a shock wave and shapeshifts between male and female forms to prove himself as King Pastoria's heir.
- Trans Tribulations: Tip, due to being kept a boy by magic so long, doesn't identify as female when he's changed back into his original form and feels intense dysphoria. He reluctantly stays in female form to assume the role of Princess Ozma though. Thankfully, East's magic lets him shift back and forth between forms at will.
Karen Chapman
Karen Chapman
Portrayed By: Gina Bellman
Dorothy's birth mother, who gave her up for adoption under mysterious circumstances, shortly after Dorothy was born. Eventually revealed to be a friend and colleague to her real birth mother, Jane Andrews.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The last time Dorothy saw her before getting swept up to Oz, she was bleeding out at the bottom of an unsecured shelter in the middle of a tornado. When Dorothy returns to Kansas, she nearly dies from blood loss and is hospitalized.
- The Dreaded: Mistress East's bodyguard calls her 'Interloper', someone who had to be banished by the Wizard, and almost kills Dorothy when she confesses to being her daughter.
- Missing Mom: A terrified, bloodstained Karen Chapman left Dorothy with the Gales when she was a baby and then disappeared from her life for two decades. Subverted in that she isn't actually Dorothy's birth mother.
Emerald City
The Wizard
Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz
Portrayed By: Vincent D'Onofrio
"I am the Wizard of Oz! If you call me any name other than that again, it'll be her life you'll be begging for."
The current ruler of Oz.- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Langwidere's soldier prepare to execute him for her murder, the Wizard pleads with them to spare his life.
- Ambiguously Evil:
- The Wizard is said to have saved Oz even when magic could not, yet he outlaws the witches' gifts regardless of whether they used them for good or evil.
- He locks Anna up when she quickly figures out that he can't activate the stone beasts anymore and stop the Beast Forever, despite her assurances that she won't even tell Glinda what she's discovered.
- Dark Secret:
- He's never had control of the stone beasts that saved Oz from the Beast Forever. Whatever magic he used to activate them came from the Prison of the Abject...which is permanently sealed with the death of Mistress East.
- He also brought Dorothy's birth mother to Oz, and banished her just before Dorothy was born.
- Did Not Think This Through:
- His backstory is that he thought creating an emergency at the power plant and then "saving" it would make him a hero. It's only when it starts happening and he tries to bring up the "solution" that it hits him that he's so low on the totem pole, the senior technicians won't listen to anything he says and he's thus unable to stop the overload.
- Despite the fact that Langwidere blames him for her parents' death and has said more than once that she wants nothing more than to burn the Emerald City to the ground, Frank still thinks that giving her the go-ahead to manufacture guns and ammunition won't bite him in the ass. It does.
- Engineered Heroics: In "Beautiful Wickedness," it's revealed that Frank was a technician at the same power plant Karen worked at, ignored as little more than a grunt. So, he engineered an accident involving an experimental turbine engine, expecting to be a hero by "solving" it. However, it got out of hand to transport him, Karen and Jane to Oz. Dorothy's father was also killed trying to stop the experiment.
- Exact Words: When Dorothy asks him about her father, the Wizard claims he tried to save him. In fact, he engineered the accident that resulted in Roberto's death. Him "trying to save" Roberto was a half-hearted attempt to stop the twister before it grew out of control, which was, of course, ignored by the senior engineers.
- Freudian Excuse: His ban on magic comes from wanting to prove that science - his science - is superior in every way.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He says that he came from nothing and became the ruler of Oz.
- In 1.07, it's revealed that he'd been a technician in a power plant, and had engineered the accident that took him, Dorothy's mother and Jane through to Oz.
- Green-Eyed Monster: While it was possible that he didn't plan for Roberto to die in the vortex that took them to Oz, he doesn't seem too broken up about his death, considering he was in a relationship with the woman he loved.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Specifically, he does not like women who ignore him or make him feel like a second banana. He clearly resents Jane Andrews for "speaking for him" when they're transported to Oz, bristles at having to deal with Lady Ev, and takes delight in humiliating or outsmarting the Cardinal Witches any way he can.
- Hypocrite: Has decreed an absolute ban on magic, but doesn't mind using it himself to create a hellish prison.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Episode 1.07 reveals that he has a near-pathological need to be noticed and revered for his intellect, and doesn't take it too kindly when he doesn't get the reaction he wants, or feels upstaged in any way.
- It's All About Me: Clearly as he constantly makes himself look bigger and more important than everyone. He even insists on "taking credit" for the accident that brought him, Karen and Jane to Oz, acting like he meant for it to happen and not caring who got hurt in the process.
- Large Ham: Every time he speaks in public, he chews every bit of scenery on sight.
- Like a Daughter to Me: How he views Dorothy when he meets her, mostly because he helped Karen to raise her while they were guests of the Munja'kin.
- Magic Versus Science: Despite the name "Wizard", he is on the science side. When the witches failed to defeat the Beast Forever twenty years ago, he took the opportunity provided by his victory to outlaw all magic in Oz.
- Tuckerization: As with Jack, Frank Morgan was the name of the actor who played the wizard in the 1939 movie.
- Villainous Breakdown: Becomes unhinged towards the end of the season, then goes off the deep end when Dorothy reveals that she's going to use his machine to take him back to Kansas along with her. He devolves into a screaming, incoherent mess and starts waving a gun threateningly at her before Jane kills him.
- Would Hit a Girl: Gives Langwidere a harsh slap when she goes back on their deal.
- Would Hurt a Child: As part of his plans to control Oz, he had the King, Queen and the Princess of Oz murdered. Subverted in the last one, as Ozma is revealed to be alive.
- He also shoots Sylvie point-blank and orders his Guards to shoot the young witches under Glinda's control. Luckily, it doesn't stick.
King Pastoria
King Samuel Pastoria
Portrayed By: Sorel Kembe
The last King of Oz before the Wizard's ascent to power.
- Adaptation Name Change: A partial one, in that his name from the source material becomes his surname and he is given the first name Samuel. He is usually referred by his family name, though.
- Death by Adaptation: His counterpart from the novels did not die, but was merely enchanted into forgetting who he was.
- Posthumous Character: He is long dead by the time the series takes place, having been killed shortly after the last attack of the Beast Forever. He and his wife were killed on the Wizard's orders when Frank usurped the throne.
Queen Pastoria
Queen Katherine Pastoria
Portrayed By: Judit Onyutha
The wife of King Pastoria and mother of Princess Ozma.
- Adaptation Name Change: The novels' Queen Lurline becomes Queen Katherine Pastoria.
- Adaptation Species Change: In the novels, Ozma's mother was the fairy Queen Lurline. Here, she is a human.
- Posthumous Character: Died alongside her husband shortly after the last battle against the Beast Forever, on the Wizard's order.
The High Council
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Portrayed By: Roxy Sternberg
- Canon Foreigner: Not seen in the original books.
- Kill It with Fire: She, along with the rest of the Council, is burned to death by an out-of-control pyrokinetic witch by the Wizard's orders.
- Miss Exposition: A considerable part of her dialogue consists of her explaining plot points to the audience’s sake.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She determines the correct time the Beast Forever will appear, but based on a completely wrong set of evidence.
- Vow of Celibacy: She has sworn off sex and relationships in order to focus on serving the Wizard.
Anna
Anna
Portrayed By: Isabel Lucas
The newest member of the Wizard's High Council.
- Daughter Of A Whore: Her mother was one of Mistress West's girls, who gave her up to Glinda's order so she could have a better life.
- Disappeared Dad: So far there's no mention who her father is, though West confirms that she's not the Wizard's daughter.
- Great Detective: When the Wizard puts her in charge of investigating the magical deaths in "Mistress - New - Mistress", she cracks the case in less than a day.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blond and genuinely nice.
- Missing Mom: Never knew her mother and has no memories of her.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Horribly, horribly averted, as she's the only one of Glinda's trainees who wasn't spying for her, but she's still fatally shot by the Wizard when he discovers that Glinda's been breeding witches in secret.
- Vow of Celibacy: She has sworn off sex and relationships in order to focus on serving the Wizard.
The Wizard's Guard
Eamonn
Eamonn
Portrayed By: Mido Hamada
The soldier put in charge of finding Dorothy and bringing her to the Wizard. He's also the show's version of The Cowardly Lion.
- Armor Is Useless: Zig-zagged. When Dorothy shoots him he drops like a fly, suggesting he may be dead. He is later seen alive, but wounded and vulnerable.
- Assassin Outclassin': One of his men decides to tender his resignation violently, then tell their superiors he was torn apart by lions. When he stalks Eamonn, Eamonn returns later alone and casually tells the rest of the men that the assassin was torn apart by lions.
- Heel Realization: The reason he couldn't kill Ozma as a baby was because she resembled his own daughter. At that moment, he realized that he was nothing but a 'coward' who murdered his King and Queen to save his own life.
- The King Slayer: As the Lion of Oz, he was the one responsible for killing the King and Queen of Oz after the Wizard defeated the Beast Forever.
- Not as You Know Them: Appears to be a Canon Foreigner character, but the reveal of his helmet in "Lions in Winter" make him the equivalent of the Cowardly Lion.
- Pet the Dog: Keeps Sylvie and Toto safe and arranges for Dorothy and Lucas to escape the Emerald City and travel to Glinda's.
- The Exile: After Tip/Ozma takes his place as Oz's ruler, he banishes Eamonn from Emerald City to live his days out 'as the beast he truly is.'
- The Quiet One: He barely speaks at all, even to his own men. This causes problems, as they have no idea what his plan is and think he's leading them to ruin.
- Would Hit a Girl: Cuffs Dorothy when he finally catches her.
Ev
Lady Ev
Princess later Queen Langwidere, Lady of Ev
Portrayed By: Stefanie Martini
The daughter of the King of Ev.
- Cool Mask: Wears and owns hundreds of beautiful ornate masks that hide much of her face. Jane created all of them with multiple emotions in mind: sadness, rage, joy, longing, love. Also overlaps with The Faceless. Jane reveals Langwidere wore the masks to hide a face that would never age.
- Composite Character: She is a combination of two separate characters from the source material: the daughter of the King of Ev and the Princess Langwidere.
- Daddy's Girl: Has been keeping her father's dementia a secret and covertly ruling Ev in his name to keep up appearances. She also appears upset when he goes missing in "Beautiful Wickedness."
- Dead All Along: Langwidere died in the last attack by the Beast Forever. At the King's request Jane salvaged what she could of Langwidere and rebuilt the rest.
- Hidden Depths: Comes off as childish and spoiled in her first appearance, but she's probably lonely, resulting in claiming ownership over Jack, and she blames the Wizard for the death of her mother and the destruction of her kingdom during the war against the Beast. She also spots how divided the Wizard's council is, and sneakily sets them against each other.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: She always wanted a friend, but she didn't know how to "get" one. This is the reason why she claimed Jack as her property.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She refuses to help the Wizard, since he didn't save her kingdom from the Beast Forever and her mother died as a result.
- Missing Mom: In the episode "Everybody Lies" it's mentioned that her mother died when she was younger.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Naturally Langwidere is shown wearing several beautiful gowns.
- Princesses Rule: Apparently Langwidere has been running the kingdom due to her father's declining health.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: While already related in the source material, the relationship becomes much closer here, as Langwidere goes from niece to daughter.
- Robotic Reveal: Langwidere died alongside her mother and brothers. The Langwidere we've known was a robot built by Jane.
- Royal Brat: Langwidere behaves like an absolutely entitled brat in her introductory episode, to the point that she claims Jack as property just because she feels like it.
- You Killed My Father: She blames the Wizard ultimately for her mother's death when the Beast Forever attacked Ev. She also blames him for her father's murder when they visit Emerald City.
King Ev
King Ev
- Portrayed By: David Calder
Reigning king of Ev and Langwidere's father.
- Doting Parent: Likely spoiled Langwidere.
- No Name Given: Known as the King of Ev on the show, but sources state that his first name is August.
- Parental Favoritism: After the last attack of the Beast Forever he had Jane recreate an android of his dead daughter Langwidere, but not of his sons.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: In the books, the king of Ev was Langwidere's uncle. Here, he's her father.
- Taken for Granite: Meets this fate by the end of "Beautiful Wickedness."
Jane
Jane Andrews
Portrayed By: Gina McKee
A medic in Ev who specializes in replacing lost limbs with prosthetics. She's also Dorothy's birth mother.
- Mama Bear: Shoots and kills Frank when she sees him threatening Dorothy with a gun.
- Mad Scientist: And how. All the creepy tropes are hit during her introductory scene: A dimly lit operating room, crude medieval instruments, then she whips out a rotary saw and claims "this won't hurt a bit."
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: In Ev, she is a medical doctor who specializes in making clockwork prosthetics for people, but Lady Ev also expects her to design firearms. However, flashbacks show that on Earth she was a physicist working on a way to create energy from tornados.
- Trapped in Another World: Her full name is Dr. Jane Andrews and she's originally from Earth. She was brought to Oz during the same incident that brought the Wizard and Karen Chapman to Oz. Episode 1.09 reveals that Frank used his authority as the Wizard to keep her from returning to Earth.
Witches
Witches as a group
The only wielders of magic in the Land of Oz.
- Benevolent Mage Ruler: Exactly how benevolent isn't certain, but the "Wicked" witches are less villainous than their literary counterparts.
- Older Than They Look: The witches age at a different rate from humans, if at all. Specifically, West fought against the Beast Forever twenty years ago, but still appears in her thirties. Why they all appear to be different ages is anyone's guess.
- Our Witches Are Different: Apparently only born to Mother South, seemingly a species unto themselves, unable to be killed by mundane means unless killed by another witch and able to resurrect themselves.
- Shapeshifting: Said to be a base ability.
Cardinal Witches
Glinda
Glinda, the Witch of the North
Portrayed By: Joely Richardson
Maiden of Northern Light, Mother of the Sound and Pure.
- Aloof Big Sister: She looks older than West (though their actual ages are unclear), and she certainly acts the part. She spends quite a bit of time chastising West for her appearance and habits.
- Color-Coded Characters: Wears white in contrast with West's darker palette.
- Color Motif: White.
- The Dragon: Appears to be one for the Wizard, working for him and sending her trainees to be part of his council...
- Dragon with an Agenda: ...but she's clearly got plans of her own. Namely, hiding Mother South's true location and using her or her magic to breed new witches. She was also spying on East prior to Dorothy's arrival.
- Hypocrite: She demands celibacy and chastity from the women of her order, yet she herself has a husband that she has plenty of sex with.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Has these to match her aloof demeanor.
- Kick the Dog: Refuses to let an emotionally distraught West see Mother South, seemingly out of resentment that South had chosen West to be the new progenitor of witches in Oz and not her.
- Knight Templar: She firmly believes that magic and magic alone should rule in Oz, and will go to any means necessary to drive out science.
- Light Is Not Good: She isn't outright evil, but in contrast to the white morality-centric of the MGM version, this Glinda is a far darker shade of grey.
- Sibling Rivalry: Glinda tells West that Mother South saw her as her heir over herself and East, something Glinda appears to be still bitter about.
- Stepford Smiler: It's clear Glinda hates the Wizard for outlawing her and her sisters' gifts but continues to work with him.
- We Have Reserves: She doesn't care for the wellbeing of the young witches, locking up and neglecting the ones whose bodies couldn't handle their powers, because she's guaranteed a continuous line of witches since she's the only one who knows where Mother South is.
West
The Witch of the West
"That girl looks like trouble, and where I come from, trouble pays.
Portrayed By: Ana Ularu
Mistress of the Western Fields, Vessel of Truth and Solace.
- Berserk Button: She really doesn't like people lying to her.West: If there is one thing I cannot stand, IT'S A LIAR!
- Brutal Honesty: In a trait that seems to come with her office, she has absolutely no filter, spilling truths about the people around her without any regard for their feelings.
- But Not Too Bi: West is shown as attracted to women, and mentions her past involvement with Anna's mother. On the show she's only shown having sex with a man though.
- Color Motif: Green (obviously).
- Deadpan Snarker: Sarcasm seems to be one of her favorite tools to insult people.
- Establishing Character Moment: After having sex with a client, she meets with the Wizard, snarks at him, and then notes that his assistant has broken her vow of chastity and is pregnant. Then she identifies the father as the guard who is standing nearby.
- Functional Addict: She's addicted to opium, but is still able to run her brothel and near-flawlessly retrieve East's spells during the funeral rites.
- I Banged Your Mom: To Anna.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Made painfully obvious as the series goes on. She loved East and Mother South mainly because they did love her back, and despite her dysfunctional relationship with Glinda, it's clear she still seeks her approval and validation.
- In Vino Veritas: When the Wizard comes to see her just after she takes some opium, she confesses to him that she's glad he banned magic, as for all her power she couldn't defeat the Beast or save its victims.
- Interrupted Suicide: After accidentally killing Tip and then having Glinda refuse to allow her to see their mother, West slits her wrists in the Temple of the Cardinal Witches. Luckily, Tip finds her just in time.
- Ironic Nickname: While she sure has a knack for the truth, her particular methods of sharing it bring about the opposite of solace.
- Mind over Matter: Displays telekinesis when interrogating Dorothy.
- Miss Kitty: She runs a brothel.
- Pet the Dog: While generally selfish and petty, she sincerely loved her sisters (except for Glinda) and was deeply affected when East died. Also, when she snaps at Tip for being snarky in 'Science and Magic', she asks if she hurt his feelings, then starts cuddling his hand very gently.
- Shapeshifting: Has been seen using this ability twice to achieve some ends. In "Science and Magic," she uses this ability to convince Tip to be on her side. It works, although Tip saw right through the disguise. Then, in "Everybody Lies," she transformed into Karen Chapman in order to get some information from Dorothy via Telepathy.
- Sherlock Scan: She is able to immediately tell that a woman is pregnant, and identifies the father a heartbeat later.
- Survivor Guilt: She is severely traumatized by the fact that so many of her fellow witches died in the last battle against the Beast Forever, and for all her magic she was unable to save any of them. She uses opium to cope with their deaths.
- As the story goes along, it's revealed that she and Glinda sent the witches to be nothing more than cannon fodder for the Beast Forever, with West giving them milk of the poppy to calm them down.
East
The Witch of the East
Portrayed By: Florence Kasumba
"In Oz, nothing good ever comes from the sky. So when something does, we try to send it back in pieces."
Mistress of the Eastern Woods, Most Merciful and Stern.
- Color Motif: Red.
- Cosmic Keystone: She was in charge of running the weather. Her death without a trained successor in place means that the weather in Oz has gone completely out of whack.
- Good Is Not Nice: She was powerful, intelligent, suffered no fools, and ran a magical prison on the Wizard's behalf. She was also the nicest of the surviving witches, and the munchkins nearly kill Dorothy for killing her (though they settle for exiling her instead).
- Reasonable Authority Figure: According to the munchkins, she was the fairest and most merciful of the witches. Unfortunately for Dorothy, she also knows that in Oz, nothing good ever comes from the sky.
- She was also willing to use her magic to send Karen, Jane and Frank back to Earth after their arrival caused a major imbalance to Oz.
- Staying Alive: Although she is apparently killed when Dorothy accidentally hits her with a car, she revives within a few days and goes hunting for Dorothy. She is killed permanently when Dorothy tricks her into shooting herself.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She does not survive the first two episodes.
South
Mother South
The allegedly deceased mother of all the witches of Oz.
- Color Motif: Black.
- Mother of a Thousand Young: Quite literally, as she gave birth over 1,000 times, to every single witch in Oz.
- Never Found the Body: According to the Wizard, during the last battle with the Beast Forever she died in such a way that left no body to perform the rituals.
- Not Quite Dead: Possibly, as a new generation of young witches have since been discovered.
- Posthumous Character: Mother South was supposedly killed in the battle against the Beast Forever, but the existence of a younger generation of witches casts doubt on this..
Other Witches
Sylvie/Leith
Sylvie
Portrayed By: Rebeka Rea
A mysterious girl who finds Dorothy and Lucas in the woods, and refuses to leave Lucas's side. Sylvie soon reveals herself to be a witch.
- All the Other Reindeer: She gets laughed at by the other witches for not being able to fully control her powers.
- Chekhov's Skill: Her base power is the ability to turn people into stone. Glinda uses this gift to destroy the Stone Giant Dorothy brings to Ev.
- Child Mage: West realizes that she is a witch bred by Mother South—which implies South is not dead.
- Child Soldiers: Sylvie is a part of a generation of witches born for the sole purpose of waging war against the Wizard.
- Cute Mute: Doesn't have any spoken lines in her first appearance.
- Foreshadowing: When she's first introduced, she makes a beeline for Lucas and clings to him. That's because he protected her and her witch sisters from the Wizard's Guard while traveling to Glinda. Also overlaps with
Heartwarming in Hindsight. - No Name Given: She never actually says her name. Sylvie is just what the strange couple who pretended she was theirs called her. It's as good a name as any, so Dorothy and Lucas stuck with it. Glinda eventually reveals her true name to be 'Leith.'
- Super-Senses: She has enhanced hearing, which causes her pain. Someone put shells in her ears as earplugs.
- Taken for Granite: When she is taken by a couple who claim she's theirs, she is later found in their house, with both of them turned to stone.
- She also does this to the King of Ev when he mistakes Toto for his long-dead dog.
Mombi
Mombi
Portrayed By: Fiona Shaw
A witch who lives in solitude with her foster child, Tip.
- Adaptational Heroism: Her interest in Tip's well-being is absent in her literary counterpart.
- Death by Adaptation: In contrast with L. Frank Baum's books, Mombi gets killed in her first appearance.
- Mama Bear: Although she keeps him locked up in his room, Mombi does appear to genuinely love Tip and is utterly furious when Dorothy frees him.
- Staying Alive: Lucas stabs her through the heart and then beats her skull in with a jug. She is later seen waking up.
- Wicked Stepmother: Though she claims everything she did was for Tip's own good, she still locked him in his room and refused to ever let him leave the house.
Antagonists
The Beast Forever/Roquat
The Beast Forever
Portrayed By: Julian Bleach
A destructive force that nearly laid waste to Oz before being sealed away by the Wizard and his army of stone giants. Every time it comes, it takes a different form. As the series starts, there are signs that foretell of its return.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: In-universe there are differing opinions about the Beast Forever:
- The opinion shared by the Wizard, his High Council and the Cardinal Witches is that the Beast Forever is an evil monster seeking to destroy Oz and which needs to be fought off.
- Others, like the Alderman of Nimbo, believe that the Beast is a force of nature that comes because it must, to cleanse and purify Oz.
- The Dreaded: With good reason. The last time it came around, it couldn't be stopped by the combined powers of the Cardinal Witches.
- Hero Killer: When it first arrived, it killed the vast majority of witches (including Mother South) as well as the King of Oz and much of the Wizard's Guard. Subverted with Mother South and the King of Oz. Mother South survived and is still birthing witches, while the Wizard ordered the death of the King of Oz.
- I Shall Taunt You: The reason it uses its magic to possess three sex workers into a suicide ritual. They preferred to sleep with impotent men, which Anna realizes is meant as a taunt to the Wizard, to let him know that it knows he can no longer control the stone giants that stopped it in the first place.
