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Good Witch of the North | |
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Oz character | |
![]() The Witch of the North as illustrated by W. W. Denslow (1900) | |
First appearance | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
Created by | L. Frank Baum |
Portrayed by | Karen Holness (Once Upon a Time) |
In-universe information | |
Alias |
(The Wiz Live!) |
Species | Human (witch) |
Gender | Woman |
Title | The Good Witch of the North |
Occupation | Ruler of the Gillikin Country |
Nationality | Ozian of Gillikin descent |
The Good Witch of the North, sometimes named Locasta or Tattypoo, is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum.[1] She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country. Her only significant appearance in Baum's work is in Chapter 2 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), in which she introduces Dorothy Gale to Oz and sends her to meet the Wizard, after placing a protective kiss on her forehead. She makes a brief cameo appearance at Princess Ozma's birthday party in The Road to Oz (1909), but is otherwise only mentioned elsewhere in the series.
L. Frank Baum presented her as an extremely kind and gentle character who stood against the oppression and subjugation of people. She became the Ruler of the Gillikin Country in the North after freeing the Gillikins from the clutches of Mombi, the erstwhile Wicked Witch of the North. However, the character's kindness and magnanimity of spirit was not confined to her own domain, and she was loved not only by her own subjects but also by other people in Oz, such as the Munchkins. Although she wasn't as powerful as the Wicked Witch of the East and was hence unable to depose her the way she deposed Mombi, the Good Witch of the North was nonetheless exceedingly sensitive to the plight of the enslaved Munchkins, who regarded her as their friend. She also appears as a highly altered player in Ruth Plumly Thompson's The Giant Horse of Oz (1928), in which she is called Tattypoo.
Her role was significantly expanded in the 1902 musical extravaganza, in which L. Frank Baum named her Locasta. The character was more famously conflated with that of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, for the 1939 film version, making Glinda the Good Witch of the North who fulfills both of their roles in Dorothy's adventure.