Wicked Witch of the East

Villainess Overview

Gallery

Evil-doer

Book
Movie
Boomerang

Full Name

Unknown (The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Nessarose (Wicked)
Evanora (Oz the Great and Powerful)
Evamene(The Wiz)

Alias

Wicked Witch of the East

Evermean (The Wiz)

Origin

The Wizard of Oz

Occupation

Witch

Ruler of Munchinkinland/Country
Tyrant

Powers / Skills

Magic/Witchcraft

Spell-casting
Flight

Hobby

Making Munchkins miserable.

Doing evil things.
Terrorizing the Land of Oz.

Goals

Maintain her rule.

Prevent Nimee from getting married.
Take over Oz.
Regain her ruby slippers and come back to life.
Get her revenge on Dorothy for dropping her house on her (all failed).

Crimes

Abuse of power

Murder
Torture

Type of Villain

Posthumous Witch

The Wicked Witch of the East is the posthumous overarching antagonist of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. She is a nefarious, malevolent witch who is the sister to the Wicked Witch of the West.

She was one of four powerful witches who presided over the four countries of the Land of Oz. She leagued with the Wicked Witch of the West, Mombi and the Wicked Witch of the South to rule all of Oz. She specifically ruled the Munchkins in the east. She was more powerful than Locasta the Good Witch of the North and Mombi the former Wicked Witch of the North, but not as powerful as Glinda.

Biography[]

The Wicked Witch of the East conquered the Country of the Munchkins and tyrannically ruled them after the fall of King Pastoria, making them slaves for her night and day. The Wizard of Oz was unable to subdue her.

Among her, exceedingly cruel actions were the enchantment of Nick Chopper's axe which caused him to cut up his own body and eventually turn into the Tin Woodman.

She met her end when Dorothy Gale's house fell on her. Her dry withered body soon turned to dust and Dorothy obtained her magical Silver Shoes. Her death was cause for great celebration among the Munchkins (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz).

It was later revealed that the Wicked Witch lived in a hut, with her maid Nimee Amee, who was Nick Chopper's sweetheart. Determined to prevent Nimee Amee from getting married, the Wicked Witch of the East resolved to turn her into an old crone.

It was while the Witch was out looking for herbs that would affect such a transformation that Dorothy's house landed on her (The Tin Woodman of Oz).

1939 movie[]

In the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East is not verifiable seen except for her stocking feet. The silver shoes were changed to ruby slippers to take advantage of Technicolor technology.

The film portrays the Witch as being the sister of the Wicked Witch of the West, a relationship neither stated nor implied in Baum's books. The famous sequence of the house dropping from the cyclone is actually a subjective point of view shot, showing the witch's view as Dorothy Gale's house crushes her to death for which her sister seeks revenge.

Many fans speculate that the witch Miss Gulch transforms into during the tornado sequence is the Wicked Witch of the East. This witch's glimmering shoes appear similar to the ruby slippers, and her black-and-white striped socks are also visible.

Modern works[]

In Alexander Melentyevich Volkov's The Wizard of the Emerald City, The Witch's name is Gingema. Like in the 1939 movie, the two Wicked Witches are sisters. The book begins with her summoning a magical hurricane to destroy all humanity (since people, in her opinion, exterminate her food).

However, Villina learns of her schemes and changes the spell to only affect one house (her magic book told her it was always empty during storms) and drop it on Gingema's head. Unlike in Baum's books, while being the formal ruler of the Munchkins, she interfered little in their lives and only demanded that people collect food for her. Since her food was snakes, leeches, spiders, and other similarly disgusting creatures which the Munchkins were afraid of, that was nevertheless a heavy burden for them.

In the movie and Broadway musical The Wiz, The Wicked Witch of the East is named Evamene and terrorizes the Munchkins. She is the sister of Evillene the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked[]

Main article: Nessarose Thropp

In the more recent novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by author Gregory Maguire, The Wicked Witch of the East is known as Nessarose Thropp. She is the beautiful but physically handicapped sister of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). She gains the ability to walk unsupported thanks to the enchanted silver/ruby shoes.

In both the book and musical, the character is portrayed in a less negative light than in the Baum books or earlier movie, although she becomes fanatical, so much so that she limits the rights of the Munchkins and ends up being referred to as a 'wicked witch', calling her "the Wicked Witch of the East". Nessarose died when Dorothy's house fell on her.

In Roger S. Baum's Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage, the Wicked Witch of the East is the main antagonist. The book was adapted into the 2000 animated film Lion of Oz. She really hates it when she is referred to as her own sister (whom she thinks of as less despicable). She plans to destroy the Flower of Oz and conquer all of Oz, and no one would mistakes her for her sister again. She has a sentient fog named Gloom in service to her and assists in her plans of taking over Oz.

The Witch and Gloom arrive at the garden and attempt to capture Wimzik who is actually the Flower of Oz the whole time, with Gloom holding Caroline and Silly back. After Wimzik restores her power, the Witch blames Lion and tears off his medal and gives it to Gloom.

Fortunately, Wimzik reaches a giant blossom, her throne, which restores her powers. Her powers break the Witch's broom, who orders Gloom to attack her. Gloom attempts to absorb Wimzik, but her powers overwhelm her and he is sent flying in the air. The Witch vows that she will still take over all of Oz.

After her defeat, she implied to gain the silver slippers and died when Dorothy's house fell on her.

In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), the Wicked Witch of the East is played by Miss Piggy (as are all of the other witches). She managed to lift the diner up long enough to threaten the Munchkins before it fell back on top of her, killing her this time. She and her sisters (the Wicked Witch of the West, Tattypoo, the Good Witch of the North, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South) were a successful singing group before they went their separate ways, and became the East Coast diva.

In 2007, Turner Entertainment collaborated with Madame Alexander to create a series of McDonald's Happy Meal toys centered on the main characters from the 1939 movie, one of which was the Wicked Witch of the East. She is depicted as having blonde hair, a red shirt with a green belt and a burgundy dress over her distinguishable striped stockings and ruby slippers. She also is wearing a hat similar to the Witch of the West's, although it is coloured red.

In Dorothy and the Witches of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East is described in a red and black dress with a red pointed hat, her skin is greyish green with battle scars all over and her eyes are pitch black. The Wicked Witch appears post humorously via flashbacks to Dorothy's childhood. She and her sister the Witch of the West learns about the Book of Bini Aru and lusted for its power. With the Changing Word, they will destroy everything. Her magic item being a fire staff, she was in the middle of a battle between Glinda and the Good Witch of the North until Dorothy's house fell on her and her last word after seeing the house coming was "Oh, dear". The Wicked Witch of the West still blames Dorothy for her sister's death. She was played by Sarah Lieving.

Rachel Weisz portrays the Wicked Witch of the East who is named Evanora, the main antagonist in the 2013 Disney film Oz the Great and Powerful. In this version, she is royal adviser of Oz, the older sister of Theodora, Wicked Witch of the West (Mila Kunis), and is at war with Glinda (Michelle Williams) for control of Oz. She poison the King of Oz and framed Glinda making everyone in the Emerald City believe that she killed her own father. Glinda reveals the truth to Oscar before he is about to kill her while Evanora watches in anger through her crystal ball as her plans to kill Glinda has failed. She sends her Winged Baboons and Winkie Guards to kill them. When Evanora tricks Theodora to bite an enchanted apple, her transformation into the Wicked Witch of the West has warped her mind with wickedness, fury and vengeance against Oscar Diggs. During her battle with Glinda, her green magical emerald necklace is destroyed. Striped away her powers and reveals her true form as an old, hideous hag. Glinda banishes her from the City, but she swears to have her and her sister's revenge against Glinda and Oscar. Her Winged Baboons carry her off from the Emerald City forever, causing her title as the Wicked Witch of the East.

In Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East is the overreaching antagonist of the series, yet, one of the three main antagonists (alongside her sister and her niece Wilhelmina) in the part 1 and 2 episode, Battle for the Silver Slippers. She voiced by Tom Kenny. In the episode Return of the Silver Slippers, it appears that the ruby and silver slippers were made by the Magic Cobbler for Glinda and Ozma. The ruby slippers became a part of Glinda and help made her magic strong. But the one time she remove them, the Wicked Witch of the East stole them and corrupted their power, beginning a reign of terror in Oz. In Munchkinland, she starts to torture her slaves, the Munchkins. But just when she looked up the sky, Dorothy's house falls on her, killing her instantly.

In the Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz episode Battle for the Silver Slippers, when the Wicked Witch of the West follows Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion to the Silver Fortress, she opens a door to the Underworld and released her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. She is still dead since the house incident, but the silver slippers keeps her spirit in the living world as long as the Witch of the West wears them. She wants her ruby slippers back because of her special connection with them, once she wears them again, she'll be back to life and together, the Wicked Witches will rule Oz and she will get her revenge on Dorothy for dropping her house on her and took her slippers. After Glinda, the Wizard, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion runs off to get help, the Wicked Witches and their niece Wilhelmina took over Emerald City. Dorothy almost surrenders the ruby slippers to the Witches since all of her friends came back with all of the people in Oz including the Nome King who is helping Dorothy for now. The Wicked Witches outsmarted all of Dorothy's friends and chases Dorothy. Dorothy uses gumdrops to get the silver slippers off West's feet, and the Wicked Witch of the East fades away back to the Underworld. After the battle was over, the Wicked Witch of the West vows revenge on Dorothy and all of her friends for destroying her sister again.

Muppets[]

Main article: Wicked Witch of the East (Muppets)

Other Appearances[]

The Wizard of Oz (1939): Margaret Hamilton
Wicked (2003): Michelle Federer as Nessarose
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005): Miss Piggy
Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013): Rachel Weisz as Evanora
Wicked Flying Monkeys (2015): silent cameo
Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (2017): Tom Kenny

Trivia[]

The Wicked Witch of the East is commonly regarded as one of the best examples of the posthumous antagonists in fiction, as while she's dead by the time the story takes place, her sister takes over the role of main antagonist to avenge her death.

External Links[]

Wicked Witch of the East on Wikipedia

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