Species in The Oz Series
the Hammer-Heads
Also known as the armless Hammer-Heads, people with shooting heads.
A people of hundreds of short, stout, armless men who own a steep rocky hill on the road to the Quadling country and let no one cross it. Each has a big flat-topped head on a thick wrinkled neck that shoots out like a battering ram to knock intruders back down the hill, and they jeer at those they repel.
Appears in 1 chapters, first in chapter 22, last in chapter 22.
This encyclopedia covers chapters 1 to 100 of the story and shows the world as it stands at chapter 100, so it contains spoilers up to that point. To read it spoiler free, one chapter at a time, open the interactive codex.
What the story establishes
| Cultural norms | They claim the hill as their own territory and forbid anyone to cross it, defending it by shooting out their heads to knock trespassers back, then mocking them with harsh, boisterous laughter. (as of ch. 22) |
| Habitat | A steep hill covered top to bottom with great rocks, on the road between the great forest and the Quadling country; each Hammer-Head lurks behind a rock on the hillside. (as of ch. 22) |
| Innate traits | Short, stout, and armless, each with a big flat-topped head on a thick wrinkled neck that can shoot forward as quick as lightning to strike like a cannon ball and then snap back to the body. (as of ch. 22) |
Relationships
- guards → the hill of the Hammer-Heads ch. 22The Hammer-Heads claim and guard the rocky hill as their own, posted one behind every rock and forbidding anyone to cross it.
- located in → the hill of the Hammer-Heads ch. 22The Hammer-Heads live on the steep rocky hill, each lurking behind one of its great rocks.
- defeats → Cowardly Lion (ended) ch. 22When the Lion charges up the hill, a Hammer-Head's head shoots out and sends the great Lion rolling back down as if struck by a cannon ball, defeating his rush.
- threatens → Dorothy's Traveling Party (ended) ch. 22The Hammer-Heads warn the travelers off their hill, crying 'Keep back!' and refusing to let them cross toward the Quadling country.
- defeats → Scarecrow (ended) ch. 22A Hammer-Head shoots out its head and strikes the Scarecrow in the middle, sending him tumbling over and over down the hill and repelling his attempt to climb it.
- confronts ← Cowardly Lion (ended) ch. 22Angered by their mocking laughter at the Scarecrow's fall, the Lion roars like thunder and charges up the hill at the Hammer-Heads, only to be hurled back.
- injures → Cowardly Lion (ended) ch. 22The Hammer-Head's head-strike leaves the Lion bruised and sore after he is knocked rolling down the hill.
- confronts ← Dorothy's Traveling Party (ended) ch. 24Barred from the Quadling country by the armless Hammer-Heads, who shoot out their flat heads to knock back anyone attempting the hill, the travelers cannot force a passage and instead spend Dorothy's last Golden-Cap command to have the Winged Monkeys fly the whole party safely over the hill.
From the text
This hill belongs to us, and we don’t allow anyone to cross it.Chapter 22
He was quite short and stout and had a big head, which was flat at the top and supported by a thick neck full of wrinkles. But he had no arms at allChapter 22
See the Hammer-Heads chapter by chapter in the interactive codex →