Magic practitioner in The Oz Series
Mombi
Also known as Tip's guardian, a Sorceress, a Wizardess, Mombi, the witch, the old hag, the aged witch, the wicked old creature, the cunning old Mombi, a wicked old witch, one Wicked Witch named Mombi, my grandfather's jailor.
An old woman of ill repute in the Gillikin country who reared the orphan Tip; a worker of magical arts who, forbidden to be a Witch, is at most a Sorceress or Wizardess, and a harsh guardian shunned by her neighbors.
Appears in 18 chapters, first in chapter 25, last in chapter 84.
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
| Affiliation | No longer an active rebel ally but a defeated prisoner of Glinda: coerced into confessing and undoing her magic, and dependent on the mercy of Tip, who promises to provide for her in her old age. (as of ch. 47) |
| Age | Old / elderly. (as of ch. 25) |
| Appearance | An old woman with stern, wrinkled features who hobbles and walks with a stick. (as of ch. 26) |
| Being nature | A human worker of magic — not a Witch by law, but a Sorceress or Wizardess. |
| Body conditions | Elderly and infirm of gait — she hobbles and leans on a stick. |
| Conflict | An interrogation she cannot win: defiant and silent at first, she attempts to deceive Glinda but her lie is exposed by the magic truth-pearl, and she is forced to confess the secret of Ozma and to undo her own enchantment. (as of ch. 47) |
| Current goal | To save her own life: abandoning escape, she chooses to confess the truth about Ozma and surrender her magic rather than be put to death by Glinda. (as of ch. 47) |
| Dialogue style | Speaks with grim, gleeful menace and blunt cruelty, exulting rapturously in her magic and coldly announcing Tip's fate. (as of ch. 26) |
| Equipment | Keeps a great chest of keepsakes and treasures, including purple trousers, a red shirt, a spotted pink vest, and knit stockings. (as of ch. 25) |
| Gender identity | woman (as of ch. 25) |
| Health condition | An old woman who hobbles as she moves, but is otherwise active and sound. (as of ch. 26) |
| Is alive | yes (as of ch. 25) |
| Magic alignment | Wicked and self-serving: she works forbidden magic, animates and imprisons, and brews a potion to destroy her own ward. |
| Magic tradition | Works magical arts as a Sorceress or Wizardess, forbidden from being a full Witch. |
| Magical domain | Animation with the Powder of Life, transformation potions (turning a person to marble), and brewing charms from recipes, powders, and herbs. |
| Maturation stage | Aged adult (elderly) |
| Motive | Driven now by fear of Glinda's anger and the wish to stay alive: she cooperates to avoid death, no longer caring what becomes of Tip. (as of ch. 47) |
| Personality | Cruel, revengeful, and grimly gleeful in her magic — exulting rapturously at bringing Jack to life while cheerfully plotting to petrify her ward. (as of ch. 26) |
| Power tier | A capable practising sorceress—not permitted the rank of Witch, so at most a Sorceress or Wizardess—who nonetheless works real magic in secret. |
| Quirks | Hoards keepsakes and treasures in a great chest and dotes on her four-horned cow as her especial pride. (as of ch. 25) |
| Referential profile | feminine (as of ch. 25) |
| Sex profile | female (as of ch. 25) |
| Skills | A practising witch who wields the Powder of Life to animate the inanimate and, by her secret arts, can spy out distant events, disguise and change the appearance of the landscape, and raise blinding, whirling illusory sunflowers to bar and mislead travelers. (as of ch. 36) |
| Social status | A distrusted old woman of ill repute; Tip's guardian, suspected of magic and shunned by her neighbors. (as of ch. 25) |
| Special capabilities | Works curious, weird magic that frightens her neighbors. |
| Status | A helpless captive: held by Glinda's golden thread, she is interrogated in the tent, tries to lie and is caught by the truth-pearl, then confesses that she hid the infant Ozma by transforming her into Tip — and, to escape death, works her last magic to restore Ozma before facing the loss of her powers. (as of ch. 47) |
Relationships
- imprisoned by → Glinda ch. 46Held wholly helpless by the golden thread around her neck, Mombi is carried to Glinda's tent and interrogated under the magic truth-pearl; caught in a lie, she confesses the secret of Ozma and, under threat of death, consents to give up her magic — her last act being to restore Ozma before losing her powers.
- enemy of · Tip ch. 36Tip's hostility toward Mombi ends in generosity this chapter: once she confesses and restores him to his true form, he bears her no further grudge and promises to provide for her in her old age.
- enemy of · Scarecrow ch. 36Mombi becomes the Scarecrow's enemy, coming to the Emerald City at Jinjur's summons and working magic to prevent the Scarecrow and his companions from returning.
- controls ← Glinda ch. 47Glinda keeps the captive Mombi wholly helpless by the golden magical thread around her neck, holding its end so the witch cannot work any magic to escape.
- enemy of · Tin Woodman ch. 36Mombi becomes the Tin Woodman's enemy, working magic to stop him along with the Scarecrow so the heroes cannot reach the Emerald City.
- located in → Country of the Gillikins ch. 25Mombi lives in the Country of the Gillikins, where she rears Tip and works her magic, shunned by her neighbors.
- possesses → marble statue potion ch. 26Mombi brews and keeps the marble-statue potion, carrying the steaming kettle into her locked room to use on Tip at daybreak.
- subordinate to → Witch of the North ch. 25Mombi lives under the authority of the Good Witch who rules the North, whose law forbids any other Witch, so Mombi may be only a Sorceress or Wizardess.
- animates → Jack Pumpkinhead (ended) ch. 26Mombi sprinkles the Powder of Life over the pumpkin-headed dummy and, with the ritual words 'Weaugh! Teaugh! Peaugh!', brings Jack Pumpkinhead to life.
- captures ← Glinda (ended) ch. 46After a long chase, Glinda overtakes the exhausted Griffin at the desert's edge and casts a slender golden thread over its head, destroying Mombi's transformation and taking the old Witch prisoner.
- reveals secret to → Glinda (ended) ch. 47Compelled by the truth-pearl and the threat of death, Mombi reveals to Glinda the long-hidden secret: the Wizard gave her the infant Ozma to conceal, and she enchanted the princess into the boy Tip, who is the rightful ruler of the Emerald City.
- restores form → Tip (ended) ch. 47As her last act of magic, Mombi undoes her own enchantment on Tip — with an incantation over a fire of dried herbs and magical powder — restoring the boy to his true form as the Princess Ozma.
- ally of · General Jinjur (ended) ch. 36–46As Jinjur's chief counsellor Mombi actively saves the alliance this chapter, working two protective enchantments against Glinda — disguising Jellia as herself and transforming into a red rose — before being unknowingly plucked and carried out of the city into Glinda's camp, which is about to end the pact.
- discovers ← Glinda (ended) ch. 46Noticing the big red leaves of the rose in the Tin Woodman's button-hole tremble slightly, Glinda's suspicions are aroused and she deduces that the seeming rose is a transformation of old Mombi.
- restores form ← Glinda (ended) ch. 46The golden thread from Glinda's girdle undoes Mombi's Griffin transformation: the animal shudders and vanishes, and in its place the true form of the old Witch is revealed, glaring savagely at the Sorceress.
- threatens ← Glinda (ended) ch. 47Glinda threatens the captive Mombi with death unless she reveals the truth about the girl Ozma, making clear it is merely a threat to compel her — offering, if she confesses, only the loss of her magical powers instead.
- deceives → Glinda (ended) ch. 45Mombi twice deceives Glinda: first disguising Jellia Jamb as herself so Jinjur's soldiers can hand over a false Mombi, then, when that is exposed, transforming herself into a red rose in the palace garden to escape Glinda's search.
- transforms → Ozma (ended) ch. 47It is revealed that years ago Mombi enchanted the infant princess Ozma, transforming her into the boy Tip to conceal her at the Wizard's request — the disguise under which Ozma has lived the whole story.
- captures ← Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 45Fond of flowers, the Tin Woodman plucks a big red rose from a bush in the palace garden and pins it to his tin bosom, unknowingly carrying the disguised Mombi out of the city into Glinda's camp — completing the quest's capture without anyone suspecting it.
- imprisoned by → Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 45–46[CASCADE] Created by CAPTURES(tin_woodman→mombi)
- provides service → Army of Revolt (ended) ch. 36–48Answering Jinjur's summons, Mombi comes to the aid of the rebel Army of Revolt, using her magic to hinder the heroes marching against it.
- provides service → General Jinjur (ended) ch. 36–46Answering Jinjur's summons, Mombi comes to the royal palace and works her secret magic from a locked tower room to prevent the return of the Scarecrow and his companions.
- transforms → Jellia Jamb (ended) ch. 45Mombi performs a magical rite that makes Jellia Jamb take on Mombi's own form and features while Mombi grows to resemble the girl, so that the disguised Jellia can be delivered to Glinda as the supposed Mombi.
- transforms → Ozma (ended) ch. 84When Ozma was born, the Wicked Witch Mombi transformed the infant Princess into a boy in order to hide her true identity as the rightful ruler of Oz and keep her from ever being recognized.
- deceives → Scarecrow (ended) ch. 36Mombi magically disguises the landscape and raises a whirling field of illusory sunflowers whose girl-faces mimic the Army of Revolt, misleading the Scarecrow's party so they lose their way.
- threatens → Tip (ended) ch. 26Mombi tells Tip she will make him drink her brewed potion at daybreak to transform him into a marble statue, to be set as an ornament in her flower garden.
- teaches ← Oz (ended) ch. 44In three secret visits the Wizard taught old Mombi many of his tricks of magic — a schooling Glinda reasons he would not have given without her help, and so suspects he paid Mombi for hiding the girl Ozma.
- possesses → Powder of Life (ended) ch. 26–27Mombi carries the Powder of Life home in her basket in an old pepper-box, with enough left for two or three doses after animating Jack.
- trades with → crooked wizard (ended) ch. 26Mombi meets a crooked wizard in a lonely mountain cave and trades important magic secrets with him, gaining three new recipes, four magical powders, and potent herbs — among them the Powder of Life.
- advises → General Jinjur (ended) ch. 45–46Mombi is Queen Jinjur's chief counsellor, whom Jinjur dreads yet obeys: the witch overrules Jinjur's impulse to surrender her, promising she can save them both, and directs the deceptions used against Glinda.
- commands ← Glinda (ended) ch. 47Glinda commands the silent, evasive Mombi to answer and to look up, sternly directing the interrogation until the witch complies.
- deceives → Glinda (ended) ch. 47Under questioning Mombi tries to deceive Glinda with false answers — claiming the Wizard visited only to learn her tea-biscuit recipe — until Glinda's truth-pearl turns black and exposes the lie.
- deceives → Jack Pumpkinhead (ended) ch. 38Mombi's illusory sheet of flame frightens Jack Pumpkinhead, who fearfully asks whether fire is dangerous to pumpkins, though the fire is only a deception.
- threatens → Jellia Jamb (ended) ch. 45Mombi threatens Jellia with death if she confesses the fraud, so that under Glinda's questioning the terrified girl dares not reveal her true name.
- transforms → Ozma (ended) ch. 57The wicked old witch who stole Ozma as a baby magically transformed her into a boy, a disguise later undone by a kind sorceress who restored her to her true girl form.
- uses → Powder of Life (ended) ch. 26Mombi tests the Powder of Life by sprinkling it over the pumpkin head of Tip's man Jack, as one would pepper a potato.
- deceives → Saw-Horse (ended) ch. 38Mombi's illusory flame panics the Saw-Horse, who prances in agitation and turns to flee for fear his dry wood would burn, though the fire is merely a deception.
- deceives → Scarecrow (ended) ch. 38Mombi throws illusory obstacles across the party's path — a phantom river, a granite wall, whirling roads, and a sheet of flame — all cleverly contrived deceptions meant to keep the Scarecrow from reaching the Emerald City.
- deceives → Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 38Mombi's illusory obstacles — river, granite wall, whirling roads, and a sheet of flame — are contrived to bar the Tin Woodman and his companions, though he alone sees the fire is 'no fire at all, but only a deception.'
- subordinate to ← Tip (ended) ch. 25–27Tip is the ward and drudge of his guardian Mombi, made to carry wood, work the corn-fields, feed the pigs, and milk her cow.
- expresses hatred ← Tip (ended) ch. 25Tip frankly hates his guardian Mombi and makes no effort to hide it, showing her less respect than a ward should.
- defies ← Tip (ended) ch. 27Rebelling against Mombi's threat to turn him into a marble statue, Tip resolves not to stand it, and while she sleeps he steals food and her Powder of Life, frees Jack, and runs away from her.
- deceives → Tip (ended) ch. 38Mombi's contrived illusions — a phantom river, a granite wall, whirling roads, and a sheet of flame — are thrown in the way of Tip and the party to prevent them from reaching the Emerald City.
- deceives → Woggle-Bug (ended) ch. 38Mombi's illusory flame terrifies the Woggle-Bug into fleeing on all fours, though it and her other obstacles are only cleverly contrived deceptions.
- defies → Glinda (ended) ch. 47Newly captured, Mombi defiantly refuses Glinda — croaking that she defies her and that Glinda dare not harm her, and at first meeting the Sorceress's questions with stubborn silence.
- captures → Jack Pumpkinhead (ended) ch. 26On reaching the farmyard Mombi leads the living pumpkin man to the cow stable and shuts him in an empty stall, fastening the door securely on the outside.
- communicates with ← Jack Pumpkinhead (ended) ch. 26The newly-living Jack converses with Mombi — rebuking her shouting and answering her question about what he knows, admitting he cannot yet tell whether he is wise or foolish.
- imprisoned by ← Jack Pumpkinhead (ended) ch. 26–27[CASCADE] Created by CAPTURES(mombi→jack_pumpkinhead)
- creates → marble statue potion (ended) ch. 26Mombi brews the transformation potion in a black kettle, mixing equal parts milk and vinegar with herbs and powders by a written recipe.
- fears ← Tip (ended) ch. 26Tip is afraid of Mombi, obeying her quickly and growing uneasy because he knows she has a bad and revengeful heart.
- defies ← Tip (ended) ch. 26Ordered to go to bed, Tip disobeys and instead sits awake glaring at the dying fire.
- deceives → crooked wizard (ended) ch. 26In their bargain of magic secrets Mombi cheated the crooked wizard, and afterward wonders whether he cheated her back in return.
- teaches ← crooked wizard (ended) ch. 26The crooked wizard imparts to Mombi three new magic recipes, four powders, and potent herbs — magical knowledge she hurries home to test.
- commands → Tip (ended) ch. 26Mombi orders the frightened Tip about — to light a candle, build a fire, and go to bed — commands he obeys out of fear.
- insults → Tip (ended) ch. 26Catching Tip laughing, Mombi furiously berates him as a naughty, sneaking, wicked boy for spying on her secrets and mocking her.
- possesses → four-horned cow (ended) ch. 25Mombi owns a four-horned cow that is her especial pride, kept on her farm and milked by Tip.
- fears ← Gillikins (ended) ch. 25Mombi's curious magic frightens her Gillikin neighbors, who treat her shyly and keep their distance because of her weird powers.
- shows respect ← Gillikins (ended) ch. 25Wary of Mombi's curious magic and weird powers, the Gillikin people keep their distance from her and treat her shyly yet respectfully.
- steals ← Tip (ended) ch. 25To dress his wooden man, Tip ransacks Mombi's great chest of keepsakes and takes purple trousers, a red shirt, a spotted pink vest, and her knit stockings without leave.
From the text
He lives!—he lives!—he lives!Chapter 26
But we may even yet escape by deceiving this sorceress, clever as she thinks herself.Chapter 45
reared by the old woman known as Mombi, whose reputation, I am sorry to say, was none of the best.Chapter 25
in its place was discovered the form of the old Witch, glaring savagely at the serene and beautiful face of the Sorceress.Chapter 46
"I defy you!" croaked the old hag. "You dare not harm me!"Chapter 47