Magic practitioner in The Oz Series

the Nome King

Also known as King Roquat of the Rocks, the Ruler of the Underground World, this important monarch of the Underground World, the little monarch, the cunning monarch, the jolly monarch, the fat little King, Mr. Nome King, the fat monarch.

A powerful magic-wielding king, Roquat of the Rocks, Ruler of the Underground World, who purchased the wife and ten children of King Evoldo of Ev in exchange for granting Evoldo one wish; having been outwitted by Billina and forced to disenchant the royal family of Ev and the people of Oz, he now sits upon his rock throne surrounded by his fully arrayed army, his face distorted with rage.

Appears in 22 chapters, first in chapter 52, last in chapter 100.

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	Ruler of the Underground World; commands the rocks and the many thousands of Nomes who labor at his furnaces and forges. (as of ch. 57)
Appearance	A little fat man clothed in gray-brown garments the exact color of his rock throne, with bushy hair and a flowing beard also colored like the rocks, and a rock-colored face; he wore no crown, only a broad, jewel-studded belt, and his kindly, good-humored eyes twinkled merrily; he shook like jelly when he laughed. (as of ch. 59)
Being nature	The all-powerful ruler of the underground world of the Nomes, dwelling beneath the great mountain and never appearing on the earth's surface.
Body conditions	Bruised and battered from being kicked and hurled about by the Sawhorse: knocked against several of his warriors, then thrown into the air to fall upon his captain's head.
Conflict	Having enchanted the Scarecrow after Dorothy's single successful guess, the Nome King is now confronted by Billina's egg (which he deems poisonous) and must contend with the yellow hen's insistence on taking her own turn at guessing. (as of ch. 63)
Current goal	To keep his collection of ornaments (now including the Scarecrow), rid himself of Billina's poisonous egg, and see the hen fail her guesses to become his next ornament. (as of ch. 63)
Dialogue style	Normally jovial, teasing, and self-satisfied, speaking in a pleasant voice with twinkling eyes; but in this scene he does not speak at all, and his usual smiling manner has given way to silent, rage-distorted fury as he glares at the returning party. (as of ch. 64)
Equipment	A broad, jewel-studded belt encircling his fat little body — his only ornament, as he wears no crown — and a pipe he lights with glowing red coals drawn from his pocket. (as of ch. 59)
Gender identity	man (as of ch. 59)
Health condition	Eyesight fully restored after the Chief Steward washed the broken eggs from his face; no longer blinded. (as of ch. 66)
Is alive	yes (as of ch. 52)
Magic tradition	Transformation magic that changes living beings into other forms.
Magical domain	Transformation magic: he uses his magic arts to change living beings into other forms.
Maturation stage	Adult
Motive	Resents and mistrusts surface-dwellers because they often steal the treasures he guards; insists on treating the Queen of Ev and her children as legally purchased slaves rather than prisoners, and justifies keeping them by arguing the original bargain with King Evoldo was fair and irrevocable, framing his transformation of them into ornaments as an act of kindness sparing them hard labor. (as of ch. 59)
Personality	Normally distrustful and unwelcoming of outsiders from the earth's surface, guarding his treasures behind a jovial mask; but on discovering he has been outmaneuvered and his captives freed, that mask drops entirely, revealing a face distorted with dreadful rage. (as of ch. 64)
Power tier	High within his own underground domain — commands an army of Nome warriors, wields a jeweled magic belt that lets him transform any living being into a stationary ornament at will and animate/reshape rock and metal, but his magic cannot affect wood, and eggs act as an absolute poison/weakness to him and his Nomes.
Quirks	Smokes a pipe he lights with a glowing red coal pulled from his own pocket, blowing rings of smoke while he talks; laughs so hard at times that he chokes, coughs, and turns bright red before recovering his composure. (as of ch. 59)
Referential profile	masculine (as of ch. 52)
Sex profile	male (as of ch. 52)
Skills	Skilled at cool, legalistic argument and wordplay — defends his purchase of the Queen of Ev's family with a calm doll-and-lock-of-hair analogy that leaves Dorothy unable to counter him. (as of ch. 59)
Slaves acquired	11
Social status	A king who rules an underground palace. (as of ch. 52)
Special capabilities	Magic arts capable of transforming living beings into other forms.
Status	Defeated and stripped of power: his magic belt was taken from him by Dorothy and he could not reclaim it; his pursuing warriors were turned into eggs and fled back into the cavern, and he is left scowling alone on his throne as the rescue party marches away. (as of ch. 66)

Relationships

rules → Kingdom of the Nomes ch. 57
The Nome King rules the wonderfully rich underground Kingdom of the Nomes, commanding the rocks and all the wealth of gold, silver, and gems hidden within them.
enemy of · Ozma ch. 64
The Nome King, enraged as his enchantments break one by one, summons his entire army against Ozma's freed party and declares them prisoners; Ozma refuses to surrender and orders her army to fight to the death, and the Scarecrow throws two of Billina's eggs into the King's eyes, blinding him and routing his warriors.
leader of → nome_army ch. 60
The Nome King commands his enormous army from his throne of rock, the mail-clad warriors standing in orderly rank after rank with battle-axes poised as if to strike, motionless and awaiting his word of command while he sits enraged, his face distorted with fury.
subordinate to ← Nomes ch. 59
The Nomes are rock fairies who serve the Nome King, flitting over the cliff face and vanishing at his growl to open the hidden palace door.
located in → Nome King's Palace ch. 59
The Nome King sits enthroned on a jewel-studded rock boulder in the domed cavern at the heart of his splendid underground palace.
leader of → Nomes ch. 57
The Nome King commands many thousands of Nomes, queerly shaped but powerful sprites who labor at his furnaces and forges making gold, silver, and gems.
subordinate to ← Chief Steward of the Nome King ch. 61
The Chief Steward, wearing a heavy gold chain of office, serves the Nome King by bringing refreshments and, when commanded, leading the guests to sleeping apartments, though he freely scolds the King for staying up too late.
defeats ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 66
Dorothy slips behind the Nome King while eggs blind him, unbuckles his magic belt and takes it for herself, leaving him powerless to transform anyone; when he tries to work magic without the belt nothing happens, and he creeps back to his throne defeated, bemoaning his loss.
used against ← Billina's eggs (ended) ch. 65
The Scarecrow threw two of Billina's eggs at the Nome King, smashing them into his left and then right eye and blinding him, since eggs are fatal poison to Nomes.
transforms → Ozma (ended) ch. 60
Ozma guesses wrong on her final (eleventh) try in the Nome King's ornament-guessing game, and he transforms her into a small emerald grasshopper ornament left resting on a table in his palace.
enslaves → Ozma (ended) ch. 60–64
Having failed to guess correctly under the terms of his challenge, Ozma is transformed by the Nome King's magic into a small emerald grasshopper ornament, becoming a new object in his palace collection.
defeats ← Scarecrow (ended) ch. 65
The Scarecrow hurled Billina's eggs into both of the Nome King's eyes, blinding him and leaving him helpless and screaming in fear.
injures ← Scarecrow (ended) ch. 65
The Scarecrow smashed one of Billina's eggs into the Nome King's left eye and then another into his right eye, blinding him entirely.
challenges ← Ozma (ended) ch. 57
Ozma resolves that the Nome King must be made to liberate the enslaved royal family of Ev and leads her army toward his domain to confront him, ready to fight if necessary.
communicates with ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
Ozma explains to the Nome King who she is and why she has come, formally requesting that he release the enchanted Queen of Ev and her ten children and restore them to their people.
confronts ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
Ozma disputes the Nome King's justifications, telling him that buying the Queen of Ev's family was wrong and that enslaving them by turning them into ornaments is cruel treatment.
negotiates with ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
Ozma agrees to abandon threats and instead coax the Nome King as friends, asking how the Queen of Ev and her children might be freed, which leads him to propose the guessing-game offer.
challenges → Ozma (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King proposes a wagered trial to Ozma: she may enter his palace alone and touch eleven objects while saying 'Ev,' freeing any that prove to be the transformed royal family, but if none of the eleven guesses is correct she herself will be transformed into an ornament.
negotiates with → Ozma (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King offers Ozma a bargain: she may enter his palace alone and touch eleven objects, naming 'Ev' each time, to try to restore the transformed royal family, but if she fails to free any of them she herself will be turned into an ornament.
defeats → Ozma (ended) ch. 60
Ozma accepts the Nome King's guessing challenge to identify the transformed royal family of Ev among his palace ornaments, but uses all eleven (then a twelfth blind) guess and fails every time, losing the contest to the King.
defeats → ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 61
Through the guessing-game trap the Nome King systematically destroys the Ozma rescue expedition: after Ozma herself is transformed, the Tin Woodman and then, one after another, all twenty-six officers and finally the private enter the palace, guess wrongly, and each becomes an ornament, leaving only Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tiktok, the beasts and the Sawhorse. The armed rescue force that marched on Ev is thus dismantled without a battle.
defeats → ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 63
The Nome King's guessing-game trap has now consumed almost the entire rescue expedition, transforming Ozma, the soldiers, Tiktok, and the Scarecrow into ornaments and leaving only a remnant free.
confronts ← ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 57
In the war council of this chapter the expedition resolves to march on the Nome King's own country to force him to release the imprisoned royal family of Ev, accepting that reaching all-powerful King Roquat in the Underground World will be a dangerous undertaking. The party sets out for the Kingdom of the Nomes at daybreak.
transforms → royal_family_of_ev (ended) ch. 59
Because slaves must labor and the Queen of Ev and her children were too delicate for hard work, the Nome King transformed all eleven of them into articles of ornament and bric-a-brac, scattering them through the rooms of his palace to decorate his apartments instead of making them toil.
transforms → Scarecrow (ended) ch. 63
The Nome King transforms the Scarecrow into a solid gold card-receiver after the Scarecrow fails every guess in the enchanted palace.
challenges ← Billina (ended) ch. 63
Billina refuses to let the Scarecrow retrieve her egg until the Nome King promises to let her enter the palace and guess the enchantments herself, openly defying his mockery that she is 'only a hen'.
negotiates with ← Billina (ended) ch. 63
Billina bargains with the Nome King, refusing to surrender her egg unless he grants her the same right the others had to enter the palace, guess his enchantments, and free her transformed friends.
negotiates with → Billina (ended) ch. 63
The Nome King bargains with Billina: in exchange for her allowing the Scarecrow to remove the poisonous egg from under his throne, he promises to let her enter the enchanted palace, guess with her claws, speak the password, and try to free her friends if she succeeds.
commands ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 66
Using the magic belt, Dorothy commands the passage out of the cavern to open, and later, at the Scarecrow's suggestion, orders the Nome King to go and fetch the ornament that is the Tin Woodman or be turned into a goose-egg.
trades with ← Evoldo (ended) ch. 52
In a fit of anger King Evoldo sold his wife and ten children to the Nome King, who transformed them into other forms to ornament his underground palace.
challenges ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
When the Nome King asks what she will do if he refuses to free his slaves, Ozma firmly declares she has come with her friends and her army to conquer his kingdom and force him to obey her wishes.
persuades ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
Abandoning threats after seeing his army and being advised to wheedle rather than fight, Ozma proposes they talk as friends and offers to give the Nome King ten replacement ornaments for each transformed captive he frees, persuading him to make her a counter-offer instead of refusing outright.
threatens ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
When the Nome King asks what happens if he refuses to free the Queen of Ev and her children, Ozma firmly declares she is there with her friends and army to conquer his kingdom and force him to obey her wishes.
defies ← Ozma (ended) ch. 65
Ozma boldly refused the Nome King's demand for surrender, answering "No!" and ordering her soldiers to fight instead.
reveals secret to → Ozma (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King leads Ozma onto a balcony and reveals the hidden vastness of his Underground World, summoning his enormous hidden army of Nome soldiers to prove his overwhelming, previously unseen power.
threatens → Ozma (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King warns Ozma that if she touches all eleven objects and none proves to be a member of the royal family of Ev, she herself will be enchanted and transformed into an article of bric-a-brac.
negotiates with → Ozma (ended) ch. 60
The Nome King sets the terms of a guessing-game bargain with Ozma: she may enter his palace and try to identify transformed members of the royal family of Ev among his ornaments, with a number of guesses equal to the number already enslaved; a correct guess frees one captive, a wrong guess enslaves the guesser too.
imprisoned by ← royal_family_of_ev (ended) ch. 55–64
The Nome King reveals he purchased the Queen of Ev and her ten children as slaves from the King of Ev, then transformed them all into articles of ornament and bric-a-brac scattered around the rooms of his underground palace, rather than making them labor.
defeats ← Saw-Horse (ended) ch. 65
The Sawhorse kicked the Nome King with both wooden hind legs, sending him flying into the air to fall upon his captain, overpowering the King's attempt to stop him.
injures ← Saw-Horse (ended) ch. 65
The Sawhorse's wooden-legged kicks bruised the Nome King considerably, hurling him against his warriors and later into the air.
enchants → Tiktok (ended) ch. 62
Tiktok enters the palace to make his guesses and, on his last failed guess, is transformed by the Nome King's magic into an ornament (a yellow glass vase painted with daisies), vanishing from sight.
transforms → Tin Woodman (ended) ch. 61
The Nome King transforms the Tin Woodman into an ornament after he fails his guessing game, and finds the resulting ornament so funny that he laughs uncontrollably.
defies ← Billina (ended) ch. 63
Billina defies the Nome King by laying an egg in his throne room despite eggs being forbidden as poison to Nomes, refusing to hand it over until he grants her the right to enter the palace and guess, and insisting on her guessing rights even when he tries to excuse her.
commands → captain of the Nomes (ended) ch. 65
The Nome King directly orders his captain to seize Dorothy, prompting the captain to send warriors forward, though the Lion and Tiger's snarling drives them back.
confronts ← Chief Steward of the Nome King (ended) ch. 62
The Steward challenges the King's judgment, warning that some prisoners might guess correctly and that transforming the Oz visitors into green ornaments was foolish, and boasts he would make a better King.
communicates with ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 59
Dorothy first calls out politely to summon the Nome King to appear, then argues with him that he cheated King Evoldo since the promised long life ended in drowning, prompting the King's doll-and-lock-of-hair analogy in reply.
persuades ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 59
Dorothy steps forward and politely asks the Nome King to come and see them, and her plea succeeds where Ozma's demand and request had failed, causing him to open the door to his palace.
threatens → Dorothy (ended) ch. 65
The Nome King ordered his captain to seize Dorothy and threatened to enchant the Lion and Tiger so they could not open their jaws to protect her.
threatens → Dorothy (ended) ch. 66
Angry at the trick played on him, the Nome King cries that he will transform Dorothy and all her companions into scorpions, though the spell fails because he no longer wears his magic belt.
trades with ← Evoldo (ended) ch. 59
The King of Ev sold his wife and ten children to the Nome King as slaves in exchange for the promise of a long life, a bargain the Nome King insists he honored even though the King later destroyed that life by drowning himself.
acquires resource → Evoldo (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King acquired the Queen of Ev and her ten children as slaves by purchasing them from King Evoldo of Ev, granting Evoldo a long life in exchange — a bargain the Nome King insists he honored even though Evoldo himself later destroyed that life by drowning.
possesses → jewel-studded belt (ended) ch. 59–66
The Nome King wears his broad, jewel-studded belt as the only ornament on his person while seated on his rock throne.
commands → nome_army (ended) ch. 64
The Nome King sits enthroned at the center of his massed army, which stands in orderly array awaiting his word of command to strike.
commands → nome_army (ended) ch. 65
The Nome King whistles his warriors up from below and orders them to seize Dorothy, then to surrender the Oz party's friends as prisoners, mustering his full army against the intruders.
commands ← Ozma (ended) ch. 59
Ozma cries out that she demands the Nome King appear before them, attempting to command him as though he were her subject, though Tiktok warns her she has no authority to do so.
warns → Ozma (ended) ch. 59
The Nome King tells Ozma she has little idea of the extent of the task she has undertaken, then leads her to a balcony to show her his vast underground army as proof no ruler could ever hope to defeat him.
threatens → Ozma (ended) ch. 65
The Nome King declared Ozma and her followers his prisoners and threatened to hurl them all into his underground dungeons among the volcanic fires.
invokes → ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 66
After the rescue party begins its march out through the passage, the Nome King secretly sends a large force of his warriors chasing after them with weapons raised, in a last attempt to stop their escape.
threatens ← ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 55
The expedition's declared mission sets it against the Nome King: Ozma announces she has come to free the royal family of Ev from his thrall, establishing him as the campaign's target.
captures → royal_family_of_ev (ended) ch. 53
The Nome King transformed the wife and ten children of King Evoldo, taking the royal family of Ev into his power and leaving Ev without rulers.

26 further relationships are in the interactive codex.

From the text

"It's gone," he cried, helplessly. "It's gone, and I am ruined!"Chapter 66

his wife and ten chil-dren have been trans-formed by the Nome KingChapter 53

the news having reached me that he is holding the Queen and her children prisonersChapter 55

This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat man clothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the rock throne in which he was seated.Chapter 59

"But that is no reason one of you should not succeed. The next may have twelve guesses, instead of eleven, for there are now twelve persons transformed into ornaments. Well, well! Which of you goes next?"Chapter 60

"I love ornaments," said he, "but I can wait until tomorrow to get more of them; so, as soon as that stupid private is transformed, we will all go to bed and leave the job to be finished in the morning."Chapter 61

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