Living being in The Oz Series
Princess Langwidere
Also known as the nearest approach to a ruler, a niece of our late King Evoldo, Your Highness, Your Gracious Highness, the princess Langwidere, the angry Princess.
A vain niece of the late King Evoldo who lives in a part of the royal palace of Ev and, in the absence of any true ruler, is the nearest approach to a ruler in the Land of Ev. She possesses thirty interchangeable beautiful heads kept in a cabinet, wears one at a time, and is recognized only by the ruby key on her left wrist; wearing her fiery No. 17 head, she orders Dorothy imprisoned for refusing to trade heads.
Appears in 5 chapters, first in chapter 54, last in chapter 67.
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 | Niece of the late King Evoldo and member of the royal family of Ev; resides in the royal palace and commands the palace army (a colonel and ten soldiers) and her maid Nanda. (as of ch. 54) |
| Appearance | Always exceedingly beautiful but never the same, since she wears one of thirty interchangeable heads at a time; she keeps to a simple white costume that suits every head. In this chapter she wears No. 17, which has black hair, dark eyes, and a lovely pearl-and-white complexion. (as of ch. 54) |
| Being nature | Apparently a human princess, yet bound up with some unexplained mystery: she can wear thirty different interchangeable heads, appearing as a different person each time, though she is said not to be a witch. |
| Conflict | Clashes with Dorothy over Langwidere's demand to take the girl's head for her collection; when Dorothy refuses, she has her army imprison Dorothy in the North Tower despite Tiktok's resistance. (as of ch. 54) |
| Current goal | To obtain Dorothy's head for her collection by forcing an exchange, imprisoning Dorothy until she consents. (as of ch. 54) |
| Dialogue style | Haughty, imperious, and easily bored: she yawns, murmurs disdainfully, snaps commands, and speaks with cold, self-admiring authority, treating others as beneath her notice. (as of ch. 54) |
| Equipment | A curious key carved from a single blood-red ruby, worn on a slender chain around her left wrist, which unlocks all the velvet cupboards holding her thirty heads; also a mandolin she plays. (as of ch. 54) |
| Gender identity | woman (as of ch. 55) |
| Health condition | In vigorous health, able to run unassisted into the drawing-room in a fit of anger with no sign of infirmity. (as of ch. 55) |
| Is alive | yes (as of ch. 54) |
| Motive | To admire and augment her own beauty: she covets Dorothy's head for her collection and is willing to imprison the girl to force the exchange. (as of ch. 54) |
| Personality | Extremely vain, self-absorbed, arrogant, and cruel; easily bored and imperious, given to fiery temper (especially while wearing No. 17), and callously ready to imprison or threaten those who cross her. (as of ch. 54) |
| Quirks | Changes her head almost daily to match her mood or to outshine visitors, lives among mirrors to admire herself endlessly, wears only a simple white costume since her face is variable, and (surprisingly for a princess) darns her own stockings. (as of ch. 54) |
| Referential profile | feminine (as of ch. 54) |
| Sex profile | female (as of ch. 54) |
| Skills | Plays soft melodies upon her mandolin, changes her thirty interchangeable heads by herself using her ruby key, and even darns her own stockings. (as of ch. 54) |
| Social status | Relieved of her regency duties now that the Queen has resumed rule and crowned Evardo King; retains her rooms and cabinet of heads by the Queen's permission. (as of ch. 67) |
| Special capabilities | Can interchange her head at will, wearing any one of thirty different beautiful heads (each with its own hair, eyes, complexion, and even temper) so as to appear a different person each time. |
| Status | Relieved of her regency duties over Ev now that the Queen has resumed rule; permitted by the Queen to retain her rooms and her cabinet of heads for the rest of her life. (as of ch. 67) |
Relationships
- subordinate to ← Langwidere's army ch. 54Langwidere's army — a fat colonel and ten lean soldiers — serves under her authority, answering her summons and obeying her orders.
- provides service ← Nanda ch. 54Nanda serves as Princess Langwidere's personal maid, announcing visitors, physically supporting her to her cabinet, handling her worn heads, and flattering her choices.
- located in → royal palace of Ev ch. 54Princess Langwidere lives in a wing of the royal palace of Ev, occupying mirrored sitting-room, cabinet, and sleeping-chamber apartments.
- possesses → ruby key ch. 54Langwidere owns and always wears the blood-red ruby key on a slender chain around her left wrist; it is the sole means her subjects have to recognize her.
- imprisoned by ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 54–55[CASCADE] Created by CAPTURES(princess_langwidere→dorothy)
- confronts → Dorothy (ended) ch. 54Langwidere rudely rebuffs Dorothy's chatter, dismisses her as a foolish child, then demands her head for her collection, escalating into open hostility.
- captures → Dorothy (ended) ch. 54Langwidere has her soldiers seize Dorothy and lock her securely in a high North Tower until she agrees to give up her head.
- defies ← Dorothy (ended) ch. 54Dorothy flatly refuses Langwidere's demand to exchange heads, insisting on keeping her own head even under threat of imprisonment.
- commands → Dorothy (ended) ch. 54Langwidere orders Dorothy to surrender her head for the royal collection, asserting that in the Land of Ev her will is law.
- frees → Dorothy (ended) ch. 55Langwidere, pressed by Ozma, agrees to release Dorothy from the tower at once and leads Ozma up to unlock the prison.
- threatens ← Ozma (ended) ch. 55Ozma calmly warns Langwidere that as Ruler of Oz she is powerful enough to destroy her kingdom if she wished, though she has not come to do harm.
- commands ← Ozma (ended) ch. 55Ozma quietly but firmly commands Langwidere to sit and listen to her, then insists she must first free Dorothy from the tower.
- confronts ← ozma_rescue_expedition (ended) ch. 55The expedition marches unbidden into Langwidere's palace; despite her threats to chain and imprison them, Ozma faces her down and obliges her to free Dorothy.
- commands → Langwidere's army (ended) ch. 54Langwidere summons her army and orders it to carry Dorothy to the North Tower and lock her up.
- negotiates with ← Ozma (ended) ch. 55Ozma proposes to help free Langwidere's aunt and ten royal cousins from the Nome King in exchange for the Princess's cooperation, and Langwidere eagerly agrees since ruling bores her.
- threatens → Ozma (ended) ch. 55Langwidere furiously threatens to bind Ozma and her whole company in chains and throw them into her darkest dungeons for entering her palace unbidden.
- threatens → Billina (ended) ch. 54Langwidere threatens to have Billina fried for breakfast, and later to drown her in the horse trough if she fails to lay eggs.
- insults → Evoldo (ended) ch. 57Princess Langwidere denounces her late uncle King Evoldo as a very wicked man for selling his own family before drowning himself.
- uses → ruby key (ended) ch. 54Langwidere uses the ruby key to unlock cupboard No. 17 in her cabinet and swap her current head for a more beautiful one.
From the text
"So I believe I'll take your head and give you No. 26 for it."Chapter 54
She is a very vain creature, and lives mostly in a room surrounded by mirrors, so that she can admire herself whichever way she looks.Chapter 54
"How dare you enter my palace unbidden? Leave this room at once, or I will bind you and all your people in chains, and throw you into my darkest dungeons!"Chapter 55
See Princess Langwidere chapter by chapter in the interactive codex →