The Wizard (Oz)

Oscar Diggs/The Wizard of Oz
Oz character
The Wizard as illustrated by William Wallace Denslow (1900)
First appearance	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Advisor and court magician to Princess Ozma
Title	The Wizard of Oz
Family	A prominent Omaha politician and his wife (parents)
Nationality	American

Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs (also known as the Wizard of Oz and, during his reign, as Oz, the Great and Terrible) is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. The character was further popularized by a stage play and several movies, most famously the classic 1939 movie, as well as the 2013 prequel adaption.

The Wizard is one of the characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Unseen for most of the novel, he is the ruler of the Land of Oz and highly venerated by his subjects. Believing he is the only man capable of solving their problems, Dorothy and her friends travel to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz, to meet him. Oz is very reluctant to meet them, but eventually each is granted an audience, one by one. In each of these occasions, the Wizard appears in a different form, once as a giant head, once as a beautiful fairy, once as a ball of fire, and once as a horrible monster. When, at last, he grants an audience to all of them at once, he seems to be a disembodied voice.

Eventually, it is revealed that Oz is actually none of these things, but rather an ordinary conman from Omaha, Nebraska, who has been using a lot of elaborate magic tricks and props to make himself seem "great and powerful." Working as a magician for a circus, he wrote OZ (the initials of his first two forenames, Oscar being his first, and Zoroaster being the first of his seven middle names) on the side of his hot air balloon for promotional purposes. One day his balloon sailed into the Land of Oz, and he found himself worshipped as a great sorcerer. As Oz had no leadership at the time, he became Supreme Ruler of the kingdom, and did his best to sustain the myth.

He leaves Oz at the end of the novel, again in a hot air balloon. After the Wizard's departure, the Scarecrow is briefly enthroned, until Princess Ozma (the rightful hereditary ruler of Oz) is freed from the witch Mombi at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz.