Everything to know about Elphaba, Cynthia Erivo's 'Wicked' character

Elphaba, and the wickedness thrust upon her!

L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz originated a fascinating figure that's now existed in the cultural zeitgeist for over 120 years — from Margaret Hamilton's mesmerizing role as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz to the re-interpretation of the character in Gregory Maguire's 1995 book Wicked to Idina Menzel's breathtaking performance as Elphaba on the Broadway musical production to the two-part cinematic adaptation of Wicked starring Cynthia Erivo in the lead role.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and led by Erivo's transcendent embodiment of Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked movies feature a stellar cast including Ariana Grande (Glinda a.k.a. Galinda Upland), Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero Tigelaar), Ethan Slater (Boq), Marissa Bode (Nessarose Thropp), Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible), Jeff Goldblum (the Wizard), Bowen Yang (Pfannee), Bronwyn James (ShenShen), and Peter Dinklage (Doctor Dillamond).

To celebrate that this once-feared green witch from the Land of Oz is returning to the big screen in 2024 with a name, a story, and a legacy, we've gathered some of the most interesting facts about Elphaba that will surely contribute to your knowledge of the origins and the evolution of this character.

Keep scrolling to learn more about Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo in Wicked — and make sure to watch the film as it premieres on Friday, November 22 only in theaters.

10. Elphaba's name was introduced in the 1995 'Wicked' novel by Gregory Maguire.

The Wicked Witch of the West doesn't have a name in L. Frank Baum's original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel from 1900, nor in the MGM musical film The Wizard of Oz from 1939. She is simply referred to as the Wicked Witch of the West.

The Elphaba name is introduced for the first time ever in Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West from 1995. Maguire comes up with the name Elphaba after drawing inspiration from the initials of L. Frank Baum (L, F, B).

9. The original Wicked Witch of the West wasn't green.

Besides not giving her an actual name, Baum's 1900 bookThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz — which features illustrations by W. W. Denslow — also doesn't present the Wicked Witch of the West as green.

Yes, you read that right: the famously green witch that scared you in the 1939 classic film and bewitched you in the 2003 Broadway musical was not green in her very first iteration.

The use of bright colors in 1939's The Wizard of Oz is very intentional due to the film's embracing of Technicolor as a new cinematic tool used for more vibrant colors.

That new technology is the main reason why the Wicked Witch of the West is green. It is also why the Yellow Brick Road looks almost as bright as a highlighter, and why Dorothy wears such a sparkly pair of Ruby Slippers (which are originally silver Magic Slippers in Baum's novel).

Ultimately, the Wicked Witch of the West as a green figure didn't just work for the MGM film — it became an iconic aesthetic that impacted nearly all subsequent appearances of the character, even to this day.

8. A local news story inspired Gregory Maguire to re-examine 'wickedness.'

Wicked author Gregory Maguire has said in numerous interviews that he was living in London when the Gulf War started in the early 1990s.

"I was interested to see how my own blood temperature chilled at reading a headline in the usually cautious British newspaper, the Times of London: 'Sadaam Hussein: The New Hitler?'" Maguire explained. "I caught myself ready to have a fully formed political opinion about the Gulf War and the necessity of action against Sadaam Hussein on the basis of how that headline made me feel. The use of the word Hitler — what a word! What it evokes!"

The author continued:

"When a few months later several young schoolboys kidnapped and killed a toddler, the British press paid much attention to the nature of the crime. I became interested in the nature of evil, and whether one really could be born bad. I considered briefly writing a novel about Hitler but discarded the notion due to my general discomfort with the reality of those times."

"But when I realized that nobody had ever written about the second most evil character in our collective American subconscious, the Wicked Witch of the West, I thought I had experienced a small moment of inspiration," Maguire argued. "Everybody in America knows who the Wicked Witch of the West is, but nobody really knows anything about her. There is more to her than meets the eye."

7. Elphaba wasn't that insecure about being green in the 'Wicked' book.

Sure, Elphaba is aware that her skin is green, that her teeth are sharp, and that she's allergic to water in Maguire's 1995 Wicked novel. But Elphaba is not as insecure as she comes across when Broadway's Wicked begins.

The stage production features a Mean Girls-ish dynamic between Elphaba — a "loser" newbie at Shiz University — and Galinda, who comes across as an "Apex Predator" Regina George archetype. One of the standout lines of "The Wizard and I" is literally about Elphaba fantasizing about a scenario in which the Wizard offers to de-greenify her… but, again, that's really not that big of a deal in the book.

In the Wicked novel, Elphaba is aware that she looks different, but she couldn't care less about it. Galinda isn't thrilled that she's roommates with Elphaba, but the tension between them doesn't necessarily escalate to the levels of "What Is This Feeling?" in the Broadway show.

The book's version of Elphaba does just fine, all on her own, while other Shiz University students keep their distance. And it doesn't take long for her to befriend Galinda, Boq, and Fiyero… which is much more dramatized for the stage adaptation.

6. There are many layers to Elphaba's caretaking of Nessarose.

Elphaba's sister, Nessarose, is originally described in Maguire's Wicked novel as a character who doesn't have arms — not a character who is in a wheelchair. While it's not that complicated to understand why this physical trait was adapted from the book to the Broadway musical, it does make even more sense that a young girl without arms would constantly need assistance from her older sister, Elphaba, in order to eat, study, bathe, carry things, and get dressed.

Nessarose comes off as a spoiled, needy, and hardheaded character in the novel and the musical, but Maguire's writing makes a stronger case as to why she is that way. It's not simply a matter of being "dad's favorite." It's just that Nessarose literally needs Elphaba's help to perform a variety tasks.

Nessarose is also extremely (one could even say annoyingly!) pious in the Wicked novel, despite coming off as more of a strict, by-the-books rule follower in the Broadway show.

5. Elphaba has a younger brother who's erased from the musical.

The Wicked musical tells us that Elphaba's mother dies while giving birth to Nessarose, but that is not the case in Maguire's The Wicked Years series of novels.

Elphaba actually has a much younger brother, Shell Thropp, who first appears at the end of book one, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. It is during his birth, not Nessarose's, that Elphaba's mother dies.

Shell is completely omitted from the Wicked musical, and that's mostly because he wouldn't serve any function in the story that the Broadway show tells.

But in the source material, Shell appears in all three sequels of the Wicked novel — 2005's Son of a Witch, 2008's A Lion Among Men, and 2011's Out of Oz. He also becomes one of the biggest villains in the book series… and it's a pretty intense journey, let's just say that!

4. Elphaba's savage background story, childhood years, and family dynamics.

The storyline that identifies Elphaba's biological father serves as a "big reveal" for both the Wicked novel and the Wicked musical. However, while the Broadway adaptation spends a minute and a half in "No One Mourns the Wicked" teasing Elphaba's birth, her father's absence, and her mother's affairs, readers spend a much, much longer period of time getting to know young Elphie in the book.

Growing up, Elphaba is raised by a father known as Frexspar the Godly — an intensely religious minister who isn't great at providing for his family — and a mother called Melena Thropp. But here's the tea: Elphie's mom isn't just anybody. Melena is the daughter of Romen Skarr and Lady Partra Thropp, not to mention the granddaughter of the wealthy and well-regarded Peerless Thropp, which means that she's the direct heiress to the Thropp family.

Melena marries Frexspar, a "commoner," to escape her luxurious but obnoxious life surrounding the Thropp family. But as the years go by, Melena gets nostalgic about the high-society life and status she used to have, particularly given that Frexspar is always away on religious missions and isn't a great financial provider.

As a result, Melena starts overindulging in substances and has a few affairs while her husband is away on his very regular long-distance trips.

One of those affairs, in which Melena is drugged and raped, results in the birth of her first daughter, Elphaba. Melena then has another affair with a man called Turtle Heart, which results in the birth of her second daughter, Nessarose.

Maguire's Wicked book explores how precociously aware Elphaba is that her mother hates her, that secret relationships exist in her home, and that her pious father is absolutely clueless.

3. The nuances within 'The Wizard and I.'

Regardless of the medium or target audience, many musicals have so-called "I Want" songs — a show tune that literally describes what a protagonist wants for this journey that we're about to embark on with them.

On Broadway's Wicked, that song is "The Wizard and I," in which Elphaba not only describes her desire to be de-greenified but also reveals her professional and political aspirations based on the mythology and the reputation of this Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Alas, Elphaba's interest in meeting the Wizard is inherently more nuanced in the novel considering that we see her being raised with the moral compass of a religious father whose faith only failed him, and with the authority of a mother who was constantly lying and scheming to get out of scandalous situations.

2. Elphaba's romantic (and very sexual) relationship with Fiyero.

Elphaba, who is already presented in the Broadway musical as more naïve and insecure than she is in the book, has one other personality tweak that stands out: her interest in having a love life.

The theater production of Wicked shows a much more romantic Elphaba who longs for Fiyero from a distance, and who sings "I'm Not That Girl" while comparing herself to Glinda. Well, let me be the one to tell you that the Wicked novel could not be more different!

Maguire's writing presents Elphaba as a fully realized, sexual woman who has various sex scenes with Fiyero while she's still hiding and plotting against the Wizard of Oz.

There's no denying that Elphaba feels a gravitational pull toward Fiyero, but her commitment to taking down the Wizard is much stronger and more urgent than romantic feelings and sexual desires that come to the surface. Even in the early stages of their relationship, Elphaba constantly threatens to "disappear" out of Fiyero's sight. At the same time, she does allow herself to enjoy their encounters for as long as she can.

It should be noted that, in the book, Fiyero starts this affair with Elphaba when he is already married to a woman named Sarima, who is the mother of his three children. This storyline, which is told through his perspective, shows that Fiyero is deeply infatuated — and yes, even in love — with Elphaba. He keeps finding reasons to leave his home in order to meet up with Elphaba, even though he's never certain that she'll actually be there waiting.

1. The truth about Elphaba's water allergy changes her ultimate fate.

In the Wicked musical, Dorothy throws a bucket of water on Elphaba, who fakes her own death but escapes through a trap door. The final scenes of the Broadway show consist of Elphaba and Fiyero leaving Oz behind them — for good. But, y'know, they are very much still alive!

One thing about the Wicked novel, though? There is no ambiguity when it comes to the fact that Elphaba is literally allergic to water. It's an inexplicable condition that defies science, but it's real.

This allergy means that Elphaba can't touch water, can't cry, and can't bathe like other people. Instead, Elphaba drinks milk as a source of liquid and cleans herself by rubbing oil all over her body.

So, when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on Elphaba in the book, the Wicked Witch of the West actually dies… or is presumed to be dead, at least.

Maguire's writing has an open-ended tone in his last few lines about Elphaba. However, there's no scene in the original Wicked book — like the one in the Wicked musical — where Elphaba is literally seen again and even gets to say goodbye to Oz.

Given that this cinematic Wicked adaptation was split into two parts, we'll have to wait and see how Elphaba's fate will be treated in films. In this case, we do mourn, and even love, the Wicked.

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