Dorothy Gale
Dorothy is a girl who lives in Kansas with her loving aunt and uncle. Life in Depression-era Kansas is bleak and offers little hope for a future that is at all different, causing Dorothy to become dreamy and longing, wishing to be transported into an exciting and adventurous life. Her closest friend is her little dog Toto. Dorothy is imaginative and fanciful, in contrast with the pragmatism of the working farm where she lives. Once she gets to Oz, she has to become more resourceful and courageous, and she begins to take on more responsibility, remaining brave under pressure. As scrappy as she is, however, she is a vulnerable and sensitive young girl, who wants nothing more than to get home to her aunt and uncle.
Hunk/The Scarecrow
Hunk is one of the farmhands who helps keep a tender and watchful eye on Dorothy. In Oz, Hunk appears as the Scarecrow, the first of three companions Dorothy meets who will join her on the road to the Emerald City to make a request of the Wizard. The Scarecrow’s request is for a brain, because he labors under the delusion that he is not very smart. He is clumsy but lovable, and ends up being more thoughtful and resourceful than he ever imagined.
Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West
In Kansas, Miss Gulch is a mean-spirted old woman who uses her wealth to abuse others. She wants Toto to be put to sleep because he chased her cat in her garden and supposedly bit her, but she also takes a wicked pleasure in hurting the kind-hearted Dorothy. In Oz, her equivalent is the fully evil and menacing Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch is at once horrifically evil and terribly lonely, cloistered away in a dark castle and feared by all.
Professor Marvel/The Wizard
When Dorothy runs away, the first person she meets is Professor Marvel, a carny worker and charlatan, who sneaks peeks at her personal belongings in order to give the impression that he is a psychic. Nevertheless, he expresses a genuine concern for Dorothy's safety, and uses his wiles to convince her to return home. In Oz, he becomes the charlatan Wizard of Oz, but proves once again very helpful to the young girl.
Hickory/The Tin Man
Hickory is another farmhand in Kansas. In Oz, Dorothy reimagines him as a woodsman made of tin who is off to see the wizard in hopes that the famous miracle man can provide him with a heart. He is a big softie, and often cries at the slightest provocation, which tends to rust him up and cause him to become immobile.
Zeke/The Cowardly Lion
Zeke is another farmhand in Kansas, whose timidity regarding the danger of working with pigs on the farm foreshadows his equivalent in Oz: the Cowardly Lion, who hopes the Wizard can provide him with the courage befitting his role as king of the jungle. He is an exceedingly comical character, one minute growling and the next inconsolably sobbing.
Glinda the Good Witch
The only major character who exists only in Oz and has no parallel in the real life world of Kansas is Glinda. Glinda is a self-described Good Witch. Glinda is benevolent but aloof, bestowing Dorothy with the ruby slippers and ultimately sending her home.
Auntie Em
Aunt Em is Dorothy's stern and unsentimental aunt, who advises Dorothy to be more practical and less head-in-the-clouds. While Dorothy feels initially misunderstood by Aunt Em, she comes to appreciate Em's maternal concern when she is sent away to Oz and is unable to return home.
