Jack Pumpkinhead

Advisor to Ozma

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

Jack's head is a very large carved pumpkin that resembles the wickedly jolly expression of a traditional Halloween pumpkin. His tall figure is made entirely from bark and dead tree limbs of solid hickory and jointed with wooden pegs. His neck is a sharp stick upon which his pumpkin head is placed. His first set of clothing consisted of purple trousers, a red shirt, a pink vest with white polka dots, stockings, and shoes. He has other outfits, all with the same lack of color coordination.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Jack was made by a little orphan boy named Tip as a prank to scare his mean spirited guardian, an old wannabe Wicked Witch named Mombi. However, instead of being frightened, Mombi used Jack to test her new Powder of Life that she had recently bought from some Magician who lived nearby. Mombi sprinkled the powder all over Jack and after saying the magic words the powder worked and Jack instantly came to life.  When Tip decided to run away from Mombi for good, he took Jack with him and headed south for the Emerald City. After many adventures with the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, the Wogglebug, the Sawhorse, and the Gump, it was eventually revealed by Glinda the Good Witch and Mombi that Tip was actually Princess Ozma. Ozma was the long-lost daughter of Oz's old King named Pastoria who once ruled the land in a tiny kingdom before the Wizard eventually arrived and proclaimed himself as Oz's dominate ruler.   Even though Ozma was transformed back to her true form by the end of their adventure and put back into her rightful position as Oz's official ruler, Jack will occasionally call her "father" as well as "mother".  Later, Jack finally settled in a cozy pumpkin house in the middle of a pumpkin field in Oz's western quadrant called Winkie Country. Here, he spends much of his time growing a patch of healthy pumpkins in his yard to replace his old heads, which eventually spoil and need to be changed every so often. Apparently, Princess Ozma herself gladly carves new heads for Jack when it is necessary. The old heads are buried in a graveyard on his property. Jack also designed a five story, jewel-encrusted, corn-shaped mansion for the Scarecrow.

Intellectual Characteristics

Jack is not known for his intelligence which seems to depend on the quality and number of the seeds in his pumpkin-head at that time. However he does manage to come up with random bits of wisdom and common sense.