Nome King facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roquat the Red or Ruggedo of the Rocks, deposed Nome King
Oz character
Nome King illustration by John R. Neill
First appearance	Ozma of Oz (1907)
Last appearance	Handy Mandy in Oz (1937) (canonical)
Created by	L. Frank Baum
Portrayed by	Nicol Williamson (Return to Oz) Al Snow (Dorothy and the Witches of Oz) Julian Bleach (Emerald City)
Voiced by	Jason Alexander (Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz)
Information
Nickname(s)	The Metal Monarch
Aliases	Roquat the Red Ruggedo of the Rocks
Species	Nome
Gender	male
Occupation	expatriate wanderer
Title	King (former)
Nationality	Nome Kingdom, Land of Ev

The Nome King is a famous character from the magical land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in Baum's third Oz book, Ozma of Oz (1907). He also shows up in many other Oz novels written by Baum. While the Wicked Witch of the West is a very well-known Oz villain (especially from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz), the Nome King is actually the most frequent bad guy throughout the entire book series.

Who is the Nome King?

The Nome King is a powerful ruler of the Nomes, who are rock fairies living deep underground. They are immortal, meaning they live forever. The Nomes love to hide jewels and precious metals in the earth. They don't like people from the surface who dig for these valuable treasures.

As a way of getting back at the "upstairs people," the Nome King enjoys keeping surface-dwellers captive. He doesn't need them for work, he just likes having them.

The Nome King's Big Secret

The Nomes have a big secret fear: eggs! When the Nome King first saw Billina, a hen, he was terrified. He shouted that "Eggs are poison to Nomes!" He claimed that any Nome who touched an egg would become weak and could be easily destroyed. However, Baum hinted that this fear might not be real. The Scarecrow threw eggs at him, and it only seemed to stress him out, allowing Dorothy Gale to take his Magic Belt.

One writer, Sally Roesch Wagner, suggested that Baum might have learned from Matilda Joslyn Gage that eggs are an important symbol of powerful women. Since there are no female Nomes in the books, perhaps this is what they truly feared.

Different Names for the Nome King

The Nome King was originally named Roquat the Red. Later, he started using the name Ruggedo. Even after he lost his throne, he still thought of himself as a king. Authors like Ruth Plumly Thompson and John R. Neill sometimes used the traditional spelling "gnome" for him. For example, Ruggedo is the main character in Thompson's book The Gnome King of Oz.

The Nome King in the Books

The Nome King often causes trouble for the heroes of Oz.

First Encounters with Roquat

In Ozma of Oz, Princess Ozma, Dorothy Gale, and their friends from the Emerald City rescued the royal family of Ev from being held captive by Roquat. They also took away his powerful magic belt.

Roquat got very angry and planned his revenge in The Emerald City of Oz. He made his subjects dig a tunnel under the Deadly Desert. He also gathered evil spirits like the Whimsies, the Growleywogs, and the Phanfasms to help him conquer Oz. Luckily, just as they were about to invade, Ozma used her magic belt. She wished for a lot of dust to appear in the tunnel. Roquat and his allies became very thirsty and drank the Water of Oblivion. This magical water made them forget everything, including Roquat's anger and even his own name!

Ruggedo's Return

Tik-Tok of Oz brought back the Nome King with his new name, Ruggedo. All the Nomes and other creatures had forgotten their old resentments. Using his own magic, Ruggedo had captured the Shaggy Man's brother, who was a miner. The Shaggy Man, with help from Betsy Bobbin, the Oogaboo army, some of Dorothy's old friends, and Quox the dragon, defeated the Nome King again. Tititi-Hoochoo the Great Jinjin then kicked him out of his kingdom. He placed Chief Steward Kaliko on the throne.

In The Magic of Oz, Ruggedo, while in exile, met a young magician named Kiki Aru. They planned to destroy Oz once more. Ruggedo managed to get into Oz without Ozma knowing and caused a lot of chaos. But he drank the Water of Oblivion again. To stop him from ever being bad again, Ozma decided to let him live in the Emerald City.

Later Adventures and Defeats

After L. Frank Baum passed away, other authors continued the Oz series. Ruth Plumly Thompson brought Ruggedo back. His memory and anger had returned, and he was living imprisoned under the city. In Kabumpo in Oz, he found a box of mixed magic. He grew into a giant and ran away with Ozma's royal palace on his head! He ended up on a Runaway Land that carried him out to the Nonestic Ocean and left him stranded on an island.

In The Gnome King of Oz, a boy from Philadelphia named Peter Brown helped him off the island. Ruggedo was then hit with the Silence Stone, which made him unable to speak.

In Pirates in Oz, the now-mute Ruggedo found a town in the Land of Ev called Menankypoo. The people there spoke by showing words on their foreheads and wanted a king who couldn't speak. Peter, Pigasus, and Captain Samuel Salt helped defeat him. Ruggedo was then turned into a jug!

In Handy Mandy in Oz, a cruel king named the Wizard of Wutz changed Ruggedo back to his normal form. But at the end of that book, Himself the Elf turned both of them into cacti so they could never cause trouble again.

Ruggedo didn't appear in the original Oz series after this, but other writers have imagined more adventures for him in later books.

Nome King vs. Gnome King

Fans have often wondered if the Nome King is the same as the Gnome King from Baum's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This Gnome King is a friendly rock dweller who believes in fair trade. His gnomes watch over the rocks in the Forest of Burzee and make sleigh bells for Santa Claus's reindeer. Some people think this Gnome King might be the Nome King's father.

The Nome King in Movies and TV

The Nome King has appeared in many different movies, TV shows, and comics.

• He was first played by Paul de Dupont in The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908).
• John Dunsmure played Ruggedo in the stage play The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (1913). In this play, he even sang a song!
• In 1985, Nicol Williamson played the Nome King in the movie Return to Oz. In this film, he looked very rock-like, thanks to Claymation. His personality was similar to the books. He tried to trick Dorothy and her friends, turning them into ornaments. He was finally defeated when he accidentally ate Billina's chicken egg, which is poisonous to Nomes.
• In the comic book series The Oz-Wonderland War by DC Comics, Roquat (with his original name) is the villain again. He gets the Magic Belt back, and heroes have to take it from him.
• Al Snow, a professional wrestler, played the Nome King in Dorothy and the Witches of Oz. He joined the Wicked Witch of the West in attacking Earth and fought the Tin Man.
• Jason Alexander voiced the Nome King in Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz. In this story, he took over the Emerald City and wanted Dorothy's ruby slippers. He was defeated when he fell under a dancing spell.
• In the TV series Emerald City, Julian Bleach played a character who was revealed to be Roquat. He was trapped in a prison and later freed by Dorothy. He was hinted to be the "Beast Forever" that people in Oz feared.
• The Nome King also appears in the animated series Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, still fearing chickens and trying to take over Oz.