The Red Jinn, later known as Jinnicky, is one of

Ruth Plumly Thompson Ruth Plumly Thompson (27 July 1891 – 6 April 1976) was an American writer of children's stories, best known for writing many novels placed in Oz, the fictional land of L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' ...

's most frequently occurring characters in her

Oz books The Oz books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books. All of Baum's b ...

. According to David L. Greene and Dick Martin, he is "the most fondly remembered" of all the characters Thompson created.

History

He was first introduced in ''

Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz ''Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz'' (1929) is the twenty-third of the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and continued by other writers; it is the ninth Oz book written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was Illustrated by John R. Neill. Synopsis A ra ...

'' as a mysterious figure who educates

Jack Pumpkinhead Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz and appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. The Classic Oz Books Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz ...

on the use of the Pirate Sack. Although a detailed description is included in the text, ''Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz'' includes no illustrations of the Red Jinn aside from a gruesome color plate that did not appear outside the first edition, in which he has massive

piercing Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry ( U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal ...

s. He was reintroduced, drawn, and given the name Jinnicky in ''

The Purple Prince of Oz 200px, Cover of ''The Purple Prince in Oz''. ''The Purple Prince of Oz'' (1932) is the 26th in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the 12th written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was illustrated by John R. Neill ...

''; he also appeared in the follow-up, ''

The Silver Princess in Oz 200px, Cover of ''The Silver Princess in Oz''. ''The Silver Princess in Oz'' (1938) is the thirty-second of the Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the eighteenth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was illustrated by John ...

''. He makes a cameo appearance in ''

The Wishing Horse of Oz ''The Wishing Horse of Oz'' (1935) is the twenty-ninth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the fifteenth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was Illustrated by John R. Neill. This book marked the point at ...

'', and he is the principal pre-existing character in Thompson's sub-canonical penultimate Oz book, '' Yankee in Oz''. Jack Snow apparently thought the Red Jinn was a separate character, for he considered ''The Purple Prince of Oz'' to be Jinnicky's first appearance in ''Who's Who in Oz'', though he did not include a separate Red Jinn entry. Jinnicky's body is housed inside a large red ginger jar, complete with lid. He speaks in a deep voice. Neill's art originally depicted him with massive

piercings Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...

, but these were later omitted and are not referred to in the text. His disposition is generally jolly and friendly, and in spite of what modern readers may consider serious character faults, he is popular, well-liked, and treated very sympathetically by his author. His preferred mode of transportation is a flying jinrikisha which is pulled only by magic. He lives in a red glass palace in the northeastThompson placed it in northwestern Ev, but she was using a reversed map. Baum was also self-contradictory on which side of Oz Ev was on. of the Land of Ev, attended by his Advizier, Alibabble, and Addie the Adding Adder. In addition to these, Jinnicky owns a large number of slaves. This contrasts with the

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

s of the Arabian Nights, who are usually slaves themselves, such as the one in Aladdin's lamp. All of the slaves that are described are explicitly black people, a point of controversy in modern analyses of Thompson's legacy. The best known of the slaves is Ginger, whose service to a magic dinner bell is an important

literary device A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...

. He also makes smaller appearances in ''

'' and '' Yankee in Oz'' (in which Jinnicky is instrumental in liberating the Emerald City palace from the primary antagonist Badmannah the Giant), and is fleetingly referenced in '' Pirates in Oz'' and '' Captain Salt in Oz''. Because all of his appearances except ''Wishing Horse'' and ''Silver Princess'' are protected under U.S. copyright, he does not figure in books by post-Thompson authors, with the notable exception of

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

, whose estate was able to pay to use the character in his novel, ''The Tired Tailor of Oz'' (published posthumously in 2001). Jinnicky will enter the public domain on 1 January 2025 when his first novel's copyright expires. Thompson refers to Jinnicky as "The Wizard of Ev" in ''The Silver Princess in Oz'' and ''Yankee in Oz''. Jack Snow listed Jinnicky in his encyclopedia '' Who's Who in Oz'' in 1954. The Jinn is subject of some confusion in this reference book. Snow lists ''Purple Prince'' rather than ''Jack Pumpkinhead'' as his first appearance, and states that Ginger is the servant of Baron Mogodore, the main antagonist of the earlier novel. In addition, Snow takes Neill's drawing of Jinnicky's barber from ''Purple Prince'' and presents it as a portrait of the unrelated Barber of Rash from ''

The Hungry Tiger of Oz ''The Hungry Tiger of Oz'' (1926) is the twentieth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the sixth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was illustrated by John R. Neill. Plot summary Thompson begins with a us ...

'', leading to a popular fan theory that Jinnicky gave the unemployed barber a job - something which Thompson never implied.

References

{{Oz Oz (franchise) characters Fictional genies Literary characters introduced in 1929 Oz (franchise) characters who use magic Fictional wizards Male characters in literature