Who Is the Cowardly Lion in Wicked the Musical, Movie, & Book?

Download Article

Plus, discover the identities of the Tin Man and Scarecrow in Wicked

Co-authored by Klarissa Beckstead and Raven Minyard, BA

Last Updated: June 27, 2025 Fact Checked

Download Article

• In the Wicked Movie & Musical
|
• In the Book Series
|
• Who is the Scarecrow?
|
• Who is the Tin Man?
|
• What is Wicked about?
|
• Video

|Show more |Show less

Wicked is a popular musical and movie that tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Fans are excitedly awaiting the sequel film, Wicked: For Good, which will feature many familiar faces from The Wizard of Oz, including the Cowardly Lion. But, as it turns out, we’ve actually already met the Lion in the first film. Keep reading to learn more about the Cowardly Lion in the Wicked musical and movie, as well as the book series by Gregory Maguire. Plus, discover the true identities of the Tin Man and Scarecrow.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for major plot points in BOTH Wicked films and the musical they’re adapted from.

Who is the lion in Wicked?

In both the Wicked movie and musical, the Cowardly Lion is a lion cub that Elphaba and Fiyero free from captivity at Shiz University. The Lion is briefly seen again during the song “March of the Witch Hunters” in Act 2 of the musical. He will likely make a similar appearance in Wicked: For Good.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Who is the Cowardly Lion in Wicked the musical?

Download Article

1. 
   1
   The Cowardly Lion is the lion cub that Elphaba saves in Wicked (Act 1). In the Wicked musical and movie, the Cowardly Lion is first introduced as a frightened lion cub who is brought into Elphaba’s classroom at Shiz. He is a part of a demonstration done by Dr. Nikidik, the professor replacing Dr. Dillamond, to prove that Animals are no different from animals when they’re young. Outraged, Elphaba casts a spell on the class, and she and Fiyero free the cub and release him in the wild.

   • This is the only time the Lion is seen in Part One of the film, so fans don’t know what happens to him as he grows up.
   • In the stage musical, the Lion is portrayed by a puppet.
2. 2
   The Cowardly Lion makes a brief appearance in Act 2 of the musical. In the stage musical, the Cowardly Lion returns in Act 2 during the song “March of the Witch Hunters.” The Tin Man tries to get the Lion to explain what the Witch did to him by tugging on his tail, which is the only part of his body visible on stage. The Lion is scared to come out of hiding, so the Tin Man sings a verse about how the Lion wouldn’t be so cowardly if Elphaba had let him fight his own battles.

   • The Tin Man’s verse goes as follows: “And the lion also / Has a grievance to repay / If she’d let him fight his own battles / When he was young / He wouldn’t be a coward today.”
   • The Lion will likely appear during this song in the film Wicked: For Good, aka Wicked: Part Two.
   • This is the only other time the Cowardly Lion is seen in the musical because producers thought that he and Dorothy, two of the most recognizable Wizard of Oz characters, would take the spotlight away from the main story.
Advertisement

Section 2 of 5:

Who is the Cowardly Lion in the Wicked book series?

Download Article

1. 
   The Lion plays a larger role in the Wicked book series. While the Cowardly Lion is a minor character in the Wicked musical and movie, he is a major character in the book series that the adaptations are based on. In the first Wicked book, the lion is introduced in the same way as in the musical, but he is given a name—Brr. He plays a small role in the second book, Son of a Witch, and is the main protagonist in the third book, A Lion Among Men. He is also featured in the fourth book, Out of Oz.

   • Brr tells his life story in A Lion Among Men. As civil war looms in Oz, Brr approaches an oracle named Yackle to seek information about Elphaba. As payment for her knowledge, Yackle demands that Brr answer her own questions, and he tells her about his life and the hardships he has faced.

Section 3 of 5:

Who is the Scarecrow in Wicked?

Download Article

1. 
   In the Wicked musical and movie, the Scarecrow is Fiyero Tigelaar. Fiyero is first introduced as one of Elphaba’s classmates who is in a relationship with Galinda, but who later becomes Elphaba’s love interest. In Act Two of the musical, Elphaba sings “No Good Deed” and casts a spell to turn Fiyero into a scarecrow, saving his life. Fiyero later returns to help Elphaba escape as she fakes her own death, and the two leave together to start a new life. This will also likely occur in Wicked: For Good.

   • In Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked, it is unclear who the Scarecrow is. Elphaba suspects he is Fiyero in disguise, but we never know for sure.
Advertisement

Section 4 of 5:

Who is the Tin Man in Wicked?

Download Article

1. 
   1
   In the Wicked musical and movie, the Tin Man is Boq Woodsman. In the first Wicked movie and Act One of the musical, Boq is one of Elphaba’s Shiz classmates who is in love with Galinda but is in a relationship with Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose. Later on in the musical, Nessa becomes desperate for Boq to truly love her and accidentally mispronounces a love spell that shrinks his heart. To save his life, Elphaba turns him into a tin man. This plot point will likely be featured in Wicked: For Good.
2. 2
   In the book, the Tin Man is named Nick Chopper. In the original Wicked book by Gregory Maguire, Boq has nothing to do with the Tin Man. The Tin Man is a man named Nick Chopper who is in love with a woman whose mother disagrees with the relationship. To prevent Nick and her daughter from being together, the woman asks Nessa (who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East) to enchant Nick’s axe to cut off all his limbs and kill him.

   • This version is similar to the Tin Man’s story in the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book.
Advertisement

Section 5 of 5:

What is Wicked about?

Download Article

1. 
   'Wicked' is the origin story of the Wicked Witch from 'The Wizard of Oz.' The movie and stage musical Wicked are based on Gregory Maguire’s book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is, in turn, loosely based on the book and movie The Wizard of Oz. The story follows Elphaba, an outcast girl with green skin, as she attends Shiz University to become a sorceress, befriends Galinda (a.k.a Glinda the Good), and ultimately becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.

   • The first Wicked movie follows Elphaba’s time as a student at Shiz, set before the events of The Wizard of Oz. The sequel, Wicked: For Good, takes place during the events of The Wizard of Oz.
   • Maguire’s book is mostly based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz rather than the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
   • The Wicked movie is an adaptation of the stage musical. The two are very different from Maguire’s book.
   • Fun fact: Elphaba’s name pays tribute to the author of the Oz series, L. Frank Baum.

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!