Guardian of the Gates

Infobox character
colour = green
colour text =
name = The Guardian of the Gates of the Emerald City
series = Oz


caption = Illustration by W.W. Denslow
first = "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900)
last = arguable
creator = L. Frank Baum
alias =
species = human
gender = male
age = unknown
born = unknown
death = probably immortal
specialty = guard
occupation = guard
title = The Guardian of the Gates of the Emerald City
family = unknown
spouse = unknown
children = unknown
relatives = Oompa (cousin)
residence = a room in the wall of the Emerald City
religion = unknown
nationality = Oz

The Guardian of the Gates is an important character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum. He is never known by any other name, but he is depicted as a singular character who lives in a small room, based on its description significantly larger than a standard guardhouse, in the wall of the Emerald City. In "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and "The Marvelous Land of Oz", his function is to tie green spectacles around the heads of all visitors to the Emerald City, on the grounds that the glittering rays of the City would cause blindness. These are locked onto all citizens' and visitors' heads, and the Guardian has the only key.

After "The Marvelous Land of Oz", he abandoned the practice, for General Jinjur's Army of Revolt and Tippetarius had all entered the city without damage to their eyes. The spectacles were the idea of the Wizard of Oz to make the city appear greener than it actually is. The Guardian of the Gates appears only occasionally after this book, and his duty becomes significantly lighter. He is never shown removing the citizens' spectacles, but after this book, there is no indication that anyone continues to use them with the ruse over with.

In "The Patchwork Girl of Oz", when Ojo reaches the city, he and his companions are taken into the Guardian's room, where the Soldier with the Green Whiskers tells the Guardian of the Gates that he has a note from Ozma that Ojo is to be taken prisoner. So the Guardian of the Gates removes the traditional prison garb, a white robe that completely covers the prisoner, from a closet and places it on Ojo and leaves the Soldier with the Green Whiskers in charge of him.

In John R. Neill's Oz books, the Guardian of the Gates and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers are frequently shown as friends, but the subsequent books of Jack Snow give the duty to Omby Amby (the Soldier's name), and there is no entry for the Guardian of the Gates in Snow's "Who's Who in Oz". In Neill's "The Scalawagons of Oz", the Guardian mentions a desire to visit his cousin, Oompa, which may explain, in-universe, why Omby Amby is fulfilling that function. Further confusion is created in the MGM movie, in which both roles are played by Frank Morgan, and publicity referred to the Guardian's equivalent as "the Doorman" and the Soldier's equivalent as "the Guard". No other Guardian of the Gates is described in any of Baum's books, aside from a stout woman who takes over the function during Jinjur's rule. In "The Marvelous Land of Oz" musical, in which the role was originated by Steve Huke, the Guardian is conflated with the man interviewed doing housework, and he also claims to have a wife and ten children, a claim not made by anyone in the book.

The Guardian of the Gates had his own eponymous song, written in bass clef, in "The Wizard of Oz" musical extravaganza, by Baum and composer Nathaniel D. Mann, but it was cut after only two performances and never made it to Broadway, although the sheet music was published for consumer use.