Captain Fyter (right) with the Tin Woodman and Nimmie Amee
Captain Abel Fyter, also known as the Tin Soldier, was once a Munchkin soldier who suffered the same fate as the Tin Woodman, his body parts were replaced with tin substitutes until he was made entirely of tin.
Description[]
Captain Fyter has a body made of tin that is, for practical purposes, identical to the Tin Woodman's body.
History[]
Once, Captain Fyter was a member of the Munchkin army who met and fell in love with a beautiful Munchkin maiden named Nimmie Amee. When they first met, Captain Fyter had been marching in the forest and came upon the young damsel alone and crying. She told him that she was crying because she had lost the man she loved, a woodcutter named Nick Chopper. Nimmie told him that her lost love was much nicer than a soldier because he was made entirely of tin and shown beautifully in the sun. But Captain Fyter fell in love with the beautiful Munchkin girl, and did not despair of winning her affections. Nimmie gave Fyter permission to call on her and they soon became friends. But Nimmie Amee was the servant girl of the Wicked Witch of the East, and when the Wicked Witch discovered the couple, Captain Fyter declared his intentions to marry Nimmie Amee. This infuriated the Wicked Witch, who then enchanted the soldier's sword so that it would cut off his body parts each time he used it. First, the enchanted blade cut off his legs, and the soldier went to the tinsmith Ku-Klip who made him new legs of tin. And Nimmie Amee found him more attractive than before. Then the sword cut off his arms and Nimmie liked him with his tin arms even more. Finally, when Captain Fyter was made entirely of tin, Nimmie Amee said that she loved him and consented to marry him.
Their wedding day came and Fyter set off to meet his bride. But a storm rose up, and and the rain rusted his tin joints so badly that he was frozen in place along a little used forest path. There he stood for years until he was discovered by the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, Woot the Wanderer, and Polychrome.
Once lubricated and restored to life, the Tin Soldier accompanies the group of adventurers on their quest to find Nimmie Amee, knowing that both tin men are willing to fulfill their vows of marriage. When they finally find the young woman, she is happily married to Chopfyt, the assembled and combined "meat" parts of the two men. Finding Nimmie Amee happily married, they return to the Emerald City where Captain Fyter joins the Royal Army of Oz. Eventually, Ozma sends Captain Fyter to keep order among the wild inhabitants of the unknown areas of the Gillikin Country. (The Tin Woodman of Oz)
Captain Fyter was among the guests attending Ozma's birthday party in the Emerald City. (The Magic of Oz)
Background[]
L. Frank Baum states that the two tin men are identical: their only distinguishing feature is that the Tin Soldier wields a sword while the Emperor of the Winkies carries an axe. However, to distinguish the two characters visually, illustrator John R. Neill gave the Tin Soldier a billed, flat-topped soldier's hat instead of the Tin Woodsman's iconic funnel cap. Neill also gave Captain Fyter a six buttoned, double-breasted look to his tin front, in contrast with the Tin Woodman's more simple design of a single row of buttons down the center of his front. The Tin Soldier wears a flower at the tip of his hat and the Tin Woodman wears a flower in a button hole on the left side of his chest.
In Film[]
Captain Fyter faces the Hip-Po-Gy-Raf.
The Bricklayer Music Video[]
Captain Fyter is a main character in Mylo Bybee's Oz-based music video The Bricklayer. While his appearance is based on the illustrations of John R. Neill, he also has a windup key protruding from his back, and is powered by clockwork.
Name[]
While Baum only names him Captain Fyter, Robert R. Pattrick gives him the name "Abel Fyter" in his story "The Tin Woodman and the Tin Soldier of Oz" (The Baum Bugle, Christmas 1963).