Pastoria

"...His name was Pastoria, the old King of the Land of Oz, who ruled here long before the Wizard came. Many have forgotten about him, but he was real and he was a far more honest ruler compared to that Wizard everyone worshipped so..."

―The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)

Pastoria was once the old King of the Land of Oz. He comes from a long, unknown line of Ozian Royalty. He lived in a tiny Kingdom of peace and prosperity for a very long time under the watch of Fairy Queen Lurline. He was eventually removed from his Throne by the black magic of a nasty old Witch named Mombi. Then he was superseded by the Wizard of Oz who overthrew him to become the new ruler of Oz, thus having the Emerald City built over the spot that his little Kingdom once stood. Eventually Pastoria's child daughter, the long lost Princess Ozma of Oz was found by none other than Glinda the Good Witch of the South. And with the help of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, Ozma was finally put in her rightful place as she was the last surviving heir to Oz's Throne. Thus fulfilling Oz's prophecy. Ozma now lives in the Emerald City's Royal Palace of Oz. There she rules over her people kindly, fairly and wisely; just as her father and ancestors before her did.

(The Marvelous Land of Oz)

Oz History: Fairy Queens & Mortal Kings

Pastoria, King of Oz.

Long before the Wizard, Oscar Diggs crossed over the Deadly Desert and straight into the realm of Oz, coming from our world and arrived in the land via hot-air balloon, Oz was once ruled by a very kind and gentle king named Pastoria, the son of the mad King Oz (Paradox in Oz).

Pastoria became step-father to Ozma when the Fairy Queen Lurline left the baby in his care after enchanting the Land of Oz for the second time (The Law of Oz and Other Stories).

Pastoria lived in the Kingdom of Morrow that once existed in the middle of the land (Oz and the Three Witches). He is noted as being kind, but does not appear to have been a very powerful King, as the land of Oz was still inhabited by four Witches, one for each of the quadrants and who also had many people from Oz enslaved. The Wicked Witch of the West had a Golden Cap and the charm of this cap allowed her to command her Winged Monkeys, who were Slaves to the cap. And the Wicked Witch of the East used the magic of her Silver Shoes to keep the Munchkin people tightly in her bondage.

The only thing that stopped them from truly doing so, was the two Good Witches Locasta Tattypoo aka the Good Witch of the North who lived with the Gillikins, and Glinda who lived in a ruby-red castle with the Quadlings of Oz.

It would be Mombi, the former Wicked Witch of the North who removed Pastoria from the throne, along with his Prime Minister Pajuka, who she transformed into a goose (The Lost King of Oz), his father Ozroar (The Blue Emperor of Oz) and others. Pastoria would be later discovered and disenchanted, but he no longer had a desire to rule and was glad to concede rule to the fairy princess Ozma who he had watched over and protected as an infant.

Further information

Pastoria of Oz.

Pastoria was introduced as the last king who ruled Oz, before the Wizard arrived. The evidence suggested that he was dead. (The Marvelous Land of Oz)

It is unclear if he ever actually ruled Oz like his father before him even though he lived in the kingdom of Oz and had many loyal subjects. Princess Ozma would later say that all Ozian rulers were called "Oz" if male and "Ozma" if female; the fact that her father had a personal name makes it questionable as to whether he had the chance to actually rule as King, before being captured by Mombi. (Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz)

It was later revealed that King Pastoria had adopted Ozma as a baby fairy, which explains why there is no mention of her mother. (The Magical Mimics in Oz)

Eventually Pastoria was found alive. He had spent many years in an enchanted form, as "Tora the Tired Tailor"; he eventually returned to the Emerald City, but was happy to let Ozma keep ruling, preferring to open and run a tailor shop under his own name. (The Lost King of Oz)

Background

L. Frank Baum actually created the character of King Pastoria for a 1903 stage musical freely and loosely adapted from his book. At the start of that play, King Pastoria II has been banished from Oz and is working as a street car conductor in America, with a waitress girlfriend lover named Trixie Tryfle. By the second act, Pastoria is restored to his original place on the Emerald City throne. Nothing of the stage character but his name made it into Baum's books, and he is not mentioned by Baum again after Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

Later works

In Disney's 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, the Wizard arrives in Oz via hot air balloon before he meets the three beautiful Witches of Oz, two of which are sisters, Evanora and Theodora, who were part of the King of Oz's court, and the third is his daughter, Glinda. Their father was King of Oz but has been mysteriously killed in a murder. The King in this story has no name, it could possibly be or not be Pastoria himself.

Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch, "Pastorius" was the widower of Ozma the Bilious, who died from an apparently accidental poisoning, and father to Ozma Tippetarius, who was approximately the same age as Elphaba. As Ozma Tippetarius was too young to take the throne when her mother died, Pastorius ruled as Ozma Regent until the monarchy was overthrown by the Wizard. Sadly, Pastorius died during his subsequent imprisonment.

Tarl Teleford's reimagined Hidden History of Oz features King Pastoria, though he is heavily revamped. Here, he is the the younger and lazier brother to King Oz XVII who assumes the throne after his brother's death. He refuses to offer aid to Glinda when the Witches of Oz revolt and later allows Mombi to join his court as Lady Chamberlin. Unlike most depictions, he remains in power well after the Wizard arrives, the still under construction Emerald City being separate from his own palace in the capital of Oz.