This list contains mentions of sexual assault.

Warning: This list contains spoilers for the Wicked movie, musical, and novel.Wicked went from book to musical to movie, all inspired by L. Frank Baum's original novel and the classic 1939 movie it was adapted into. Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a much darker and more adult story than what is depicted in the Broadway musical and subsequently the movie. Yet themes of political corruption, discrimination, and propaganda are evident in both, reframing the narrative of the Land of Oz.

Jon M. Chu's Wicked is based on the show rather than the book and largely adheres to the changes that Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz made to the story. Chief among them is the decision to focus on the friendship between Wicked Witch and Glinda the Good, who still meet at Shiz University in the book, but the latter is decidedly more of a ing character. Intrinsically, Wicked makes changes to The Wizard of Oz, but the movie's success has perhaps further guaranteed that this version of the story will resonate the most with audiences, despite its changes to the source material.

20 The Time Dragon Clock Is Given No Context

The Time Dragon Clock Represents A Religious Movement In The Book, While It Is Merely Decoration In The Musical

The Wicked musical production includes a substantial dragon set piece hovering above the stage, which briefly comes to life in the show's opening. Ariana Grande's Glinda also mentions the time dragon in the movie’s first sequence, as a reference to when the Wicked Witch died. Neither adaptation elaborates further. However, in the book, the Clock of the Time Dragon is a complex feat of machinery, and a traveling show, which puts on puppet shows that tell the future, around which a religion has formed.

The Time Dragon is substantially important to the book's themes of religious conflict; Elphaba's father, called Frexspar, strongly disapproves of the new religion. However, due to a series of chaotic circumstances, Elphaba ends up being born literally inside the Time Dragon. Much later in the book, one of its puppet shows also tells her that the Wizard is her biological father.

19 The Wizard's Direct Predecessor Isn't Mentioned

Without Mention Of Ozma, It's Not Entirely Clear Who Was Ruling Oz Right Before The Wizard Showed Up

The new section of "One Short Day" in Wicked provides some sense of earlier rulership in Oz but still suggests that the Wise Ones are long-off, ancient beings, creating something of a mystery about how Oz's government worked for years before the Wizard showed up. In the novel, Oz was ruled by a line of queens all called Ozma before the Wizard arrived and overthrew the monarchy. The most recent Ozma went into hiding, with some hoping she would one day reclaim the throne. Meanwhile, the movie suggests that Jeff Goldblum's Wizard arrived to find a power vacuum for the taking.

18 The Circumstances Of Elphaba's Conception

Melena Has A Scandalous Affair With An Unseen Man In The Wicked Movie

In the movie, Elphaba's mother Melena (Courtney Mae-Briggs) is depicted as bored in her marriage, leading her to have an affair with a mysterious man bringing her a green elixir. In the book, Melena is still characterized as promiscuous and unhappy with Frexspar, but she doesn't consent to what leads to Elphaba's conception. When discussing the possible reasons for Elphaba's green skin, Melena tells her childhood nanny that she only has vague memories of meeting a strange man who offered her a drink, with only the green bottle remaining afterward.

17 Elphaba Is A Nicer Baby (Without Teeth)

Book Elphaba Is Born With Sharp Teeth & Is A Difficult Child

In addition to her green skin, Elphaba is born with a full set of sharp teeth in the book. She is also vicious as a child; the adults are all careful around her not to get bitten. While the musical doesn't spend any time on Elphaba's upbringing, the movie provides some flashbacks. The filmmakers found it much easier to depict Elphaba as a kind if defensive baby and girl, who is lovingly cared for by her nanny. Even in her adulthood, the book's version of Elphaba is much more complicated, but she still forms lasting bonds with Glinda and others.

16 There Is No Question Of Who Nessarose's Father Is

Melena Has An Affair Around The Time Of Nessa's Birth In The Book

Melena willingly has an affair with Turtle Heart, a man from Quadling Country in the south of Oz. Despite the ongoing affair which Nanny seems to know about while Melena's husband doesn't, Turtle Heart stays with them for some time and is considered a dear family friend. Turtle Heart is eventually killed by Munchkinlanders in a sacrifice to end a drought, while Nessarose's paternity remains unconfirmed. It is revealed years later that Frexspar was also in love with Turtle Heart, and Nessarose is his favorite child partially because he viewed her as their shared daughter.

15 Nessarose's Disability Is Different

Nessa Uses A Wheelchair In The Movie & Musical, Differing From The Book

Nessarose is still born disabled, likely due to Melena taking medication to prevent another child with green skin. However, in the book, she is born without arms rather than having to use a wheelchair. Nessarose and her siblings are largely raised by their mother's nanny, who stays with Nessa into her adulthood to help her with what she cannot manage on her own. In the second act of the show, Elphaba enchants Nessa's shoes so she can walk; in the book, Glinda enchants the shoes, so Nessa has better balance and needs much less daily assistance.

14 Elphaba & Nessarose's Father Is The Governor Of Munchkinland

Elphaba & Nessa Stood To Inherit Munchkinland Through Their Mother In The Book

Also part of the book's religious storylines is the occupation of Elphaba and Nessarose's father; in this version, he is a Unionist minister. Following Turtle Heart's death, Frexspar and Melena went to Quadling Country to do missionary work. Elphaba her siblings largely grew up in the south of Oz because of this, rather than in Munchkinland.

The name Thropp and dominion over Munchkiland actually comes from their mother's family and is inherited by the family's female descendants. For much of the novel, Elphaba's great-grandfather holds the title of Eminent Thropp and Elphaba is his heir. She is then out of with her family for many years, and Nessa inherits the position instead upon her predecessor's death, becoming known as the Wicked Witch of the East for her cruel regime. Elphaba never challenges her sister to reclaim the title.

13 Elphaba & Nessarose Are Raised By A Bear Nanny

The Wicked Movie Reimagined Nanny As Dulcibear, Both Being Absent From The Show

Elphaba and Nessarose are raised by the character known simply as "Nanny," who raised their mother before them and offers some insights into Melena later in Elphaba's life. After leaving Nessa, Nanny travels on her own and manages to find Elphaba again in Winkie Country. While the musical has no nanny character, the Wicked movie includes Dulcibear (Sharon D. Clarke), a kindly bear who looks after the girls. However, Nanny provides similar and encouragement to Elphaba — for instance, insisting she socialize with other children — as Dulcibear does for Cynthia Erivo's version of the character.

12 Elphaba & Nessarose Don't Have A Brother

Shell Doesn't Make It Into the Wicked Musical Or Movie

Melena and Frexspar have a third child, the only one who is certainly Frexspar's biological offspring. The third child and only boy is named Shell, in honor of Turtle Heart. Melena dies giving birth to Shell rather than Nessarose. Shell's activities in the first novel are mysterious, as he seems to be the rogue family member, even more so than Elphaba, who is presumed dead for many years. However, he becomes an antagonist in Maguire's later Wicked Years books. The movies could further explore Nessa's character, yet they maintain the decision to cut Shell for screen time.

11 Elphaba Only Comes To Shiz With Nessarose

Elphaba Comes To Shiz Alone At First In The Book

In the musical, Elphaba's father enrolls her at Shiz solely to look after Nessarose while she is there. One of the changes Wicked makes to the musical is that Elphaba is not initially enrolled, only Nessa (Marissa Bode in the movie). Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) insists that Elphaba stay after her accidental display of power. In the book, Elphaba arrives at Shiz ahead of Nessa, who s them when she presumably reaches the standard age of enrollment. Despite her harsher personality in the novel, Elphaba is still a doting sister, and is eager for Glinda to meet Nessa.