General Jinjur is an antagonist in ''

The Marvelous Land of Oz ''The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman'', commonly shortened to ''The Land of Oz'', published in July 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and th ...

''. She is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and his successors.Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; pp. 109-10.

Biography

She first appears in ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' as a self-appointed general leading an "Army of Revolt"—an all-woman force seeking to end the reign of the

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesle ...

and take over the Emerald City. The revolt is a parody of the contemporaneous movement for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, which Baum supported (his mother-in-law was prominent suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage). General Jinjur's followers use both violence (sharp knitting needles) and their feminine privileges to gain advantage: no man will hit a pretty girl, and Jinjur boasts "there is not an ugly face in my entire Army." Yet those same young women are temporarily routed by an incursion of mice. Jinjur's regime assigns Emerald City husbands to domestic tasks thought to be women's work, such as cooking and cleaning; the men quickly get worn out, and eventually their wives are happy to take over those tasks and do them competently again. Jinjur's name, pronounced as "

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

," implies that she has a rather volatile nature; however, she is not evil, but misguided. She is also cowardly, and dances on the throne when she sees the field mice. While she works with the

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

Mombi, Jinjur is secretly afraid of her, and quickly pledges loyalty to

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the Oz series except the first, '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and Baum ...

after she loses the throne to

Glinda Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Coun ...

and her army (which is also made up entirely of female soldiers). In ''

Ozma of Oz ''Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Billina the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People Too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein'', p ...

'' Jinjur makes a brief appearance as a dairy farmer's wife. She says she is happy and contented, but also reports that her (unseen) husband is nursing a black eye after milking the wrong cow. ''

The Patchwork Girl of Oz ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum is a children's novel, the seventh in the Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published ...

'' reports that Jinjur is a talented painter who helps to restore her old nemesis, the Scarecrow. In ''

The Tin Woodman of Oz ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', Jinjur makes her most significant reappearance in the series. She still lives on a farm in the Munchkin Country, but her husband is nowhere to be seen. She is startled at first by the incursion of the

Tin Woodman Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book '' ...

, the

, and their companions, who have been transformed into animals by a wicked sorceress Mrs. Yoop. When the situation is explained, she calms down and is helpful and friendly.

Description

Jinjur is illustrated in ''

'' wearing a feminized version of a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

dress

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

of the period before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, with a skirt in place of trousers, high boots, a military-style frogged tunic, and a tall

shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, plume (see hackle) ...

. Her army, in similar uniforms, looks like a crack drill team or chorus line. In ''

'' she is described as a pretty dairy maid, and Princess Ozma has to look a second time, more closely, to recognize her.

In other print works

In the comic book, '' Oz'', Jinjur is part of Oz's Freedom Fighters. In issue #0, it was revealed that her husband was turned into a jewel by

Ruggedo The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel '' Oz'' novels also written by Baum. Although the ch ...

and crushed in his hand. In Gregory Maguire's fourth Oz novel, '' Out of Oz'', the armies of Munchkinland are led by one "General Jinjuria", apparently a reference to Jinjur.

Portrayals

Caroline Berner plays Jinjur in '' The Wonderful Land of Oz''. She has long dark hair, wears a green uniform, and generally acts impertinent while her army acts lackadaisical. In the

Anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series, '' Ozu no Mahōtsukai'', she is depicted as a fiery red-head sporting a tiara, cape and mischievous smile. In the cartoon ''Adventures in the Emerald City'', Jinjur has a red-breasted Iroquois. She wears a red uniform.

Julee Cruise Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released four ...

portrayed her in a stage version performed by The Children's Theatre Company and School of Minneapolis that was released on

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

, though she sings in a much lower register than she does for

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

and

Angelo Badalamenti Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer, best known for his work scoring films for director David Lynch, notably '' Blue Velvet'', the ''Twin Peaks'' saga (1990–1992, 2017), '' The Straight S ...

. General Jinjur appears in her self-titled episode of '' Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz'' voiced by Kari Wahlgren. In the 1983 stop-motion cartoon ''W krainie czarnoksiężnika Oza'' (''In the Land of the Wizard of Oz''), which adapts ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' and ''

'', Jinjur (Dendera) is voiced by actress Ewa Ziętek.

References

{{Oz Oz (franchise) characters Literary characters introduced in 1904 Fictional female generals Fictional revolutionaries Female characters in literature