| Franchise: | The Wicked Years |
| First: | Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) |
| Creator: | Gregory Maguire |
| Full Name: | Elphaba Thropp |
| Alias: | Wicked Witch of the West |
| Family: | Oscar Diggs (father) Nessarose Thropp (half-sister) |
| Significant Other: | Fiyero Tigelaar |
| Children: | Liir Thropp (son) |
| Religion: | None (atheist) |
| Nationality: | Ozian |
Elphaba Thropp is the protagonist in the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, in its musical theatre adaptation Wicked, and in the musical's two-part film adaptation. The character is identified with the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
In the Baum novel, the Witch is unnamed and little is explained about her life; Wicked creates a backstory for her and explores the world of The Wizard of Oz from her perspective. Elphaba is modeled after Margaret Hamilton's portrayal in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz: green-skinned, clad entirely in black and wearing a tall peaked hat. Maguire formulated the name "Elphaba" from the pronunciation of Baum's initials—"L.F.B."
As Winnie Holzman observed in an interview with Playbill, "It was Maguire's brilliant idea to take this hated figure and tell things from her point of view, and to have the two witches be roommates in college, but the way in which their friendship develops – and really the whole plot – is different onstage."[1] Schwartz justified the deviation, saying "Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda – who becomes Glinda – and Elphaba...the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies."[2] In addition to this change in focus, other major plot modifications include Fiyero's appearance as the scarecrow, Elphaba's survival at the end, Nessarose using a wheelchair instead of being born without arms, Boq having a continuing love interest for Glinda – and eventually becoming the Tin Woodman instead of Nick Chopper, the complete cutting of Elphaba's years in the Vinkus, the deletion of Liir's birth, Fiyero not having a wife and children, and Doctor Dillamond not being murdered.[3]
The role was originated on Broadway and the West End by Idina Menzel, who won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Cynthia Erivo portrayed the character in the film adaptation of the first act of the musical, and will reprise the role in the adaptation of the second act. Karis Musongole played the character as a child in the first film.[4]