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I chopped down a tree belonging to the Wicked Witch of the North, and she punished me by giving me a terrible curse.

—Stanum to Zelena src

Stanum, also known as the Tin Man,[1] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts, with his only appearance, in the eighteenth episode of the sixth season and is portrayed by guest star Alex Désert and co-star Austin Obiajunwa.

Stanum is based on the Tin Woodman from the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

History

Before First Curse

As a young man, Stanum chops down a tree and discovers a fallen bird nest with a broken egg. He is approached by a girl who asks him to move the tree before someone is hurt, though he states it is too late for that and shows her the cracked egg. She muses that it must not have survived the fall and quickly uses magic to heal the crack on the egg and teleports it up into another tree, surprising him. As he asks her how she did that, they are approached by two bullies who call her a monster and admit that they used a slingshot to knock the egg out of the tree. The youngsters prepare to use the same slingshot to hit the girl, who runs to hide behind a tree trunk, but Stanum saves her by pulling out his ax and charging the bullies, threatening them into leaving. The girl is shocked that he helped her since she is considered a monster because of her magic, however, Stanum proclaims she is special due to her willingness to use magic to do good things. After Stanum introduces himself, the girl tells him her name: Zelena. ("Where Bluebirds Fly")

Many years later, Stanum chops down a tree belonging to the Wicked Witch of the North. As punishment, she curses him to slowly turn into a tin statue. Hoping to stop this curse, Stanum seeks out his old friend Zelena, who has become the Wicked Witch of the West and taken shelter in the Wizard of Oz's old palace. He requests her assistance with defeating the beast guarding the Crimson Heart, a legendary item that may be able to break his curse. When Zelena questions what she gets out of this arrangement, Stanum reminds her of using her powers for good, though the witch disagrees as she believes using magic to be wicked is much more fun. Stanum then uses switches tactics to get her help by suggesting she may be powerful yet she won't assist him because she is afraid of the beast. Infuriated at his taunt, Zelena menaces him about what she could do to him for speaking to her this way. Stanum expresses no qualms about what she is capable of, but is willing to take a risk since he has nothing more to lose. Unable to convince her, he turns to leave, but Zelena agrees to tag along to prove him wrong. As they walk together, Stanum learns Zelena is working on a time spell to stop her birth mother from abandoning her. He suggests that she is wasting time on gaining approval from someone who doesn't care for her and that he has a better idea of how she can be happy. Before he can tell her anything else, he is attacked by a lion, the beast guarding the Crimson Heart, and dragged away as he cries for Zelena's help. She chases them down and begins fighting the lion, getting it away from Stanum. The lion manages to pin Zelena down, but Stanum hurls his ax at it, which gets its attention away from Zelena, giving her enough time to land a blow. Frightened, the lion flees as Zelena calls it a coward. The pair is then able to get to the Crimson Heart, but when Zelena touches it, it begins to drain her magic away and she quickly puts it back, deducing that the heart is completely powerless and requires her powers to function. She demands to know if Stanum was put up to this by Dorothy, but Stanum insists he knows no one named Dorothy. He admits that he knew the heart would drain Zelena's power and suggests that she would be happier if she had a friend like him who will accept her for who she is, however, Zelena argues that her power is what makes her special and refuses to help him. She watches as he turns completely to tin and becomes unable to move. Stanum attempts to call after her, but she ignores him and takes the Crimson Heart with her, telling him to enjoy being a statue and that perhaps he can wait for Dorothy to free him one day. ("Where Bluebirds Fly")

Trivia

Etymology

  • "Stanum" is derived from the English word "stannum", which means "tin".[2]

Character Notes

Props Notes

Appearances

References

  1. Mitovich, Matt Webb (March 14, 2017). Inside Line: Scoop on The Flash, Once, Supergirl, Five-0, Blindspot, Grimm, Chicago Fire, The Originals and More. TVLine. “"The Wizard of Oz fans should be really happy, because we introduce the Tin Man for the first time (played recent [sic] Flash guest star Alex Desert), we get monkeys, and we'll meet the [Cowardly] Lion as well."”
  2. stannum. Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved on December 17, 2020. “in British English (ˈstænəm) NOUN an obsolete name for tin (sense 1) (...) in American English (ˈstænəm) NOUN tin”
  3. File:417GoodLuck.png
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:101FlyingMonkeys.png
  5. File:103FlyingMonkeys.png
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