Chick the Cherub is a genetically engineered human, with a childlike appearance and a non-binary gender identity, who once lived on the Isle of Phreex and later became Head Booleywag to King John Dough of Hiland and Loland.
They have fair hair, falling in fleecy waves to their shoulders, but not particularly groomed. They have delicate features, rosy cheeks, and round blue eyes. For clothing Chick wears white garments like pajamas, with wide flowing sleeves and legs, and sandals to protect their feet. Chick claims to be six years old, but they have been making that claim for several years. They eat a prescribed diet of oatmeal and cream.
Chick is known as an Incubator Baby because the child has no parents. The name "Chick" comes from chickens, which are usually raised in incubators.
Chick lived in a third-floor apartment, in the Royal Palace of Phreex.
History[]
Chick met John Dough when the Gingerbread Man visited the Isle of Phreex, befriending him and showing him around the island and introducing him to the interesting residents. When Ali Dubh appeared and tried to eat John, Chick escaped with him aboard a flying machine built by Imar.
After a long flight over the ocean, they landed on the roof of the Palace of Romance. They were invited to tell all the stories they knew, and were warned that when the stories stopped, they would be thrown into the ocean. With boundless imagination, Chick began to create stories about the Silver Pig of Dagupan. After many days of storytelling and nights of searching, John and Chick were able to find their flying machine and escape the island.
They crashed on the Isle of Mifkets and befriended a rubber bear named Para Bruin and a sickly Princess named Jacquelin. John and Chick risked their lives trying to protect the Princess from the primitive natives, and were helped by the King of the Fairy Beavers. The Beaver King later helped John, Chick, and Para Bruin escape Mifket Island aboard a flock of Flamingos.
After a brief stop on Pirate Island, they finally landed on the island of Hiland and Loland. Chick explored the twin kingdoms and learned that they were awaiting a prophesied king whose description matched that of John Dough perfectly: a man not made of flesh and blood. John was crowned king and Chick became his Head Booleywag, a title defined as the person who rules the ruler. (John Dough and the Cherub)
John Dough, Chick, and Para Bruin later visited the Emerald City in the Land of Oz as guests of Princess Ozma in honor of her birthday. Many of the Ozians speculated fruitlessly on which conventional gender Chick belonged in. (The Road to Oz)
Behind the scenes[]
L. Frank Baum began writing the novel without having decided whether the character of Chick would be male or female. According to the official story, he forgot about the matter until an editor asked him about it, and was surprised he had not included an answer. "I cannot remember that Chick the Cherub impressed me as other than a joyous, sweet, venturesome and loveable child. Who cares whether it is a boy or a girl?" The publisher held an essay contest to let the public decide. The readers who were polled, decided that Chick was likely a girl, because of "her" mannerisms and restraint from turning on the gingerbread man. The identity of the prize winner and the distribution of prize money has been the subject of conflicting reports. A confirmed gender for the character was never put into any published Baum story, so their canonical gender remains unconfirmed.
Grace Elder played Chick in the Fairylogue and Radio-Plays silent film series in 1908. The content of this lost film is unknown. If it followed Chick's introduction from the book, then Miss Elder may have been the first film actor to play a nonbinary-gendered character.
Chick was (presumably) a central character in the movie John Dough and the Cherub (1910), but a cast list for this additional lost film has never been found.
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