Glinkomok is a strange and fearsome hybrid creature of the African Congo.
Description[]
It is "part beast, part man, part fowl and part fish." Through its endless years (it has been alive since the world began), Glinkomok has become "part sorcerer, part wizard, part magician and part fairy." Glinkomok has a long hairy tongue and fiery breath, and four skinny hands. It can work powerful magic. It can speak in an unknown language; its voice sounds like a sigh. It moves in a silent glide. ("The Laughing Hippopotamus")
It lives in a cave; humans taken there are never seen again. Though dangerous, Glinkomok is not therefore evil. To the contrary, it adheres to a moral order in its service as the hippo tribe's oracle. (Since the humans are the hippos' predators, they are the villains in this hippocentric tale.)
Background[]
For Glinkomok as a combination of man, beast, fowl, and fish, compare Zog in The Sea Fairies, who is part man, beast, fish, fowl, and serpent.
Baum likes to employ sinister multiplicity. As an extreme magical hybrid, parts sorcerer, wizard, magician, and fairy, Glinkomok compares with the tuxix, which is "a magician, a sorcerer, a wizard, and a witch all rolled into one...." (Policeman Bluejay)
Note also Coo-ee-oh; she is a "Krumbic Witch," which is seven times worse than an ordinary witch. (Glinda of Oz)