Cap'n Bill
Cap'n Bill was a resident of the Land of Oz, an old sailor with a peg-leg.
Biography
Visited by Acquaintanceship
In the version of Oz which was visited by Acquaintanceship-982, the Captain, Button-Bright, Trot, the Scarecrow and the Orks once defeated Blinkie, shrinking her then offering her an antidote potion which also suppressed her magical powers.
Many years later, after Blinkie's Imps Olite, Udent and Ertinent escaped, stole Dorothy's Magic Belt and brought it back to Blinkie, also stealing the Magic Picture and the Great Book of Records, Ozma convened a great number of her friends and acquaintances to a room on the first floor the Emerald Palace to discuss the situation, including Button-Bright, Trot, the Glass Cat, Dorothy Gale, Billina, the Wizard, Toto, Tik-Tok, General Omby Amby, Jellia Jamb, the Sawhorse, the Shaggy Man, the Gump, Flipper, Eureka, the Lonesome Duck, Cap'n Bill, Jack Pumpkin Head, the Hungry Tiger, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, Ojo, the Woozy, the Woggle-Bug. Also brought to the meeting by mistake was Acquaintanceship-982, who had been mistaken for Tik-Tok by General Amby. The group decided to use Acquaintanceship-982's Fog Ship to quickly comb through the Land.
They first landed in Munchkin Country, where the possé met the Phonograph of Oz, who had spotted the imps. During this brief stop, the Scarecrow applauded the Pathwork Girl's impromptu song trying to show off how much better a real musician was compared to a phonograph. Thanks to the Phonograph's directions, Acquaintanceship knew to fly towards Quadling Country, but on the way through the forest which separated the two Countries, they were attacked by three kalidahs. After evading them, they reached the mountains of Jinxland, where they found not only the imps, but also Blinkie. Gloating, the Wicked Witch unveiled a field full of hundreds of imp statues, which she intended to bring to life as an unstoppable army using the Powder of Life. Acquaintanceship attempted to romanticise Blinkie right there and then, but his shot missed and instead knocked the bottle Powder out of her hands. Taking his chance, Acquaintanceship grabbed the bottle and ran off with it into his Fog Ship, but Blinkie (who had yet to realise he had the Powder and thought he was just escaping) used the Belt to cause him to crash into the forest, and transformed most of the Ozites into various objects, with only Dorothy managing to escape, despite their attempts to attack her. For example, the Captain was transformed into a mechanical grasshopper.
Acquaintanceship was unharmed, however, although his Ship was down. Out of other options, he used some of the Powder of Life to attempt to repair his Ship, with the effect of bringing it to life as a sentient entity. Startled, he dropped the rest of the Powder onto his bow and arrows, which similarly came to life. Together, they returned to Jinxland and managed to romanticise Blinkie and the Imps, who subsequently apologised to everyone, reversed the transformations and returned the magical items. However, the Ship's inexperience with flying itself caused it to crash again with Acquaintanceship itself, injuring him this time. With the Bow and Arrows finding them, however, the Imps worked with Tik-Tok to repair both of them. Healed, Acquaintanceship was offered the chance to stay in the Emerald Palace as a permanent resident but turned it down, unlike the Ship, Bow and Arrows. (PROSE: The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids in Oz)
Behind the scenes
Having debuted in Baum's 1911 novel The Sea Fairies, Captain Bill Weedles is now in the public domain.
