The Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion was one of the residents of the Land of Oz.
Biography
Visited by Acquaintanceship
One version of the Cowardly Lion lived in the version of Oz which was visited by Acquaintanceship-982. After the Imps Olite, Udent and Ertinent escaped, stole Dorothy Gale'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 the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, Eureka, Billina, the Wizard, Toto, Tik-Tok, General Omby Amby, Jellia Jamb, Trot, the Sawhorse, the Shaggy Man, the Gump, Flipper, Cap'n Bill, Jack Pumpkin Head, the Lonesome Duck, the Hungry Tiger, 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. When the Wizard's nine pet piglets spilled out onto the floor due to the rough take-off, the Hungry Tiger eyed them forlornly, muttering about how much he would like to eat them despite his conscience forbidding it. His old friend the Cowardly Lion comforted him, reminding him that he could have a “fine steak” once the Ozites returned from their adventure.
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.
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 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, with Ozma decreeing that the Disagreeable Arrow would get a quiet room to himself. (PROSE: The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids in Oz)
Behind the scenes
Having debuted in the original 1900 Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel, the Cowardly Lion is in the public domain.
