Bungle, the Glass Cat is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

.

Bungle first appears in The Patchwork Girl of Oz

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum, is a children's novel, the seventh set in the Land of Oz. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps , and others. The book was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill...

, the seventh of Baum's fourteen Oz books. The magician Dr. Pipt tests his Powder of Life by animating an ornamental glass cat figurine, for the specific purpose of catching mice for his wife Margolotte. But the Glass Cat turns out to be exceptionally vain, and unwilling to do any work. Margolotte names it Bungle. The Glass Cat is transparent, except for its hard blood-red ruby heart, two large emeralds for eyes, and its bright pink brains, which look rather like a collection of marbles and can be seen working in the cat's head. It has a tail of spun-glass.

In personality, Bungle is almost stereotypically catlike — cool and reserved and aloof as well as vain. The cat "is so determined not to show emotion that when implored to bring help she sets off very slowly and runs only when out of sight."

Through its incessant prowling throughout the Land of Oz

Land of Oz

Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...

, however, the Glass Cat has acquired intimate knowledge of its complex terrain; and it is generally willing to exploit this knowledge to the benefit of Dorothy

Dorothy Gale

Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...

 and her friends. In The Magic of Oz

The Magic of Oz

The Magic of Oz: A Faithful Record of the Remarkable Adventures of Dorothy and Trot and the Wizard of Oz, Together with the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger and Cap'n Bill, in Their Successful Search for a Magical and Beautiful Birthday Present for Princess Ozma of Oz is the thirteenth Land of Oz...

, for example, the Glass Cat guides the rescue party that saves Trot

Trot (Oz)

Trot is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz.Trot is introduced in the novel, The Sea Fairies and first appears in an Oz book in The Scarecrow of Oz . Trot is a little girl with big solemn eyes and an earnest, simple manner. Her real name is Mayre Griffiths...

 and Cap'n Bill

Cap'n Bill

Cap'n Bill Weedles is a fictional character found in L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. Cap'n Bill and his friend Trot were introduced in Baum's fantasy novels The Sea Fairies and Sky Island . They first appear in Oz in The Scarecrow of Oz , the ninth book in the Oz series.Cap'n Bill Weedles is an...

 from entrapment on the Magic Isle. And the Cat is virtually invulnerable to harm, which is a great advantage in its various adventures.

It was quickly reasoned that it was Bungle's pink brains that had made her so conceited, and the Wizard of Oz

Wizard (Oz)

The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...

 eventually replaced them with clear ones to make her more agreeable. After her adventures with Ojo the Lucky

Ojo the Lucky

Ojo is a character from the fictional Oz book series by L. Frank Baum.He first appeared in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Ojo is a Munchkin who lived with his uncle, Unc Nunkie in the Blue Forest, a remote location in the north of the Munchkin Country. During a trip with his uncle to visit his uncle's...

 and the Patchwork Girl

Patchwork Girl

The Patchwork Girl is a character from the fantasy Oz Book series by L. Frank Baum. She first appeared in The Patchwork Girl of Oz....

, the Cat ended up being a pet of Princess Ozma

Princess Ozma

Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...

 in the Emerald City

Emerald City

The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

.

The Glass Cat's unique mix of qualities has occasionally attracted the attention of Oz imitators and acolytes. Eric Shanower

Eric Shanower

Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...

 employs the Glass Cat in his 1992 graphic novel The Blue Witch of Oz. Gina Wickwar features the character in her The Hidden Prince of Oz

The Hidden Prince of Oz

The Hidden Prince of Oz is a novel written by Gina Wickwar and illustrated by Anna-Maria Cool. As its title indicates, the book is an entrant into the series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum and his many successors...

. Michael O. Riley also breaks the Cat, in two pieces, in his short story "The Ruby Heart." And David Hulan makes Bungle his protagonist in The Glass Cat of Oz. The Cat also makes an appearance in the Fables spin-off Cinderella: Fables are Forever, working with Dorothy Gale.

While various writers have explored the theme of invisibility, both before and after H. G. Wells

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...

, Baum was unusual in creating a character that is transparent but visible. (Baum magically animates a spun-glass animal in an earlier story, though the dog is not transparent but pink, with a blue ribbon around its neck and shiny black glass eyes.) At least one other writer has taken up Baum's inspiration: James Alan Gardner

James Alan Gardner

James Alan Gardner is a Canadian science fiction author.Raised in Simcoe and Bradford, Ontario, he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo....

's transparent woman, Oar, in his novels Expendable

Expendable

Expendable is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner, published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints...

(1997) and Ascending

Ascending

Ascending is a science fiction novel by the Canadian writer James Alan Gardner, published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints. It is the fifth novel in Gardner's "League of Peoples" series...

(2001), has a Bungle-like vanity, but also a positive impact, much like Baum's cat.