Cowardly Lion

The Cowardly Lion is the tetartagonist of The Wizard of Oz. He is the third (and final) ally Dorothy meets. Even though he is a lion, he is not so brave and joins Dorothy to get courage from the Wizard. He is portrayed by Bert Lahr. Lahr also played Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmworker, Zeke.

As Dorothy, Scarecrow and the Tin Man are travelling through the dark forest following the yellow brick road on the way to the Emerald City the Cowardly Lion ambushes Dorothy and her friends and tries to take a bite out of Toto. Dorothy slaps him for trying to attack Toto and discovers that the Lion is a coward and he admits that he is not brave or king of the forest but a cowardly lion Dorothy feels sorry for the lion and tells him about the Wizard in the Emerald City and maybe he could give the lion some courage.

Despite admitting that he is a coward he has done great feats of bravery including leaping chasms along the yellow brick road with a companion on his back each time and when travelling through the Dark Forest he held off two Kalidahs (a fictitious species of animal in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. With the head of a tiger and a body of a bear) by himself.

Cowardly Lion was Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farm worker, Zeke. He helps Hickory (Tin Man's alter ego) lower a bed into its place on a wagon at the farm while Hunk (Scarecrow's alter ego) repairs the wagon with them. He then moves the hogs into the pig pen and pours feed into their trough and later rescues Dorothy when she falls off the railing that encircles the pen. Zeke wears his hat throughout the entire film because he does not struggle to pry open the cellar when the tornado approaches the farm. Hunk (Scarecrow's alter ego) closes and locks the cellar with him when Dorothy arrives at the farmhouse. Zeke and Professor Marvel (The Wizard's alter ego) are the only men wearing hats when Dorothy awakens from being unconscious.