Elphaba is born to Melena Thropp, the granddaughter of the Eminent Thropp of Munchkinland , and Frexspar Thropp, an itinerant unionist minister. Frex is the son of a seventh son, and the seventh pastor in his family. Because Melena married lower than her family's social standing she is unhappy in her marriage and is known to have many other men in her life. Though it does not become clear until much later, Melena is at some point approached by a mysterious stranger, who gives her a potion called "Miracle Elixir" from a green bottle. He seduces her and nine months later she gives birth to a child, Elphaba Thropp, inside a device called The Clock of the Time Dragon (a prophetic enchanted tik-tok device), as her husband is attacked by a lynch mob to another location.
