<P> The Wicked Witch of the West is based on the character of the same name from L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz book series . </P> <P> In December 2013, Rebecca Mader was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, to serve as the new antagonist for the second half of the third season of Once Upon a Time . She made multiple appearances during the second half of season four and was promoted to a series regular for the show's fifth season . The role of the Wicked Witch of the West was written specifically for Rebecca Mader . It was announced that the writers had chosen not to continue with Zelena's storyline and Mader would not be returning for the seventh season of the show . However, Mader later revealed that she would be returning for multiple season seven episodes . </P> <P> Zelena (which means "green" in some Slavic languages) is a vile woman with a soft spot for flying monkeys . Born to Cora in the Enchanted Forest, Zelena spent her life in Oz after being abandoned by Cora when she was a baby . After finding out about her sister, Zelena becomes envious of her sister's privileged life and literally turns green with envy . Like her mother and half - sister, Zelena was trained in magic by Rumplestiltskin, but the Dark One realized that Zelena was too emotionally unstable to be controlled, and abandoned her in favor of Regina . </P> <P> Zelena has white skin, red hair and blue eyes . Her envy for her sister and Dorothy turned her skin green . Like the other characters in the series, Zelena remained ageless for twenty - eight years until the first Dark Curse was broken . In the episode "Our Decay", her birthday was revealed to be the fifteenth of April . </P>

Whos the green witch in once upon a time