Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-23962251-20140324044837/@comment-24674051-20140326013650

Why we try to link them to OZ...? Well, aside from the fact that it makes for an interesting discussion, it has not been unheard of for OUaT to place representations of certain characters in other characters (for example, Rumple being both Hook's crocodile and Belle's Beast... Pan also being the Pied Piper, etc). And while the people mentioned may not actually BE the characters from the story, they do seem to represent some aspect of their 'associated' character (Charming's courage as a reference to the 'Cowardly' Lion). Who knows, maybe the WWoW originally stole the Brain/Heart/courage of the original trio for some wicked plot/spell (I've seen this presented elsewhere, it is not my original idea), and now that she is in Storybrooke, she is trying it again.

Bottom line, though, is sheer fun of speculation and discussion. (that's what I think, anyway).