Wizard Howl

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Howell Jenkins, more commonly known as the Wizard Howl, is a character in Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air. He is a wizard in the land of Ingary. He also has several other aliases in Ingary: he is known as Wizard Pendragon in the capital Kingsbury, and Wizard Jenkin in lower-class Porthaven. He lives in a moving castle, powered by a fire demon named Calcifer. He has an apprentice named Michael Fisher and was apprenticed to Mrs. Pentstemmon. In the English version of the anime movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki, he was voiced by actor Christian Bale.

1 Personality
2 The Witch's Curse
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Personality

Howl is vain about his appearance, forever wearing gaudy clothes and spending hours in the bathroom. He dyes his hair different colors, as well—its natural hue is a kind of mud-brown. For much of Howl's Moving Castle he wears a grey and scarlet suit, which Sophie has accidentally charmed. His eyes are bottle green, and Sophie considers them rather marble-like for most of the book.

Howl is described as "a slitherer outer" by Sophie, and also a "unprincipled, slippery rogue with a glib tongue and a clever mind" by the king, both of which are very true. He can be brave only when pretending he is a coward. He constantly falls in love with young women, but only until they fall in love with him, and then he is bored with them and has nothing to do with them. he's usually incapable of behaving sensiblbly until the young lady he is pursuing loves him back too. then he dumps her, and leaves his apprehentics, michael, and his fire demon calcifer to deal with the backlash he creates ("you won't believe the amount of trouble we get because howl keeps falling in love" michael said, "we've had law suits, suitors with challenges, fathers with cudgels, mothers with rolling pins. and aunts. aunts are terrible, they go for you with hat pins.") It is discovered that Howl, like Sophie, has been cursed by the Witch of Waste. His curse is very complex; he is incapable of truly falling in love with anyone, as he has no heart. The Witch used a poem by John Donne (Song) to curse Howl with—after he is ten thousand days old, he has to return to the Witch.

Despite all his faults, Howl is not as bad as he seems. He undercharges customers who have not the means to pay for his spells and he took Michael (known in the anime as Markl) in off the street after Michael's parents died. His biggest problem appears to be that he can never love a woman long enough for her to see past his faults to love him for who he is. However, he truly falls in love with Sophie and she with him, despite the fact she knew about his faults beforehand.

After Howl's Moving Castle, but before Castle in the Air, Howl and Sophie marry. They have a baby boy named Morgan; one month before birth, Howl changes Sophie into a black cat in order to protect her from the djinn attacking their castle. Howl and Calcifer are captured by the djinn, but Sophie, thought to just be a simple house cat, is thrown from the castle into the alps of Ingary. Sophie gave birth to Morgan while she was still a cat and as a result, Morgan spends the first few months of his infancy as a kitten, nicknamed "Whippersnapper" by the amnesiac Prince Justin, who also nicknames Sophie "Midnight."

[edit] The Witch's Curse

The Witch of the Waste put a curse on Howl after he jilted her (like he always does) in the form of a poem by John Donne, "Song" in this manner:

First Verse

Go and catch a falling star - This is fulfilled when Howl catches Calcifer
Get with child a mandrake root - Sophie plants a mandrake root leading to it producing a flower (reproducing, thus a child)
Tell me where the past years are - Howl knows this as part of his magical training
Or who cleft the devil's foot - As above? Calcifer denies this refers to him ("I'm a demon, not a devil!"), although it would make a kind of sense - he balances on Howl's heart, which is magically the conventional heartshape rather than the shape of an actual heart and therefore has a cleft at the front "like two knees". The one who cleft it would be Howl, as it is his heart, or his parents.
Teach me to hear the mermaid's singing - During Howl's fight with the Witch of the Waste in Porthaven the mermaids come out of the sea and sing
Or to keep off envy's stinging - Something Howl has learnt through bitter experience of dealing with Megan (and no doubt others)
And find what wind serves to advance an honest mind - Howl talks honestly to Sophie for nearly the first time while transporting them both by means of a magical wind. This is the last part of the curse to be fulfilled.

Second verse

If thou beest born to strange sights, things invisible to see - Howl's natural magical ability allows him to do this (e.g. he can see when something is enchanted)
Ride ten thousand days and nights - Fulfilled when Howl is ten thousand days (27 years, 145 days) old on Midsummer's Day
Til age snow white hairs on thee - Fulfilled when Howl gets white hairs (under the dye he uses - "but I'm not taking the spell off to check")
Thou when thou returnst will tell me all strange wonders that befell thee - This does not happen, it is what the curse is designed to make Howl do: return to the Witch
And swear nowhere lives a woman true and fair - Howl cannot find a woman he can really love because he has no heart

[edit] Trivia

Howl turns 10 000 days old when the Witch's curse catches up with him, making him 27 years old. This also places his birthday (calculating backwards from the average date of midsummer) sometime around January 27th..[1]