Inkedblood

Howl’s Moving Castle (1986), Castle in the Air (1990)
By: Diana Wynne Jones

Who he is: Howell Jenkins, or Wizard Howl as he is known in the land of Ingary, is a powerful and very vain man. He values his privacy, and so spreads rumors about himself to insure it. He is said to eat the hearts of beautiful young women. At first glance, you would think he cared for nothing but his appearance, but he is actually a kind and compassionate man, concerned about the people around him.

Strength: He’s great at what he does. He came from Wales. But after studying magic, he came to Ingary to become one of the greatest wizards of that land. He pretends that he doesn’t care, that he is more concerned with his looks than anything else. But he does care about those around him. He entered into a contract with his fire demon, Calcifer, to save the demon. He inquired about Sophie, his bespelled housekeeper, although it seemed he was just out courting someone. And even though it seemed that Howl was trying to shirk from responsibilities, he was actually out looking for his missing friend and the Prince. He just doesn’t like people to think he is.

Weakness: He is vain. Very vain. And he whines a lot. He wants attention and whines when he doesn’t get it. If that doesn’t work, he emits green slime to make sure you don’t ignore him ever again. Howl does tend to be self-centered at times.

What I like about him: He is vain. Very vain. And he whines a lot. While I probably will have no patience for a man like that in real life, in a book, it’s quite interesting to see. When we make characters, we usually make them so perfect. Or too flawed. I’ve read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies/series where characters have everything. They are the most good-looking, richest, luckiest, most intelligent, and most popular people alive. That’s good but it gets annoying. How come they have everything? Sometimes, it also goes to the other extreme. They are the unluckiest people alive. Their fathers beat them, their mothers die before their eyes, they get molested, they get framed, their only best friend dies, and basically they’re the most unfortunate people that ever walked the Earth.

It’s nice to see someone powerful have a character flaw. I’m not talking about a troubled past. I’m talking about a personality quirk. I’m talking about successful businessmen who bathe their pet pigs to de-stressify. Or the most popular football players whose guilty pleasure is reading Harlequin Romance pocketbooks.

Of course, I probably wouldn’t like Howl if he wasn’t compassionate. He can be self-centered as long as deep inside, he’ll still care. No one really wants a self-centered hero who is 100% self-centered.

One of my favorite lines in the book would be:
“Help me, someone! I’m dying from neglect up here!”