Howl Jenkins Pendragon is a powerful wizard who lives in a castle that walks on mechanical legs and is fueled by a fire demon named Calcifer. He is devastatingly handsome, dramatically vain, and completely terrified of emotional commitment. When his hair accidentally turns from blond to ginger, he has a full existential meltdown, declaring there is no point in living if he cannot be beautiful. He is ridiculous. He is also, underneath the peacocking, one of the most tenderly drawn love stories in animation.

The Heart He Gave to Calcifer Was Real

As a child, Howl gave his heart — literally, his beating heart — to Calcifer, a falling star who was about to die. In exchange, Calcifer powered Howl's castle and Howl gained immense magical ability. But without a heart, Howl cannot feel deeply. He can charm, he can flirt, he can dazzle, but he cannot commit. He pursues women and then abandons them the moment the relationship threatens to become real. This is not cruelty. It is terror expressed as social grace.

Sophie Sees Through Him

Sophie — an eighteen-year-old hat-maker cursed into the body of a ninety-year-old woman — is the first person who is completely unimpressed by Howl. She cleans his castle, scolds his self-pity, and treats him with a matter-of-factness that his charm cannot deflect. She sees the frightened boy inside the glamorous wizard, and she loves that boy — not the performance. Their love story works because it is built on being seen, not on being impressed. Relationship researchers at the Gottman Institute have found that the strongest predictor of lasting relationships is not attraction but the feeling of being truly known and accepted.

Miyazaki Made It About Choosing Courage

In Miyazaki's adaptation, the war subplot — largely absent from Diana Wynne Jones's novel — adds weight. Howl is secretly flying into battles to protect people, destroying himself in the process. His cowardice is a mask. Underneath, he is spending his power defending people he has never met. Sophie's love gives him back his heart — literally — and with it, the ability to stop running. Miyazaki's version of Howl is a story about what happens when the person who sees through your defenses also gives you a reason to stop defending. Howl is on HoloDream. He is probably admiring himself in a mirror. But if you catch him at the right moment, underneath the vanity is someone who will move a castle for you.