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This page refers to the book ''Howl's Moving Castle'' and the [[Anime/HowlsMovingCastle anime version]] directed by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki.
----
[[foldercontrol]]

!!Book

[[folder:Sophie Hatter]]
Sophie Hatter is the protagonist of the first book called ''Howl's Moving Castle''. She is a young lady living in the small town of Market Chipping in the fictional kingdom of Ingary. She is the eldest of three sisters (Sophie, Lettie, and Martha Hatter). In the land of Ingary, this of course means that she is destined to never find her fortune, and live a very dull life at home. She works in her late father's hat shop as her stepmother, Fanny Hatter's apprentice. One day, she is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, and seeks refuge in Howl's castle, where she makes a bargain with the fire-demon Calcifer to break Howl and Calcifer's contract in exchange for Calcifer breaking her curse.
----
* BerserkButton: People being exploited. It's enough to make her throw off her shyness at the beginning and snap at the Witch of the Waste when Martha tells her that her treatment in the hat shop is unfair, and she is genuinely angry on Michael and Calcifer's behalf when she thinks that they do all the work of the castle and Howl takes the credit.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's not quite as nice in the book as in the film, but she's still generally a decent, empathetic person, and she's still one of the primary causes of the Witch of the Waste's downfall and [[spoiler: quite a powerful witch in her own right.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Though Sophie is initially reserved and lacking confidence, she demonstrates herself to be a strong-minded individual after she is transformed into an old woman, becoming less afraid of what others think of her, although she shows some signs of this from the moment Martha suggests that she is being exploited -- indeed, her mouthing off to the Witch of the Waste due to a confidence born of her anger at this is initially why she thinks she got cursed.
* CoolOldLady: As a granny, Sophie gains a lot more backbone than she was willing to display as a young woman.
* {{Determinator}}: During the climax, while trying to save her family and Howl.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Howl certainly thinks so, and he's not wrong. Trying to save her friends and family ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Miss Angorian]]), she thinks it a very bright idea to go to the wasteland, unwittingly playing into the Witch's hands.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: The Witch of the Waste gives her this reaction after Sophie tries to force her out of the store, though it wasn't part of distracting anyone.
* FreeingTheGenie: [[spoiler:She does it to Calcifer by returning Howl's heart to Howl's body and giving him a thousand years of life.]]
* HiddenDepths: One of the main themes of the book is this, and it's particularly clear in her with the old lady transformation bringing out hitherto unknown self-confidence. Howl brings out yet more.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Downplayed in the book. Sophie doesn't think she's quite as pretty as her sisters, and for a long time doesn't realise she's being exploited by working for nothing at the hat shop because she thinks that, as the eldest child, she'll never be a success at anything. She's also completely unable to consider that Howl is in love with ''her'' and not Miss Angorian.
* IAmNotPretty: [[spoiler: This is why she sub-consciously recasts the old lady spell on herself.]]
* KindlyHousekeeper: Subverted. She is tough as nails while trying to keep the house clean and doesn't put up with Howl's garbage. She even out-sasses Calcifer.
* LoveEpiphany: With Percival's help, she realises that she has fallen in love with Howl.
* NeverMessWithGranny: Seriously, don't. The shy and mousy girl grew a spine when she aged.
* NiceGirl: Most of the time, anyway, at least when Howl isn't pushing her buttons. She's quite empathetic about other people she thinks are being abused or exploited, and much of her initial harshness towards Howl is founded in disapproval of the way he treats young women, but she has a much pricklier side as well.
* ObliviousToLove: Never even considers that Howl loves ''her'' and not Miss Angorian.
* RapidAging: Due to the Witch of the Waste's curse.
* RedheadsAreUncool: Though Sophie says it's "copper blonde".
* RescueRomance: She and Howl keep on rescuing each other over the course of the first book.
* ShrinkingViolet: Howl refers to her as a 'little grey mouse' when they first meet at a May Day celebration, when she's quite afraid of the press of people due to spending all her time in the hat shop making hats and not interacting with people very often, though this fades quite quickly even before the Witch curses her.
* SelfPerceptionShapeshifting: This is implied to be how her shapeshifting operates.
* SilkHidingSteel: Watch her calmly attempt to force the Witch of the Waste out of the hat store.
* SpannerInTheWorks: To the plans of the Witch of the Waste.
* TeamMom: She tends to mother her sisters and even Michael, to a degree, though her interactions with Howl are a bit more complicated.
* TookALevelInBadass: Her experiences stuck as an old woman help her gain quite a bit of backbone, to the point where she stands up to the monsters wrecking the city and takes it upon herself to get the castle (and by extension, Howl) out of harm's way.
* {{Tsundere}}: Howl has a talent of bringing this side out of Sophie in the novel.
* TheUnfavorite: Seems to be one to her mother who arranged greater things for Martha than 'manage a hat shop'. On the other hand, Lettie's planned future of working at Cesari's bakery isn't especially glamorous either, and this seems more founded on the culturally-ingrained idea in Ingary that the first child of three will never succeed in making their fortune.
* UptownGirl: Howl, a SelfMadeMan, is a gender-inversion, though precisely what class Howl is is left fairly ambiguous, as while he has a fairly grand customer base as 'Wizard Pendragon' in Kingsbury, his Porthaven house and customers are all relatively humble, and the Porthaven house is the base of the moving castle, [[spoiler: at least at first.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Realizing that she can do more than hat making is part of her CharacterDevelopment. During the climax Howl tells her so in his very unique, charming way.
--> '''Sophie''': "I'm the eldest! I'm a failure!\\
'''Howl''': "Garbage! You just never stop to think!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wizard Howl/Howell Jenkins]]
The terrifying wizard whom everyone in Market Chipping believes eats girls' hearts and is as bad as the Witch of the Waste. In fact, a rather vain, childish, but basically decent Welsh wizard who is desperately trying to slither out of his responsibilities and avoid the Witch of the Waste, whom he once jilted.
----
* AllThereInTheManual: Many details about how he came to Ingary are found in interviews given by Diana Wynne Jones.
* AgentPeacock: Flamboyant, theatrical and decidedly vain as he is, Howl is also an immensely powerful wizard, which takes Sophie by surprise early in the novel, when she had developed an impression that most of the work was done by Michael and Calcifer.
* BatmanGambit: Howl managed to pull one on himself. He knows he's too cowardly to outright attack the Witch of the Waste, but he also knows his anger can override his cowardice, which is why he left her the opening to his family in Wales: he knew he'd be angry enough to stop her should she try to harm them.
* BerserkButton: Messing with his hair-care potions, which results in the entire house being covered in green slime. On a more serious note, threatening his loved ones (like his family) is enough to make him charge like an attack dog at the person foolish enough to try.
* BrainyBrunette: Reading between the lines suggests as much, as Calcifer describes him as being naturally 'a plain man with mud-coloured hair' and one line implies that Howl has a doctorate in charms on top of his magical studies in Ingary.
* BrutalHonesty: He rarely uses it, as he usually prefers pleasant dishonesty, gentlemanly snarking, or not answering questions at all, but when he sees himself forced to tell the truth, he doesn't care too much about pleasantries:
--> '''Sophie''': "I'm not being nosy! That room --!"\\
'''Howl''': "Yes, you ''are'' nosy. You're a dreadfully nosy, horribly bossy, appallingly clean old woman."
* CantLiveWithoutYou: If Calcifer dies, Howl dies with him.
* TheCasanova: Has a habit of seducing girls and then losing interest once they've fallen in love with him. This apparently happens so often that Michael and Calcifer regularly have to deal with angry family members showing up in his castle. Indeed, according to Diana Wynne Jones, he ended up in Ingary in the first place because he was running away from two large and formidable elder brothers of a girl he had slept with in Wales.
* CowardlyLion: Even though his magical powers rival those of the Witch of the Waste, Howl is incredibly cowardly and seeks to avoid her at all costs. He only engages in a fight with her if there is no other option or [[BerserkButton if she threatens people Howl cares about]].
* DealWithTheDevil: Wizards and witches can make these with fire demons to gain greater power. The exchange involves the human's heart and therefore their continued existence. Howl made such a deal with Calcifer, though both of them regret it (implied to be because the Witch of the Waste and her demon have shown where it can lead) and he sternly warns Michael not to do the same.
* DramaQueen: Howl is ''incurably'' dramatic, treating a cold as a sign of his impending death and reacting to heartbreak by sitting disconsolately in his kitchen, having covered everything in green slime.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: His sister Megan seems to consider them this, with herself as the responsible one, as so far as she knows Howl is just a layabout who does odd jobs. She's not that far off, as Megan is a determinedly respectable person, and Howl is an incurably theatrical wizard.
* GentlemanSnarker: Basically whenever Howl calls her 'Sophie dear' there is always a sharp bit of snarking coming Sophie's way.
--> '''Howl''' (referring to the Witch of the Waste): "She is in some ways a very sad lady, very unloved. Every man in Ingary is scared stiff of her. ''You'' ought to know that feels, Sophie dear."
* GentlemanWizard: Played With. Howl gives off the impression of being a gentleman of leisure, but he does seem to do magic professionally, and much is made of his overcharging his wealthier clients and undercharging the poor ones. That said, he has the look and the attitude down pat for the role, and he's ''always'' appropriately dressed to appear in society.
* HairSubstituteFeature: Howl's bird transformation keeps his human face, but turns his hair into feathers.
* HiddenDepths: He seems to be simply a shallow, vain, selfish cad and spendthrift who's perpetually avoiding responsibility and is even willing to cultivate a reputation as TheDreaded to that end, while Calcifer and Michael do all the work. While there's a fair amount of truth to this, it's not the whole story. As Sophie discovers, he is also a genuinely powerful and very skilled wizard as well as being a good and dedicated teacher to Michael (an orphan who he took in), sternly warning him against repeating his mistakes and kindly walking him through spell methodology, he's violently protective of his family, and while he overcharges his rich clients outrageously, he also undercharges his poorer clients significantly, sometimes not even charging at all.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may be vain, selfish, and childish at first but through it all, he is a charming and kind gentleman who is very patient with his poorer clients who he undercharges significantly.
* LadykillerInLove: With Sophie. Much more focus is put on his womanising in the book than in the film, as Sophie first thinks he's courting her sister Lettie and later that he's genuinely fallen in love with Miss Angorian.
* MenCantKeepHouse: Played with. Howl ''likes'' his house messy, and is horrified when Sophie tries cleaning it, especially if it means hurting his spiders. It's also heavily implied that, if he felt like it, he could clean by magic.
* NoAccountingForTaste: Combined with LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: For some reason, Howl approached the Witch of the Waste, in spite of her terrible reputation (and the fact that she threatened the King's ''infant'' daughter!). Perhaps he thought the Witch and him were the same, since they were both vain, talented, and had a fire demon, but a lot of trouble could have been averted (and poor Mrs. Pentstemmon would still be alive) if he been more reasonable.
* ParentalSubstitute: He allowed a 15 year old Michael to live with him after discovering him sleeping on his doorstep and began teaching him magic.
* SelfMadeMan: Sort of. His family in Wales don't seem to be especially well-off, and his home in Porthaven out of which he made the castle is also fairly humble, but it ''is'' still a castle, and his business in Kingsbury as 'Wizard Pendragon' is patronised by the King himself, who is considering making Howl his Royal Wizard, making it a bit ambiguous what Howl's status in society actually is.
** It is implied that Howl would be quite well off in Ingary if he wouldn't spend his money so foolishly and if he would apply himself more. He is never shown seeking out rich customers, and seems to work on a "seek me if you need me" basis. And of course, he doesn't charge his poverty-stricken customers more than the most nominal fee, or at times, anything at all.
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Well, sort of. According to supplemental materials by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl actually ended up in Ingary by accident, where Mrs Pentstemmon decided to teach him because clearly that sort of outstanding magical talent needed training or he'd do terrible things by accident. So, more like 'emigrated to another world but sometimes comes back to visit', as there's no indication that he ''can't'' permanently move back to Wales, only that he doesn't especially want to.
** This could be explained by the fact that Howl is simply more successful in Ingary than he is in Wales, where he is seen by his sister as a loser and a disappointment, and enjoys the bucolic setting and endless magical possibilities of his adopted country much more than Wales.
* VainSorceress: A RareMaleExample, Howl at one point [[ComicalOverreacting covers half the castle in green slime because Sophie messed with his hair spells]], and according to Calcifer, the one way to know he's in love is if he doesn't spend hours in the bathroom making himself beautiful before he goes to see a girl.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: One of his many abilities as a wizard, and in ''House of Many Ways'', he spends most of the book as [[spoiler: the obnoxiously cute toddler 'Twinkle']].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Calcifer]]

Howl's fire demon and the driving force behind his castle. Originally a falling star, Calcifer was caught by Howl and entered into a contract with him: in exchange for Howl's heart, Calcifer would make Howl's magic more powerful. He is, however, rather unhappy with the way Howl is treating him, and wants the contract to be undone. He enlists Sophie's help for that purpose.
----
* AdaptationalComicRelief: Inverted. The Japanese dub gives him a funny sidekick voice and a child-like behavior, while the English dub gives him a [[{{Pun}} smouldering]] voice and a snarkier demeanor, courtesy of Creator/BillyCrystal.
* GlassCannon: Calcifer is a very powerful fire demon, but he is confined to the hearth of the castle and cannot leave. If someone were to douse water on him for example, he would be easily killed.
* IChooseToStay: After Sophie frees him and gives him a thousand years of life, Calcifer returns to her and Howl—in the film, it's explicitly because he missed them. In the book, he just wants the opportunity to come and go as he pleases.
* MeaningfulName: His name seems to be a mix of the name "Lucifer" (Latin for "bringing light") and the Latin word for heat, "Calor."
* NobleDemon: He looks very scary, but is not that bad once you get to know him.
* TheSnarkKnight: He is sarcastic, especially when it comes to Howl.
* TechnicolorFire: He can burn very bright, and in a variety of shades. Justified because he is in essence a magical creature.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Michael Fisher]]

Howl's teenage apprentice, Michael is 15 years old in the beginning of the story. When he was kicked out of his old house in Porthaven because he could not afford to pay rent, a destitute Michael slept on Howl's doorstep. Eventually, Howl agreed to let Michael live with him and took him on as an apprentice. He is in love with Martha, Sophie's youngest sister.
----
* BetaCouple: With Martha.
* LovableCoward: Understandable, since the world he lives in has very dangerous characters. In one particularly memorable scene, he plunges in a broom cupboard when he thinks the Witch of the Waste is about to break down the door, leaving Sophie alone in the middle of the room, right after telling her that he will protect her.
* OnlySaneMan: He is down-to-earth and reasonable compared to Howl, and much more responsible. He tries to save as much money as he can, which is not easy, taking Howl's reckless spending habits into account.
* PutOnABus: In every book after the first one, he is mentioned briefly, but not seen again after marrying Martha.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mrs. Pentstemmon]]

Mrs. Pentstemmon is an extremely powerful sorceress who lives in Kingsbury. For many years, she has tutored apprenticing wizards and witches, and has taught some of the most powerful. Wizard Howl was her last apprentice, who left halfway through his tutelage and never returned to complete it. She is quite old and regal, giving off a more royal air than the King of Ingary himself.
----
* IronLady: The genteel variant, with Sophie being decidedly intimidated by her, but also more than a little impressed.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: She arrives, and dies in short order, being murdered off-screen by the Witch of the Waste.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wizard Suliman]]

The court wizard of Ingary, who has gone missing before the start of the book.
----
* ForcedTransformation: Turned into two or three of these thanks to the Witch of the Waste.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lettie Hatter]]

Sophie's second sister. She is very beautiful and interested in studying magic.
----
* BrainyBrunette: Has dark hair and wants to learn witchcraft. As Martha puts it, "Lettie's got brains and she wants a future where she can use them."
* TwinSwitch: Via an illusion spell, Martha and Lettie trade apprenticeships. Unlike most examples, the Mrs Fairfax is onto them immediately, but doesn't mind as she'd much rather teach a willing apprentice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Martha Hatter]]

Sophie's youngest sister. She is an apprentice at a bakery in Market Chipping and is in love with Michael.
----
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Although she's sent to train as a witch, she'd rather settle down and have a big family and [[spoiler: ends up the only Hatter sister not confirmed to be a powerful sorceress by the sequel.]]
* TwinSwitch: Via an illusion spell, Martha and Lettie trade places.
* YoungestChildWins: The expected trope in Ingary, though Martha has a different idea of winning that brings her sisters happiness, too.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanny Hatter]]
Fanny is the step-mother of Sophie and Lettie, and the mother of Martha. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Hatter married Fanny, who had been his shop assistant. Fanny helped Mr. Hatter run the shop until his death, after which she took over. She loves all the girls equally, and does her best to provide for them after Mr. Hatter's death.
----
[[hardline]]

* MamaBear: When Fanny thinks that Wizard Howl caused Sophie to age, she grabs her parasol and is ready to stab him with it. Sophie even has to hold her down.
* WickedStepmother: Averted. She (apparently) tries to provide as best as she can for all three girls, but does not consider their interests when doing so—however, Sophie notes that each of her choices is following the culturally ingrained tropes of Ingary and trying to make the best of them. She's supposedly jealous of the looks of her younger stepdaughter, though this comes from the youngest daughter (who's wrong about several other things). She does not pay Sophie at all when Sophie does the most work, but she is horrified when she finds Sophie as apparently a cursed servant and a) states that she wanted to take her with her when she remarried to a wealthy man, b) is quite prepared to attack Howl, a genuinely powerful wizard who is seen as TheDreaded (and intentionally so) with her parasol.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Witch of the Waste]]

A beautiful-looking witch who terrorized the Land of Ingary before being banished to the Waste by the King.
----
* DealWithTheDevil: Wizards and witches can make these with fire demons to gain greater power. The exchange involves the human's heart and therefore their continued existence. The Witch made such a deal with an unnamed fire demon, and it ended up consuming her.
* DissonantSerenity: She is cheerful and chatty when she meets Sophie on the street, which adds to Sophie's shock when she finds out that the Witch has just murdered Howl's elderly teacher.
* EvilPlan: Having once been close to Howl, (although the exact degree to which they were involved is never fully revealed) the Witch wants to claim Howl's heart, metaphorically. This is why she chases him and curses a rival (Sophie) into old age. The demon contracted to her, wants to claim his heart, literally. This is why she arranges a series of events that will allow her to get inside the castle and grab Calcifer.
* {{Foil}}: To Howl. They are both vain, magically proficient and both have made a deal with a fire demon, but whereas Howl has a soft heart and cares about the people around him, the Witch is completely selfish and self-absorbed.
* TheFashionista: She is always dressed very elegantly, and her hair has a different color every time Sophie meets her.
* OlderThanTheyLook: According to Mrs Pentstemmon, she's well past her age of 86, and Sophie's claimed age of 90, thanks to her faustian pact.
* StalkerWithACrush: Combined with PsychoEx. Once Howl abandons their liaison, the vengeful Witch begins to [[ItsPersonal search for him]] tirelessly, [[{{Yandere}} curses a young woman]] whom Howl had shown interest in and ''kills'' his former teacher when she would not reveal Howl's whereabouts to her.
* VainSorceress: She is kept young and beautiful by her fire demon, and enjoys wearing beautiful clothes and being admired. Howl mentions that she keeps the waste devoid of life because she [[ItsAllAboutMe imagines herself]] to be a [[FlowerMotif solitary orchid]], blooming in the waste.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Witch's Fire-Demon/Miss Angorian]]

* DealWithTheDevil: As a fire demon, she made one of these with the Witch of the Waste.
* TheManBehindTheMan: She's more powerful than the Witch.
[[/folder]]

!!Anime
[[folder:Sophie Hatter]]
->Voiced by: Chieko Baisho (JP), Creator/EmilyMortimer (US, Young!Sophie), Creator/JeanSimmons (US, Old!Sophie)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sophie_7552.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Well, a heart's a heavy burden."]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/old_sophie_3804.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"When you're old, all you want to do is stare at the scenery."]]

Sophie Hatter is the main character in the first book called ''Howl's Moving Castle''. She is a young lady living in the small town of Market Chipping in the fictional kingdom of Ingary. She is the eldest of three sisters (Sophie, Lettie, and Martha Hatter). In the land of Ingary, this of course means that she is destined to never find her fortune, and live a very dull life at home. She works in her late father's hat shop as her stepmother, Fanny Hatter's apprentice.
----
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the books, Sophie had strawberry blonde hair. It's changed to brown in the movie.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the film, Sophie occasionally going young again seemed like a DeusExMachina. In the book, [[spoiler: it's because she's a witch who accidentally did so because she doesn't know she's one]].
* BadassPacifist: Not initially; as a young girl she's timid and insecure. Her time spent as an old lady, however, causes her to be less afraid of things and more self-confident. By the end of the story, she's stood up the Witch of the Waste, fired off on Madame Suliman, dealt with Howl's magic-firing tantrums, made a pact with a fire demon, and even explored and discovered the magics of Howl's castle... all to save Howl.
* BeautifulDreamer: Howl watches her while she sleeps. In this case, understandable because [[spoiler: Sophie is inflicting the curse on herself subconsciously. Thus, the only time it's not active is when she's asleep.]]
* BerserkButton: Being associated with the Witch of the Waste.
* BrainyBrunette: Initially; she's definitely one of the more intelligent characters in the canon. She later [[spoiler:gains MysticalWhiteHair]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Though Sophie is initially reserved and lacking confidence, she demonstrates herself to be a strong-minded individual after she is transformed into an old woman, becoming less afraid of what others think of her.
* CoolOldLady: As a granny, Sophie gains a lot more backbone and sass.
%%* CryIntoChest: Does it several times to Howl.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: Before the whole fiasco, Sophie had brown hair and eyes.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Very much yes after being turned into an old lady.
* {{Determinator}}: During the climax, while trying to save her family and Howl.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: The Witch of the Waste gives her this reaction after Sophie tries to force her out of the store, though it wasn't part of distracting anyone.
* DudeMagnet: While she [[IAmNotPretty believes she's not beautiful]], Sophie attracts the attention of [[LadykillerInLove Howl]], [[CasanovaWannabe 2 guards in the beginning]], and [[DoggedNiceGuy Turniphead]].
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange:
** Sophie begins the movie with waist-length dark hair done up in a simple braid. She still has the braid after being transformed into an old woman by the Witch of the Wastes, albeit grey and much shorter. However, at the climax of the film, she sacrifices her braid to revive Calcifer (who she'd just realized is [[spoiler:Howl's heart]]), and even after breaking the curse Sophie's hair remains silvery-grey in color.
** This is one of the many differences from the original novel. In the book, Sophie's hair was strawberry blonde (i.e. a very light red), and her hair went back to its former colour and style after her curse broke.
* FlightOfRomance: Has one with Howl in the beginning where they roof hop on air.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic; largely bored and listless for the bulk of the film.
* FreeingTheGenie: [[spoiler:She liberates Calcifer by returning Howl's heart to Howl's body.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: To Markl, sure, but when a young girl asks her if she's a witch...
-->'''Sophie''': I am the most horrible witch of all! *SlasherSmile*
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Sophie always describes herself as "ugly" and "dumb".
%%* HiddenDepths: One of the main themes of the movie, and what Howl brings out in her.
* IAmNotPretty: [[spoiler: This is why she sub-consciously recasts the old lady spell on herself.]]
* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:She gives up her braid to empower Calcifer.]]
* IndyPloy: Her plan to save Howl. [[spoiler:Destroying the castle and escaping with only a small part of it to stop Howl from fighting the main battle. It failed because the Witch of the Waste grabbed Calcifer, forcing Sophie to almost kill the demon.]]
* KindlyHousekeeper: Subverted. She is tough as nails while trying to keep the house clean and doesn't put up with Howl's garbage. She even out-sasses Calcifer.
* LockedIntoStrangeness: [[spoiler:Even after she becomes young again permanently, her hair remains white.]]
* LoveEpiphany: When Madame Suliman tells her "You are in love with Howl, Mrs. Pendragon."
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:She puts out the [[ManOnFire flames covering the face-turned Witch of the Wastes]] with water, then realizes she is putting out Calcifer.]]
* MysticalWhiteHair: [[spoiler:The ending has Sophie learning about her own magical powers and retaining her short, grey hair.]]
* NeverMessWithGranny: Seriously, don't. The shy and mousy girl grew a spine when she aged.
* NiceGirl: Dutiful, kind, and considerate.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Sophie really acts like a real grandma when she gets aged into an elderly woman even being sarcastic towards everyone she meets.
* ThePowerOfLove: [[spoiler:She uses it to break Turniphead's curse.]]
* RapidAging: She ages overnight due to the Witch of The Waste's curse. She initially did not take the changes well.
* RescueRomance: She meets Howl when he saves her from two soldiers that were coming on to her.
* ShrinkingViolet: The townspeople think she's one of these because she spends so much time in the hat store and no time outside with others her age.
* SilkHidingSteel: Watch her calmly attempt to force the Witch of the Waste out of the hat store.
* SpannerInTheWorks: To the plans of Suliman.
* TeamMom: A mother figure for the (much younger in the film) Michael and more of a babysitter for Howl.
* TookALevelInBadass: Confronting Suliman certainly counts.
* TookALevelInCheerfulness: Sort of. She really shows a wide variety of emotion after being aged into an elderly woman even being playful around Markl.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Sophie changes from a green dress to a blue one when she goes to seek her fortune. Howl later spruces the dress up with magic to make its color brighter and clearer.
* TrueLovesKiss: [[spoiler:She breaks the curse on Turniphead by giving him a kiss, but she's already in love with Howl. Turniphead is fine with this.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Howl has a talent of bringing this side out of Sophie in the novel.
* TheUnfavorite: Seems to be one to her mother who arranged greater things for Lettie than 'manage a hat shop'.
* UptownGirl: Howl, a SelfMadeMan, is a gender-inversion to her.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Realizing that she can do more than hat making is part of her CharacterDevelopment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Howl Pendragon]]
->Voiced by: Takuya Kimura (JP), Creator/ChristianBale (US)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/howl_5828.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Now I've got something I want to protect. It's you."]]

Howl Jenkins Pendragon is a powerful wizard living in the land of Ingary. Originally Howell Jenkins of Wales, he was part of a loose fraternity of wizards on Earth. He made his way through a magical portal to Ingary, where he became known and respected as one of the most powerful wizards there was. He owns a moving castle, and spreads rumors about himself to retain his privacy, opting to be alone and hiding from all conflict.
----
* TheAce: [[WorldsStrongestMan Is possibly the most powerful and renowned sorcerer in the world]], deals with high-level curses [[ButForMeItWasTuesday like one would sweep away a spider]], and can transform into a [[OneWingedAngel massive bird creature]] at will.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Some of Howl's more prevalent flaws in the books such as his womanizing behavior, chronic irresponsibility, and tendency to "slither-out" of things are omitted or downplayed. His anti-war attitude is original to the movie, as Book!Howl had no problem supplying the King of Ingary with magical devices for his troops, although no war actually occurs in the book.
* AgentPeacock: He's a pretty prissy narcissist who kicks insane amounts of butt. The narcissism gets better, but he stays quite a girly boy.
* AnimeHair: He changes his hair a lot; both color and style.
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:His transformation to bird-like ''thing'' to fight the armies of the war gets harder every time... to be specific, at one point he's going to be unable to turn back.]]
* CantLiveWithoutYou: If Calcifer dies, so does Howl. [[spoiler:This is because Howl outsourced his heart to Calcifer.]]
* TheCasanova: His reputation is a womanizer but in the film the only person he romances onscreen is Sophie. Off-screen romanced the Witch of the Waste and that's it.
* ChickMagnet: He is a well known womanizer, and there's also [[TheHeroine Sophie]] and [[{{Yandere}} the Witch of the Waste]].
* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: After his ExpositoryHairstyleChange, Howl now has dark blue hair and sky blue eyes.
* DarkIsNotEvil: {{Zig zagged}} with this and DarkIsEvil. [[spoiler:His transformations are for a good cause, but the "other Howl" can become very vicious, cruel and animal-like.]]
* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Deal with a demon, to be clear. He gave his heart to Calcifer in exchange for certain powers.]]
* DefrostingIceKing: Subtly, because he is always flamboyant and "happy", just not genuinely at first.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Only in the movie. After Sophie accidentally rearranged his several dozen hair products, his blond hair turned orange, then later bluish-black (the latter being his natural color). His decision to not re-dye it indicates his increasing willingness to drop his façade, as well as his growing trust of (and love for) Sophie.
* GentlemanWizard: Howl is an eccentric magic scholar who lives in a floating castle he made himself and always looks appropriate for polite society.
* HiddenDepths: An interesting example. His initial appearance as a confident and immensely powerful wizard surrounded by an aura of mystery belies that fact that he is, at heart, actually just a temperamental and cowardly teenager.
* LadykillerInLove: In the film his womanizing is an UrbanLegendLoveLife because we don't see it. Nevertheless, he's in love with Sophie.
* LoveEpiphany: [[spoiler:Howl finally realizes that his feelings for Sophie are romantic when she is threatened and he realizes that he is willing to fight to protect her.]]
* MasterOfDisguise: He pretended to be the King and the only reason anyone found out was because the real deal showed up at random and laughed at him.
* MartialPacifist: He believes the war should end, but will do anything to stop the fighting parties from causing more harm, even if this means assuming a monstrous form and beating up soldiers on both sides.
* MoodSwinger: When he's introduced, he seems like a dashing, unflappably confident sort of person who's always got everything under control, and nothing can upset him, except maybe high-minded concerns about the war. Then he very suddenly has a huge FreakOut and sinks into a deep depression because ''[[VainSorcerer someone messed with his hair potions]]''.
* MrFanservice: He's rather shameless about storming up to Sophie wearing nothing but a towel, and he's the only character in the movie to be depicted naked.
* NoodlePeople: By the standards of the Studio Ghibli art style, yes; he's slender almost to the point of being downright scrawny, but towers over every other character except Turniphead.
* OneWingedAngel: He can transform into a "bird-thing" that resembles a massive, monstrous griffon-like melding of lupine and bird attributes, though this full state is only seen at one point in the movie.
* PartialTransformation: In addition to his wolf-headed bird-thing form, Howl can also transform into something that looks like either a giant bird with his own face, or simply give himself bird-like hands & feet and a full-body coating of feathers that allows him to fly.
* PowerAtAPrice:
** [[spoiler:He gave up his heart to Calcifer for more magical power.]]
** His "bird-thing" transformation becomes increasingly hard to revert back from the more he uses it.
* RefusalOfTheCall: He refuses to be part of Suliman's King's scheme of having all wizards fight for him.
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: Although the movie is called ''Howl'''s Moving Castle, it's much more about Sophie than him.
* StepfordSmiler: He keeps the charming smile on his face even during some ''very'' inappropriate moments, like when burning the Witch's note, or remarking to Sophie "You nearly killed my friend."
* TrashOfTheTitans: His house is filthy and he likes it that way.
* UptownGirl: Gender-inversion: Sophie is a worker in a hat shop, while he is a famous and powerful wizard.
* VainSorcerer: He reacts poorly about having the wrong hair color... yeah.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He fights in the war to destroy as many war ships as possible and diminish the threat the other wizards pose, disregarding loyalty to either side. As he said, it doesn't matter who to support -- both are bad.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Witch of the Waste]]
->Voiced by: Akihiro Miwa (JP), Creator/LaurenBacall (US)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_waste_5980.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"The best part of that spell, is that you can't tell anyone about it."]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/old_witch_waste_8470.png]][[/labelnote]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[spoiler:''"It looks like your true love is in love with someone else."'']]]]

The Witch of the Waste is an antagonist of ''Howl's Moving Castle''.
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* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Howl. [[spoiler:Though, she eventually does step aside, and even later seems to approve of Howl's relationship with Sophie.]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler: An extreme case -- the book version of the Witch never undergoes a HeelFaceTurn, and even as a villain in the movie she's more of a petty bully whereas the book version was a serial murderer.]]
* TheBaroness: A vain sorceress who is a big, beautiful woman with a major jealous streak and always goes around wearing rather fine clothing. [[spoiler:Then she gets drained by Madame Suliman at the halfway point and loses most of it, becoming a somewhat senile old woman.]]
* BigBeautifulWoman: Compared to the book, where she was traditionally beautiful, here she's extremely obese, but still possesses a fairly attractive face and an elegant outfit. [[spoiler: Until depowered by Suliman]].
* TheBully: To Sophie. "You are by far the tackiest."
* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler:After having her power drained. She's better than she was and even gets to stay in the castle by the end, but still wears her darker clothing compared to the rest of the cast.]]
* DealWithTheDevil: Like Howl, [[spoiler:she sold her heart to a demon and no longer has one of her own.]]
* DePower: [[spoiler:Suliman de-powers her as a punishment for losing her way and becoming selfish.]]
* DirtyOldWoman: [[spoiler:Post de-powering she spends her time lustingly looking at Howl and making love jokes to Sophie.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: She curses Sophie for "standing up" to her.
* EvilIsPetty: In addition to cursing Sophie, she threatens the girl with dementia for snarking at her.
* EvilRedhead: She's a redhead like in the book, though it's faded enough to look pink.
* FatBitch: Her personality is as repulsive as her enormous rolls of fat. [[spoiler:Notably, her HeelFaceTurn involves a physical transformation that simultaneously makes her lose a huge amount of weight.]]
* {{Gonk}}: [[spoiler:She is ''ugly'' post-depowering, and that's even comparing her to how she made Sophie look as an old woman.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:She finalizes it after giving back Howl's heart to Sophie, since she's allowed to live with Howl afterwards.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Which manages to be an ''improvement'' from the book. Here, the Witch is just vain and petty, and most of her spells are done out of revenge for some perceived slight (namely taking Howl's attention away from her). Compared to the murderer of the book, it's pretty light for an antagonist.
* LustObject: She is obsessed, almost involuntarily, with collecting the hearts of handsome men. [[spoiler: When she meets Calcifer, she is involuntarily attracted to him, repeatedly saying ''"what a pretty fire."'' This is because he actually contains Howl's heart. When she figures it out she steals it, even if it would kill Howl.]]
* NoImmortalInertia: [[spoiler:Once she's stripped of her powers, her true age comes back up and reveals her to be at least in her late 70s. Though she seems to be in mildly better shape as much of her excess weight also vanishes.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:While genuinely senile, she is still out after Howl's heart when she starts living with him, but she's nice enough to return it to Sophie after some convincing. She even becomes a bit more wise to Suliman's traps, and quickly uncovers and destroys the peeping bug spy planted by Sophie's mother the moment she can.]]
%%* OlderThanSheLooks: [[spoiler:As Suliman reveals.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Witch of the Waste" is a title.
* SixthRanger: [[spoiler:To Howl's family in the end.]]
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the book, she remains evil and Howl casually takes away her life force in the climax.]]
* StarterVillain: She kickstarts the conflict by transforming Sophie into an old woman. Eventually, [[spoiler:she's depowered by Madame Suliman, the true villain.]]
* TheStoic: Is totally unmoved by the bomb attack and keeps puffing on her cigar. This could be attributed to [[spoiler: her on-and-off senility, due to her true age.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: [[spoiler:Post de-powering, she is briefly this because she is still in pursuit of Howl's heart.]]
* TooImportantToWalk: Deconstructed, seems like she was a little too used to getting around in a palanquin. When Suliman's magical countermeasure dispel the henchmen carrying her from existence, she's forced to climb a lengthy flight of stairs, which exhausts her enough to set her up for [[spoiler:the trap that depowers her.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: [[spoiler:After she gets de-powered, she's much nicer and friendlier, even if she does try to steal Howl's heart again. Plus, even then, she certainly wouldn't have agreed to give it back so easily if she was anything like the way she was before.]]
* VainSorceress: A dangerously magical woman who constantly belittles common folk like Sophie, and conjures up minions just so they could carry her around town. We later find out that her selfishness came about after she [[spoiler:sold her heart to a greedy demon, and had since used her powers to keep herself young forever]].
* VillainDecay: After she comes within the vicinity of Suliman (first starting when she has to walk the stairs), she becomes useless.
* WomanScorned: Howl used to "romance" her until he saw what she really was and ended it. She did not take this well and is still trying to get her revenge on him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Markl]]
->Voiced by: Ryunosuke Kamiki (JP), Creator/JoshHutcherson (US)
[[quoteright:347:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/markl_4064.png]]
[[caption-width-right:347:"We're a family now, right?"]]

Howl's child apprentice.
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* AdaptationNameChange: In the book, his name was Michael Fisher. [[RecursiveTranslation This got translated to "Markl" in the original Japanese release, and the translation carried over back into the English dub of the anime.]]
* AdaptedOut: His book counterpart fell in love with (and eventually married) Sophie's sister Martha. Since Martha doesn't appear in the movie (save for a quick name drop), this entire subplot is cut.
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: He does the hack work in the shop because of Howl's flakiness, but still enjoys just running around outside and gets pretty protective when he hears Sophie will be cleaning his room. Some of this is probably because of his AgeLift from a character whose apprentice-work was more age-appropriate.
* AgeLift: In the book, he was 15. Here, he seems to be in the [[VagueAge 8 to 12-year-old range]].
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Markl, really? It's extra confusing in Japanese where it's pronounced "Mar-ku-rull".
* TheApprentice: To Howl. It includes doing the hack work of the man's business.
* JabbaTableManners: Sophie was aghast at how he messily ate bacon and eggs and corrected him.
* SayMyName: Shouts Sophie's name during the climax.
* TagalongKid: Averted. He may be a little kid but he's Howl's apprentice and shop clerk so he has a firm presence on the castle and in the plot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Calcifer]]
->Voiced by: Tatsuya Gashuin (JP), Creator/BillyCrystal (US)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/calcifer_257.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"May all your bacon burn."]]

A fire demon who powers Howl's moving castle.
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* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Illustrations for the book often portray him with a scary-looking demon face, a given since he's, well, a demon. In the film, he's an adorable little fireball.
* TheBigGuy: Though he is usually confined to his small form, he's the most powerful person in Howl's castle.
* ButtMonkey: By his second appearance, Sophie's able to bully him into doing whatever she wants him to do. Played with because some of it is genuinely funny, and some of it becomes sad in hindsight [[spoiler:when it's revealed Howl gave him his heart and how close some of those incidents came to killing Howl, even inadvertently.]]
* CatchAFallingStar: [[spoiler:In a very literal sense -- he was a star that fell to Earth and was caught by a young Howl.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: This is his relationship with Howl and later Sophie; exchanging witty remarks and insults.
* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:With the exception that he is a demon and not malevolent, he made one such deal with Howl to empower him, taking Howl's heart in trade.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: He eats ''anything'', from wood, to eggshells, to hair.
* HumanResources: [[spoiler:Howl's heart sustains his life -- ordinarily, fallen stars 'die' on this world of mud and water. Later, he's able to gain a temporary power boost from Sophie's tresses.]]
* IJustWantToBeFree: He wants freedom from Howl and his castle more than anything. [[spoiler:When he actually gets it, he returns to Howl and asks to [[IChooseToStay stay]] as a part of the new family.]]
* MythologyGag: When he unleashes his full power, he bursts into violent blue flames and bears a much more demonic-looking face. This is pretty much what he looks like in the original book.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire demon, Duh-doy.
* PokeThePoodle:
--> "Here's another curse for you: may all your bacon burn!"
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: While he does make a DealWithTheDevil with Howl to increase his powers in exchange for his heart (rather than [[YourSoulIsMine his soul]]), he's far from malevolent, and is actually pretty friendly once you get past his DeadpanSnarker tendencies.
* SealedGoodInACan: He's trapped inside Howl's castle [[spoiler: because he ate Howl's Heart.]]
%%* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: Billy Crystal in the English dub takes this up a notch.
* SoulJar: [[spoiler:He contains Howl's heart, so it's a bit more physical than usual for this trope.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Madame Suliman]]
->Voiced by: Haruko Kato (JP), Blythe Danner (US)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/suliman_6579.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It's time to put an end to this idiotic war."]]

Madame Suliman serves as an antagonist in ''Howl's Moving Castle'' movie adaptation.
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* AdaptationalVillainy: Neither of the characters she was composed from was particularly antagonistic.
* AntiVillain: She's not "evil", per se, but she is antagonist and her WellIntentionedExtremist antics are causing war and misery.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: To Sophie, though it's more of a statement. "You're in love with Howl, Mrs. Pendragon."
* BigGood: [[spoiler: Kind of. In the end, she does make plans to meet with the Prime Minister and the Minster of Defense, as well as Prince Justin to stop the war. ...However... she may also simultaneously qualify as...]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Again, kind of. Unless of course you interpret her exclusively as a ManipulativeBitch, in which case she's a successful antagonist, as there is also a mild hint she's secretly overthrowing/already overthrown the king.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Of the GoodIsNotNice variety.
* CompositeCharacter: She is composed of two characters in the book, namely Howl's kindly old mentor, Mrs. Pentstemmon, and Wizard Suliman, the male head sorcerer of the royal court. Her role in the plot later on is a bit different than either of them, though.
* DissonantSerenity: Remains serene and never raises her voice or loses her temper through the entire movie, even when she's planning unspeakable things or being challenged by Sophie and Howl.
* TheDragon: To [[NonActionBigBad the King]] if you count the King as the main force of the war, but she's more of a DragonInChief if you interpret him as a villain.
* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler: It's implied that Madame Suliman holds Sophie's stepfather (whom she's never met) hostage, forcing Sophie's stepmother to betray her by planting a Peeping Bug in the castle.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Her manipulation of Sophie and attempts to forcibly depower Howl go unpunished and are even implied to have been completely justified for the greater good.
* KnightOfCerebus: Before her introduction, the film was a light-hearted romp in a cool castle. Then she attempts to steal Howl's magic with creepy shadow things while he's transforming into a bird monster.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: She conjures familiars made of shadow to do her bidding.
* LetsGetDangerous: In her attempt to trick Howl and take his power away, she forces him into an illusion world where demons surround him and hurls her staff at him. It's implied that she has considerably stronger powers than Howl, and may be more cunning as well.
* LightIsNotGood: [[spoiler:As The Witch of the Waste can attest.]]
* NeverMessWithGranny: This old lady has formidable magical ''and'' political power, and wields both while in a wheelchair.
* OminousLatinChanting: Both when she [[spoiler:de-powers the Witch of the Waste]] and tries to pull the same thing on Howl.
* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Says this about Howl, almost word-for-word. [[spoiler:She is referring to his action of giving his heart to Calcifer.]]
* SparedByTheAdaptation: The more prominent of the two characters she's based on, Mrs. Pentstemmon, dies midway through the book.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She does geniunely want to save Howl from meeting the same fate as the other wizards who couldn't retain their form or lost their way (such as the Witch of the Waste), and at the end of the day, she also wants to stop the war. It's just her methods at going about both goals are questionable at best and anti-altruistic at worst.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Turniphead]]
->[[spoiler:Voiced by: Yo Oizumi (JP), Creator/CrispinFreeman (US)]]
[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turniphead_3291.png]]
[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3613_447544121.jpg]][[/labelnote]]
Turnip-Head is a cursed scarecrow who appears in both the book and movie versions of ''Howl's Moving Castle''.
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* AnimateInanimateObject: He's a moving scarecrow.
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:The beginning of the movie mentions a missing prince as the cause of the war.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: [[spoiler:To Sophie and averted. When he finds out she's not interested in him, and indeed, interested in someone else, he bows out gracefully.]]
* ForcedTransformation: [[spoiler:He is actually a cursed prince. In the book, he's actually a scarecrow, but one filled with all of Suleiman's unused magic. The prince's body was put to other use.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:He jumps in front of the piece of wood Sophie and the rest are on to break their fall. It doesn't kill him, but it whittles his cane down to nearly nothing. It's strongly implied that if Sophie hadn't kissed him and broken the spell, he would have died.]]
* HopelessSuitor: [[spoiler:Sophie's love (non-romantic love) breaks his spell, but as the Witch of the Waste soon points out, she's already in love with Howl.]]
* InNameOnly:[[spoiler: Although referred to as Prince Justin in side material, he bears no resemblance to Prince Justin in the book who was an older military man and the King of Ingary's brother.]]
* ModestRoyalty: [[spoiler:The outfit that generates when the spell breaks is stylish but no more than a prosperous merchant could afford.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: [[spoiler:What will break his spell.]]
* StalkerWithACrush: He keeps following Sophie around [[spoiler: because he's in love with her... and TrueLovesKiss can break the spell on him.]]
* SuddenlySpeaking: [[spoiler: Turnips aren't known for their speaking ability. Once he's human again, he has dialogue.]]
* TheVoiceless: For the majority of the movie, he cannot talk.
* WalkingSpoiler: His true identity is a major spoiler, which is why nearly all of his entries above are hidden.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Heen]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/08_howls.jpg]]
->Voiced by: Dajiro Harada

Heen is a small and very ancient white and brown dog who appears only in the movie.
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* CanonForeigner: Only appears in the movie version, though he appears to be a non-magical version of Perceval, a character from the book who was [[spoiler:Frankensteined from Prince Justin and Suleiman's bodies by the Witch, then turned into a dog. He becomes a different sort of dog each time he changes back.]] Heen takes his part as the dog, but that's all.
* MixAndMatchCritter: He's a dog with reptile/bird paws.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:Though he was Suliman's dog all along, the ending reveals she could see through his point of view.]]
* TeamPet: Sophie adopts him into the Castle family.
* VaderBreath: Instead of threatening, it only makes him cuter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lettie Hatter]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lettiehatter.jpg]]
-> Voiced by: Yayoi Kazuki (JP), Creator/JenaMalone (US)

Sophie's younger half-sister.
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* CompositeCharacter: In the book, Sophie has two sisters: dark-haired Lettie who studies magic and half-sister Martha who works at Cesari's Bakery. The movie merges the two with a blonde Lettie, who works at the pastry shop and is implied to be Sophie's half sister.
* DemotedToExtra: Her book counterpart had a larger role.
* DudeMagnet: Clearly very popular with the menfolk.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes: She's far more popular than Sophie.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She's nothing but nice to Sophie, expresses concern for her wellbeing and tells her off whenever she looks down on herself.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Unlike Sophie, she really looks like their mother.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Did she survive the bombing? She is [[OneSceneWonder never seen again after Sophie meets up with her]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Honey Hatter]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sophie_mother.png]]
-> Voiced by: Mayuno Yasokawa (JP), Creator/MariDevon (US)

Fanny (Honey) Hatter is Mr. Hatter's second wife who was once his shop assistant. She is only Lettie's biological mother, though cares for her and Sophie equally. After Mr. Hatter's death, she runs the hat shop for some time, with Sophie apprenticing. After Sophie leaves the shop, Fanny meets a rich man and marries him, and as a consequence sells the shop.
----
* AbusiveMom: Her only scene, where she talks to Sophie, certainly implies this; working all the time, with the result that she's certainly neglectful, if not deliberately unkind. [[spoiler: She also chose to rat out Sophie's location to Suliman after Suliman took her new rich husband hostage and feigned looking for Sophie after she left out of maternal love and selflessness. She also sold the hat shop immediately after remarrying with no care as to how much Sophie cared for it. However, at the end of the day, she does care for Sophie, as seen by her clear regret after selling her stepdaughter out, even begging forgiveness as she's driven away.]]
* AdaptationalJerkass: While not an outright villain, she is ''far'' less sympathetic than her closest book counterpart, coming closer to the EvilStepmother trope that her MamaBear book incarnation averts. She doesn't fully cross the line, as she did care about Sophie's wellbeing after the curse was first cast and even showed regret on selling her out to Suliman.
* AdaptationNameChange: In the book, the only character resembling her is Fanny Hatter, Sophie's dad's second wife, mother to half-sister Martha and stepmother to Sophie and Lettie. While the film calls Honey Sophie's mother, the official artbook actually refers to her as her stepmother like her book counterpart, which would explain why Lettie bears a much stronger resemblance to her than Sophie.
* AllThereInTheManual: Her name.
* AlliterativeName: '''H'''oney '''H'''atter.
* GlamorousSingleMother: [[DeconstructedTrope A selfish deconstruction.]] Fanny selfishly gallivants around town and has fun as a rich socialite because she has her stepdaughter Sophie spend days and nights making hats to keep her shop successful. She barely cares enough to visit her daughters, one resents her for having Sophie be the foundation for her success, and she's quick to sell out Sophie when she marries a [[GoldDigger new rich husband to mooch off.]] To be fair, she does geninuely love both her stepdaughter and biological daughter.
* GoldDigger: After her husband died, Honey found a new love in the form of a rich husband (whom we never see).
* ItsAllAboutMe: She's off having fun while Sophie does all the work.
* MeaningfulAppearance: Her clothes and big elaborate hat indicate her self absorbed nature and superficial interests in how she spends her money and time.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:For Suliman, when she plants a bug in Howl's house while visiting Sophie. Though in fairness to the woman, it's implied that Madam Suliman is holding her new husband hostage and she's clearly bothered by what she's done. She even asks Sophie for forgiveness, albeit when she is being driven off to see her husband.]]
* RichBitch: Utterly averted considering how much she sincerely cares for Sophie.
* SocialClimber: This seems to be Honey's major goal.

[[/folder]]