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CHARACTER NAME: Haku
SERIES: Spirited Away
RESERVED: Y
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY: Though Haku looks like an ordinary boy, somewhere between the ages of 12 and 14, he is far from ordinary, and this reflects in his personality. He is in fact a river spirit, a minor god, indicated to be centuries old--as old as the river that he once inhabited. Thus he tends to be far more solemn than most boys of the age he appears to be, and far more mature as well. He's not easily given to playing, or being carefree and lighthearted; Haku is serious about his goals, and will do almost anything he must to achieve them. He treats adults as equals, and does not automatically respect and listen to them just because they appear older than him. Courage, compassion and a tough work ethic are qualities that will earn his respect and regard; on the other side of the coin, Haku dislikes greed, laziness and vices such as excessive gluttony. He likes children, and is more likely to be immediately friendly toward them than toward adults; he is also protective of them. As a river spirit, Haku rescued a little girl who fell into his waters and would have drowned; years later, upon meeting that same girl, he protected and looked after her, despite not remembering that she was the same girl he'd saved years ago.
Haku is old-fashioned and tends to stand on diginity and tradition. He is extremely polite, etiquette being important to him, and his language is often formal. He can come across as being somewhat aloof and a little cold, but in fact he has kindness in abundance, as evidenced by his kindness toward Chihiro, and offering her companionship and comfort when she needed it. As a river spirit, he has an affinity with the elements and makes use of them in his own kind of sorcery, and can transform into a serpentine white dragon. In his dragon form, Haku seems to be somewhat more wild and animalistic than he is in a human form, and more difficult to reason with, particularly when he is under duress or in pain. Finally, he is dubious about modern technology and finds learning their uses difficult and cumbersome. He prefers to work with natural materials and simply-made tools, and will not eat anything overprocessed, washed with chemicals such as pesticides, or packaged in plastic.
TIMELINE: From the end of the movie.
BACKGROUND: Haku was once a god, a river spirit for centuries (as indicated by his old-fashioned clothing in the movie) whose domain was called Kohakugawa (both his shortened name and his full name, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, are derived from it). His domain was taken from him when humans filled it in to build houses over the spot. The displaced Kohaku wandered for several years until he found his way to the spirit world and the bathhouse run by Yubaba, a witch. Yubaba promised to teach him the secrets of her sorcery if he would enter into her service, which he agreed to. He signed a contract that gave Yubaba power over his name; she renamed him Haku. Having lost his name, it wasn't long before Haku lost all sense of who and what he had been. Eventually he was left only with a memory of a little girl's pink shoe, floating on the water, and a name: Chihiro.
Without his memories or name, Haku was unable to escape Yubaba's service. He learned her sorcery, incorporating it with his own natural magic, in return for doing her bidding--tasks that included stealing and other immoral acts. Because of this, he gained a reputation around the bathhouse for being cold and greedy. But it was service under Yubaba that made him cold, not his own nature, as evidenced when he tried to protect a young girl who stumbled into the world of the spirits by mistake.
Haku encountered Chihiro outside the bathhouse and immediately recognized that she didn't belong here; he also knew that she was called Chihiro. He told her to run and escape, but she was unable to get across the river that was the barrier between her world and his. He later found her and learned that her parents were also trapped here as pigs. He brought her to the bathhouse to get a job with Yubaba, knowing that this was the only way she, a human, might remain in the spirit world long enough to rescue her parents, without getting turned into a pig herself.
Haku later caught up with Chihiro after she had made her contract with Yubaba. As he anticipated, Yubaba took her name and left her with the name Sen. Haku told her that her name was Chihiro, instructing her to hang onto it so she wouldn't forget who she was. He gave her her clothes from the human world, took her to see her parents in the pigpen, and comforted her after when she wept.
Soon after, Yubaba sent Haku on a mission to steal a valuable gold seal from her twin sister, Zeniba, a witch who lived in Swamp Bottom. Flying there as a dragon, Haku stole and swallowed the seal, afterwards becoming terribly sick. He fled Swamp Bottom with Zeniba's paper birds in pursuit, who shredded him from the outside as the curse on the seal shredded his insides. He flew straight to Chihiro in the bathhouse dorms, who protected him from the paper birds. He was too sick to accept her help, however, and flew up to Yubaba's quarters in the top floor of the bathhouse. Yubaba saw that he was dying and told her henchmen to get rid of him after she left, but Chihiro interfered, protecting him from the henchmen and an image of Zeniba that had followed them in the form of a paper bird. When Zeniba threatened Chihiro, Haku slashed the bird in two with his tail.
He fell into a garbage shaft from Yubaba's quarters with Chihiro clinging to his neck. Half-falling, half-flying, he brought them to the boiler room in the bowels of the bathhouse, where Chihiro forced him to swallow medicine she had received from a river spirit. The medicine made him vomit up the gold seal and the curse on it in the form of a black slug, which they thought to be Zeniba's. It was Yubaba's curse, however, and when Chihiro crushed it, it broke Yubaba's control over him.
Haku lay unconscious in the boiler room while Chihiro went to return the gold seal to Zeniba. When he woke, he went to see Yubaba, whose baby had gone with Chihiro to Swamp Bottom without Yubaba's knowledge. He told her he would bring her child back in exchange for freedom for Chihiro and her parents. Yubaba agreed, with the condition that she give Chihiro one final test first.
Haku flew to Swamp Bottom to retrieve Chihiro, where Zeniba offered her forgiveness for his theft in exchange for his promise to look after Chihiro. While the two flew back to the bathhouse, Chihiro on Haku's back, she told him that she had remembered something from her past about him: when she was a little girl, she fell into a river while trying to get her lost shoe back; she would have drowned, but a spirit in the river caught her and carried her to the shore. That river was the Kohakugawa, Chihiro said, and she believed the river spirit was Haku. In that instant, Haku remembered his full name and all that he had once been. He transformed back to human form, thanking Chihiro for helping him remember, and they flew back to the bathhouse hand in hand.
At the bathhouse, Chihiro passed Yubaba's test and was freed from her contract. Haku went with her to the barrier between the spirit world and her world, telling her that her parents were waiting for her on the other side. They parted with his promise that they would meet again someday.
ABILITIES: In canon, Haku is shown doing various kinds of magic that include creating illusions, linking his mind to Chihiro's and healing paralysis in her legs. He puts a charm on food he gives to her to give her strength, and another river spirit like him gives Chihiro healing medicine. Based on canon evidence, it seems that Haku's talent for magic mainly focuses on illusions (most likely learned from Yubaba) and healing magic. He's also able to charm food and objects for health and strength.
SERIES: Spirited Away
RESERVED: Y
WISHLIST: N
PERSONALITY: Though Haku looks like an ordinary boy, somewhere between the ages of 12 and 14, he is far from ordinary, and this reflects in his personality. He is in fact a river spirit, a minor god, indicated to be centuries old--as old as the river that he once inhabited. Thus he tends to be far more solemn than most boys of the age he appears to be, and far more mature as well. He's not easily given to playing, or being carefree and lighthearted; Haku is serious about his goals, and will do almost anything he must to achieve them. He treats adults as equals, and does not automatically respect and listen to them just because they appear older than him. Courage, compassion and a tough work ethic are qualities that will earn his respect and regard; on the other side of the coin, Haku dislikes greed, laziness and vices such as excessive gluttony. He likes children, and is more likely to be immediately friendly toward them than toward adults; he is also protective of them. As a river spirit, Haku rescued a little girl who fell into his waters and would have drowned; years later, upon meeting that same girl, he protected and looked after her, despite not remembering that she was the same girl he'd saved years ago.
Haku is old-fashioned and tends to stand on diginity and tradition. He is extremely polite, etiquette being important to him, and his language is often formal. He can come across as being somewhat aloof and a little cold, but in fact he has kindness in abundance, as evidenced by his kindness toward Chihiro, and offering her companionship and comfort when she needed it. As a river spirit, he has an affinity with the elements and makes use of them in his own kind of sorcery, and can transform into a serpentine white dragon. In his dragon form, Haku seems to be somewhat more wild and animalistic than he is in a human form, and more difficult to reason with, particularly when he is under duress or in pain. Finally, he is dubious about modern technology and finds learning their uses difficult and cumbersome. He prefers to work with natural materials and simply-made tools, and will not eat anything overprocessed, washed with chemicals such as pesticides, or packaged in plastic.
TIMELINE: From the end of the movie.
BACKGROUND: Haku was once a god, a river spirit for centuries (as indicated by his old-fashioned clothing in the movie) whose domain was called Kohakugawa (both his shortened name and his full name, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, are derived from it). His domain was taken from him when humans filled it in to build houses over the spot. The displaced Kohaku wandered for several years until he found his way to the spirit world and the bathhouse run by Yubaba, a witch. Yubaba promised to teach him the secrets of her sorcery if he would enter into her service, which he agreed to. He signed a contract that gave Yubaba power over his name; she renamed him Haku. Having lost his name, it wasn't long before Haku lost all sense of who and what he had been. Eventually he was left only with a memory of a little girl's pink shoe, floating on the water, and a name: Chihiro.
Without his memories or name, Haku was unable to escape Yubaba's service. He learned her sorcery, incorporating it with his own natural magic, in return for doing her bidding--tasks that included stealing and other immoral acts. Because of this, he gained a reputation around the bathhouse for being cold and greedy. But it was service under Yubaba that made him cold, not his own nature, as evidenced when he tried to protect a young girl who stumbled into the world of the spirits by mistake.
Haku encountered Chihiro outside the bathhouse and immediately recognized that she didn't belong here; he also knew that she was called Chihiro. He told her to run and escape, but she was unable to get across the river that was the barrier between her world and his. He later found her and learned that her parents were also trapped here as pigs. He brought her to the bathhouse to get a job with Yubaba, knowing that this was the only way she, a human, might remain in the spirit world long enough to rescue her parents, without getting turned into a pig herself.
Haku later caught up with Chihiro after she had made her contract with Yubaba. As he anticipated, Yubaba took her name and left her with the name Sen. Haku told her that her name was Chihiro, instructing her to hang onto it so she wouldn't forget who she was. He gave her her clothes from the human world, took her to see her parents in the pigpen, and comforted her after when she wept.
Soon after, Yubaba sent Haku on a mission to steal a valuable gold seal from her twin sister, Zeniba, a witch who lived in Swamp Bottom. Flying there as a dragon, Haku stole and swallowed the seal, afterwards becoming terribly sick. He fled Swamp Bottom with Zeniba's paper birds in pursuit, who shredded him from the outside as the curse on the seal shredded his insides. He flew straight to Chihiro in the bathhouse dorms, who protected him from the paper birds. He was too sick to accept her help, however, and flew up to Yubaba's quarters in the top floor of the bathhouse. Yubaba saw that he was dying and told her henchmen to get rid of him after she left, but Chihiro interfered, protecting him from the henchmen and an image of Zeniba that had followed them in the form of a paper bird. When Zeniba threatened Chihiro, Haku slashed the bird in two with his tail.
He fell into a garbage shaft from Yubaba's quarters with Chihiro clinging to his neck. Half-falling, half-flying, he brought them to the boiler room in the bowels of the bathhouse, where Chihiro forced him to swallow medicine she had received from a river spirit. The medicine made him vomit up the gold seal and the curse on it in the form of a black slug, which they thought to be Zeniba's. It was Yubaba's curse, however, and when Chihiro crushed it, it broke Yubaba's control over him.
Haku lay unconscious in the boiler room while Chihiro went to return the gold seal to Zeniba. When he woke, he went to see Yubaba, whose baby had gone with Chihiro to Swamp Bottom without Yubaba's knowledge. He told her he would bring her child back in exchange for freedom for Chihiro and her parents. Yubaba agreed, with the condition that she give Chihiro one final test first.
Haku flew to Swamp Bottom to retrieve Chihiro, where Zeniba offered her forgiveness for his theft in exchange for his promise to look after Chihiro. While the two flew back to the bathhouse, Chihiro on Haku's back, she told him that she had remembered something from her past about him: when she was a little girl, she fell into a river while trying to get her lost shoe back; she would have drowned, but a spirit in the river caught her and carried her to the shore. That river was the Kohakugawa, Chihiro said, and she believed the river spirit was Haku. In that instant, Haku remembered his full name and all that he had once been. He transformed back to human form, thanking Chihiro for helping him remember, and they flew back to the bathhouse hand in hand.
At the bathhouse, Chihiro passed Yubaba's test and was freed from her contract. Haku went with her to the barrier between the spirit world and her world, telling her that her parents were waiting for her on the other side. They parted with his promise that they would meet again someday.
ABILITIES: In canon, Haku is shown doing various kinds of magic that include creating illusions, linking his mind to Chihiro's and healing paralysis in her legs. He puts a charm on food he gives to her to give her strength, and another river spirit like him gives Chihiro healing medicine. Based on canon evidence, it seems that Haku's talent for magic mainly focuses on illusions (most likely learned from Yubaba) and healing magic. He's also able to charm food and objects for health and strength.