Sophie Hatter

Sophie Hatter (ソフィー・ハッター, Sofī Hattā) is the female protagonist and heroine of the first book in the Castle Series, Howl's Moving Castle, and the movie Howl's Moving Castle.

Personality
Sophie is a young woman living in the small town of Market Chipping in the kingdom of Ingary, and she is the eldest of three sisters. In the land of Ingary, this, of course, means that Sophie is destined to never find her fortune and live a dull life at home. She works in her late father's hat shop as her stepmother, Fanny Hatter's, apprentice.

Appearance
Sophie has silver hair that is braided to her back. Her eye color is golden-blue and her bangs are cut to eyebrow-length. She wears a light blue dress with white cotton on her collar and blue buttons on her front dress. She wears black socks with brown boots.

Howl's Moving Castle Movie
In the movie, Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie is seen making a hat and finishing it. After she finishes the hat, she gets up from her seat, brushes her apron off, puts her apron on the table, and grabs her hat. She goes to her room and looks at herself with her hat on. She then pulls it down and walks out the door to get to her bus. She gets on the bus and the bus takes off. After the bus stops and she gets off, she walks straight and looks at her little paper with the address written on it.

On her way to visit her sister, Lettie Hatter, Sophie is stopped by two soldiers trying to flirt with her. A mysterious man intervenes the encounter, prompting the soldiers to leave. The man informs Sophie that he is being followed as some blob-like henchmen belonging to the Witch of the Waste appear. Using his magic, the man enchants himself and Sophie, allowing them to walk on air and escape the henchmen. He safely delivers Sophie onto the balcony of her sisters bakery where her sister informs her that the man was possibly the soul snatching wizard named Howl. Sophie claims she was never in any danger because she is not beautiful and that Howl only steals the souls of beautiful girls.

Later that evening, the Witch of the Waste breaks into Sophie's hat shop after hours. Unbeknownst to the Witch's identity, Sophie informs her that the shop is closed for the day. The Witch replies with an insult, stating both Sophie and the hat shop are 'tacky', to which Sophie again asks her to leave. The Witch, jealous of the attention Sophie had received from Howl, curses her to become old.

The morning after being cursed by the Witch of the Waste, Sophie leaves behind her life in search of a cure. On her journey, she meets a mysterious creature that she dubs Turnip-Head, who, unlike in the book, is actually helpful to her. Providing her with a walking stick, Turnip-Head leads Sophie to Howl's Castle.

With Turnip-Head's assistance, Sophie manages to get inside the castle where she meets a fire demon named Calcifer. Together, they agree to break each other's curses. Sophie falls asleep only to be awakened by a knock on the door where she meets Markl, an apprentice of Howl. Markl is a very young boy, opposed to his book counterpart Michael Fisher, who is much older. Sophie cooks them all breakfast, and once again meets Howl. Sophie, in an attempt to tell Howl about her curse, realizes that she is unable to speak about it and decides instead to say she is their new cleaning lady that Calcifer hired.

She takes her job very seriously, cleaning every room in the castle, minus Howl's. While she and Markl are shopping in the market, she sees one of the Witch of the Waste's henchmen. Surprisingly, no one else notices him. She and Markl go back to the castle, where Howl bursts out of his bathroom, his normally blond hair a bright shade of orange. Sophie admits that she reorganized his magic salts. His hair changes colors and settles on black, Howl begins to ooze green slime out of depression and releases dark energy, (which has happened once before, when a girl dumped him). Sophie and Markl clean him up.

The next morning, Howl tells Sophie that he's been summoned to the Royal Palace so he can defend the country in a war. He also tells her that he's a coward and all he does is hide. He then tells Sophie to go the Palace as his mother to convince Madame Suliman that he's too cowardly to show his face. Sophie goes to Kingsbury, along with a ring that Howl gives her, and on her way to the castle, she meets up with the Witch of the Waste.

From here on, the movie and the book differ greatly.

While they are climbing the steps to the palace, the Witch visibly grows older. When they make it inside, Sophie is led by a dog into a room where Madame Sulliman is. She tells Sophie that Howl has been taken over by a demon, and soon it will completely consume him. The Witch of the Waste loses her powers, and Howl arrives disguised as the King to save Sophie. Before they can get away, Madame Suliman shows Sophie what Howl really is. He transforms into a fierce bird, but before he loses himself, Sophie yells that it's a trap, and he flies Sophie out of the palace, along with the Witch of the Waste, and Sulliman's dog, Heen. Sophie flees the Royal City on a plane that Howl stole. Howl stays behind as a decoy so Sophie can safely get away. Sophie crashes into the castle, and she dreams that Howl is consumed by his demon. She admits that she loves him in her dream, where he roars that it's too late. Howl arrives the next morning, and moves the castle again. The castle transforms into Sophie's hat shop, along with a new portal, that leads to a beautiful field of flowers. Sophie becomes young again, and she asks Howl if he's leaving her. He doesn't answer, to which she responds, "Please, Howl, I know I can be of help to you. Even though I'm not pretty, and all I'm good at is cleaning." Howl responds, "Sophie... Sophie you're beautiful!" At that moment, Sophie grows old again, and an enemy warship approaches the field. Howl destroys the engine, and saves Sophie. Sophie turns the Hat Shop into a flower shop, and her mother visits her. Her mother secretly leaves a little spy blob behind, and the Witch throws it in Calcifer's mouth. He weakens, and is unable to defend the castle when the country is thrust into war. Sophie runs outside, fully young as she has unknowingly broke her own curse, and watches as Howl saves the shop from a falling bomb. He emerges from the wreckage unscathed, and the two embrace. Howl heals Calcifer, and Sophie begs him not to go out into the war again. He responds, "Sorry, I've had enough of running away, Sophie. Now I've got something to protect. It's you." He leaves and Sophie moves Calcifer from his hearth, breaking the connection the castle had to Market Chipping. The castle curmbles, and Sophie places him back in the ruined grate. Despite Sophie's curse being lifted, her hair remains silver, much unlike the book, where Sophie's hair turns red. She gives Calcifer her hair, and he grows strong enough to move the castle to find Howl and tell him that they are safe. Meanwhile, the Witch of the Waste realizes that Calcifer holds Howl's heart, and she plucks him from the hearth. She begins to burn, and Sophie throws a bucket of water on her. Calcifer goes out, causing the castle to fall apart. Sophie falls over a cliff, along with Heen. The ring that Howl gave her glows blue, and leads to the portal from the castle. She opens it up, and enters the black void that only Howl has been in. She ends up in the past, and witnesses Howl as a child. Stars are falling from the sky, and she runs out to stop him from making a pact with Calcifer. However, Howl swallows the star before Sophie can reach him, and Calcifer is born, with Howl's small heart beating within. Sophie calls out to him, telling him to find her in the future. She is then thrust back through the door, where Howl is waiting for her. He is unresponsive, but he brings her to the remains of the castle.

She pleads with the Witch to give her Calcifer, and when she does, Sophie pushes him into Howl's chest. Calcifer flies out, once more a star, and flies away. The remains of the castle break apart once Calcifer leaves, and they shot down a hill towards a cliff, but are saved by Turnip Head, who loses his pole in the process. Sophie kisses Turnip Head, who turns into the missing prince. He explains that a curse turned him into a scarecrow, and the Witch of the Waste says that “a kiss from your true love breaks it,” revealing the prince’s affections for Sophie. At that moment, Howl awakes, complaining about a weight on his chest. Sophie then replies, "A heart's a heavy burden." Howl remarks that her silver hair is beautiful. Sophie, now full of confidence, tackles him and agrees. The Witch of the Waste tells the prince, “Looks like your true love is in love with someone else. You should go home anyway and tell your king to stop this dumb war.” The prince agrees, then leaves to end the war, promising to return. After the prince leaves, Calcifer returns, deciding to stay with the curse-free Sophie and Howl. The movie ends with the castle flying through the sky. Markl and Heen are seen playing in a small garden with the Witch and Calcifer watching over them. Sophie is last seen with Howl on a balcony, and the two share a kiss as the castle slowly floats away.

Gallery
Go to Sophie Hatter/Gallery