MovieChat Forums > Hauru no ugoku shiro (2005) Discussion > Calcifer, not a real demon.

Calcifer, not a real demon.

posted 9 years ago by Mary_Crewe
6 replies | jump to latest

Calcifer's name definitely came from Lucifer. Miyazaki had Jesus imagery in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, but I don't know how much he knows about Christianity and what his religion is or if he is apart of one. The novel was written by a woman from a Christian family, so I wonder what her idea of the character was.

In the movie, I guess he's either a fallen star who has Howl's heart or he is Howl's heart (I wasn't sure). Ok, so I am Christian, but even I didn't know all this stuff, so I went to Wikipedia (and let's hope it's accurate and I've head this stuff other places, so I think it's right) and I guess Lucifer was a bad king and not the devil and there's stuff from other cultures that may have influenced how we see him and the devil.

I see Calcifer as being like Howl with his vanity, in the way that he doesn't have to be bad (a demon), he can be a light of hope (like when John the Baptist said Jesus would baptize people with fire and the Holy Spirit in Matthew 3:11 and what Jesus said about being "the light of the world" in Matthew 5:13-16).

There's a scene where Markl is worried about whether they can trust Calcifer, because he's been known as a fire demon, and Sophie theorizes he may be a good kind (which is crazy, if you look at it as him beinga literal hell demon, which gave me the idea he isn't). He's not literally from the Christian idea of the devil or anything bad. He's lost, like Howl.

His fear of being looked down on, like when he wants to be seen as a powerful demon is kind of like how the Babylonian king and the devil want to be seen as great, but their power is not something a good smart person would want, the same way Sophie is annoyed with Howl for his vanity, because being good looking is desirable, even in her, but she knows it isn't what makes people love you. Not real love anyway.

Calcifer and Howl are overly vain and that destroys them, because having their power is never good enough and they always feel like they have to prove themselves. They feel complicated mess of being chained to each other but are also great friends and they don't even see that they are just like each other.

I feel like Calcifer, Howl, and Sophie are just a fantasy/symbolic look at a love triangle or how one woman affects her male love interest and his best frienemy (in this case someone he fights with, but they actually love each other), but they end up helping her too by showing her she doesn't need to feel small and that she is amazing and powerful. And the other prince is that extra guy who we all like and just feel bad for, when his love get's snubbed and he was the guy there for her all along, but he will not treat the "friend zone" like a punishment. He will cherish Sophie's friendship, even if some romantic feelings still linger.

[–] Suzume-san 9 years ago

On this thread we're talking about his name. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347149/board/flat/219704595

[–] EdmundOG 9 years ago

Decent analysis, but yeah, he's a demon, because they say he's a demon. That's just what a demon is in this world.

You mention being a Christian and not knowing this stuff, and there's no shame in that, most Christians don't. Here's the short version:

There are five figures in the bible that have been conflated to the modern "Devil".

The Serpent of Eden - Just a talking snake.

Satan - Old Testament employee of YHWH. Sort of a celestial prosecutor. Showed up a few times. Maybe a name, maybe a title.

Lucifer - A term meaning "morning star", mistranslated in the King James Bible as a name. This had shown up earlier, as John Calvin was known to lament that casual or foolish readers thought "Lucifer" was the name of the devil.

The Devil - A New Testament figure of evil. Usually called "The Tempter" or "The Accuser". Referred to as "Satan" once.

The Dragon - A giant dragon that will fight Jesus at the world's end, generally considered to be the same being as The Devil.

There's also The Beast, another monster that preceded the Dragon, and the Antichrist, who isn't in the bible at all. The term "antichrist" is used to describe a kind of person, but the idea that there's a "THE Antichrist" is totally not in the bible.

[–] Mary_Crewe 9 years ago

Thanks for the explanation. I think that Markl and Sophie debating about his demon status, him being Howl's heart (I think that's what he was. It wasn't clear, but it looked like he came out of Howl.), and the fact he's good makes him not a real demon, but fit my theory. I'm not sure what the book's author intended and what Miyazaki meant with the character, but he's good, so, like I said, I don't see him as a demon.

[–] PreachCaleb 9 years ago

Demon does not automatically equal evil. There are other stories where demons are just magical creatures or beings beyond human.

So Calcifer is a demon in this story.

Let's be bad guys.

[–] Thornspike 9 years ago

The name calcifer originates from Diana Wynn Jones's book and NOT from Ghibli.

[–] cdncritic 8 years ago

This may be a translation issue. Many cultures have mythical figures that are sometimes translated as "demons", but which are not meant to symbolize the evil and satanic horned goat monsters that we think of in our culture.