haku (dragon)

Haku is the Kohaku River spirit and the deuteragonist of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away. In dragon-form, Haku appears as a long fluffy white dragon with a green mane of long hair and a scaly purple/pink underbelly. He sports a pair of fox-like ears, straight oryx style horns, long barbels, and green eyes. In human form, Haku resembles a fair-skinned teenage boy with neck-length straight black hair wearing a white shirt over blue undergarments. Haku sometimes wears sandals but is usually barefoot. A lot of people believe that Haku is Chihiro's dead brother, but we already de-bunked that. He is not Chihiro's dead brother. He is the Kohaku river spirit. Haku appears before the protagonist Chihiro, finding her wandering the town of spirits, and asks her to leave. Chihiro is unable to leave on time and is trapped in the spirit world. Finding Chihiro frozen in fear and slowly disappearing, Haku shows up with a fruit to make her appear again and unbinds her. He orders her to ask for a job from Kamaji at the nearby bathhouse to stay alive then tends to his duties in the bathhouse. The next day, Haku shows Chihiro her parents which have been turned into pigs and warns her to never forget her own name lest she end up like him and trapped in the spirit world forever. As Chihiro returns to the bathhouse, she sees a dragon flying in the sky. Days later, Haku returns to the bathhouse in dragon form and bloodied while being chased by paper birds. After a scamper through the bathhouse and in the owner, Yubaba's office, Haku and Chihiro end up in Kamaji's room. The cause of the bleeding was a curse lain upon a seal Haku stole and Haku rests. Later, Haku is confronted by Yubaba on her missing child and Haku leaves for her sister, Zeniba's house to find him at the promise Yubaba lets Chihiro have her parents back. Haku arrives at Zeniba's house in dragon form and Chihiro climbs on Haku's back for a ride back to the bathhouse. Along the journey, Chihiro remembers a memory of Haku saving her and recalls his real name of Kohaku. This causes Haku to turn into human form and they dance in the sky before returning to the bathhouse. The next day, Haku bids Chihiro farewell as she leaves the spirit world with her parents, with the promise to see her again one day.