Heen

Heen (ヒン, Hin) is a character in Howl's Moving Castle. He is an "errand dog" of Suliman and was created solely for the film adaptation. He is voiced by Daijirō Harada, who has said Heen's gasping noise sounds like a person with asthma.

Appearance
Heen is a lazy, shaggy, floppy-eared dog, who only communicates through wheezing and gasping, jumping and scraping.

History
""His name is Heen. He's my errand dog. I had him escort you here.""

- Suliman

Heen, Madame Suliman's personal errand-dog, is sent out from the palace to escort Sophie Hatter, who is posing as Howl's mother. However, Sophie thinks that Heen is Howl Jenkins Pendragon in disguise, so she begins a one-sided conversation with him, and even drags him up the endless stairs to the palace with her. Heen leads her away from the Witch of the Waste through a secret entrance to Madame Suliman herself.

Madame Suliman reveals the dog's true nature during their discussion, which certainly surprises Sophie but she doesn't voice this. She then explains that she has drained the Witch of the Waste's magical powers, restoring her to her original appearance, a harmless old lady. This is when Howl comes into the palace, disguised as the King.

When they make their escape from the palace, Heen jumps onto their Flying Kayak just as they take off, and comes to the castle with them. He lives there for some time, doing nothing more, it seems, than act as a family dog.

When the castle collapses after Calcifer is nearly extinguished, Heen jumps after Sophie, and points out to her that her ring is glowing when she is too grief-stricken to notice. He leads her into Howl's past through the door, and leads her back out when their journey into the past is over.

At the end of the movie, Madame Suliman is shown looking into the orb in her staff to see him, asking him why he did not report in earlier, implying that she sent him to go with Sophie to act as a spy in Howl's Castle. He reveals the scene behind him of a happy ending, for which Suliman calls him a "little traitor," though she does not seem terribly upset.

Behind the Scenes
Based on an early image board drawn by Hayao Miyazaki, Heen had a more noble, human-like form as opposed to his final design as a dog with a face reminiscent of anime director Mamoru Oshii. While never officially stated, Miyazaki may have taken inspiration from Oshii as he is one of his oldest friends and is a known dog aficionado.

According to supervising animator Takeshi Inamura, who drew most of the initial concepts, "I didn't base him on any dog in particular. I followed the storyboards and drew him accordingly. The director suggested, 'Not quite like the pooch in Hisaishi Ishii's My Neighbors the Yamadas, but this dog should look malicious. I tried drawing him in a very normal style, but his legs ended up being so short I realized later their movements were obscured at certain angles. The key animation and animation must have been surprisingly difficult."

Anime producer Toshio Okada speculated that Heen may be a wizard in disguise working for the witch Suliman. This is reflected in his weight, as Sophie struggles to carry him across a long flight of stairs to Suliman's palace.

While never officially indicated, Heen's breed is a Petit Basset Griffon Bandane, a hunting dog native to France.

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Hin ハウルの動く城 因因