Sheeta

"You see, a king without compassion does not deserve a kingdom... No matter how many weapons you have, no matter how great your technology might be, the world cannot live without love. —Sheeta to Muska in the Laputa throneroom"

Princess Lusheeta Toel Ul Laputa, nicknamed "Sheeta", is a 13-year-old orphan farm girl. She is one of the main protagonists in Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

Biography
Sheeta is the rightful princess of Laputa. She possesses an Aetherium crystal, which can save her in times of danger. Possessing the Aetherium crystal, she is chased down by the Dola gang, Muska and the military. Muska manages to capture her and take her into custody aboard the civilian passenger airship Saturn.

After falling out of the airship, she is saved by an orphan named Pazu. They become fast and close friends as they flee from Dola and Muska. Pazu and Sheeta are eventually recaptured by Muska, who locks them up at the costal military fortification Tedus. Pazu is freed after Sheeta reluctantly agrees to help Muska, who reveals to Sheeta that she is the princess of Laputa and heir to its throne. Pazu later joins Dola's gang to free her. Meanwhile, Sheeta manages to unlock the power of the crystal and escapes the fortress with the help of a Laputian robot summoned by the crystal.

Together, Pazu and Sheeta join Dola's quest in search of Laputa, though they seek it because they want to learn about it, while Dola wants the castle's riches. Separated from the pirates during an attack by the military air-destroyer Goliath, Sheeta and Pazu end up landing safety on Laputa. However, Sheeta is soon recaptured by Muska and she learns that he is also a descendant of Laputian royalty, making them distant relatives. Sheeta manages to retrieve her crystal and escape Muska, who pursues her through the Laputian underground. Sheeta passes the crystal to Pazu with instructions to throw it into the ocean before Muska corners her in the throne room, where she declares that they shall die together as he will never possess the crystal and he doesn't deserve the throne. Muska shoots off Sheeta's braids and threatens to kill her unless she returns the crystal, but Pazu arrives and demands to talk with Sheeta in exchange for the crystal. Together, they destroy the lower section of Laputa with the Spell of Destruction, so as not to let it fall into Muska's hands.

Appearance and Personality
Sheeta wears a plain, indigo dress with a white petticoat underneath. Later, she changes into Dola's large pink pants, with a yellow blouse and brown slip-on shoes. She has brown hair with short bangs in the front and wears her hair in two braids on either side of her head. Her eyes are a dark blue-grey (though often appear as entirely black). She also sports a red hairband. Each braid is tied neatly at the bottom with a red ribbon, a common color for hair accessories in Studio Ghibli films. After having her hair cut, her hair is very short, very similar to Kiki's hairstyle.

Compared to Pazu's more boisterous, energetic personality, Sheeta is reserved, somewhat aloof to strangers, and quiet. She at first insists on being on her own due to the danger her very company presents and out of fear of causing damage to Pazu or his hometown, though eventually concedes when Pazu vows to protect her. Despite her taciturn and shy personality, Sheeta is polite, kind, and intelligent, and the movie concludes with her saving what remains of her kingdom from Muska as the true heir of Laputa.

Relationships

 * Unnamed father (deceased)
 * Unnamed mother (deceased)
 * Sheeta's Grandmother (deceased)
 * Pazu (best friend/love interest)
 * The Pirates (enemies in the beginning but become like a second family to her, especially Dola, who is like a tough, no-nonsense grandmother)

Voice Acting
In the Japanese version, Sheeta was voiced by Keiko Yokozawa and her younger self was voiced by Shiori Fujita. In the original 1988 dub, Sheeta was voiced by Lara Cody. In the Disney dub, Sheeta was voiced by Anna Paquin and her younger self was voiced by Debi Derryberry.

Trivia

 * Sheeta gains a similar appearance to Kiki after having her hair cut. She also wears the same, medium-sleeved, black dress at the beginning of the film that Kiki wears.
 * Sheeta is so far the only Studio Ghibli heroine to kill her respective antagonist (Muska).
 * Sheeta's name is taken from the Greek mathematical symbol theta (θ). Mr. Miyazaki thought, quote, "it was kind of a strange character".