No-Face

No-Face (カオナシ kaonashi, lit. "faceless") is a spirit in the Japanese animated film Spirited Away. He is shown to be capable of reacting to emotions and ingesting another individual to gain their personality and physical traits.

Appearance
When first introduced, No-Face appeared semi-transparent while shifting in and out of visibility. His figure resembles that of a long black tube. While it is unknown if No-Face has a "body", it is shown that he has legs and feet with the capability of leaving footprints as he walks. An ominous expressionless mask with purple highlights is plastered on his "head" of sorts, and while there is a "mouth" painted on the mask No-Face has shown that his real, expertly hidden mouth is larger than the one on his mask.

When in a more monstrous form, however, No-Face appears completely opaque. Having swallowed Aogaeru, his limbs became more frog-like and apparent with its large mouth completely revealed. After eating Aogaeru, it has the same voice as Aogaeru. It is also shown to be able to pull its mask into its body and to stretch its limbs indefinitely. When fed the River Spirit's Medicine however, No-Face began to leave sickly trails of black sludge and regurgitated foods behind as it moved, reforming back into his usual state after spitting Aogaeru out.



Personality
As a lonely creature who follows Chihiro after having developed an obsession for her after being kind to him, No-Face first appeared a very timid and soft-spoken spirit whose vocabulary consisted of grunts and moans as opposed to understandable words. Not knowing much about The Bathhouse or about other spirits in general, No-Face learned by example.

Exposed to the corruptive thoughts and greed of the workers, he quickly grew to encompass their personalities, hoping that his endeavor to be like those around Chihiro would eventually garner her affection for him. This ultimately brought the opposite effect. However Chihiro is somewhat true to No-Face after she invited him and accepted help from him. While fleeing from the obviously dangerous monster, Chihiro calls him twice (forcing to follow her) and also accepts as a co-journer into the train. At this stage No-Face is no longer aggressive, obeying Chihiro's orders like "sit and behave yourself".

As a monstrous out-of-control being, No-Face exhibited all the negative traits of those it has swallowed (Most significantly, Aogaeru); becoming a brash, arrogant, loud and selfish creature whose obsession with Chihiro has proved troubling for everyone.

Towards the end of the film No-Face meets with Zeniba, another witch that works alone, in comparison to Yubaba that runs a big house with a complex hierarchy. Perhaps attempting to match the rules of the new tiny society, No-Face starts spinning and knitting and appears proficient in that. No longer dangerous, he accepts Zeniba's proposal to stay with her as a worker.

No-Face seems to reflect his surroundings in personality. It is the corruption and negative thoughts of The Bathhouse that have made him a dangerous monster.

History
No-Face was first introduced standing on the bridge watching a rushing Chihiro and Haku, who were at the time avoiding any spirits from persecuting her for being a human. He subsequently disappeared and reappeared again on the bridge the morning after, watching a passing Chihiro with fascination. No-Face is not seen as a major character until he is let into The Bathhouse by a considerate Chihiro, who worried that No-Face would get wet out in the rain. He emerged again next to The Foreman, stealing a Bath Token for Chihiro. Apparently happy that she thanked him, No-Face subsequently stole more tokens, but was ultimately rejected by Chihiro, who told him that she only needed one. Disheartened, No-Face disappears, letting the tokens fall to the floor.

While the rest of the workers celebrated after the leave of the Unnamed River Spirit, No-Face was seen sitting in a corner, watching as the workers fought and argued for leftover gold on the ground. Learning that gold was important, No-Face baited an unsuspecting Aogaeru to come closer to him when the latter was digging for gold, swallowing the frog spirit and gaining his properties soon after. With the negative qualities in Aogaeru reflecting in him, No-Face demanded a luxurious bath from the workers, throwing magically conjured gold to the workers in the process and becoming larger by ingesting large amounts of food.

With his assumed large amount of wealth No-Face became a sensation with the workers who constantly begged for tips from him. After witnessing Chihiro reject his offering of gold, No-Face sadly drops the gold onto the ground, forcing greedy workers to fight for a piece. Angered in assuming that a worker insulted him, No-Face swallows two more people as his true face is revealed to the fearful workers.

He is next seen throwing a tantrum in a guest room, asking to see Chihiro. With his offering of gold rejected a third time No-Face shows sadness when Chihiro mentions that No-Face could not give her "what she truly wants". After being fed the last of Chihiro's emetic dumpling, No-Face regurgitates everything he has eaten, returning to his timid self and following Chihiro to Zeniba's place, where he learns to knit and sew. As Chihiro leaves, No-Face is told by Zeniba to stay and learn from her away from the negative influence of The Bathhouse. No-Face is last seen bidding Chihiro farewell as she flies off on Haku's back.



Appearances in other media


In the 2011 anime film, "Hotarubi no Mori e", the main character, Hotaru, asks Gin if he is a No-Face because he wears a mask. However, Gin is not a No-Face, he is a human-like entity who lives in the forest.