Turnip Head

Turnip Head, (かかしのカブ, Kakashi no Kabu, lit. "Scarecrow Turnip"), credited in the film as Turnip and known in the original novels as Prince Justin, is a character in the film, Howl's Moving Castle. He follows Sophie after she rescues him on her way to the wasteland.

Appearance
While under a curse, Turnip Head appears as a scarecrow wearing a black suit, top hat with has a turnip for a head. He gets around by hopping like an unwound spring. As a prince, he appears as a tall blonde man in a yellow suit, along with a top hat and a pink bowtie.

Personality
Turnip Head appears kind and willing to help, as he gave Sophie a cane and returned her shawl when it was blown away in the wind. He can also be brave and courageous, as he saved Sophie and her friends as they fall from a dangerous slope. After Turnip Head is turned back into a prince, he reveals that Sophie is his true love.

History
After the Prince was turned into a scarecrow, he fell into a bush, where he would later be found by Sophie who pulled him up from it. To thank Sophie, Turnip Head gave her a cane. After giving her the cane he searched for a place for Sophie to stay, where he would find Howl's castle. After Sophie attempted to get in the castle her shawl fell off, but Turnip Head was able to give it back to her before she went inside.

The next day, Sophie would once again find Turnip Head stuck upside down, this time in one of the gears of the castle. After Sophie once again retrieves Turnip Head he helped Sophie and Markl dry laundry. After Howl began to call upon the spirits of darkness, Turnip Head helped console Sophie. Afterward, Sophie went to Kingsbury. Upon her return, Turnip Head helped remove the flying machine she had crashed into the castle. Although he was considered part of the family by Howl when they moved out Turnip Head could not come to the spell on him being to powerful.

Turnip Head once again returned when Calcifer left the castle causing it to be destroyed. After attempting to save Howl, Sophie and Heen were separated from the rest of the group, but when she and Howl returned the remaining slab of the castle that remained fell apart, but Turnip Head managed to save everyone by jumping in front of the slab and stopping it from falling, snapping his pole in the process. When Sophie kissed him, he returned to being human. After being returned into a human he'll say goodbye to his friends and head back to Kingsbury to help to end the war.

Behind the Scenes
Supervising animator Akihiko Yamashita, explains Turnip Head's appearance and movement, "The character design for Turnip came easily to me, but several things were altered once the main production began. His dangling pants look too messy so we had them wrapped around his leg pole. Then we added the design for him to turn handsome later in the story. Turnip's movement was difficult, though. It was just too clumsy. We couldn't get him to skip right. Having him hop around like an unwound spring only came later midway into production. He's hopping around al ot in the images we worked on at the final stage."

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