Lin

Lin
Japanese name	リン (Rin)
Species	Spirit of The White Fox (白狐)
Age	Almost 20
Gender	Female
First Appearance	Spirited Away
Role	Supporting character
Voice actor (Japanese)	Yumi Tamai
Voice actor (Disney)	Susan Egan

Lin, also known by her Japanese name Rin, is a Yuna worker in Spirited Away. She is a servant in Yubaba's Bathhouse in the Spirit Realm. She becomes Chihiro Ogino's caretaker when the latter (as Sen) is assigned to her as an assistant, and helps her several times during the course of the film.

Plot

Lin entering the boiler room.

Lin is first seen coming through a small door in the Boiler Room of the Bathhouse with a basket full of small, star-shaped treats (Kompeitō) to feed Kamajī's soot workers. She soon spots Chihiro and yells at her, stating she is the human everyone is looking for. Kamaji then lies, telling her Chihiro is his granddaughter, and asks Lin if she can take her to see Yubaba to get a job. Lin immediately demurs, saying she is not going to risk her life. However, Kamaji bribes her with a roasted newt which she hesitantly swipes from his hand. Lin then takes Chihiro with her, getting angry at her lack of manners and calling her a dope.

After Lin taunts the frog worker she eats the roasted newt.

Lin and Chihiro walk down the corridor and make their way to the first elevator; Chihiro sticks her face near the wall as they are ascending, and Lin coldly asks her if she wants to lose her nose. Once they are at the top, Lin and Chihiro quickly make their way to the next elevator, trying not to be seen by the other customers and workers. When they are going up, Lin reassuringly states that they are halfway there and for her to stay close. When they reach the top, the door opens on the Radish Spirit whom Lin greets with a fake smile, telling him that the elevator does not go any higher, and that he will have to use another one. Lin and Chihiro step out and make their way to the second elevator, trying to avoid the Radish Spirit slowly following behind. Lin tells Chihiro not to look at him, and they eventually make their way to the second elevator where they stand waiting. Once the door opens, several spirit customers and a frog worker exit the elevator and Chihiro and the Radish Spirit get in; the worker then sniffs the air and turns to Lin, telling her she smells just like a human. Lin then pulls out the roasted newt and asks him if that is what he smells. She teases him with it to stall for time, telling Chihiro to pull the lever to go up. Once the elevator closes, Lin shoves the roasted newt into her mouth, leaving the frog worker disappointed.

Lin gets Chihiro as her assistant.

After Yubaba finally agrees to put Chihiro to work under the name of Sen, Haku assigns her to Lin, stating that she did request an assistant. Although Lin seems annoyed by the supposed burden, once she and Chihiro are alone, she states joyfully that she cannot believe Chihiro pulled it off and that she was really worried. She then tells Chihiro to keep on her toes and to ask her if she needs anything. Lin finds Chihiro some new clothing; while she does so, Chihiro asks about Haku, and Lin states that he is the henchman of Yubaba, and not to trust him. Chihiro then begins to feel sick and kneels over, and Lin bends down and tenderly rubs her back.

Lin orders Chihiro to clean up.

Lin is seen the next day with Chihiro. Upon seeing how new Chihiro is to working in the bathhouse, Lin asks her if she has ever worked a day in her life. A frog worker then assigns Lin and Chihiro to wash the "big tub," much to her dismay. When they arrive, Lin comments that they have not cleaned it in months. After they have started cleaning, they are notified that a customer is on its way, and Lin angrily states that they are clearly being harassed. She then asks Chihiro to get an herbal soak token from the Foreman so they can soak the tub. When she comes back with the token, Lin shows her how to work the water in the tub and heads off to get them some breakfast. Lin is then seen as the polluted River Spirit crosses in front of her, causing the bowls of rice she is holding to rot instantly.

Lin's rice bowls rotting.

When Chihiro has the River Spirit in the bath and the water is flowing, Lin appears and tells Chihiro to stay where she is, and that she will not let the spirit hurt her. Chihiro tells her she thinks the spirit has a thorn in his side, and Lin rushes up to help her, tying a rope around the object. She and the rest of the staff then work together to pull the objects out of the spirit, thereby cleaning the river of its pollutants.

The next day, Lin comes up the stairs to wake Chihiro and excitedly tells her that a rich new customer has arrived at the bathhouse and is giving gold away by the handful, showing her a gold nugget from her pocket. When Chihiro asks who the customer is, Lin responds with ‘Oh, who cares?” She also tells her to stop worrying about Haku when Chihiro announces that she is going to look for him and urges her to get some more gold with her.

Later, Lin enters the boiler room after Haku is injured stealing Zeniba’s gold seal for Yubaba. She is relieved to find Chihiro there, saying that she had been looking everywhere for her. She is shocked both at the state of the boiler room and at the presence of Boh the baby and Yubaba’s bird, both having been turned into a mouse and fly, respectively, by Zeniba. Lin then tells Chihiro that Yubaba is furious with her. When Chihiro is confused, Lin explains that the ‘man with the gold’ turned out to be a monster called No-Face who says that Chihiro was the one who let him into the bathhouse. When Chihiro admits that this is the truth, Lin is appalled, asking, ‘Are you serious?!’ When Kamaji gives Chihiro train tickets to Swamp Bottom and Chihiro reassures the unconscious Haku that she will be back soon, Lin asks the boiler man, ‘What’s going on?’ He replies simply, ‘Something you wouldn’t recognise. It’s called love.’

Lin then rows Chihiro from the bathhouse to the train station . When No-Face follows Chihiro to the station, Lin yells at him that he ‘will be in big trouble if he lays one scratch on that girl’. She is last seen when Yubaba gives Chihiro the test that will determine whether she and her parents can return to the human world. She is delighted as the rest of the bathhouse workers when Chihiro passes the test, yelling ‘Atta girl!’ as Chihiro bids her spirit friends farewell.

Species

Lin is portrayed as a human being in the film. In the Japanese picture book (The Art of Spirited Away in English) Lin is described as a byakko (Japanese: 白虎), a white tiger, in the draft, which was later changed to byakko (Japanese: 白狐) meaning white fox.. In the English picture book "byakko" is translated as (Chinese) weasel.

Appearance

Lin has chocolate brown eyes, straight chocolate brown hair with short bangs parted in the middle and long side strands of hair on both sides of her head. The length of her hair goes past her waist, and the end is tied with a carnation pink ribbon. She wears a standard salmon colored jinbei uniform with a sunshine yellow undershirt and turquoise blue apron that most of the female staff wear and is barefoot.

Personality

Lin is very strong-hearted, stubborn and occasionally bossy. Although she has a good heart and cares for Chihiro, she is quick to go on the defensive, and her attitude and words are often sarcastic. She is also very protective, as she hides Chihiro when sneaking her to the top floor to see Yubaba, and also comforts Chihiro while attempting to cure the River Spirit by telling Chihiro she won't let him hurt her.

But she is not always cooperative. Kamajī has to give her a roasted newt to change her mind about accompanying Chihiro to Yubaba. Later on, she uses the newt to sidetrack one of her co-workers from Chihiro's human smell. When Chihiro gets a job in the Bathhouse, she is totally happy about it.

Quotes

"Two Hakus?! I can barely stand one!"

—Lin

• “Chow time.”
• "Where's your other bowl?"
• “From yesterday?”
• "I keep telling you to leave it out, Kamaji."
• “A human!”
• "You're in trouble!"
• "You're the one everyone's looking for!"
• "Granddaughter?"
• "No way!"
• "I'm not going to risk my life!"
• "Give me that!"
• "Okay, little girl, you better come with me."
• "Thank the Boiler Man, you idiot."
• "You know he's sticking his neck out for you."
• "You want to lose your nose?"
• "The Radish Spirit."
• "This is clearly harassment."
• "Leave me alone."
• "Those jerks."
• "They haven't cleaned this tub in months."
• "Hey, that's frog work."
• "Gee, Sen, haven’t you ever worked a day in your life?"
• "There’s blood everywhere."
• "Yubaba is furious."
• "The man with the gold turned out to be a monster called No-Face, and he says that you let him into the bathhouse."
• "It's the new girl."
• "What about him?"
• "Two Hakus?"
• "I can barely stand one."
• "Here's your apron."
• "You’ll have to wash it yourself."
• "Your pants."
• "You're so puny."
• "Way too big."
• "Too big."
• "Sen!"
• "Our food!"
• "Sen, where are you?"
• "He's a monster."
• "He's already eaten three people."
• "Can't you manage a "yes, ma'am" or a "thank you"?"
• "What a dope."
• "You're such a dope."
• "You don't need your socks or your shoes."
• "An herbal soak token."
• "It goes straight to Kamaji, and he sends us our water."
• "Dried worm salts."
• "They're supposed to be good for you."
• "You're going to be fine."
• "I won’t let him hurt you."
• "I've got to get out of this place."
• "Someday, I'm getting on that train."
• "He just disappears sometimes."
• "It's real gold."
• "Hey, there they are!"
• "She doesn't feel so good.”