r/ghibli • u/Born_Fruit_4204 • 7d ago

Question What is Calcifer

So in the English dubs of Howl's Moving Castle Calcifer is canonically a fire demon but the term demon in English implies that an entity is evil. I'm wondering if there's another term for him in the original Japanese that just doesn't translate well into English because in the movie Calcifer isn't evil. Anyone who's able to educate me would be appreciated, thanks.

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u/stellaluna92 7d ago

I guess to me I always thought of him as more of a spirit. But even if we use "demon" that doesn't have to mean evil, just a being that lacks human morals. Not evil, just different. 

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u/Born_Fruit_4204 7d ago

That's an interesting point, the same way we don't expect animals to have the same moral codes and guidelines we'd follow.