Suliman

Madame Suliman
Species	Human
Age	50s
Gender	Female
First Appearance	Howl's Moving Castle
Voice actor (Japanese)	Haruko Katō
Voice actor (English)	Blythe Danner

Madame Suliman (サリマン , Sariman) is a character the film, Howl's Moving Castle. She is the court-appointed sorceress and mastermind behind the King. Saddened by her former talented disciple Howl for leaving her, she keeps a close watch over him as a potential arch enemy. She has a loyal henchdog named Heen. She is voiced by Haruko Katō in the Japanese version and Blythe Danner in the Disney dub.

Appearance

Madam Suliman has a platinum-colored hair with a mini hat and grey eyes, and wears red dress with a beige fur trim along the ends. She sits upon an elaborate wheelchair, with soft cushions. She holds a large magical staff, which is capable of projecting images and even opening a hole into another world.

Personality

Despite appearing before Sophie as an elegant old woman, she is an extremely dangerous and possessive sorceress of great power. She cruelly dispatches the Witch of the Waste, revealing her to be a feeble, decrepit old woman, and threatens Sophie that Howl will meet the same fate if he refuses to cooperate with the king.

Henchmen

Madam Suliman possesses several servants, one of whom is named Kosho, as well as an army of Blobmen and Tadpole Monsters.

Quotes

It's time to show your "mother" what you really are, Howl.

Behind the Voices

Supervising animator Akihiko Yamashita recounts his process in her design, "Suliman was drawn very precisely in the storyboards so we only had to form the lines for the character designs. I did make sure though there was something scary concealed behind her gentle smile. Her facial features were slight altered during the key animation stage. As Miyazaki checked the key animation, he altered it, saying, 'She won't look pretty without a sharp chin.' The final version for her is more elegant with a nicely shaped chin."

Michiyo Yasuda elaborates on her color design, "Suliman is a middle-aged woman with power and wealth, so I first thought she would be wearing silk and velvet in white tones instead of making her clothes colorful. But this color design didn't really work when I tried it. As I worked on contrast between her clothes and Sophie's, they ended up red. I wanted to make her look extravagant but at the same time elegant, so even her jewels are dark instead of being flashy. She looks very different from Yubaba from Spirited Away."

Trivia

• Madame Suliman is voiced by Haruko Katō, who also voiced Madame in Kiki's Delivery Service.
• Some fans think she cursed Turnip Head, all as part of some roundabout scheme. When his curse breaks later, she sadly notes she should tell the king they need to end the war.

Gallery

Suliman and her Howl-like servants.

Suliman's cane projects waves crashing down the greenhouse towards Sophie.

Suliman casting a spell which summons Star Children to reveal Howl's true form.

Suliman contacting Heen via a crystal ball.