Nonostante la sua reputazione, Howl è in realtà un personaggio accattivante, affascinante, intelligente, premuroso e terribilmente gentile, ma anche volubile, egoista ed un po' testardo. ###>He comes from Wales, a country unknown to most in the book, where his family still remains unaware of his activities in Sophie's world or of its existence; his sister is constantly annoyed by his disappearances, but he often visits them when troubled.