How could you not love that face? No Face is an interesting case, of course. This is one of Miyazaki's most uniquely endearing creations because he manages to jump between supporting protagonist and antagonist without losing any audience sympathy. A inherently lonely character, he has no place is the spirit world, but no clue where he belongs. None of this is clear to Sen when she first opens the door of the bathhouse for him - he is standing (or rather, floating) out in the rain, so she thinks he'd like to come inside. This simple act of kindness sets a conflict in motion entirely driven by No Face's central character trait - his lack of an identity. A spectral figure with a mask that recalls the Shy Guys from Super Mario Brothers, No Face does not have a voice of his own. His curse is to imitate others, luring people in with gold and devouring them. Through the course of the film, he becomes more and more of a bloated reflection of the worst qualities of people - greed and rage. Motivated by fundamental loneliness, his devouring of the people is his way of fitting in, but the only one he really cares about is the only one who ever acknowledged his presence with kindness: Sen.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
