Representation of Haku

Haku is introduced as the foil for Chihiro at the start of the film.

Study Vladimir Propp's character functions

What function does Haku fulfil?  The messenger ?  The donor?

He is the binary opposite (Levi Strauss) to the naive Chihiro. How would you describe the way he is represented?

strong, resourceful, fearless, quick witted, decisive, mature, resilient

His intervention is the catalyst for her journey of self discovery. He is her mentor and inspiration.

Haku is able to shape shift and metamorphose into an animal.  This is a trope used in other films and works of fiction.  Where have you seen this convention used before?

In Philip Pullman's Trilogy Lyra Belacqua is similar to Chihiro.   In these stories starting with Northern Lights the children have daemons which represent them and are their shadows selves in the form of an animal.  For example, Lyra's daemon is a pine marten and her friend Will has a cat whilst the questionable baddies have nastier pets.  In the novels the adults are trying to separate the children from their daemons and take away their spirit.

A recent film where this idea is used is 'the Lobster' which is an eccentric film where single people are sent to a hotel to find a partner. If they don't find their soul mate in 40 days they are turned into an animal of their choice.

Both examples use dystopian parallel worlds to make points about the nature of existence and comment about the nature of humanity.  These are themes that Miyazaki also explores.