Kaspar Wolfswinkel is a man and sorcerer who lives on the island of Ninnyhammer at 10 o'clock at night.
Appearance and Character[]
Kaspar is a short, acidic-looking man who often wears a bright yellow suit. He has a collection of hats he wears on his head, which makes his appearance look even more ridiculous. A notorious drunk, he often spends his days drinking rum and torturing his slave.
In Abarat[]
Candy first meets Kaspar Wolfswinkel after she thinks she is being chased down by a group of feral cats on the island of Ninnyhammer. She runs toward a house that has a large glass dome on the top and when she reaches the front door Kaspar answers. When he appears the cats start to yowl. Inside the house Kaspar claims the tarrie-cats are evil beings and tries to get her to poison them. Candy hears a crying voice in the other room, which Kaspar says is due to a wake that is going on. When Kaspar denies that the suit he is wearing is yellow which Candy finds inappropriate for a wake, he attributes it to his age. As soon as Candy find there are no mourners in the house and accuses him of lying, his attitude changes. He becomes very rude and she decides to leave. Kaspar has his slave Malingo, a orange-skinned creature called a Geshrat, put her in a blue cage. Malingo's eyes are kind, Candy notes. Kaspar then uses some sort of magic to go through Candy's mind and pulls out the Key that the John brothers had put there. The pain of his invasion knocks her unconcious.
When Candy awakes, she hears Kaspar in the other room telling someone about finding her and the Pyramid Key. Malingo is nearby and tells her she needs to escape. Kaspar hears them talking and demands they go to him. He puts Candy on the telephone to a man named Otto Houlihan, an assassin and torturer for Christopher Carrion. He interrogates her about the Key, but she feigns innocence. The last thing Houlihan says is that he is coming for her. Kaspar dismisses her and Malingo. In the other room, Malingo tells her she needs to escape but it's nearly impossible. Before they can discuss it further Kaspar comes in and begins to mentally torture Malingo. Candy defends him, and Kaspar tells her it is useless to defend a geshrat, the species that Malingo is. While fetching Kaspar's rum, Candy sees the portraits of five people who are wearing the hats that Kaspar currently has on. When she brings him his rum, she pushes him and takes his staff, attempting to escape. Kaspar calls Malingo, who then takes the staff from Candy. Malingo hesitates when given an order, a sign that his master's influence is waning. When Candy and him try to run away, Kaspar takes ahold of her wrist. Candy starts to hit him and knocks of all of his hats. His reaction to losing them makes Candy realize that his magic comes from the hats, and deduces that he killed his cohorts to gain their power. Her and Malingo escape from the house after Malingo strikes Kaspar on the knee.
Kaspar follows them into the woods, using his hats to become invisible. He beats Malingo until the tarrie-cats come along and Candy realizes their eyes can see him. The leader of the tarrie-cats, a feline humanoid named Jimothi Tarrie, comes along and reveals that he is Kaspar's prison warden. Kaspar goes back to his house to wait for the arrival of Otto Houlihan. He can be seen and heard from far away by using the glass dome in his hosue. After Candy and Malingo escape in a glyph, a stitchling is dropped on the dome. The glass shatters and Kaspar is covered in the mud from inside the stitchling. Soon after their escape, Otto Houlihan visits Kaspar to retrieve the Key. Once he has it, he tells Kaspar he will not be rewarded and will be forgotten about now that he's served a purpose. Kaspar begs him for help and mentions the two used to go to school together. Otto says he will do what he can, but it will entail Kaspar becoming his servant. Before they part, Kaspar also mentions that he thinks Candy was meant to be in the Abarat, finding magic too easy. Otto doesn't pay it much mind, and leaves Kaspar behind.