an is known as Princess Mononoke—the 17-year-old girl, princess of spirits and beasts. When San was a baby, her parents, along with some other travelers, were attacked by the wolf goddess Moro. Her parents threw San to Moro as a sacrifice to save their own lives, thus escaping while Moro was preoccupied with San.

However, San was spared; Moro did not eat her, instead raising San as her own daughter. San treats Moro as her mother and her two natural pups as brothers. San rejects her own humanity, thinking of herself as a wolf. Possibly because of her past, San hates humans with a great ferocity, even more so than Moro.

San cares very much for the forest she lives in and the animals she lives with. San is very agile, able to dodge arrows, darts, and even ishibiya shots. She, like the Mountain Spirits, wants to destroy the humans so that they will stop taking away all their land. She personally wants to kill Eboshi, the leader of Irontown.

San is very courageous and at times harsh, but she does have a soft side, gradually brought out by Ashitaka. She did not expect to live through her final attack against the humans, but Ashitaka rescues her and takes her out of Irontown. San is enraged that she has failed again to kill Eboshi, and on seeing Ashitaka helpless on the ground, wants to kill him for interfering. San is shocked when Ashitaka tells her that she is beautiful, and, confused, decides not to let him die. She takes Ashitaka to Shishigami, who heals his bullet wound.

In spite of her love for Ashitaka, San fights against the humans to protect her forest. After the war, she tells Ashitaka that even though she cares very deeply for him, she cannot forgive the human race for what they have done to the forest, and she will continue to live apart from them. Ashitaka tells San that he will visit her in the forest whenever he can.