Interestingly, he is perhaps the character most like Miyazaki himself.
Marco, the Italian fighter pilot who chooses to transform into a pig in Porco Rosso, might be the single most interesting character in all of Miyazaki's movies. Interestingly, he is perhaps the character most like Miyazaki himself. Although the director often restrains his curmudgeonliness when making family movies, Porco Rosso, a movie specifically aimed at older adults, is full of this tone.