Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, clone)

"Syaoran"
'Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle xxxHolic' character
File:Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle - Syaoran Li(The Real One).jpg The Original "Syaoran" in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
First appearance	Episode one (Tsubasa anime) Chapter one (Tsubasa manga) Chapter eight (xxxHolic manga)
Created by	Clamp Minako Shiba (anime series) Yoko Kikuchi (OAVs)
In-universe information
Nickname	Brat, kid "Syaoran Li", cutie
Gender	Male
Occupation	Archaeologist Oni Hunter
Relatives	Fujitaka (Adopted father, deceased) Sakura Kinomoto (Mother) Syaoran Li (Father) Clow Reed (ancestor, deceased)
Nationality	Japanese & Chinese

Syaoran and "Syaoran" are the main protagonists in CLAMP's fictional, crossover manga series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and its subsequent anime, Tsubasa Chronicle. His characterization here is mostly independent of his characterization in Card Captor Sakura and is discussed further below. He is voiced by Miyu Irino in the Japanese version, and by Jason Liebrecht in the English version.

"Syaoran" has also appeared in Clamp's xxxHolic.

Story

In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran is an archaeologist who is excavating ruins in the country of Clow. When his childhood friend, Princess Sakura, visits the ruins with him one day her body triggers a chain of mysterious events that lead to a desperate situation. To save Sakura he must pay the price of "their relationship" in order to cross through worlds and collect her memories.

But for what's just the beginning for Syaoran and Sakura is already the middle for "Syaoran" Li who has been waiting seven years for his story to continue. Although imprisoned "Syaoran" has been watching Syaoran's journey through their shared eye and so when the time comes to break free of Fei Wong Reed, "Syaoran" begins fighting for the sake of more than one person who is Sakura.

Syaoran

Background

As a young child he was found in the street by the kindhearted archeologist, Fujitaka. At that time he had no name, no memories of his past, and no sight in his right eye. Fujitaka readily adopts him as a son and names him Syaoran. The two travel across the country for excavation work which leads Syaoran to meet Princess Sakura of Clow Country. Even though Syaoran is blunt and emotionless from his mysterious past, Sakura takes an immediate interest in him. Instead of pitying him or rejecting him for not having memories or a birthday, Sakura readily gives Syaoran her birthday (April 1st) so they can share it and tells him that it doesn‘t matter if he has no memories--they can create many happy ones together. Because of her warm friendship, Syaoran is able to smile for the first time and her friendship becomes the thing he cherishes most in life.

Although he does become increasingly cheerful and friendly, Syaoran feels he is a burden to others because of his inferiorities and is constantly concerned about worrying his father or upsetting Sakura when he hurts himself. And though Sakura urges him not to hide his pain and tells Syaoran to let her worry about him, even later in the journey Syaoran hides his true feelings because he doesn’t want to trouble others or make them sad. Sakura at one point warns him that if he continues keeping things to himself “nothing will change.”

Fighting/Skills

To compensate for his lack of reliable depth perception (due to being blind in his right eye) he asks for fighting lessons from Seishiro in exchange for translating books. Syaoran is shown to be an excellent fighter despite his blind eye, and his style is centered around his devastating kicks. Later on in the journey he also asks Kurogane to teach him swordsmanship so that he can become stronger. The sword Syaoran uses is called Hien, "scarlet flame."

Heavily due to his bond with his adoptive father, Syaoran is also an aspiring archaeologist with the attendant skills and experience of a hardened adventurer somewhat reminiscent of Indiana Jones. One of his quirks is taking an animate interest in history and is often very excited when they stumble on new books or artifacts in the countries they visit. His knowledge is useful on their journey so that he can read on leads to Princess Sakura’s feathers.

The Relationship

It's obvious in the first chapter that Syaoran and Sakura are both in love with each other romantically and though Sakura is on the verge of confessing, Syaoran seems embarrassed at her wish to be called "Sakura" instead of "Princess" and he tells himself it's wrong to be in love with a Princess. He even turns down Sakura's offer to live in the castle with her after Fujitaka died, because he said only people with royal blood should live there. After she loses her feathers, Syaoran takes an uncomfortable backseat as her protector instead of "precious friend," and when Sakura shares with him the memories she gains (which exclude him) he's noticably hurt.

Although body memories aren't explained until Sakura unconsciously kisses Syaoran's sore eye, they can be seen much earlier in the series. She isn't supposed to know him, but Sakura is often shown intimately taking his hand, leaning towards him, or touching his face. And though most of these body memories result in excessive blushing, some are caused by Syaoran hiding his pain from her or pushing himself too hard.

But despite the misery he feels from the fact that Sakura will never remember him, Syaoran continues to fight passionately for his “most precious person.”

The Revelation

These desires come to a complete stop when the magical seal in his right eye breaks. It’s revealed that Syaoran is actually a clone of “Syaoran” Li II, and was created by Fei Wong Reed in order to collect Princess Sakura’s feathers. The seal on his eye also contained a piece of “Syaoran”’s heart but the exact impact this heart had on Syaoran isn’t entirely clear yet.

Although “Syaoran” tells him “the reason you consider that Sakura most precious to you doesn’t come from my heart, it comes from you!” Syaoran loses that part of himself completely in exchange for his desire to collect feathers. Kakyō and Seishirō both comment that he ignores “pain of the body and the heart” in order to achieve his goal. This, along with the magical eye he steals from Fay D. Flourite, makes Syaoran impossibly strong but horribly ruthless. After he ignores Sakura’s heartbreaking pleas of not leaving, Syaoran is depicted as an emotionless figure covered in blood while he stands in the devasting aftermath of the worlds he effortlessly destroys for feathers.

While searching for feathers in the Dream World Syaoran impales Sakura with his sword but his body refuses to kill her completely because of his body memories. He aims to kill “Syaoran” for the feathers instead but Sakura throws herself directly in the line of both their swords, resulting in Syaoran inadvertently stabbing her through the heart.

Syaoran is last seen screaming in agony and clutching a Sakura petal. His current location is unknown.

"Syaoran" Li

The original Syaoran appears as a tattooed figure floating in a tank in Fei Wong Reed and Xing Huo's headquarters (who, instead of being blind in his right eye, was blind in his left due to him ripping it out and putting it in the clone's right eye). He was kidnapped and held captive by Fei Wong Reed so that he could make a clone of 'Syaoran.' Because 'Syaoran' knew of Fei Wong Reed's intentions, he was sealed in a chamber while The Clone is sent to Clow Country without any memories. He remains in this tube for roughly 120 chapters, until he regains his power and escapes. With the assistance of Xing Huo, he is sent to the Witch of Dimensions, Yūko Ichihara (he can be seen making a cameo appearance in Volume 9 of xxxHolic). It is then revealed that he is the original Syaoran and was captured and cloned by Fei Wong Reed.

After The Clone becomes an antagonist, Syaoran takes the role of protagonist of the series (now simply known in the series as "Syaoran") and becomes a "leader" of the group, like The Clone was, in order to stop Fei Wong's plans. However, as Syaoran continued to lead the journey with Sakura and the others; Sakura acts very distantly with him and did not see him as a new companion. It is revealed that she acted so coldly towards him because of a vision she saw when Fay touched her back in Tokyo. She finally does call him "Syaoran-kun" (which she used to call the Clone) at the end of the Infinity Arc, saying she heard from Mokona that he too is called Syaoran. Syaoran at first attempts to deny it, saying, "No, I... Right..." . Sakura's addressing of Syaoran causes Syaoran to think she was leaving because of him. She denies this, but then Fay, possessed by a curse, stabs her. It is later revealed by Fei Wong Reed (and Sakura, in xxxHolic), that Fay was supposed to stab Syaoran, but Sakura changed the future so that the curse was activated before this event.

When Sakura was stabbed, she split up her body and soul. Yūko tells Kurogane, Fay, Mokona, and Syaoran that the body should be rescued first, then the soul. The group then travels to Celes country (where Fay is originally from) to retrieve Sakura's body. Syaoran develops a severe headache upon arrival, and collapses due to it. This headache is connected to Watanuki, as shown in xxxHolic. It, however, does not stop him from protecting Sakura's soulless body from Ashura, who uses his magic to show Syaoran, Kurogane, and Mokona visions of Fay's dark past.

After King Ashura's defeat, the Tsubasa group returns to Nihon Country where Syaoran wakes up to find Sakura's soulless body in a magical sakura tree which heals the wound Fay gave her. This puts Syaoran at ease for the time being until the arrival of Seishirō, who had sensed Fay's vampire blood. He then goes into battle against his clone's former teacher, proving he too has learned from him by looking through The Clone during his captivity. Before the fight, Seishirō remarks how much Syaoran is like his father, referring to Syaoran's true father and not Fujitaka. Syaoran enters this fight to get back the feather from Outo country. After Syaoran unleashed his ultimate spell (all four of his elemental spells combined) on Seishirō, he reclaimed the feather and was sent into the Dream alone to rescue Sakura's soul.

Within the Dream, Syaoran found Sakura and encounterd The Clone, who had just entered, looking for feathers. The Clone sensed the feather from him and both of them quickly summon their respective blades. The Clone attacked both Syaoran and Sakura, despite Sakura's pleas for The Clone to stop. Syaoran then placed Sakura in a protective wind barrier and then announced to The Clone that since they are one in the same, he will end their dispute once and for all.

As they both reach to grab the feather and strike each other, Sakura gets in the way and saves him from being stabbed by The Clone. As he screamed out in horror, she told him that she was not the real Sakura, merely a clone [a clone of both body & soul]. The Clone Sakura said to the real Syaoran, "Your Sakura is waiting", then she falls into the arms the Clone and confesses her love for him.

After that, Syaoran fell down as he was released from the black goop that invaded the area for the short time Kyle appeared. Fay rushed over to help Syaoran up and then Syaoran glares hard after Fay informs them that The Clone disappeared.

After this, the clone situation regarding Sakura is explained further. Syaoran asks Yuuko to tell them where both of the Sakuras are. He then confidently remarks: "I'll never allow Sakura to die". Kurogane, Fay, and Mokona then agree to help him on what appears to be their final stop. Of course Yuuko says there is a price, which has already been paid for by Watanuki. He paid his memories of his past which is why when he was in the Dream World with Sakura's clone soul he didn't remember his parents' names at all. It was paid beforehand.

He later then sits on a roof remembering Sakura and thanks Fay for being a form of a big brother to her. When the group prepares to leave, Fay and Kurogane wearing their original outfits, Syaoran makes an appearance. The surprise is what he is wearing: the clothes from Clow Country, which Clone Syaoran has only worn beforehand in Tsubasa. Mokona mentions "Those clothes.." and Yūko continues on to say that they are Syaoran's clothes that she had held on to. As well, it should be noted that the outfit 'Syaoran' is wearing is exactly the same as the controversial scene from the beginning of Tsubasa, with 'Syaoran' and Original Sakura separated in a tube. This leads to assumption that 'Syaoran' is about to meet Original Sakura in the tube later. He, Kurogane and Fay then depart to Clow country to save Sakura.

Events prior to the main storyline

In a flashback, "Syaoran" is revealed to be the son of individuals also named "Sakura" and "Syaoran". He was sent to Yuko by his father because his mother had a prophetic dream of someone waiting for him. His mother pays the price to allow him to travel to Clow Country, and he then meets Princess Sakura there. He was told by Yuko he would only be able to remain there for seven days before he was transported back to his world: after that, Syaoran would have to make a choice. Syaoran always gives his name as "Li Syaoran", which is his father's name. His sword is also revealed to be his father's original jian sword. His father gave it to him before he was sent to Clow Country.

Nadeshiko and Fujitaka (Sakura's parents) claim that both "Syaoran" and "Sakura" will change each other's destiny

Later, Sakura takes Syaoran up to the top of the castle, to show him the stars. Her eyes suddenly go blank, and her body rises up in the air - she hears the sound of bells coming from the ruins (similar to what happened in chapter 1).She warns him it's too dangerous, and to stay back; although Syaoran doesn't know what it could be that is dangerous.

Syaoran is aware that something bad is going to happen on the 7th day, and he has been granted permission to go to the cleansing grounds with Sakura on that day; in order to protect her. The cleansing grounds have permitted his presence, so he is able to enter - even though nobody else (not even the priest) is allowed in the 7th day.

During the seventh day, Syaoran enters the Ruins with Sakura, who seems to remember nothing of the previous night's vision. When inside the Ruins, Fei Wang opens a rift and attempts to abduct Sakura, but the water protects her. Syaoran runs towards Sakura, yelling at her to open her eyes, before screaming her name. Syaoran suddenly remembers how he cannot touch her, and hesistates. Fei Wang tells Syaoran that his moment's hesitation right there decided his path from here on. Black "goop" forms the shape of wings around Sakura, sealing the "Seal of Death" onto Sakura. When the seal fully covers her body, 'that moment will be the last'. A furious Syaoran asks him as he has to do on Sakura and uses his spell Raitei Shourai on Fei Wang. Fei Wang quickly counters, knocking Syaoran to the ground using just a finger. At the end of the chapter, Syaoran is seen disappearing back into his home world, uttering Sakura's name.

In chapter 197, Syaoran was returned to Yuko's shop dying (he used his strength to stop the dimension traveling). Syaoran was cured by Yuko with a price which his father paid. But then, Syaoran wished to go to Clow country to remove the seal of death in Sakura. Yuko's price is that Syaoran would never go back to Japan while there exists none in Clow Country who can cross dimensions. At the end of the chapter, Syaoran agreed thus, leaving his family and the happiness he is bearing.

When Syaoran arrives back in Clow Country, he is reunited with Sakura. Seven days have past since the cleansing finished. Beginning to tear up after seeing the seal on her chest, he grabs her hand and pulls her close into an embrace. Sakura blushes madly, but eventually hugs him back. They are shown holding hands, until Syaoran has a talk with Sakura's mother, and Sakura goes off to tell her father of Syaoran's arrival. Although Sakura's mother explains that she can only see the seal of death, Syaoran claims that he can see it as well - most likely what Fei Wang Reed intended. Enraged with Fei Wang Reed, Syaoran states that he will search the country for a way to remove the seal, and won't allow Sakura to die.

The next flashback occurs seven years after. Syaoran returns from visiting another country, trying to find a way to remove the seal. The scenes shown here are almost identical to the scenes shown in the first chapter, but instead of picking up a photo of Fujitaka, Syaoran picks up a photo of his parents, just as Sakura arrives. The two talk for a while, with Sakura about to tell Syaoran something, before deciding that it can wait until her birthday. As she leaves, Syaoran notices the black wings have almost fully grown.

In the next chapter, Syaoran went to the castle. He was chatting with the royal family when Sakura came(she had done the cleansing). Just then, Sakura was enveloped by her black wings. Syaoran and Sakura's mother were the only ones who saw the black wings, so Sakura's mother stopped the time to give Syaoran enough time to stop the seal.

Syaoran in xxxHolic

Syaoran appears in xxxHolic in two forms, a clone self and his real self. The clone self appears throughout both the xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle timelines via Mokona, who acts as a communication apparatus for Yūko.

The real Syaoran enters the xxxHolic manga storyline in Volume 9, when he visits Yūko after being freed by Xing Huo. In order to travel to the world where his clone is currently located, Syaoran pays with "the relationship", "the freedom" and "the time" (aka the time he spent in captivity, and the relationship with Sakura paid by the other Syaoran). It is later revealed that Syaoran was one of three people who paid a price (i.e. his freedom and time) to Yūko in order to save Watanuki's life after he had fallen out of a window.

In Chapter 140, Watanuki realizes he cannot remember his parents' names, and holds his head in pain, in the exact same way as Syaoran in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Syaoran is also shown telling Watanuki, "Don't disappear." What exactly this connection means has not yet been revealed.

In Chapter 146, a hand was hovering behind Sakura. Watanuki runs towards her, and the real Syaoran enters, indicating that that hand was the real Syaoran's hand. He comments that it is a dream, when suddenly, cherry blossoms begin to blow rapidly. A second hand appears, and before Watanuki is able to run to Sakura, the cherry blossoms slowly cloud his vision. The real Syaoran, as he holds Sakura, says to Watanuki, "No matter how painful it might be... I'll do everything in my might! So please..." Unfortunately, Watanuki does not hear the rest as he awakens in his own world.

In Chapter 174 of Tsubasa, it is revealed that Syaoran says, "So please... you, too, act according to what you believe in!"

In Chapter 181 of Tsubasa, it was revealed that Watanuki paid for the price to know the location for both of the Sakuras, his price was his memories of his past. That's why when he was in the Dream World with Sakura's clone soul he forgot his parents' names when Sakura asked something about his parents. Watanuki did this to pay back Syaoran after he paid a price to help save him when he fell out the window.

In Chapter 201 of Tsubasa, during Syaoran's flashback explaining his travel in time in order to save Sakura (among other concepts), a key piece of information is revealed about the relationship between Syaoran and Watanuki. According to the chapter, Watanuki was created in order to fill the time Syaoran turned back and to fill in the void left by the relationships that Syaoran paid as his price to travel back in time. Watanuki is, in essence, "another Syaoran", as it is said by Fei Wong Reed to Syaoran that "He is no brother. He is you yourself." Watanuki becomes the son of Syaoran's true parents, as Syaoran's relationship with them was sacrificed. Fei Wong Reed says that the "distortion" between Syaoran and Watanuki would cause pain to both Syaoran's parents and Watanuki himself; however, Yūko contradicts him by saying that the future has yet to be ordained.

Spells

In Tsubasa Chronicle, "Syaoran" has more power and more control over his spells than his father had, such as using wind-based magic to fly and create protective barriers. He also appears to have a spell that is a combination of all four of his spells; whether it has a specific incantation or if it is a summoning of four spells separately to attack in unison is still unknown. He also does not need the paper seals to perform the spells. One reason to him seeming to be more powerful may be because he is older in this story than his father was in Cardcaptor Sakura. It is possible that his powers are greater because he was born from the magical lineages of both Syaoran and Sakura from Cardcapter Sakura.

"Syaoran's" incantations and spells from Tsubasa: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE:
Lightning Based		Raitei Shourai!	Wind Based		Fuuka Shourai!
Fire Based		Kashin Shourai!	Water Based		Suiryuu Shourai!

Trivia

• In The Hanshin Republic of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran's kudan is identical to the mashin Rayearth of Magic Knight Rayearth.
• Syaoran Li's cross-dressing in Cardcaptor Sakura, where he played the role of Sleeping Beauty in a play, is repeated by the clone in Tsubasa when Syaoran stays with the performing Troupe in episode 33 and 34, and also in the manga.
• The original Syaoran summons and uses his father's Jian sword in the manga, as well as his trademark "Shourai" spells.
• Seishirō, in Tsubasa chapter 170, remarks that the real Syaoran is just like his father. Who Syaoran's real father is remained a mystery until the release of chapter 189, which revealed that the real Syaoran's parents are Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li.
• There is a contrast between "Syaoran" and Watanuki in that when entering Yuko's shop, Watanuki gives his real name (and hence birthday, Watanuki (四月一日)is written as April first), which in Clamp lore offers Yuko control of his destiny, whereas "Syaoran" gives a fake name. The scenes where they meet Yuko are very similar in most other respects (i.e Yuko's outfit, Maro and Moru's behaviour). Likewise, the scenes of both Watanuki and Syaoran recovering in Yuko's bed after their respective accidents are visibly similar.