Syaoran (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle) - Appearances

Appearances

Syaoran is introduced in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle as a young archaeologist who often visits the Kingdom of Clow, and is in love with his childhood friend Sakura, the kingdom's princess. He is the adopted son of the late archeologist Fujitaka, who found the young Syaoran in the street with no memories of his past. Syaoran often accompanied his father on expeditions, and following his father's death, he lived alone while continuing his father's job. After Sakura's memories are scattered throughout many dimensions in the form of feathers, Syaoran meets the witch Yūko Ichihara, who gives him and her other clients, Fai D. Flowright and Kurogane, Mokona Modoki. Mokona Modoki is a creature that is able to transport them to different dimensions. Syaoran pays Yūko for the use of Mokona with all of Sakura's memories that involved him. Nevertheless, throughout the journey he starts bonding with Sakura again, while also forming friendships with his companions Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona. Syaoran specializes in a hand-to-hand style primarily focused on kicks as taught by hunter Seishirō during his childhood as he had problems distinguishing the distance from people attacking him as he was blind from his right eye. He later trains with Kurogane to remove his weakness by training while blindfolded. He is also taught swordsmanship by Kurogane in order to become a stronger fighter, and he gains Hien (緋炎?, lit. "Scarlet Flame"), a sword with magical properties that allow it to create fire.

It is eventually revealed that Syaoran is a clone of another teenager. Syaoran was created by the sorcerer Fei-Wang Reed in order to find Sakura's feathers no matter who he kills in the process. The original Syaoran managed to place some of his "heart" within the clone's right eye, which allowed the clone to develop a personality of his own. After the seal breaks, Syaoran loses all his emotions and is used by Fei-Wang to collect feathers throughout dimensions on his own, betraying all of his friends. He becomes ignorant of any type of pain, which makes him ruthless and a strong opponent. Before leaving his former friends, he devours Fai's left eye to gain his own magic powers, which grow stronger every time he uses them. When fighting his original self, Syaoran destroys Sakura's soul, revealed as another clone, who asks him to recover his heart just before disappearing. Despite being shocked by this, Syaoran is once again emotionless when the original Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai go to fight against Fei-Wang. In the course of the battle, Syaoran betrays Fei-Wang to help his original self kill him. When Fei-Wang tries to kill the original Syaoran, the clone intervenes and is impaled by his sword. As his body is about to be destroyed, Syaoran apologizes to all his friends, including the original Syaoran, leaving only the eye he took from Fai.

Yūko later rebuilds Syaoran's body alongside Sakura's using the remnants they left after their apparent deaths. As neither could properly die, Yūko grants them a wish to be reborn as normal humans, which Syaoran accepts as Sakura tells him she wishes to stay with him. As both grow up as normal humans, the two are able to meet and live together. He and Sakura have a son who is revealed to be the original Syaoran, creating a time paradox. Because they realize that all the previous events would be repeated and in the end their son would not be able to save the original Sakura, the two seal themselves inside a glass tube, which remains hidden in Yūko's shop. Being reborn as a descendant from the sorcerer Clow Reed, Syaoran and Sakura, after breaking free from the tube, use their new powers to help their friends defeat Fei-Wang. However, as their creator dies, Syaoran and Sakura vanish, leaving two feathers that merge within their original selves' bodies.

Syaoran also appears in other adaptations from Tsubasa including its animated film The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom in which he still travels with Sakura, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona across dimensions. He is also a playable character in the two Nintendo DS video games from Tsubasa. In the drama CD series, The Matinée of the Palace, Syaoran's group perform a play that reenacts the series' story while searching for one of Sakura's feathers. Outside Tsubasa, Syaoran also makes various appearances in Clamp's manga xxxHolic which shows some events happening in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. He does not appear in the animated adaptions of xxxHolic until the original video animations series xxxHolic Shunmuki in which he appears in the Dream World to confront the original Syaoran. In the spin-off drama CD series Holitsuba Gakuen, Syaoran is featured as a new student in the fictional school "Holitsuba" that features characters from Tsubasa and xxxHolic. While sharing various traits from his Tsubasa persona like his relationship with Sakura, he is also portrayed as the identical twin from the original Syaoran.