Syaoran Li

Syaoran Li
'Cardcaptor Sakura Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle xxxHolic' character
First appearance	Episode seven (Jpn CCS), Episode one (Eng Cardcaptors), Chapter six (CCS manga) Episode one (Tsubasa anime), Chapter one (Tsubasa manga) Chapter eight (xxxHolic manga)
Created by	Clamp
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Relatives	Meiling Li (cousin & ex-fiancé in CCS anime) Clow Reed Yelan Li (mother) Fanren, Fuutie, Feimei, Shiefa Li (sisters) Wang Wei (guardian in CCS anime)

Template:Chinese name Syaoran Li (李 小狼, Japanese: Ri Syaoran, Chinese pinyin Lǐ Xiǎoláng), is a fictional character in Clamp's manga and anime series Cardcaptor Sakura. He is known as Li Showron in the English adaptation, Cardcaptors. He is voiced by Motoko Kumai in Cardcaptor Sakura and by Miyu Irino in Tsubasa Chronicle. In Cardcaptors, he is voiced by Rhys Huber in Season 1, Jordan Kilik in Season 2, and by Mona Marshall in the 2nd Movie. He is voiced by Miyu Irino and Jason Liebrecht in Tsubasa Chronicle.

Syaoran is also the protagonist in Clamp's crossover manga series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and its subsequent anime, Tsubasa Chronicle. His characterization here is mostly independent of his characterization in Cardcaptor Sakura and is discussed further below.

Syaoran has also appeared in Clamp's xxxHolic.

Character

Voiced by Motoko Kumai in the anime, Syaoran is a distant relative of Clow Reed, the creator of the Clow Cards. As a member of the Li clan of sorcerers from Hong Kong, of which Clow's mother was a member, Syaoran believes that he should be the one to inherit the Clow Cards, not Sakura Kinomoto. He first appears as an antagonist in the story, capturing a few cards for himself in the anime (though none in the manga). As the series progresses, and especially after Sakura is officially deemed the new master of the Cards, Syaoran drops his rivalistic attitude towards her and becomes her ally and friend, eventually falling in love with her and blushing at practically every sight of her. However, Sakura is completely oblivious to these feelings and thinks of him simply as a close friend.

Syaoran is shown, or at least implied, to be an excellent martial artist, swordsman (using a Chinese jian), and sorcerer. His magical abilities are centered around elemental spells using his sword or a collection of ofuda.

Although he claims certain Clow Cards for himself in the anime, Syaoran does not actually capture any Cards, as the act of capturing can only be performed using Sakura's sealing wand. However, if Syaoran has played a major role in weakening or cornering the Card entity prior to its capture, credit for the capture is awarded to him (as the materialized Card floats autonomously to its owner after capture). While Sakura writes her name in rōmaji on the Clow Cards, Syaoran writes his name in chinese characters.

Before his relationship with Sakura, Syaoran found himself attracted to Yukito Tsukishiro, often blushing madly and abruptly running away at the sight of him. While Sakura also harboured a crush on Yukito, Syaoran would compete with her for his affections, usually by getting him a better present, making him better food, or giving the better compliment. As he shows no interest in Sakura in the first season, the impression is given that he and Sakura are rivals, for the cards and for love. It is discovered later that Syaoran was actually magically attracted to the magical energies of the moon which were residing within Yukito as Syaoran drew his magical power from the moon. Sakura, although she was drawn to a person that housed "power", was truly in love with Yukito, stated by Kero (or Cerberus) in episode 51 (Sakura and the big teddy bear).

Syaoran and Cerberus often fight in the series, where Syaoran often calls him a "plush toy", or a "stuffed animal", while Cerberus retorts with patronizing terms like "kid" (小僧, kozō).

A major change to Syaoran's character in Cardcaptors involves elevating Li Showron to become the male lead character, rather than a supporting character for Sakura in Cardcaptor Sakura. Here, Li is also referred to as a Cardcaptor, while he has no such title in the original series, as Cerberus never selected him, as well as having no initial ability to seal cards for himself.

Incantations

All of Syaoran's spells are elemental based and are pretty straight forward. In order to do them he needs to use paper seals.

However, in Tsubasa Chronicle, Syaoran has more powerful and more control over his spells; as in using Wind based magic to fly and create protective barriers. He also appears to have a spell which is a combination of all four of his spells; whether or not it has a specific incantation or he just summons his four spells separately to attack in unison is still unknown. He also does not need the paper seals to do them.

To use fire-based magic:				To use wind-based magic:
CCS		God of Fire, Answer my call!	火神招来	CCS		Petals of Wind, Answer my call!	風華招来
CC		Element, Fire! come to my aid		CC		Element, Wind! come to my aid
To use lightning-based magic:				To use water-based magic:
CCS		Emperor of Thunder, Answer my call!	雷帝招来	CCS		Dragon of Water, Answer my call!	水龍招来
CC		Element, Thunder! come to my aid		CC		Element, Water! come to my aid
Syaoran's lazin board (clow compass) incantation:
CCS		Imperial king of gods, Your divinity watches over the four corners Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, Thunder, wind, lightning, Whirling blade of light, I summon thee!	玉帝有勅 神硯四方 金木水火土 雷風 雷電神勅 軽磨霹靂 電光転 急々如律令!	CC		Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within. Oracles of gold, wood, water, fire, earth, cloud, wind, rain, and electricity. Force, know my plight. Release the light!
Syaoran's incantations and spells from Tsubasa Chronicle:
Lightning Based		Raitei Shourai!	Wind Based		Fuuka Shourai!
Fire Based		Kashin Shourai!	Water Based		Suiryuu Shourai!

Relationship with Sakura

File:SyaoranSakura01.jpg

Syaoran and Sakura, with teddy bears.

Syaoran first meets Sakura at school on his first day as an exchange student from Hong Kong. His seat is behind Sakura, an ideal position for the many grueling stares that he gives her throughout the next few manga chapters and anime episodes. That same day, he confronts her about the Clow Cards, claiming that he is the one destined to inherit them.

This attitude continues throughout the first season of the anime where Syaoran constantly tries to capture new Clow Cards before she can, often stating facts about the Cards and about Card-capturing in a condescending manner. Although he would appear to do anything it takes to get the Cards, Syaoran never acts or fights dishonorably (i.e. stealing Cards from Sakura or injuring her in order to get ahead). Syaoran, despite the fact that he acquired far fewer cards than Sakura, still succeeds in capturing the Time, Storm, Return, Dash, Freeze, Dream, Sand and Twin. As Sakura and Syaoran continue to meet whenever a Card-capturing situation arises, they begin to work together and combine their efforts, although he still tries to win the Card in the end. Additionally, starting halfway through the first season, Syaoran begins to blush occasionally when he comes face to face with Sakura, usually after she smiles or makes a sweet comment.

In season one, he considered her an annoying rival. In season two, they are on friendly terms. In the later episodes of this series, he is developing a crush on her. In season three, he takes a more serious interest in Sakura. By this time, he finally sees Sakura's good qualities shining above all her faults and insecurities.

After the Final Judgment, Sakura is declared the new master of the Cards, leaving Syaoran essentially a failure. At the start of the third season, Syaoran plans on returning home to Hong Kong until newcomer Eriol Hiiragizawa comes along and starts (toyingly) charming Sakura. At this point in the series, Syaoran's feelings toward Sakura have slowly changed from that of rivalry to that of an elementary school crush. Sakura's consistently cheerful attitude and warm smiles cause more and more blushes on Syaoran's cheeks. Much to his surprise, Syaoran finds himself jealous over the fact that another student is getting too close to Sakura, and he in turn stays in Tomoeda for the remainder of the school year.

Season three of the anime is when the plot makes a stronger shift towards the development of Syaoran and Sakura's relationship. Though Sakura is still dealing with strange occurrences and using the Cards, each episode gradually puts more emphasis on the growth of this relationship, including Tomoyo Daidōji's involvement in giving Syaoran advice plus one particular dramatic scene in episode 60 involving Syaoran's then-fiancée, Meiling Li. Syaoran finds himself in more and more blushing situations, including those in which he is on the brink of confessing his feelings to Sakura but is always interrupted (often in a comical way) just before he utters the climactic syllable.

Syaoran finally personally confesses he is in love with her face-to-face at the end of the next-to-last episode of the series, 69. The news comes as a major surprise to Sakura, who had always just viewed Syaoran as a close friend. Sakura broods over the thought of it throughout all of episode 70, which ends with Syaoran planning to leave Tomoeda for Hong Kong, forever. Sakura hears about his unannounced leave just in time to run to find him at the airport. He is holding (after his caretaker, Wei, hands it to him) a homemade teddy bear, which he had considered giving to Sakura but never found the right chance.

Instead, Sakura asks if she could have the bear in his arms. There is a tradition stated in the series (it is not an actual Japanese tradition) that when one person gives another a personally-made plush, if the receiver names the plush after its creator (the giver in this case), then both people will be together forever. Sakura is never seen giving a name to the bear, but the symbolism of her accepting his bear is enough to suggest that Sakura returns the feelings, despite how sudden they appeared.

The TV series concludes there, a cliffhanger of sorts for the upcoming release of the second movie, which finalizes the Sakura and Syaoran relationship in the anime. Set over summer break, Syaoran returns from Hong Kong for a short visit to Tomoeda. After having time to think about it, Sakura feels that she does love Syaoran back but is shy about confessing her feelings to him. Sakura wishes to tell him in person instead of writing a letter, because Syaoran had confessed his feelings in person (albeit quite randomly) and she wants to answer him the same way. The second movie goes through several situations where Sakura is just a moment away from uttering the next word after "Syaoran, I..." when something else interrupts her. In climactic fashion, Sakura finally completes her sentence in the last few lines of the movie, although she believes that his feelings had been negated by The Void; however, thanks to the intervention of the nameless card, they were not, and Syaoran smiles, accepts, and returns the feelings. Thus ending the series with the two together, at last.

The manga concludes the development of their relationship differently, as there is no movie for which to create a cliffhanger. Instead of after a major battle as in the anime, Syaoran finds a quiet moment in Penguin Park to confess to Sakura. Sakura again is left in a mild state of shock as she tries to absorb the words, while Syaoran, content after revealing his feelings, leaves for home.

This occurs near the beginning of volume 12, and the remainder of the volume details Sakura's quiet thoughts about the situation and her reanalysis of her feelings for Syaoran. Here in the manga, Syaoran also is planning to return to Hong Kong, prompting Sakura to hurry to the bus station to confess her feelings. She has the teddy bear that she made and successfully gives it to Syaoran through the window before the bus begins moving. She also confesses her feelings right there, asking to call the bear he gave her "Syaoran" after he asks to name hers "Sakura". As the bus begins driving away, Syaoran tells Sakura to wait for him until he is finished with his tasks in Hong Kong.

Some time passes, and Sakura is seen in a secondary school uniform, obviously older, preparing to leave for school. Along the way, she meets Syaoran, who is also dressed in a Tomoeda secondary school uniform. Syaoran is happy to announce that he is through with his duties in Hong Kong and is now in Tomoeda to stay. There would be no more need for letters and phone calls; they can both be, in Sakura's words, "together forever".

First-name addressing

Common courtesy and respect in Japan dictate that people should address each other by their family names, with the addition of an honorific (-san, -sama, -kun) if necessary. Addressing on a given-name basis is mostly reserved for family members or very close friends. A significant moment in Syaoran's developing relationship with Sakura is his shift to addressing her as "Sakura", coupled with Sakura progressing from "Li-kun" to "Syaoran-kun."

Syaoran's case is slightly unusual in that, prior to the "Sakura" address, he has never called her "Kinomoto" or "Kinomoto-san" (the only two times he even says that name are in Episode 12 when he takes some time realizing that Fujitaka Kinomoto is Sakura's father, and in episode 40 when he comments how "Kinomoto is rather level-headed", although that was Sakura's dream and not the real Syaoran). In conversation, he usually omits the address and just begins speaking, using "Hey" or "You" on rare occasions. Sakura is often attentive of him whenever he speaks, so his lack of address is not usually noticed or viewed as awkward. For Syaoran's character, such a shift from no address to first-name address marks a very notable change in his feelings.

In the manga, Syaoran first says (yells) Sakura's name after losing his grip and dropping her into an abyss while battling The Earthy. Sakura is saved by Cerberus, but Sakura is happy nevertheless that he addressed her as such. She smiles innocently and asks if she could call him "Syaoran-kun" in return. In a fit of blushes, he eventually stammers, "Sure, do as you like." This occurs in Volume 6, just before the halfway point in the series.

In the anime, Syaoran does not use Sakura's name until the middle of season three in Episode 57, "Sakura, Syaoran, and the Elevator". In a similar fashion, Syaoran fails to save Sakura before she falls into a bottomless pit and screams her name in anguish as a result. Moments later, Sakura is seen returning to safety riding on The Float. Syaoran is so relieved that she is okay that he immediately stands up and hugs her, and mumbles "I'm so glad."; his reaction surprises Sakura somewhat.

At the end of the day, Sakura makes a phone call to Syaoran thanking him for his help that day and mentioning that his calling her "Sakura" made her happy, that it made her feel like they've become good friends. She asks if she can address him as "Syaoran-kun" in return. Even on the phone, he blushes and can only stammer, "Do as you like," which is Syaoran's indirect way of saying "Yes". This was also the episode Syaoran fully understood and accepted the fact that he had indeed fallen in love with Sakura. While Sakura adds a "kun" to the end of Syaoran's name, Syaoran simply addresses her as "Sakura" without a title. Syaoran seldom addresses Sakura with her name, still sticking to the usual "Hey" or "You." It is stated by Tomoyo in volume 9 of the manga, the reason behind this is because Syaoran really loves Sakura, very, very much.

Syaoran in Tsubasa

In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran is a archaeologist who is excavating ruins in the country of Clow and the adopted son of Fujitaka. In the anime, he is voiced by Miyu Irino in Japanese, and in English by Jason Liebrecht. Other than having a completely different family line, Syaoran is very mature and polite, unlike his more arrogant incarnation in Cardcaptor Sakura. However, he still maintains the overtly serious streak, which often makes him believe in almost anything, making him come off as a greatly gullible person.

In the series, Syaoran is shown to be an excellent fighter, centered around his devastating kicks (taught to him by Seishirou Sakurazuka. This is to compensate for his lack of reliable depth perception due to being blind in his right eye. He was later trained to sense attacks coming from the left by Kurogane). He is also an experienced archaeologist, with the attendant skills and experience of a hardened adventurer somewhat reminiscent of Indiana Jones. In Outo, he receives a sword named Hien ("scarlet flame"), whose blade can be made to burst into flame, and is trained in swordsmanship by Kurogane. In the Tsubasa Character Guide, Syaoran's fighting abilities are given a score of 380/500, only 20 points behind Fai and making him the third-strongest fighter at the start of the series.

Clone Syaoran: "The Clone"

He was found by Fujitaka as a young child without any memories. Fujitaka thus named him and introduced him to the princess of Clow (Princess Sakura). The two became very close friends, Sakura going so far as to give Syaoran a birthday (her own, April 1st) when she discovers he does not remember his. It is shown that they love each other romantically, though both of them hide their true feelings.

One day, Sakura displays mystical powers, but in the process she loses her memories, which are scattered through different worlds in the form of feathers. The loss of her memories puts her life at risk, forcing Syaoran to go on a journey across many dimensions in order to find them and save her. In order to travel from dimension to dimension, he must sacrifice his most valuable possession: his current relationship with Sakura. Even if Sakura were to get all her feathers back, she would never remember how she felt about Syaoran before.

File:Tc calendar.jpg

(clone) Syaoran and Sakura on the cover of the Tsubasa Chronicle 2006 calendar.

It is later revealed that this Syaoran was actually a clone of the tattooed fiqure imprisoned in Fei Wong's fortress. Fei Wong's intention was to use the clone to collect all of Sakura's feathers for himself, but the original Syaoran gave half of his own heart (his left eye) to the Clone and put a seal on the Clone's right eye. Fei Wong did not care if the Clone had feelings, as long as he had the determination to get the feathers, and let the child go without removing Syaoran's alterations. Everything had been going as he had planned until he was met with interference by Yuko.

Once the original Syaoran, a distant relative of Clow Reed, broke free from Fei Wong's hands, the Clone's right eye seal also broke (which is the reason why the Clone's right eye was blind). As The Clone's heart did not actually belong to him but to Syaoran, this means the feelings for Sakura and his companions were actually the original's. Although Syaoran had hoped The Clone had developed feelings of his own after his long journey, The Clone became a ruthless being apparently without any feelings or heart, hurting his former friends mentally and physically (including Fay D. Flourite whose left eye (the source of Fai's magic) was removed and consumed by The Clone in order to eliminate anyone from interfering with the collection of feathers. With this he became capable of sight through its right eye (which turned blue) and also gained the ability to use fire based magic similar to Fai's. Once he collected all of Sakura's feathers in Tokyo, The Clone left behind his former companions.

After the Tokyo arc, The Clone (now known in the series as "The Clone") is briefly seen in a world he single handedly destroyed to find a single feather.

The Clone then entered the dream world to battle Syaoran for the feather he was using to save Sakura's soul. They began fighting despite Sakura's pleas for them to stop. Seishiro (who is now on friendly terms with everyone) has stated to the others that the more The Clone uses his new right eye, the more powerful he will become. This is shown as he overpowered Syaoran's lightning spell with his fire spell. With Syaoran incapacitated, The Clone moved to eliminate both him and Sakura, with Fei Wong commenting that he only needs the girl's body and not her soul. Though The Clone wounded her shoulder, he was incapable of completely killing her, stopping his sword just inches above her head, much to his surprise. At the same time, Yūko makes a comments that even though the heart can sometimes forget, the body will continue to remember, implying that The Clone's own body is refusing to harm his former childhood friend.

Being unable to harm Sakura, The Clone decided to take the feather that Syaoran placed within himself. This quickly prompts them to start battling over the feather. As he and Syaoran jump to grab it/strike each other, Sakura gets in the way and prevents The Clone from killing Syaoran by sacrificing herself. Before she dies, she informs both that she is just like The Clone, and that the real Sakura is waiting for Syaoran. She then falls into The Clone's arms and confesses that even though they were both created she still loved him, and as long as the Real Sakura and the Real Syaoran live, "it won't end". The meaning to this is not clear yet. The Clone Sakura then disintegrates completely into cherry blossom petals, right in The Clone's arms. The whole time, The Clone has a blank look on his face, somewhat surprised. Upon her disintegrating, one of the leftover sakura petals appear in his hand, and he grabs onto it; screaming a silent scream. After this, The Clone apparently disappears but it is not known where to.

The Original: "Syaoran"

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). 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. He reveals he has a distant relation to Clow Reed (distant enough where this doesn't interfere with his relationship with Sakura)

After leaving Yūko, Syaoran meets up with Sakura and the gang and tries to stop his clone from harming his friends. However, he arrives too late, as The Clone already began his assault. He then reveals that he was watching and learning everything during his captivity through The Clone's blind eye, revealing that he was, in a sense, with the group the entire time, and that he knows everything The Clone knows (from archaeology to Seishirō's training). Before the battle begins, Syaoran reclaims his heart from The Clone and regained vision in his left eye. After releasing lightning based magic on his clone, Syaoran moves to finish The Clone off but Sakura's pleas for him to stop (she was unaware of the situation) halted him long enough for The Clone to stab him in the leg. The Clone then roughly shoves a feather into Sakura and moves on to the next dimension, leaving Syaoran on the ground unable to stand.

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. He cares deeply for Sakura, and knowing that she loves his clone saddens him. Because he is a good person, he tries his best to keep his romantic feelings towards her quiet, as to not trouble her anymore. This goes against Kurogane's wishes as he wanted Syaoran to get close to her so she wouldn't feel alone.

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, causing 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. They 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. 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 finds Sakura and encountered 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.

Both Syaoran and The Clone began with an exchange of sword blows and powerful kicks. Sakura's pleas for them to stop fell on deaf ears as The Clone grows more powerful and Syaoran was somewhat distracted trying to protect her from it. Syaoran and The Clone then released lightning and fire-based spells, respectively, towards each other, destroying everything in their blasts' path. The Clone's growing power then affected his fire spell, which then became too powerful for Syaoran's lightning spell. Syaoran took a painful blow as Sakura tearfully screamed out his name in horror as he was incompassed in flames. It should be noted that she does not call him "Syaoran-kun", which is what she calls the Clone and Syaoran prior to the fight, but rather screams out "Syaoran" without the suffix. This is very important, as she only called the Clone "Syaoran" before she lost her memories, and by dropping the suffix it indicates something of deeper meaning- It may be as simple as she accepts him, or it could be she recognizes him as the original. She first called him "Syaoran-kun" back in Infinity.

As The Clone moved in to kill him, The Clone decided to take the feather that Syaoran placed within himself (thus how he entered the dream world) but Syaoran awoke and struggled for the feather. The feather transports both back to Nihon Country. After this, both Syaoran and The Clone began what might have been their final battle.

As they both reach to grab the feather/strike each other, Sakura got in the way and saved him from being stabbed by The Clone. As he screamed out in horror she told him she is not the real Sakura, she is just a 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 fels down as he has been released from the black goop that invaded the area for the short time Kyle appeared. Fay rushes 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, Fai, and Mokona then agree to help him on what appears to be their final stop. Of course Yuuko says there is a price, which was already been payed for by Watanuki. He payed his memories of his past that's why when he was in the Dream World with Sakura's clone soul he didn't renember his parents' names at all. It was payed beforehand because he wanted to pay back the real Syaoran for saving his life when he fell out the window.

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!"

Trivia

CCS

• Syaoran's cross-dressing in Cardcaptor Sakura, where he played the role of Sleeping Beauty in a play, is repeated in Tsubasa when he stays with the performing Troupe in episode 33 and 34.
• Syaoran has a mother named Yelan Li who is mentioned a few times in the anime, but was finally introduced in the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie.
• Syaoran's father is said he is deceased. Whether or not his father had any magical attributes is unknown. He apparently was responsible for the family's wealth. In Tsubasa Chonicle, Seishiro states that Syaoran looks like him.
• Syaoran has also four older sisters who seem to have an affinity for all things cute. They were introduced only in the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie.

Tsubasa

• In The Hanshin Republic of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran's kudan is identical to the mashin Rayearth of Magic Knight Rayearth.
• The original Syaoran in Tsubasa is seen summoning and using Syaoran Li's sword in the manga, as well as his trademark technique "Shourai" spells.
• Seishirō, in Tsubasa chapter 170, remarks that the real Syaoran is just like his father. Who's Syaoran real father remains a mystery.