Cardcaptor Sakura characters
This article about Cardcaptor Sakura is part of the Cardcaptor Sakura group of articles.
Names are written using the Western naming order (given names first), with the original name listed first, followed by the name used in the Cardcaptors dubbed anime. Names are romanized according to the TOKYOPOP manga. The name romanized according to the Wikipedia:Manual of Style for Japan-related articles is notated in Japanese order next to the name in Japanese characters. In the case of the Syaoran Li (Shaoran Li in the uncut anime), the TOKYOPOP name is given first, with the actual pinyin notated. In Meiling Li's case, the pinyin in Western order is given first.
Main Characters
Sakura Kinomoto/Sakura Avalon
(木之本 桜 Kinomoto Sakura)
The protagonist of the series. Sakura is a student at Tomoeda Elementary School in Tomoeda (Cardcaptors calls the town Reedington). She is bright, upbeat, and determined, though somewhat innocent. She is very good at athletics and a member of the school's cheerleading club (though she has a tendency to drop the baton on her head when distracted), but hates mathematics. Initially she has a crush on Yukito, her older brother's best friend, but realizes the one she loves is actually Syaoran. Her birthday is April 1st, the same as her creators, CLAMP.
Sakura was originally going to be called "Nikki" in Cardcaptors; Nelvana kept her name as Sakura due to fan demand and the difficulty and expense of editing out numerous appearances of her name in rōmaji. In the English dub, stress is put on the "ku", while in Japanese the stress would be on the "sa".
Sakura is the main character of the series. While tidying her house up, she stumbled across 'The Clow Book' and releases all the 'Clow Cards' by accident. Her name 'Sakura' means 'Cherry Blossoms'.
Cerberus/Keroberos
(ケルベロス Keruberosu) (usually referred to as Kero-chan)
Cerberus is the Guardian of the Seal of the Clow until Sakura opens the book containing the Clow Cards and unleashes on the world. Kero is bossy, demanding, and gluttonous, but he also genuinely cares about Sakura, believes she will become the next Master of Clow, and acts as her guide to gather the cards. His hobbies include playing video games and eating snacks and sweets, despite the fact that he does not need to eat.
Due to the fact that The Clow had been in Osaka for a long time, Cerberus speaks in an Osaka accent. Cerberus appears in two different forms, the smaller of which is referred to as simply "Kero-chan" and resembles a stuffed animal. He is based on Cerberus, from Greek mythology. In the English anime Keroberos has a New York City accent. The older TOKYOPOP releases render his name as "Keroberos".
Tomoyo Daidouji/Madison Taylor
(大道寺 知世 Daidōji Tomoyo)
Tomoyo Daidouji is Sakura's best friend and distant cousin. She loves to design costumes for Sakura to wear and film all of Sakura's important moments. She is perceptive and sincere, always aware of her friends' feelings. She is the first to discover Sakura's magical abilities. She is an excellent singer, and a few episodes showcase this talent (the Song and Voice card episodes, and the episode in which Song is transformed). Tomoyo is extremely fond of Sakura, very much like her mother Sonomi was of Sakura's mother. Her birthday is September 3. In the English dub, Madison has a "Valley Girl" accent.
Puni Puni Poemy 's Futaba is often considered an over-the-top-parody of her.
Syaoran Li/Li Showron
(李 小狼 Lǐ Xiǎoláng or Li3 Xiao3lang2) (spelled Shaoran in the uncut anime, sounds similar to the name Lee Chaolan)
Syaoran is a student from Hong Kong who travels to Tomoeda in order to try to capture the Clow Cards. Like Sakura, he possesses magical powers and he is a descendant of Clow Reed, the magician who created the Clow Cards. At first he tries to bully Sakura out of the cards in her possession, much to her brother's displeasure, but later goes on to work with Sakura. He is initially attracted to Yukito, but is it revealed that he is actually attracted the magic of the moon Yukito carries. Unlike Sakura, he is does not trust anyone easily, especially those with magical powers like Kero (whom he calls "stuffed animal") and Kaho Mizuki. He eventually falls in love with Sakura and she comes to reciprocate. In the manga, he lives alone, while in the anime, he lives with Wei, one of the family butlers. His birthday is July 13.
One of the major changes made in Cardcaptors was to push Li so that he becomes a male lead character, rather than a supporting character in the original. In the manga, he did not manage to seal a single card and thus played no role in the final judgement. In Cardcaptors, Li is referred to as a Cardcaptor, while he is not referred to as such in the original (as Cerberus never selected him). In the older TOKYOPOP releases, his name was rendered in Chinese order (Li Syaoran).
Meiling Li/Meilin Rae
(李 苺鈴 Lǐ Méilíng or Li3 Mei2ling2)
Meiling is Syaoran's cousin and fiancée (a custom that is not uncommon in Asia, though becoming less so now), helping Syaoran capture the Clow Cards, much to Syaoran's displeasure. Although she has no magical abilities (a rarity for someone of her lineage), she believes that her physical talents would more than make up for it. Although initially jealous of Sakura, Meiling's feelings for Sakura changed later on. Meiling does not appear in the manga version. Her birthday is March 25.
Toya Kinomoto/Tori Avalon
(木之本 桃矢 Kinomoto Tōya) Sakura's older brother. He holds the belief that as Sakura's older brother, he was the only person entitled to make fun of her, a belief that his best friend Yukito refers to as a "sister complex". While he likes to tease her, he is extremely protective of his sister and dislikes Syaoran immediately. Though this dislike stems from Sakura and Syaoran's initial encounter, Toya continues to dislike Syaoran when he becomes friends with Sakura, subconsciously knowing that Syaoran will eventually take Sakura away from him. He is a perceptive young man and has had a rough idea as to what Sakura has been up to as a Cardcaptor, despite Sakura's attempts to keep it a secret.
He is often working, and a running gag in the series involves Sakura and Yukito running into him while at work -- which can happen virtually anywhere. Toya was born with some magical ability, and used to be able to see ghosts (including that of his late mother). He gives up his powers in order for Yue to sustain himself and prevent Yukito from fading away. Toya and Yukito are extremely close and there are strong hints that they are more than just close friends. He briefly dated Kaho Mizuki, but they broke up when she decided to move to England. His birthday is February 29.
Yukito Tsukishiro/Julian Star
(月城 雪兎 Tsukishiro Yukito)
Yukito is Toya's best friend, with similar athletic abilities to that of Toya. He moved to town at the start of grade 10 and he quickly became Toya's best friend. He is mildmannered and gentle and always kind to everyone else. Yukito has a very large appetite which is later explained; he eat to support both himself and his alter-ego, Yue. This becomes problematic later in the series when Sakura lacks the magical ability to support Yue and continue transforming the Clow Cards; Yukito begins to fade away until Toya gives him all his magical powers. He seems oblivious to Sakura's crush on him and sees her as a little sister. His birthday is December 25.
(月 Yuè or Yue4, ユエ), also spelled Yueh
Yue is the alter-ego of Yukito and the second Guardian of the Seal. While Keroberos acts as the elector, choosing a candidate to become the next Master of the Clow, Yue is the judge who will test the candidate. He is cold and aloof and much more serious and intimidating than his counterpart, Keroberos. He shared a special bond with Clow that makes it hard for him to accept Sakura as a "replacement" for his creator though he comes to accept her as a friend. Yue has jurisdiction over all things wind and water, the elements from which he draws his power. He may also call on the abilities of the cards under his protection.
Supporting Characters
Eriol Hiiragizawa/Eli Moon
(柊沢 エリオル Hiiragizawa Erioru)
Eriol is a student from England, and is one of the two reincarnations of Clow Reed, carry Clow's magical powers and memories. Eriol is force behind the strange events that occur in Tomoeda after Sakura has captured all the cards and is declared their mistress. While he initially appears antagonistic, he reveals that he was simply providing Sakura with the necessary conditions to tranform the Clow Cards to Sakura cards. He is in many ways, more elegant and refined than others of his age (largely due to possessing some of Clow's memories), but also because he is actually much older than he appears. He stopped himself from aging so that he could get near Sakura as a student in the second part of the series, and has been waiting for the right moment ever since. His birthday is March 23
It is also hinted that he has a romantic relationship with Kaho. This is verified at the end of the manga, but only hinted at in CCS: The 2nd Movie, in the short scene of him and Kaho together when he calls Sakura to warn her of the sealed card. In the anime, his sole purpose was to help Sakura in transforming all the clow cards into sakura cards, but he is portrayed as somewhat more self-serving in the manga. In the manga, his true objective was to make Sakura a more powerful magician than him, thus getting her to split his magic equally between him and Sakura's father, who was the other half of Clow's reincarnation, something he was unable to accomplish himself. With this, he is finally rid of his ability to foresee the future.
Spinel Sun
(スピネル・サン Supineru Sun)
Spinel is one of Eriol's guardians, and is Cerberus' counterpart. Whereas Kero tends to be mellow and energetic, Spinel is more calm and refined, and spends much of his time on-screen reading. Spinel gets "drunk" after eating snacks or sweets, and because of this, it has a certain distaste for it. Though it may be because Nakuru likes to force him sugar and cookies most of the time. Like Cerberus, Spinel has a smaller and larger form, and Spinel is often called Soupy (Suppi-chan, known in the English cartoon as "Spinner") by Nakuru in its smaller form, a fact which annoys him to no end.
Ruby Moon
(ルビー・ムーン Rubī Mūn)
Ruby is one of Eriol's guardians, and is Yue's counterpart. Despite the fact that she is technically genderless, she prefers dressing in women's clothes as it looks cuter. She also enjoys antagonizing her counterpart, Yue, in both true and "false" forms. In Cardcaptors, both forms share the name of Ruby.
Nakuru Akizuki/Ruby Moon
(秋月 奈久留 Akizuki Nakuru)
Nakuru is Ruby Moon's alternate form, and is a classmate of Toya and Yukito at Seijyu High School. She seems to be attracted to Toya due to his magical power, to the point that he finds her annoying. In Cardcaptors, both forms share the name of Ruby. She always distracts and annoys Toya intentionally, whenever he is about to tell Yukito that he knows he is Yue.
Kaho Mizuki/Layla Mackenzie
(観月 歌帆 Mizuki Kaho)
Kaho is a teacher, having instructed (and having had a relationship with) Toya when the Kinomoto family moved to Tomoeda. She later broke up with him to study abroad, leaving a message that when she returned, they both will have found someone else to love (refering to Eriol and Yukito). She returns to Tomoeda and becomes Sakura's substitute mathematics teacher.
Kaho has strong magical abilities related to the moon's power and is shrine maiden at the Tsukimine Shrine. Beautiful and cryptic, she quietly watches over Sakura as she captures Clow Cards. She was entrusted with a relic of Clow's, a mystical bell, which she used to help Sakura both in capturing the Maze card and in the Final Judgement with Yue. The bell provided the moon power necessary to transform the wand and a single use of Windy. This is why Sakura was able to use Windy against Yue in the final judgement, but later had to transform the cards before she could utilise them, as the wand no longer had any residual power left. Her birthday is February 11.
Fujitaka Kinomoto/Aiden Avalon
(木之本 藤隆 Kinomoto Fujitaka)
Sakura's father. Fujitaka is a college professor of archaeology at Towa University, who still finds time for both Toya and Sakura. He is very kind and loves his family deeply, especially his late wife. One of the differences between the manga and the anime versions is that in the manga, he is explicitly stated as one of the two reincarnations of Clow Reed, creator of the Clow Cards, but holds no magical abilities himself, while in the anime, this connection was erased altogether, as he was shown as one of the people affected by Eriol's sleep spell. In the manga, being half of Clow's reincarnation, he was unaffected by his spell and even showed up after Sakura managed to transform Light and Dark cards and dispel Eriol's sleep spell. Towards the end of the manga, after he received half of Eriol's magical power, he is able to see the spirit of his deceased wife, Nadeshiko. His birthday is January 3.
Chiharu Mihara/Chelsea
(三原 千春 Mihara Chiharu)
A friend of Sakura's and Yamazaki's childhood friend (and girlfriend). She is not afraid to beat up Yamazaki each time he lies. She is in the cheerleading squad with Sakura. Her birthday is May 28. In Cardcaptors, Zachary is Chelsea's cousin.
Takashi Yamazaki/Zachary
(山崎 貴史 Yamazaki Takashi)
Yamazaki is one of Sakura's friends and is often seen with Chiharu or Syaoran, the only other boy in their circle of friends. Yamazaki has a tendency to tell stories that are obvious lies to all but the most gullible, that is Sakura and Syaoran. Yamazaki is also very athletic, with abilities near that of Sakura or Syaoran. His birthday is June 1. In Cardcaptors, Chelsea is Zachary's cousin.
Naoko Yanagisawa/Nikki
(柳沢 奈緒子 Yanagisawa Naoko)
The bespectacled Naoko is a friend of Sakura's and a member of a cheerleading club along with Chiharu and Sakura. She loves to reading various types of stories, especially fantasy stories (which Sakura quickly gets hooked on) and ghost stories (which scare Sakura). Naoko is the one who finds the Create Card by mistake. Her birthday is October 11.
Rika Sasaki/Rita
(佐々木 利佳 Sasaki Rika)
Elegant and mature Rika is another friend of Sakura's and a skilled cook and cannot swim well. She has a crush on their homeroom teacher, Mr Terada, partly because he reminds her of her absentee father. In the manga, she is engaged to marry him after she graduates from high school. Her birthday is July 24. In Cardcaptors, this relationship was edited to the point that it appeared that Rita was afraid of Terada.
Nadeshiko Kinomoto/Natasha Avalon
(木之本 撫子 Kinomoto Nadeshiko)
Nadeshiko Amamiya was a student of Fujitaka Kinomoto in his first year as a teacher, and also worked as a model while in school. She married Fujitaka when she was sixteen, much to the displeasure of her various relatives (especially her cousin Sonomi and grandfather Masaaki). (In Japan girls are allowed to marry at 16).
She becomes the loving mother of Sakura and Toya, but when Sakura was three, she fell ill and died. Fujitaka keeps her memory alive by putting a picture of her in the Kinomoto household and changing the picture every day. Her ghost occasionally appears to check up on her two children, though only Toya can see her while Sakura can only sense her mother's presence. Her birthday was May 20.
Sonomi Daidouji/Samantha Taylor
(大道寺 園美 Daidōji Sonomi)
Sonomi Daidouji née Amamiya (her maiden name is King in the dub) is the cousin of Nadeshiko, the mother of Tomoyo, and was once a student of Fujitaka. Sonomi runs a large toy corporation, and owns a large estate. She treats Sakura as if she was her own daughter despite the fact that she does not hold Fujitaka in the highest regard (because he stole Nadeshiko's heart). As she was very protective of her cousin, she never quite forgave Fujitaka for a long time. Her birthday is October 13.
Yoshiyuki Terada/Mr. Terada
Mr. Terada is Sakura's homeroom teacher. Rika Sasaki has a crush on him, and they are engaged in the manga.
Clow Reed
(クロウ・リード)
Clow Reed is the creator of the Clow Cards, a series of cards resembling tarot cards with various magical powers within them. In addition, he is the creator of Yue and Cerberus. In Cardcaptors, he is also a local figure, with the town of Reedington being named after him.
He had always intended for Sakura to become the new mistress of the Clow cards, as evident by his making the wand a cute pink color, and the entrusting of the moon bell to Kaho to ensure that Sakura would prevail against Yue in the final judgement, knowing full well that with her kind nature, she could never bear to hurt Yue in the slightest bit.
The Clow Cards were created by the wizard Clow Reed, using a combination of European- and Oriental-style magic. At that time, Clow Reed created an entirely new style of magic. To contain the incredible power of the Clow Cards, Clow Reed locked them into the Clow Book.