The fictional characters appearing in the manga and anime series xxxHolic were developed by Clamp, a group of four manga artists. The series takes place in modern Japan and focuses on various supernatural themes, with most of the main characters being humans with magical powers, supernatural creatures, or spirits. Published concurrently with Clamp's Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle manga, the two manga's plotlines and character cross over.
The series' protagonist is Kimihiro Watanuki, a high school student plagued by yōkai and ayakashi spirits. One day, when running away from the spirits, he accidentally enters the shop of witch Yūko Ichihara, who has the power to grant wishes for a price. Yūko decides to grant his wish of making his demons go away in exchange for having him work as her assistant in her shop. Working at Yūko's shop, Watanuki encounters various spirits and also gets to know his classmates Shizuka Dōmeki and Himawari Kunogi better. Although Watanuki comes to value his new life at the shop, he begins to worry about Yūko and eventually promises that he will try to grant her wish, should she have one.
The characters from xxxHolic were designed by Clamp's members Mokona and Tsubaki Nekoi. Some of their designs were inspired by ukiyo-e art style. The series' characters' interactions and personalities, as well as the designs, have been met with positive critical reception. On the other hand, the designs featured in the animated adaptations have received mixed reviews.
Creation and style The artwork of xxxHolic is influenced by the Ukiyo-e art style. A notable theme of the work, which recurs in other Clamp works, is the use of one-eyed or blind characters to express a feeling of loneliness and perhaps parallel Nanase Ohkawa's own poor right-eye vision. Likewise, in xxxHolic's crossover series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, the loss of eyesight is also a theme, and Tsubasa includes artwork influenced by Ukiyo-e.
The series' female characters are designed by Mokona, while Tsubaki Nekoi draws the males and spirits. The characters were named so that different people would find different meanings in them.
Main characters Kimihiro Watanuki
is a high school student plagued by his ability to see spirits. One day he stumbles, seemingly by chance, upon the wish-granting shop of Yūko Ichihara. She promises to remove his ability to see spirits if he works part-time in her shop until his work equals the worth of his wish. Since he lives by himself, he is experienced in cooking and cleaning, much to Yūko's pleasure. Besides doing domestic tasks for Yūko, Watanuki also often completes jobs of a spiritual or magical nature. Shota Sometani plays Watanuki in the live action TV series and Kamiki Ryunosuke plays Watanuki in the live action movie.
Yūko Ichihara
is a witch who runs a shop that grants wishes to customers in exchange for something of equal value to the wish. Yūko takes anything from precious objects to abstract concepts, such as love or luck, in exchange. She is usually free-spirited and somewhat immature, drinking constantly, typically seen smoking a kiseru and forcing difficult tasks upon Watanuki. However, when giving customers or Watanuki advice, she is much more stern and offers cryptic messages that serve as warnings of impending danger. She constantly speaks of inevitability ("hitsuzen") and how nothing is a coincidence. The actress and model Anne Watanabe plays the role of Yūko in the live action TV series and Shibasaki Kou in the live action movie.
Shizuka Dōmeki is a schoolmate of Watanuki. He lives in a shrine owned by his late grandfather Haruka Dōmeki, a Shinto priest who taught Shizuka about folklore and Shinto practices during his childhood. However, despite his heritage, Dōmeki does not have the ability to see ghosts or spirits, though he can sense them and has a natural ability to exorcise them. He is part of the school's kyūdō club and excels in school competitions. Dōmeki barely speaks unless explaining folklore or asking Watanuki for meals.
Despite Watanuki's initial dislike for him, Yūko often makes Dōmeki join Watanuki in his jobs as his ability to exorcise spirits negates Watanuki's ability to attract them. Utilizing Yūko's shop, Watanuki gives Domeki half of his eye after he loses his right eye's vision to the spirits, which allows Dōmeki to see and experience what Watanuki goes through. He also gives Watanuki a large amount of his blood, which, according to Yūko, causes their personalities to change. Yūko gives Domeki a magic egg obtained by Sakura while working for her; however, Dōmeki does not know what it does or when he should use it.
Four years after Yūko's death, Dōmeki is a university student studying ancient history. He often visits Watanuki in the shop. Because Watanuki cannot leave the shop, Dōmeki provides assistance both with Watanuki's work and by providing essentials, such as food. After six more years, Dōmeki graduates and has become an assistant to one of his professors at the university. In the xxxHolic Rō Adayume OVA it is revealed that Dōmeki is engaged to Kohane Tsuyuri, having delivered his wedding's invitation to Watanuki. After more than one hundred years have passed since Watanuki inherited the shop, Dōmeki's great-grandson is Watanuki's new assistant and still possesses the egg Yūko gave to his great-grandfather. Masahiro Higashide plays Dōmeki in the live action TV series and Hokuto Matsumura plays Domeki in the live action movie.
Himawari Kunogi is Watanuki's love interest and classmate. She is very cheerful and friendly around Watanuki and Dōmeki. However, though Watanuki is very open in showing his feelings and admiration for her, she appears oblivious to the fact that he likes her. Watanuki often invites her to join him for various outings, but Himawari usually has some prior engagement, which comically and inadvertently leaves Watanuki alone with Dōmeki.
Watanuki originally believes that she is his "goddess of good luck", though Yūko seems to think otherwise, often dropping cryptic hints about Himawari's true nature. It is eventually revealed that Himawari emanates misfortune that affects everyone around her except her parents and those with spiritual abilities, such as Dōmeki and Yūko. Her bad luck causes Watanuki to fall from a second story window and nearly die as a result of the fall and shattered glass. Yūko has them rush Watanuki to her shop, where they manage to save his life. Himawari offers to take on any physical scars Watanuki would have received from the accident as a payment for keeping him alive. After revealing this to Watanuki, she attempts to cut all connections with him. Watanuki, however, tells her that he is truly happy around her no matter what and refuses to stop seeing her. He later gives her a small bird he names that is immune to her bad luck. The small bird comes from an egg that was retrieved by Sakura from an alternate Tokyo in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. After Watanuki tells Himawari that he loves her and is glad to have met her, Himawari begins to develop feelings for him.
She is the only main character not shown visiting Watanuki after he inherits the shop; she attends a university far away from the shop, and because her natural misfortune causes problems with the shop's magic, she promises only to enter the shop on Watanuki's birthday, though she calls occasionally. Himawari ends up marrying a businessman whose identity is unknown. She was played by Karen Miyazaki in the xxxHolic TV drama and Tina Tamashiro in the live action movie.
Kohane Tsuyuri is a young girl who has been featured on many paranormal TV shows as a child prodigy, medium and exorcist. After first developing her powers, she helped her mother learn that her father was having an affair, which caused her mother's personality to drastically change. As a result, her mother refuses to touch her, refer to her by name, or socialize with others; she also takes away any objects or food not considered "pure". She tries to get Kohane onto as many TV shows as possible, and uses the earnings to buy extravagant material possessions. Nevertheless, Kohane thinks that her mother's behavior is her fault for developing supernatural powers. Due to her family life, Kohane is quiet and lonely, though she attempts to stay strong for her mother's sake and takes the blame for the family's problems.
She eventually meets Watanuki and forms a bond with him. Despite protests from Kohane's mother, Watanuki continues to contact her and make her happy. It is later revealed that Kohane's powers of exorcism developed from one of Sakura's magical feathers, though her ability to see spirits is natural. She asks Yūko to grant her happiness, which Yūko does by fixing the various external problems in her life, such as her reputation, in exchange for her exorcism ability. However, Yūko cannot fix her issues with her mother, as a person's true character can only be changed by their own will. Four years after Yūko's death, Kohane is a student at Tsuji Academy and often visits Watanuki in his shop. She continues to live with the grandmother fortune teller. After six years, she is a student of folklore at the same university as Dōmeki. In the xxxHolic Rō Adayume OVA it is revealed that Kohane is engaged with Dōmeki, who states that even so, Watanuki is Kohane's most important person.
Secondary characters Zashiki-warashi is a spirit girl who lives on a mountain with pure spiritual energy. She is very shy and prone to crying, which causes her tiny Karasu-Tengu Guardians to defend her. Ironically, the guardians will come to her aid even if she weeps tears of joy. Zashiki-warashi develops a crush on Kimihiro Watanuki as his endeavors become known among spirits, and she first meets him when she accidentally steals Shizuka Dōmeki's soul while attempting to get a good Valentine's Day gift for Watanuki. He later sees her while giving her a White Day present, while restoring the pipe fox spirit to his smaller form. Watanuki later rescues her from Lady Jorōgumo, who captures her after a failed attempt to recover Watanuki's eye, and she appears again briefly with her friend, Ame-warashi, after Watanuki recovers from a near death experience. In xxxHolic Rei, she has gone missing, unwilling to meet Watanuki with the other spirits fearing she might be corrupted. Zashiki-warashi is played by Ai Hashimoto in the movie.
Ame-warashi is a high-ranking rain spirit who has a very hostile attitude toward humans due to the fact that "humans have no care or regard whatsoever with living nature". She is somewhat close and protective of Zashiki-warashi and often teases Watanuki despite him helping to fulfill her request. She owned the creature Kudagitsune, which later becomes Watanuki's guardian. She gives it to Yūko Ichihara as a compensation for fulfilling her wish to revive the sick hydrangea. In xxxHolic Rei, she appears worried about Zashiki-warashi's health and is willing to pay any price to Watanuki to save her. Ame-warashi is played by Aoi Morikawa.
Kudagitsune , later named by Watanuki, is a tube fox spirit given to Yūko as payment by Ame-warashi for Watanuki's help. It quickly becomes attached to Watanuki, and protects him during dangerous situations. It is generally a small snake-like being with a fox's head, but it can transform into a traditional nine-tailed fox when it reveals its true power. It is able to create "Foxfire" in the form of large fireballs, and it can detect evil spirits. It takes a large amount of pure spiritual energy to revert it to its initial form.
Jorōgumo